Selected quad for the lemma: life_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
life_n	believe_v	eternal_a	grace_n	4,925	5	5.4605	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A95864	A sermon preached to the Honorable House of Commons; at their late solemne fast, December, 28. Wherein is described 1. The church her patience: 2. Her hope. In the exercise of both which graces, she is enabled to waite upon God in the way of his judgements: in which divers cases are propounded and resolved. That the soul sick of love, doth with more difficulty endure the absence of Christ, then the present evils of this world. By Thomas Valentine, Rector of Chalfont in Buckinghamshire. Published by order of that House.	Valentine, Thomas, 1585 or 6-1665?	1643 (1643)	Wing V26; Thomason E86_32; ESTC R12382	44,658	51

that is God himself I hope in God as well as I do beleeve in God the other is the next object and that is the promise of God But because the three divine graces whereof hope is one are immediately fixed upon God himself therefore we hope in God promising eternall life and all good things in the mean time hope gives God the honour of his bountie for it expects the blessing included in the promise and faith gives him the honour of his truth for it credits God in all things spoken by him and love gives him the honour of his goodnesse Hope is not mercenarie and yet waits for a blessing 2 Pet. 1.4 for when God vouchsafeth to give us great and precious promises it were ill in us not to expect the performance of them They that hope and wait have strong and well ordered desires strong graces and strong affections else delay would beat them off for many of the promises of God beare a long date But in hope there is a certain expectation of promised blessings and that bears up the spirit hope in God can no more be disappointed then faith can be deceived for hope is the expectation of things beleeved and faith is the substance or ground of things hoped for Heb. 11.1 both of them are in God immediately and both of them are fixed upon promises both begin and end together and both mutually strengthen one another R●m 8.19 the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth That which is there said of the creature or creation in generall is true of a godly man nay it is a lively description of him for he waits and he expects and he is earnest in his expectation The word signifies such an earnestnesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as make a man to thrust out his head and neck to look towards that place whence he expects a messenger to come with good tydings Iudg. 5.28 as the mother of Sisera looked out of her window and said why do the wheels of his chariot tarrie so long So he that hopes looks up to heaven and looks out to all means that may further his desire and watcheth and waiteth till God answer him Presumption and despair are both of them contrary to hope one hopes inordinately and the other not at all indeed neither of them hopes but presumption seems to do it and looks like the grace and yet is farre enough from it both are bad but the very name of despair seems more horrid Presumption is more common and kils ten to the others one Both of them lead to one end but not by the same way Presumption goes about despair directly to condemnation Presumption lifts men up as high as heaven Ascendunt ad ●oelos per presumptionem descendunt ad inferos per desperationem and then lets them fall as lowe as may be Despair throws them directly down to hell in neither of them is the earnest desire or certain expectation of a hoping man And as before you had the difference between the grace of patience and naturall mildnesse so here again take notice of the grace of hope differing from presumption 1. True hope is accompanied with humilitie passion and presumption and pride go together and patience and hope Lam. 3.28 and humilitie are united he will lie lowe and kisse the dust if there may be hope God first casts a man down and then lists him up and so we come to hope But a presuming man is first lifted up and then cast down and his hope vanisheth 2. True hope is industrious but presumption is lazie a presumptuous man thinks it an easie matter to be religious and to get to heaven despair judgeth it impossible 1. Iohn hope conceives it difficult and therefore labours with all diligence to obtain what he looks after he that hath this hope purgeth himself 3. True hope is a solid quickning grace that bears up the spirit in evill times It is a lively hope 1 Pet. 1.3 such as the world wonders at for whereas nothing but the possession of good things will satisfie hope of heaven comforts the heart and he lives upon it and esteemes it a large portion Rom. 5.3.5 He reioyceth under the hope of the glory of God for he knows he shall not be ashamed of his hope But evill men that hope after heaven though God never made them any promise of it nor are prepared and qualified by the work of regeneration this hope is compared to a spiders web 1. She make a web out of her own bowels Iob 8.14 so this hope is from their own imagination it is of their own begetting it is the fruit of their own brain 2. And though the spiders web be curiously framed yet it onely catcheth flies so hypocrites look after ceremonies not substance and such have the greatest care of the least matters Hypocritae curam habent maximum de minimis minimam de maximis Vincent spe moral and least regard to the greatest 3. The spider is full of poyson and remains in a dustie nasty hole though she work never so curiously 4. She gets to the top of the window as high as she can and then when she falls she fals to the bottome for nothing stayes her 5. When the besome comes she and her webbe are swept away and she is troden under foot so are all presumptuous hypocrites in whom there is no work of saving grace they resemble the spider in all these particulars But where a well grounded hope is wrought by the Spirit of God they are firm and their expectation shall not be cut off Prov. 23.18 when the world shall be in a confusion when earth and heaven shall be shaken when evill men shall be hopelesse Ioel 3.16 and helplesse the Lord will be the hope of his people The third last case propounded and resolved And seeing there is in every one that waits upon God both a patient bearing of evill and an expectation of good if these be severally considered it may be demanded which of these two do most try us whether the present evill that is upon us or the absence of the good desired whether the want of the Reformation promised in the ninth verse or the evils that fall upon us till God punish and pull down his enemies mentioned in the text whether the want of the presence of Christ or the incumbrances of this world can best be born For answer hereto we will state it and then determine it laying down the effects of both and compare them together and hereout will arise the conclusion 1. Evils cause pain of bodie and sorrow of mind and they may be so violent as to disturbe the whole man in such manner as he hath no joy in any thing but may be wearie of himself wearie of living wearie of the world and none can tell the weight of such burthens as many do bear and have been long exercised