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
B02482	Christ alone exalted in the perfection and encouragements of the saints, notwithstanding sins and trials. Volume III. / Being laid open in severall sermons by the late spirituall and faithfull preacher of the Gospel, Tobias Crispe, D.D.	Crisp, Tobias, 1600-1643.; Cokayn, George, 1619-1691.; Pinnell, Henry.	1648 (1648)	Wing C6959; ESTC R233167	185,508	400

dismayednesse is prejudiciall to all religious duties first it is a damper of prayer Beloved you know that the life of prayer lies in faith If any man pray let him aske in faith saith St. James Faith is the wing of prayer and carries it up to heaven clip the wings of prayer and the motions of it must be slow Beloved you that are afraid doth feal and dismayednesse take hold of your spirits marke in such a fit what hearts you have to pray In brief there is this great prejudice in fear it makes all the duties that persons perform meerly selfish You know that a servant is very diligent for his master when no danger cometh but let the servant be in fear of any danger he will leave his masters businesse to shift for himselfe and seek for his own safety So consider it well whether your hearts are not for your selves in your services when there is a strong passion of feare in your spirits when a man is in prayer against some evill he fears is approaching unto him what prayer is it He is altogether for himselfe that he may be delivered from his present feare there is not a thought so far as this fear prevails that God may be glorified all the while but only of the evill that is upon him or that is like to fall upon him whereas the Believer should serve with sincerity and singlenesse of spirit he should do that which he doth as unto the Lord saith the Apostle Do not mistake it is not the spiritualnesse nor the fervency in the performance of duties that carries it duties are not expiatory helpers with Christ But I say when duties are performed as to the Lord and for the Lord and not to and for himself then are they right as services But all our hope that we must have in any condition must be only from the grace of God and all our performances that we do act must be to the Lord for what he hath done for us Therefore seeing it is the Lord himself that calls upon you and claps you on the back and bids you be not affraid take courage from the Lord and quit your selves like men In danger be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might There is this difference between Gods call and mans call to do any thing men call men to services and employments but cannot give them power ability to perform that which they are called unto but God calls and gives influence of his owne to make men doe such things as he calls them unto The Lord saith Feare not and in the voyce of the Lord there is life to frame the same temper in your hearts Christ he shall stand over your dead hearts as he did over the dead body of Lazarus saying Lazarus arise who immediatly arose the word of his mouth carried life into it and with it So it saith Fear not and immediately it takes away all feare from the spirit of that man he speaks inwardly unto other men may speak and speak their hearts out and never the better but when God calls upon you not to be afraid he is present in his Ordinances meerly for his owne sake to hold out this undauntednesse of spirit to you it is now with you if you imbrace it it is at your dores he wil make you of a strong and undaunted spirit he shal strengthen you as that Leviathan the Lord speakes of in the 41. of Job which esteemed Iron as straw and brasse as rotten wood because his scales were so strong know this that Believers are the Leviathans of God hee will so steel their spirits that they shall cut Iron as straw and Brasse as rotten wood The Lord is able to put such a spirit into you and he will make good his promise wherein he hath ingaged himselfe that his strength shall be made perfect in weaknesse therefore though you have said My strength faileth me 〈◊〉 yet the Lord shall be the strength of your hea●ts and your portion for ever thus you shall give that to the Lord that fearfull men rob him of that is the glory of his power of his faithfulnesse of the freenes and riches of his grace and care of his peoples welfare and Christ of his sufficiency wherein he hath promised plentifully to supply you with all spirituall strength and vigor that you shall run and not be weary that you shall walk and not be faint In a word there are a few civill respects that I will mention as motives against this fear I will but touch them First know fear especially dismayednesse puts a man besides his wits that while he is in such a passion he is to seek for common wayes of safety so that whereas men thinke that fear will h●lpe them to avoid danger commonly in amazednesse you shall have people stand still not able to stir or slip aside to save themselves Besides this fear is such a rack and torment that commonly those evills so much feared prove not so hurtfull nor evill to a person as the present fears and besides this feare many times it doth not only daunt the spirit of a man in himself but proves very dangerous to others you already have had sufficient experience not long since of the evill and mischiese this fear had like to have occasioned in the Army a thousand to one it was that the fear of some had not made all the rest to flye and it was a miracle of mercy that there should be so great a feare in the Army and the Army yet stand so to it feare at such a time is of a wonderfull spreading and dangerous nature fearfulnesse in one kindles fearfulnesse in many and so not only mens persons but also the Cause it selfe is hazarded but these are but low things in respect of the prejudice God himselfe sustains in the feare of men therefore for your encouragement consider what the Lord hath in store for you nothing he hath nothing he is or can give doth he think too good for you but he is willing to part with it to make you happy he parts not with his goods but with his Son for you nay beloved he parts with that which is more if any thing can be more then his Son that is himselfe Will you now deprive your selves of the sweet enjoyment of all these by your base and unbelieving and fearfull hearts Nay rather let us freely receive let us thankfully acknowledge and confidently rest upon our Fathers abundant mercy expressed in so many blessings but especially in the gift of his only Son given unto us that we might serve him without feare in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our life Luke 1.74 75. SERMON II. Isaiah 41. vers 10. Feare thou not for I am with thee be not dismayed for I am thy God I will strengthen thee yea I will help thee yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousnesse VPon the like occasion that

this discharge from sin goes all along under the notion of Grace and free Grace and pardon how can this be if it be meerly an act of justice for God to forgive sins This may easily be reconciled with a distinction discharge from sin in respect of us or what we can bring by way of recompence for the sin committed is meerly free Grace Wee can bring nothing at all Also in respect of Christ as he is allowed to stand in the room of us it is Grace too But thirdly Christ being allowed and admitted and the Lord having taken the full payment he could ask at the hands of Christ and acknowledging satisfaction upon such payment this act of Christ makes it an act of justice and right that God should forgive sins and therefore the Apostle in the first Chapter of this Epistle of John tells us That the blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God cleanseth us from all our sins And therefore he concludes that he is faithfull and just to forgive us our sins But I cannot insist upon what I have formerly delivered Now peradventure some though I confesse a little over-curious desire to understand how Christ being now in Heaven doth execute this office of Advocateship or in what sense he is said to plead the cause of his people I call it a curious querie because the Scriptures are very sparing in declaring the manner of Christs managing this office That he is an Advocate is cleer enough how he doth deale with God in the execution of it is more obscure Frequent mention is made indeed of Christs intercession in Heaven be ever liveth to make intercession for us as the Apostle testifieth he doth intercede for the Saints saith the holy Gost yet though this be so frequently mentioned and the comfort of Gods people much laid upon this n●●ely this intercession yet the Scriptures are very sparing what kind of intercession he makes whether he prays to his Father in heaven as he did upon earth or no The like I say o● this businesse of Advocateship Some few passages of Scripture there are that will give some ●int at least to have some glimmerings of the very manner of Christs Advocateship and the ex●cution of it In Heb. 11.4 there is something that wil give us some light B● faith saith the Apostle Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice then Cain whereby he received or obtained witnesse of God that he was righteous by which he being dead et speaketh that is by which sacrifice he being dead yet speaketh The sacrifices you know they were Christ in the Antitype for all the life of sacrifices from which persons obtain testimony of God that they are righteous is Christ himself And it is Christ in sacrifice that speaks even when the sacrifice it selfe is offered I conceive therefore beloved as sacrifices speak in respect of a prevailing power they have with God when he sits in judgement we are to conceive likewise of the Advocateship of Christ which i● nothing else but the speaking of Christ is in such a kinde managed after such a manner Christ speaks as sacrifice speaks for indeed Christ as Advocate pleads only as a sacrifice form an In the 12th Chapter of the same Epistle and the 14. verse you have another expression having a little more cleernesse in it We are come saith the Apostle to Mount Sion the City of the living God to an innumerable company of Angels and to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things then the blood of Abel Here you see whereas the Apostl in the former Chapter imports a voyce or a plea in the mouth of sacrifices in this Chapter and verse he speaks more plainly and puts a voyce or plea to that which is the life of sacrifices namely the blood of sprinkling the blood of Jesus Christ Wee are come unto the blood of sprinking And this blood is that which speaks better things then the blood of Abel You know that there was a strong plea in the blood of Abel which cryed from earth to heaven till it brought vengance upon the head of Cain The blood of Christ hath a stronger plea and hath a stronger cry and is for better purposes So that under favour for in this I shall not contend much so far as I can see the value and working and desert and preciousnesse of the bloodshed of Christ that is the plea that Christ makes as Advocate in heaven that when a Believer doth commit sin the efficacy of this blood-shed is fresh in the pretence of the Lord in the behalfe of that poore wretch that hath thus sinned I say the blood is present and the whole efficacy power and vertue of that blood is fresh in the thoughts of the Lord. And as it is thus effectuall and powerfull it procures the discharge and brings the discharge and acknowledgement of the Lord to his thoughts too if I may so speak whereby he is pacified towards them and pleased with them This is alwayes before him and present with him yea present before him when the sins that a Believer commits are present and the counterplea of the value of the blood of Christ overcomes the naturall plea of the sin it selfe But I will not dwell upon this but rather hasten to a second thing very considerable which is Whose cause it is that Christ doth plead with the Father or for whom the value and vertue of his blood doth plead I remember the Disciples when Christ spake generally concerning his betraving were very inquisitive Is it I saith one Is it I saith another I doubt not but in regard of the prevalency of the plea of the blood of Christ many persons present will fal upon this inquiry Is it I that he means is he my Advocate Am I his client to plead my cause I shall endeavour to make it cleer and to resolve it is the Apostle doth here propose it The plea that Christ puts up for the persons whose c●use he doth undertake are first all sorts of Believers whatsoever high or low rich or poor ●ay strong or weak Christ I say pleads their cause he is the Advocate of the weakest Believer i● the world Nay more he is the Advocate of the weakest Believer when he is the greatest sinner I mean when he falls foulely when he falls it may be through the weaknesse of his faith making him suspect that Christ will be silent in his cause in regard of such failings and sinfulnesse I say he is then as properly the Advocate of such a person a Believer who peradventure falls into some scandalous evill at that very time when this person that is a Believer falls thus Mark but the Apostle If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father he makes no exception neither in respect of persons nor in respect of sins If any man sin he doth not say if any man sin meerly of infirmity and common frailty but

is in a little Diamond How do men prize the dust of gold Despise not small things say not 't is a little book a ●ittle starre may light thee to Christ great bodies have most humours grosser volumes commonly are thickned with too much earth If thou ask what is in this I answer as the voyce once spake to Austin Tolle Lege or as Philip to Nathaniel Come and see If I should say all that I know of the Author some that know me would say that I flatter him because of my relation to him in his life though I know there 's little to be gotten by dead mens favour But this I shall bee bold to affirm there 's no Antinomianisme in the Title or Tract and from all vicious licentiousnesse of life and scandalous aspersions cast on his person by lying lips I stand upon mine owne experience and more than twelve yeers knowledge to vindicate him let the father of lies and all his brood come forth and make good their charge against him I fear not to appear in his cause yea if I should not open my mouth in his behalfe whose industry and integrity God and his Saints have so much approved and from whose labours and yoke-fellow I have reaped so much comfort if yet I should be silent I desire to be marked with a black coal Try him now and judge thou wilt find no poison in his hive no Serpent lurks under his leaves Tolle lege come and see whether Jesus of Nazareth be not here not sealed up in a Sepulchre guarded with a rude train to keep his Disciples from him as the High Priests use to do but thou shalt find him in his garden opening his fountaine blowing on his spices leading into his banqueting-house staying with flaggons comforting on every side thou shalt find more in this booke then I will promise only be perswaded to peruse it if thou lovest thy rest read it Here is newes of drye land footing for thy soul the Olive branch doth witnesse it feare not be not dismayed the waters are abated let not thy sloth make thee guilty of thy misery Will not the weather-beaten Marriner employ all his strength and oars to thrust into a quiet harbour Is any thing more desired by the chased Hart then the cooling streams How do men pursued by the enemie rejoyce in the shelter of a strong hold Can any thing be more welcome to a notorious offender justly condemned then a gracious pardon Is not God and his Righteousnesse all this and much more to a poor creature in such conditions Behold an Haven a Brooke a Tower a Pardon a full a free Pardon a Ransome for thy soule the righteousnesse of God breaking through the sides the hands the heart of Christ to make way to thee to revive thy ding drooping bleeding heart Incline thine ear hearken for the time to come hear and thy soul shall live forsake not thine owne mercies to observe lying vanities leane not to the reeds of Egypt when thou hast the rod of Gods strength put into thy hand Shal there be a price in the hand and no heart to it It may be thy feet have not yet stumbled though thou hast walked on the hils of earth the Mountains of the world the high Mountains of the flesh thy way hath beene smooth and easie so is the wilde Asse's till her moneth overtake her thy conscience perhaps hath fancied some shadow of peace by the dull glimmering of an earthly spark but they that walk in the light at last lye downe in sorrow Isaith 50.11 Be not proud therefore but give glory to God before he cause darknesse before he turn your light into the shadow of death make it grosse darknesse that darknesse that might be felt was not the least of the Egyptian plagues What greater torment then the conscience once sensible of being destitute of the light of life The Authors aim is to lead thee into Goshen to guide thy feet into the way of peace follow him walke in the steps of the faith of our Father Abraham that faith o● which circumcision was no cause nor evidenc● to himself for he had it and he knew he had it before he was circumcised by this faith he gave glory to God we give glory to the robe of Gods righteousnesse when we put none of our owne under it to make it sit uneasie nor weare any of our own upon it to obscure the full glory of it thou wilt finde this garment the best fashion and as wel held forth by this as by any man whost intentions were to cover all blemishes all sins to hide all deformity with it yet to shelter no lust nor sin under it I might launch out into his life and call in all his practice to prove it but till more need require I shall referre thee to Mr. R.L. in his preface to the first volume and to the present triall of his doctrine Let a Christian heart moderate a critical eye find fault who can The God that once breathed the rich knowledg of himself through the frail organs of this earthen vessel into the eares of those that heard him now dart a greater glory of his righteousnesse and grace into the eyes of all their understandings that shall read him I know I can adde no worth to this work 't is of divine value it hath the stamp of heaven the Image of God is on it the Author is gone home and yet living with the Lord though some think the Saints dye and like the wicked leave a stink behind them I deny not the mortality of any nor need I hang thi● mans hearse with odoriferous Encomiums yet hee that visits his friend though never 〈◊〉 godly in the grave had need take a little Frankincense in his hand if hee be buried amon● men all the aire in the world is so contagiously infected with the stinking breath of th● living that you cannot come neer the dea● without a bundle of myrrhe Malice and mad●nesse like a Gangrena stands at the tombe antent of every blessed soul crying Noli me ta●gere Of all men one would have thought 〈◊〉 sweet a man as Christ had needed no spices 〈◊〉 his Sepulchre for hee did no evill and he sa● no corruption Yet Joseph would not inten● his body without sweet odors though M● had bestowed a whole boxe of precious oynment on his feet in his life time but a little before his buriall Let the Saints walke never wisely warily circumspectly let them kee● their feet as clean as sweet as they can they h●● need have their winding sheet and coffin p●●fumed I say not with the Parasiticall smo● of a perfumed Oration but with a just vi●●cation of their innocency as occasion shall ●●quire But I hope there will be need of no ●●gagement from me this way in the Authors 〈◊〉 hal●● for his two last Sermons in this volu● are a cleer vindication of him from those co●mon ●spersions laid upon

Christ doth maintain and plead First I say of all Believers he calls them little children as well as strong men even the cause of little children even when they have sinned without limitation of this sin they shall commit For he doth expresse himself in generall terms it is the cause of those that do sin If any man sin Secondly the cause not only of present Believers but also the cause of all the Elect Believers or unbelievers if they be elected It is true they shall believe in time but yet I say Christ is an Advocate of them while unbelievers if they be elected There is not a sin in the world but as it is damnable in its own nature in the rigour of justice so it doth not allow of any forbearance it is only Christ that makes the forbearance evun untill they are called Then we came to consider how Christ our Advocate is qualified to manage this office with that efficaciousness and successe to the comfort of those whose cause he doth maintain The qualifications of Christ are expressed in three things in the Text. First for the title he is anointed to be an Advocate he hath a lawfull call to the Bar nay he is priviledged there is none to plead but himself Secondly it is Christ anointed that is gifted and made an able Minister in the 42. of Isaiah and the beginning of the Chapter in the 1. v. the Lord tells us how he shall not be dismayed he will hold him up and saith the Text There the Isles shall wait for his Law we must understand it two wayes The Isles shall wait for his Law that is the Isles shall now be directed and guided by him as their Law-giver or we may understand it thus he shall be so good a Lawyer that the Isles shall waite for his Law as much as to say If a man have a cause to be tried he heares of a good Counsell and a Lawyer very expert in the Law such a man waits for such a mans Law he waits for the Law out of his mouth he hopes he will plead his cause so well that it shal go well with him God makes Christ so good a Lawyer that when he comes to plead his Law he shall carry the sentence on his clients 〈◊〉 Secondly he is Jesus 〈◊〉 the Text and in that is imported 〈…〉 equalification of Christ to exercise his ●ffice of Advocateship Jesus as much as a Saviour and it shews the efficacie of his ple● he pleads the cause of his clients so strongly that he sayes Thirdly the qualifications of Christ unto his Advocateship s●mported in the third title he is Jesus Christ the righteous saith the Text He is Jesus Christ the righteous in a double sense and in both of them is declared the excellent qualifications of Christ to Advocate for us First he is Jesus Christ the righteous that is the raithfull a Con●sellor that will deal truly with his client A Counsell that will deal uprightly a Cou●e● that will not fall Secondly this Advocate is Jesus Christ the righteous 〈◊〉 Christ who hath such a righteousness● as ●●at the whole strength of his plea the force ●f his Argumen● that he doth ●●●e in his 〈…〉 together in his righteousnesse The 〈◊〉 expression imports what Christ himse●● is this imports what his Argument is I say the only argument that hath the carrying power to leade the cause to state the conclusion for the client the only force of the argument lies in the righteousnesse of Christ this is that 〈…〉 is that 〈…〉 this is that which makes 〈…〉 thing with God to so give and to 〈…〉 I say his righteousnes this is 〈…〉 which the whole 〈…〉 which all our 〈…〉 that keeps us from 〈…〉 nothing else could be 〈…〉 of all things in the world 〈…〉 be more searched into and 〈…〉 then this one truth nam●ly that it is the righteousnesse of Christ that prevailes in plea with God for a person that d●th sin and this righteousnesse of Christ only I shall therefore endeavour for the cleering up of this thing that the strength of Christs 〈…〉 God doth lie in his righteousnesse Here 〈◊〉 I shall endeavour to shew you First evidently on● of Scripture that it is this righteousnesse of his and only this righteousnesse of his that prevails with God for the discharge of a member of Christ when he doth sin Secondly we shall consider what this righteousness is that doth so pr●vail with him First I say the Scripture or rather the Holy Ghost in the word of Grace holds forth this truth frequently unto us that all the strength of the plea with God and consequently all the ground of solid comfort unto us doth wholy depend upon the righteousnes of Christ and nothing else Look into Psal 50.5 6. verses for David even in his time was marvellous cleer in this truth Gather my Saints saith the Lord in that Psalm such as have made a covenant with me by sacrifice and the heavens shall declare his righteousnesse Gather them together that is bring them to judgement such as have made a covenant with me by sacrifice and then when they stand in Judgement The heavens shall declare his righteousnesse The Text doth not say the heavens shall declare my righteousnesse though that also is a truth that the heavens do declare both Gods and Christs righteousnesse Gods in passing sentence of absolution Christs pleading so for this sentence that God in justice cannot but passe the sentence The heavens shall declare his righteousnes saith the Text. Either understand it thus the righteousnesse that shall be pleaded is the righteousness that comes down from heaven of which wee shall speak more hereafter or thus the righteousnesse which Christ shall plead shall be so cleer and evident in the prevalency of it that the Sun in the Firmament the Sun in Heaven hath not a cleerer brightnesse in it then this righteousnesse shall have to cleer up the business Gather my Saints together that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice saith the Text. What sacrifice will you say or what is there in sacrifice that the Lord should be in covenant with his people Look into the 51. Psalme and verse 19. you shall there see what there is in sacrifice that makes a covenant between God and his people Then shalt thou be pleased saith David with the sacrifice of righteousnesse righteousnesse in the sacrifice is that which doth procure a pleasedness in God unto those persons unto whom sacrifice doth belong or for whose use sacrifice doth serve I say righteousnesse in the sacrifice not an inherent righteousnesse in the typicall sacrifice it self For saith the Apostle it is impossible that the blood of Buls and Goats should take away sin But there is a righteousnesse that is declared from Heaven and annexed to the sacrifice the righteousness of Christ this is that which puts an end to the quarrel this is that which makes an agreement between those that are at