Selected quad for the lemma: knowledge_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
knowledge_n	jesus_n	patience_n	temperance_n	1,484	5	11.2902	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A25829	A tryall of faith, or, The woman of Canaan on Math. 15, 21, 22, 23, 24 : together with the souls sure anchor-hold, on Heb. 6, 19 : with the wisdome of timely remembring our creator, on Eccles. 12, 1 : in severall sermons / by Timothy Armitage.	Armitage, Timothy, d. 1655.	1661 (1661)	Wing A3704; ESTC R26657	267,236	470

Christ when God hath discovered the mysterie of Christ to thee and in some measure hath drawn thy heart and made thee to lye at the feet of Christ for life and salvation and for faith to believe in him be diligent to make the best improvement of Christ Improve Christ for holiness and sanctification if thou desirest to have Election made out to thee improve Christ for holiness The Apostle 2 Pet. 1. 5. exhorteth them to this Giving all diligence adde to your faith vertue and to vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and so he goes on and then follows at vers 10. Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure for if you do these things you shall never fall In this way give diligence to make your Election sure improve Christ for holiness for grace for strength for more strength be diligent in waiting upon the Lord for the carrying on the work of holiness let Christians endeavour to be continually in the exercise of grace and in the performance of every duty that the Lord calls them to adde grace to grace and wait upon Christ that one degree of grace may be added to another knowledge to knowledge faith to faith temperance to temperance truly it is in this way that God comes in with discoveries of electing love I do not say it is for your diligence and for your improvement of Christ and adding grace to grace but this is the way when the Lord doth enable his people to be thus faithful and diligent in the improvement of Christ and in the exercise of grace and performance of duty to God and man God comes in that way and giveth a soul a more clear discovery of his electing love Fourthly Desire the Lord to set a heavenly Byass upon your spirits if you desire to have your Election cleared and made sure take heed of an earthly heart and O! Look up to God earnestly that he would set a heavenly Byass upon your spirits that you may be able to say Our conversation is in heaven our heart is there from whence we look for a Saviour we groan to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven Truly Brethren if we look too much downward if we be grubling below and be writing upon the dust we shall hardly see what is written in heaven Though your names may be written in heaven O! the looking too much upon this world keepeth many a Christian from seeing his name written in heaven What pains will Astrologers and Star-gazers as the Scripture calls them take to see into the second heaven the starry heaven How often will they look up And how long will they look up to see as they pretend what is written there what is the language of the Stars And O! What a shame is it to Christians that we should look up no oftner and no longer into the third heaven that we may see our names written there Truly Brethren it is no easie matter for a Christian to see his name written in heaven though his name may be written there we shall hardly see it if our hearts be not much there and our conversations much there we use to say if children look off their Books they will never learn their Lessons well Truly if we look so much on the world and so little into heaven we shall hardly learn to read our names written in heaven But when as the Lord sees that his people are desirous to have their thoughts in heaven and their conversations in heaven the Lord will come and say to that soul well I see that thine eye is in heaven and thy heart in heaven know for thy comfort that thy name also is in heaven thy God is in heaven thy Christ is in heaven and thy portion is in heaven O! Beg of God that he would clap a heavenly byass upon your spirits Fifthly Take heed of sinning against the Lord take heed of giving way to any sin as you desire to have your election cleared up to you take heed of turning out into any crooked way Let not Christians give way to themselves nor allow themselves in any way of evil You know what the Apostle saith in 2 Tim. 2. 19. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure having this Seal the Lord knoweth them that are his And let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity The Lord knoweth them that are his Ah! but would you know your selves to be in that number Take heed that you do not give way to any sin do not allow your selves in any way of sin be not found in any way of iniquity every sin that is allowed it will cast a blot upon your Evidence and you shall not be able to read it This is the first Use unto those that have not God's electing love cleared up to them there is a necessity that every soul should give all diligence to have their Election made sure it is matter of infinite concernment and you have been taught in what way to wait upon God to make your Election sure The second Use is to those that have attained to the knowledge of God's electing love And it calls upon them First To be Thankful Secondly To labour to walk worthy of so great a mercy First To be Thankful O consider that it is the free love and the free grace of God that did make the difference between you and others Is there not cause then of Thankfulness You were no better then the worst in the world no better then those that are cast out of God's sight into utter darkness there is as much evil in our hearts as in Judas his heart that betrayed Christ O! It is free grace that hath put a difference if God hath made known to you that he hath chosen you know that it is free grace that hath put the difference O! Rich grace free grace that God should take you and leave another as deserving as you O it is free grace And that we may be stirred up to Thankfulness consider that all the mercies that ever you do enjoy or hope for spring from this Electing love O! What cause have you to admire this love Electing love it was a fruitful wombe all your mercies lay in it your comforts they all spring from it if the Lord had not given you his love from eternity he had never given you Christ as he did he had not given you the knowledg of Christ All the mercies and comforts that you do enjoy do spring from this love if it had not been for this love you had never known what pardon of sin had been you had never known what peace with God had been what a mercy it is to be reconciled to God your present mercies they all lye in this womb of God's Electing love O! what an engagement is this to Thankfulness Secondly Walk worthy of this love Christians you that see your Interest in

God for God doth no wrong to the creature if he doth love one and not another And it is a strange thing that we in our carnall reason will abridge God of that which we will take to our selves and that is to love where he please if you love one more then another you are not bound to give any account of it and men take a liberty to bestow gifts upon one and not upon another And let not us bind the Lord from that which we will take to our selves to love one and not another And truly if we doe not rest in the good pleasure of God in this we shall but disquiet our spirits and meet with no satisfaction Againe Gods people may be tempted concerning their Relations their children Oh many Parents have many thoughts whether God loves their children or no and whether their children be chosen of God from eternity and especially at some times As when God comes to take away children by death then the temptation sets upon but especially when children goe on in the wayes of sin Parents they pray and wait and they see no fruit but still they goe on in the wayes of sin It may be the Parents dye and leave their children going on in sin and see not the fruit of Gods electing love nor the fruit of Covenant mercy then this proves a sore temptation to them Now to silence this temptation know that there is no beleeving Parent but he may have hope of his children even of all his children while they are young before growne up to renounce the Covenant If God take away any of your children young no Parent but may have hope concerning his children in the Covenant made to beleeving Parents I say they may have hope the Covenant of God will relieve in such a case Ah but when children doe grow up and Parents see that they walke in wayes that are evill and are contrary to God and are far from God yet believing parents may believe that notwithstanding that they may belong to God I say notwithstanding for the present they are far from God and walke contrary to the Lord yet they may be known to the Lord and in his due time he may bring them in And Parents should not give over the use of the meanes and though Parents should wait all their dayes and pray and plead the Covenant and desire to see the fruit of Gods Covenant and should not see it believers they may dye in hope the Lord he may bring in Prodigall children the Lord he may doe them good afterward when you are dead and gone he may bring some of your good counsells and exhortations to their remembrance he may afterward when you lye in the dust bring to remembrance some of your words and may make them work powerfully upon their hearts Believing Parents may still dye in hope though they see not the fruit of the Covenant though their children may be at a great distance from God the Lord may bring them in and you meet with them with comfort at the last day There is one Temptation more concerning others which I shall but touch and that is this Is not the Gospel Preached to all and are not all commanded to believe and is it not declared that whosoever doth believe shall be saved whatsoever man or woman in the World doth believe shall be saved yea doth not the Scripture say that God would have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth The soul may thus reason with it selfe how can this stand with Gods purpose and decree and election If there be an absolute immutable unchangeable election how can it be declared that whosoever believe in Christ shall be saved whereas if men be not elected they cannot be saved and if elected they shall be saved though they doe not believe Thus the temptation may work I Answer notwithstanding Gods secret purpose the Gospel may and must so be preached and yet there is no deceivablenesse in God nothing but truth and sincerity in God for you must know that we are to walke by the revealed Will of God And all men shall be judged by the revealed Will of God Now what is the revealed Will of God why that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ declaring that whosoever believeth shall be saved And God will certainly make good that word whosoever doth believe shall be saved Never any in the World that came into Christ and believed on his name but was saved Notwithstanding the secret decree and purpose of God and there is no man but may claime life and salvation upon those tearmes on which the Scripture doth hold forth life and salvation and that is beleeving in Jesus Christ Objection But God would have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth why then sure there is no election I Answer That Scripture doth but hold forth what the thing is which is well pleasing to God that men return to the Lord and that they believe in the name of Christ which is the way to salvation this is a thing that is pleasing to the Lord not that God wills it with an effectuall operative will for then it must needs be But it only holds forth what is pleasing to God not that God will bring all men to repentance not that God will worke faith in all men therein God will be left free to his good pleasure he wills it not with an absolute will for then it must needs be Question But you will say what are the Wills of God contrary one to another hath God a will and a will hath God a revealed will that he will have all men to be saved and is his secret will contrary to his revealed will I Answer no Gods wills are not contrary to one another To say God doth delight and it is a thing pleasing to him that men doe believe and return to the Lord and take hold of Christ and to say that God is not pleased to work this in the heart is no contradiction The Gospel declares that this is well pleasing to God that men doe returne to him and believe in Christ and the Gospel doth declare that whosoever doth beleeve shall be saved Now if God should condemne any man that doth beleeve in Christ then God should walk contrary to his will But to say God doth approve of these things they are excellent and so he wills them that is he delights in them and yet to say God is not pleased to work this in every mans heart there is no contradiction And thus we should labour to silence those temptations which our carnall reason may make concerning this great mystery of Gods election you see what temptations Gods people may meet withall concerning the election of others Matth. 15. 24. I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel SERMON XIIII THere are more sore temptations that Gods people may

meet withall concerning their own Election First A poor soul may be thus tempted that it is an impossible thing for it to attaine to the knowledge of Gods love this is a secret this is that which was transacted in Heaven and therefore sure it is not possible for me to attain to the knowledge of this that the Lord hath loved me and hath written my name in the book of life Men may have some good hopes of it but surely saith the temptation it is presumption for any man to think or say he may come to assurance that the Lord hath written his name in the Book of life for there are these two things against it First Secret things belongeth to God Secondly No eye hath seen what is done in Heaven and if eye hath not seen it how shall I attaine to the knowledge of it In Answer to this temptation know and consider that many of the Saints of God hath attained to the knowledge of Gods eternall love and hath risen to this assurance that the Lord hath loved and will love with an everlasting love The Apostle Paul did attaine to it and he gloryes in it yea then when he speaketh in the person of all the Elect of God Rom. 8. 33. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect it is God that justifieth Vers 34. Who is he that condemneth it is Christ that dyed yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us Vers 35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ He stands up to challenge all the world and the powers of darknesse who dare lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect And in the 38. verse see what he further saith For I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor Principallities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come Vers 39. Nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So then you see it is a thing not impossible to attaine to the knowledge of Gods eternall electing love Nay it is laid upon all the Saints as a duty to seek after the knowledge of it 2 Pet. 1. 10. Wherefore the rather brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure for if you doe these things ye shall never fall So then election may be made sure and it is a duty which lyeth upon all believers to strive after that they may make their calling and election sure Now if it be so that this is a thing that may be attained unto and that the Saints hath attained unto and a duty which all the children of God are put upon then certainly this is a temptation and know it is a temptation that it is an impossible thing for any to attaine to the knowledge of Gods electing love But Secondly The second temptation concerning our election may be this a poor soul may be thus tempted it is true there may be the knowledge of Gods love and many of the Saints have attained to this knowledge but as for me I have no certainty I have striven and I have waited upon God and sought for assurance but I have not attained it and therefore I am ready to conclude surely the Lord hath not loved me others sought and they have attained and have assurance I have sought and I cannot meet with assurance of the love of God and therefore certainly the Lord hath not loved me I Answer to this temptation know that thou canst not conclude that God hath not called thee effectually because thou hast not assurance and if thou canst not conclude that God hath not called thee effectually because thou hast not assurance much less canst thou conclude that God hath not chosen thee from eternity because thou hast not assurance But Secondly In answer to this temptation hath not the Lord given thee a heart to close with Christ as held forth in the Gospel to poor lost sinners hath not God made thee willing to accept of Christ hath not the Lord in some measure inabled thee to cleave to Christ and dost now resolve to cast thy self upon Christ to venture all upon Christ even thy eternity why then know here is that which gives the essence the being of faith this accepting of Christ held forth in the Gospel with thy resting upon him it is the being of faith and this faith is no other but the faith of Gods elect the fruit of Gods electing love it springs from that eternall love which chose his people unto salvation through faith and therefore though there be not the comfort of faith assurance is the comfort of faith the flower that grows upon the fruit of faith yet if there be that which gives the being of faith thou mayst not conclude that the Lord hath not loved thee because thou hast not assurance Thirdly In answer to this temptation thou sayst thou hast no assurance of Gods electing love and therefore thou concludest that God doth not love thee As thou hast no assurance that God hath chosen thee so thou hast no knowledge of the contrary and mayest not conclude the contrary that God hath not chosen thee for if thou shouldst so conclude thou mayest lye against the truth and therefore cease to draw any conclusions of that which is not knowne to thee and give up thy self to doe the revealed will of God and what is that but that thou take hold of the offer of salvation and receive Christ that you believe in the name of his Son for this is his commandement 1. Joh. 3. 18. But Thirdly this temptation may arise in the soul namely a desire that God would give it a signe an extraordinary signe it resolves it cannot believe and will not believe unless God give it● signe This is a temptation that some of Gods people hath met withall To answer this temptation know that it is not Gods ordinary way to give satisfaction to the soul concerning his love by giving an extraordinary signe it is true the Lord may sometimes in some cases condescend to his people and may give an extraordinary signe yea the Lord may and hath prevented his people sometimes with an extraordinary signe to prevent their unbeleefe when they have not asked a signe You have heard of that woman that sometime lived in Cambridge that was many yeares in a tempted condition and being sorely afflicted one day she took up a glasse in her hand and cast it against the ground with this expression I am as surely damned as this glasse is broken and it pleased God so to order it that the glass was not broke which was to the conviction of her unbeliefe I say the Lord may give a signe yea when it is not asked but it is not Gods ordinary way but now for a soul to stand it out with God that it cannot beleeve unless God

useth diligence to hinder you in this work the Divels great designe is to keep you in the dark to keep you in a puzled and perplexed condition to finde some flaw or other in your evidences to cast some blot upon them that you shall not be able to read them doubtless you will put God to it to leave you to be tryed in this at one time or other God for the most part leaves his people to be tempted concerning their Election and therefore you had need give diligence Thirdly Let me say That your comfort doth depend upon making your Election sure All your comfort in this world doth depend upon it the comfort of every condition doth depend upon it the sweetness of every mercy depends upon it Alas if a man had a thousand times more then he hath what is all he hath without the love of God Your comfort depends upon it Although your names be written in heaven yet you cannot have the comfort of it till it be made sure to you though it be sure before God yet you cannot be comforted but you are as if there were no thoughts of love in the heart of God toward you Your comfort depends upon it Fourthly Your Holiness doth depend upon it your usefulness your fruitfulness your serviceableness in your generations doth depend upon your knowledge of the love of God it is that which wil make a Christian useful serviceable when as his Election is made sure when he comes to be established in the knowledge of God's Election Put on therefore as the Elect of God holy and beloved bowels of mercies kindness humbleness of minde meekness long suffering Col. 3. 12. Your holiness doth depend upon it and your usefulness in your generation And truly till that be put out of question to a soul til the Lord gives some degrees of satisfaction to a soul concerning his love the soul is wholly taken up alwayes taken up about that which concerns it self O Lord Dost thou love me That 's the great question And when it goes to God in prayer Lord Dost thou love me And O that thou wouldest make out thy love to me The soul is wholly taken up about that and well it may but when God comes to give some satisfaction O then the soul hath a great deal of freedome to minde the things of Christ to put up many a Petition for others and many a request for Christ and his Kingdom and the Interest of Christ then his thoughts they run that way so that if you desire to be useful and serviceable in your generation it doth engage you to look after this to give all diligence to make your Election sure Quest But you will say How shall we do that O there is nothing in the world that I would sooner do then that but I know not how to make my Election sure I Answer It is the work of God it is the work of grace to make it out to you it is the work of free grace to give a soul assurance of that free and everlasting love But be found waiting upon God in this way First Look up to the Lord to clear up unto you the mysterie of the Gospel if you desire to make your Election look up to the Lord to clear up to your souls the great mysterie of Christ that thou mayest know the Lord Jesus as he was the gift of the Father the gift of love the gift of free grace O that the Lord would clear up to thee the great end of his giving that gift of Christ Wherefore was it that God sent his Son out of his bosome Wherefore was it that he gave Christ And wherefore was it that Christ gave himself to die What was the end of the Father's sending Christ and the end of the laying down his life It was to save lost sinners God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life John 3. 16. O! Look up to God to clear up this great Gospel mysterie to you the designe of God the Father in sending Christ and the great designe of the Son in laying down his life It is through ignorance of this Mysterie that many a poor soul is kept from establishment and from assurance of God's electing love But secondly Wait upon the Lord to draw thy soul to accept of Christ it is not enough to have a discovery of the mysterie this will not save thee though a man know the designe of God and know the end of it that will not save thee no but wait upon the Lord to draw thy heart to rest upon Jesus Christ as he is held forth in the Gospel see that there is a necessity that God the Father should draw thee No man comes to me saith Christ except the Father which hath sent me draw him John 6. 44. till he be drawn by the Father he cannot come to Christ therefore that man is mistaken that thinks it is an easie matter for him to come to Christ O! Many a man doth mistake faith of their own working for that faith which is of the operation of God When God hath beaten many a soul out of his Brest-works and the soul sees he can no longer defend himself there good works will not do it then he taketh up a resolution in his own strength well I willgo to Christ I will believe in Christ if I cannot have it by obedience I will have it by believing Ah! But he never saw that there was an impossibility for him to believe but he goes to Christ in his own strength and the faith is of his own working and it is such a faith as Christ will not own no when God deals with a soul in a saving way he discovers to it that it is no more able to believe in Christ then it can obey the whole Law and that there is a necessity that he should be drawn of God and in his spirit he breaths after God and saith Lord draw me for if thou dost not draw me I shall never come to Christ see a necessity of being drawn to Christ And when thou art drawn give up thy self to those breathings and workings of the Spirit of God after thou hast seen thy self in a lost condition and no possibility to help thy self either by thy works or by believing why then if the Lord open the word of Reconciliation to thee and is breathing sweetly upon thy heart and moving upon thy spirit while thou hearest the word of grace opened and the tender of Christ urged O then give up thy self to those drawings of the Spirit of Christ and do not hinder those drawings by thy unbelief but give up thy self to the Lord and say Lord I see thy hand onely is able and powerful to draw souls to thy self and I will stand out no longer That 's the second Thirdly Be diligent to make the best improvement of Jesus