Selected quad for the lemma: honour_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
honour_n	faithful_a	house_n	moses_n	1,705	5	9.8309	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A15738	Sermons vpon a part of the first chap. of the Gospell of S. Iohn. Preached by Antony Wotton, in the parish church of Alhallowes Barking in London, and now by him published	Wotton, Anthony, 1561?-1626.	1609 (1609)	STC 26008; ESTC S120315	346,604	476

of the sonnes of the Diuell his owne children and giuing vs a sound and certaine title thereby to the inheritance of his glory in heauen And shall I neede to vse many words in amplifying so rare a kindnes in setting out so inestimable a benefitte Small fauours require inlarging infinite blessings will not admitte it They by amplification may bee made greater then they are these the more you speake of them the lesse you make them For what is it but a diminishing of that which is infinite to attēpt in any kind of manner I say not to inlarge but euen to expresse it He that striues to speake much and almost makes no ende of commending that which is excellent seemes to haue perswaded himselfe and to desire that other men should beleeue that hee hath spoken all that can be said in the matter As for me I professe the contrary assuring my selfe and you that when I haue said all that possibly I can deuise I shall be as farre from the infinitnesse of the benefit as when I first began to speake of it Yet may it somewhat helpe our conceyt of the matter though it cannot come neere the excellency of the thing And with this perswasion let vs a little consider the prerogatiue of this Son-ship There is a great opinion and not without good cause of the estate of our first pa●●nts Adam and Eue while they were in Paradise before their fall They had the image of God wherein they were created shineing Gen. 1. 26. in them so gloriously that all the fishes in the sea the foules in the aire the beasts in the earth and euery thing that moueth and creepeth on the earth were subiect and obedient to them What adoe haue wee in our estate as now it standeth to make not Beares or Lions but those of whome we haue necessary and continuall vse horses and other cattle to performe any kind of seruice to vs The whip the goad the wand the spur the yoke the bit all the meanes of terror and extreamity that wee can possibly deuise cannot preuaile so much against these tame creatures as autority and maiestie did in them with those beasts that are now most fierce and cruell The Prophet Dauid though he were a King of great command ouer Gods owne free people yet when he considered those little poore seruices which the creatures in our present estate such as it is ordinarily doe vs and the gouernement wee haue ouer them breaks out into an exclamation of wonder What is man saith he to the Lord that thou art mindfull of him and Ps 8. 4. the Sonne of man that thou visitest him How would hee haue esteemed Adams rule ouer the creatures that values our gouernement of them so highly What should I speake of their familiarity with God who vouchsaf't himselfe to talke with them to informe and direct them It is recorded as a singular fauour and honour done to Moses that the Lord spake vnto him face to face as a Exod 33. 11. man speaketh to his friend How were our first Parents fauoured honoured that were to haue ordinary conference with him from time to time But to come to the point for which al this is alledg'd what was their estate for all these honors fauors but the condition of seruants They were threatned with death death both of body and soule if they transgrest the bounds that were set them Of the tree of knowledge of good and euill thou shalt not eate of it for in the day thou Gen. 2. 17. eatest thereof thou shall dy the death Put case they had cōtinued in obedience to God their Creator according to their allegeance duty What could they haue lookt for but either a confirmation of that estate which they then inioyed or at the most the reward of their seruice the wages for their worke They could neuer haue attained to this dignity To be the Sons of God And is it not a prerogatiue trowe you to be brought by Christ into a more excellent estate then that which Adam in his innocency and glory had iust cause to wonder at Blessed may we say was the day and houre Oh the goodnesse power of God that brings light out of darknes that euer Adam harkened to the voice of his wife perswading him to eate of the forbiddē fruit Not that either the sin was small to transgress the commandement of God or that it was the purpose of Adam in sinning to be occasion of so great a blessing But for that the Lord of his meere affection loue according to his owne former counsaile predestination turned misery to happines death to life We were seruants to a bountiful and gratious Lord we are made Sons to a most kind louing Father Our seruice if it had beene neuer so good could haue procured no more but wages Our Son-ship conveies vnto vs assurance of a goodly inheritance There is no seruant though hee bee put in neuer so great trust haue neuer so much autority bee neuer so highly in the Princes fauour like Daniell in the prouince Dan. 2. 48. of Babell or Ioseph in the Kingdome of Aegypt but is many degrees inferiour to the Kings Sonne Gen. 41. 40. Moses was a most faithfull seruant in the house of the Lorde and disposed of all things after the direction and to the especiall liking of his master Such as his seruice was such was his honor He had the gouernmēt of the people of God committed to him no man might refuse Heb. 3. 5. to yeeld obedience or demaunde a reason of that which hee commaunded VVas hee therefore comparable to Christ who ruled as the Sonne ouer his owne Verse 6. house VVhat was Abrahams eldest seruant to his youngest Sonne VVhat was Ioab to Salomon Dauid was a man of no meane imployment vnder Saul of no small desert toward him and his whole estate yet when he was earnestly perswaded by his fellow seruants to enter into the Kings alliance by marriage what answere made hee Seemeth it to you a light thing saith Dauid to bee a Kings Sonne in lawe Did it seeme so 1. Sam. 18. 23. great a matter to so worthie a seruant to become Son in law to a King and can wee thinke it a little honour to bee made the Sonnes of God Saul though hee were a King was but a man Dauid though hee were a seruant in condition was a King in true vertue Wee are men nay wretches wormes nothing Hee that will adopt vs is God most mightie most glorious euen Iehouah himselfe Dauid though hee should become Sonne in lawe to the King could haue no title to the Kingdome by that aduancement Our Son-ship makes heauen Gauel kind giues euery one of vs a ful intrest to the inheritāce If yee bee Sonnes yee are heyres Moses could not looke for any Rom. 8. 17. such preferment though Pharaohs daughter tooke him for her Son And yet it is

recorded by the holy Ghost Exod. 2. 10. as a certaine proofe of his faith and trust in God that when he came to age he refused to be called the Sonne of Heb. 11. 24. Pharaohs daughter Indeed he was but to be call'd so For Pharaohs daughter had not liberty to adopt whom she list Well might she be at the charge of his nursing and allow him maintenance like a Princess and honour him with her fauour and countenance but shee could not giue him any right to the Crowne of Aegypt If then it were so greate an honour to be called the Sonne of Pharaohs daughter that Moses for refusing of it is registred to all posterity as a man that preferred the seruice of God before the glory of the world what a prerogatiue is it To be the Sonne of God Dauid when he was vrg'd and prest by the continual perswasion of many Courtiers to put himselfe forward and become the kings Sonne in lawe excuseth himselfe by his pouerty the meanness of his reputation Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a kings Sonne in lawe seeing I 1. Sam. 18. 23. am a poore man and of small reputation It is no great matter for a kings Sonne to marry a kings daughter There is no disparagement in the match to the wife no increase of honour to the husband But if a man of meane estate and birth be admitted to such aduancement by marriage how is he preferred how is hee honoured It shall be fit therefore and needfull to the ende wee may the better conceiue the excellency of our prerogatiue in being made the Sonnes of God to consider as the high estate to which we arise so the lowe degree from which we were raised Was it not in euery mans iudgement greater preferment for Ioseph to be made ruler of all Aegypt then for Putiphar to haue beene aduaunced to the same honour and autority Ioseph was taken from prison at the lowest step or rather not neere the stayer-foot Putiphar was already aboue the midst of the grees and could almost reach the top from whence he stood Let vs then cast downe our eies from the glorious estate of the Sonnes of God to the Shall I say meane or base conditiō The words are too light To the wretched fearefull damnation of the Sonnes of the Diuell Oh that I were able to vtter or you to conceiue either the misery in which we were plunged or the maiestie to which we are aduaunced It was cast in Ionathans teeth as a foule reproche by his angry Father that He was the Son of a wicked rebellious woman And cōtrarywise Salomō 1. Sam. 20. 30. rekons it vp amongst his titles of honor that he was the Sonne of Dauid The parables of Salomon the Sonne of Prou 1. 1. Dauid For as the dignity of the master is a credit to the seruant and the ones dishonour the others disgrace so much more as the bond betwixt them is neerer the glory or shame of the Father is the reputation or discredit of the Sonne Who is so vile so wicked so odiour as the Deuill His former happinesse makes his present misery the greater as heate opens the pores of the body and prepares a way for the more cold to enter He is cast out of the presence of God for euer he is vtterly forsaken of all vertue and goodnes Hee hath neither power nor will remaining to doe any good Hee repines against God he enuies the Angells hee seekes continually the destruction of men Such as the Father is such are the Sonnes Haters of God despisers of Angells murderers of men both others and themselues too Are these meete persons to bee made the Sonnes of God Surely as the children of Israell profest of themselues that when the Lord turned the captiuity of Sion they Psal 126. 1. were like them that dreame so is it with mee in the meditation of this incredible alteration Am I that was the child of the Deuill become the Sonne of God Haue I a title to heauen to whō hel had iust intrest Shal I raign in the glory of Christ that seru'd most basely in the bōdage of Satan I am not worthy O Lord to bee called thy Sonne It is more honour then I durst hope for or Luk. 15. 19 almost desire to be made one of thy hired seruants There are a greate many degrees betwixt these two estates It were much that thou shouldst at all receiue mee into seruice Yet if it please thee to vouchsafe mee that fauour the meanest or lowest place or office in thy Palace were to good for mee To bee a door-keeper in thy house It were a seruice sit for thy holy Angells not for mee a prophane man If thou wouldst needes of thy wonderfull bounty preferre me higher thou might'st make mee free at the most and so ridde thy hands of me Will not all this serue but must I haue the prerogatiue to bee thy Sonne too Me thinks I should but dreame of these fauours and not possesse them indeed they are so farre beyond not only expectation but credit too Peter when the Angell came to deliuer him out of prison the night before hee Act. 12. 9. 10. should haue beene executed though hee arose and followed his guide passing the first and second watch going through the iron gate which opened by it owne accord yet still thought that hee had but seene a vision and could not perswade himselfe that he was indeed set at liberty How much more vnlikely is it that poore miserable damned Sonnes of the Diuell should find such fauour as to be made the Sonnes of God Sarah laughed as at a thing vnpossible when the Gen. 18. 12. LORD told Abraham that shee should beare him a Sonne and the worthy matrone of Shunem that entertained 2. King 4. 16. the Prophet Elizah when he promist her the like blessing from the Lord could not be perswaded of the truth thereof Oh my Lord thou man of God saith shee doe not ly vnto thy handmayd Is it as straunge for a woman though shee bee old to haue a Sonne as for a man to become the Sonne of God This is that mystery which the Angels desired to behold As if they coulde 1. Pet. 1. 12. not satisfy themselues with thinking on it This was the Ioh. 8. 44. prerogatiue which some of the Angels could not abide should be vouchsaf't to men but murmured against 2. Pet. 2. 4. God for it rebelled to aduance themselues whereby they lost both their place and their honour It is not so easy a matter my brethren to beleeue this point as it is commonly thought to bee And whereas it is so generally receiued for truth of all that professe themselues to be Christians I am wholly of opinion that it is rather a light perswasion then a grounded beleefe Doost thou beleeue that as many as trust in Christ are thereby the Sonnes of