Selected quad for the lemma: knowledge_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
knowledge_n	darkness_n	glory_n	shine_v	2,497	5	9.0823	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61463	A thanksgiving sermon preach'd before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, Court of Aldermen, sheriffs, and companies of the city of London at St. Mary-le-bow, April 16, 1696, upon occassion of His Majesty's deliverence from a villanous assassination in order to a French invasion by William Stephens ...	Stephens, William, d. 1718.	1696 (1696)	Wing S5465; ESTC R14197	18,938	34

his Judgment in order to prepare that great City to prevent its actual falling upon them fled to Tarshish which lay the contrary way to that which he was ordered to take Yet instead of a severe punishment God gave him a miraculous preservation and after that confirm'd him in his Prophetical Office Jona 3.1.2 For we read that the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time saying arise go unto Ninive that great City and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee And in this respect Jesus Christ shewed himself to be the express Image of the Father when with a steady resolution he endured so great a contradiction of Sinners which tho' it rendred him a man of Sorrows yet could never hinder him from shewing compassion to those who were the causes of his sufferings When he was led as a Lamb to the slaughter Isa 53.7 he was dumb as a sheep before her shearers and opened not his Mouth unless it were to recommend his Enemies to God's mercy In which prayer he ended his controversie with them together with his Life Father forgive them Luk. 23.34 for they know not what they do If we consider the particular Controversies which Christ had with two of his Disciples Peter and Thomas they were soon compromized by his gracious condescentions Thrice Peter had deny'd his Master who after that confirm'd him in his Apostolick Function by a threefold Benediction And tho' Thomas was so obstinately prejudiced against the belief of Christ's Resurrection that he would give no credit to the Relation of his Fellow-disciples whose probity was so well known to him but he must be convinced by his senses alone he must feel out the Article of the Resurrection in the Side of his Master Joh. 20.25 for thus he saith Except I see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side I will not believe Yet in this case our Saviour condescended to satisfie his unbelieving Disciple in his own way Reach hither saith he thy finger v. 27. and behold my hands and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side And be not faithless but believing The 2d Reason which recommends Charity to rule our Hearts and direct our Judgments is the consideration of our own selves with relation to the lapsed state of our Nature which is so prone to evil that we dare not suffer our Actions to be tried in a Court of strict Justice But we always find it necessary to appeal to Equity and a favourable Construction Do we not find recorded in Holy Writ not only the slips and failures but gross faults committed by men of high Characters So that the man after God's own heart might have reason to say with relation to men as well as God if they should mark wherein he had done amiss he could not be able to abide their judgment And let any man examine the state of his own soul and he will find reason enough to condemn himself He who seeth a Mote in his Brother's Eye if he would look homewards might discern a Beam in his own Rom. 2.1 and therefore saith St. Paul thou art inexcusable O man that judgest for wherein thou judgest another thou condemnest thy self for thou that judgest dost the same things Nay in all respects we may say we do the same thing to far forth as God is concerned in the sins of men For tho' one sinneth against the Laws of Justice another against the Rules of Charity a third against Sobriety yet they all shew the same disrespect to God's Authority They are all guity of the same Ingratitude to God who hath laid strong obligations on them all to duty and of the same Infidelity with regard to the terrors of the Law and rich Promises of the Gospel Where is the man who would be contented to have a Window into his Breast Why then does any man by being a severe Critick upon his Brother tempt him to judge as severely as he has been judged and to pay back that hard measure which was meeted out to him But this consideration ought to be improved further from the common deficiency found in our Intellectuals as well as Morals whereby we are rendred insufficient to pass strict judgment on the ways of others especially since we are utter strangers to their Hearts from whence the springs of all actions arise As to outward Circumstances Satan may appear as an Angel of Light whilst the true Children of Light seem as the filth of the world 1 Cor. 4.13 and the off-scouring of all things 'T is hard for man throly to discern even his own heart and if we judge by outward appearance we are not likely to judge righteous unless it be likewise charitable judgment But how various are the sizes of human Capacities and the shapes of our formed and lashioned understandings Not one man's Mind any more than Face perfectly resembling another in all its Lines and Features And yet the weaker Capacity will most commonly be judging the stronger as if the smaller measure could comprehend the greater And altho' God hath been pleased to reveal his Wisdom to men tho' he who hath commanded the light to shine out of darkness 2 Cor. 4.6.7 hath shined in our hearts to give the enlightning knowledge of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ as St. Paul speaketh yet he telleth us that we have this knowledge in earthen vessels Subject to many frailties besides the ill tincture of the earth which contains it What strong and almost invincible prejudices are mixed even with our knowledge of God and his Son Christ Jesus the various Sects of Christians sufficiently set forth How easily do prejudices arise from the custom of the place where we live the examples of those we converse with the admiration we have for mens persons from the byas of affection towards some and aversion to others according to the real or imaginary good or ill turns they have done us what various forms and different shapes doth Education give to our common Christianity so that the very Sheep of Christ do not so much as know one another but one part of the Flock shall flie from the other Now all their strict and rigorous censures against one another can never be just and generally none of those severe judgments are so And ought therefore give place to the favourable construction of Charity and suffer the peace of God to bear Rule The 3d Consideration which recommends Charity as the the best Chancery to end all differences amongst Christians is the extraordinary Felicity of this Court of Equity Because 1. it gives the quickest dispatch to business And 2. it decideth all Controversies to the mutual satisfaction of both parties As to the first of these Charity cutteth off all occasions of delay it admits no Demurrers Rejoynders and Rebutters Charity insisteth not upon