Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
lord_n	apostle_n	day_n	time_n	10,440	5	4.2046	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45544	Cardvvs benedictvs, the advantage of affliction, or, The reward of patience unfolded in a sermon preached at the funeralls of Mr. Thomas Bowyer, merchant, who died the 8th day of February 1659, and was buried the 22th of the same moneth, in the parish church of St. Olaves Jewry / by Nath. Hardy ...	Hardy, Nathaniel, 1618-1670.	1695 (1695)	Wing H712; ESTC R17381	22,241	42

very apposite to this purpose if with some Expositors we construe it of our love to Christ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or disiress or persecution or famine or nakedness or perill or sword Whilest love to Christ will enable us to endure all these for Christs sake Hence it is that the holy Scriptures compare it to death not onely because it separateth as it were the soul from the body to joyn it with its beloved object but likewise as St Austin observeth because as there is no opposition to be made against death so neither against Love which overcometh all difficulties even death it self and in that respect is not only strong as but stronger then death 3. Once more Them that love him carrieth with it an enlargement of this remuneration as belonging not onely to them who actually endure but to all who love Christ All Christians are not called to endure temptation and if they be not called to it they ought not to put themselves upon it To you saith the Apostle it is given not only to beleeve but to suffer ability of suffering especially death is a gift not conferr'd on all Christians and this Lord onely calls them to suffer whom he fits for it But least those Christians who were not put upon such eminent service might think that therefore they had no part in the Crown the Apostle enlargeth the qualification to all who love Christ Indeed every Christian ought to have a minde in some measure ready to endure what Christ shall require and where there is this love of Christ there will be this readiness But if it please this Lord that thy Lott fall in halcyion dayes when the Church enjoyeth rest and prosperity or if in suffering times by his providence thou art not called to endure yet be not discouraged this Crown is promised by this Lord not onely to them that endure but to them that love him I end all therefore with that exhortation of the Psalmist Oh love the Lord all you his Saints Love him for his own sake that is amor amicitiae a love of friendship and most acceptable Indeed if you look upon him you cannot choose but love him for he is altogether lovely to a spirituall eye And shew the reality of your love by your sorrow for his absence and joy in his presence fear to offend him care to please him by avoiding what he forbids and performing what he requireth by your willingness to hate Father and Mother goods and lands to endure reproach and shame losses and crosses for his sake and then quid non speramus amantes what may not Christs friends hope for If you love him he will love you nay he loved you before you loved him and by that so much the more obligeth you to love him he loved you so as to doe nay so as to die not onely by acting but enduring let your love answer his and if nothing else will prevail love him for your own sakes for the Crownes sake which he hath promised to and will in due time confer on all them that love him And thus I have finished the Text wherein you have beheld the bliss of the man that endureth temptation and loveth the Lord But perhaps you will ask Where is this man to be found The truth is such an one like those Pearls called Unions because found one by one is very rare but yet such there have been in all ages and loe here the liveless dust of such a man Mr Thomas Bowyer Merchant of whom I can truly say whilest he lived he loved the Lord and endured temptation and now he is dead I justly hope he is blessed with a Crown of life If you peruse the sacred Writ you will finde the blessed man described by severall characters the Ladder which reacheth to Heaven consisting of many steps nor do I know any of them which might not in some measure be applied to him Indeed he was not onely a Starre but a Constellation or rather an Heaven bespangled with many Starres his life was not a single leaf but a book of many leaves and those filled with the lines of good works Finally he was not onely Flower but a Garden adorned with the choice flowers of many excellent Virtues To gather them all would ask more time then can be spared and therefore passing over his Temperance Iustice Prudence with many others I shall onely cull out four choice Flowers to strew upon his Herse and then I shall commit him to the ground and you to God 1. The first is the Marygold of Piety which is called in my Text the love of the Lord a grace whereof he gave manifest evidence by his due regard of Gods worship affectionate love to Christs Ministers constant adherence to the Truth and passionate sympathy with the Church 1. He was a man much given to Religious exercises and as he made choice of a single life so for some years before his death he sequestred himself from secular affairs that he might have more opportunity of conversing with God So long as he had ability of going and hearing he duly waited on the publique administrations where I have severall times been an eye witness of his reverend and devout attention Nor was he as I fear too many are negligent of family dutyes in praying with and giving instructions to them withall allotting much time to his closet devotions so that I may truly say of him in the words of David concerning the blessed man His delight was in the Law of the Lord and therein he did exercise himself day and night 2. He was an entire and cordiall friend to the Orthodox and faithfull dispensers of the Word of Christ he delighted to hear them joyed to see them desired their prayers their company and was never better then when he had them at his Table yea their very feet were beautifull in his eyes 3. The truly Reformed Religion of the Church of England in which he had been educated he stedfastly adhered to and according to his knowledge which was not small in Divine as well as other matters he zealously asserted her Doctrine and Discipline against hereticall and schismaticall Antagonists Finally He was one of the mourners in Sion for the heynous sins of the Nation and grievous calamities of the Church oftimes sending up cryes and groans to Heaven in secret for the forgiveness of the one and redress of the other Upon all which considerations I suppose none will deny him the title of Religious man 2. A second Flower is the Rose of Charity a Virtue which ever attendeth upon the former the Lov● of God and of our neighbour being inseperable The Charity of this our Brother was though extended to all yet especially directed towards the poor and needy whom according to another character of Davids blessed man he considered and that so as to relieve answerable to that estate wherewith God had

So long as we are in this world we are under tryall nor are we tryed and approved till we go out of it and then we receive the Crown The whole day of life is the time of labouring in the vineyard untill the evening of death when we receive our wages we are not fully tryed in the Christian race till we come to the goal of death and then if we be found worthy we shall obtain the prize There are too many who endure for a time and then fall away thereby manifesting themselves to be not gold but dross which melts away in the heat of the fire and therefore it is our Saviours counsell to the Angell of the Church of Smyrna Be thou faithfull unto the death and I will give thee a Crown of life 2. When we are sufficiently tryed we shall be called out of this world to the fruition of our Crown This world is the field wherein the good corn stands so long till it be ripe and then it is cut down by death to be carried into the barn of glory It is the school of the Cross wherein it pleaseth God to train us and then by death he taketh us to the Academy of Heaven our heavenly Physition will keep us no longer in physick but till we are throughly purged our mercifull refiner will no longer detain us in the furnace but till we are sufficiently purified when once by enduring temptation we are tryed and fitted for Heaven death doth come to put an end to all our troubles and put us into a partiall possession of that Crown which in the day of Iudgment the Righteous Iudg shall plenarily confer upon us Let then the Christian endurer be content to wait and not repine at the delay of his reward The thing is certain he shall receive I and the time is set too when he is tryed nor can it be long since it is only during the short time of life It may perhaps seem long to thee and so much the longer because of the temptations which befall thee but surely a Crown and especially a Crown of life is worth the waiting for and when it is received thou wilt acknowledg thy self abundantly recompenced for the greatness and length of thy sufferings And if at any time distrustfull thoughts arise in thy mind concerning this Crown whether it shall be conferd fix thy eyes on the last clause of the Text which now remaineth to be discussed it is the Crown of life 2. Which the Lord hath promised to them that love him it is that which I call the collaterall confirmation as being a strong argument assuring the reception of that Crown which denominateth the suffering Christian blessed Wherein more particularly there are two things observable The means of conveiance in those words which the Lord hath promised The subject of reception in those to them that love him 1. The Crown of life is that which the Lord hath promised The title of Lord here used is very frequently throughout the new Testament given to Christ and that upon a double account 1. Quatenus Deus Inasmuch as he is God the Lordship belongs to him Iure naturali by naturall right He is the Son of God by eternall generation and being so he is equall with the Father and God over all blessed for ever 2. Quatenus Mediator Inasmuch as he is God man this Lordship belongs to him Iure donativo by deed of gift All power saith our blessed Saviour is committed to him in Heaven and earth namely by God the Father to him as Mediator And thus 1. He is Lord of the whole world having power ad dominandum to rule over all his creatures 2. He is Lord of his enemies ad domandum to subdue and vanquish them 3. He is Lord of his Church ad donandum to confer gifts upon her especially this Crown● And knowing to how manifold temptations she would be subject in this life he is pleased to vouchsafe the promise of this Grown to be as it were a bit to stay her stomach till the full meal It were easie to multiply instances how this Lord promised this reward vivâ voce to his Disciples whilest he was on earth and that though not expresly as we read under this very metaphor of a Crown yet frequently under the resemblance of a Kingdom to which a Crown relateth Indeed though this bliss was promised before to wit in the old Testament by Moses and the Prophets yet it was not so clearly and fully revealed by them as it was afterwards by this Lord and his Apostles so that now we have to allude to St Peters phrase a more sure or at least a more plain word of promise to which we shall do well to take heed as to a light shining in a dark place to revive our hearts with a confident expectation even when we are involved in the darkness of affliction That which may the more excite our faith encourage our hope and thereby strengthen our patience in enduring is the consideration of this Lord who hath promised this Crown Inasmuch as 1. In generall this Lord never faileth in whatsoever he promiseth St Paul faith All the promises are in him yea and Amen surely then all his promises are yea and Amen and as they are made so they are made good In the preface of the Epistle to the Angell of the Philadelphians he is called the Amen the faithfull witness as being true in all his sayings and more especially in his promises The words of the Lord saith David are pure words as silver tryed in the fire purified seaven times It is true of all but principally meant of the words of promise which are said to be as silver purified seaven times because they are free from the least dross of deceit This Lord never promiseth but what he really intends and effectually performeth 2. In speciall as to this promise he who promiseth is fully able and willing to fulfill it He is called by this Apostle the Lord of glory and therefore can confer the glory of a Crown by St Paul the Lord of life and therefore can bestow a Crown of life There cannot be a clearer title to any thing then that which a man hath by a lawfull purchase from the right owner This Lord hath purchased this Crown of his Father at a dear rate not with corruptible gold and silver but his own most pretious bloud yea he is gone into Heaven to take possession of his purchase whereby it is now fully in his hands to bestow nay which is yet more he hath purchased it in our name and possesseth it in our behalf no wonder if he hath promised it to us nor need we doubt at all of his power or will to confer it on us The Devill once took our blessed Lord up to an exceeding high mountain and shewed him all the Kingdoms of the world and the glory of them yea not only shewed

but promised them saying All these will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me But in this he was a gross lyar since they were none of his to give but only by the permission of him to whom he was so impudent as to promise them And as he would have dealt with Christ so he dealeth with foolish mortals promising them what he cannot nay never meaneth to perform But far be it from this Lord the Righteous Iudg to deal so with his servants he hath shewed nay he hath promised us the Kingdom not of earth but Heaven and the glory thereof and we are as sure to receive it as if we did already enjoy it and therefore ought with saith to beleeve with hope to expect and with constancy to wait for the accomplishment of it remembring what he saith himself though on another account Heaven and earth shall pass away but my word shall not pass away I shut up this with this usefull gloss It is not the the Crown of life quam ille meruit which he who endured hath deserved but quam Dominus promisit which the Lord hath promised to wit of his meer grace and mercy A Duke waging war with his enemy bore in his shield the Eagle resembling Iupiter having a Crown in his beak with this Motto Iupiter merentibus offert Iupiter offers it to them who doserve it It is not so with this Crown of life for then who should receive it not our best doings nor yet worst sufferings can merit this Crown It is called indeed by St Paul a Crown of righteousness to wit in respect of Christs promise for so it followeth which the righteous Iudg to wit upon the account of his own word which if he should not perform he were unrighteous but not in respect of our merit and therefore it is added shall give not pay me in that day Let us not then proudly challenge this Crown as if it were that which we have merited but withall let us be confidently assured of it since it is that which the Lord hath promised 2. To them that love him which is the last particular of the Text and shall in a few words be dispatched For the explication hereof there are two Questions to be resolved What it is to love this Lord and Why the qualification is changed from enduring to loving In answer to the first Quaery be pleased to know that the love of Christ in its utmost latitude includeth an esteem of a desire after and a delight in him Esteem is as the foundation Desire as the wall and Delight as the Roof of this fabrick of love Esteem is the beginning Desire is the progress and Delight is the consummation of love Finally Esteem is as the ballast to make the Ship steady Desire as the sayls by which it passeth through the Ocean and Delight is the musick which welcometh it to the shore 1. To love the Lord Christ is to set an high rate and value upon him so as to reject all things in comparison of him Iudgment is the source and spring of affection from whence it proceeds and according to which it is proportioned He that hath an equall esteem of a base lust a brutish pleasure as of Christ cannot be said to love him he onely hath a right affection to him who with St Paul accounts all things loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledg of him What is thy beloved more then another beloved said those blind daughters of Ierusalem who being ignorant of his excellency knew not how to judg of his worth but the spouse of Christ having her eyes opened to see him knoweth how to value him and therefore returneth this answer he is the chiefest among ten thousands 2. To love this Lord is earnestly to long after union and communion with him As Samuel told Saul that all the desires of the Israelites were upon him so is it with the Christian in respect of Christ who is the center in which all the lines of his desire meet Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none on earth I desire besides thee is the language of Love As those two friends begd of Vulcan that he would new make them into one so doth the Christian desire to be one with Christ and Christ with him to dwell in Christ and Christ in him 3. To love this Lord is to take a sweet complacency in the presence and enjoyment of him The Hebrew word which signifieth to love endeth in litera quiescenti in a quiescent letter the acquiescency of the soul in the object beloved is the perfection of love When the desire cometh saith Solomon it is a Tree of life so it is when Christ cometh to the soul which loveth him It is observable how these two are joyned together my beloved Sonne in whom I am well pleased the latter unfolding the former and then is Christ our beloved when we are well pleased with him Good old Iacob having seen his darling Ioseph saith It is enough Good old Simeon having embraced Christ in his armes saith Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart The Christian enjoying the presence of Christ is fully satisfied not regarding the best delights this world can afford him By this time you see what it is to love Christ That which would next be inquired is Why our Apostle changeth the qualification It had been more proper and agreeable with his precedent discourse to have said which the Lord hath promised to them that endure and no doubt this is intended to be included But if you duly weigh you shall find very good reason for the alteration and that in a threefold respect since we may probably conceive that our Apostle hereby intended a restriction a direction and an enlargment 1. Them that love him implyeth a restriction letting us see to what kinde of endurers this Crown belongs namely to such as endure out of a love to Christ Oramus jejunamus saith an Ancient we pray we fast I may add toleramus we suffer sed quid sine charitate but what is all without love though I bestow all my goods on the poor saith St Paul yea though I give my body to be burned and have not charity I am nothing and though the charity there intended be love to the brethren yet it may be applied to the love of Christ without which the greatest sufferings are of no value in Gods esteem There is an enduring out of necessity because we cannot help it there is an enduring out of vain glory that we may gain the repute of courage and there is an enduring out of charity to which our love to this Lord induceth when we suffer for his sake and it is onely this enduring which entituleth us to the Crown 2. Them that love him involveth in it a direction whereby we may be enabled to endure namely by this grace of love That challenge of St. Paul is

sickness but physick and so not evill to but good for him 2. Though he wants a fullness yet he enjoyeth so much as may well be called a tast of bliss namely the favour of God and the peace of conscience 1. He that endureth temptation hath a quiet mind in the midst of all his troubles and his soul like the upper region of the ayre is without any clouds of distraction It was the counsell of our Saviour to his Disciples In your patience possess your souls the patient Christian even when he is bereaved of his estate his liberty his health his credit possesseth his soul in a calm and serene tranquillity 2. Nay which is yet far more he that endureth temptation enjoyeth his God and whilest the rain of affliction falleth he beholds the Sun shining on him To the upright saith the Psalmist there ariseth light in darkness even the light of Gods countenance in the darkness of trouble What a glorious sight had St Steven when through a showre of stones he beheld the Heaven open and Iesus standing at the right hand of God! and yet the like vision though not after the same manner is vouchsafed to every Christian endurer to whom as it were Heaven is opened whilest he beholds God through Christ propitious towards him It is in love that God doth exercise any of his with temptations and to those that endure them he is pleased to manifest his love kissing them with the kisses of his mouth who kiss the rod of his hand And surely there is no happiness on this side Heaven to the sense of Divine favour and the quiet of our own spirit indeed it is an Heaven upon earth an anticipation of Heaven the first fruits of glory and an inchoation of blessedness 2. He that endureth temptation though he is not blessed positively yet he is dispositively he is not actually possessed with bliss but he is in a certain expectation of and ready preparation for it though he be not at the journeys end he is way that leads to it When the Ship is in the haven it is past all storms but by enduring storms it at last arriveth at the haven When we come to Heaven there will be no more temptation to endure but by enduring temptation it is that we come to Heaven So true is that of St Paul These light afflictions which are but for a moment work for us to wit not of themselves but being patiently undergone an exceeding eternall weight of glory Indeed the temptation in it self is an evill and tends to make us miserable but the enduring it is a vertue a grace which maketh us fit for blessedness To close up this and with this the first generall part of my Text 1. How grosly is the world deceived in their opinion concerning the godly whilest they judg them of all men most miserable by reason of those temptations to which they are exposed whereas the truth is that wicked men in the midst of all their prosperity by abusing it are infaeliciter faelices unhappily happy and good men in the midst of adversity by enduring it are faeliciter infaelices happily unhappy The enjoyments of the one are but golden chains and silken halters whereas the sufferings of the other are as fiery chariots to carry them to Heaven 2. How great an encouragement is this to aequanimity nay magnanimity of spirit in all our tryall what traveller doth not cheerfully ride through dirty and watery lanes when he considers it is his way home what Merchant doth not willingly dispence with a troublesome tedious voyage when he considers it is to advance his fortune why should we think much at any tryals when they are designed for this end to prepare us for glory for saith our Apostle concerning the patient endurer when he is tried he shall receive the Crown of life which he hath promised to them that love him Which is the Second and main part of the Text and now cometh to be discussed It is that which I call an expository confirmation That it is a confirmation the causall particle for implies and that it is an exposition the following words demonstrate The design of the argument is to prove the man that endureth temptation blessed because he shall receive a Crown of life by which it appears to be a confirmation The strength of the argument is because blessedness consists in the receiving of that Crown in which respect it is an exposition If yet more particularly you look into the words you will find in them an answer to three questions concerning the blessedness of the enduring Saint Quid What it is he shall receive a Crown of life Quando When he shall receive it when he is tryed Quare Wherefore he shall receive it because the Lord hath promised it Or if you will observe here a double confirmation the one whereof is principall and the other collaterall Here is a reason of the Doctrine why he that endureth temptation is blessed because when he is tried he shall receive a Crown of life And then here is a reason of that reason why when he is tried he shall receive a Crown of life because it is that which the Lord hath promised to them that love him Our Apostle well knew how hardly this Doctrine would be received in the world Were it blessed is the man that liveth in power and splendour in pleasure and jollity enjoyeth health wealth commands Countries and Kingdoms it would have found an unanimous assent But blessed is the man that endureth temptation quis credit who beleeveth this report No wonder that St Iames provideth so strongly for the proof of it that none but an atheist can deny it Here is rota in rota one proof within another That he which shall receive a Crown of life is a blessed man is unquestionable all the doubt is whether there be any such Crown of life and this our Apostle puts out of doubt by this strong medium that the Lord to wit Dominus Deus the Lord God hath promised it Since the Lord hath promised it he must perform it or he can not be faithfull if he be not faithfull he ceaseth to be God it being impossible for God to lye So that whosoever questioneth the blessedness of this man must doubt the reception of the Crown and whosoever doubts the reception of the Crown must question the truth of the promise and whosoever questions the trath of the promise must suppose that God can be false in his word which is in effect to deny a Deity and so to be in plain tearms no better then an atheist 1. Begin we with the principall confirmation to wit the reason of the Doctrine in those words for when he is tryed he shall receive a Crown of life Wherein more particularly observe The excellency of the benefit he shall receive a Crown of life and The opportunity of the time when he is tryed 1. He that endureth temptation