Selected quad for the lemma: world_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
world_n	faith_n	overcome_v	victory_n	10,069	5	9.2408	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41527	Patience and its perfect work under sudden & sore tryals	Goodwin, Thomas, 1600-1680.	1666 (1666)	Wing G1251; ESTC R40909	51,072	174

the trying of your faith works Patience That 's one and the first In which the Apostle tacitely supposeth this maxime and builds upon the supposition of it it lyes at the bottom and yet is enough implyed It is this That to have our Graces especially to have our Faith and Patience tryed and drawn forth and exercised in us to the glory of God is the greatest blessedness of a Christian in this life That this is the bottom Ground is evident For why else should he propose and hold forth this of all other with a For or Particle that gives the reason of what he had now said That seeing their Faith and other Graces as Patience c. would be tryed thereby That therefore they should count it all joy My Brethren If we had eyes to see to consider it we might know that as to have grace that accompanies salvation is the greatest mercy can befall any one in the world so to have that Grace tryed and exercised and drawn forth to the utmost is a thing of the greatest moment the greatest spiritual priviledg that can come to us after that we have that Grace And therefore when Trials come we are to think with our selves now will my graces be tryed now is that befal'n me which will do it this ought to be matter of the greatest joy to me For from this Ground and reason it is that the Apostle bids them Count it all joy And hereupon it is for no other doth he mention here this alone being the greatest advantage that a Christian is capable of in this life And in this life only it is that Grace is exercised And the Reason of it lyes in this that for Grace to approve it self to God in a way of the greatest well-pleasing to him and so as to come to be approved of by God And for a mans sincerity to have Gods approbation and testimonial as to Abraham now I know thou fearest me This is the greatest priviledge a Saint can have and this ought to be matter of the greatest comfort And is our greatest Glory according unto that 2 Cor. 10. 17. He that glorieth let him glory in the Lord which he there speaks in reference unto what follows in v. 18. For not he that commendeth himself is approved but whom the Lord commendeth Both which the Apostle spake as that which he comforted himself withall yea and gloried in even the Lords approving of him Job also comforted himself with this Chap. 23. 10. When he hath tryed me I shall come forth as gold The Apostle saith the tryal of your Faith is more precious then Gold and he speaketh it of the very instrument or meanes by which your Graces are tryed the very Chalcining Pot or the Fire whereby it is tryed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his word is Even that is more precious then gold Then much more the Graces that are tryed And therefore the Apostle by his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intends and means these very afflictions and tentations by which we are tryed They are the Refiners Pot and Fire You would rejoyce if you had so much gold given you Then rejoyce that you have so much affliction to try your Gold That your graces are so highly valued by God is the reason why he tryes them he would not be at the pains and cost of it else And they being tryed and holding to be right and true gold indeed they have thereupon his approbation upon that tryal and he sets his Royal Tower Stamp and mark upon them secretly in this life and the same will openly appear to all the world at latter day so in 1 Pet. chap. 1. 6 7. Wherein ye greatly rejoyce though now for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations That the tryal of your faith being much more precious then of Gold that perisheth though it be tryed with Fire might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ It will be found unto praise then but it is unto praise afore God now as much as it will be then He mentions Faith For the tryal of your Faith in the first and chief place as that grace which is the most tryed and as that which being tryed sets all the rest on work I need not much insist on it It is Faith that shall be counted for honour and glory at that day having been tryed It is Faith which bears and by which we bear the stress of all tentations It is Faith by which we overcome 1 John 5. This is the victory which we have over the world v. 4. even our Faith Who is he that overcomes the World He that believeth c. v. 5. § A second and more particular Principle or Maxim which concerns this life and should cause us to rejoyce is that Faith being tryed works PATIENCE and that if Patience have its perfect work it will make us perfect Christians But let Patience have her perfect work that 〈◊〉 may be perfect and entire wanting nothing He enlargeth no further upo● Faith Onely gives it the honour that it is the mother Grace and of Patience especially whe● it self is tryed But he ha● no sooner mentioned Patience but he runs out upon That and falls upon the greate●● Encomium and praises of it Let Patience have its perfec● work and it will make you perfect Now there is no occasion o● room nor work for Patience unless there be Tentations An● Patience its work is but so far as the affliction proves to be S● then his second Argument run upon this principle That the ful● work of Patience in our souls is of all other Graces the highest perfection of a Christian and therefore count it all joy to fall into tentations for thereby you will have that grace drawn forth to the fullest length wound up to the highest peg which is not done unless tentaons be answerable And in all your tryals let it but have its swindge its perfect work and it will make your persons perfect that is as perfect as in this life you can be made § Quest But in what respect doth it make us perfect Answ Not only in this sence for there is a double sence of that speech Either 1. As if when we had exercised all other Graces but yet have not had occasion for this one that when this shall be added that then they should be perfect Christians But this is not the meaning for this may be said of any other Grace As if a man hath exercised all other Graces if he begins to exercise any one new Grace it may be said there is a perfection in this respect As when he says to the Corinthians As you have abounded in every other Grace so abound in this also But there is another sence and that is his scope here Which is not to extol a perfection in common with other Graces but a singular perfection to be attributed to Patience that in this

there For it follows Therefore speak if thou hast any thing to say against this what thou knowest As if he had said this is not to be contradicted but to be wholly submitted to But my Brethren Faith brings home to the heart a message of an higher Soveraignty even of love from God born to you and tels all you that sincerely profess an interest in God that God hath shewn his absolute Dominion already towards you in saving your Souls It is an absolute Dominion that as Rom. 9. shews And what else is the meaning of that speech I will be merciful to whom I will be mercifull It is a speech of Dominion Well Hath God shewed his Dominion in saving thy Soul with difference hath he shewn it on this the good side Then truly thou maist very well give him leave to exercise his Dominion over all else that thou hast thou maist very well be content He shew his Dominion upon thy lumber and thy appurtenances He might have shewn his Dominion in destroying both your Goods and Souls too as he did the Sodomites when he burnt their City But Thirdly Faith brings home the love of God the Souls interest in God with a Communion and fellowship with God which may well serve to strengthen Patience in the greatest Distresses This you see in David at Ziglag when the City was burnt I therefore instance in it and his Goods all plun●red and his Wives carryed away And David was greatly distressed the people talking of Stoning him Then it is said But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God His interest in him and the coming in of his love as being his God did hearten and strenthen him against all 1 Sam. 30. 6. Likewise in extreamity of famine when there was not bread nor Oyle nor Wine nor meat to eat this wrought the like Hab. 3. 17 18. Although the Fig-tree shall not blossom neither shall fruit be in the Vines the labour of the Olive shall fail and the fields shall yield no meat the stock shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stall Here are all those things enumerated as wanting that are the means to support life and nature and it is the want of food and raiment for you and yours is that you fear in the loss of y●●r goods and loss of your lively-hoods YET says he I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation A man hath all in God afore him still And Faith brings home all in God or carries the heart out unto God to fetch in comfort from him in these the greatest extreamities There are two things there distinct He first says He will rejoyce in the Lord Even in what the Lord is in himself A God blessed for ever Amen! And If God be happy and blessed for evermore I cannot be miserable says that Soul that can rejoyce in this that However God enjoyes a perfect blessedness And I doe so rejoyce in that that whilst God continues to be God and these apprehensions and disposition of heart doe but continue in me I have enough The second is that he is my God the God of my salvation so Habbakuk I will joy in the God of my salvation And then to be sure while he is happy I shall be happy indeed The Lord is my portion saith my Soul Lam. 3. in the midst of those troubles The Lord help us to Faith My Brethren the love of God brought in by Faith will help a man to bear up under any condition You know that place Rom. 8. He had triumphed in the love of God v. 31. If God be for us who can be against us and v. 35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall Tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or sword Mark his resolution expressed thereupon in v. 37. NAY IN ALL THESE THINGS we are more then Conquerours through him that loved us That speech Nay in all these things c. is a triumphant slighting of all he had reckoned up and it was all any way formidable or that might be judg'd opposite to our comforts in this world And yet speaks at that rate as if Faith on the love of God and Christ scorned such low and weak and poor adversaries as not enough or not of might enough for them to try their strength upon and is as if he had said are these all that come out against us and threaten to hurt us But are these all indeed NAY then says he if these be all we are safe enough We are more then Conquerours in all these But how comes this to pass 'T is added Through him that loved us Not only in that he loving us joyns his strength to ours to support us But it is also meant Objectivè that the love of God and Christ coming in fresh upon our hearts the apprehension of that is sufficient and in that respect he says through him that loved us 'T is Objective spoken of Christs love as it is the object of our Faith and not only assistenter We are more then Conquerours through his love taken in by us and shed abroad in our hearts and by reason that his love comes in and supports us under all and helps us to Conquer all As Faith hath all in God to rejoyce in and so helps the Soul to Patience So especially it hath his love in all sorts of distresses Fourthly Faith tells us that there will be a good issue of all as to the other world yea and in this world also in such things that relate to that World Luke 21. 18 19. He had spoken afore in that Chapter of the greatest distresses that could befall men as if you read the verses before appeareth and also of such as should fall upon the people of God amongst them personally as well as upon the Nation of the Jews in their finall desolation And besides that common Calamity which befell the people of God with the rest of that Nation he says over and above they shall first lay their hand on YOV v. 12. And persecute you delivering you up to the Synagogues and into prisons and shall put some of you to death It is in all three Evangelists And in the 16. v. Ye shall be betrayed both by Parents and Brethren and Kinsfolks and Friends and ye shall be hated of all men for my Names sake But says he Comfort your selves with what will certainly be the issue v. 18. There shal not an hair of your head perish How Not an hair of your head perish What a strange saying is this When he had said just afore they should be persecuted and put to death How doth he say then not an hair of your head shall perish Why because the issue shall be such as should make amends for every hair The soul shall say I have not lost an hair Nay besides those of you they cannot put to death shall have an hundred