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	suffering_n	3,220	5	9.4553	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30305	The poor man's help and young mans guide containing I. Doctrinal instructions for the right informing of his judgment, II. Practical directions for the general course of his life, III. Particular advices for the well-managing of every day : with reference to his [brace] 1. Natural actions, 2. Civil imployments, 3. Necessary recreations, 4. Religious duties : particularly I. Prayer [brace] publick in the congregation, private in the family, secret in the closet, II. Reading the Holy Scriptures, III. Hearing of the Word preached, IV. Receiving of the Lord's Supper : unto which is added an earnest exhortation unto all Christians to the love and practice of universal holiness / by William Burkitt ...	Burkitt, William, 1650-1703.	1694 (1694)	Wing B5738; ESTC R34773	72,112	85

Principles of our Religion necessary to be known and Believed by all Persons in Order to their Everlasting Salvation are these four I. Concerning God II. Concerning Man III. Concerning Jesus Christ the Mediator between God and Man IV. Concerning the way and means to obtain Salvation by Christ the only Mediatour I. Concerning GOD. It is necessary to Know and Believe the following Severals Namely That God is an Infinite Invisible and Immortal Spirit without Bodily Parts or Passions Almighty All-knowing every where present most Wise and Holy most Just and Righteous most Good and Gracious The following Scriptures will Confirm your Belief of the Truth of this viz. St. John 4.24 God is a Spirit St. Luke 24 39. A Spirit hath not flesh and bones Exod 34. v. 6 7. The Lord passed by and proclaimed his Name the Lord God gracious and merciful long-suffering abundant in Goodness and Truth 2. That there is but one true and ever-living God who being Oone in Nature is yet Three in Person namely the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost each Person having his proper Part and Office in the Salvation of lost Sinners namely the Father as the Original and Fountain the Son as the Manager and Transacter of it and the Holy Ghost as the Applier and Sealer of it See the following Scriptures Deut. 6.4 The Lord thy God is one Lord 1 John 5.7 There are three that bear Record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these Three are One St. John 15.26 But when the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father even the Spirit of truth which preceedeth from the Father he shall Testifie of me Eph. 4.30 Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed unto the Day of Redemption 3. That this ever-living and only living Lord God by his Almighty Power and Infinite Wisdom Created the World and all things therein out of nothing and by his effectual Providence doth sustain and preserve them in being and doth likewise govern and dispose of all things to his own glory Nehem. 9. v. 6. Thou art Lord alone who hast made the Heavens and the Heaven of Heavens with all their host the Earth and all things that are therein and thou preservest them all II. Concerning Man We are to Know and Believe 1. That Almighty God Created Man Adam after his own Image which consisted in Knowledge Righteousness and true Holiness giving him an holy Law for the Rule of his Obedience with Power to keep it and a Promise of Life upon Condition of keeping it see Gen. 1.27 So God created Man in his own Image in the Image of God created he him Eccles 7.29 This only have I found that God made man Upright 2. That Man Adam being Created in an Holy State yet in a mutable Condition and under a possibility of falling being tempted by Satan and left to the freedom of his own Will did actuall fall from his Estate of Innocency and Integrity into a State of Sin and Misery Gen. 3.6 And when the Woman saw that the Tree was good for Food and pleasant to the Eye she took thereof and did Eat and gave also unto her Husband and he did eat Eccles 7.29 God hath made Man upright but he hath found out many Inventions 3. That by reason of Man's Fall his Nature is wholly Corrupted with Original Sin which is the Seed and Root of all other Sins derived upon us by Natural Generation whereby we are disabled to that which is spiritually Good and inclined to that which is Evil and sinful Gen. 5.3 And Adam begat a Son in his own likeness after his Image Psal 51.5 Behold I was shapen in-iniquity and in sin did my Mother conceive me Rom. 8. v. 8. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God 4. That every Man doth further fall into manifold Actual Sins in the daily Course of his Life transgressing every one of God's holy Commandments either in Thought Word or Deed see Eccles 7. v. 20. There is not a just Man upon Earth that doeth good and sinneth not Rom. 3. v. 10 23. There is not one righteous man no not one for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God 5. That the Punishment due to every sin is Death and Hell all Miserie 's Temporal Spiritual and Eternal Rom. 6.23 The Wages of Sin is Death 2 Thes 1.9 They shall be punished with everlasting Destruction from the Presence of the Lord and from the glory of his Power 6. That Almighty God pitying the deplorable Misery of our fallen Estate has found out a Way and appointed a Means for our Deliverance from the Power and Punishment of Sin by a Mediator and Redeemer Titus 3. v. 4 5 6. After that the Kindness and Love of God our Saviour towards Man appeared according to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and Renewing of the Holy Ghost III. Concerning Christ the Mediator between God and Man We ought to Know and Believe 1. That Jesus Christ the Eternal Son of God the second Person in the Trinity is the only Redeemer of lost Man and the only Mediator betwixt God and Man from whom alone we are to expect Life and Salvation 1 Tim. 2.5 There is one God and one Mediator betwixt God and Man the Man Christ Jesus Acts 4.12 Neither is there Salvation in any other for there is no other Name given under Heaven by whom we must be saved 2. That Jesus Christ our Redeemer was both God and Man having two Natures in one Person a Divine Nature as he was God and an Humane Nature as Man in which Humane Nature he suffered for Sinners and in his Divine Nature satisfied the Justice of God for sin Acts 20.28 Feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own Blood Heb. 10. v. 10. By the which Will we are sanctified thro' the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all 3. That Christ our Redeemer having taken upon him our Nature lived here upon Earth about three and thirty Years and did in our stead and for our sin give full Satisfaction to the Justice of his Father by enduring most grievous Torments in his Soul and by undergoing most painful Sufferings in Body was Crucified Dyed and was Buryed and by his Death did Conquer Sin and Satan Death and Hell Read the 26th and 27th Chapters of St Matthew which give a large Account of our Saviour's Sufferings 4. That Jesus Christ on the third Day Arose again from the Dead with the same Body in which he suffered with which Body also he Ascended into Heaven and sitteth there at the right hand of his Father to intercede for us and by his Intercession in Heaven making Application of that Redemption which he wrought on Earth from whence at the End of the World he shall come again to Judg both Men and Devils and to determine their Final and Eternal State see Rom.

thy self and others the Benefit of thy attendance on him in holy Duties 4. Labour to preserve Family-peace if you would acceptably perform Family-Prayers agree together in Love that your Prayers be not hindred This is certain that Religion and the power of Holiness can never thrive or prosper in that Family where discord and contention dwells you may as well hope to Live together comfortably in an house on fire as pray together acceptably when your Spirits are inflamed with passion or imbitter'd with prejudice one against another nay verily the Body may as well thrive in a Feaver as such a Family grow in Grace As the fire in the Bones must be quenched and the Body brought to its natural temper and disposition before it can thrive and grow healthy so these unkindly heats must be quencht in a Family before Religion can thrive or prosper That Family will be unsuccessful in praying that is much squabling and brawling often contending with and clashing against one another 5. Take heed of setting up Family-Worship in opposition to Publick Worship or to suffer the one to interfere with the other We can say our Prayers say some in the Chimny-corner what need we go to Church to do it But at this rate all sense of God and Religion will be utterly lost in the World and is not this the Communion of Saints and the Fellowship of Holy Christians a priviledge worth thy prizing How does the presence of Devout Souls sometimes fire and inflame our cold Spirits and cause them to grow into greater Ardours and Transports of Zeal Thus the Divine Herbert sweetly expresses it Though Private Prayer be a brave Design Yet Publick hath more Promises more Love c. Leave there thy Six and Seven To pray with most for where most pray is Heaven God allows you time both for Publick-Worship and Family-Duties he expects the joint performance of both from you Let Piety and Prudence so Guide and Direct you in the management of both that God may be Glorified and your Souls improved by both 6. Let not the sense of thine own weakness or want of Gifts and Parts c. discourage thee from the daily performance of this Duty of Praying in and with thy Family but in Obedience to God set about it in the best manner thou art able and he will pardon thy weakness and accept thy sincerity It is not enlarged Parts and Gifts and Florid Expressions that Almighty God looks at but an Humble Penitent Broken and Believing Heart In Prayer it is not the quaint Note of the Nightingal but the Mournful Tone of the Dove that finds the best acceptance Study your Sins your Wants and Mercies and get a sense of all these upon your Hearts and you will be able in some measure to express your desires to Almighty God But if after all the want of suitable Expressions do discourage thee from Praying before others in thy Family make use of some of those many good Books of Devotion which are amongst us Or if you have none of them and are so poor that you cannot purchase them make use of the following Words to express your Family-wants in to Almighty God Morning and Evening A Family Prayer for the Moning OH Eternal Ever-Glorious Ever-Gracious and Merciful Lord our God! Thou fillest the Heavens with thy Glory the Earth with thy Goodness and all places with the immensity of thy Presence We pray Thee fill our Hearts with awful Apprehensions of thy Great and Glorious Majesty that whenever we come before Thee we may Sanctify thy Name in all our Religious Addresses to Thee We Holily Admire and Humbly Adore thy Divine Goodness towards us in this Invaluable Priveledge of our Admission to the Throne of Grace which our dear Redeemer has purchased for us by Faith in whose Mediation it is that we offer up our Prayers and Suplications now unto Thee beseeching thee for his satisfaction sake to pardon our Iniquities and for his Intercession sake to hear our Prayers It is oh Lord the sincere desire of our Souls this Morning to give Glory to thy Name by a free Penitent Acknowledgment and Confession of our Sin and Guilt which has rendred us All justy lyable and Obnoxious to thy Wrath and Curse Particularly We lament before God the want of the Original Purity and Perfection of our Natures the loss of thy Divine Image which was Instampt upon our Souls in their first Creation Oh how have we by our Apostacy from God forefeited his favour and lost his likeness being by Nature Children of Wrath because Children of Disobedience Help us also to lye low at thy foot in a Sorrowful fight and sense of the manifold Actual Transgressions and Provocations of our Lives Humble us greatly for all the Follies and Indecencies of our Childhood for the Vanities of our Youth and the sinfulness of our Riper Years for our Sins of Ignorance and of Knowledge of Weakness and of Wilfulness of Omission and of Commission against thy Law and against thy Gospel against the motions of thy Holy Spirit and the checks of our own Consciences We lament and bewail them all in thy presence they are our grief and our shame and the burthen of our Souls God Almighty pardon them unto us blot them out of thy Book bury them in our Saviours Grave that they may never arise more either in this World to shame us or in the World to come to condemn us And as we humbly implore thy Pardoning Mercy for the Errors of our Life past so we do Importunately begg the Aids of thy Divine Grace to impower us against the Dominion of Sin for the time to come let the Grace of God which has appeared to us in thy Gospel Teach every one of us practically to deny all Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts and to Live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World And God Almighty keep it in the purpose of our hearts for ever to continue faithful to him that with full purpose of heart we may cleave unto the Lord that continuing faithful to the Death we may lay hold of the Crown of Life Prepare and sit us for thy whole providential Will and Pleasure We pray thee Compose our Minds in all Conditions of Life to a quiet and steady dependance on thy Good Providence that we may be Solicitously carefull or nothing but in every condition by Prayer and Supplication let us make our Requests known to God Mind us of our Mortality and let us never be forgetful of our latter end help us practically to understand how frail we are and let us wisely prepare for that great change of ours which will Translate every Soul of us into an Unchangeable and Everlasting State Extend thy Goodness and Compassions to the whole World Pity the deplorable Ruines of Mankind think upon the dark Corners of the Earth that perish for want of Vision and where ever thou hast a Church planted perpetually watch over it and be a protection

to begin and end the day with God this will Antidote and fortifie thy Soul against the Contagion of Sin and the Temptations of Sinners Ecclesiastical History tells us that when St. Origen fell into that great Sin of Offering Incense to an Idol-god that Morning he went forth before he had performed his Private Devotions We are never safe either from Sin or Danger but when under the over-shadowing Care and Providential Wing of God and Prayer is the way and means to engage God Almighty's care over us and concern for us by Prayer we fix our Minds upon him we lay open our Souls before him we recomend our selves unto him which gives our Minds the sweetest and most solid satisfaction that whatever Providences befall us are certainly intended by an unerring Wisdom for our good and in Order to our Happiness Now in Order to your Glorifying Almighty God in Secret Duties let the following Directions be observed 1. Be sure that thou art Private in thy Private Duties let it be true Secret Prayer and not have its Name for nought Remember our Saviour's Advice St. Matth. 6.6 Enter into thy Closet when thou prayest and shut thy door and be sure to shut it so close that no Wind of Vain Glory may either get out or come in Some Hypocrites pray in Secret but as they handle the matter they are not Secret in their Closets like the Hen that goes into a Private place to lay her Egg but by her Cackling tells all the House both where she is and what she is about rather than be guilty of this Vanity shut the door of thy Lips as well as of thy Closet not but that it is lawful to use the Voice in Private Prayer provided it be not for Ostentation to be over-heard by others Yea and useful also as it helps the Attention of the Mind and prevents wandring thoughts and likewise quickens the Affections by raising them up to an higher degree and pitch of Fervency Christian Prudence therefore must direct Thee what is best in this Case 2. Look that thou art free and open with Almighty God in Private Duties come not to God in Secret and then conceal thy Secret from him lay open thy very Heart and spread all thy Secret Sins before him and be sure to hide nothing from him if thou art not free to Confess never expect that God will be faithful to forgive Prayer is called in Scripture a pouring forth of the Soul to God because a Gracious Person makes known all its wants and griefs to God and does this with much Freedom of Spirit Verily there is nothing that Almighty God resents more unkindly at his Peoples hands than their Attempts to conceal either their their Secrets Sins or their Secret wants from him when he stands ready so graciously to pardon the one and so mercifully to supply the other 3. Make use of the most proper and fitting Season for Secret-prayer and take heed that one Duty doth not interfere with another either with Family-Prayer or with Publick-worship the Beauty of Christianity consists in the Harmony of a Christian Obedience but the Devil takes a mighty pleasure in putting Persons upon setting the Ordinances of God at variance one against another look also that thy Closet-Devotions do not interfere with the Duties of thy particular Calling God allows time for the Shop as well as for the Closet as thou art to shut thy Closet-doors to pray so to open thy Shop Windows for work and if we be not faithful in the one we cannot expect his Presence in the other Go then Oh Christian into thy Closet before thou goest into thy Shop or else thou art an Atheist but when thou hast been with God there attend with faithfulness the Business of thy Calling or else thou art an Hyyocrite he that says Be fervent in Prayer also says Be not sloathful in Business 4. Take heed that your frequent performance of Secret Duties do not degenerate into a lifeless formality what we do very frequently we are prone to do very carelesly it is exceeding hard not to grow formal in those Duties which we are daily Conversant in Endeavour therefore with your utmost Care and Diligence to keep up the fervour of your Affections in your daily approaches to God and in order thereunto I would advise you to pray often rather than very long for it is difficult to be long in our Prayers and not to slacken our Affections Our Blessed Saviour himself we find praying often yea and using the same Words in Prayer St. Matth. 26.44 5. Rest not upon it as an Infallible Evidence of thy Sincerity thou art found in the practice of Secret Duties 'T is as possible for Hipocrisie to creep into the Closet as for the Frogs to get into Pharaohs Bed-chamber a man may perform Secret-Duties and yet indulge himself in many Secret Sins But if thou delightest in searching Duties as well as Secret in the close Examination of thy Heart in the impartial Trying of thy Ways in serious Meditation of the Threatnings of the Word so as to deterr thee from the Practice of all known Sin this will afford thee a good ground of Hope that thy Heart is upright in Gods sight 6. Let not Business divert thee let not the sense of thy own weakness and want of Abilities discourage thee from the practice of Secret Duties especially from praying daily by thy self alone confess all thy Sins and lay open all thy wants before Almighty God in the best manner thou art able and question not the acceptance of thy worthless Services for the sake of a worthy Mediator and rather than the sense of thine own weakness and want of Expression should tempt thee to neglect this Duty make use of the following Words A Morning Prayer for a Private Person OH Eternal and ever Blessed God! Thou art in thy self Infinitely Glorious in the Son of thy Love transcendently Gracious In all Humility I bow at thy Foot adoring thy Divine Majesty by whose Power I was brought into the World and by whose Providence I have been preserved to this Moment I acknowledge my self to have been estranged from Thee even from the Womb for I brought a sinful Nature into the World with me from whence all actual Transgressions hav● flown and proceeded as impure Streams from a polluted Fountain Oh Lord humble me and that greatly for my Original Guilt for the Follies of my Childhood for the vanities and impieties of my Youth for the Transgressions and Provocations of my Riper Years give me a particular sight of them work in my Soul an Ingenious and Godly Sorrow for them an impartial hatred and enmity against them Accept of the Death and Sufferings of thy Son as a full satisfaction to thy Justice for all that wrong I have done to the Holiness of thy Law and enable me by Faith to repose the intire Trust and Confidence of my Soul on the sufficiency of his Merits and Oh let thy Holy Spirit