Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
soul_n	believe_v	faith_n	love_n	3,679	5	5.6620	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93746	The nature of God's kingdom and dominion over men clearly laid open and explained, as the same relates to these following particulars ... in a discourse on Deut. 8.2. wherein is likewise shewed, what influence these things ought to have upon our life and conversation / by Richard Stafford.	Stafford, Richard, 1663-1703.	1697 (1697)	Wing S5125; ESTC R42792	28,272	40

of the Bible and of all his Servants and Reasonable Creatures mentioned therein are to this purpose The Servants of God did keep his Commandments but all his Creatures whom he had endued with Reason did not And so it is of all the Men and Women that ever trod upon this Earth whose Names though they are not Recorded in that ●ook yet they are in the Register of him Who bringeth out that gre●t Host of his Creation by number and calleth them all by their Names So likewise besides the ordinary manner of dealing with his People he did tempt and prove Job by his great and extraordinary Afflictions who in all them Sinned not nor yet Charged God foolishly for indeed God did well and wisely as to him What is Man that thou shouldest Magnifie him and that thou shouldst set thine Heart upon him and that thou shouldst Visit him every Morning and try him every Moment Job 7. 17 18. All things are full of Temptation even to the necessary Victuals which we Eat for there may be Gluttony and to the Clothes which we wear for there may be Pride even to all our Thoughts and we do think continually for there may be and too often is Vanity and Evil. To our Words for in the multitude of them there wants not Sin and we may soon Speak Falshood or Folly and so to our Actions and Doings for there Sin Iniquity and Transgression do beset us round and it is easy falling into any of them And so all Companies and Conversation with our fellow Creatures do prove a Snare unto us or there is Man Pleasing and Perverting the thing that is Right to humour and comply with those that are above us in outward Degree or Riches As also there is a fear of Bearing Witness unto the Truth and Speaking it out least they should fall under the Displeasure of Men. Many such like things do shew that the Trial of Man is had every Moment as also it is had when he is at and amidst the Worship and Service of God and at Religious Duties It is properly and truly a Life of Probation and Trial. And we are here upon or according to our good or ill Behaviour so we shall have the Eternal Favour of God or be rejected by him Like as Apprentices are commonly put out a Month before hand for Trial to see whither the master will take them for Seven Years or not so these Seventy Years on this Earth we Men and Women are upon Trial for all Eternity God hereby Proving us whither we shall be meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light or Reprobates Reprobate Silver shall Men call them because the Lord hath Rejected them Jer. 6. 30. As it is with the Earth it self so it will be with the Men and Women the Reasonable Inhabitants thereof For the Earth which drinketh in the Rain that cometh oft upon it receiveth Blessing from God But that which beareth Thornes and Briers is Rejected and is nigh unto Cursing whose End is to be Burned Heb. 6. 7. 8. The good Fishes are to be gathered into Vessels and the bad are to be cast away So shall it be at the End of the World The Angels shall come forth and shall Sever the Wicked from among the Just Mat. 13. 41 42. So God will do at the End of World but all this mean while during which the Generations pass through here whither it be Six or Seven Thousand Years it is the time of their Probation ●nd Trial but after that is over and finished God will then proceed to a Decision and Sentence For the more effectual Trial and Probation of Mankind He hath also ordained a Life of Faith and a State of Absence from the Lord which is Grounded from 2 Cor. 5. 6 7. Whilst we are at home in the Body we are absent from the Lord for we Walk by Faith and not by Sight The right Understanding of these two things This Life of Trial and Probation and this walking by Faith do clearly open unto us the Nature of God's Kingdom and Dominion over us Men. It was never known in any Nation Country and Language that the People there should obey a King or Ruler whom neither they themselves nor yet any of his Subjects ever saw Which last it put in because whereas Earthly Kings do Rule over Countreys of vast Extent and Circumference and of Millions of Inhabitants who are dispersed all over it and he being but little and Circumscribed in Passion as other Men it seldom or never happens that he doth see all his Subjects nor yet do all his Subjects ever see him But yet a very great many do and have seen him So that all the others having them for undoubted Witnesses and Assurance that there is such an One they do and must obey him nevertheless although they have not seen him But as to God tho' he fills Heaven and Earth and all things and all places with his Presence though his Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and his Dominion endureth throughout all Generations yet no Man of any Generation or Country did ever see him No Man hath seen God at any time The Only begotten Son which is in the Bosom of the Father he hath declared him John 1. 18. And yet he reqires and expects to be obeyed by all Nations Kindred and Languages yea by all the Inhabitants of the World Whom we are to Obey though we do not see him and all One as if we did see him And though God gives no present Visible Recompence but contrariwise We often sustain outward Loss Inconvenience and Hardship for performing Service unto him yet he Requires it Hereby God is Glorified and here is the Faith and Patience of the Saints to perform it nevertheless Now Faith is the Substance of things hoped for and the Evidence of things not seen And this Faith doth properly terminate upon an Unseen God as it 's Object Whom having not seen ye Love in whom though ye see him not yet believing ye Rejoyce with Joy Unspeakable and full of Glory Receiving the End of your Faith the Salvation of your Souls 1 Pet. 1. 8 9. We Read very often in Scripture of the Name of the Lord The Heathen shall fear the Name of the Lord so declare the Name of the Lord in Zion Psal 102. 15 21. And of calling o● the Name of the Lord. Which Name of the Lord to speak after the manner of Men doth suppose and import as much as if his Person were distant and not seen by us But here to pursue the like Reasoning as is in Psal 75. 1. Vnto thee O God do we give Thanks Vnto thee do we give Thanks for that thy Name is near thy Wonderous Works declare So here it is Unto thee O God do we yield Obedience and render Worship for that thy Name or rather thy Person included in that Name is real thy Visible Works declare which we cannot so much as look

One as ever any Son or Servant did serve his Father or Master according to the Flesh whom he saw every day and was almost continually with him An Obedience of Faith must needs be accepted because it is such an Obedience as God himself hath Ordained and Established and the reasonable Creature in this State cannot render any other But I do believe and conceive that as it is written The Lord will come down in the sight of all the People upon Mount Sinah Exod. 19. 11. And it is af●erwards said And Mount Sinah was altogether on a Smoke because the Lord descended upon it in ●ire And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinah on the ●op of the Mount V●r. 18 20. Which Lord in Acts 7. 38. is said to be the Angel Supposed to be the Son of God even Jesus Christ We Read there Verse 16. and Exod. 20. 18 19. Heb. 12. 21. What effect it had upon Moses and upon all the People as to cast a very great Awe Terrour and Trembling ●pon them The like is not to be expected again in this World But this I do believe and conceive that when the Inhabitants of the Earth of all Generations and Countreys from the Creation of the World unto the End thereof shall be Summoned to meet with God by Death and Judgment at the last Trump For the Trumpet shall Sound then they shall have a sensible and more lasting Apprehension of the Great and Infinite God himself in Person then the Israelites had for the time of his Angel on Mount Sinah For that particular Place the whole Mount Quaked greatly but then the Heavens and the Earth and the whole Creation will quake and be dissolved to be changed and Created a new This also I do apprehend and conceive that in the mean while after the several respective Deaths of particular Persons until this great Day as it is written The Devils Believe and Tremble So the Souls of such Men and Women who in the Days of their Flesh were Disobedient and Provoking to God will also Believe and Tremble Yea they will be Magor Missabib Fear round about Jer. 20. 3. Because that in the Invisible World they will have nothing to harden themselves or to forget the sence of their approaching Condemnation and Misery as now they have as also because they will be nearer unto and know more of God unto whom all Flesh shall come The Apostle in 2 Pet. 3. makes the Use and Application of all this to our Hand for he speaking there of the very same admonishes Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of Persons ought ye to be in all Holy Conversation and Godliness Wherefore Beloved seeing that ye look for such things be diligent that ye may be found of him in Peace without Spot and Blameless Seeing that the Dispensation of the Kingdom and Dominion of God over Men stands on this wise What can be a more forcible Motive and Persuasion then the Knowledge and Consideration hereof for ye to be stedfast Vnmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as ye know that your Labour is not in vain in the Lord. For as much as ye haste unto and draw nearer and must be let into these continuing things the inference here is Reasonable and Natural Wherefore Beloved seeing that ye look for such continuing Things be diligent that your selves continue in the Service of the Lord. I say ye look for continuing things which is opposite unto perishing things as such are all present things and things of this World I hope that none of ye do serve God for any visible present Recompence as to thrive better in your Trades or Callings and that ye are not in hopes to grow more Rich hereby and come to a place where his lively Word is declared and his Spiritual Worship used out of any sinister Respects and present Ends. If there was any thing to be got by it what a Throng would be here If ye do this or the ●ike ye will be mistaken For the Just shall Live by Faith He will seek the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and trust that all these things shall be added unto it The Terms we are to enter upon Gods Service is Grace here and Glory hereafter necessary Accommodations for our Pilgrimage and the true Rest to come the Patriark Jacob's Request Bread to Eat and Raiment to put on and all this is to be had only by Labour and Honest means and no others But when People come to serve the Lord if they have thoughts of any more and they do not find their Ends and Expectations answered then they leave off the Service of the Lord which they would not have done if they had known the Nature of God's Kingdom and the Way of his dealings towards the Children of Men. If there was a present Profit and Gain to be made by Religion by every one that would try after it then none would Fear God for nought Job 1. 9. nor yet serve him for the alone Hope and Expectation of unseen things But People would traffick for Heaven as they do to Jamaica or the Jndies and all still for the Love of themselves and not out of any Love to the Lord of that Countrey What a Company of Mercenary Souls should we have Then the places of Worship or Hearing the Word of God would be Flocked unto even upon Week Days as the Exchange or as Country People go to Fairs and Markets to Buy and Sell and get Gain Then Worldly Minded Men would become the best Christians Those who are all for themselves use Religion only now and then to serve a turn or for a reserve But if there was any thing to be got at present by so doing such would do most therein and still do nothing only for God's Sake There would be then no Work of Faith nor Labour of Love b●t all Selfishness But now God hath most wisely ordered it as it is that the Trial of Faith might be had that the Excellency of Obedience may be seen But yet more clearly it will appear how the right Understanding of the Nature of God's Kingdom and Dominion over Men helps to make a continuing Work from this Remarkable Scripture Because they have no changes therefore they Fear not God Psal 55. 19. My Soul hath much Meditated upon this Scripture it being so very Applicable and Suitable to the People abroad in the World for is not this the very Reason of the want of the Fear of God or when they talk of it in a General Way yet still there is not that real Awe and Dread of God upon their Hearts but there is a secret Contempt of him a●d a froward going on in the Way of their Hearts as also a turning back from the Ministration of his Word And all is because they have no changes they see no odds whither they do or do not Sometimes in mine own private Prayer every Morning and Evening I have performed the same in a Per●unctory Hasty and Careless manner and sometimes I have done it again more Solemnly Awefully and Attentively But I have observed no great matter of difference about the succeeding of my Actions the following day whither I performed them in a due manner or not Nay Perhaps It went more cross and thwart when I was in the Morning before in ●ervent Prayer then when I was remiss or negligent And hereupon an evil Heart o● Unbelief hath arose in me as if Prayers did signifie nothing and there would be no great matter of difference if they were said meerly out of custom or not at all Is not this the very same as to other things pertaining to Religion For do we see any odds or difference outwardly between him that Sacrificeth or him that Sacrificeth not Between them that go into the Sanctuary or them that do not Between them who are constant hearers of the Word or who despise the Word of the Lord and refuse to come to the place where it is holden forth or Preached Themselves sometimes make a trial of both and they find no changes and therefore they are Confirmed more and more in their Ungodliness Moab hath been at ease from his Youth and he hath been setled on his Lees and hath not been emp●ied from Vessel to Vessel neither hath he gone into Captivity therefore his taste remained in him and his scent is not changed Jer. 48. 11. Even that Taste and Scent of the Old Corrupt and Ungodly Nature Now as to all this and such like Imaginations in the Hearts of Men for by Thoughts or Imaginations every One is led guided and doth accordingly Here a right Understanding of the Nature of God's Kingdom and Dominion over us Men How by the Ordering of things so as they are he doth prove us to know what is in our Hearts whither we will keep his Commandments or no. By the way any one may choose whither he will keep the Commandments or not but then they must not choose unto themselves that Eternal Life which God hath Promised to the keeping of them nor yet may they choose or refuse to avoid that Eternal Death which is annexed to the Contempt Disobedience and Transgression of them God hath also Ordained an Obedience of Faith hath Permitted all things to happen alike unto all an Hour of the Wicked and the Power of Darkness Luke 22. 53. Prosperity to the Sinners Adversity to the Righteous But above all the Knowledge and Understanding that all things shall be exactly so as they are spoken of in the Scriptures this will engage and oblige People to continue in the Fear of the Lord whither they have any changes or no whither they be at ease from their Youth or emp●●ed from Vessel to Vessel even however it is with People in this Life and on this Earth They that know and understand all these things they will continue yet more fixedly firmly and constantly in the ●ear of the Lord and that so much the more as they see the day Approaching FINIS ERRATA Page 23. Line 36. for somirk Read Irksom