Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	spirit_n	word_n	write_a	2,319	5	11.0747	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61908	A gospel-glasse, representing the miscarriages of English professors, both in their personal and relative capacities ..., or, A call from heaven to sinners and saints by repentance and reformation to prepare to meet God.	Stuckley, Lewis, 1621 or 2-1687.	1667 (1667)	Wing S6088; ESTC R13173	281,871	514

the Scholar of those Notions which he affects and valueth Haven ot our hearts cryed out many times unto the Bible depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of Gods wayes either as to worship or manners and that because knowledge is an obligation yea a provocation to duty and a sting in case duty be neglected What things we prize we search into Not searching the Scriptures Jo. 5.39 But how little have we searched the Scriptures as diggers in Mines do search for gold and silver in the Earth as the Word signifieth And this leads me to those two main Evidences of our slighting the written Word of God our not reading and not meditating upon it Not reading them Dent. 31.11 Matth. 12.3.5.21.16 Luk. 10.26 Deut. 17.19 as we ought which I shall a little enlarge upon How have we been guilty of not reading the Scriptures as we ought That every one ought to read them is so evident that there is no way for the Papists to keep men from believing this truth but by keeping of them from reading the Scripture No business can discharge any from this duty and yet how is this evident duty neglected Some have not been so farr wrought upon as from sense of their own ignorance and blindness in the things that concern their Everlasting welfare and from conviction that they can know such things only by the help of the written Word of God to take up firm resolutions to undertake the study of the Scripture Others notwithstanding their resolutions never set upon the reading of the Bible over At all They have seen no excellency in this book they have seen more in a piece of Philosophy in a rational discourse of Divinity in an ingenious History in a politick discourse yea in a Romance or in a Play Polititian-like who preferr'd an Ode in Pindar before all Davids Psalms How many read the Bible too seldome Oft enough thinking it too much to read it dayly to spend one hour therein every day Have not some spent several hours in a day in reading some good books of mens inditing but not a quarter of an hour in reading Gods-book I even hate mine own works said Luther and oft times wish they were burnt because I fear lest they should withdraw men from reading the Scriptures How much greater is the Number of those Aright not reverently 2 Sam. 7.18 that have not read the Bible aright Are not all of us in this number When have we prepared for the reading of the Scriptures as becomes those that are going in unto God so going into the Sanctuary where the Word of God was kept is tearmed Have not we read fearlesly Tremblingly When we were going to take the Bible into our hands have we trembled at the Word Isa 66.2 lest we should not sanctifie the Name of God yea lest we should take the Name of God in vain in our reading Have not we read heedlesly Attentively Not diligently marking the Duties commanded the Sins forbidden the Rewards promised and the Punishments threatned therein Have not our thoughts been wandering and gadding and not fixed upon what we read When did we attend to Scripture words as heedfully 1 Kings 20.33 as Benhadad's Messengers did to the words of Ahab Have not we read unbelievingly Believingly Deut. 29.9 Rom. 15.4 Josh 1.5 compar'd with Hebr. 13.5 Conscieneiously For right Ends Not believing that the Scripture is the Word of God that whatever we read therein is true and good that the Spirit of God the Inditer of every word in this Book did particularly intend our good in every Verse that in the Scripture Life and Death is set before us yea that Scripture words are our Life Have not we read out of custome and not conscienciously in obedience to the command of God Have not we read for wrong ends Either to satisfie our curiosity and not to regulate our hearts and lives or to have matter of discourse but not matter of practise to have Scripture at our tongues end not at our hearts or only to know being ashamed to be ignorant of those things which all Christians know and to be able to say nothing of such matters which we cannot but have occasion divers times in company to talk of but not to do When did we read the Scriptures with this particular intention that they might be a Lamp unto our feet Psa 119.105 and a Light unto our paths That we might thereby be help'd to order our conversation aright When did we read the Bible with the same attention reverence Quid est Scriptura Sacra nisi quaedam Epistola Omnipotentis Dei ad Creaturam suam Greg. Hos 8.12 and resolution to follow every rule therein as we think we would if we had lived when Christ was upon Earth received a Letter from him directing us what to believe and do that we might be saved Or as we think we should a Book writ immediately by the singer of God as he wrote the Ten Commandements in two Tables Why the Bible is Gods Letter to every one of us in particular written by himself though mediately I have written to him the great things of my Law To him it is in the singular number because to every man and woman particularly When did we read the Bible as Children read the last Will and Testament of their deceased Parent Have not we read the Scripture With Prayer without begging of God his Spirit to help us to understand what we read and to practise what we understand at least not so importunately as we would if we had been begging for our Lives at the Barr of a Judge Have not we sown this seed among thornes in unplowed hearts Jer. 4.3 and have not so much as prayed to God to take away the heart of stone and to give an heart of flesh a teachable plyable tractable spirit ready to receive every Divine impression O! when shall we make conscience of reading the Scriptures daily as we ought The Emperour of Heaven saith Gregory the great the Lord of Angels and Men hath sent to you that which concerns your life and will you still neglect to read it with a fervent and zealous Spirit How guilty have we been in not meditating in the Word of God as we ought How little Not meditating if at all have we dwelt in our serious thoughts upon the matters contained in the written Word of God to the end we might understand how much they do concern us and that our hearts may thereby be raised to some holy affections and resolutions Though meditation be commanded as a chief means sanctified by God for the keeping of his Word Josh 1.8 Psa 1.2 though we cannot be holy and happy without it altogether though it be one of the Profitablest duties of a Christian the Reader and Studier of Scripture may see the beauty and smell the sweetness of the flowres that grow

12.8 Hab. 2.1 For this I besought the Lord thrice and yet no answer O! when shall we resolve with Habbakkus to stand upon our watch and look and see what he will say to us The neglect of this hath bred so many Formalists in our Congregations After we have put our Prayers into Gods hands we never mind them more We would be angry with Beggars if they begg'd an almes and away presently as careless of answers The sincerity of thy heart would be more evidenced Not blessing God for answers if thou didst consider what returns thou hast that thou mayst bless God for them and improve them for God and in case of denials 1 Sam. 1.15 to be of a troubled Spirit as Hannah was for that her Prayer for a Child was so long denied What mournings hast thou for that thy Pride Not mourning for denials Worldliness Unbelief hardness of Heart c. are not yet pardoned and subdued Poor creature thou continuest in the road of Duty but observest not whether God hears thee or not Saul went beyond thee 1 Sam. 28.6 He observed and was troubled that God answered him not by Urim nor yet by Prophets Have not we by carelesness by returning to our vomits and mires intercepted our own Prayers Have not we torn our own Petitions Tearing their own Petitions Isa 59.1 2. and snatch'd them out of Gods hands Behold the Lords hand is not shortned that it cannot save neither is his ear heavy that it cannot hear but your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear How seldome have we took Bernards advice in his gloss upon Not joyning endeavours Oremus Laboremus Jo. 8.21 Ezek. 39.23 Let us lift up our hearts with our hands that is saith he let us pray and endeavour We love to employ God to subdue our sins c. But we sit idle we hate taking pains we are not co-workers with God I may say unto you as Christ I goe away and ye shall seek me and shall die in your sins The Heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity because they trespassed against me therefore hid I my face from them Then shall they cry unto the Lord Mic. 3.4 but he will not hear them he will even hide his face from them at that time as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings Prayer is a Key to open Heaven to Believers but it may be so managed as to open Hell to thee CHAP. XV. Their slighting the written Word of God especially in not reading and meditating on it as they ought 8ly Professours despifing Gods written Word SLighting of the written word of God is another piece of ungodliness which English Professours have been very guilty of There is not a surer sign of despising any person than the setting light by what he saith unto us for according to the honour we give unto the Speaker the words spoken will be of weight with us But alas how hath the Bible Gods written word been undervalued by us How little have we credited Gods written word Evidenced in their not crediting it And yet it is natural for us to believe whatsoever is said by one of whose truth we are confident Have not Scripture-affirmations been doubted of by us How little hath our knowledge of them been attended with building a Christian life upon them as a foundation Have we believed that Scripture commands come from God and are most just and fit for him to lay upon us Hath this belief brought forth obedience Have we believed that Scripture-threats are Gods-threats and will therefore be performed to every impenitent Sinner And hath this belief kept us from sin or promoted repentance Have Scripture promises been believed to be Gods-promises and that therefore all the absolute ones shall certainly be performed to the Elect and all the conditional ones to those that perform the conditions And hath this belief stirr'd us up and help'd us to perform the conditions God hath magnified his Word above ell his Name but so have not we Psal 138.2 Not honouring it above Gods other Names We are apt to be afraid at the appearances of the great God in his extraordinary works in the World but who trembleth at the appearances of God in the Scriptures And yet God appears more in the glory of his Majesty therein than in all his other works whether of Creation or of common Providence Mat. 5.8 God maketh more account of his written Word than of Heaven and Earth he had rather lose Heaven and Earth than one jota or tittle of his Word Accounted it a small matter to swerve from it But have not we accounted it no great matter to swerve a little from the written Word of God Yea have not we made a light matter of leaving undone what is therein required and of doing what is therein forbidden Were the Scriptures high in our esteems did we look upon Gods testimonies as wonderfull things our very Souls would be in keeping them Psal 119.129 Thy testimonies are wonderfull therefore doth my Soul keep them Have not we accounted them fools that have preferr'd the Word before whatsoever hath been near and dear unto them in this World Accounting tender Consciences more nice than wise Rev. 6.9 Have not we accounted them more nice than wise who have been slain for the Word who have lost Name Liberty Livelihood Friends Relations yea Life it self and endured all Torments and Tortures rather than they would offend the written Word of God in any one thing either by omission or commission God hath written to us the great things of his Law or word but have they not been accounted a strange thing Accounting it a strange thing Hos 8.12 a thing that we should have got little good if we had obeyed them and little hurt by disobeying them Have not we used the Word as a stranger only for our own ends to serve our own turns as we have had advantage thereby Have not we made the Word a stalking horse for our own carnal designs Making the Word a stalking-horse Have not we pretended very great Zeal for the Word when all the while we have been Zealous for self either our own opinions and perswasions or our own honour and greatness or our own livelihood Have not we like boat-men looked one way and rowed another cryed the Word of the Lord but meant the other thing Have not even Scripture Doctrines eb'd and flowed upon politick considerations How seldome have we discoursed with others Seripturally Not talking of it Deut. 6.7 The Scholar is upon every occasion discoursing of those Notions which he prizeth but hath not our speech bewrayed our low esteems of the Word Have not we been willingly and contentedly ignorant of Scripture-discoveries Willingly ignorant of it Job 21.14 So is not

our rising up early and sitting up late our spending our strength our lungs our spirits yea and our estates among you you have requited us evil for good even to the spoyling of our Souls Acts 7.51 52. Ye stiffe-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears ye do alwayes resist the Holy-Ghost as your Fathers did so do ye Which of the Prophets have not your Fathers persecuted c. Have not you in your hypocrisie made outcries against others for silencing your Ministers for taking away the bread out of yours and your Childrens mouths and for removing them from their stations and dwellings But may not I profess in the name of all my Fellow-Sufferers that your misimprovements your inconstancies your pride and earthliness have been and are our chiefest burdens a greater pressure to us than any burdens that lye upon our names bodies or estates I cannot but think of a passage of holy Mr. Shepheard The Jews saith he did long for Christ and when he came they Crucified him and you would have Ministers and you had them and though you did not immediately cast them out of their places yet you so wearied their Spirits and grieved the Spirit in them that you made them glad to bury themselves and leave their places you had Prophets and their te●●s and their sorrows too yea and their bl●●d too and O! what a light matter was it te●●s you to break their very hearts How little did you obey them that ruled over you Hebr. 13.17 and submitted your selves that they might give their account with joy and not with grief How little did you believe that that is unprofitable for you Have not you made nothing of it for your Ministers to lose their labour to put them upon crying out I have laboured in vain Isa 49.45 Yea how have you grieved their very Souls with reproaches Some who have pretended affection to them yet have had their reproachfull Names of Priest Parson Vicar c. Though God hath put a Crown of honour upon them by making them his Ambassadours yet how have some impudent Professours blasted them with their stinking breath and prosane scoffs Ambassadours are inviolable by the Laws of Nations The Lord saith one hath set a better mark on them than Cain had and given them a better pasport touch not mine anointed and do my Prophets no harm yet you have made a light matter of vexing their very Souls When you could have nothing else against your Minister have not you been censuring him for his manner of speaking 2 Cor. 10.10 His Letters say they are weighty and powerfull but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible Lastly And being weary of them Have not your Ministers been so troublesome to you in your sins in your formality worldliness lukewarmness c. that you were even weary of them Have not you been as weary of them as the Children of Israel of Angels food as weary as weak somachs are of feeding on one dish Your Ministers urged flesh-displeasing and self-denying duties they would not suffer you to sin quietly and were not you therefore burthened with them they would not stand and comply with your carnal ends and sinfull interests and did not your hearts therefore cry out away with them Have not you been like the Gadarenes more willing to part with your Ministers than with your swinish lusts Rom. 1.28 Because you did not like to retain God in your knowledge 't is no wonder if God give up many of you to a reprobate mind Hath not the Gospel been too costly too chargeable to some of you and too irksome requiring too much pains taking to others of you O! when you Remember your crying iniquities for which God is chiefly contending with you forget not this dreadfull sinne of being weary of Gods Ambassadours of being weary of speaking with God and of hearing God speak unto your Souls CHAP. XXXIII Their misearriages with reference to the Ministers of Christ Professours miscarriages toward their Ministers since their removal Not finding the want of them Not esteeming the loss great enough since their removal 1. H How many of you do not find them wanting This will be evident by the following Queries Have you indeed accounted that none in the world want help like your selves upon this very account Do you look upon your selves as litting in darkness yea in the region and shadow of death under a worse Plague than the Egyptian-darkness that was a darkness wherein men lived but do you look on this as a darkness of death Do you account a Throne without the Gospel but the Devils Dungeon Wealth without the Gospel fuell for Hell Advancement without the Gospel but a going high to have the greater fall Do you look upon your selves as under a worse famine than that of bread Cannot you your selves make up this great loss cannot you set other things in the breach Do not some of you set good books in the room of your Ministers Going about to make it up by good books I confess saith a Reverend Man Reading hath its use but the voice hath a secret force upon the Soul it hath a Ministerial efficacy by which the Authority and Soveraign efficacy of the Spirit is conveyed I pray God the fruitfullness of the Press may not beget a dis-esteem and contempt of the great Ordinance of the Minister already you have been told already that Luther had rather his books should be burnt than the Scriptures suffer a dishonour and neglect by perusing his papers Do not some of you set your own parts and gifts in their room Their own parts and gifts Do not some of you think that you have so profited by their Ministry that you have no further need to attend upon any Ministers of Christ May not such doubt whether their experience of the power and efficacy of the Ministry hath been true seeing true experience thereof sweetneth the Ministry unto Souls raiseth up their esteems of it and engageth them to a further and more chearfull attendance upon it A true tast will sharpen the Souls appetite the true Christian gets a Stomach by eating as the new born babe by sucking 1 Pet. 2.2 3. As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby if so be that ye have found that the Lord is gracious Do not some of you go about to make up your selves by attending on Christ's companions in the sense of Solomon And Christ's companions Cant. 1.7 by going to Wells without water by sucking empty breasts whence you can draw nothing but wind or blood what is this but seeking the living among the dead expecting gracious showers from Clouds without rain making up the want of bread with stones if not poyson O! why do not you say Tell me O thou whom my Soul loveth where thou feedest where thou makest thy Flocks to rest at Noon for why should I be as