Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	pray_v	prayer_n	saint_n	5,346	5	6.7276	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01300	A comfortable sermon of faith, in temptations and afflictions Preached at S. Botulphes wythout Aldersgate in London, the .xv. of Februarye. 1573. By Maister VVilliam Fulke, Doctor of Diuinitie.	Fulke, William, 1538-1589.	1574 (1574)	STC 11422; ESTC S102773	20,597	48

It followeth now in the text That his Disciples came vnto him besought him saying Send her away for she crieth after vs. Here his Disciples do not intreate hym to shew her any fauour but onely to dispatch her either one way or other because she made such a bawling and crying after them that they were ashamed to heare her And herein as in many other thinges reuealed in the history of the Gospell they take vpon them to be wyser thē their Maister For if he had thought it cōuenient he would haue dispatched her sooner for he heard her importunate outeries as wel as they but hée respected another matter which they could not conceiue It were best therfore for men to let God alone with hys own affaires not to presume to geue him counsel what he hath to doo but rather to looke what he cōmaundeth them to do therin to occupy their heads their hands But such curiosity raigneth in many mens minds that they had rather take vpon them to teach God how hée should gouerne the world then submit them selues quietly to obey his cōmaundements But the Papists are here to be pytied that for lacke of better arguments to proue the inuocation of sayntes are fayne to abuse this place of the Apostels request to haue this woman dispatched But alas w what colour or likelyhood of reason For first this womā desireth none of them all to be her spokesman but crieth vnto the Maister him self O Lord thou sonne of Dauid haue mercy vpon me Secondly they make no intercession for her but onely desire that she might be sent away because she troubled them But whether she obtained her request or no al was one to thē so they might be rid of the exclamation out-cry that she made after them to cause all the world to wonder at them Thirdly Christ graūteth nothing at their request but rather flatly denieth that he wyl haue any thing to do with her Fourthly if she had praied to them and they made intercession for her obtained their desire yet there is great difference betwene praying to them that are dead praying to them that be alyue And therefore it is maruel what they meane to gather an argument for the inuocation of dead Sayntes out of this place where neither the woman praieth to the Apostles nor the Apostels pray for her nor Christ graūteth any thing at their request beside all this the Apostles wer not dead but alyue They should haue smal comfort I trow in this example yet such for all the world be the rest of their argumēts The virgin Mary praied for the Bridegrome whē she sayd They haue no wyne If this was a request what was her answer woman what haue I to do wyth thee But aboue the rest they haue one notable example of the rytch man that being in the torments of hel prayed vnto Abraham No doubt a worthy example for vs to folow that of a damned spirit in hel we must learn to make our praiers to saynts in heauen By such authority the doctrine of Deuils may wel be established but the children of God are taught an other forme of praier by their heauenlye Schoolemaister But what remedy found the ritch man by praying to Abraham that we might be encouraged by his example to pray to Saints He made two requests neither of them both was graunted Alas what comfort should any man take by these examples to pray to dead Saintes yet these be the best reasons they haue out of the scripture Sure it is a pityfull case that men wyl leaue God who hath commaunded vs to call vpon him promised to heare vs to call vpon dead men to whom we haue no commaundenent nor example of any godly person to pray neyther haue they made any promise neyther if they had made any promise were they able to performe it But let vs leaue the Papistes wyth their woful argumentes returne to the Apostels in their request made vnto Christ Dismisse her say they for she cryeth after vs. By these words we may easely perceue how importunately she continued her sute although he held his peace and answered her not one word for styl she cried was nothing discouraged whereby we sée that this first repulse did so litle deminish her desire that it kindled it more more And so doth God often tymes in suspending differring the answer effect of our prayers prouoke vs most earnestly to pray both that we may know of whom we haue receyued a benefit that we may the more estéeme it when we haue it so render worthy thanks to him that is the author of it For such is our malignitie that if we be preuented with Gods benefites as often times we are or els obtaine them immediatly vpō our request we forget that we receiued them of God so become vnthankfull for thē Also we do not greatly estéeme those things which we haue not long wanted nor much desired wherby as for smal benefits not great gifts we render slender thankes to god Therfore God in great wisdom prolongeth some times the performāce of his promised benefits that men myght acknowledge of whom they obtayn them worthely esteeme them thankfully receiue them and profitably employ them But now let vs sée what answer our sauiour Christ maketh to the request of hys Disciples I am not sent sayth he but vnto the lost shepe of the house of Israel An vncomfor table answer doubtles to the poore woman wherby he pronoūceth that he hath no cōmission of God to do any thing for her in asmuch as his vocatiō extended onely to the Israelits was promised for vnto thē all it was first offered which because it was of them refused it was afterwárd made cōmon vnto the Gentiles For our sauiour Christ acknowledgeth a lytle before hys passion that he hath other shéepe which wer not of the Iewish fold whō he must bryng home that there may be one told as there is but one Pastor And in that most earnest and harty praier which he made immediatly before his death wherin he commendeth to God the preseruation of his Disciples whom hée sent to conuert the whole world hee prayeth generally for hys whole Church collected both of the Iewes and the Gentiles saying I pray not onely for these but for al thē that shall beleuein me through their preaching that they all may be one euen as thou father art in me and I in thee that they also may bee one in vs that the world maye know that thou hast sent me So that the Israelites haue now no priuiledge nor prerogatiue aboue the Gentiles For in Christ Iesu ther is neither Iew nor Gentile for Christ is now as common vnto the Gentiles as before he was proper vnto the Iewes Then seyng we be grafted into the body of Israel this say ing is as comfortable to vs as it was vncomfortable