Selected quad for the lemma: knowledge_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A11072
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The heavenly academie
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Rous, Francis, 1579-1659.
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1638
(1638)
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STC 21341; ESTC S114569
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43,887
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250
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more skilfull in the word of righteousnesse better to discerne good evill to digest the stronger meat of divine mysteries As wee grow up in our stature in Christ Jesus toward a perfect man we leave our childish knowledge behind and grow up to him in all things therefore in knowledge which is the head even Christ. The head is Wisedome it selfe and they that grow in him growe â—n wisdome and still take higher degrees in the heavenly Schoole under this highest and most heavenly Teacher Thirdly seeing God teacheth thee by his Spirit and he is the Giver of the Spirit by which hee teacheth thee goe to the Giver himselfe for this gift Goe to him by prayer and goe to him publikely in the house of prayer and there joyne with the Church in prayer for the Spirit which hee hath promised to his Church The uniting of many hearts and voyces in one petition makes it the stronger and more powerfull with God And it may well be that when thou joynest with the Congregation in prayer thou mayst joyne with some who shall not only double the strength of thy prayer by an equall strength of Spirit added to thine but by a double portion of Spirit exceeding thine And so by this joyning of stocks in publike prayer thou mayest bee a double gainer both while thou art a partaker of many prayers and while thou art partaker of some more powerful than thine own And indeed Christ would not have spoken of two or three gathered together in his Name except there had beene some benefit and advantage in this gathering together and in two or three above one Therefore let us especially expect him as hee hath promised to be present where two or three are gathered together Now wee know that Christ is present with his Church by his Spirit even that Comforter which leadeth into all truth And accordingly wee find that when the Church was united in prayer they were filled with the Holy Ghost And because Christ is present with his Church by this Spirit to the end of the world illuminating and teaching both Pastours and people our Church prayeth for the Pastours That God would illuminate them with true understanding and knowledge of his Word and for the people That God who taught the hearts of faithfull people by the light of the Holy Spirit may give us by the same Spirit to have a right judgement in all things Joyne then with the Church in the offering up and receiving downe of such petitions and doe not by dividing thy selfe from the offering divide thy selfe also from the receiving But for so precious a gift as the Spirit make thy prayer as powerfull as thou canst and more powerfull mayst thou make it if thou get more power joyned together by a Communion of Saints Seeke God also by private prayer for this gift of the Spirit which Christ himselfe hath taught yea proved by undeniable arguments that God will give to them that aske it And the experimentall truth of this saying of our Saviour many excellent Saints have found and acknowledged professing that they received sometimes by prayer more light for the clearing of darke places than by study and reading And therefore wee shall find that the Fathers in their Homilies and Expositions doe often interrupt their preaching with praying and in prayer seeke to bee enabled by the Spirit for preaching But come to God with faith for the promise runs thus That whatsoever we aske beleeving we shall receive Come also with fervencie for Christ hath taught us That what friendship cannot doe yet importunitie may obtaine And it hath beene tried by the Canaanitish woman and many others since her time That where a denial will not be taken for an answer there the answer hath been turned into grant And the more to encourage us to importunitie for the obtaining of this grant of the Spirit let us take notice first That God doth chiefly like those prayers that are made for the Spirit God is a Spirit and as because hee is a Spirit hee likes best that worship and those prayers which are made by the Spirit so doth he highly love those Prayers which pray for the Spirit by which such agreeable and acceptable prayers are made Secondly God hath abundance of Spirit and this abundance and fulnesse of Spirit hath he delivered over to his son Christ Jesus whose humanitie is Uber Deitatis The Brest of the Deitie And as wee all must receive from the fulnesse of this Brest so this Brest being full is most apt to give and therefore most willing to meet with those that are most desirous and thirstie to receive It delights to bee drawne yea to be pressed by importunitie and is not onely pleased but as it were eased when hee meets with an hungrie soule and a mouth opened wide that hee may fill it Lastly joyne meditations with thy prayers As prayers sometimes do kindle thy meditations so sometimes meditations may kindle thy prayers While I mused saith the Psalmist my heart waxed hot For meditation doth stir and blow away the ashes even earthly and carnall thoughts and kindles the fire of the Spirit The soule of a Saint is a little Sanctuarie or Temple where God dwells by his Spirit and this Spirit being sought to in this Temple by the servants of God hath given them many times divine answers and resolutions So hath this little Temple beene turned into a Schoole where the soules of men enlightened have seen more than seven men upon the Watch-Tower of humane speculation And when thou goest to this Schoole let meditation purge thy soule from carnall drossinesse and fire it into a spirituall puritie Let this spirituall fire burne away that corporeall grossenesse which entertaines and makes carnall and bodily images Let the glasse of thy soule bee cleansed and made spiritually pure that it may be fit to entertaine a pure spirit and those spirituall sights which the Spirit shall present unto it And being thus pure in heart thou shalt see God in thy soule Hee who is light shall shine into thy soule and by this light the face of thy soule shall shine as the face of Moses on the mount In his light thou shalt see light and by this light shalt thou see that which all the naturall light in the world cannot shew thee God who commanded light to shine out of darknesse will give thee the light of the knowledge of the glorie of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And when the light of this knowledge doth appeare then know that thy Teacher is neare Then stand on thy Watch-Tower and heare what hee teacheth thee and see what hee sheweth thee A lesson of this Teacher and of this teaching is the best learning and makes the best Schollers because taught in Gods that is in the best Academie Yea sometimes in a minute thou shalt see that by this teaching which thou canst not attaine in
the lower passe up and ascend to the higher for the higher hath herein divers advantages above the lower Toward a generall discoverie hereof wee may take notice That Christ Jesus when hee ascended up on high and received from his Father all power both in Heaven and earth did undertake the building of his own Church And for the perfecting of this holy building hee sent downe gifts unto men by which they were made able and skilfull Builders And no doubt these are the best most able Teachers whom Christ the great Lord of the building doth enable to teach and to build by teaching And indeed if Christ hath enabled that number which hee hath deputed for this building how can any man thinke that hee is a fit and kindly builder except hee be of that number whom Christ hath thus enabled The gifts which Christ gave are those that should perfect the Saints fulfill the worke of the Ministerie and edifie the body of Christ. Wherefore the Giver of those gifts being gone up on high let men also lift up their eyes on high for those gifts And as the Disciples stayed in Hierusalem untill they were endued with the power of teaching from on high so let men that stay in the lower Academie in their stay earnestly seeke to receive a power from on high Let them not wholly look downward as if from thence they could receive the gifts that are given from above Indeed looking downe they may see the gifts that are come down upon others though not upon themselves and they may pick up the crums that fall from the tables of these Masters and making up these into loaves they may give them to the hungrie But it must needs be confessed that this is a lower kind of abilitie in teaching seeing that which lends to this must needs be the higher the borrower here also being a a servant and therefore inferiour to the lender And it seemes that not so much these as they that received those gifts from on high doe build by these But those that receive gifts from on high either take not all at the second hand but somewhat at the first or if they make use of things formerly taught by the gifts of others they doe as it were quicken and enlive them by their owne gift and so send them forth newly animated by the same Spirit which spake them Yea by this Spirit they often make them not onely to live but to grow to a greater measure of light or heat by enlarging them unto more instruction or kindling them unto a more incentive excitation But if we will yet take a more punctuall notice of the excellencies of this heavenly teaching of Teachers wee may take a more particular survey of some eminent abilities given with the gifts of the highest Teacher A first is a spirituall and divine light given commonly in an eminent and more than ordinarie measure to those that are enabled and taught from above to bee spirituall Teachers God who commanded light to shine out of darknesse shines in their hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glorie of God in the face of Jesus Christ. They receive light that they may turne others from darknesse to light and shew them the way of peace which by this light they have discovered They have an Urim from on high and a spirituall light and sight by which they become eyes to the blind and a light to them that sit in darknesse The great Shepherd of soules and Master of the highest schoole doth not send out from his schoole the blind to guid the blind that both may fall into the ditch but hee makes shining burning lights that they which see them may not onely rejoyce in their light but bee led by it to the enjoying of the supreme soveraigne light in the vision of whom is perfect blessednesse And hee that hath this light hath the key of knowledge by which he can open the mysteries of salvation and discover the counsells of God and see the mind of Christ and find out wonders in Gods Law He pierceth into the inward veine of the word and as it were lets it bloud and causeth to spring from it a floud of doctrine whereas the same word to another that hath not this light seemes like the Rocke whereof it was said Shall I fetch you water out of this Rock And the doctrine flowing from this light of the Spirit is most fit for spirituall building spirituall things being fittest for spiritual because most connatural yea because it flowes from an infused gift in a spirituall sense it may be said to be most naturall and because most naturall most effectuall Secondly from this higher Academie comes that abilitie of teaching which teacheth by doing There is a teaching by word and a teaching by conversation and if this latter be required of women much more of those men who are the Teachers and Fishers of men They that teach by word onely seeme to build with one hand onely they that teach by word and example build with two hands but they that teach by word and destroy by example doe build with one hand and pull downe with the other And certainly if they destroy what they build they are great trespassers and foolish builders St. Paul shewes himselfe a wise Master-builder while hee makes himselfe a patterne of his owne doctrine and being a follower of Christ calls upon his flock to follow him as hee followes Christ. Hee calls upon them to do not only what they have heard but what they have seene in him and see what followes such teaching and such learning The God of peace shall bee with you And this teaching by patterne doth he deliver over to his spirituall posteritie for he calls upon Timothy his son and by him upon his sons sons even all the sons of Timothy to bee a walking Word and a visible Doctrine even a patterne of Beleevers both in word and conversation True it is that the people should doe as the Teachers say and not as they doe when they say Christs spirituall words and doe their owne carnall works But such is the corruption of fallen man-kind both in sight and affection that in sight it rather lookes on outwardly-visible workes than inward invisible and spirituall words and in affâ—ction it is more apt to follow carnall examples than heavenly rules And this being a pestilence wherewith man-kind is apt to bee infected to death how fearefull is it to bring such a plague into a flock But on the contrarie a holy life joyned to sound doctrine is a continuall testimony and martyrdome of the doctrine Such a life commends the doctrine to the beleefe and love of men It perswadeth a possibilitie and sheweth a facilitie of doing it What we see done we thinke may be done and when wee see a patterne before us we doe it much the more easily and perfectly Now