Selected quad for the lemma: reason_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
reason_n	day_n	lord_n	rest_v	3,802	5	9.7803	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A77360	Christ and the covenant the work and way of meditation. : Gods return to the soul, or nation; together with his preventing mercy. : Delivered in ten sermons, (viz.) 1. Christs personal excellencies, the object of our love. 2. Christ crucified, the object of our faith. 3. The new covenant of grace opened. 4. Christ the mediator of the new covenant. 5. The way and spirit of the new covenant, or New Testament. 6. The blood of sprinkling. 7. The sweetness and profitableness of divine meditation. 8. The work and way of this meditation. 9. Gods return to the soul and nation. 10. Preventing mercy. / By W.B.	Bridge, William, 1600?-1670.	1667 (1667)	Wing B4449A; ESTC R225773	165,221	279

to an outward holy Conversation Now then As ever you desire that the holiness of your Conversation may be advanced That you may be as godly now in your thoughts as ever you have been ungodly That God may take nothing unkindly from you That you may have a constant relief against all afflictions both inward and outward That you may live on God That your hearts may be subdued into God That God may give out his Loves unto you That you may be very godly That you may have a Testimony in your own souls that you are truly godly That you may suck out the sweetness of all the things you know That you may be let into the secret of Godliness and not stand at the door of Knowledg onely That you may never lose a pretious hour but redeem your time Now to the work of Meditation And you that have neglected it so long be not ashamed to begin it at last Gods Return to the Soul or Nation SERM. IX Psal 90.13 Return O Lord how long and let it repent thee Concerning thy Servants This Psalm is a Psalm of Moses the man of God Saith the title Wherein he doth strengthen his Faith and the Israelites Faith in God And shews the misery and frailty of mans life petitions God for his mercy He sets down the misery and frailty of mans life in the body of the Psalm But before in the beginning of the Psalm he doth strengthen his own and others Faith in God A man is never fit to look upon the troubles of this World and the miseries thereof till his heart be establisht in God by beleeving This therefore he doth in the first place by several Arguments of Comfort First drawn from their interest in God v. 1. Lord thou hast been our dwelling place in all Generations As if he should say We are now in the Wilderness and so no abiding place well Thou hast bin our dwelling place in all Generations Faith finds that in God which we want here below and that 's the way to true Comfort The Second is drawn from the eternity of Gods essence and beeing v. 2. Before the Mountains were brought forth or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the World even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God The Third is drawn from our Resurrection Though now we die and are destroyed yet at the 3. v. Thou turnest man to destruction and say●st Return ye Children of men Our Resurrection is an easy work with God it is but saying Thou sayest Return ye Children of men The Fourth is drawn from the shortness of the time that lies between our Death and the Resurrection for it will be said There 's a great deal of time between our Death and the Resurrection But saith he you must account as God accounts for at the 4th v. A Thousand yeers in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past And as a watch in the night These things being thus premised Now you may read over the miseries and troubles of this World Which you have at large from the 5. v. unto the 12. v. But what then what is the work and Duty of the Psalmist then Why then he Petitions God He petitions first for Wisdome That by all the troubles and miseries of this life he may provide and lay in for eternity So teach us to number our Daies that we may apply our hearts unto Wisdom v. 12. And then he petitions for the return of Gods love Returne O Lord how long and let it repent thee concerning thy Servants Where you have the matter of the Petition The explication And the reason thereof The Matter of the Petition in those words Return O Lord. The Explication thereof And let it repent thee concerning thy Servants And the Reason How long Thou hast been long absent O Lord how long wilt thou be absent how long wilt thou be angry Return O Lord how long And let it repent thee concerning thy Servants God is said To return when after some Judgments for sin he doth shew forth some fresh tokens of his love and favour God is said To Repent when he doth change his dispensations of Anger into Love And this is that which the Psalmist doth here most desire From whence I take up this Doctrine or Observation Obs When God is in any measure departed from his people it is their great desire that God would return unto them and repent him concerning his Servants For the clearing and prosecuting of which First I shall labour to shew you that God doth sometimes forsake desert and depart from his own people for a time 2. That they are very sensible of such departures and think it long 3. That then in the time of those departures their great desire is that God would return and 4. That when God doth return unto his people then he doth repent him concerning his Servants and 5. What we should do in case God should be in any measure departed from us that he may return again unto us First As for the first God doth sometimes desert and forsake and depart from his people for a time Not in regard of their Union so he never departs But in regard of Communion and manifestation so sometimes he doth Though nothing is hid from the heat of this Sun yet our souls may be hid from the light of this Sun God doth sometimes depart from his own people For first He is the Sovereign Lord over all And what if God will to make his power and sovereignty known among his own people sometimes withdraw forsake and depart from them Two times you read in the Book of the Canticles that Christ withdraws from the Spouse Once upon occasion of her sin and security And then she meets with blows Cant. 5. Once upon an account of his meer pleasure Cant. 3. As whom God will he shews mercy to and whom he will he hardens So whom God will he is present with and whom he will he is absent from He is the Sovereign Lord over all But Secondly What if God will that his people should have a taste of hell in this life that so they may be sensible of and very thankful for their deliverance from hell and the wrath to come There are three things in hell Torment of Body Horror of Conscience Loss of God By our Pains and Torments Gouts and Stone we think of the Torments of Hell or may think By the horror of Conscience that we meet withall we may think of the horror of Conscience there And by Gods withdrawing and Gods departing from us here we may think of the losse of God for ever there These things are not in perfection here In heaven there is nothing but the presence of God and all the comforts there flow from that Fountain In hell there 's nothing but the absence of God and all the miseries there flow from that Fountain This life lyes between both And what if God will that we may be sensible

dayes work And it is that work that is consistent with every business and condition First I say 'T is every mans work it is the work of the wicked and it is the work of the Godly 'T is the wo●k of the wicked for it is their first step unto Conversion The Prodigal bethought himself and returned unto his Fathers house The Prophet Haggai calling upon the Jews to repent saith Consider your wayes I considered my wayes and turned my feet unto thy Testimonies saith David Consider your wayes or as in the Hebrew set your heart upon your wayes And when doth a man set his heart upon his wayes but when he doth seriously ponder and meditate on his wayes Th●s work of Meditation therefore I say it is the work of the wicked It is their first step unto Coversion And 't is the work of the godly Meditation-work is a godly mans work For either he is weak or strong If he be weak he hath need of it that he may be strengthened If he be strong he hath need of it that he may be quickned There is no man but hath need of Meditation If a man be a Beginner he ought to meditate that he may proceed If he be a Proficient he ought to meditate that he may be perfect If he be Perfect with Gospel-perfection he ought to meditate that he may hold on his perfection Psal 1. It 's made the general description of a good man He delighteth in the Law of the Lord and in that Law doth he meditate And Secondly As it is every mans work so 't is every dayes work There are some special times as you will hear which are more fit for meditation But this work of meditation is every dayes work When I awake saith the Psalmist I am ever with thee How By prayer and meditation I have set the Lord alwayes before me How but by meditation and prayer What time is there that is not fit for this work of Meditation Is the Sabbath day unfit for it No There is a Prayer for the Sabbath Psal 92. to meditate on the works of God Is the week-day unfit for this work of Meditation No the Sabbath day is our market day and then after we have bought our ma●ket on the Sabbath we should Rost it by meditation on the week We don't go to the Market on the market day to buy meat into the house onely for the market day but for all the time till the market day comes about again Indeed Solomon saith of the Sluggard that he is so sluggish and slothful That he doth not roast what he h●th taken in hunting The Sabbath day is the hunting day for souls wherein the Venison is taken On the week day we are to roast it and to live upon it by meditation and otherwise And what 's the reason that many don't live upon their Venison that they have taken on the Lords day but because they don't roast it by meditation on the week day and so are in the number of Solomen's sluggards the sluggard roasteth not the Venison that he hath taken in huntin● I am sure that David in the 119. Psal saith that his meditation was at work all the day long It is my meditation all the Day not a piece on 't 't is every dayes work 't is all the dayes work Yea in the first Psa● he takes in the Night too He delighteth in the Law of the Lord and therein doth he meditate Day and Night So that that 's the Second thing Meditation work is every days work As 't is every mans work so 't is every dayes work And 3. As it is every dayes work so it is that work that is consistent with every business and with every condition A Garment that will fit the back of every condition What dunghil-condition but this flower of Meditation may grow thereupon In Judg. the 5th 't is said there v. 11. They that are delivered from the noise of Archers in the places of drawing water There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord. There where why in the places of drawing Water When they are in the field drawing waer And if that be a fit place be rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord certainly then it is a place fit for meditation And if that the place of the Drawing Water then the very place of scraping Trenchers and sweeping the kennel may be a place fit for meditation If that the place of drawing Water be a place fit for rehearsing the Acts of the Lord what place what condition what business but Meditation may accompany it Possibly a man may be sick and he may be kept from Books or he may be kept from hearing but yet he may meditate on God and the things of God Possibly he may be thrown into Prison and he may be kept from Books and Bible yet he cannot be kept from Meditation It 's said of Mr. Glover that Great Martyr in Queen Maryes time that lying in Prison a Coventry it was told him he should be remooved to a close Prison at Litchfield and all Books taken away from him At that he was much troubled but saith he I sat down and considered and meditated with my self Is God the God of Coventry and not of Litchfield Is not God the God of Litchfield as well as of Coventry And when I had thought on this thing and meditated thus my heart was quiet within me Surely there is no condition so sower but Sweet Meditation may grow thereon Now if this work of Meditation be a work that is Consistent with every business and every condition every dayes work and every mans work why should we not be found in the practice of it 3. But you will say 3dly What help or what means to this work of Meditation What shall I do how and by what means should this work of Meditation be performed First If you would Meditate on God rightly and duly to speak first by way of means and then for the rules of direction afterwards be very sensible of your want and of your neglect herein A man is never more fit for a duty then when he is very sensible of his neglect therein sensibleness of neglect of former duty fitts one for future duty If a man have very great possessions and he lose them he is very sensible of the loss thereof why now look into the 17th Job and you shall find there are Thought-possessions saith he My dayes are past my purposes are broken off even the thoughts of my heart In the Heb. even the possessi●ns of my heart As if he should say thus Time was that I had very great Thought-possessions I thought on God I enjoyed God I possessed God but now I have lost these my possessions of God and the thoughts of my heart the possessions of my heart are broken off Thus sensible J●be was of the loss of his Thought-possessions And the more rich our Thought-possessions are the greater is our loss

And the more sensible we are of the loss of our thought-p●ssessions and of our Meditations the more fit we shall be for this work of Meditation First therefore be very sensible of your want and neglect of this work of Meditation thus long 2. If you would meditate indeed on God and the things of God labour more and more for a Serious Spirit A frothy leight and giggling disposition is never fit for Meditation Labour therefore to be serious And there are three or four things that will poise and make your hearts serious The sight of the glorious Majesty of God The sense of your Eternal Condition Eternity Eternity Humiliation for Sin And converse with those that are serious Be serious and you will be more fit for Meditation That 's the Second 3. If you would indeed meditate on God and the things of God labour more and more for a Fixed Spirit Fixation of Spirit is a great friend to meditation An unsettled an unfixed soul cannot meditate Fix therefore first And there are many things that may fix your Spirits The great and weighty Judgments of God that are upon us may help to fix us and hang lead upon our heels In case you are to come to Meditation or any other Work come free and don 't leave any businesse standing at the Door for a hundred to one but your hearts will step out unto it at the time of your Work whether Meditation or Prayer or any thing else Therefore come free unto every Duty if you would be fixed And labour for Intention of Affection In Meditation Prayer or any other Work be Intense We use to say when the Candle burns the Mouse doth not nibble but when the Candle is out then the Mouse nibbles when our hearts are warm and lively in Prayer and Meditation we are free from distractions the Mouse nibbles not And in case you meet with any distraction in Meditation or other duty don't stand to Correct your heart in the time of the duty but go on with your work If a woman carries a Child abroad among friends and the Child cries and makes a disturbance the mother don't then correct the Child there but calls the Child to an account when she comes at home for saith she Else would my correction be a further disturbance to the company So here when you meet with distractions in duty if you call your hearts to an account then it will be a further disturbance but on with your present duty correct afterward and thus shall your hearts be the more fixed and fixation of heart is a great help to Meditation 4. If you would indeed meditate on God and the things of God be sure that you lay out such objects as may give entertainment to your thoughts For if there be no Corn in the Quern what grinding will there be Have therefore objects laid out to exercise your thoughts withal upon all occasions And so when you have any spare time your Objects lying by you will be presently upon the work of Meditation only let those Objects be such as are drawing alluring thought-begetting Objects and Thought-entertaining Objects But then 5. If you would meditate on God and the things of God strengthen your Love and Delight for Meditation grows upon the stalk of Love and Delight And the more a man doth love God and the things of God the more he meditates thereon Psal 119. O how I love thy Law what then It is my Meditation all the day this was much his meditation all the day What 's the reason Why his Love was beyond expression O how I love thy Law It is my meditation all the day Love loves to be thinking on the person loved It carries the Picture of the Person or thing loved up and down in its bosome the more you love the more you meditate and the more you delight the more you meditate Can a Woman forget her Child no why because she loves it Can a Worldly man forget the World his Money and his House or Land can he forget this no why because he loves them What 's the reason we meditate no more but because we love God no more Do but strengthen your love to God and the things of God and your delight in God and the things of God and you will meditate more This is the fifth means unto the work of Meditation Strengthen your love to and your delight in the Lord And then 6. If you would meditate on God and the things of God Then labour to get a deep Impression of the things of God upon your heart and soul 'T is deep impressions that calls for meditation A man reads the word of God and it may be understands it but he don't meditate Why because the word made no impression upon his heart as he went along But if he read it and understand it and hath an impression made upon his soul as he reads it then he thinks on 't afterwards As in hearing the Word of God a man hears the Word of God in Publick or in Private and he meditates not thereupon Why Why because it has no impression upon him Possibly a man may think of the free grace of God yet if it make no impression upon his soul he don't go away and meditate on it If a man think on the Wrath of God and it make an impression upon him he goes away and is still in the thoughts thereof What 's the reason that many poor souls troubled in Conscience are alwayes thinking of Hell and Judgement and Wrath but because the Wrath of God hath made a deep impression upon their souls and the more deep the impression is upon your soul the more full will your meditation be You see how it was in former times when they went in procession at the end of the Parish they would take up a Boy and whip him Why that he might remember the bounds of the Parish for Passion is the best Door-keeper of Memory And as passion is the Door-keeper of Memory so Impression is the Door-keeper of Meditation 7. If you would meditate on God and the things of God Take heed that your hearts and your hands be not too full of the world and the employments thereof The more full your hand is of worldly imployments the more you will think thereon and the more you think thereon the less you will think of G●d and the things of God And what is the reason that many meditate and think so little of God and the things of God but because their hearts are so full of the World Where their treasure is there will their hearts b● O saith one I would think on God and I would meditate on God with all my heart but meditation-work is a work of time it will cost time and I have no time my hands are so full of business and so full of imployment I have no time for this work Meditation is not a transient Thought but it is a work of

IV. Now Fourthly Why will God carry on the work of his Mercy in a way of Preventing Love 1. First Because the heart of God is full of love to the children of men Ordinary love will shew kindness upon kindness but where the heart is full of love it delights to prevent the person loved with kindness Now the heart of God is full of love for the children of men That 's one thing 2. God will so carry on the work of his Grace and mercy that all his mercies and blessings now may be conformed to the womb that bare them The Child follows the womb that bare it The first in every Kind is the Rule of the rest Now Election is the womb of all our mercies and doth not preventing Love sway there I have loved Jacob and hated Esau before they had done either good or evil there 's preventing love Now I say God will so carry on the work of his mercy that all his mercies and blessings may be conformed to their first original Election and there preventing mercy is very sweet 3. But thirdly God will so carry on the work of his mercy as it may be most taking and effective upon the souls of the children of men and what is more taking then preventing love What more Operative what more Powerfull what more taking I say You know the Parable some were invited to the Supper and some not invited some came and some came not who were those that came who were those that came not those that came not were such as were invited those that came were such as were in the Lanes High-wayes and Hedges compelled to come in Ay preventing love is the most taking now God will so carry on the work of his mercy as it may be most taking and most effective upon the souls of the children of men 4. Again God will so carry on his mercy as that it may be holding and sure The more any mercy is laid upon that which is in God himself and the less laid upon that which is in us the more holding and sure it is Now Mercy laid upon Grace is sure and therefore God will carry on the work of his Mercy in a way of preventing love that his mercy may be sure that it may be holding 5. Again God will so carry on the work of his mercy as that it may be most ingaging and most obliging with the hearts of men What is there in all the world that is more ingaging to an ingenious spirit then Grace And what is there more gracious then preventing love Thereby a soul is engaged to God Ah sayes a poor soul I was going on in the way of my sin lay snorting in my sin and never thought on the good wayes of God unless it were to oppose them and speak against them but then before I was aware I know not how God did reveal himself and his wayes to me Oh now what shall I do for God! I will spend and be spent for God any thing for Christ who hath thus overcome me with his preventing love Of all those that are called the Ancients Austin did most magnifie the Grace of God Bradwardin called him the Son of Grace and of all in those dayes none that we read of tasted so much of the preventing mercy of God as he When he was young he prayed for the mortification of his sin and yet he confesses that he secretly desired that God would not grant his prayer yet God prevented his prayer Another time being alone he heard a voice saying tolle lege tolle lege take and read take and read and he opened the Bible and pitched upon some words in the first of John that proved the beginning of his Conversion Another time going a Journey he misses his way and missing his way he escaped his Enemies that lay in the way for him several times God prevented him insomuch that he brake out into this expression Lord I did not first come to thee but thou didst first come and stir me up to come unto thee And who ever magnified the freeness of the riches of the Grace of God like Paul and why Of all the men in the world he lay under the greatest preventions of Divine Love no wonder therefore Paul of all men magnified the free Grace of God for he of all other lay under the preventions of Divine Love 6. Again further God will so carry on the work of his Grace and Mercy that no flesh may glory in it self that we may not rest upon any thing that we do or have or suffer When we are to come to duty we are unwilling to it after we have performed it we are as apt to rest upon it as before we were unwilling to come unto it what is the reason but because men think that they do come to God before God comes to them but let a man be once fully convinced of Gods preventing Love and he rests no more upon what he doth but sayes he then if God hath prevented me in reference to my prayer why should I rest on my prayer if God hath prevented me in reference to my duty why should I rest on my duty sayes Paul to the Corinthians He calleth things that are not that no flesh may glory in his sight And in Job 33 sayes Elihu there In deep sleep in a dream in a vision of the night when deep sleep falleth upon men in slumbrings upon the bed then he openeth the ears of men and sealeth their instruction Why That he may withdraw man from his purpose and hide pride from man There is no such way in the World to take down the pride of man to keep him from resting upon duty as to be well seen well experienced in the preventing love of God And therefore God carries on the work of his Grace and Mercy in a way of preventing love that no flesh may glory in it self 7. God will so carry on the work of his mercy and goodnesse and of his grace that men may be made most gracious and in case they sin against him they may be reduced to true repentance What is there in all the World will make one so gracious as a sight of Grace and what gives one a greater sight of Grace then preventing love And what is there in all the world that will reduce a soul to true repentance having sinned like preventing love It is said of Peter he went out and wept bitterly all his tears came out of the eyes of preventing Grace Christ looked upon him first it was preventing love that brought forth that repentance I say no such way to reduce a poor soul that hath sinned to true Repentance as the consideration of Gods preventing love Do you therefore ask why God is pleased to carry on his mercy thus in a way of preventing love for these six or seven reasons And so you have the fourth thing V. Well but then in the fifth place What is there in