Selected quad for the lemma: world_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
world_n	enlighten_v	light_n	shine_v	2,266	5	9.0968	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A10152	The righteous mans way Wherein are given certaine directions, how men may profitably meditate upon the Commandements of God: that so through such manner of meditation, the Lordes Commandements may finde place in mens hearts, to serve in them as guides unto all their actions and thoughts. Directions most needfull for these times, seeing most men laying the commandements of God aside, doe leade their lives in disobedience to Gods commandements; and this, not onely to the scandall of Christian religion, but also to the extreame hazard of their own salvation.	Proctor, Thomas, fl. 1621.	1621 (1621)	STC 20411; ESTC S110512	50,262	77

Righteousness aswell in cōmunication as action the world is even inlightened For God who himself is light 1 Iohn 1. 3 sendeth from himself light into the world and therefore also even the Communication and good workes of the children of Light being the fruite of the Commandements come from God are a light shining there where ever the Gospel prevaileth This considered I cannot but mervaile that the very Obedience to this injunction concerning Gods Commandements beginne among the common people wel-neere of all Nations to receive a nick name of Puritanisme But let that be spoken against which truely and deservedly is to be spoken against even the laying upon men a restreint in things wherein God hath given no such Commandement of restreint as some for singularities sake would impose when yet that which truely is Obedience may receive praise But men beginne thorowe the sides of those over-abstenious ones to give a wound even unto true obedience its selfe accounting all restreint from wickedness which is customary in Communication Puritanisme If this be suffered to goe on looke then for an over spreading againe of wickedness little if any thing at all less then under Gentilisme But shall we of the reformed Churches who haue exceeded other Churches in receiving blessings and manifold testimonies from God suffer the darkness of wickedness to overspread againe yea and to prevaile also against the true light by suffering true obedience true restreinte to become nick-named or traduced Let not this be but rather let those Congregations where most true restreinte from things truely evill is founde be accoumpted as the speciall Lights of our Nations cherished of our Magistrates as for such To cōclude seing our Nations in the Churches reformed haue received by the Gospel so blessed a change as frō Darkness unto Light well might we be moved to the keeping of the Commandements by the bare Iniunction or Commandement received from them who minister unto us the Gospell For commonly they who receive good by any will be willing to doe some things at their bare Commandement or Injunction But the Lord hath not left us to the bare Iniunction onely but hath mercifully found out many powerfull Motiues or Inducements besides it that of them our passions and affections might so be moved in us as that a willing undergoing of the burden of the Commandements might be begotten in us Proceede we therefore now to consider also the other motiues or inducements learning withall to make such a manner use of them as whereby their working upon us their profitable effects may be furthered 3. Chap. THe next Motive then or Inducement which I will note unto you is The observation of the greate workes of God in signes and mervailous Acts done of him To this end Moses Deut. 4. 9. saith Take heed to thy selfe and keepe thy soule diligently that thou forget not the things which thine eyes have seene and that they departe not out of thine hearte all the dayes of thy life but teach them thy sonnes and thy sonnes sonnes Forget not the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb when the Lord sayd unto me Gather me the people together and I will cause them to heare my wordes that they may learne 〈◊〉 feare me all the daies that they shall live upon the earth and th●● they may teach their children Againe he saith Deut. 1● 〈◊〉 Consider this day the chastisement of the Lord your God his greatness his mighty hand and his streatched out arme and his signes his acts which he did And what he did unto you in the wilderness untill ye came unto this place For your eyes haue seene all the great Acts of the Lord which he did Therefore shall yee keepe all the Commandements Againe Ioshua 24 16 wee read thus Then the people answered and sayd God forbid that ●e should forsake the Lord to serve other Gods For the Lord our God he brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage and he did those great miracles in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people thorow whom we came And the Lord did cast out before us all the people even the Amorites which dwelt in the land● Therefore will we also serve the Lord. As here the great wonders which God did are set forth as the Inducement to serve the Lord in keeping his Commandements so let us for ever expect both that the ignorance yea or neglect onely of the great wonders which God heretofore hath done will occasion a negligent observation of the Commandements and also that the often recording them in our minde and respeaking of them to our children and family will occasion the more willing serving of God in keeping of his Cōmandements For the workes done are of themselves so wonderfull as that even the very thought of them joyned with a present advised considering of them will move the spirit of a man to fall into an admiration both of the thing done and of him that did it And Admiration being once stirred up then hardly can it be but that the soule will be the proaner thenceforth to be obedient to his Commandements who did such things as these Commonly we finde one thing to draw on another Power Admiration Admiration Awe Awe Attention and Attention Observation therefore needfull must it needs be to exercise the stirring up the Admiration of our Spirits by often recording re-speaking of re-marking and re-opening to our selves our children and family the great Acts of God each aparte as they are described unto us in the holy Scriptures Is it not the common experience of the world that a man receiving a Commandement yea though of a good thing from one in whom he knoweth no power no authority he will be very backward to obey to doe according to such Commandement when yet let the same man receive the like cōmandement from a King whose power and authority is manifest unto him we shall finde him to rejoice that he hath received even a commandement from such a one So is it with men in the Kingdome of heaven For whilst they onely heare of the Lawe the Lawe and of God named unto them a thousand times and a thousand they not apprehending well and distinctly the great Acts and mervailous wonders done of God receive the Commandements with such an unsubjected soule as that they can haue no hearte to apply themselves to the fulfilling of them For it is the apprehension of the mighty Power of God in his workes that subjects the spirit heart of a man to yeeld to obey him in his Commandements who was able to doe such things Therefore let men more frequently then in these times they usually doe each one in his family aparte exercise themselves to speake now of one two or three an other time of as many of the great Acts of God and of Christ accustoming also themselves and those

then thinke with your selfe where wee may finde a man in these dayes which thus doth But what should wee seeke after others let each man discend into his owne conscience examining his owne selfe in private meditation saying doe I this is this my custome and if neede be let men examine themselues upon each particular saying spend I a● any time any meditation in the commandements doe I cleaue unto them am not I ashamed to speake of them in company if I bee afflicted haue I then any mind at all of the commandements when I see others deride and scoff at that restreint from wickedness which the observation of Gods commandements causeth in the observer am not I then ashamed doe I then hold me to the restraint as not ashamed of Gods commandements let I then not loose the reynes with them for company sake especially if they be my superiors if obedience cross any present benefit do I not then delay or put off the keeping of Gods commandements therein or at leastwise for that time Desire I to make up my family with such as I see pronest to keepe God● lawes haue I forborne the company of the wicked or haue I saide in my harte away from me ye that will be wied for I am set to keepe the commandements of my God Haue I 〈◊〉 any time mourned to see that men are so negligent as they are in keeping the cōmandements of the Lord Doe I these things customablie yea which of all these haue I ever at all done But alas common experience shewes that men for the most parte doe the cleane contrary to all this done of this blessed Man Surely it is the more pitty yea the more hurt unto themselves for thousand thousands plunge themselves if not into Gods eternal wrath yet frequently into his punishmēts temporary by their respecting more to please men even in their wickedness then to honour the Lorde with the observation of his holy Commandements in all Companies It is indeede the miserable and fearefull condition of our times that there is hardly any Ioy or mirth but must be in sinne some or other of Gods Cōmandements must be presumptuously broken that men may be merry But it is but the corruption of the times for there may be a separation of Ioy and harty Mirth from sinne if Men would but take care that they make not a sport of sinne Yet as here is not the place of a Christians true Liberty and Rejoycing for there is still a Divell in the world so indeede it is not commonly to be expected that wee can here be merry and not sinne Now whilst all cōpanies affect mirth a liberty to be pleasant hardly a man can keep Gods cōmandemēts yet be merry with mē as men are now for the most part disposed this causeth if not a casting aside wholly the keeping of the Lords cōmandements yet surely a restreynt in the Saincts such also as is somewhat distastfull to Society But seeing there shall be a judgement there shal be an eternall burning why should wee not bethinke our selves of it before hand that we cast not our selves foolishly therein by taking an unlawfull liberty to our selves in our mirth and sporting Therefore if it must needs be so that a man cannot be heartily merry but he must sinne let us then chuse a solemne sobrietie before a hurtfull laughter Though we may not be Lawgivers to others yet we our selves may be abstenious thongh we intrude not our authority among others with an insulting or masterfull humour yet we may keepe our selves And truely as I haue many times in my heart blessed our Princes for their admirable restreint of wicked Actions so I haue many times mourned to see that none of their Lawes stretch unto a brideling also of wickedness in Communication In Communication men may well neere blasphemously sweare without any danger of Law In communication they may laugh at adultery committed In communication they may make sport well neere of any sinne and yet be without danger of law But whilst Communication hath this Liberty the corrupt nature of Man hath too great advantage to spread abroad the poison of all ungodliness and sinne Communication is as the seede evill actions the fruit suffer the seede and you shall never be without evill actions Whereas communication being a publishing of things even corrupt prophane or wicked communication may aswell haue penall Lawes for it as Actions Therefore as even communication of Treason is deservedly punishable so the breaking of Gods Commandements even in communication might profitably be punishable Thus having given you some good evidence how David is manifested to have received the Commandements of God I will now proceed to note unto you some of the speciall motiues or inducements which I finde in holy scripture by making a carefull use wherof you also may attaine to a willing observation of the Commandements even well neere to the like minde towards them as her● wee reade that this holy Prophet of God had 2. Chap. THe first Motiue or Inducement which I will note unto you is the Injunction it selfe by which wee Christians also are Cōmanded or Inioyned that we also bring forth fruits answerable to Gods Commandements For this purpose is that which Math. 6. 46 we reade in these words But why call ye me master master and doe not the things that I speake And which Ephes 2. 10. wee reade in these wordes we are his workmanship created in Christ Iesus unto good workes which God hath ordeyned that we should walke in them Againe Ephe. 4 1 where we thus reade I therefore being prisoner in the Lord pray yee that ye would walke worthy of the vocation whereunto ye are called with all humbleness of minde and meekness with long suffring supporting one an other through love Againe Ephes. 5. 8 yee were once darkness but are now light in the Lord walke as the children of light Againe Titus 3 8 This is a true saying and these things I will thou shouldest affirme That they which haue beleeved in God might be carefull to shew forth good workes Lastly Titus 3 14 And let ours also learne to shew forth good works for necessary uses that they be not unprofitable Thus when the Gentiles had beleeved they were not then left after faith to doe like Liber●●nes after the motion of their corrupt flesh as before their conversion they did but they came withall under a yoke or burden of Commandements There was a Change required of them even in the outward Showe aswell in Communication as Action and this to the end that by the light of Righteousness wherein now they must walke not onely the world might more and more be inlightened but also the darkness of that Liberty under Gētilisme might more and more be thrust out from among 〈◊〉 Nations And indeed Righteousnes is no less truely light then is the day and wickedness is no less truely darkness then is the night therefore by