Selected quad for the lemma: hand_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
hand_n	aaron_n	bring_v	heed_n	52	3	9.0507	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A86450	The valley of vision, or A clear sight of sundry sacred truths. Delivered in twenty-one sermons; by that learned and reverend divine, Richard Holsvvorth, Dr. in Divinity, sometimes Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge, Master of Emanuel Colledge, and late preacher at Peters Poore in London. The particular titles and texts are set downe in the next leafe.	Holdsworth, Richard, 1590-1649.; Holdsworth, Richard, 1590-1649. Peoples happinesse.	1651 (1651)	Wing H2404; Thomason E631_1; ESTC R202438	355,440	597

our selves and all that we have see his goodnesse that whereas we are debtors to him he condiscends to make himselfe by promise and stipulation debtors to us as St. Austin very well Vt sicut c. That as we should praise God as the Donor of all the good we have so we should depend upon him as the holy debtor of all the good we look for to testify this great goodnesse he gives it first ●y promise and that because it is a long time before we come to possession God staies our stomacks by a promise as a bit before the heavenly supper When that Supper comes then we have fruition and because we may have desires hot towards Heaven and our stomacks sharp God staies them and gives us a little of the first fruits and these are in the promises And then there is good reason if we consider our selves The reason that we are so fraile and weak in faith and have so much trouble and conflicts and agonies in our spirits is because we doe not converse with the promises we treasure not up these The promises are a great support of three graces First they are the great support of faith faith would sinck and lag unlesse it were for the promises The promises are to faith as Aaron and Hur were to Moses Moses hands were feeble and then Aaron and Hur bring a stone and set it under When Moses had the stone under and Aaron and Hur supported his hands then Israel prevailed Moses was strengthened The promise is as that stone it brings the Rock Christ it makes us look to the Rock that is higher then our selves It brings the Rock and sets it not onely above us but under us The promise undersets faith and keeps the building from tottering Nothing can support it more then the promise For in that the promise supports it God supports it and all in all his attributes There is somwhat of all the attributes of God in the promise of his wisdome of his truth of the power and justice of God all these support saith A man hath enough if he have but one Attribute to support him in any exigent How strong is he that hath all these in the promise Because God is fai●hfull and just and true the promise it is the support of faith As it is the support of faith so it is of hope and of patience There is no grace that hath so great correspondency with the promise as hope and patience The promise teacheth hope to live by Providence whereas every man can live by the present the promise supports hope and makes it live by the future by reversion it instructs hope to live by providence not onely in temporalls but spiritualls And as it instructs hope so it doth patience it is a great cherisher of patience Patience is the grace that waits and so doth hope hope is patience Sister or if you will Patience is the Daughter of hope and the promise is the supporter of both The promise will teach hope and patience to depend upon God not onely for the thing he gives but for the time there is a great deale of comfort in the time it will make it submit to Gods order and method What is Gods method This before he gives possession he gives reversion the promise is the reversion the promise is the support of hope and patience there is a great deale of comfort comes to a Christian this way A worldly man is all for the present he cares not for the future if he can be happy for the present that is the pitch he goes to A worldly man desires to take if it be possible his wages before hand he cares not for taking any thing at the last day He is nothing for reversion he would take all as much as he could before That is the reason he is left voyd of comfort at the howre of death because he took up all he knowes not where to take up more as Christ saith He hath his reward he hath his portion in this life he hath no more to take unlesse it be that Son remember thou in thy life-time receivedst pleasure and likewise Lazarus paine now he is comforted and thou art tormented he cannot take it and expect it A godly man contrary he desires not to work for present payment but he works to a day he knowes that God is a good Pay-master he would not have all for the present he knowes the lesse he hath now the more he shall have after because he lives by the promise he lives by hope and hope makes him patient and the promise supports them both It is the grace of hope that sets a man in Heaven when he is on Earth and the promise sets hope in Heaven Hope cannot goe to Heaven but by the promise A Christian could not goe to Heaven on Earth and take a spirituall flight but for hope The promise brings downe Heaven to the heart it inverts that Speech of St. Paul he sayth While we are present in the body we are absent from the Lord. But hope turnes it and makes it while we are in the body it teacheth us how to be present in Heaven Here is the benefit of hope and because of hope therefore of the promise Therefore if we would looke for comfort let us look to the treasuring up of the promises the promises support There is no condition that befalls a Christian in this life but there is a promise for it there is some promise for it whither it be of prosperity or adversity of life or of death of falling of want there are promises for all and the promise will still keep the head above water what ever the affliction be it will still keep life and soul together If there be no b●ame of comfort appeare yet the promise will support in the middest of all distresse If a man grasp but a promise he is well enough If the soul be in perplexity and doubting it will settle it if it be in affliction the promise will comfort it if it be in any distresse the promise will afford consolation therfore make much of the promises If salvation be promised to believers it is hope that presently grasps and layes hold of it it doth it by the promise If forgivenesse be promised to the penitent hope looks after it and layes hold of it and it doth that by the promise If it be the Crowne to ●erseverance hope looks after that too and layes hold of it it doth it still by the promise Hope is the Watch-man or the Sentinell among the graces as a Watch-man upon a Tower will discover before all others that are below when day breaks if there be but the breaking of any day light any beame of comfort to be seene hope will discover it and pick it up Though every grace be as an eye and hereupon the Apostle sayth that the Saints in the Revelations are full of eyes before and behind It is not

God Yee have robbed me saith God They reply Wherein have we robbed thee Yee have spoken stoutly saith God They reply Wherein They had words whereby to dishonour God and none to please or to pacifie him And for the defect of speech in the grace of prayer the Prophet Isaiah tells us Chap. 64. that hee looked about and found none that did apply themselves to call upon God or to lay hold of him It is not usuall for a man to be guilty of both extreames in the same kinde of sin because that extreams are contrary one to another yet they had a double guilt upon themselves they were full of words in worldly matters but altogether silent and dumbe towards salvation To speake against God so they abounded with words and yet to speak to him to pacifie him so they wanted them Therefore it is this infirmity the Prophet Hosea here labours to cure in this people He observed their defect he saw how they turned aside but they would not lay hold on the meanes of pacification therefore now he directs them to see the right way whence they should take their beginning to work attonement and reconciliation with God He speakes Ephata he puts his finger as it were to their mouths to open them to unbowell their hearts with the acknowledgement of their sins with the in larging of their petitions to God and thus he counsells them Take with you words and turne to the Lord and say thus and thus You may remember how I divided the words they containe two things The forme of an excitement And a forme of direction The forme of excitement in the first part that is to two duties One to the duty of action Turne to the Lord. Another to the duty of elocution Take to you words and speak to him Of the former I spake in the Forenoone reading the words so Turne to the Lord and in turning take to you words And there I shewed you what was the occasion of this exhortation what was the reason he presseth the exhortation twice upon them of turning to the Lord what are the duties he aimes at To stirr them up to the work of prayer that is one kinde of turning to stirr them up to the work of repentance that is another kinde of turning to the Lord An universall turning in respect of the subject a totall turning in respect of the act a finall turning in respect of the time never to look on sin againe What the propositions were that arose hence That there is no diversion of judgements without turning to God by prayer and turning to God by repentance there is no true repentance without casting away sin This is the summ of that I delivered in the forenoone Now I goe on that is to the second excitement to which here the Prophet would provoke and stirr them and that is to the duty of elocution In the former he shewed them the way what course they must take to God Turne to him In this he shewes them the way what course they must take for repentance Take words to themselves Take to you words There is no difficulty in the meaning of the phrase there can be nothing more familer to us then that phrase which intreats of speech and taking of words which is onely proper to man Yet I finde that Interpreters make a little difference in the exposition of them For some will have this to be the meaning that the Prophet here excites them to a duty of obedience Take to you words Here me now when I speake to you in these words That is the exposition of Mercer and Zanche listen to my words when I exhort you to repent and turne to the Lord that is the meaning of that phrase But others better that the Prophet excites them here to a duty of expression of their repentance that that would kindle in them the flame of all good desires by getting a wholesome forme of speech to come before God So the meaning is Take to you words humble your selves before God flye to him by prayer seeke reconciliation at his hands but take heed that you come not unprepared unprovided fit your selves well before and study how to speak to him Take words and then goe to him and turne This I take to be the more proper exposition more genuine For if we insist in the other the phrase of speech will not beare it it offers violence to the Text it is not onely diverse but repugnant for if that were the meaning Take to you words that is heare my words the Prophet would not have exhorted them to have gotten lips but eares not words but attention He doth not here exhort them so much to listen to him as to open their owne mouthes to God Therefore of necessity we must take it as the words lye for the procurement of the language of prayer and repentance which will be most fit for the expression of their repentance to God So taking this thus there are these two things to be considered in this part One is the getting of words Another is for the uttering and expressing of them The first in those words Take to you words The second in the other And say to God And I shall onely speak of the former at this time that is of the words they should take to themselves Take to you words It hath respect to the former duty I spake of in both the acceptions Turne to the Lord turne by prayer turne by repentance both wayes it looks When you pray to God then get words when you repent of your sinnes then get words It is the observation both of Cyrill and Chrysostome he stirres them up that they should bring with them Non aurum non argentum non oblationes sed preces he calls to them not to bring their Gold or Silver to Gods Treasury not to bring their Sheep or Oxen to his Altar God was weary of those Sacrifices he looked for repentance it was onely to bring words of prayer in humbling themselves and seeking mercy and words of repentance in acknowledging their sins this was the scope the Prophet aymed at So I will consider in it two things The motives that induced the Prophet to make this exhortation he calls upon them for words get you words And the scope he propounded to himselfe in it what is the duty he would excite them to First the motive that induced the Prophet to make this exhortation here for we have not the parallell to it in Scripture Take to you words It should seem they were brought to a very low ebb for piety that they knew not the first elements and principles that they could not goe so farr as wicked Israel that would flatter God with their mouth that they were so farr from true contrition that they could not so much as bring words of confession to acknowledge their sins though it were but from the teeth outward We know they were a people of another temper the