Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	divine_a	humane_a	personal_a	3,580	5	9.3191	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A77514	Two treatises: I. The saints communion with Jesus Christ, sacramental, spiritual, and celestial; wherein ministers and Christian are excited to a conscientious administration, and participation of that, of late-time, in many places, too much neglected ordinance, the sacrament of the Lords Supper; wherein that great controversie of a free admission is debated. II. Acquaintance with God; the nature of it opened, the practice perswaded, encouraged, directed, cautioned. / As it was lately delivered to the Church of God at Great Yarmouth, by John Brinsley, minister of the Gospel there.	Brinsley, John, 1600-1665.	1653 (1653)	Wing B4735; Thomason E1547_1; ESTC R209457	66,672	237

man a looser by his acquaintance with God Great is the gain great is the profit hereof Godliness with contentment is great gain 1 Tim. 6.6 Godliness is profitable for all things having the promise of this life and that which is to come 1 Tim. 4.8 Such is the profit of this acquaintance Great good shall come thereby and that both Temporal Spiritual and Eternal Of the former of these Eliphaz maketh large promises unto Job in the sequel of this Chapter where explaining what good should come unto him upon his acquainting himself with God among other things he tells him Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks Vers 24. And in the Verse following Then shalt thou have plenty of silver Vers 25. Gold and silver these are the Worlds goods most commonly how properly I will not say called by that name And these he maketh promise of and that in abundance to Job Which promise God will make good so far as shall be good for those who perform this condition Friends do not use to deny their intimate acquaintance any common favor that they can do for them Such are these blessings the blessings of Gods left hand as Solomon describeth them Prov. 3.16 they are but common favors And being such God will not withhold them from those that acquaint themselves with him so far as they may be expedient for them No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly Psal 84.11 However he will not be wanting to them in those two other and better kinds of good things Spiritual and Eternal The Lord will give grace and glory saith the former part of that Verse Grace here glory hereafter So true is it what Eliphaz here tells Job that acquainting himself with God thereby good should come unto him as Honor and Pleasure so Profit And Arguments methinks I should need to use no more to induce you to hearken to this counsel Any one of these will prevail with men to embrace acquaintance with men O let all of them prevail with us to embrace acquaintance with God Quest Quest But will God be acquainted with us poor vile Encouragements to the duty worthless creatures that we are how shall we dare to take acquaintance of the great God Answ Answ In way of answer to this let me propound two or three encouragements which may serve as further induce ments to bring in poor sinners unto God 1. Consider that he disdaineth not the acquaintance of the least of men or of the greatest of sinners This Princes and great men for the most part do Job speaking of some who had him in derision in his adversity he saith they were such as whose fathers he would have disdained to have set with the dogs of his flock Job 30.1 So low they were in condition and so far beneath him in the time of his prosperity that he would have disdained to have had any thing to do with them to employ them in the meanest office about him But it is otherwise with the God of Heaven whose Majesty though it be so great that it is a kinde of humbling to him to behold the things that are in Heaven and in the Earth as the Psalmist phraseth it Psal 113.6 Yet he vouchsafeth graciously to acquaint himself with the meanest of those that shall seek acquaintance with him Such was the condescension of the Divine Nature that it disdained not that near acquaintance with the humane to take the nature of man into a personal union with it self And such was the condescension of our blessed Saviour upon earth that he disdained not the acquaintance of those who upon a vulgar account were the vilest of men even of Publicans and Sinners Matth. 9.11 And such is the gracious condescension of the most high God that he disdaineth not acquaintance with any of those who desire acquaintance with him 2. Nay secondly he offers and tenders this acquaintance to them This do not great personages ordinarily to their inferiors Their acquaintance must be sought and it may be bought they do not use to offer it But this doth the Lord our God He offers his acquaintance to poor sinners he puts forth the hand to them as Absalom is said to have done to those who came nigh to tender their duty and do him obeysance 2 Sam. 15.5 he inviteth them to come in that they may have acquaintance with him This he doth in the offers and tenders of grace held forth in the Gospel which he sends forth his Ministers to declare and publish Even as that great Feast-maker in the Gospel who sent forth his servants into the high ways to invite and compel those whom they found to come in to his Supper to eat and drink with him Luke 14.23 So doth God send forth his Ministers with the like commission to invite and compel by Gospel promises and legal threatnings all sorts of poor sinners to come in that they may have communion with him 3. And this he doth in the third place out of his meer grace and favor onely for their good their benefit not for any gain or advantage to himself Upon that account it was that Absalom offered himself in that over-familiar manner to those that came nigh him His design was to make advantage of their acquaintance But this cannot God expect from man Can a man be profitable unto God saith Eliphaz in the beginning of this Chapter Verse 2. No God is not cannot be a gainer by our acquaintance That he offers it seeketh it it is for our good our benefit that we may be made happy and blessed in it and by it O then let not this grace of God be in vain to any of us but accept we this so gracious an offer acquainting our selves with him And this do we forthwith Now acquaint thy self with him saith Eliphaz to Job here And let me in this sense say the same words to every soul among you that is yet estranged from God Now acquaint thou thy self with God Now now whilest God is pleased to offer and tender this acquaintance which how long he will do who knoweth He that offers it to day it may be will refuse it to morrow If the door of grace be once shut then they who stand without may knock as it were taking acquaintance of God saying Lord Lord open to us but they shall receive no other answer then that which there followeth Luk. 13.25 I know not whence you are And therefore As the Holy Ghost saith To day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts Heb. 3.7 8. Now whilest the day of grace lasteth now come in Now is the accepted time now is the day of salvation 2 Cor. 6.2 Now whilest the golden scepter is held forth whilest the Gospel is preached unto you And therefore estrange your selves from God no longer but now come in and acquaint your selves with him Do it forthwith Knowing that