Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A01750
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Architectonice consolationis: or, The art of building comfort occasioned by the death of that religious gentlewoman, Iane Gilbert; to be studied: and with all a platforme of comfort to be raised up by her husband William Gilbert Doctor in Divinity.
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Gilbert, William, 1597?-1640.
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1640
(1640)
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STC 11882; ESTC S103154
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35,866
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70
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That is the Fountaine of all Comfort Zech. 4. 12. Christ is the Fountaine out of which all Comfort is emptied the two Testaments of God are the two Olive branches as Beda but Christ is the roote and juycy oyle and what though many Expositors a make the two Olive branches Enoch and Elias converting the Jewes to be Christians yet that cannot be but by preaching and emptying out the golden Oyle that makes a cheerefull countenance a joyfull Convert to Christ so that still Christ is the Fountaine of saving soule-suppling Oyle A sealed Fountaine to the world but for Gods Word to reveale it and set it open Indeed Tully and Seneca writ large discourses of Comfort but St Augustine ravished with Tullies style yet one thing discomforted so farre as not to care so much for Tully Quia Nomen Christi non fuit ibi That Treasurie of Comfort the name Jesus of Christ not once to be found in all Tully And surely had Seneca been so well acquainted with S. Paul as some will have him being of Neroes houshold then Seneca might have learnt to have knowne nothing for his Soules comfort but Christ Iesus and him crucified and not have stood so much upon those common Pleas of Comfort against death as he doth Eâ lege nascimur the Law of being borne is to dye Death is inevitable foolish for a man to grieve for that no man can avoyde Exitus communis none scapes it alasse poore Comfort But what Comfort is to be looked for in their writings who knew not how that to die in the Lord is to rest from our labors but God be praised we know it out of Gods Words and happy are we if we beleeve that Death separates not from the Love of God in Christ Jesus b That is Comfort indeed And not to grieve for the Death of friends as without Hope of the Resurrection of the Dead that is the very point S. Paul treats of in my Text The wisest of the Heathen judged it the best thing first not to be borne the next to dye as soone as we are borne any Christian may be wiser to judge it the best thing first to be borne againe in Christ Jesus the next to dye in the Lord as soone as it pleaseth God we must not leave off worke till he that sets us a worke calls us off Seneca used to comfort his friends at Funeralls thus praemittimus non amittimus We send our friends before us we loose them not yet they were at a sore losse they knew not to what place they sent their dead friends before them But beloved to gather Grapes of thornes comfort from them who had not the true comfort if they so esteemed of death who knew of no life after death no abiding out of the body what is fit that we Christians should prize death at who ought to make reckoning of no life but after death no abiding but out of the body no dwelling but in heaven We have heere no abiding Citie but we looke for one that is to come c The Greek is we seek out we look out earnestly for one to come and that we may not loose all our looking our Saviour directs us where to look for it d In my Fathers house are many Mansions 't is my Fathers house 't is your Fathers house as ye are in me that is the Comfort and to fill up the comfort they are Mansions there places of aboad there but Innes here or rather Tents or Booths moveable Everlasting habitants there Luk. 16. 9. but nothing will last here yea here we thrust one another out of house and home there are severall Mansions enough for us all to live by one another Wherefore comfort one another with these words 3. And briefly à Doctrinae certitudine Only Gods Word hath full power and authority to comfort mans heart from the certainty of the Doctrine which the Word of God hath from God himselfe 1. Virtute the strength and vertue of Gods Word accompanied with Gods Spirit can never faile to worke comfort 2. Veritate the whole Truth of solid Comfort that is communicable to mankinde is sincerely and truly published in Gods Word in that onely and yet in that perfectly 3. Complemento in fulfilling and in the accomplishment of all the comforts prescribed in Gods Word for they are all most certaine and true as in the substance so in the event of them Heaven and Earth shall passe away but my words shall not passe away e there shall be a revolution and a passing away too of all things in this world but this very Word of God that all things shall passe away this Word shall not passe away no nor any one Word of comfort in Christ Jesus shall ever passe away Wherefore comfort one another with these words But what good doth the bare knowledge of the Materialls without Habituall and Actuall Abilitie to use them 1. The Habituall Abilitie to make good use of this Art of comforting that is the sixt generall Part. Now the spring head of comfort infusing into this habituall ability either we must goe out of the world for that or that must come from another world for us but we cannot stir one foote of the soule the least affection or so much as one winged thought to goe to that that must come to us to raise our flight with the wings of that Dove whose wings are silver and her feathers like gold I meane the Holy Ghost The Eternall Breath of the Father and the Sonne must breath into us the breath of Life a Life of comfort the Love of the Father and the Sonne descending upon the Sonne in the likenesse of a Dove without gall must purge out of us all gall of malice and bitternesse that we may comfort one another in all meeknesse of spirit the invisible spirit descending visibly upon the sonnes of men in the liknesse of fiery tongues must enable us to give light and warmth of comfort to one another If it be urged that Faith is the only strong Conveyance and true Receiver of spirituall Comfort 'T is quickly satisfied that even Faith also is the gift of the Spirit The Comforter gives us Faith to take Comfort from him else we can take none at all so that in the conclusion 't is the Comforter that workes all in all in us For as it was said of the Masse and Chaos f Tohu vavohu an emptie vast solitary solitude 'T was without forme and voyde darknesse that is a Privation of Light was upon the Face of the Earth before the Spirit of God moved upon the Face of the Waters The soule of a naturall man is like the earth lumpish sad without forme and voyde of comfort darknesse of discontent is upon the face of the man inward and outward a vacuity a vast solitary Privation of comfort untill the Spirit of God move
look to the strength of the out-works let us consider seriously the Contignation within which requires no lesse then five Attributes of God each of them will Minister strength of Comfort then surely their union will prove a blessed Communion of Comfort 1. Gods Wisdome is absolute and transcendently matchlesse in prescribing us convenient congruent and fitting comforts God knowes what is better for us then the best of us can for himselfe because God is {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} wise of himselfe wisedome it selfe for his wisdome is not by infusion or gift or instruction or experience or observation but of himselfe from himselfe without any counsell taking all wise Now this was the way the Prophets were commanded to take in comforting the People of God Comfort yee comfort yee my people Isai. 40. 1. But how must they doe it they must goe this way to work vers. 13 14. they must teach the people that their God is a God of such infinite incommunicable Wisedome he needs no Director no Counseller no Instructer no Teacher I use not so many Synonymies as the Prophet doth there but by this we collect that the all-wise Disposer of all things good or evill secret or manifest universall or singular necessary or contingent must needs by the forceable influences of his Wisdome dart warmth and comfort into his people who are called the children of wisedome because they are able both by reason and experience to justifie all the wayes of wisedome as that the Reproach of Christ is better then the pleasure of sinne for a season witnesse Moses and one day in the Courts of God better then a thousand elsewhere witnesse David The ground they build upon is this that God knowes what is best for every one of his so saith David Psal. 1. The Lord knowes the way of the Righteous that is the beames of Gods Wisdome in acknowledging their miseries are so settled upon them that they are wonderfully comforted and refreshed in all their wayes This is the first contignation giving strength to the Building of Comfort Gods Wisedome The second needs little Probation for all strength is from Gods Power it being the Principle of active strength in every thing as God is purissimus Actus so by his power God is principium activum primitive power in himself derivative from him to all things created this omnipotency doth knit and unite the whole Building of Comfort because nothing can resist the Power of God there is more strength of power with us then against us this is that other comfortable Argument urged by the Prophet Isaiah 40. 12. Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and meted out Heaven with the spanne and comprehended the Dust of the Earth in a measure and weighed the mountaines in scales and the hils in a ballance therefore for our infinite comfort God maugre all the adverse power can doe whatsoever he will as having his Name the mighty God Isaiah 9. 6. The third Contignation of the building of comfort Gods Justice is so absolute He can doe us no wrong that 's our comfort doe what he please the sorest chastisement that ever childe of God stood under was but his just Anger against him even the way of his displeasure was not unequall to punish our sinnes so severely in his own Sonne What more comfortable then this that all affliction is but Gods just pursuit of sinne in us to drive sinne out of us and us out of ourselves to flye wholly to our God Davids meate may be ashes and his teares mingled with his drink yet this proves a comfortable repast a sweet refreshing by reason that out of the Eater comes meat out of the strong comes hony out of Gods Justice against sinne issues true Comfort Fourth Contignation Gods Mercy God hath not more power then willingnesse to comfort us his Sonne being flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone in our Saviours desertion in the Garden and on the crosse he was content to want that unspeakable comfort in the presence of his Father both to beare the wrath of the Lord for a time for us and likewise to know the better how to comfort us in our greatest extremities 't is the Mercy of God that we are not consumed but tryed not for his pleasure but for our profit as a Father scourgeth his sonne yet pities his sonne so there is mercy with God that he may be feared as a Father and that we may be comforted as his children Thus the Father of mercies cannot but shew himselfe a God of all Consolation as St Paul joynes them together so the childe of God findes by Experience the Father of mercies is alwayes the God of all Comfort that is the fourth knitting and uniting of the Building of Comfort 5. Contignation Gods Truth it is no small Comfort that we are sure saith the Apostle Rom. 2. that the Judgement of God is according to Truth Truth it selfe must needs according to Truth in the inward parts judge all things but the height of Comfort is that Truth it self cannot but keep promise all the promises of Comfort in the Gospell the Word of truth ye may take Gods Word were it for a thousand Comforts why the world proposeth a thousand counterfait Comforts but our God in his Word doth furnish us with tenne thousand true reall Comforts Shortly all this knitting uniting faculty of comforting is by one joynt-view apprehended in Christ our Saviour thus 1. The Wisdome of his Father to know how and when to comfort us 2. From the Father all power is given him and authority of comforting us 3. His Fathers Justice is satisfied in him by becoming a man of sorrowes to comfort us a curse that we should not be accursed cursed be that man who accounts not this the greatest Comfort 4. and 5. for I finde them joyned together Heb. 2. 17. Christ made like to his brethren that he might be a mercifull and faithfull high Priest the words {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} are comfortable words not only to compassionate us but to be true and Faithfull to us not to faile Christ will never faile us in the knitting and uniting of our Comfort within if we doe not faile our selves in setting up the Butteresses from without Christ is faithfull if we be not faithlesse There are three speciall Butteresses of the Building of Comfort 1. Submission to Gods Will a resignation of our selves to doe what he will with us is the main Fulciment Butteresse or spirituall shoare of true Comfort For in all crosses and losses of wife children friends c. the whole businesse is not to expresse sorrow but a submissive subjection to Gods good pleasure and will Eli failed much in the education of his sonnes yet he himself was a most dutifull childe to God his heavenly Father even when he heard that heavy judgement able to make both the eares of