Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	body_n	live_v	soul_n	5,342	5	5.1931	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47164	The Presbyterian and independent visible churches in New-England and else-where brought to the test, and examined according to the doctrin of Holy Scriptures ... : more particulary directed to those in New-England, and more generally to those in old England, Scotland, Ireland, &c. : with a call and warning from the Lord to the people of Boston and New-England, to repent, &c. : and two letters to the preachers in Boston, and an answer to the gross abuses, lies and slanders of Increase Mather and Nath. Morton, &c. / by George Keith.	Keith, George, 1639?-1716.	1691 (1691)	Wing K191; ESTC R21261	124,580	240

Scripture would not have said Work out your Salvation with Fear and Trembling And if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the Deeds of the Body ye shall live And therefore when Paul doth so earnestly plead that men are not justified by the Works of the Law it is evident he doth only exclude these legal Performances and Observations that the Jews rested in who had not Faith in Christ And that no Works however so good or holy being performed by men ought to be rested in as a Foundation or ground of Justification for that were to exclude Christ and make his Death of no effect And again when James doth plead so earnestly that men are justified by Works and not by Faith only giving an instance in Abraham and Rahab he only placeth Faith and Works together viz. such Works as accompany true Faith and work together with it as necessary Instruments and Conditions whereby to obtain Justification but not to be the Foundation thereof 8. And whereas Paul generally so much useth that manner of Speech of Justification by Faith it is manifest that by Faith he doth not mean only that single Virtue called Faith but as by way of Synecdoche the most eminent or noted part is put for the whole as when in Scripture as well as in common Speech the Head of a man is put for the whole man Ezek. 33.4 Ezek. 17.9 Even so by Faith the Apostle in these places doth mean the whole complex or systeme or intire Body of the Evangelical Virtues and Graces whereof Faith is as it were the Head and is first in order of Nature at least in respect of the other and sometimes also by Faith he understandeth the whole Evangelical Dispensation and Doctrin as especially in that noted place Gal. 3.23 But before FAITH came we were kept under the Law c. And verse 5. But after that FAITH is come c. Where certainly Paul doth not mean only that single Virtue called Faith but the whole Evangelical Dispensation with all the spiritual Gifts and Graces of it And again Gal. 3.2 Received ye the Spirit by the Works of the Law or by the hearing of Faith which hath the same signification And thus in common Speech among Christians and Christian Writers the Christian Faith doth signifie the whole Christian Religion and Obedience and so Unbelief in Scripture is put for all other Sin that Men generally are under before they believe as Rom. 11.32 9. True Faith in Christ Jesus on whom alone the Soul resteth as on the true Foundation for Justification and all other divine and spiritual gifts blessings is not only a believing in him as he is the Word which was in the beginning with God and is God by whom all things were made and which was in all the Prophets and faithful and holy Men in all Ages but as the same Word did take Flesh and was God manifest in the Flesh justified in the Spirit c. 1 Tim. 3.16 which Paul called The great Mystery of Godlinss to wit Christ crucified and risen again made of a Woman made under the Law the Son of God that did come in the likeness of sinful Flesh made like unto us in all things Sin excepted who being in the form of God and thought it no Robbery to be equal with God humbled himself and took upon him the form of a Servant and was found in the true Form and Nature of a Man the Seed of Abraham and David conceived by the holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary at Bethlem in the Land of Judah And thus the true Faith doth not divide Christ but receiveth him and joyneth the Soul unto him entirely to wit the whole and intire Christ both as he did come outwardly in the Flesh and as he did and doth inwardly come in the Spirit and as the said true Faith doth not divide him so nor doth it divide his Offices but taketh or receiveth him in all his Offices as King Priest and Prophet Shepherd Physician Husband c. And as he is called Jerm 23.6 The Lord our Righteousness in Scripture so as none can have him to be their Righteousness and Justification but who have him to be their Lord King and Ruler in them and their Sanctification Wisdom and Redemption And thus every truly believing Soul is as the true Mother of the Child who would not have the Child divided but she who was not the true Mother of the Child she would have the Child divided a true Figure of all false Christians who would have Christ divided and say They believe in Christ without them but do not believe and receive Christ within them as God the Father doth inwardly reveal him or as Ranters and other high Notionists who pretend to believe in Christ as he is the Word and Light in them but slight and blaspheme against Christ that was crucified without them Whereas the true Believer doth both believe in Christ and receive Christ as he came in the Flesh and was crucified for our Sins and rose and ascended into Heaven and is now in Heaven glorified in the intire and perfect Nature of man in Soul and Body appearing in the presence of God for us our Advocate with the Father and also doth believe in him and receive him spiritually to live and dwell in his Heart as he is the Lord that Spirit and the second Adam or heavenly Man the quickning Spirit who is the true spiritual Meat and Drink to every believing Soul even as Christ said I am the true Bread of Life he that eateth me shall live by me 10. And this true Faith in the least true measure of it as it is an act or exercise hath assurance in it of the Love and Mercy of God revealed in Christ Jesus and true infallible Assurance is of the very Nature and Being of true Faith as it is exercised on Christ its true and proper Object and Foundation and upon the Love and Mercy of God the Father revealed in Christ hence Paul said That his Gospel came unto these to whom he preached not in Speech only but in Power and in the holy Ghost and in much Assurance or as the Greek hath it much full Assurance 1 Thes 1.5 And he said further his Preaching was in the Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power 1 Cor. 2.4 5. That their Faith ought not to be in the Wisdom of Man but in the Power of God And this was sure footing and had assurance in it as the building on the sure Rock But they who deny all inward new Revelation of the Spirit it s no wonder they deny that Faith hath Assurance in the Being and Nature of it But without divine inward Revelation which begetteth Assurance there is no true Faith but only Opinion or Conjecture seeing there is no midst betwixt Assurance and Opinion or Conjecture and therefore these Faith-Publishers have denyed the true Faith of God's Elect when they say It may be without Assuranee and that

live honestly and worthily as many Preachers at this day as well as formerly do both Work and Preach by turns and as they have freely received so they give freely and these no Man can charge them that they have made their Gospel chargeable as the Preachers both of Old and New-England have done who have put the People to great charge of many Thousand Pounds yearly and yet the People is not profited under them and they have by force taken or caused to be taken from many who did not hear them nor own them to be Ministers of Christ for which they have no president either in the Old or New Testament 11. And whereas they who plead That true Piety is not essential to a Gospel-Minister First bring Judas for a president to which it is easily answered first that it is said Judas fell from his Ministry by Transgression and therefore some time he stood and it is more than ever they can prove that Judas never had any measure of true Piety or Sanctification when Christ did first send him forth for although he might have covetous and evil Inclinations that doth not argue that he had nothing of true Sanctification according to their own Doctrin who affirm That a Man may have true Sanctification and yet have not only strong evil Inclinations but very evil Practices But 2 dly when Judas was called the pure Gospel dispensation had not taken place and did not until Christ rose from the Dead and gave the holy Ghost Next they say Christ told the People that the Pharisees sate in Moses Chair and he did not forbid them but rather encouraged them to hear them saying Do what they say but do not as they do To this it is answered The Pharisees and Scribes teaching belonged to the Law and so they pass from the true state of the Question which is whether Ministers of the Gospel need not true Holiness to make them true Ministers 3 dly They object Paul's words concerning some that preached Christ not sincerely and yet he said Christ was preached and therein he rejoyced To which I answer that doth not justifie their Preaching but it holdeth forth the great Power and Wisdom of God that causeth all things to work together for his own Glory and the good of his as when by Persecutions and Reproaches and Slanders and false Accusations and contending against the Truth the Truth doth the more spread and flourish as hath oft been known and therein God's Servants have rejoyced yet this doth not justifie these Persecutors Lyers and false Accusers CHAP. V. Concerning God his Decrees and Election and Reprobation and the general state of Mankind by means of Adam's fall and the Way of Restoration by Christ 1. IT hath been a common thing among both Presbyterian and Independent Teachers in Old and New-England to accuse the honest People called in derision Quakers of being guilty of Blasphemy against God and Christ and the holy Ghost for no other cause but that they express their Faith of the great Mystery of the Father the Son and the holy Ghost in Scripture words and have not freedom to use the words of Man's wisdom and that come only from the Spirit of Man and have not proceeded from the Spirit of God whereby to express and declare their Faith of so great and glorious Mystery And by means of this so great Accusation and others as false and injurious they prevailed with the Magistrates of New-England to cause to be put to Death three dear and precious Men-Servants of the Lord and one dear and precious Maid-Servant of the Lord beside many other cruel Sufferings inflicted upon others for which great Cruelty and Barbarity the Hand of the Lord hath been manifestly stretched out against them in manifest Judgments and Plagues that divers among them have since acknowledged And therefore let all Men know to whose Hands this may come that the People called Quakers never denyed but on the contrary faithfully believed and do still faithfully believe whatever is recorded in the holy Scriptures of that great Mystery to wit that God is one and that the Father the Son and the holy Ghost is that one only true and living God the Creator and Upholder of all and Lord and King of all visible and invisible things and that the Father is begotten of none the Son is begotten of the Father from everlasting and before all Time and the holy Ghost hath proceeded from the Father and from the Son from Everlasting and before all Time and that the Son is God manifest in Flesh who came in the Flesh in the fulness of time as the Scripture declareth and that the Lord Jesus Christ whom the Apostles preached that dyed for our Sins and rose again for our Justification and is ascended and gone into Heaven is that alone Son of God and the only begotten of the Father in whom the fulness of the God-head dwelleth bodily and the Lord Jesus Christ in the intire and perfect nature of Man consisting of Soul and Body is gone into Heaven and is in Heaven and that his Body that was crucified and buried did not see Corruption but was raised on the third day and after forty days did ascend and was glorified according to which glorious Body of the Lord Jesus Christ we believe that at the Resurrection of the Dead our Bodies shall be changed and be made like or conform Acts 1.11 and that the same Jesus who is ascended and was taken up into Heaven shall so come in like manner as they did see him go into Heaven 2. And as concerning God we believe that he is a Spirit infinite unchangeable and incomprehensible omniscient omnipotent and omnipresent infinitely wise holy powerful good merciful and gracious just and righteous that he is Light and Love and whatever the Scripture doth declare of him we faithfully believe although this Name of him to wit Light the Faith-publishers at Westminster have altogether omitted in their Confession whether heedlesly or designedly that I leave but it seemeth they knew little of him if any thing at all by that Name and yet it was the Message that the Apostles heard from him and declared unto Men that God is Light and that he is in the Light to wit in Christ who is the Light of Men and that if we walk in the Light as he is in the Light we have fellowship one with another and the Blood of his Son Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all Sin 1 John 1.5 6 7. And indeed it suits most with their Doctrin that all inward divine Revelation is ceased either to conceal or deny that God is Light as to us and in us or in any of his Saints or that Christ is Light to and in his Saints for the nature of the Light yea of all true Light is to reveal and make it self manifest by it self as well as other things and this description the Apostle Paul giveth of it Ephes 5.13 Whatever maketh manifest is

Light according to the English Translation or as it may be as well translated the Light is that which maketh manifest every thing to wit both it self and all other things And this description of Light belongeth only to God and Christ and the holy Spirit in the full extent of it for no created Light visible or invisible can manifest or reveal all things the outward Light of the Sun can only manifest some outward things but not all it cannot let us see what is under the Earth or in the bottom of the Seas but God can and doth search all Deeps and can reveal or make manifest every thing however so hid and therefore the Name Light doth more properly belong to God the Father of Lights and to Christ and to the holy Ghost than to any created Light visible or invisible and yet a publick Preacher in New-England in the Town of Hampton before some Hundreds of People most of them his common Hearers did affirm That God was not properly Light but only by a Figure borrowed from the outward Light of the Sun And to say God was Light and Christ was Light was the fundamental Error of the Quakers And though some of his Brethren have blamed his Rashness yet it cannot be denyed but he said that which was most consequential and agreeable to his Brethren's Doctrin and the Westminster Confession of Faith which the Church of New-England hath espoused to be her Confession of Faith also for if God do not at all reveal himself immediately or any other things he is not Light at all unto his Saints now on Earth as we may well say if the outward Sun should with-draw his Beams altogether from the Eyes of Men or that some dark body should be interposed always betwixt the Sun's Light and Men's Eyes the Sun should not be Light unto Men for it is the nature and property of all Light to reveal it self immediately to every one or else not at all and always to be its own Messenger and to discover teach and direct Men by its own Light and Evidence and not by any other thing For to say the Sun doth not lighten us immediately when it giveth us its Illumination is a great Contradiction that the Assertion carrieth to it self for whatever means or mediums the Sun's light passeth through to our Eyes as the Air Glass and the Tunicles of our Eyes or suppose some Lattise or thin vail or cloathing yet it s still immediate or if it be reflected from a Looking-glass or any other Object yet the Light it self coming to our sight through all these means or mediums and not stopping or staying by the way nor employing some other Messenger in its room to carry the tydings of it to us it is still immediate the Light hath a self-evidence whereby to make it self known without any other help or instrument whereby to make it known And thus God is Light and thus not only the Saints knew God to be Light but also divers of the Gentiles who had not the Scriptures knew God to be Light as Plotinus who said As we see know the Sun by his own Light so we see and know God by his own Light And Pythagoras and Plato declared God to be Light and it was one of Pythagora's rules Let none presume to speak or teach of God without his Light wherein he saw further and better into the true Mystery of Preaching and Teaching than these blind Faith makers at Westminster and New-England Preachers who have espoused that blind and dark thing called their Confession of Faith And Plato taught That God created the Soul of Man in a Region of divine Light and then it conversed with the true substance of Light and of every other thing but by its Sin it was thrust down into a Cave or Dungeon where it only conversed with Shadows and Figures or Images of things which are the things of this outward and perishing World And this doth well agree with the Scripture that saith God drove out the Man from the Garden And thus the mind of Man losing the inward enjoyment of God the true Light did joyn it self to the perishing things of this World where it can find no true Rest for they are but Figures and Shadows and the Scripture calleth this World a Fashion or Figure and Scheme 1 Cor. 7.31 And why is Christ called the true Light and the true Bread in Scripture and the Truth but to signifie unto us that he is indeed more truly and properly and satisfyingly the Soul 's true Light and Food than the outward Light and Bread is unto the Body or outward Man And therefore in comparison of God all created things of Heaven and Earth are said to be nothing and less than nothing and the Nations are as nothing and less than nothing before him Isa 40.17 And therefore as the Name Being and Good doth most properly belong to him as Christ said There is none good but God So the names Light Life and Love do most properly belong to him though it is most readily granted that he doth infinitely surpass and excel all that Men can either speak or think of him and that he hath a Name that none knoweth but he himself but since it hath pleased God to call himself by the Name Light speaking unto Men in the Language of the Sons of Men I say in the language of Men the Name Light doth most properly and without all Figure belong to God and Christ and this the Saints in Light well knew but they who know not the Light and believe not in it it is no wonder that they think that God or Christ is Light only by a Figure or Metaphor from the outward Light For indeed the Animal or natural Man that only followeth his natural Thoughts and Apprehensions doth not know God but by Figures and Shadows And though I plead for the immediate Revelation of God and Christ in the Hearts and Spirits of his Saints who is their Light and Life yet the means are owned and acknowledged in their place as good Men are Means good Books and especially the Scriptures are means whereby to transmit the Light of God and Christ unto us as he is pleased to make use of them and not otherwise even as the Air or Glass of the Window cannot convey any light of the Sun unto us but when the Sun shineth for when the Sun withdraweth and hideth his Face the Air and the Glass hath no Light to convey unto us And thus it is as to all Men and Books and Means they can convey no Light to us but what how and when God the Father of Lights is pleased to send forth through them unto us and this David well knew when he prayed saying O send forth thy Light and thy Truth to lead me and guide me to thy holy Hill and lift up the Light of thy Countenance upon us Psal 43.3 Psal 4.6 And as it pleaseth God often to