Selected quad for the lemma: knowledge_n
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A51845
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A practical exposition of the Lord's-Prayer by ... Thomas Manton.
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Manton, Thomas, 1620-1677.
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1684
(1684)
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Wing M532; ESTC R30512
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305,803
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534
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his Harness boast himself as he that putteth it off 1 Kings 20. 11. When a Field is won then they will rejoice But a Believer when he goes to fight is sure to have the best of it before-hand in Bello the War though not in Praelio the particular Conflict Why Because the Father and Jesus Christ are stronger than all his Enemies they cannot pluck the Believer out of his Hands John 10. 28 29. I give to them Eternal Life and they shall never perish neither shall any pluck them out of my Father's Hand My Father which gave them me is greater than all and none is able to pluck them out of my Father's Hand This is the Priviledg which Christ conferreth upon his Sheep upon those which have an Interest in him tho they have many shakings and tossings in their Condition yet their final perseverance is certain Christ is so unchangeable in the purposes of his Love I will give to them Eternal Life and so invincible in the Power of his Grace None shall pull them out of my Father's Hand nothing shall be able to hinder their perseverance Now though the Fight be long and troublesom yet this is one of God's Encouragements you are sure of Victory at last Therefore how much doth it concern us to get an Interest in Christ that we may keep on in this Way and in this Hope Secondly Let us be provided and prepared against Temptations And to this end I shall First Give some Directions how to resist Temptations in General Secondly What to do in a special Hour of Temptation which comes upon the World When there are Terrors without and we know not what Evil may be a coming and our Hearts are full of Doubt how we may support and bear up our selves First To direct you as to Temptations in General 1. You must be compleatly armed Ephes. 6. 11. Put on the whole Armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the Wiles of the Devil Not a piece only but the whole Armor of God otherwise you will never come off with Honour and Safety from the Spiritual Conflict The Poets feign of their Achilles that he was vulnerable only in the Heel and there he got his Death's Wound A Christian though he be never so well furnished in other parts yet if any part be left naked you are in danger Our first Parents were wounded in their Heel Who would have thought that they which had such vast knowledg of God and his Creatures that they should be inticed by Appetite And Solomon who had the upper part of his Soul so well guarded that he should be enticed by Women To see Men of great knowledg to be unmortified and miscarry by their sensual Appetite is sad A Christian must have no saving-Grace wanting 2 Pet. 1. 5. Add to your Faith Vertue and to Vertue Knowledg c. There 's all the Graces and they must come out in their turn We need Faith and Vertue Zeal and Holiness and Knowledg to guide it and Patience to arm it against the Troubles of the present Life and we need Temperance to moderate our Affections to our worldly Enjoyments and Godliness that we may be frequent in communion with God and Brotherly-kindness that we may preserve Peace among our Brethren and may not make Fractions and Ruptures in the Church and we need Charity that we may be useful to all that are about us There is use and work for all Graces one time or other Sometimes we shall be tempted to a neglect of God at other times we shall be tempted to make a breach upon Brotherly-kindness at other times there will be a breach of Charity Sometimes the Devil seeks to tempt us to fleshly wickedness therefore we need Temperance sometimes to spiritual Wickedness to Error therefore we need Knowledg sometimes to raging with despair then we need Faith We need the whole Armour of God for Satan hath his various ways of Battery and Assault sometimes through Ignorance we miscarry and run into Error sometimes for want of Faith we run into Despair and Discomfort sometimes for want of Temperance violent corrupt Lusts over-set the Soul 2. We must often pray to God for renewed Influences we must not only get habits of Grace but pray for a renewed Influence It is notable next to the Spiritual Armour the Apostle mentioneth Prayer Ephes. 6. 18. Praying always with all Prayer and Supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all Perseverance We never receive so much from God upon Earth as to stand in need of no more And therefore though you put on the whole Armour of God yet praying always with all supplication in the Spirit Why Because without the Lord 's special Assistance whereby he actuates those Graces we can never defend our selves nor offend the Adversaries or do any thing to purpose in the Spiritual Life Strength of Grace inherent will not bear us out against new Assaults Habitual Grace it needs Actual Influence partly that these Graces may be applied and excited to work Phil. 2. 13. He giveth to will and to do God giveth to do that is excites that strength you have and carrieth it out to work and then that it may be directed in work 2 Thess. 3. 5. And the Lord direct your Hearts into the Love of God and into the patient waiting for Christ. Every time we would make use of the Helmet of Salvation when we would lift up the Head and wait for the Mercy of God the Lord direct you we must be directed And not only so but that it may be supplied with new strength for it is said Isa. 40. 29. He giveth Power to the faint and to them that have no Power he increaseth strength And he doth continue it Luke 22. 32. I have prayed for thee that thy Faith fail not Thus will God keep us in dependance for those liberal Aids and constant Supplies of his Grace without which we cannot use the Grace that we have 3. You must resist 1 Pet. 5. 9. Whom resist stedfast in the Faith James 4. 7. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you Stand your Ground and then Satan falls In all those Assaults Satan hath only Weapons Offensive as fiery Darts none Defensive We have not only the Sword of the Spirit which is an Offensive Weapon but the Shield of Faith that 's a Defensive piece of Armour Therefore your Safety lieth in resisting Now this Resistance must be 1. Not faint and cold but strong and vehement 2. Thorow and total 3. Constant and perpetual 1. Not faint and cold Some kind of Resistance may be made by general and common Grace The Light of Nature will rise up in defiance of many Sins especially at first but this must be earnest and vehement it is against the Enemies of your Soul Paul's Resistance was with serious Dislikes and deep Groans Rom. 7. 15. 24. The Evil that I hate And O wretched Man how shall I be delivered In
better security to their worldly Interests than possibly thorow Christians could have Now to avoid both these the Apostle when he presseth Christians to all those Graces which are necessary he presseth them to Temperance and Patience 2 Pet. 1. 5 6. Add to Knowledg Temperance and to Temperance Patience Both these are Armor of Proof against worldly Temptations Temperance against the Delights and Patience against the Evils and Troubles of the World It was never yet so well with the World but that Christians those that are so in good earnest that mean to go to Heaven and keep a good Conscience will be assaulted on both sides 6. That there is no avoiding either of these Snares and Temptations as long as any Carnal Affection remaineth unmortified For until a Man be dead to worldly Comforts and hardned against worldly Sorrows he doth but lye naked and open to Satan 1 Tim. 6. 9. He that will be rich falls into Temptation and a Snare And what is said of Riches the same is true of Pleasure he that is vehemently addicted that way will soon come to put God out of the Throne and make his Belly and his Pleasure his God 2 Tim. 3. 4. Lovers of Pleasures more than Lovers of God Any Lust that is cherished and indulged will betray us As for Honour John 5. 44. How can ye believe which receive Honour one of another and seek not the Honour that cometh from God only True Faith cannot be planted in that Heart that is not purified until there be a prevailing Interest established for Christ over all Carnal Affections Grace bears no sway in us and hath no power over us The ambition and love of respect from Men will necessarily make us unsound in the profession of Godliness Well then it stands us upon to allow and cherish no secret Sin but to observe what are the tender parts of our Hearts or which way our Corruptions lie where subjection to God is most apt to stick with us Psal. 119. 133. Order my Steps in thy Word and let not any Iniquity have dominion over me Though we seem to have a Zeal in other things yet if one Lust be indulged we shall soon swerve from our Duty True Obedience to God is inconsistent with the Dominion of any one Lust or corrupt Affection I say though a Man out of some slender and insufficient touch of Religion upon his Heart may go right for a while and do many things gladly yet that corruption which is indulged and under the power of which a Man lieth will at length draw him off from God and therefore no one Sin should have dominion over us When doth Sin reign or have dominion over us When we do not endeavour to mortify it and to cut off the Provisions that may feed that Lust. Chrysostom's Observation is The Apostle doth not say Let it not tyrannize over you but let it not reign over you that is when you suffer it to have a quiet Reign in your Hearts 7. The more we sin upon the meer impulsion of the Flesh and without an external Temptation the more hainous is our Offence for then the Heart is carried of its own accord to sin Ezek. 16. 33 34. They give Gifts to all Whores but thou givest thy Gifts to all thy Lovers and hirest them that they may come unto thee for thy Whoredoms And the contrary is in thee from other Women in thy Whoredoms whereas none followeth thee to commit Whoredoms and in that thou givest a Reward and no Reward is given unto thee therefore thou art contrary These are Expressions to set forth their Idolatry But that which is intended there is this That they were not desired or solicited but meerly carried to sin by their own proper Motion which exceedingly aggravateth Sin Why for then it is a sign the Heart is carried of its own accord by its own weight as a heavy Body is moved downward not by the impression of outward Force but by its own natural propension Now when do Men thus meerly sin upon the impulsions of the Flesh I 'le instance in three Cases 1. When the Temptation is so small and inconsiderable that it should not sway with any reasonable Man It is said in Amos 2. 6. They sold the Poor for a pair of Shoes And for a piece of Bread will that Man transgress Prov. 28. 21. When Pleasure and Profit is so inconsiderable as that it could not rationally make up a Temptation then Men sin meerly upon the Corruptions of their own Flesh. When the Devil hath to do with great Souls such as Christ was he propounds the Glory of all the World Mat. 4. O! but a lesser price will serve the turn with those that are deeply engaged already that are byassed with their own propension for instance a little ease and carnal satisfaction a slothful Humour is enough to take them off from the sweetness of Communion with God and the pleasure and contentment that they might enjoy with him in holy Exercises Look as in general it is a great aggravation of all Sin that for such paltry Trifles we turn the back upon God and his Grace all Sinners do so they part with all their Hopes by Christ for a Mess of Pottage for a little present Pleasure that 's prophaneness indeed Heb. 12. 16. So in particular things when the smallest Temptation seems to be strong enough to draw off our Hearts from our Duty to bring us to a Sin of Omission when it is needful to go and converse with God in secret a little ease and sloth hangs upon us and we cannot shake it off or when we are drawn to a Sin of Commission by an inconsiderable Matter by the smallest worldly Interest as can be mentioned for a piece of Bread and a pair of Shoes 2. When Men tempt themselves or provoke Satan to tempt them As those which make provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof Rom. 13. 14. that cater for their Lusts and contrive how to feed them and how to cherish those inordinate Affections in their Hearts that run into the Devil's Quarters that bespeak a Temptation or as it is Iames 5. 5. That nourish their Hearts as in a day of slaughter To nourish our Hearts is to feed our Lusts to put strength into the Enemy's Hand When a Commander sent to his Prince to know how he should keep such a rebellious Town in order He sent him this Answer That he should starve the Dog and strengthen the Clog that he should weaken the City and strengthen the Garison that was his meaning Truly what was his advice in that outward Case that 's the Duty of a Christian to weaken his Lusts and still to be strengthning Grace He should be increasing the better Part and putting the Spirit in heart by godly Exercises by treasuring up Promises getting Arguments and fresh Encouragements against Sin and by weakning the Flesh starving and cutting off Provisions for the Flesh. But on