Selected quad for the lemma: judgement_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
judgement_n	body_n	lord_n	soul_n	2,562	5	4.9092	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29694	A heavenly cordial for all those servants of the Lord that have had the plague ... , or, Thirteen divine maximes, or conclusions, in respect of the pestilence which may be as so many supports, comforts and refreshing springs, both to the visited and preserved people of God in this present day : also ten arguments to prove that in times of common calamity the people of God do stand upon the advantage ground as to their outward preservation and protection ... : also eight reasons why some of the precious servants of the Lord have fallen by the pestilence in this day of the Lords anger / by Thomas Brooks.	Brooks, Thomas, 1608-1680.	1666 (1666)	Wing B4948; ESTC R29135	31,420	88

comes to pass that allthings seem to run cross and that Gods most just and righteous proceedings are not so clearly and fully discerned as otherwise they might be The wheels in a Watch or in a Clock move contrary one to another some one way some another yet all shew the skill and intent of the workman to shew the time or to make the Clock to strike so in this world divine providences seem to run cross to divine promises the wicked are spared and the righteous are taken away yet in the conclusion all issues in the will purpose and glory of God Eighthly and lastly God hath taken several of his own dear children away by the pestilence to wipe off that reproach which Atheists and wicked men are apt to cast upon the Lord as if he were partial and his wayes not equal God to stop the mouth of iniquity Ezek. 18. 25 29. the mouth of blasphemy hath taken away several of his dear servants by the raging pestilence when the Psal 73. 5. 2 Pet. 2. 9. Job 24. 12. Psal 50. 21. wicked walk on every side yea when hell seems to be broke loose and men turn'd into incarnate devils and all because they have not been plagued as other men nor visited as God hath visited some of his dearest children Sometimes Gods manner is to begin with his own people 1 Pet. 4. 17. Judgement must begin at the house of God and the Lord commands his destroying Angel to begin at his Sanctuary Ezek. 9. 6. Sometimes when God intends to bring a common and general destruction upon the enemies oppressors haters and persecuters of his people he is wont first to scourge his own till the blood comes I took the cup at the Lords hands he means the cup of Gods fury Jer. 25. 17. and made all the Nations to drink that is prophesied that they should certainly drink of it unto whom the Lord had sent me But who were to drink first of this cup Mark he tells us verse 18. Jerusalem and the Cities of Judah and the Kings thereof and the Princes thereof These were to begin in this cup to Egypt and the Philistims to Edom and Moab and the Ammonites as he shews in the verses following Now all these were bitter and implacable enemies to the Israel of God Ah sinners sinners do not insult over the poor people of God because here and there the hand of the Lord hath touched them and God hath given the cup into their hands for if God be God the cup must go round and he will make good that word Isa 5. 22 23. Thus saith thy Lord the Lord See verse 17. and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people behold I have taken out of thy hand the cup of trembling even the dregs of the cup of my fury thou shalt no more drink it again but I will put it into the hands of them that afflict thee which have said to thy soul bow down that we may go over and thou hast laid thy body as the ground and as the street to them that went over And that word Jer. 49. 12. For thus saith the Lord behold they meaning his own peculiar people whose judgement was not to drink of the cup that is the cup of my wrath have assuredly drunken and art thou he that shalt altogether go unpunished thou shalt not go unpunished but thou shalt surely drink of it or drinking drink as the Hebrew runs I have not spared my own dear people saith God who might have expected this favour at my hands before any people under heaven upon the account of my relation to them my affections for them and my Covenant with them all and do you think that I will spare you No drinking you shall drink that is you shall certainly drink of this cup of my wrath and you shall signally and visibly drink of this cup of my wrath And that word Isa 49. 25 26. But thus saith the Lord even the Captains of the mighty shall be taken away and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee and I will save thy children and I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh and they shall be drunken with their own blood as with sweet wine and all flesh shall know that I the Lord is thy Saviour and thy Redeemer the mighty one of Jacob. Oh that those men would lay these Scriptures to heart who rejoyce and glory in the sufferings of the poor people of God and because some of them have fallen by the hand of the destroying Angel considering that the design of God herein is to stop the mouth of iniquity and that none may say that he is either partial or fond Such men that have been eye-witnesses of Gods impartial dealing with his own people in this day of his wrath should rather be down in the mouth than up in their spirits they should rather be silent than raving against the people of the Lord they should rather tremble than rejoyce for if God deal thus with his green-trees how will he deal Luke 23. 31. The Hebrews call good men green-wood and bad men dry-wood with the dry when God cuts down his best timber will he not either grub up or burn up the old stumps surely he will If judgement begin at the house of God where shall the sinner and the ungodly appear 1 Pet. 4. 17 18. If God deal thus with his best friends how will he deal with his enemies If God deal thus with his dearest children servants and slaves have cause to tremble And thus much for the reasons why some of Gods dearest children have fallen by the pestilence in this day of the Lords anger The Tenth Divine Maxime or Conclusion is this Viz. That such saints as do fall by the sword or by the pestilence they receive no loss no wrong no injury by these sad dispensations they gain much but they lose nothing for by these sad providences they are but hastened to heaven to their fathers house to their eternal homes and to those blessed mansions John 14. 1 2 3 4. that Christ hath prepared for them Elijah went to heaven in a fiery 2 Kings 2. 11 12. Chariot and many thousand of the Martyrs went to heaven in fiery Chariots and in bloody Chariots and doubtless many worthies in this day are gone to heaven in a pestilen tial Chariot as in a Chair of State Heaven is a place of so much pleasure and delight that they are happy that can 1 Cor. 9. 25. 2 Tim. 4. 8. James 1. 12. 1 Pet. 5. 4. Rev. 2. 10. Nec Christus nec Coelum patitur hyberbolem Neither Christ nor Heaven can be hyperbolized get thither any how There is laid up in heaven an Incorruptible Crown a Crown of Life a Crown of Righteousness a Crown of Immortality a Crown of Glory and who would not shoot any gulf to come

us and quiet us how should this cool us and calm us how should this satisfie us and silence us before the Lord and cause us to lay our hands upon our mouths as David did Psal 39. 9. and as Aaron did Lev. 10. 1 2 3. and as Ely did 1 Sam. 3. 18. and as the Church did Lament 3. 26 27 28 29. Solinus writeth of Hypanis a Scythian Cap. 20. River that the water thereof is very bitter as it passeth thorow Exampius yet very sweet in the spring So the cup of trembling which is this day offered to the children of God is often very bitter at the second hand or as it appears in second causes and yet it is sweet at the first hand yea it is very sweet as it is reacht to them by a hand from heaven and therefore they may well say as their Head and Husband hath done before them Shall we not drink of the Cup that our Father hath given us to drink of c. The Second Divine Maxime or Conclusion is this Viz. The Pestilence and all other Judgements of God are limited as to places Hence it comes to pass that God shoots his arrows of Pestilence into one City and not into another into one Town and not into another into one Family and not into another into one Kingdome and Countrey and not into another Exod. 8. 20 21 22 23. and Exod. 9. 22 23 24 25 26. 2 Sam. 24. 15. Turn to all these Scriptures and ponder upon them The Third Divine Maxime or Conclusion is this Viz. All the Judgements of God are limited not onely to places but also to persons And therefore such and such must fall when such and such must escape and such and such must be infected when such and such are preserved Hence 't is that one is taken in the Bed and the other left one smitten at the Table or in the House and all the rest preserved in perfect health c. God hath numbred so many to the sword and so many to the famine and so many to the pestilence so many to this disease and so many to that 2 Sam. 24. 15 16. Ezek. 11. 5 6 7. Ezek. 5. 12. Ezek. 6. 11 12. Exod. 12. 13. Psal 91. from vers 3. to v. 9. Isa 65. 12. Jer. 15. 2. Ezek. 33. 27. Turn to all these Scriptures and ponder upon them God marks out those persons that he intends to shoot the arrow of pestilence amongst God never shoots at rovers he never draws his bow at a venture but he singles out the persons that he purposes to hit and his arrows flie swiftly and suddenly yet they hit none but those that God hath set up as a mark to shoot at as Job speaks The Fourth Divine Maxime or Conclusion is this Viz. No man knows divine love or hatred by outward dispensations Eccl. 9. 1 2. Luke 13. 4 16. Lam. 4. 6. Dan. 9. 12. Psal 73. 12 13 14 15 21 22. In time of great judgements God sometimes spares those whom his soul hates and abhors Isa 1. 5. Hos 4. 14 17. God sometimes preserves wicked men from great judgements that they may fall by greater judgements as you may see in Sodom and her sisters which were preserved from the slaughter of the four Kings that God might rain down Hell out of Heaven upon them And so Sennacherib escapes the stroke of the destroying Angel that he might fall by the sword of his own sons Isa 37. 37 38. And as in times of great judgements God sometimes spares those sinners that his soul hates so in times of great judgements God takes away those whom his soul dearly loves 2 Cor. 34. 27 28. Turn to it In all the considerable plagues that have been in this Nation how many precious Christians have fallen by the sword and by the hand of the destroying Angel when many thousands of Balaks and Balaams I mean the worst of men have escaped the sword the plague c. And is there any thing more obvious and notorious this day than this surely not The Fifth Divine Maxime or Conclusion is this Viz. The Lord sometimes takes away his dearest people by some one judgement that so he may by that means deliver them from many judgements and sometimes he takes away his people by one great judgement that so they may escape many other greater judgements that he intends to bring upon the Earth And thus good Josiah was slain in battel yet because he lived not to see the woful miseries of succeeding times he is said to go to his grave in peace 2 Chron. 34. 27 28. Turn to it Henoch lived long in a little time and God took him to heaven before he brought a sweeping Flood upon the world but he fore seeing the Flood named his son Methuselah that is to say He dyeth and the dart or flood cometh and so it fell out for no sooner was his head laid but in came the Flood And so Augustine was taken out of the world before Hyppo was taken by the Vandals And so Paraus was gotten to his better Countrey before Heidelbergh and the Palatinate was delivered into the power of the enemies Ambrose is said to have been the Walls of Italy and when he died the Earl Stilico said That his death did threaten destruction to that Countrey And when Luther was laid in his grave then troubles wars desolations and confusions came in upon Germany like a flood The righteous are taken away Isa 57. 1. from the evil to come and their death is a sad presage of sore and signal calamities that are hastening upon the world Of late many precious servants of Christ are fallen asleep but who knows what a day of wrath is coming When a man cuts down his chiefest timber-trees it is an argument that he intends to part with his land and how many tall Cedars in this our Lebanon hath God lately cut down in the midst of us Therefore we have eminent cause to be importunate with God that he would neither part with this Nation nor depart from this Nation When some fatal judgement hovers like a flying fiery scrole over a Nation God many times gathers many of his choice servants unto himself that he may preserve them from the evil to come The Sixth Divine Maxime or Conclusion is this Viz. None of Gods judgements upon his people ever make any change or alteration of Gods affections towards his people However his hand may be against them yet his love his heart his favour his affections in Jesus is still one and the same to them Isa 54. 7 8 9 10. Isa 49. 14 15 16. Psal 89. 31 32 33 34. Jer. 31. 3● 35 36 37. compared Malach. 3. 6. John 13. 3. James 1. 17. Ponder seriously upon all these Scriptures So when God sent the plague upon Davids people and that for Davids sin too yet how sweetly how lovingly how tenderly how compassionately how indulgently doth the Lord carry it towards David himself 2

Sam. 24. 11 12 13 18 19 25. compared And some learned men are of opinion that Lazarus died of the Plague and yet the Text tells us that he was carried by Angels into Abrahams bosome Oecolampadius and many other worthies also died of it When Munster lay sick and his friends asked him how he did and how he felt himself he pointed to his sores and ulcers whereof he was full and said These are Gods Gems and Jewels wherewith he docketh his best friends and to me they are more precious than all the gold and silver in the world Gods dear love to his people is not founded upon any thing in his people nor upon any thing that is done by his people but only upon his own free grace and goodness Deut. 7. 7 8. The Ethnicks feign that their Gods and Goddesses loved certain Trees for some lovely good that was in them as Jupiter the Oak for durance Neptune the Cedar for stature Apollo the Lawrel for greenness Venus the Poplar for whiteness Pallas the Vine for fruitfulness But what should move the God of Gods and the Lord of Lords to love us who are poor worthless fruitless Trees Ezek. 16. twice dead and pluckt up by the roots This question is best resolved in three words Amat quia amat he loves us because he loves us The root of his love to us lieth in himself and by his communicative goodness the fruit is ours Gods love to his people is a Jer. 31. 3. 35 36 37. lasting love yea an everlasting love 't is a love that never decayes nor waxes cold 't is like the stone Albestos of which Solinus writes that being once hot it can never be cooled again The Seventh Divine Maxime or Conclusion is this viz. Many times when the poor people of God cannot carry it with God for the preservation of a whole Land or Nation yet they shall then be sure to have the honour and the happiness to be so potent and so prevalent with God as to prevail with him for their own personal preservation and protection Jer. 15. 1. Ezek. 14. 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 compared So Ezek. 9. 4 6. The Eighth Divine Maxime or Conclusion is this viz. Sword Famine and Pestilence can only reach our outward man they only reach our bodies and our bodily concernments they cannot reach our souls nor our internal nor our eternal concernments No outward Judgments can reach the favour of God or the light of his countenance or our communion with him or our spiritual enjoyments of him or the joyes of the Spirit or the teachings of the Spirit or the leadings of the Spirit or the earnest of the Spirit or the witness of the Spirit or the sealings of the Spirit or the quick enings of the Spirit or that peace that passeth understanding or our secret trade with Heaven The Ninth Divine Maxime or Conclusion is this viz. There are no people upon the earth that in times of common calamity stand upon such fair grounds for their preservation and protection as the people of God do And this I shall make evident by an induction of Ten particulars First They are the only people in all the World that are under divine Promises of protection and preservation Exod. 15. 26. Job 5. 20 21. Isa 4. 5 6. Isa 8. 13 14. Isa 26. 20 21. Isa 31. 5. Isa 32. 1 2. Psal 91. throughout Turn to these sweet promises and remember that there are no men on earth that can or may lay their hands on these precious promises and say these promises are mine but only the godly man These Promises are Gods Bonds which the godly man may put in suit and urge God with and plead hard in prayer which no other men Sirtorious as Plutarch observes paid what he promised with fair words as Courtiers use to do but so doth not God Men often eat their words but God will never eat his hath he spoken and shall it not come to pass Josh 23. 14. Ezek 12. 25. Ch. 24. 14. may The Promises of God are a Christians Magna Charta his chief Evidences that he hath to shew for his preservation for his protection for his salvation Divine Promises are Gods deed of gift they are the only Assurance which the Saints have to shew for their right and Title to Christ to Heaven and to all the glory and happiness of another world O how highly do men prize their Charters and Priviledges and how carefully do they keep and lay up the Conveyances and Assurances of their Lands Oh how should Saints then treasure up those precious Promises which are to them instead of all Conveyances and Assurances for their preservation protection maintenance deliverance comfort and everlasting happiness The Promises are a Mine of rich treasuries they are a Garden full of the choycest and sweetest flowers of Paradise in them are wrapt up all celestial contentments and enjoyments and therefore study them more than ever and prize them more than ever and improve them more than ever Secondly If you consider their near and dear Relations to God They are his servants his friends his children his members his Spouse c. By all which 't is evident that they stand upon the advantage ground for preservation and protection above all others in the world Thirdly If you consider that high value and esteem and price that the Lord puts upon them He esteems them as the apple of his eye Zech. 2. 8. He accounts them as his Jewels Mal. 3. 17. He prizes them as his portion Deut. 32. 9. yea as his pleasant portion Jer. 12. 10. He accounts them his Crown yea his Crown of Glory and his Royal Diadem Isa 62. 3. Thou speaking of his Church shalt also be a Crown of Glory in the hand of the Lord and a Royal Diadem in the hand of thy God Yea he prizes one Saint above all the world Heb. 11. 38. By all which 't is most evident that they stand upon the advantage ground as to their preservation and protection above all other people in the world for God accounts all the world besides to be but as dirt as dust as chaff as thorns and bryars that are only fit to be cast into the fire to be consumed and destroy'd When Pearls grew common at Rome they began to be slighted But Saints are such Pearls of price that God will never slight Fourthly If you consider that they are the only people in the world that are in Covenant with God Psal 89. 30 31 32 33 34. Jer. 32. 38 39 40. Ezek. 20. 37. Deut. 29. 12. Jer. 31. 31 32 33 34. Heb. 8. 6 7 8 9 10 11 12. Some do derive the word Berith which signifies the Covenant from a Root which signifies to purifie to separate and to select And verily when the Lord makes a Covenant with any he doth separate them from others he honours them above all others and he looks on them and owns them for his