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	heart_n	shine_v	3,010	5	9.0570	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A15447	Seuen goulden candlestickes houlding the seauen greatest lights of Christian religion shewing vnto all men what they should beleeue, & how they ought to walke in this life, that they may attayne vnto eternall life. By Gr: Williams Doctor of Divinity	Williams, Gryffith, 1589?-1672.; Delaram, Francis, 1589 or 90-1627, engraver.	1624 (1624)	STC 25719; ESTC S120026	710,322	935

Praesbyt Iob 28.24 and his being vnconceiuable saith Thalassus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For he is euery where and he seeth euery thing when as nothing can see him Ob. But here it may be some will say that although now by reason of sinne that blindeth vs we can neither see his Essence nor comprehend his excellency Cor. 15.53 yet when this corruption shall put on incorruption and this vaile of ignorance shall be taken from vs we shall fully see him and comprehend him in his excellency 1 Cor. 13.12 for we shall see him face to face we shall see him as he is and we shall know him as we are knowne And therefore he is neither so inuisible nor so incomprehensible but that hee might bee seene and comprehended were it not for our sinnes and ignorance that doe so blinde our vnderstandings that we cannot perceiue him Sol. That the Essence of God shall not be seene in Heauen but in the face of Iesus Christ To this I answere that if Adam had neuer sinned yet could he neuer haue seene the essence of God vnlesse God would haue taken some visible shape vpon him to appeare vnto him and so I say that in the life to come when the Saints shall be free from all sin and indued with a farre more excellent measure of knowledge and vnderstanding then euer Adam was in Paradise they shall neuer see the Dietie any otherwise then in the face of Iesus Christ for so the Apostle sheweth that God who commanded the light to shine out of darkenesse hath shined in our hearts 2 Cor. 4.6 to giue the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Iesus Christ Iohn 14.7 9. 10. v. And our Sauiour himselfe more plainely saith when Philip desired to see the Father He that knoweth me knoweth the Father and hee that seeth me seeth the Father because I am in the Father and the Father in me And therefore I say that Visio Dei beatifica The blessed fruition of the Godhead which the Saints shall haue in Heauen shall bee no otherwise reueiled vnto vs then in the face of the Man Iesus Christ because the Deitie considered in it selfe Inhabitat lucem inaccessibilem 1 Tim. 6.16 dwelleth in the light that no man can attaine vnto And so you see the occasion of these words that God hauing told Moses he could neither see his Essence nor yet fully vnderstand his Excellency he would notwithstanding so farre satisfie his desire as to shew him all that he could possibly comprehend viz. that he was Iehoua Iehoua strong mercifull and gracious c. Et sic condescendit nobis Deus vt nos consurgamus ei And thus God doth most graciously condescend and make himselfe knowne to man that man might ascend and as much as possibly lyeth in him know his God In all this Diuine description of Almighty God The diuision of the Text. I find these two especiall things set downe 1. Quid est 2. Qualis est Deus i. e. 1. What God is and 2. What manner of God he is And in the handling of these two points I shall by Gods helpe spend and finish this whole Treatise CHAP I. Of the description of God how he maybe knowne what he is Part. 1. and of this speciall Name IEHOVA TOuching the first Part Danda imprimis opera est vt Deum noscamus quotquot faelices esse volumus It must be the chiefest care of all that would bee happy to know God which is the chiefest happinesse of all for to feare God and to keepe his Commandments Hoc est omnis homo This is the dutie and this is the felicity of euery man Bernard At non potes aut amare quem non noueris aut habere quem non amaueris But thou canst not either loue him whom thou dost not know or imoy him whom thou dost not loue Quia ignoti nulla cupido Because Knowledge is the ground of loue and whom we loue not we can neither seeke any helpe from him nor yet render any seruice to him Iohn 17 3. and therefore our Sauiour saith that this is eternall life to know him to be the onely true God and whom he hath sent Iesus Christ And this is the reason why so many thousands shall be destroyed 2 Thess 1.8 because they know not God And this the very Heathens perceiued though they could not attaine it when among all their Precepts this was their chiefest lesson 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Know God That there are three wayes of knowing God Now we must vnderstand that there are three wayes of knowing God I speake not of that knowledge which the Booke of Nature teacheth for that is too small to make vs happy but of that which we doe collect out of the Booke of God and those according to the Schooles are these Exod. 23.19.20.23 The first is according to that which he is in himselfe whereby he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnspeakeable infinite and incomprehensible and thus none knoweth God but God himselfe and the reason hereof is that although Nihil magis intelligibile quam Deus Nothing of his owne nature is more intelligible then God because he is the first Zanch. de nat Dei l 3. c. 2. p. 199. the perfectest and the truest being most pure and simple and free from any matter yet is our vnderstanding towards God but as the eyes of the Owles or Reremouse which are not able to behold the brightnesse of the Sunne and therefore thus if we seeke to know him That we are not able to know God as he is in himselfe wee shall be but like Symonides that being commanded by the Emperour to tell him what God was demanded three dayes respite for to resolue so great a quaere and when hee came hee required sixe dayes more and being therefore asked why he prolonged so the time and thereby so deluded him he ingeniously answered because the more I search into him the further I finde my selfe from attaining to him And therefore in this respect we should Sapere ad sobrietatem Bee wise vnto sobriety and not curiously search into his ineffable Maiestie but rather with the Cherubims to couer our faces with two of our Wings Esay 6.2 because we are not able to know him as he is The second is according to that which may be knowne of vs and may be any wayes comprehended in our mindes and best vnderstandings And thus we conceiue him to be most admirable but yet by infinite degrees inferior to that which he is in himselfe and therefore we should striue and labour what we can to vnderstand and know him more and more for the more fully that we shall know him the more perfectly we shall loue him and the more perfectly wee loue him the more happinesse wee shall adde vnto our owne felicity The third is according to that which may be

all the faculties of the soule Our will is guided by our iudgement saue onely the vegetatiue as Nyssenus saith yet of it selfe it hath no light but is inlightned by the reason iudgement of the vnderstanding Viues l. de anima And therefore actus voluntatis à voluntate producitur sed à ratione suadetur The Act of the will is produced by the will but it is induced and moued by the reason saith Viues And therefore if the vnderstanding be darkened Matth 15.14 it is no maruell that the will should be corrupted for if the lame will carry and command the blinde vnderstanding and the blinde reason doe leade and guide the lame will then are both like to fall into the Ditch Of the perfection of Adams vnderstanding But though the vnderstanding of Adam in Paradice was so perfect that he knew his God which made him his wife to be bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh though hee neuer saw her before and all the other creatures so well that at the first sight he was able to giue them names agreeable to their natures Gen. 2.20.23 yet now the vnderstanding of all men i● so blinded that it cannot see the light of any Diuine truth How our vnderstanding is now darkened through sinne Peccatum enim tenebrae for sinne is as the blacknesse of darknesse and as a deepe dungeon wherein there is no light and all sinnes are called the workes of darkenesse not onely because they are done in darkenesse or at least desired to be kept secret but also because they are the workes of them whose vnderstandings are so darkned that they cannot perceiue the excellency of the Grace of God Rom 13.12.13 but doe thinke all the mysteries of our faith to be not onely mirabilia strange and wonderfull but also incredibilia impossible and incredible and therefore whatsoeuer we doe say of grace and of spirituall things Ephes 5.8 they are but foolishnesse vnto them for as in the night time when there is no light a bush seemes a man and a man a beast and we iudge Lead to be siluer Brasse Gold and Gold no better then Copper So those men qui sordide viuunt Chrysost hom 4. in Iohn which do loue liue in iniquity can no wayes vnderstand the excellency of piety saith Saint Chrysostome And therefore sinne brought this infirmitie vpon vs to bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Darkned in our vnderstandings and our fathers affected-knowledge of good and euill brought inflicted ignorance of all good vpon all his children for as we reade of a certaine Widdow Ephes 4 1● that desiring to see better then she did had her eyes so cunningly closed by a subtle and a false Physition that while she hoped for a greater measure of sight How Adam by affecting knowledge brought ignorance vp-all his posterity he stole away all the treasure that she had and then hauing her eyes opened and seeing how shee was cozened shee worthily complained that she saw worse then euer she did before So Adam desiring to know much and to see better then he did before became indeed to know iust nothing and to see himselfe in a farre worser state then euer he was before for God is light and in him there is no darknesse at all and therefore falling away from God wee are depriued of all light 1 John 1.5 and are plunged into the place of vtter darkenesse Iohn 12.35 and therefore as he that walketh in darknesse knoweth not where he goeth so we being separated from God wee know not what is truth we know not what is good And the Philosophers themselues the seekers and searcher● after Knowledge did finde to their endlesse griefe The Philosophers saw and professed the blindnesse of all men that when they had turned their strength into weaknesse their marrow into drynesse and their colour into palenesse by their continuall watchings and indefessed vnwearied studies and musing to get knowledge they attained at length to no more but hoc vnum scire se nihil scire to know this one thing that they knew iust nothing And as our Sauiour said to Nicodemus in the like case if they could not attaine to the knowledge of earthly things Iohn 3.12 how should they vnderstand heauenly things For although the vnderstanding which Nazianzene calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the eye and lampe of reas●n should be exceeding sharpe to discerne the alterations of the skyes to enter into the secrets of nature How sharpe our vnderstanding is in natural things to reach vnto the height of heauen and the deepnesse of Hell it selfe yet in things concerning God he could reach no further then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such points as might be manifested by demonstration as Saint Clement speaketh For if we talke of Christs conception by the holy Ghost How blockish euery man is naturally in the mysteries of our Faith without the helpe of man of his birth of a pure Virgin without breach or impeachment of her Virginitie of his Death as the Sonne of God personally vnderstood for otherwise the Diuine Nature is impassible and so of his resurrection as hee is the Sonne of Man and of the resurrection of all flesh at the last day and such li●● Mysteries of our Faith then both the wise Grecians euen all the Schoole of Athens and the foolish Iewes euen all the whole ranke of Rabbies will count each point 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a fained thing cry out with the Athenians Act. 17.18 What will these bablers say for as the eye of man saith S. Augustine being either blinde or pur-blinde cannot presently discerne the cleerest obiect euen so saith he Animus pollutus aut mens turbata deum presentem videre non potest the minde that is distracted with worldly cares or the soule that is polluted with filthy sinne can neither vnderstand God nor godlinesse And therefore Moses saith that all the imaginations of the thoughts of mans heart were onely euill continually Gen. 6.5 Tit. 1 15. Rom. 8.6 and Saint Paul saith that our very mindes are defiled and our wisedomes death but if the light that is in thee be darkenesse how great is that darkenesse if our mindes and vnderstandings be thus blinded and defiled through sinne in what case shall the other faculties of the soule be What an excellent facultie the memory is Sabel l. 10. c. 9. Exemp de memor Thirdly for the memory It is a faculty qua repetit animus quae fuerunt Whereby the soule retaineth as it were in her sight and knowledge all the things that are past Et hoc nil sanctius nil vtilius homini dedit Deus and it is the best and most excellent gift that God bestowed on man saith Sabellicus for this is the Treasurer of all Learning and the Keeper of all those Arts and Knowledge which by great study and labour we haue

people and say hearing yee shall heare and shall not vnderstand and seeing yee shall see and not perceiue Acts 28.25 26. and therefore our Sauiour biddeth vs to goe and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost But it is obiected as Nazianzen saith that he is no where called God but the holy Ghost or the spirit of God Nazian orat 5. de Theol. and therefore he is not God I answer briefely that this is false for Saint Peter said vnto Ananias why hath Satan filled thy heart Acts 5.3.4 to lye to the holy Ghost thou hast not lied vnto men but vnto God And therefore seing the spirit of God created all things and being created preserued them as Moses sheweth Gen. 1.2 the spirit of God moued vpon the waters i. e. to cherish and to retayne them together and now in like manner hee sanctifieth and preserueth vs as Melancthon sheweth in that godly wish which he maketh Spiritus vt Domini nascentia corpora fouit cum manus artificis couderat ipsa Dei Sic foueat caetus qui Christi oracula discunt accendatque igni pectora nostra suo And especially seeing that the holy Scripture doth more plainely testifie the same almost in euery place wee say that the name of the Holy Ghost is first taken for the Essence of God Secondly The name of the Holy Ghost is taken for the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost as where the Prophet saith Take not thy holy spirit from me Psal 51.11 2 Cor. 13.5 and where the Apostle saith Know you not that Iesus Christ is in you except you be reprobates And againe Rom. 8.9 you are not in the flesh but in the spirit if the spirit of God dwell in you and so when it is said that they were all filled with the Holy Ghost we must vnderstand it of the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost And these gifts and graces of Gods Spirit are excellently deciphered and set downe vnto vs vnder the properties and conditions of those formes and figures wherein the Holy Ghost did appeare vnto vs and that is if I doe rightly collect them three speciall times The Spirit of God appeared in the likenesse of fiue speciall things First vnto the Israelites 1. In a pillar of cloud by day 2. In a pillar of fire by night Secondly at the Baptisme of Christ he descended vpon him like a Doue Thirdly At the day of Pentecost he appeared 1. Like the rushing of a mighty winde 2. Like clouen tongues of fire First like a cloud First He appeared in a pillar of cloud to shew vnto vs that as the cloud betokeneth 1. A shadowing from heate 2. A sending downe of raine As 1 King 18.45 the Heauens were blacke with cloudes and windes and there was a great raine so the Spirit of God doth ouershadow vs from the heate of the wrath of God it cooleth and refresheth our scorched soules and as the raine maketh the barren earth fertile and fruitfull In what r●spect the holy Ghost is like vnto waters so doth the graces of Gods spirit make our barren hearts plentifull in all good workes for the Holy Ghost in many places is compared vnto water because that as water 1. Mollifieth the hard earth 2. Fructifieth the barren ground 3. Quencheth the greatest heate 4. Cleanseth the foulest things and so forth So doth the Spirit of God In what respect the Holy Ghost is like vnto water 1. Soften our hard hearts 2. Fructifie our barren soules 3. Quench the heate of lust 4. Clense vs from all our sinnes And so make vs to become fit temples for himselfe to remaine in vs. Secondly He appeared in a pillar of fire Secondly like fire to shew his consubstantiality with the Father and the Sonne saith Nazianzen because God is fire and so appeared in the fiery bush from whence it may be came that custome among the Chaldeans which afterward spread it selfe among many other Nations of the Gentiles to worship the fire for their God whereas indeed they should haue worshipped that God which is fire and did appeare like fire to teach vs that as the fire hath in it saith Oecumenius 1. Calorem 2. Splendorem 3. Motionem 1. Heate to warme mollifie and purifie In what respects the Holy Ghost is like vnto fire 2. Splendor to giue light and to illuminate 3. Motion to be alwayes working Euen so the Spirit of God First Warmeth and heateth the hearts of the godly with a feruent and a fiery zeale of all godlinesse he mollifieth their hard and stony hearts and it consumeth all the drossie substance of sinne and so purifieth their soules from all wickednesse Secondly Iohn 6.13 He illuminateth their hearts with the knowledge of God for he bringeth them into all truth and he maketh their light to shine before men that they seeing their good workes Mat. 5.16 doe glorifie their Father which is in Heauen Thirdly He maketh them alwayes to be in action and neuer idle but as it is said of Christ euer going about doing good Thirdly He appeared like a Doue Thirdly like a Doue when he descended vpon our Sauiour Christ at his Baptisme first because as Bonauenture saith he came not then to strike our sinnes by the zeale of his fury but to beare them and to take them away through the meekenesse of his Passion but on the other side Greg. hom 30. in Euang. hee descended vpon the Apostles like fire because in these which were simply men and therefore sinners he would kindle a spirituall feruency against themselues and cause them to punish those sinnes in themselues by repentance which God had pardoned vnto them through his mercy and secondly he descended on Christ like a harmelesse Doue and not like vnto tongues of fire because Christ was not to be taught Cyrillus hierosol Catech. 7. which is signified by the tongues for his lippes were full of grace nor to be sorrowfull for his sinnes which is signified by the fire because in him there was no sinne but his Doue-like properties were to be shewed that hee was innocent Iohn 1.29 meeke and lowly in heart for as of all the beasts of the field the little silly Lambe is in most respects best qualified and therefore is Christ called the Lambe of God which taketh away the sinne of the world In what respect the Holy Ghost is like a Doue so of all the fowles of Heauen the Doue in most respects is most excellent for she is annunciator pacis the messenger and proclaimer of peace shee brought the Oliue branch vnto Noah she wanteth gall she hath no bitternesse in her she neuer hurts with her bill nor clawes she is full of loue and yet she neuer sings any wanton tune but woo woo is her matutinus vespertinus cantus her mournfull morning and euening song and