Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
ground_n	body_n	life_n	soul_n	1,744	5	5.1981	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01025	Four sermons which doe manifest the true sence of the 1. Epistle to Timothie 6. Chaper 13. 14. 15. [and] 16. verses of that chapter. Preached by the reverend divine Mr. Iohn Forbes late preacher to the Companie of Merchant-Adventurers in Delft. Published by S.O.	Forbes, John, 1568?-1634.	1635 (1635)	STC 11129; ESTC S114866	51,274	78

hand to give it to thee to continew it and to restore it when it is taken from thee this consideration is of great moment to preserve us not to offend this God for the pleasure of any Potentate in the world since all the world cannot give mee life nor continue life and when I am dead and life is gone none in heaven or earth can restore me to life except God do it why then should I not be carefull that I offend not this God nay farre be it from me for to do it for any flesh in the world O let us be carefull that wee provoke not this good God to wrath who hath given us life that in his wrath we provoke him not to take it from us againe seeing that God onely gave it mee to honour him am I not bound to consecrate my life to him alone not to obey any creature to disobey him it was not my father or mother that gave mee life but the Lord onely who is the Lord onely who is the Lord of life hee hath put life into me therefore neither for father nor mother should I give my life otherwise then for the honour of God O but some may say if I do so so these men will take away my life from mee have they power to doe it without God saith not Christ feare not them which can kill the body but rather feare him which can cast both soule and body into hell fire and he said againe are not there two sparrowes sold for a farthing and yet not one of them falls on the ground without the providence of our heavenly father how much better are yee then many sparrowes if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground nor any man can take away the life of it without Gods providence than surely all the tirants of the world cannot take away thy life except the Lord suffer them the Lord Iesus himselfe giveth a sweet warning to his disciples when hee saieth to them Rise let us go to Iudea againe his disciples said unto him Master the Iewes of late sought to stone thee goest thou then thither they thought it an hard saying of Christ that they should goe thither againe but Iesus answered them said are there not 12. howers in the day if any man walke in the day he stumbleth not because hee hath the light seeth the light of this world but if a man walke in the night hee stumbleth because there is no light in him What means Christ by this hee meanes by this to tell them that as lōg as the day of mans life doth last which hath a period sett so long he goes without feare as hee that walketh in the day feares not for the Lord is with him but if they walke in the night that is if the time appointed of their life be at an end he must fall then letting us thereby understand that men may walke in their lawfull callings without feare for all the world cannot make him stumble if God give them not leave as Christ said concerning Herod tell that foxe I must walke to day to morrow untill the third day which is appointed of God for mee so that wee may see that none can give us life but God so in the last place when wee are dead none can restore our souls and bodies to life againe but God onely therefore wee must not consecrate our life to any but to God alone these considerations are worthy to be laid up in our hearts Besides these considerations of Gods quickning all things it is an especiall ground of our faith as it is written concerning Abrahā I have made thee a father of many nations before God hee beleeved the word of God even that God that quickneth the dead and calleth those things which be not as though they were and this was that which made Abraham to walke stedfastly with God because hee knew as the Apostle boasteth saying I am persuaded that neither life nor death nor any other creature can seperate mee from the love of God death is not able to keepe me under the power of it for Christ by death hath overcome death as the Apostle affirmeth if the spirit of him which raised Christ from the dead dwell in your mortall bodies even hee that raised the Lord Iesus shall likewise raise your mortall bodies by the same spirit so that this is the ground of our faith and hope to wit that God quickneth all things and this made Abraham to be obedient ready to offer up his sonne Isaack for hee knew that notwithstanding God would not faile to make good what he had promissed in the person of Isaack To conclude this point at this time there be manifold considerations of this argument to strengthen all Pastours especialy in their calling that they pervert not Gods word for any mans pleasure in the world for if I looke to their lives that will oppresse mee or if I shall looke to my owne life I shall finde it to be a great terrour to keepe mee from displeasing God in my calling for any mans pleasure first if I consider their lives they have it from God and as their life is from God so is all their working power that they cannot stirre a foote further then it pleaseth God for God can cut off their daies in an instant is it not then a vaine thing to feare man whose breath is in his nostrils it being so easy a matter for God to take away the life of all flesh how dare I then sinne against God to obey any man Secondly if I cōsider mine owne life I have no cause to obey man and to sinne against God seeing none can take my life away but God and none can give it mee but hee which gave it therefore I should onely feare him who gave mee life and can take it from mee and thus wee see how the spirit of God in this particular consideration of God who quickneth all things laies a strong ground to all Pastours Teachers for to harken unto this Charge that they violate not this commandement OF this great grave weightie Conclusion beloved in the Lord wherewithall the Apostle ends his Doctrine which concernes the ordering of the affaires of Gods howse aright according to the will of God wee began to speake to you the last time and wee did shew you the reason why the Apostle did ad this so weightie grave Charge and Commandement to Timothie a man otherwise of excellent guifts it was to let us see that these things are not of humane invention but of divine authoritie they are things which are not to be dispenced with all as men may dispence with the precepts of men for they are the Commandements of the living God otherwise the Apostle would never have charged Timothie and in him all Pastours in such a manner as in the sight of God and of Christ Iesus to

power last his power is this because he is the onely Potentate that is he is the Lord of al powers and principalityes the argument is this he that is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords he must needs be the onely potentate in heaven and earth and so it is that God is the head of all principallityes and powers therefore he must needs bee the onely Potentate It is strange that this argument should hold since it is graunted that there are manie Kings and Lords besides God how then can this prove God to be the onely Potentate there being other Kings and Lords besides him It would seeme by this property here ascribed unto God that it would confirme the false fancyes of the Anabaptists who hold that now under the Gospell there should be no Magistrate but God onely because in the New Testament he is called the onely Potentate and this is one of their grownds wherupon they build their opinion but the argument of the Apostle doth manifest the contrary so the argument is set down by the Apostle in great wisdome for this argumente doth not take away all Magistrates in the world but onely makes God to be over them all to be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords now if there were no more Kings nor Lords but God alone how could he then be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords So that the very words of the Apostles argument doe confute this vanity and lets us see that the authority which he claymes to God doth not take away mans authority over their subjects but lets that remain still notwithstanding that God is King of Kings and Lord of Lords But to understand aright what is the Apostles meaning in his argument it is of great force for God is said to be King of Kings in divers respects first because there is not a King or Lord but by him it is and by him Kings reigne it is he onely that rayseth to authority and none but he so for this reason God is said to be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords because they have not their authority but from God and this is that for which Nabuchadnezar that great king of Babell did suffer such a great judgmente from God as to be cast out from amongst men and to live among beasts for the space of seven years that he might know that the most high had rule over the Kingdoms of men as Daniel tells him in plain termes because he in the pride of his heart did think he had raysed himself to his honour when these words came out of his mouth Js not this great Babell which I have built for mine honour and Honour of my Kingdom Immediately his kingdome was taken from him untill he was forced to acknowledge that the most high had rule over men this is a fearfull spectacle to teache kings to know from whom they have their kingdoms and their authority Pilate when he did boast of his authority to Christ saying unto him knowest thou not I can save thee or take thy life from thee Christ answered him thou couldest not have anie power over mee except it were given thee from above This is the first reason why God is called the king of kings and Lord of Lords because it is not by succession nor by birth that kings come to rule over others but by the speciall providence of God and this is the reason why we must reverence them that are in authority because saith the Apostle all authority is of God The second reason why God is called the kinge of kings is this because he never made king yet of absolute power he never yet made an absolute king on earth but allwaies made them substitutes to himself in authority reserving to himself the supream authority over them to thrust them out of their thrones whensoever it pleased him All the kings of the world are but subjects to the king of heaven so that even in their ruling and exercising of their power they are to know there is another power above them unto which they must give an accompt of all their doings for the Lord will not let the power he hath over them to goe out of his own hands so that no kings nor Lords have anie power to doe as they list It is blasphemie to say that anie king hath absolute power for that is asmuch as to sett him in the throne of God for there is no absolute king but God alone and this is the second reason why the spirit of God describes the power of God after this māner to prove him the onely Potentate if he that is a king have another power above him which is the Lord thē must this Lord bee the onely Potētate but every king hath the Lord above him so as he cā hold it no longer then it pleaseth him neither can his race injoy it longer then God will suffer it therefore the Lord tooke away the kingdoms from some and gave it to others he tooke away authority from the house of David and gave it to Ieroboam and for the iniquityes of Ieroboam he tooke it from Ahab and gave it unto Iehu manie changes of kingdoms the Lord hath made taking kings out of their thrones and placing their enimies in their places to let us see that kings are not absolute Lords on earth but they are at the Lords disposing at his pleasure Thus we see the third reason proved wherfore the Apostle describes the power of God after this manner that by necessary evidences he concludes the main point Since there is not a power or Potentate but God is the onely Potentate to doe with men as himself please it is he that casteth down and it is he that rayseth up and thus he will have all men to know but specially his ministers to know this There is a fourth reason of this manner of describing God and that is for the comfort of his children which I have touched before to arm them against all the terrours of kings that the terrour of no power make them to dispence with the ordinaunces of this great Potentate therfore he would imprint this in their mindes that God is the king of kings therfore no king can doe more harm to them then it pleaseth God this is comfort and the same which Christ gives his desciples in the tenth of Matthew where he bids them not to fear them that can onely kill the body for he tells them that their lives are more precious then birds and are there not so manie sparrows sold for a farthing and yet not one of them shall fall to the grownd without the providence of God therefore Christ knowing that power was given over him though he could have prayed to his Father and obteyned legions of Angells yet he would not because he knew there was no resistance of Gods will therefore he comforts himself against the loosing of Pilate that hee had no power but was given him