Selected quad for the lemma: nation_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nation_n	abraham_n	earth_n	seed_n	5,071	5	8.0133	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A07204	The cure of cares or a short discourse, declaring the condition of worldly cares; with some remedies appropriated unto them Penned for the use of all, but is most proper for such as be distressed. By Henry Mason parson of S. Andrews Vndershaft London.	Mason, Henry, 1573?-1647.	1627 (1627)	STC 17605; ESTC S102308	30,687	60

faithfull Of him it is storied that (g) Gen. 22.1 2 c. God tried him said Take now thy son thine only son Isaac whō thou lovest and get thee into the land of Moriah offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountaines that I will tell thee off And Abraham rose up early in the morning c. Then on the third day Abraham lift up his eyes and saw the place afarre off c. And Abraham tooke the wood of the burnt offering and laied it upon Isaac his sonne and he tooke the fire in his hand and a knife and they went both of them together c. And they came to the place and Abraham built an Altar there and laied the wood in order and bound Isaac his sonne and laied him on the Altar upon the wood And Abraham stretched forth his hand and tooke the knife to slaie his sonne And the Angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven said Lay not thine hand upon the Lad neither doe any thing unto him for now I know that thou fearest God seeing thou hast not withheld thy sonne thine only sonne from mee In this example of Abraham wee may note these particulars and make use of them for our direction 1 What Abraham was commanded to doe and it was that hee should take his only sonne the staffe of his age the hope of his posteritie the joy of his life and which is most of all the ground of Gods promises towards him in Christ For God had promised that in Abraham and his seede all the nations of the earth should bee blessed and that seede he had appointed Isaac to bee For (a) Gen. 21.12 In Isaac saith God shall thy seed be called Besides this sonne whom Abraham loved and that deservedly for many respects hee was commanded to carie three dayes journey off and to kill him with his owne hands and to offer him up in a burnt sacrifice unto God An hard taske and a grievous storme by which Abraham was put to the triall what hee would doe for God 2 Note what Abraham in this case performed and that was even all that was required of him Hee tooke his sonne and caried the wood and the knife and went three dayes journey bound the childe drew out the knife and fetched the blow that should have bereaved both Isaac of his life Abraham of his dearest son A strong faith and an undainted affiance in God by which Abraham hath set us an example which most would rather commend then imitate For one of us had wee beene in his place would have thought thus Lord why should God deale thus strangely with mee Was ever man brought to these straights that I am in and Is it possible my heart should beare all this and not breake Or thus Can God love mee that envieth mee mine only childe Will God provide mee comfort when he taketh from mee all the joy that I have and Meaneth hee to performe his promise made in Isaac when hee designeth Isaac to be slaine and his bodie to be burnt into ashes Or thus Will nothing please God but mine only sonne and Is it not enough that I part with my sonne but I must murther him with mine owne hands and May I not now at once make an end both of his life and my griefe but must I be acting it three daies together that by prolonging the time I may encrease my sorow Thus or in some such manner as this wee would have beene ready to have complained against God Or if wee had submitted against our minds yet wee would have wept and mourned and wrung the hands like (a) Matt. 2.18 Rachel that wept for her children and would not bee comforted because they were not But Abraham did neither so nor so He did what God commanded and hoped for that which God had promised And therefore the Apostle saith of him (a) Rom. 4.18 Against hope he beleeved in hope and (b) Heb. 11.17 He that had received the promises offered up his only begotten sonne of whom it was said In Isaac shall thy seed bee called accounting that God was able even to raise him up from the dead And this was that which Abraham performed in the time of his tryall 3 Consider wee how Abraham sped after all and that was an Angel staied his hand from killing his sonne and God commended his faith that was so readie to obey now all ages acknowledge Abraham for the father of the faithfull Nor is there any of us but will thinke and say O happie man that had such a sonne to give and such an heart to part with him at Gods command and such a faith to depend upon God when all things seemed contrarie and such a blessing from God when he was destitute of all help and hope But this is the end of those that dare trust God in their trialls and with cheerfulnesse can follow him through their troubles Let us then imitate Abrahams faith and wee shall partake also of his blessing CHAP. IIII. What rules or directions wee may follow to ease our selves of these cares THe evils being such and so great which attend irregular cares I suppose every man will earnestly desire some remedies that may either eure or abate them And no doubt but many would doe their endeavor to be eased if they knew which way to goe about it And therefore it will bee a seasonable and welcome service I suppose if in the last place we can finde some Rules that may direct us in this worke And for that purpose I have thought on these following directions I. When such thoughts do arise in our mindes Rule 1 we must not yeeld to them and give way to our passions much lesse may we as men use in such cases to doe get our selves into a solitary roome where we may weepe without being seene and may feede our passions with musing on our misery and with framing reasons that may aggravate our griefe For all things grow strong when they are cherished but these naturall distempers which spring and sprout so easily of themselves will soone become headstrong if they be not withstood and either denied entrance or quickly turned out of doores that they do not settle within us And for that purpose we may doe foure things 1 We must divert our thoughts some other way and turne them on some better object For as husbandmen when their ground is overflowed with much water make ditches and water-furrowes to carie it away so if our mindes be over-flowed with cares of the world there is no better way to draine them then by making another passage for them and by diverting them upon some other matter fitter to be thought upon especially if we set them on worke about some such things as may either affect our mindes with some usefull delight or may tend to the mitigating or abating of these cares For which purpose wee may teach