Selected quad for the lemma: master_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
master_n	able_a	great_a	speak_v	260	4	3.9623	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A67153	A practical commentary or exposition upon the Pentateuch viz. These five books of Moses Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Wherein the text of every chapter is practically expounded, according to the doctrine of the Catholick Church, in a way not usually trod by commentators; and wholly applyed to the life and salvation of Christians. By Ab. Wright; sometime fellow of St. John's Colledge in Oxford.	Wright, Abraham, 1611-1690.	1662 (1662)	Wing W3688; ESTC R221054	292,675	224

cleave not to the Element or Creature of Water but remember Saint Iohn 1 Iohn 5. 6. tels you that Jesus Christ came by Water and Bloud and it is he only that washeth away our spots and saveth us from our sins and by the offering of the Turtles it was plainly figured that not in themselves but in some others they must be made clean from all their impurities CHAP. XVI Verse 2. IN that Aaron was forbidden at all times to enter into the Holiest of Holies we may learn that even Ministers as well as other men are not rashly to enter into all the things of God but to stand in reverence of some Mysteries either dealing not at all or very advisedly and sparingly with them as their nature requires Verse 3. When we appear before God we must come with a Sin-offering that is come with an humble acknowledgement as this Sin-offering figured that thou art a sinner confessing it to God with a greived heart and bring Jesus Christ in thy soul with thee offering him by thy true Faith to God his Father as a sure safety for all sinners against deserved wrath and punishment Verse 4. We must be cloth'd with Christs Righteousness as with this holy linnen Coat if we ever find acceptance with God For to that end Aaron did change his Garment to shew that he sustained another person who was holy he himself being but a man subject to imperfection and sin Now if Aaron might not enter but in such sort how much lesse might the People appear at any time before God but in Christ and by Christ shadowed in all these Sacrifices Verse 21. When confession was made over the Head of the Scape-goat what diversity of words were used as all iniquities all trespasses all sins Why so many words but to teach that confession of sins must not be light and formal only but earnest vehement hearty and zealous And indeed never can a Child of God satisfie himself herein but still wisheth he could more bewail his sins and more earnestly expresse with words what his Soul feeleth in this behalf saying as I heard a dying woman once say O Sir I am sorry and sorry that I can be no more sorry Verse 31. God would name his Sabbath according to the nature of it and Sabbath is rest It is a rest of two kinds our rest and Gods rest Our rest is the cessation from labour on those dayes Gods rest is our sanctifying of the day For so in the religious sacrifice of Noah Gen. 8. when he was come out of the Ark God is said to have smelt odorem quietis the savour of rest Upon those dayes we rest from serving the World and God rests in our serving of him CHAP. XVII Verse 4. THe Reasons of the severity of this Law were first because it served for the preservation of the Ministry which God had ordained and that every Man should not be his own Priest Secondly Because thus they were taught that all Worship of God ought to be guided and directed by his Word and Commandement and not by the private wills of Men. And if you say that Samuel offered in Mizpeh 1 Sam. 7. and Elias in Mount Carmel 1 King 18. and so neither brought the Sacrifice to the door of the Tabernacle you must answer your self thus that all this in these Men was extraordinary and we may not follow extraordinary matters without some such personal and special Vocation as no doubt they had for we do not live by Examples but by Laws Verse 6. The burning and broiling of Beasts and the sprinkling of their Blood upon the Altar could of themselves yield no sweet savour but thereto was added Wine Oyl and Incense by Gods appointment our Prayers as from us would never please but as Indited by the Spirit and presented by Christ they are highly accepted in Heaven Christ is the Incense the perfume of all our Sacrifices and therefore if ever we intend that our Sacrifice either of Praise or Prayers should carry a sweet savour along with it it must be offered up in and by Christ for he is Gods Benjamin the Son of his Love in whom alone God is well pleased Upon which account it is that the Catholick Church doth evermore conclude her Prayers with this Expression Through Iesus Christ our Lord. Verse 10. The Lord by this Law would teach Men to abstain from Murther and Blood-shed the Blood of Man being Vehiculum animae vitalis for the Vital Spirits which yield unto Man through his whole Body heat motion and action are begotten of Blood by the power of the Heart and therefore Mans life and the life of every other Creature is said to be in the Blood according to that of the Poet Purpuream vomit ille animam Secondly Because the Lord had ordained Blood to be used in the Atonement made for Sins as a plain figure of the Blood of Christ the only able Sacrifice to purge and wash away our Sins and Offences therefore he would have Blood regarded as an holy thing and not used by Man as other Meats might be CHAP. XVIII Verse 2. THis Expression I am the Lord your God is often repeated to draw attention and beget Authority For consider first it is thy Lord thy Master that speaks he whose House is the World and all the Creatures his Servants shall we not then listen when this our great Master shall speak Secondly it is thy God that speaks the Eternal Creator of Heaven and Earth he who hath made all preserves all and can as easily destroy all again he who is the All-seeing God that looks upon thee in thy privare Closet in thy bolted Chamber under thy drawn Curtains that sees all thy secret villanies and stoln Embraces all thy wicked Plots and Contrivings and shall we not then hear and fear him What running and striving would there be who should come first if a King or some great Lord should call O let not the Lord of Lords and King of Kings call so oft and thou sleight and neglect it but rather say with Samuel Speak Lord for thy servant heareth speak Lord to my Ears that they may hear speak to my Memory that it may retain speak to my Heart and Affections that they may be obedient speak to my Life and Conversation that it may be answerable to thy Word then shall thy servant hear aright and not before Verse 18. If any Man think of some Marriages of holy Men in Scripture contrary to these Rules let him remember that we now live by Laws and not by Examples What God then either approved or tolerated let us neither rashly condemn nor unadvisedly follow but obediently tarry within the Precincts of the Law of Nature And again in these Cases let it ever be remembred as good reason it should not only what is lawful but what also is convenient and fit to be done For many things are lawful which are no way yet expedient but most unfit in

temporary temporal and spiritual death Verse 9. Adultery is called here a great sin not only for the uncleanness and filthiness of it but because of the punishment that follows and sometimes overtakes whole Cities and Kingdoms for that sin in their Governors as it would have done here had not God with-held Abimelech from that sin verse 6. Now God keeps his Children from sinning either by instinct of his Spirit or the instruction of his Word or by the guiding and guard of Angels or by diseases as here Verse 11. Wheresoever is wickedness there can be no fear of God these two cannot lodge under one roof for the fear of God drives out evil Ecclus. 1. 26. As therefore Abraham here argues well from the Cause to the Effect because the fear of God is not in this place therefore they will kill me So David argues back from the Effect to the Cause they imagine wickedness on their Bed therefore the fear of God is not before them I would to God neither of these Arguments were demonstrative but our lives shew they are For if we feared the Lord durst we dally with his Name durst we tear it in pieces Surely we contemne his person whose Name we contemne The Iewes have a conceit that the sin of that Israelite which was stoned for Blasphemy was only this that he named that ineffable Name Iehovah Shall their fear keep them from once mentioning the dreadful Name of God and shall not our fear keep us from abusing it Durst we so boldly sin against God in the face if we feared him Durst we mock God with a formal flourish of that which our heart tells us we are not if we feared him Verse 14. Thus God comes as it were out of an Engine and helps his people at a pinch Abraham had brought himself into the bryars and could find no way out Many a heavie heart he had no doubt for his dear Wife who suffered by his default and she again for him God upon their Repentance provides graciously for them both She is kept undefiled he greatly enriched and now they are both secured and dismissed with rewards and priviledges Oh who would not serve such a God as turns our errors and evil counsels to our great good as the Athenians believed their Goddess Minerva did for them Verse 16. Abraham is said to be a veil of Sarahs eyes First That no man knowing her to be Abrahams Wife should look upon her to desire her Secondly It putteth Sarah in mind of her subjection to Abraham whereof the veil is a sign 1 Cor. 11. 10. Thirdly Abraham was her veil that is her just excuse that she did this for his cause being by him perswaded but the former Exposition is the better For the following words the meaning is that all this was that she might he reproved or in all this she reproved her self so that they seem to be the words rather of the Writer concerning Sarah than of Abimelech to Sarah Verse 18. Barrenness is a just punishment for an Incontinent life This may be seen in Solomon who of 300 Concubines and 700 Wives left but one Son Rehoboam and he not very wise to succeed him CHAP. XXI Verse 6. VVE must rejoyce in the least Mercy how greatly then in the greatest our joyes take their measure by our mercies When Sarah had a Son she said God hath made me to laugh so that all that hear me shall laugh with me Her mercy in receiving a Son was so great that it would serve a whole world to make merry with The man that had found his lost Sheep laid it on his shoulders rejoycing it was a pleasant burthen to him and when he came home he called together his Friends and Neighbors saying Rejoyce with me As some afflictions are so big that all our own sorrows are not large enough to weep and mourn over them so some blessings are so big that they call out more than our own affections to rejoyce over them Verse 9. It is not alwayes a disparagement to be laugh'd at the best may be laugh'd at the just upright man is so holiness is under disgrace among unholy men Saint Paul telling this story reports it as a great example of unholy scorn he that was born after the Flesh did persecute him that was born after the Spirit Ishmael persecuted Isaac Moses here tells us the manner how and the weapon wherewith Ishmael did not lift up his hand against Isaac as Cain did against Abel but his tongue he mocked him Those greatest differences in divine Heraldry of being born after the flesh and after the Spirit shew where the quarrel lay it was the spiritualness of Isaac which rendered him so obnoxious to his Carnal Brother Ishmael Isaac was born after the Spirit and doubtless he shewed some fruits of the Spirit which Ishmael did not relish and therefore mocked him And the Apostle gives the reason The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him 1 Cor. 2. 14. Verse 10. Sarah speaks angerly concerning Ishmael This son of the Bond-woman shall not be Heir with my son and might not God have said as roundly concerning us these bond-slaves of sin and Satan shall not be Heirs with my Son But such is the goodness of our gracious God he deals with us like the Father of the Prodigal Child the Son feared a sharp rebuke and the Father provided a dainty feast And thus God not only pardons our indignities but crowns us with mercies and loving kindness So that we may confess ingeniously with the Prodigal Child We are not worthy to be called thy Sons make us as one of thy hired servants vouchsafe us even the least measure of thy favour and it is more than we can deserve or expect Verse 12. Let us never be ashamed to follow the counsel of such as are discreet and godly Neither is it greatly material who they be that give us good counsel whether our superiors equals or inferiors For we must not weigh so much who is the counsellor as what is the counsel The child is somtimes made able to advise the Father the Servant may somtimes see more than his Master the Wife may sometimes give good counsel to her Husband and it is no dispraise or disparagement for them to hearken to their inferiors but they ought to receive it as a Message brought unto them from God yea if an enemy should perswade us to that which is good we ought to make this benefit and advantage of him as to hearken to our own profit Abraham accounted it no reproach or reproof unto him to obey the Counsel of his Wife when she perswaded him to cast out the Bond-woman and her Son and Abraham is commanded to listen unto it for God said unto him In all that Sarah shall say unto thee hear her voice Away then with the pride and pevishness of all those that take it as a discredit unto

not so affect us if it were not with the danger of our own Secure minds never startle till God come home to their sences Verse 4. The Midianites joyn with the Moabites in Consultation in Action against Israel one would have thought they should have look'd for favour from Moses for Iethro's sake who was both a Prince in their Country and Father in Law to Moses and either now or not long before was with Israel in the Wilderness Neither is it unlike but that Moses having found forty years harbour among them would have been what he might inclineable to favourable treaties with them but now they are so fast link'd to Moab that they will either sink or swim together Intireness with wicked consorts is one of the strongest Chains of Hell and binds us to a participation both of sin and punishment an easie occasion will knit wicked hearts together in conspiracy against the Church of God Verse 6. Their Errand is Divelish Come curse Israel that which Sathan could not do by the Sword of Og and Seon he will now try to effect by the Tongue of Balaam If either strength or policy would prevail against Gods Church it could not stand And why should not we be as industrious to promote the glory of God and bend both our hands and heads to the causes of the Almighty When all helps fail Moab the Magician is sent for it is the sign of a desperate Cause to make Sathan either our Counsellor or Refuge Verse 9. I should wonder to hear God speak with a false Prophet if I did not know it hath been no rare thing with him as with men to bestow words where he will not bestow favour Not the sound of the voice of God but the matter which he speaks argues love he may speak to an Enemy he speaks peace to none but his own It is a vain bragg God hath spoken to me so may he do to Reprobates or Devils but what said he Did he say to my Soul I am thy Salvation hath he indented with me that he will be my God and I shall be his I cannot hear this voice and not live God heard all the Consultation and Message of these Moabites these Messengers could not have moved their Foot or their Tongue but in him and yet he which asked Adam where he was asks Balaam What men are these I have ever seen that God loves to take occasion of proceeding with us from our selves rather than from his own immediate prescience Hence it is that we lay open our Wants and confess our sins to him that knows both better than our own hearts because he will deal with us from our own mouths Verse 12. The reward of the divination had easily commanded the Journey and Curse of the Covetous Prophet if God had not stayed him How oft are Wicked men Curs'd by a Divine hand even in those sins which their Hearts stand to It is no thank to lewd men that their Wickedness is not prosperous Whence it is that the World is not over-run with Evil but from this that Men cannot be so ill as they would Verse 15. Where Wickedness meets with power it thinks to command all the World and takes great scorn of any repulse So little is Balack discouraged for one refusal that he sends so much the stronger Message more Princes and more Honourable O that we could be so importuuate for our good as Wicked Men are for the compassing of their designs a Denial doth but whet the desires of vehement Suitors Why are we faint in Spiritual things when we are not denied but delayed Verse 22. We that see only the outside of Balaam may wonder why he that permitted him to go afterward opposeth his going but God that saw his Heart perceived what corrupt affections carried him he saw that his covetous desires and wicked hopes grew the stronger the nearer he came to his end an Angel is therefore sent to with-hold the hasty Sorcerer Our inward disposition is the life of our actions according to that doth the God of Spirits judge us whiles men censure according to our external motions To go at all when God had commanded to stay was presumptuous but to go with a desire to Curse made the act doubly sinful and fetcht an Angel to resist it It is one of the worthy employments of good Angels to make secret opposition to evill designs many a wicked act have they hindred without the knowledg of the Agent It is all one with the Almignty to work by Spirits and Men it is therefore our glory to be thus set on Work to stop the course of evill either by disswasion or violence is an Angelical service Verse 28. That no man may marvel to see Balaam have visions from God and utter Prophecies from him his very Ass hath his Eyes opened to see the Angel which his Master could not and his mouth opened to speak more reasonably than his Master There is no Beast deserves so much wonder as this of Balaam whose common sence is advanc'd above the Reason of his Rider so as for the time the Prophet is brutish and the Beast Prophetical who can but stand amaz'd at the Eye at the Mouth of this silly Creature for so dull a sight it was much to see a bodily object that were not too apparent but to see that Spirit which his Rider discern'd not was far beyond Nature To hear a Voice to come from that Mouth which was used only to bray it was strange and uncouth but to hear a Beast whose Nature is noted for incapacity to out-reason his Master a professed Prophet is in the very height of Miracles Yet no heart can stick at these that considers the dispensation of the Almighty in both Our Eye could no more see a Beast than a Beast can see an Angel if he had not given this power to it and if his power can make the very Stones to speak how much more a Creature of sense we may wonder we cannot distrust when we compare the act with the Author which can as easily Create a Voice without a Body as a Body without a Voice There is no Mouth into which God cannot put words and how oft doth he chose the weak and unwise to confound the Learned and Mighty Verse 32. I hear the Angel of God taking notice of the cruelty of Balaam to his Beast his first words to the unmerciful Prophet are in expostulating the wrong We little think it but God shall call us to an account for the cruel unmerciful usage of his poor mute Creatures He hath made us Lords not Tyrants Owners not Tormentors he that hath given us leave to kill them for our use hath not given us power to abuse them at our pleasure they are so our Drudges as that they are our Fellows by Creation It was a signe the Magician would easily strike Israel with a Curse when he wish'd for a Sword to strike his harmless Beast It is