Selected quad for the lemma: knowledge_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
knowledge_n	add_v	faith_n	godliness_n	1,901	5	9.1031	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A75270	The virgin saint, or, A brief narrative of the holy life and Christian death of Mary Wilson with some memorable passages, and occasional speeches a little before her death added thereunto ; to which is also adjoyned a sermon, preached at her funeral by Mr. Geo. Nicholson, together with several consolatory letters, written by divers ministers, to her mournful father, Mr. Richard Wilson of Crosfield in Cumberland.	S. A.; Nicholson, George, ca. 1637-1697. Sermon preached at the funeral of Mrs. Mary Wilson.	1673 (1673)	Wing A28A; ESTC R42607	83,061	185

to Grace ● mean of one Grace unto another but of degrees of Grace to the same Grace that is already received The former is plain from 2 Pet. 1.5 6 7 8. Add to your Faith vertue c. The latter is as plain from those Scriptures that enjoin the increase of particular Graces upon us 2 Pet. 3.18 But grow in Grace and in the Knowledg of our Lord Jesus Christ Jude v. 20. But ye Beloved Building up your selves in your most holy Faith 1 Thes 4.10 We beseech ye● Brethren that ye increase more and more that is in love Jam. 1.4 But let patience have he perfect work that ye may be perfect and entire wanting nothing And many more such instances might be given Now till this be done thou art not actually ready to meet the Lord Jesus There is a certain measure of Grace assigned and the period of time fixed for every Saint to come up to it in Ephes 4.13 and t●● this be done we are not compleatly ready Thirdly Actual Readiness consisteth in this To have your Evidences clear for Heaven T● be able to prove to your own Souls that you are in a state of Grace Till you be come up t● this length you are not so ready as you should be The Apostle enjoineth Saints To give ●● diligence to make their Calling and Election sun● 2 Pet. 1.10 that is sure to themselves And when you have done this then are you ready for the Bridegroom 's coming When you can say with Paul and the other Apostles 2 Corinth 5.1 We know that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens then are you actually ready and prepared for the Coming of the Lord. O then try your own selves your states and conditions to see whether Christ be in you or not Never think that you can be ready in any good measure till you understand something of this Can a man be ready to meet Christ that knoweth not whether he belongeth to Heaven or Hell to Salvation or Destruction Alas Such an one is yet short of that degree of readiness that should be attained in order to Christ's coming Fourthly There is also this in Actual Readiness to meet the Lord Jesus viz. A compleating of the work that God hath given us to do Every man hath his Generation-work set him of God to do and finish and till this be done no man is ready for the coming of the Lord. It is said of David Act. 13.46 That after he had served his Generation he fell asleep When a man hath done all his Generation-work he is then fit for Death and ready for Christ St. Paul foreseeing his Death hath these Expressions 2 Tim. 4.6 7. I am now ready to be offered and the time of my Departure is at hand I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the Faith Mark Paul saith he is ready to be offered as our Translation hath it though I know the Greek word may be translated otherwise But how proves St. Paul that he is ready Why For saith he I have finished my course c. As if he had said I have done all my Generation-work and therefore I am ready O Souls then and not till then are you ready to meet the Lord Jesus till you have done all the work which God hath given you to do in the world Most men God knoweth spend their time for very Vanity not considering that they have their task to do yet they think when they have lived as long as they can then there is no more but dying and entring into Glory Poor mistaken Soul Thou hast thy Generation-work to mind and also to compleat And if thou hast not set about it and brought it to its period thou art far from the Kingdom of God and consequently very unfit to die and unready to meet the Lord Jesus Be not deceived There is much to do before thou canst be ready for Christ Try then what thou hast done this way Hast thou wrought out thine own Salvation with fear and trembling Phil. 2.12 Hast thou filled up thy time with Duty Hast thou done all the work of thy Place Condition and Relation If not thou art not yet ready enough to meet the Lord Jesus Fifthly This Actual Readiness lies also in this viz. To have the Affections in subjection and under command and as it were brought under ones feet That when the Lord Jesus cometh with a Summons for the Souls appearance then the Soul to have so much power over it self as to say Arise let me go hence So that there needeth no more but Christ's Call and the Soul is ready to set forward and to take sits march to meet him this now is actual Readiness It is said of Abraham that when he was called to go into a place that he should afterwards receive for an Inheritance he obeyed Heb. 11.8 So when Christ giveth the Soul a Call to go from hence for the Soul then to have its Affections so subdued and so under command as forthwith to obey the Lord's Call this ●s Readiness indeed It is also said That the Witnesses upon a voice crying from Heaven to them Come up hither ascended to Heaven in a Cloud Rev. 11.12 So when Christ's voice from Heaven biddeth the Soul come up hither and the Soul upon the call ascendeth to Heaven this is Readiness in multis gradibus in many legrees to meet the Lord Jesus We read that when the Lord shall give the poor Jews a Call to return that they shall be so ready in their Affections to make answer to their Call as that they shall forthwith make this Reply Behold we come unto thee for thou art the Lord our God Jer. 3.22 So when Christ saith Return ye Children of Men and we answer Behold we come unto thee then are we in a proportionable measure prepared to meet the Lord Jesus The Centurion told Christ That his Servants were so under his Authority that if he bid one of them go he goeth and if another come he cometh and if he bid the third do this he doth it Mat. 8.9 So if our Affections like the Centurion's Servants be so under Christ's and our Authority that if they be bid go they gp or come they come or do this they do it This is to be fitted for the coming of Christ B●● on the other hand now If the Affections be ●● unruly unsubdued and masterful as that the● will not bend to the Call of Christ when eve● he summoneth any of us to appear before H●● we are not yet ready to meet the Lord Jesus Many Souls I know will pretend that if th●● be to be ready then they are already prepared for they are as they pretend willing to depa●● from hence when ever the Lord shall call the● But alas How far are such mistaken for let b● Christ Call for their Souls

I should Conform Therefore tell me whether thou wilt go with me freely or thou wilt have ●● to Conform and so I may abide with you She then replied with Tears in her eyes No ●● Father though they should do with you as th●● did with Mr. I would not have you to Conform As she grew in Years she ripened apace ●● Knowledg and Experience and was much ●● her Duty both to God and Man But to her de● Parents especially she was a lump of Love an● Duty signifying duty by her affable Disposition and humble Deportment and Carriage denying her self in any thing that might have the lea●● shew of dislike to them How much she desired to be in her Duty to ●er God clearly appeared in this in that she ●as unsatisfied to live without the enjoyment of ●ny of God's Ordinances or Gospel-priviledges ●nd earnestly sollicitous to give up her self to God ●nd to his Church in obedience to God's Command by a professed subjection to all Gospel-appintments in God's own way and according ● Scripture-Rule and Order For upon a certain ●me she waited an opportunity and told her ●ather she could not but give him an account ●hat God had graciously done for her Soul and ●en began and held forth at large according to ●e Grace of God bestowed upon her and given ●● her as will by her Experiences more fully appear After much Heavenly Discourse with her about that she had held forth her Father propounded several Questions to her some of which were ●undamental Points in Divinity and he found ●er so apt and ready in her Replies and Answers ●hat he was much satisfied That in what she bake she was guided by Judgment In the close of the Discourse she desired her ●ather to acquaint the Officers of the Church that according to that Scripture 2 Cor. 8.5 They gave themselves up first to God and then a us by the Will of God For she said She was ●ally convinced that a Christian ought not to live ●● the neglect of the enjoyment af any Gospel-Ordinance or Priviledg when they might enjoy them and in order thereunto according to the forecited Scripture there ought to be a more solems giving up of our selves to walk in Gospel Order before we can rightfully partake of all Gospel Priviledges And she then further said She should be ready according to that Scripture Psal 66.26 Hearken unto me all you that fear the Lord and I 'le tell you what he hath done for my Soul 〈◊〉 give a reason of the Hope that was in her and Satisfaction so far as she was able when called to it● Which Practice and orderly Scriptural proceeding of hers may be both a seasonable Reproof to several Professors of this present Age who securely remain like Sheep scattered upon th●● Mountains living in the continued neglect ●● Gospel-Fellow-ship and Ordinances thereby exposing themselves to be as a Prey for ravening Wolves and to be taken in the Snares of subtle seducing Foxes As also a good Pattern for th● Imiation of others who are looking after th● Lord and asking the way to Zion with their faces thitherward As to her Carriage and engaging Disposition t●● those with whom she was acquainted they be●● know themselves But this was well known that if her Father could have answered the many Invitations that many dear Friends gave her to their Families he might have enjoyed her but seldom at home As to her Duty and reverend Respect that she gave to her Parents both at home and abroad ●t was such and so much that gave them sometimes occasion to fear that some might censure ●hem as being ambitious of such Respect which made them caution her to that purpose But when they did it she would reply No my Father what I do is but my Duty I cannot help ●t if others will misconstrue it As to her Usefulness in Sacred things her ●ractice in reading the Scriptures and the Labours of Holy Men was such as it was very rare ●o name that Scripture that she could not have turned unto and what else she read was much ●er own for she would at any time have discoursed the material Points of what she read specially in Mr. Brooks his Apples of Gold Mr. Love's Different Degrees of Grace and Mr. Shepherds Sincere Convert and Sound Belever comparing these together and then her own condition with them all She was also well-grounded in the Assemblies catechisme which she learned when she was yet ●ry young Once a Week when the Family had been catechised she would come to be examined herself desiring still to be more and more informed ●● the knowledg of those great Fundamental ●ints Nay such was the eagerness of her de●●e to get Knowledg and Understanding in the great matters of Godliness that her Father hath said Many a night after all the Family have been gone to Bed would she have kept him up propounding many Questions and raising many Objections and Doubts insomuch that he hath said he may speak it to his loss and shame h●● hath been weary to sit so late to have answere● her yet for all that she would not willingly part with him but would say Father As some harder Questions these are not hard enough● All which clearly discovers and manifests o● what great use she was to her Father in putting him to the daily exercise of those measures of Gift and Graces that God had bestowed upon him As to her Practice in Religious Duties She was a constant Observer of Set-times for her private Devotion and Retirements with God an● a great Lover of praising God in Singing ●● Psalms not only in Family-Duty but also by her-self alone Her Parents say and some in th● Family besides know That after she hath been laid down in Bed she would have rais'd a Psalm She was much upon the 81 Psalm beginning a● the 14 vers and Psal 84.13 Thine arm is strong and full of power c. and Psal 31.19 20 21 and 125. 2d Translation She was also a constant Attender upon the Word preached it is known to many that Day nor Night however th● Weather blew it seemed not hard or tedious ●● her when she knew of an opportunity of hear●● the Word and it s no great Wonder she havnig such great encouragement thereunto through ●he Lord's abundant blessing her Endeavours with so great an increase both of Gifts and Graces In point of Memory from the fifteenth year ●f her Age to the last Sermon that ever she ●eard she would ordinarily have repeated them ●x tempore Her Father hath taken a Sermon ●om her Mouth a Week after it was preached ●nd penn'd it So zealous was she in the Service of her God ●hat she was observed after she came Home from ●earing the Word preached she forthwith went ●id fell down before the Lord and watered it with Tears and then assoon as the Family was ●● order she came and repeated A Friend ●●tely declared since her Decease with

snow-ball before a Summers Sun And since Death took possession of somthing of yours it hath been and dayly is creeping neare your self Howbeit with no noise of feet your Husbandman and Lord hath lopped off one branch already the tree it self is to be removed into the higher Garden the Lord fit you for your change and help you to bear these crosses for indeed they are great and many and give you a sanctified use of them and to make you white and ripe for the Lord's Harvest-hook by them I have seen the Lord weaning you from this world and its vanities it was never his mind that it should be your portion and let the Lord be praised that it is so you look the liker one of the Heirs of Glory let the moveables go why not They are not yours but fasthold on the Heritage Even our Lord Christ make your interest sure and give you to grow as a Palm tree upon Mount Zion howbeit shaken with winds and many sore blasts yet the root is fast I pray Him whose you are to supply your wants another way for though we cannot see the Lords design in this his wise Providence who ruleth all yet I verily believe this is not only good but best of all For wise Solomon saith Better is the end of a thing than the begiuning Yea Christ calls from Heaven and bids Write Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord they rest from their labours and their works follow them And after Paul had seriously debated the Case whether to live or dye was better for him he concludes that of the two To die and to be with Christ was best of all And therefore my dear Brother this should teach us and work in us a careful Preparation for Death and vehement longings after it and chearfulness in entertaining it and moderation in our sorrowing for her that 's dead Mourning only for our own loss and that especially because the Death and removal of the Godly is a sad if not a sure presage of ensuing Evil. When Noah was entered into the Ark then the Flood came Gen. 7.12 When Lot was gone out of Sodome then it must be burnt When the Lord resolved to destroy Jeroboam house he took away the Child in whom there was some good thing found 1 Kin. 14.10 11 13. Thus when the Lord in ended to bring evil upon Jerusalem good Josiah must first be brought to his grave in peace Because his heart was tender and he humbled himelf at the hearing of the Law of God 2 Kin. 22.16 17 18 19 20. Wo is me therefore considering that even amongst us the righteous are taken away that in four or five Months time almost the tenth man on this side Hartside should be removed yet not considering at least not as they ought to do That The righteous are taken away from the evil to come Isa 57. When our Jacob for wrestling our Caleb and Joshuah for following the Lord and our Nathaniel and besides our Mary is removed How should this awaken us and the very thoughts of it make us tremble and our knees to smite one against another It s true they are beyond the Storm But the presence of the Godly in all Ages hath drawn the love and favour of God to the places where they were For they are dear to God As the apple of his eye Zech. 2.8 And he will be a wall of ire round about the place where they are v. 5. Yea many a time doth God spare the wicked for the godly as the husbandman doth the tares for the wheat 's sake Matth. 13. As God would have spared Sodome and Gomorrah if there had been but ten nay five righteous persons Gen. 18.32 Act. 27.24 Besides the Prayers of the Godly in all Ages have been mighty prevalent with God both for the obtaining Mercies and also for the preventing miseries and keeping of judgments from the places where they live● Psal 106.23 He would saith the Psalmist have destroyed them had not Moses his Servant stoe● before him in the breach to turn away his wrath lest he should destroy them Besides they are 〈◊〉 great force for the vanquishing and overcoming of Enemies Moses prevailed more by h●● Prayers than Joshua with all his Soldiers againt the Amalekites Exod. 17.11 One godly man Prayers saith one can do more than a great so● of Sinners 〈◊〉 do with fighting So that as N●hal's servants said of David's men so we may ●y of our dear friends that are removed from us they have been very good to us and we have had no hurt whilst we have been conversant with them They have been a wall unto us both by day and by night What cause have we then to fear that may follow the removal of them And then alas What have we lost that have lost ●uch good Examples as most of them were and 〈◊〉 particular your Daughter she one of a thou●●d Her counsel her wisdome her blameless talking was of great use to restrain some from ●in and to allure and draw others at least to be outward performance of many good Duties ●●d I think I may say that she exceeded most ●●at ever I knew except Mrs. Catherine Rea of ●●●ma in her constant care to please God and ●qual respect to the keeping of all Gods Commandments and in her holy diligence to im●ove all opportunities for her Souls profit as 〈◊〉 Meditating Praying Reading Hearing and Conferring And then her Seriousness in Duties and great delight in both First and Second Table Duties What shall I say Her ●●avity Chastity and Humility and her or●ering her self every way so holily so meekly ●●d blamelesly So that to my knowledg it was a great Conviction to those that were in a great measure strangers to Godliness or any ●trictness and I 'le assure you I often wished that her Conversation had been better known to some and that it might have so been I did fully purpose to have sued for your Consent having gotten hers that we might have had he● a while amongst us That our Professors chiefl● of her Sex whose Carriages and Conversation were not so answerable to the Gospel as they should be might have been convinced of th● evil of them and by her Gospel-conversation might have become more wise solid sober serious grave and more careful to provide so their eternal Welfare But alas it 's now to late the time is past and gone which ma● make us mourn upon our own account But u● on their account this may not only reason 〈◊〉 into a Moderation of Sorrow but also cause 〈◊〉 to rejoice in that they are landed safe in Hea●ven where she also is even with Christ which is best of all she is now set at liberty and fre● dome Who is not comforted to see and know that his Friend is brought out of Prison to 〈◊〉 his Friend set free from all Persecutions Si● Sorrow and Death and to live and rejoice wi●● Christ 2 Tim. 2.11 12. And may