Selected quad for the lemma: kingdom_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
kingdom_n	heaven_n	pharisee_n	righteousness_n	3,174	5	7.8827	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93343	Symptomes of growth & decay to godlinesse in LX. signs of a living and dying Christian. With the causes of decay, and remedies for recovery. / By Francis Smith.	Smith, Francis, fl. 1657-1689.	1660 (1660)	Wing S4030; Thomason E2114_2; ESTC R212664	107,653	255

with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdome of Heaven but the Children of the Kingdome shall be cast out into utter darkness May we not tremble to read this text with self-reflection that from the East and West such as in all probability never had the Tyth of that means we have had neither heard nor seen what we have heard and seen yet to their measure had walked so like what they had heard and what they had seen that they shall be counted worthy by the Lord to sit with Abraham and Isaac in the Kingdome and the Children of the Kingdom cast out namely such as had his Name and Ordinances among them making visible show of his Religion and promised themselves lack of nothing because they would cry Lord Lord and were great nominal Christians pleasing themselves in giving Christ good words and thinks none shall be saved so soon as they they being beset with such salvation priviledges Mat. 7. 22 23. Many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophecied in thy Name and cast out Devils Then will I say Depart from me ye workers of iniquity I never knew you Let none therefore trust in lying words which cannot profit saying the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord are these that ye throughly amend your wayes and your doings then will I cause you to dwell safely Jer. 7. beginning But alas how few lay to heart the great good Salvation and deliverance from the great hurt Damnation eying with all trembling the road way in which God will both give the one and with-hold the other surely surely this carnal security the souls damning sin would never so possess persons rocking them asleep did they but with all diligence consider that security of all kinds about hereafter Glory without these marks of hearty designing and actual endeavouring the new creatures life in the measure called for as attainable and to be attained in the Scripture of truth nothing being more evident then that such make it their whole business to be conversant about those soul-searching texts that speak out salvation by Christ Jesus upon no less terms than hearty designing with actual endeavouring to live like Christ Jesus in Scripture conformity to his will I shall beg of God there may be by them that read this these five following Scriptures duly weighed which with the help of his grace may serve as a deliverance or tend to the rouzing up of the soul from this damning sin of carnal security The first is Rom. 8. 10. And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life or alive because of or unto righteousness 2 Cor. 5. 17. Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things are past away behold all things are become new Gal. 5. 24. And they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts 1 John 2. 6. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself so to walk even as he walked Chap. 3. 3. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure Doth not these great Scriptures with one mouth tell you the high road way to hereafter Glory and prohibit any man from daring to promise himself the same upon any other terms or in any or her way wherefore my brethren seeing that ye or if you look for such things be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless 2 Pet. 3. 14. Secondly A second Cause of persons being so senseless is Contentment with out-side Christianity that is frequent in the performance of those Services that relate to the Worship of God but the thing designed by God to be reached after and obtained is not pursuied It is evident both from Scripture and Experience that persons have been and are frequent in hearing Sermons in Prayer in Reading in Fasting and such like performances yet they remain very carnal and unmortified Now Gods gracious End in giving such spiritual priviledges to persons being by him designed to beget them to his spiritual likeness and his End not brought about must needs argue such not or little further than out-side performances contenting themselves with their Services so done that leaves three parts of four yet to do for what pleasure can God take in those that after long standing under the opportunities of getting both inward and outward excellency in that that makes Christianity honourable while they still remain as fruitless as the Figg-Tree having a great show at distance and nothing but leaves at hand Doth not Jesus Christ in so many words except against such as not rightly qualified for his Kingdome Mat. 5. 20. But I say to you except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdome of Heaven Their righteousness will not do and yet they are known to be a People much in prayer Fasting and giving Alms which are in themselves good things and yet they not accepted of God but for all this his Woes goeth out against them May it not be feared that hundreds in our dayes content themselves with scarce going thus far in outward acts yet retain a strong opinion that all shall be well with them hereafter as though such confidence of being saved as they that act it are content with would content God but let not such deceive themselves and they may find that confidence about hereafter safety not being acted by penitent subjects whose hearts can witness a through change will return to themselves back again charged with presumption notwithstanding all their outward performances And it is most sure as hath been premised in the last Sign that the holy Spirit bears not witness with such spirits that they are Gods Children that because while they remain thus content with out-side Christianity Reformation reacheth not the heart and then is a wanting that awful reverence of God and of Christ within that commands without the tongue so to talk the eyes so to look the hands so to act the feet so to walk in the likeness of God as to be truly deemed his workmanship Ye are our Epistle written in our hearts known and read of all men forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the Epistle of Christ But we shall leave this to consideration and pass to the third and last Head Thirdly Persons are so senseless of their spiritual estate by not being conversant about things to come Now things to come are reduceable in special to these four heads Death Judgment Salvation Damnation all which are matters not of show but of certainty and may be called the four last things which every man ought to make his four first things that he furnisheth his heart withal because indeed they are Religions great cause and bounds Heavens great Argument to call us to duty our great Argument to submit to Heavens

this Service for us with no less price than his precious blood the smalness of our desert to procure this together with the high priviledges it signifies us heirs unto Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on as that we should be called or accounted the Sons of God who was before without Christ c. But now made nigh through the blood of Christ How should this provoke our fervent love to him to be crying out with the Spouse in the Canticles My beloved is fair and ruddy the chiefest among ten thousand Certainly my friends were our hearts truly spiritual we could not chuse but see singular desert in Jesus Christ calling for the greatest of our love in a holy affection to the in joying of him and making us prefer our communion with him in this service before all things that in this world may challenge our dearest respect It must needs therefore follow that want of love makes way for small offences to keep us from Christs Table I shall leave this to consideration and pass to the Seventh Sign of a dying Christian CHAP. VII Shewing the great decay to Christianity when mindless to Prayer with a plain discovery of the Necessity Excellency Le ts and Helps to Prayer in sixteen particulars SIGN VII VVHen you have no great mind to Prayer When a Christian is mindless of this bosome blessed intimate service of Prayer which is a drawing nigh to and talking with the great Lord God Almighty here is then ground enough to conclude his state and his decay very great Now in Prayer there is considerable First The Necessity of Prayer Secondly The Excellency of Prayer Thirdly Le ts to Prayer Fourthly Helps to Prayer First The necessity of Prayer appears from the command of God 1 Thes 5. 7. Pray without ceasing Col. 4. 21. Continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving 1 Phil. 4. 6. Be careful for nothing but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God Secondly It appears from example 1 Sam. 12. 23. God forbid that I should sin in ceasing to pray for you Psal 55. 27. Evening and morning and at noon will I pray Dan. 6. 10. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was sign'd he went into his house and kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did at other times Thirdly The Necessity appears from the importunity that goeth along with prayer Luke 22. 44. And being in an Agony he prayed more earnestly Luke 6. 12. And it came to pass in those dayes that he went into a mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God Acts 12. 5. Peter therefore was kept in Prison but prayer was made without ceasing of the Church to God for him Luke 11. 8 9. I say to you though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth Secondly The Excellency of Prayer appears in this First It ingageth Gods strength Secondly It holds with holy reverence Gods hands Thirdly In no condition we can be barred from it For the first Exod. 17. 11. And it came to pass when Moses held up his hands Israel prevailed and when he let down his hands the Amalekites prevailed Josh 10. 12 13 14. Then spake Joshua or prayed to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the Children of Israel and he said in the sight of Israel Sun stand thou still upon Gibeon and thou Moon upon the Valley of Jaalon and the Sun stood still and the Moon stayed until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies and there was no day like that before it or after it that the Lord hearkned to the prayer of a man for the Lord fought for Israel Secondly Prayers Excellency appears in this it holds with holy reverence Gods hands Exod. 32. 9 10 11 12. And the Lord said to Moses I have seen this people and behold it is a stiff-necked people Now therefore let me alone that I may destroy them and I will make of thee a great Nation And Moses besought the Lord saying Lord why doth thy wrath wax hot turn I pray thee and repent of this evil against them Numb 14. 11 22. And the Lord said to Moses how long will this people provoke me and how long will it be ere they believe me now therefore let me alone that I may destroy them Thirdly Prayers Excellency appears in that in no condition we can be barred from it Daniel in the Lyons Den Chap. 6. Jonah in the Whales Belly Chap. 1. 2. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God out of the Fishes Belly and said I cryed by reason of my affliction unto the Lord and he heard me out of the belly of Hell cryed I and thou heardest my voyce so Paul and Silas in prison prayed and sang praises to God and the prisoners heard them Now we come to Le ts to prayer i. e. what hinders Prayer from prevailing with God First presumption in an unreverent adventuring before the Lord 2 Chron. 14. and 20. 33. c. For as yet the people had not prepared their heart unto the God of their Fathers therefore thus will I do unto thee O Israel and because I will do this unto thee prepare to meet thy God O Israel Amos 4. 12. A second Let or hinderence to Prayer is wandering thoughts Jer. 4. 14. O Jerusalem wash thine heart from wickedness that thou maist be saved how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee Therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewith shall we be cloathed but seek ye first the Kingdome of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you Mat. 6. 32 33. The third Let to Prayer is bosome sin or pleasant delight in some secret lust Psal 66. 8. If I regard iniquity in my heart God will not hear me Josh 7. 8 9 10 11. The Lord saith to Joshua get thee up wherefore lyest thou thus upon thy face Israel hath sinned they have also transgressed my covenant which I have commanded them for they have taken of the accursed thing and have also stolen and dissembled and they have put it also among their own stuff therefore they could not stand before their Enemies but turned their backs This good man Joshua in Chap. 10. 12. at another time is so prevalent at Prayer that the Sun and Moon stands still yet now in his seventh Chapter because there is some bosome sin in the Camp he cannot prevail till this is removed A fourth Let is want of reconciliation to brethren Mat. 23. 23 24. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee leave there thy gift before the Altar and first go and be