Selected quad for the lemma: father_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
father_n	love_n	son_n	spirit_n	15,059	5	5.7830	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A85498	The saints hony-comb, full of divine truths, touching both Christian belief, and a Christians life, in two centuries. By Richard Gove.	Gove, R. (Richard), 1587-1668.	1652 (1652)	Wing G1454; Thomason E1313_1; ESTC R202241	83,389	226

prick a point a moment yea a lesse than all these in comparison of death nothing Expression C. That death is unavoidable SAint Austin prettily expresseth this thus The Verb morior saith he which in Latine signifieth to dye could never yet be declined by any Grammarian by the same rule that other Verbs be declined by which whether it have so fallen out by humane ignorance or divine providence may teach us saith he this lesson That though we may by some means or other decline and avoid other things that may hurt us in some cases yet we can in a no case decline death but first or last it will seize on us And the same b Father hath another witty expression of it thus All other things which belong unto us saith he whether they be good or evill are uncertain onely death is certain For when a child is conceived we can say but thus perhaps he shall be born perhaps he shall be abortive Again when he is born all that we can say is but this perhaps he shall live till he come to mans estate perhaps he shall dye before Again when he comes to mans estate all that we can say is but this perhaps he shall marry perhaps he shall not perhaps he shall have children perhaps he shall have none perhaps he shall be rich perhaps not perhaps he shall be honourable perhaps not perhaps he shall live till he be old perhaps not and so he goes on with many other perhaps to the like purpose But when all is said saith he Can any man say the like of his death Fortè morietur fortè non morietur Perhaps he shall dye perhaps he shall not dye No a none can say so of this For it is appointed unto all men once to dye Heb. 9. 27. HUMANE EXPRESSIONS OF DIVINE TRUTHS The second Century Expression I. That seeing God is our father we need not to be dishearted in our distempers and damps of prayer FOr suppose the dearest son of the lovingst Father should lie grievously sick and out of the extremity of anguish should cry out and complain unto him that he is so full of pain in every part that he knows not which way to turn himself or what to do and thereupon should intreat him of all loves to touch him tenderly to lay him softly to asswage if it may be his pain and to give him ease How ready think you would such a father be with all tenderness and care to put to his helping hand in such a ruefull case But yet if this child should grow sicker and weaker so that he could not speak at all but onely look his father in the face with Watry eyes and moan himself unto him with sighs and groans and other dumb expressions of his increased pain and desire to speak would not this yet strike deeper into the fathers heart pierce and melt it with more feeling pangs of compassion and make his bowels yern within him with an addition of extraordinary dearness and eare to do him good Even just so and much more too will our heavenly father be affected and deal with us in hearing helping and shewing mercy when all our strength of prayer is gon and we can but onely look up to him with our eyes and ply him with our groans and sighs Expression II. That seeing God is our father we need not to be disheartned if we cannot pray so fluently and eloquently as others can FOr is not a father more delighted with the stammering and stu●tering as it were with the inarticulate and imperfect talk of his own little child when it first begins to speak than with the exactest eloquence of the most famous Oratour upon earth So surely is our heavenly father better pleased with the broken interrupted passages and periods of prayer in an upright heart heartily grieved that he can do no better nor offer up a more lively hearty and orderly sacrifice than with the excellently composed fine-phrased and most methodicall petitions of the learnedst pharisie and self-conceited zelot in the world Expression III. That seeing God is our father we need not to be disheartned at the faintness of our faith and fear of letting go our hold of God WHen we see a father holding a little child in his arms is the child think we safe by his own or by the fathers hold It clapseth about the father with his little weak hands as well as it can but the strength of its safety is in the fathers arms Nay and many times the father holds the faster when he perceives the child to have left its hold Just so stands the case betwixt God and us we are tyed as it were unto God our Father by a double bond 1. Of his Spirit 2. Of our faith We lay hold on him by faith and he on us by his Spirit Now our infant-like and weak faith many times lets go to our seeming our hold of him and therefore presently we think all our hold of him is gon and begin to cry out we are undone we perish and there is no hope any more in God for us But we are herein deceived for though we have let go our hold of God by faith yet hath he not let goe his hold of us by his Spirit but rather holds us the faster to himself thereby the Devill nor all the powers of darknesse being able to take us out of his hands Expression III. That seeing God is our Father we need not to be disheartned at our failings of new obedience FOr the case is here allso as it is between a father and his son A father hath a son whom he sets about some work and the son improves the utmost of his skill strength and endeavour to doe it according as his father would have it done but when he hath done all that he can he sees that he comes farre short of what he himself desired and his father expected and therefore weeps and takes on and is much troubled that he can do it no better to give his father contentment Now what man is there whose heart is warmed with the tenderness of a fathers affection that would not be ready to pardon and pass by all the defects and failings in this kind And shall God our heavenly father think we shew less mercy and pardon to his children when they are willing to do what he enjoyns them and be heartily sorry that they can do it no better No surely it cannot be Expression IV. That seeing God is our father we need not to be disheartned if he to our seeming do sometimes hide his face from us A Father solacing himself with his litle child and delighting in his pretty and pleasing behaviour is wont sometimes to step aside into a corner or behind a door of purpose to quicken yet more his childs love to him and his longing after him and to try the impaciency and eagerness of his affection

In the mean time he hears it cry run about and call upon him and yet he stirres not but forbears to appear and all this not for want of love and compassion to his child which the more it takes on the more abounds in him towards it but that it may the more dearly prize his presence when it again enjoyes it and they may the more merily meet and rejoice the more in one the others company And so deals our heavenly father with us he sometimes hides his face from us and withdraws his quickning and refreshing presence for a time not for want of love but to put more life and heat into our affections towards him and to cause us to relish i● more sweetly when we have it again to preserve it more carefully to enjoy it more thankfully and to shun more watchfully whatsoever might again bereave us of it Expression V. That seeing God is our father we need not to be disheartned if he in times of triall seem to leave us to our selves FOr we sometimes see a father setting down his little one upon its feet to try its strength and whether it be able to stand alone by its self or no but withall he holds his armes on both sides of it to uphold it if he see it incline either way and to preserve it from hurt And in like manner we may assure our selves that God our heavenly father takes care of us with infinitely more tenderness to uphold and preserve us in all trialls either by outward afflictions or inward temptations Expression VI That seeing God is our Father we need not to be disheartned in the sense of our unworthinesse IF any child might have despaired ever to have regained his fathers love upon the sight and sense of his own unworthinesse Absalom might have been that child For would any father love such a son as had defiled his bed such a son as sought his fathers Kingdome and life And yet one such father we meet with viz. good David who though his son did not submit did not crave pardon did still continue in arms against him yet commands that no harm be done him 2 Sam. 18. 5. Yea and when he heard of his death did ever father so take on for the death of a child as he did crying O Absalom my son my son Absalom would God I had died for thee And if there be so much affection to be found in a naturall father towards so ungracious and every way so underserving a child what then may we expect at the hands of God our heavenly father whose love as farre exceedeth ours as the heavens are above the earth though we are every way unworthy of any such love from him Expression VII That God being our father we need not to be disheartned when we cannot do what he commands as well as others of his children FOr suppose a father should call unto him in hast two of his children one of three years old another of thirteen they both make all the hast they can but the elder makes much more speed and yet the litle one comes wadling as fast as it can and if it had more strength it would have matched the other Now would not the father think you accept of the younghst utmost endeavour according to its strength as well as of the elders faster gate being stronger I am sure he would and that with more tenderness too and taking it in his armes to encourage it And so certainly will our heavenly father deal with us in the like case about our spirituall state being true hearted and heartily grieving praying and endeavouring to doe better Expression VIII That God being our Father we need not to be overmuch distracted with the carking care for the things of this life A Little Child dwelling at home under his Fathers wing taketh no thought for any thing not for meat not for apparell nor for any other necessaries but relieth wholly upon his fathers carefull providing for him so that when he wants any thing to him he presently resorts and never looks further And shall the Child of an earthly Father be so void of carking care for the things of this life because he hath a Father to provide all needfull things for him And shall the Child of God forget that he hath a Father in Heaven who is infinitely more able and willing to doe the like for him Expression IX That all that bear the name of Gods servants are not his servants indeed WE would all be thought to be Gods servants but when we are looked into we shall be found to fail in a principall part of service For why We will be said to be his servants but we will doe our own work and so are rather his retainers than his meniall servants For retainers we know are willing to belong to such a Nobleman or Gentleman but yet it is but for their own private advantage for their countenance or for the avoiding of some other charges but in the mean time they would have their own liberty to follow their own businesse to live at their own home to come and go at their own pleasure c. And such servants generally men would be to the Lord willing they be to shrowd themselves under that name because they think that in the end it will go well with such and it may be allso they think it a disgrace to be said to be of no religion yet for all that they are loth to be tied they desire to be free still and to be at their own disposing serving God now and then and that perhaps out of formality more than conscience when their own occasions will give leave Expression X. How Christs birth differs from the birth of others THe Scriptures tell us how that man comes four waies into the world 1. By the help of man and woman so all are usually born 2. Without any man or woman and so the first man was created 3. Of a man without a woman and so was Eve made 4. Of a woman without a man and so was Christ born Expression XI How many waies a man may forswear himself THere be three waies saith Lombard out of Augustine by which a man may forswear himself 1. When he swears that which is false and he knows it to be false 2. When he swears that which is true but he thought it to be false 3. When he doth swear that which is false but he held it to be true The two first kinds are abominable but the third in the Court of Conscience saith one is no sin because a man may swear that which is false and yet not swear falsely Expression XII How this word Amen is used in Scripture THis word Amen is taken in Scripture three waies 1. Nominaliter as a noun and so 't is as much as true or truth and so 't is taken in the end of every one of the four Gospels and in other