Selected quad for the lemma: kingdom_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
kingdom_n	people_n	power_n	see_v	1,799	5	3.3938	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A02739	A plaine and profitable exposition, of the parable of the sower and the seede wherein is plainly set forth, the difference of hearers, both good and bad. To which is added a learned answer to the Papists, in diuers points of controuersie betweene vs and them, the heads whereof are set downe in the pages following.; Difference of hearers: or an exposition of the parable of the sower	Harrison, William, d. 1625.	1625 (1625)	STC 12870.5; ESTC S113021	177,915	420

Peters preaching Did not the Iaylor beleeue by hearing of Paul Though all doe not beleeue who doe heare because some heare amisse yet is hearing Gods ordinance to beget faith Those then that desire faith must heare and receiue the worde Those that may heare and will not cannot beleeue Wofull is their case who heare not at all for whence can they haue faith if they heare not Feareful is their case who hear seldome they haue no faith or a weake faith But happie are they who heare often and well they beleeue and shall be saued 2. Another thing is to be obserued in respect of the Diuell namely what an enemie he is vnto faith for he takes away the word as it is entring into mens hearts lest they should beleeue This is the very cause why he is so busy in hindering the worde because hee would keepe men from faith And no maruell though he be a deadly enemie vnto faith he knowes that the word will not profite the hearers vnlesse it be mixed with faith He knowes that by faith we are iustified in Christ that by faith we obtaine remission of sinnes and euerlasting life Very loath he is that we should enioy these blessings and therfore will do what he can to hinder vs of faith which is the hand whereby we receiue them He knowes that without faith it is impossible to please God And that whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne Vnwilling he is that we should better please God then himself doth but gladly would he make all our actions sinfull like his He knoweth that faith is the shield whereby we quench all his fiery darts that it is the victory whereby wee ouercome the world one of his Champions And therefore wil seeke to keep this weapon out of our hands lest himselfe his champion be foiled therwith We may now say with the Apostle All men haue not faith And no maruell seeing the Diuell is a spightfull foe against it and will hinder as many from faith as possibly he can At the end of the world as Christ fore-told the son of man shall scarce find faith on the earth Let it not seeme strange for as at all other times so then especially will he keepe men backe from faith his wrath shall then be great because hee shall know his time is short Doe not therefore imagine that it is an easie thing to get faith and that thou canst beleeue when thou list thou canst not haue faith but in despight of the Diuell so long as he can hinder thee by any meanes thou shalt not beleeue The Lord must enable thee to frustrate his attempts and must bestow this gift on thee against his will otherwise thou canst neuer receiue it But the more he labours to keepe vs from faith the more earnestly should we labour to obteyne it the more he hateth it the better should we loue it If it were not a most excellent grace he would not hinder vs of it 2. The other end why hee taketh away the word is this Lest they should be saued Where also two other like things may be considered one in respect of the word and faith another in respect of the Diuell 1. In respect of faith and the word that they will bring men to saluation For whereas Christ saith the Diuell takes the word out of mens hearts lest they should beleue be saued he therby insinuateth that if the word enter into the heart do there abide worke faith in it the man shall be saued And so he shall indeed For the Gospell as Paul saith is the power of God vnto saluation to euery one that beleeueth to the Iew first and also to the Graecian And it pleased God by the foolishnes of preaching to saue them that beleeue And therefore the Evangelist saith These things are written that yee might beleeue and in beleeuing haue life through his Name The word bringeth vs to faith and faith to life euerlasting If we get the one we cannot fayle of the other Oh what an heauenly comfort is this to a beleeuing soule Cannot the Diuel by all his practises and pollicies hinder the worde from working faith in thy heart feare him not he cannot possibly hinder thee of eternall saluation in heauen Looke what assurance thou hast of thy present faith the same assurance mayst thou haue of the future saluation of thy soule If thou now beleeue thou shalt receiue the end of thy faith which is the saluation of thy soule But if Sathan so take the worde from thee that thou dost not beleeue neuer looke for saluation in heauen Onely he that beleeueth shall be saued 2. In respect of the Diuell hee is an vtter enemy to the saluation of mens soules he taketh away the word and hindereth them from faith that so hee may preuent their saluation This is the end of both the former The Diuell is enuious vnwilling he is that any of vs should enioy that glory in heauen which he hath lost As hee droue Adam and Eue out of the earthly Paradise so doth he what lyeth in him to keepe vs from the heauenly Paradise He goeth about like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may deuoure As the Ammonites Moabites Amalekites and many other heathen people would haue hindered the Israelites from entering into the land of Canaan So the Diuel all his Angels seeke to hinder vs from the Kingdome of heauen And as the Israelites subdued them before they could get possession So must wee through the mightie power of Christ subdue the Diuell before wee can enioy that most happy and glorious Kingdome Lastly to conclude all the poynts touching these hearers See what excellent things they lose who suffer the Diuell to take the worde out of their hearts They loose saith which is much more precious then gold as Saint Peter saith And hereafter they shall lose the saluation of their soules which is more worth then all the world For as CHRIST sayeth What aduantageth it a man to winne the whole world and lose his owne soule You may thinke it little danger to suffer the Diuell to take the worde out of your heartes And it may be some had rather haue it taken from them then the least parte of their worldly riches but know that it is a precious Iewell If you keepe it you retaine all grace and happinesse with it If you leaue it you lose all goodnes with it Oh then when you haue heard it make much of it and keepe it safely and be content rather to lose any thing yea all things that you haue then lose it If you did truely know and would duely consider the danger of this losse you would be more carefull to keepe the word and more afrayde of losing it You who haue Deedes of your Lands and Leases of your houses are very carefull to keepe them safely you will keepe them vnder locke and key and that

vnto cursing whose end is to be burned Are you as soyle sowne with the Lords seede and dressed by his Husbandmen and yet yeelde no fruite for his glory and for the comfort of those that take paines among you And will you expect a blessing from the LORD Those that be such may rather feare a curse Did not CHRIST curse the Figge Tree which bare leaues but no fruite if they still continue barren their case shall be worse then theirs of Sodome and Gomorrah for if the Sermons which haue beene preached among vs had beene preached in Sodome and Gomorrah they had repented long agoe in sack cloath and ashes but therefore shall it be easier for them of Sodom and Gomorrah at the day of Iudgement then for these disobedient people Take heede lest by your contempt of the word you lose it Christ taketh his Kingdome from them that be vnfruitfull and will giue it to a Nation which shall better bring forth the fruits thereof If you often sow a fielde with good corne and at haruest can reape no good croppe you will sow it no longer you will let it lie and sow some other And can you thinke that GOD will still continue his worde to you if after long sowing you will not yeeld any fruit It is a speciall fauour and mercie of God to haue the Gospell among vs. God hath not dealt so with euery Nation Happie are our eyes to see those things which we see and happie are our eares to heare those thinges which we heare Many righteous men would haue beene glad to haue seene and heard them and yet could not Let vs walke worthie of this blessing that it may bee continued to vs and to our posteritie Uerse 15. But that which fell in good ground are they which with an honest and good heart heare the word and keepe it YOV haue alreadie heard the exposition of three sorts of ground and what kinde of hearers were signififyed thereby Now see the exposition of the fourth and last kinde of ground And that was good ground in which the seede sowne sprang vp and brought forth fruit with great encrease Vnto this ground good and profitable hearers are compared As all the other groundes set forth to our view the nature and properties of bad hearers so this describeth the conditions of good hearers Before we come to the speciall properties of these hearers in particular we are to obserue one thing in generall and from the coherence to wit That although Christ had diuers sorts of hearers and nany of them were bad some one way some another way yet all of them were not bad some were good and profitable hearers all his seed was not lost some sell on good ground yeelded plentifull encrease Though the Scribes and Pharises and many of the common multitude were bad hearers yet the Apostles and many other Disciples were good hearers did keepe the word in their hearts and brought forth fruit in their liues And therfore he told the Iewes that whereas they neyther receiued Iohn nor him Iohn came neither eating nor drinking and they said he had a Diuell The Son of man came eating drinking and they sayd Behold a glutton and a drinker of wine a friend of publicans and sinners They woulde neither receiue the one for his austeritie nor the other for his affabilitie yet Wisedome is iustifyed of her children And hee gaue thanks vnto his father because that although he had hid these thinges from the wise and men of vnderstanding yet he had reuealed them vnto babes Though some of his hearers in Capernaum tooke offence at his doctrine of eating his flesh drinking king his blood and from that time went backe and walked with him no more Yet the Apostles would not forsake him but frely ackdowledged that they would neuer leaue him because he had the words of eternall life and they did beleue that he was the Christ the Sonne of the liuing God When he preached in the Temple at the Feast of the Tabernacles there was dissention among his hearers Some sayde Of a truth this is the Prophet Others sayd This is the Christ. Some sayde Shall Christ come out of Galilie Others said Neuer man spake like him At another time some that heard him saide hee had a Diuell and was mad and blamed men for hearing him any longer Others said These are not the wordes of one that hath a Diuell Can the Diuell open the eies of him that was borne blind Such diuersity of hearers had Christ his worde did not worke alike in all that hard it Some waxed worse some were made better by hearing of it The like effect was seene in Pauls hearers When he and Barnabas preached at Iconium a great multitude both of Iewes and Graecians beleeued though there were some vnbeleeuing Iewes that stirred vp and corrupted the mindes of the Gentiles against the brethren In that deuision of the Citie though some were with the Iewes yet some were with the Apostles And when he preached at Athens some mocked him for his doctrine of the Resurection some would heare him againe as if they were not fully resolued but desired to be further instructed yet certaine men did cleaue to Paul beleeued as Denys a Iudge of Mars Streete Damaris a woman and others with them And thus it pleaseth GOD still to blesse the Ministerie of his seruants Though they cannot conuert all yet they doe conuert some they doe not altogether lose their labour As there is no field so barren but if it be sowne some seede will come vp and yeeld encrease so is there no place or congregation so bad but if the truth be there sincerely taught it will in time winne some Though some continue obstinate and remaine as ignorant as Popish and as prophane as euer they were before they heard Yet Wisedome shall be iustifyed of her children as many as are ordayned to eternall life shall beleeue Some shal be called and by hearing shall grow in knowledge in grace and obedience This may comfort and encourage vs in our labours Though it bee some griefe to see many non proficients who heare much and are neuer the better yet if it please the Lord to giue some happie issue vnto our labours that wee edifie some though not all that wee profite a few though not many wee should therewith be content and praise the Lord for it If indeede wee should conuert none at all yet must wee not faint but still continue our paines and expect a reward at the Lords hands for he will reward our laboures though we should do others no good thereby And therefore the Prophet sayd I haue laboured in vaine I haue spent my strength in vaine and for nothing but my iudgement is with the Lord and my worke with my God It is not our worke but the Lords worke to conuert soules Paul may plant Apollos may water but it