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

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A69777	The intercourses of divine love betwixt Christ and his Church, or, The particular believing soul metaphorically expressed by Solomon in the first chapter of the Canticles, or song of songs : opened and applied in several sermons, upon that whole chapter : in which the excellencies of Christ, the yernings of his gospels towards believers, under various circumstances, the workings of their hearts towards, and in, communion with him, with many other gospel propositions of great import to souls, are handles / by John Collinges ...	Collinges, John, 1623-1690.	1683 (1683)	Wing C5324; ESTC R16693	839,627	984

vertue to vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to our temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to our brotherly kindness charity for if these things be in us and abound they will make us that we shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ I may add If these things be in us and abound our gracious Lord will be still adding to us making for us Borders of Gold and Studs of Silver I have now finished my Discourse upon this Text and all I have to say upon the return which this blessed Lover makes to his Spouse's Petitions It now comes to her turn to speak which she doth in the next words While the King sitteth at his Table my Spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof But of these words hereafter Sermon LI. Cant. 1. 12. While the King sitteth at his Table my Spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof IN the close of my last Discourse I told you I had finished what I intended to speak upon Christ's Answer to the Petitions of his Spouse We are now to attend to her Reply to him which is contained in v. 12 13 14. While the King sitteth at his Table my Spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof A bundle of Myrrh is my Beloved unto me he shall lie all night betwixt my Breasts My Beloved is unto me as a cluster of Camphire in the Vineyards of Engedi I begin with the first of these Let us first inquire into the sense of the words Concerning the Grammatical sense there is little difference amongst Interpreters We read it While the King some read it So long as the King sitteth at his Table The sense is the same and the Hebrew particle signifieth both In the next word which we translate the King there is something extraordinary the Hebr. is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There are two praefixes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before the word which alone signifieth The King I find Interpreters taking little or no notice of them but I am willing to allow as few redundancies in holy Writ as may be I find the same prefix Psal 146. 5. There it is prefixed to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God Ar. Mont. translateth it The God of whom Others Because the God of Jacob is his help If we may be allowed to interpret it so here it runs thus whiles and because the King sitteth at his Table and learns us that our Spikenards smell dependeth upon Christ's presence with us The King 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is demonstrative or emphatical I should judge it so here As much as That King Christ is a King above all Kings he is that King The King of Kings the most noble the most excellent King The Spouse in these three verses giveth her Beloved two Names she calls him King in this verse her Beloved twice v. 13 14. Christ's familiarity with the Souls which he loveth and the freedom and boldness which he alloweth them with himself ought not to breed in them low and mean thoughts of him He is a King and that King whiles he is the poor Soul 's Beloved Sitteth at his Table The Dutch and French translate it at his Round Table Arias Montanus in circuitu suo in his Round The LXX Interpreters who are followed by the Syriack the Vulgar Lat. and Tremellius in his Lying down That we may the better judge which is the rightest we must know the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth he hath compassed about Thence comes the Noun 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth a circuit a compassing about and that is the word here used and except in this Text I can find it but four times in Scripture 1 King 6. 29. He carved all the walls of the House round about 2 King 23. 5. The places round about Job 37. 12. It is turned round about by his Counsels Psal 140. 9. Those that compass me about So as the most literal Translation is While the King is in his Round whiles the King is round about But by those that are Criticks in the Hebrew Language it is observed that it is a word which signifieth the form of their sitting or rather lying down to eat meat for so was the fashion of those Countries The use of Tables and Stools was not then known but they were wont to sit or lie down leaning upon their Elbows and so to eat their meat Samuel 1 Sam. 16. 11. speaking of their sitting down to eat saith We will not sit down until he come that is David's Jesse's youngest Son In the Hebrew it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we will not round it Their meat was set on the ground and their manner in eating was to lie down round about their meat and so eat leaning on their Elbows with their hand raising their head from the ground The word only denotes to us their fashion of sitting or lying in a round figure when they did eat as we now sit about Tables Hence our Translation is good enough to express the sense While the King sitteth at his Table and the Dutch and French yet a little better at his round Table And the Translation of those who translate it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 accubitu recubitu circuitu is also proper because those words signifie the posture in which they did eat in those Countries But there 's no foundation for their Translation who understand it of a lying in Bed it doubtless signifies While the King sitteth or lyeth at meat It followeth My Spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof The word translated Spikenard is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from whence comes the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lat. Nardus and our Spikenard In holy Writ it signifieth two things 1. A Plant Cant. 4. 13. 14. The Plants are an Orchard of Pomegrantes with pleasant fruits Camphire with Spikenard Spikenard and Saffron Calamus and Cinnamon with all trees of Frankincense c. 2. An Ointment made in a great part at least of that herb and plant and made liquid that it might be poured out Mary used it to anoint the feet of Jesus John 12. 3. And the Woman Mar. 14. 3. The Ointment is probably meant in this place It may easily be gathered from those two Texts in the Gospel which mention it that in those Countries it was a piece of their entertainment of their friends to bring sweet Oil and to anoint their friends with it Thence Christ checked Simon Luke 7. v. 46. Mine head with Oyl thou didst not anoint but this woman hath anointed my feet with Ointment This expression plainly alludeth to that usage I shall not trouble you with the various fancies of Naturalists or their various stories about this herb or Ointment My Spikenard gives it smell Smells you know are of two sorts either more grateful or more ingrateful which we call stenches The Jewish

Rocks of Pearl or ten thousand Rivers of Oil. But possibly some may say This is to plead my own merit I answer no for consider who it is that hath wrought in thy heart this value and esteem Is it not God Did flesh and blood reveal any such thing unto thee thou dost not then plead thy own merit thou only pleadest with God from what he hath already wrought and begun in thee 2. It is but the pleading of the promise which God hath made to them that love him and keep his Commandments 3. Neither dost thou plead thy esteem and value for the loves of Christ as meritorious as thinking that thy prizing the loves of Christ meriteth the further manifestations of them to thy Soul thou only pleadest it as a gracious habit wrought in thy Soul by which God hath fulfilled in thy Soul the condition of the promise thou only beggest of God that he who hath wrought in thy Soul that condition to which he hath annexed his promise would now fulfil also that promise to thy Soul which is annexed to that condition Thus I have finished the discourses I designed upon the first Petition of the Spouse as pressed by her first Argument Let him kiss me with the kisses of his Mouth For thy Loves are better than Wine Sermon XIII Canticles 1. 3. Because of the savour of thy good Ointments Thy name is as an Ointment poured forth therefore do the Virgins love thee I Proceed to the next Proposition which I at first observed from these words which I then largely opened Christ hath good Ointments which cast a savour my meaning is according to my former explication of the words That the Lord Jesus Christ is filled with the graces of the blessed Spirit which in themselves are as good Ointments and whose excellency is discerned by every true Believer by every Soul that is espoused to the Lord Jesus Christ to use the Apostles phrase I have espoused you to one Husband For a further discourse upon this Proposition let me first shew you 1. What I mean by Christs Grace and when I say he is full of the Graces of the holy Spirit 2. In what respects these graces are like to good Ointments 3. What particular graces of the Spirit are thus like to good Ointments 4. Whence it is that they are discerned and more effectually discerned by a gracious heart than another We read in the Psalmist that Christ was anointed mith the Oil of gladness above his fellows Heb. 1. 3. That he was anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power Acts 10. 38. That phrase in the Epistle to the Hebrews borrowed out of Psal 45. as I shewed you is excellently interpreted by John God gave not the Spirit unto him by measure Joh. 3. 34. The Grace of God was said to be upon him Luk. 2. 40. and he is said to be full of Grace and Truth Joh. 1. 14. Grace in Scripture as it relateth unto God is usually taken in one of these two senses 1. For the favour and free love of God by which a Person is accepted of God and so Grace is in St. Pauls Epistles to the Romans and Galatians and in his other Epistles opposed to works thus we are said to be justified by Grace saved by Grace In this sense it is also in Scripture applied to Creatures Esther obtained Grace that is favour in the sight of the King Esther 2. 17. and so in many other Texts Or 2dly it is taken For some holy and virtuous qualities and dispositions by which our Persons being first accepted in Christ we are acceptable unto God Thus it is said Joh. 1. 16. Of his fulness we have all received Grace for Grace thus Love is called a Grace 2 Cor. 8. 6. and in this sense the Apostle telleth the Corinthians God is able to make all Grace to abound to them 2 Cor. 8. 9. In this sense we are commanded to grow in Grace that is in holy virtuous dispositions or habits 2 Pet. 3. 18. It is expounded by 2 Pet. 1. 5. Add to your 〈◊〉 virtue and to virtue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly-kindness and to brotherly-kindness charity The Grace of Christ is taken in a double sense 1. Subjectively For that free love and favour which is subjected in Christ and being in him as its Fountain floweth from him to cur Souls In this sense Christ is said to be sail of Grace and truth full of love free love towards his Peoples Souls and truly in this sense Grace comes by Jesus Christ for out of him God loveth no Soul In this sense the Apostle wisheth to the Romans Grace and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ Take Grace in this sense Christ is the Subject of it and the medium by whom it floweth from the Eternal Father to the Children of men he himself was from Eternity beloved of God and that both necessarily and freely being his Fathers Son begotten from Eternity the Father loved him delighted in him and indeed in this sense Christ may be said to have been the object of Grace but he was not anointed with this in time he had it from before all times only as to the Grace of Vnion the humane Nature until Christ assumed it was not beloved of God Christ assuming it it became the object of this Grace 2. But secondly the Grace of Christ is also taken objectively for that Grace which was poured out on Christ as Mediator and this is either 1. The Grace of Vnion which is the free love of God assuming the humane nature into a personal union with the Divine Nature in which thing God put a great deal of dignity upon and shewed a great deal of love unto our Nature 2. The grace of Sanctification by which I understand not the same which the Children of God receive upon Regeneration when of unholy they are made holy of impure they are made pure of proud they are made humble c. But those holy dispositions and qualifications which were found in Christ considered as the Son of Man by vertue of the union of the Divine Nature with the Humane Nature and his anointing with the Holy Ghost not given by measure unto him by which he was not only acceptable to his Father as Mediator but he is also exceeding lovely to his Saints So that when I say Christ hath good Ointments abundance of Grace I understand 1. Abundance of free love which dwelt in him as God over all blessed for ever to be dispensed out according to the particular exigencies of all his Peoples Souls 2. Many gracious dispositions which eminently dwelling in the God-Head from all Eternity were also by the Spirit poured out upon the Humane Nature in his Incarnation These are here called by a Metaphor Ointments and good Ointments 1. Because by the communication of these from the Divine

and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 desideravit he hath desired Love is nothing else but a willing of good to the object beloved and desire is the eldest Daughter and first fruit of love For the particles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 therefore they shew the cause of the believers loving of the Lord Jesus Christ because of the savour of his good Ointments The excellencies of grace which are in him of which it hath a spiritual sense This whole verse comprehends a second Argument by which the Spouse inforceth her first petition The first was drawn from that high esteem which her soul had of the love and grace of Christ 2. This is drawn from that particular affection which she had for him common to all spiritual Virgins which she shews was not brutish and irrational no it was because he was full of grace which was more precious than the most excellent Ointments and she had received the savour of this grace for his discovery of himself to the world as a Saviour and more specially to her soul as her Saviour was as an Ointment poured forth You may now take the substance of these two verses and so of the Spouses first and great petition thus Oh! That it might please my dearly beloved Saviour who is my Spiritual Bridegroom to shew me some token of special love and to multiply those tokens to me more specially in and by the words of his Mouth in Gospel Doctrines to speak unto my Soul which doth really prefer the tokens of his love and influences of his grace before the most choice of all creature comforts My beloved is full of grace and love which is sweet like good Ointment every discovery of himself is as sweet as Ointment poured forth therefore doth my Soul love him and not my Soul only but the Souls of all those who are not deflowered by the world and by lusts From the words thus opened several propositions of truth may be observed The mercies which the believing Soul thirsts after are spiritual distinguishing mercies The least of Christ a kiss is exceeding precious to a gracious Soul Though the least influences of grace be precious to believers yet they will not be satisfied without the fullest dispensations of grace and most frequent repetitions of it Believers have special thirstings after the Word of God The kisses of his Mouth The thirst of a true believer will not be satisfied without a Spiritual inward communion with Christ in his Ordinances The kisses of his Mouth A gracious Soul will be very bold and earnest with God for this spiritual communion with him The Lord Jesus Christ hath Loves A variety of Grace The Loves of Christ are better than Wine than all created comforts whatsoever The believing Souls knowledge of the Excellencies which are in Christ is the ground of its earnest desire of fellowship and communion with him It is an excellent Argument for a Soul to use with God for the obtaining of favours from him if it can truly say that it preferreth his favour before all created goods The Lord Jesus Christ hath good Ointments which cast a savour The name of Christ is as an Ointment poured forth Virgin Souls love the Lord Jesus Christ for those excelling graces which they discern in him Sermon II. Canticles 1. v. 1. 2 3. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his Mouth for his loves are better then Wine Because of the savour c. I Have in my former Exercises opened the Text and named those propositions of Doctrine which are couched in the words or rationally to be deduced from them I come now to the particular handling of them beginning with the first The thirst of a believing Soul is after Spiritual distinguishing mercies Nature teacheth every one to say who will shew us any good Good is a thing that all the creation is enamoured upon God is the fountain of all goodness Every good and perfect gift cometh from above from him who is the father of lights Who being not a debtor to the creature must needs dispense it out freely Hence that goodness of God which is his goodness of Beneficence not only dwelling in him as a piece of his divine perfection But flowing from him as a stream from the fountain of his liberality is properly called Mercy whether it be good to us in respect of its sutableness to our outward and bodily wants or to our more inward and Spiritual necessities Hence the Mercies and savours of God are either Bodily respecting out outward Man or Spiritual respecting our inward man The former such now as life health peace and prosperity riches c. are such as God gives to his Enemies as well as to his Friends he maketh his Sun to rise upon the evil and the good And sendeth rain on the just and unjust Math. 5. 45. Spiritual good things again are either Gifts of common or of Special Grace Gifts of common grace such as knowledge invention memory utterance c. These are indeed Spiritual gifts so called by the Apostle 1 Cor. 12. 1. ch 14. 1. because given out by the Spirit of God and tending to innoble the Spiritual part and they are also called the best gifts 1 Cor. 12. 31. They are so in their kind better than those which only concern the outward man but St. Paul himself mentioneth better than these in the very same Text I shew you a more excellent way Neither are these distinguishing favours but given in common to wicked as well as to good men But now there are Spiritual mercies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so called Not only because they come from the Spirit of Grace and innoble the Spiritual part of man but because they are suted to the greatest necessities of our inward man Such are the grace of Justification Union to and reconciliation with God pardon of Sin and the Senses of that pardon together with all the fruits of the Spirit of regeneration and Sanctification These are the distinguishing favours of God which difference the Child of God from him that is not Now I say these are those favours which the believing Soul thirsteth after and longeth for expressed here under the Metaphor of kisses And properly expressed under that notion Men and women use not to kiss such as they hate but such as they have an affection for It is a civil usage amongst us so to salute strangers indeed but frequency of kisses speaks a distinguishing love and some intimacy of Affection and are not ordinary unless amongst very intimate Friends such as is the Husband and Wife Brethren and Sisters c. But yet a little further When Isay the thirstings of gracious Souls are after such distinguishing tokens of divine love I understand it not Exclusively The Children of God are made up of flesh and blood as well as any others and subject to the same necessities and infirmities

and desireth the continuance of it The Ignorant bold presumptuous Sinner desireth not the Love of God the pardon of Sins he thinks he is sure of all Hence now it is that the believer desires the Loves of Christ it apprehendeth them good possible and what its Soul doth stand indaily and further need of which apprehension is the reason why our Souls desire any thing be it of what nature soever we can desire nothing but what we must apprehend good sutable to us in some of our circumstances possible to be attained and such as either wholly or in some degree at least we need 2. According to the degree of our knowledge or apprehension of the goodness of any object so are our desires after it This will justify itself upon experience in all other things we do not desire them according to the degree of goodness in them for then every man must desire the favour of God Union and Communion with him but according to the degree of our knowledge or apprehension of such a good as such Now there are various degrees of knowledge 1. The first and meanest is the meer act of our Understanding which by the help of our Eyes and Ears gaineth the knowledge of things And thus the vilest of men may know that the Loves of Christ are good yea good before wine that is they may have so read in the Bible so heard from Ministers of the Gospel And even this knowledge may produce in a bad man a desire after these things proportioned to his apprehension Hence such a man may faintly will and lazily desire these things 2. A Second degree of Knowledge is Opinion This riseth a little higher the man who thus knows that the Loves of Christ are good doth not onely know it from reading or hearing but from probable Arguments Nor is it difficult for a wicked man thus also to know that the Loves of Christ are good Assoon as he can be made to believe that there is a God and that he is the Fountain of Good and that Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son of God and Equal with the Father both in Essence and all Divine Perfections his Reason will persuade him that there must be a Goodness yea a transcendent Goodness in Christs Loves But while Flesh and Blood only revealeth this thing unto him his Knowledge is incertain and faint and he is subject to thoughts that he may be mistaken and therefore though he may sometimes desire Christs Love yet it is but by fits and with incertainties according to the Nature of the Knowledge and Apprehension he hath of the truth of the things 3. A Third degree of Knowledge is Persuasion arising from Demonstration Now there is 1. A Demonstration of Sense thus we know the Sun shines the Fire burneth c. 2. A Demonstration of Reason when we can conclude a thing from infallible Principles of natural Reason 3. A Demonstration of Faith which is the Demonstration of the Spirit When men know things from the holy Spirits fully persuading them of the truth of this or that from a Divine Revelation This is the Demonstration of faith 4. There is yet a further and higher degree of Knowledg that ariseth from Experience being a sensible Evidence of the truth of what the Soul had before received a little of from the sight of the Eye and hearing of the Ear and more from the persuasion of the Spirit and some Argumentations within itself I say now that according to the degree of the Souls knowledge and apprehension so are the workings of the Affections This of desire in particular Hence the desires of Believers to the Loves of Christ must necessarily be the strongest For the degree of the Knowledge and Apprehension the Believer hath of the goodness of them is higher than it is possible any other Souls should have Other Souls may have read Books discoursing the Loves of Christ or heard Discourses of that tendency or judge so from Arguments of Scripture which may make such a thing probable to them But none but these have any persuasion wrought in their Souls by the Spirit of God of the Excellency of them none else have had any real Tasts and Experience of them Knowledge and Experience of the Goodness of any Objects being those things which move the Soul to desire them and the degree of the Souls apprehension of such Goodness and Excellency in Objects the ground of the Souls Intention in such desires it must necessarily follow that a good Christians Knowledge and Experience of that Goodness which is in Christs Loves must be the grounds of their desires after them There needeth no Scripture to prove this it is evident to our Reason Yet take the Instance of David Psal 4. 6. David desires of God to lift up the light of his Countenance upon him Observe now v. 7. what made him prefer the light of Gods Countenance to the Worldlings Corn and Wine and Oil Thou hast put gladness into my Heart Accordingly he tells us Psal 9. 10. They that know thy Name will put their trust in thee Hence you shall observe that David concludeth many of his Psalms of Praise with Prayer But will some say If they have had experience of the Loves of Christ why should they yet desire them None desires what they have This is true if our Enjoyments were perfect but there is an heighth and depth and length and breadth of the Love of God in Jesus Christ an heighth which the Soul hath not taken a depth which the Soul hath not fathomed a length and breadth which the Soul hath not measured from end to end It is true we desire nothing but what we want either in whole or in part therefore in Heaven will be no desire That which is perfect will be come and all that which is in part only will be done away But we shall never be filled with the Loves of Christ till our Mortality be swallowed up in Life I come now to the Application We may learn from hence That God must shew some act of Love to us before we can shew any Love to him Desires after the Loves of Christ though sincere are the least and first and lowest motions of our Souls toward God These you have heard must arise from a Knowledge and Experience of the goodness of those Loves Now this Knowledge this Experience must be the Gift of God to and the work of God in and upon the Soul yea and that not in a way of common Grace and Illumination but in a way of special Grace for though a common Illumination may produce some faint desires yet it will produce no sincere and effectual desires because the Knowledge begot by them will be flitting and incertain and attended with Doubts Fears and Incertainties So as till the Lord by his Spirit hath wrought in the Soul a persuasion of Faith commanding the Soul without dispute to give credit to what he hath revealed in his Word

reputation and reason which were the principles of the Roman valour but these which I have shewed you 2. As to the Acts of it They are all lawful resistances of sin He will resist unto blood but it still is in striving against sin Heb. 1. 2. 4. And this he doth by a lawful resistance This in the description I called a governing himself according to the rules of Gods Word 2 Tim. 2 5. If a man strive for masteries yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully All sin is a transgression of the law of God No Christian fortitude can be shewen either in the encountring of a danger for not doing what he ought to do Or for the encountring of a danger rather then doing what God hath given him a freedom and liberty to do As to the first a man is not Gods Martyr but the Devils As to the Second he cannot be a Martyr for God but for his own humour God hath left him a liberty he need not suffer unless he will But now there may be several actions as to which a good man doth not see his liberty but lyeth under apprehensions that they are unlawful The Question is what a Christian is to do as to them And whether a Christian can shew any Christian fortitude in incountring dangers rather then doing them To which I shortly answer 1. That it is the duty of every good man as to such actions to use all the means he can as to a true information of his own conscience Reading the holy Scriptures and other good Books interpreting the Scriptures which may rightly inform him Keeping his ear open to all arguments on both sides to all instructions 2. If by no means he can receive Satisfaction as to the lawfulness of such actions the doing of them would be sin to him and he is bound to incounter any danger rather then do them and this is a piece of Christian fortitude The proximate Rule of our actions must be our own Conscience by which I mean our own practical judgment of the lawfulness or unlawfulness of things to be done according to the best information we have or can get concerning the will of God in his word the persuasions commands dictates or practice of others is no rule to us We must resist what our own Consciences tell us is sin and contrary to the will of God But it must be lawfully It must be such a resistance only as Gods Word doth allow us A private Person in the resistance of sin must not resist the power which is the Ordinance of God Rom. 13. 2. It is one thing to do what such powers command another thing by Arms to resist God hath not given the Sword into any private hand and such a Person drawing it shall perish with it we must strive against sin but we must strive lawfully not by ill Language or boisterous actions but by meek and patient Suffering 3. Lastly The End of Christian fortitude must be 1. The glory of God 2. The Salvation of our own Souls 'T is no Christian valour to be valiant for any thing but the truth the honour and glory of God the cause and concern of God in the World and in a matter where the Eternal Salvation of his own Soul is concerned Thus far I have opened to you the nature of this Christian courage and fortitude which I am calling to you for Let me in the next place offer something to you which may promove this excellent habit in your Souls A Natural courage cannot be given where any thing of a Moral fortitude may be promoved by rational arguments education and a due digestion of moral Principles But there must be some good natural foundation of courage for the Moralist in the managery of his disciple to build upon but it is not so as to this Christian fortitude Persons of the weakest sex of the lowest meanest weakest Spirits by nature have been made valiant as to the Spiritual fight from the dread of God the Love of God by saith in the Word of God and in the Lord Jesus Christ Now in order to this excellent habit and so necessary for these times 1. The first thing which I shall commend unto you in order to it is a Sound knowledge of the revealed will of God both concerning sin and concerning duty Knowledge is the foundation of saith It is that which giveth boldness to a man both in speaking and in acting A poor ignorant Person may be valiant but he cannot expect to be so he is Sometimes made valiant in an extraordinary manner by some special instinct and impression of God upon him as that Woman which told her Judges She could not dispute but she could dye for Christ A just knowledge of what I may or may not do of the Nature of God his promises and threatnings is most necessary to a true Christian courage and fortitude He fighteth more like a madman then a Christian that is not first fully Satisfyed in the goodness and justice of his cause 2. A knowing man may be cowardly if he be not rooted and grounded in the faith heartily and firmly believing what he hath the notion of Faith is the only shield that keepeth off the fiery darts of the wicked Now this is the gift of God and the way to obtain it is Prayer Beg of God his Spiritual armour and to make you valiant in the Spiritual fight Math. 26. 41. Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation 3. Set as loose to the World and all your concerns and Relations in it as you can It is observed of great Cities that they seldom hold out long against an Enemy Their Riches their Wives and Children make them Cowards That Man or Woman that hath not learned to deny himself in all his worldly contentments can never be valiant 4. Lastly look unto Jesus the Author and the finisher of your saith who for the joy that was set before him indured the cross despised the shame and is set down on the throne of God consider him who indured such contradiction of sinners in himself lest you be wearied and saint in your minds It is the Apostles advice Heb. 12. 3. The valour and courage of a General oft times puts mettal and courage into his Souldiers retrieveth a day of battel when it is upon the point lost The eying of Christ who is the author and finisher of our faith is of mighty use to us to ingage us to go on to the Spiritual fight without fear or dread Let me press this upon you by a few arguments 1. The first shall be from the ton general decay of this gracious habit in the Spirits of Christians God of 'old complained by his Prophet Jer. 9. 3. That there was a generation of them who bent their tongues like bows for lies but there w●● none valiant for the truth upon the Earth How few are there this day that are valiant for the truth There are

then Persons yet here again they are divided some understanding by the Beams and Rafters The Word and Ordinances of God Thus the Dutch Annotat. By the Beams is understood the Doctrine of the Prophets Apostles 2. Others understand the grace of the holy Spirit of God There are other particular fancies But I shall chuse to follow those who interpret the Rafters and Beams to be the Word and Ordinances of God for these like the Beams of an house keep up the Church and are as it were the Common Soul that running through the whole Church keeps it together and indeed makes it one and so much shall serve for the second question the third follows 3. Qu. Why the Spouse here compares the Word and Ordinances to Cedar and Fir or Cypress or Brutine There are four or five things which these trees and sorts of wood are more famous for viz. 1. Duration 2. Beauty 3. strength 4. Talness 5. Smell 1. It is observed of the Cedar that it is a beautiful goodly tree I shall add the 4th Talness indeed its talness is a great part of its beauty hence you read of the goodly Cedar Ezech. 17. 23. Psal 80. 10. and the tall Cedar Isa 37. 24. 2. As these are tall trees so they are strong and therefore ordinarily used in buildings strong and yet light Hence when the Holy Ghost sometimes would express the great power of God he expresseth it under this Notion The voice of the Lord breaketh the Cedars in Lebanon Psal 29. v. 5. Firs and Cedars are apt to bear great weights and yet without any great loading of the building 3. It is observed of them that they are very durable Naturalists say that they are not as other wood subject to worms nor so soon to rottenness and decay as other wood is Pliny saith that it is commonly thought they will never decay and gives an instance of the Temple of Diana whose Beams Rafters and Spars were made of Cedar The leaves and doors of Cypress And after 400 years they not only continued sound but the doors especially shining and as it were polished They report of the Temple of Apollo whose Beams and main pieces were made of Numidian Cedars that it continued entire and sound 1188 years How true these stories are I cannot assert but certain it is these sorts of wood were very durable 4. A 4th thing observed of the Cedar and Cypress trees is their odoriferous smell According to this interpretation of the Text the scope of it is to Commend unto us the Word of God and the Gospel Ordinances 1. For their Beauty 2. Continuance 3. Power and and Efficacy 4. And lastly For their exceeding sweetness From the Text thus far opened you may observe three Propositions 1. Prop. That the Church of God is the house of God 2. Prop. That the word and Ordinances of God are the Beams and Rafters of this house 3. Prop. That there is a Beauty sweetness power and efficacy and an incorruptible nature in the Word of God and Ordinances of the Gospel I begin with these in their order 1. Prop. The Church of God is Jesus Christ's and the believers house Our house saith the Text. We will first enquire 1. What is meant by the Church 2. How it appears that the Church is the house of the Lord Jesus Christ 3. How it is the believers house 4. What may be inferred from hence for our profit in matter of knowledge and holiness 1. Qu. What is meant by the Church This hath in this latter age of the World been found an hard matter to agree amongst Persons of different Notions That the term Church is a name of multitude and that a Church must be an aggregate body is generally agreed that it is a body of People called by God out of the World is also as freely consented to But whether only called by a general call outwardly accepted by them so far at least that they do own the Doctrine of the Gospel or by a more special and effectual calling not only out of the Pagan World but also out of the unbelieving World These things have been matters of great dispute amongst us yet all acknowledge the distribution of the Church into that which is Triumphant and that which is militant The Triumphant part of the Church is that part of it who God having in the time of their life called them out of the Paganish and unbelieving World and they afterward finished their course are called also by God out of this sensible sinful elementary World to the enjoyment of himself in glory These are thrice called 1. Out of the Pagan World to the acknowledgment of the Doctrine of the Gospel 2. Out of the unbelieving World to partake of the Lord Jesus Christ and his Grace by true and lively Faith 3. Out of the sensible sinful World to the Inheritance of glory The other part of the Church is that which is usually called Militant and is the whole number of those whom God hath called out of the Paganish World to the acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Doctrine of the Gospel This is again distinguished into that which is Invisible and that which is Visible The Invisible part is that whole number of men and women in the World which the Lord by his Gospel hath called out of darkness into marvelous light out of a state of Nature into a state of Grace The Matter of this Church are men and women the Form their Union in and with the Lord Jesus Christ The Visible Church is that about which the great quarrels have been Some agreeing it to be the whole number of People over the face of the whole Earth called out from a state of Paganism to the embracing of the Doctrine of the Gospel The Matter of it are men and women professing to Christ Jesus the Form is their Union in the same Profession acknowledgment of the same Truth and Waies and Means of Worship Now as the Sea is but one though as it passeth by several Coasts it receives several denominations as the Irish Sea the English Sea the Mediterranean Sea the Baltick Sea c. so as this great body is divided into several Countries it receives several denominations as The Church of England Scotland France c. And as again in a particular Nation suppose England it is impossible that the whole body of Professors should meet in one place and therefore there are several places of Publick Worship and several Precincts of People who meet together in several places to worship God yet all agreeing in the same Doctrine of Faith and order of serving God so there are in the World thousands of such Bodies which are called particular Churches and are under the inspection of several Officers all which yet together make but one Church of God For their Notion who think that the Church of God must needs be such an even number as can meet together in the