Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
soul_n	believe_v	faith_n	save_v	4,850	5	7.0416	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A75459	Gods presence mans comfort: or, Gods invisibilitie manifested unto mans capacitie. The heads of which tractate were delivered in a sermon at the Abbey of Westminster, and since enlarged for the benefit of the Church of God. / By the Lords unprofitable servant, Ch. Anthony. Imprimatur: Ja. Cranford.	Anthony, Charles, 1600-1685.	1646 (1646)	Wing A3477; Thomason E328_1; ESTC R8561	58,663	111

which God shineth inwardly upon her soul Haec quasi speculum Creatorem suum repraesentant God through these manifesteth himselfe so farre unto her as shee is able to apprehend him in them and by them Ex effectibus Dei demonstrari Aquin. potest Deum esse licèt per eos effectus non possimus eum perfectè cognoscere secundùm suam Essentiam By the works of God it is evident that there is a God although even by those works wee cannot perfectly discern his Essence Yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what may be known of God by the light of nature is manifested in the creature as that there is a God that there is but one God that hee is Eternall Omnipotent the sole Creator of heaven and earth and all therein that hee is most holy most wise and most just the rewarder of the godly and the punisher of the wicked But yet this light of nature is not of it selfe sufficient unlesse it be holpen by a supernaturall light For Non potuerint Gentiles per solum naturae lumen unum agnoscere solum esse Deum the Heathen by the dim light of nature were not able to know that this God is but One. To those therefore whom the holy Spirit maketh to discern God the same Spirit conferreth the spirit of wisdome and sanctified knowledge by means whereof they doe see God Hence that speech of Christ Hee that seeth mee seeth my Father John 14. 9. also scil opere Spiritûs sancti namely by the work of the holy Ghost On the contrary they the eyes of whose soules the holy Ghost hath not enlightned with the saving beams of divine truth can never see or know the Father in the Son As then none is said to touch Christ when the Mar. 5. 30 31. multitude thronged him save onely shee who had the bloudy issue so none is properly said to see Christ save onely such in whom the holy Ghost hath wrought faith to beleeve him and his word for it is impossible without faith which is the eye of the soule either to see him or know him and according to each mans faith so shall it be unto him For we must know that there is a twofold sight 1. Of the body 2. Of the minde 1. The eye of the body cannot see God for he is invisible his Essence is spirituall and if a man cannot see his own spirit much lesse can hee see God who is the Father of spirits Now if it be objected Heb. 12. 9. Exod. 33. 11. Gen. 17. 1. that Moses and Abraham saw God I answer that they saw not his substance hee only appeared in similitudes by which hee testified his presence But Job saith In my flesh I shall see God Job 9. 26. and mine owne eyes shall behold him Answ By God in that place is meant the second person of the Trinity who being God was incarnate and so God may be seen in Christ But Paul saith that we shall see God face to face Answ God hath not members 1 Cor. 13. 12. as we have but this is spoken per 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to our humane capacitie and the meaning is that we shall have such a full knowledge of God as wee have of him whom wee do see face to face But shall our eyes serve us for no use in heaven Ans Yes with them wee shall behold the glorious Saints and Christ our Judge and Redeemer glorified in his humane nature whom to Acts 3. 13. behold yeelds unconceivable comfort 2. The second is the sight of the minde which in this life is imperfect and only seeth God in his works and word c. by which wee may gather the great love of God towards us in exhibiting himselfe so farre but that perfect sight which the minde shall then have of God is reserved till hereafter when seeing him wee shall be transformed into his image This sight of the minde which properly is called the soule is twofold First Simple as when a man sees a thing absolutely and as it is in it selfe thus God cannot be seen by reason of his Immensity filling all places Secondly Comprehensive namely when a man seeth God so farre forth as hee is capable of the knowledge of him and in this sense wee shall see God perfectly in the world to come and be filled with the fruition of his presence as a vessell may be filled with the water of the sea though it hold not all the water of the sea In this comprehensive manner as the Spouse of Christ is sure that shee seeth him so is shee sure also that shee heareth him for saith shee in the verse preceding the Text Behold the voice of my Beloved shee was a partaker of the first resurrection and so heard his voice which enlivened her John 4. 25. soule and shee was sure that it was his voice indeed and not a strangers their often mutuall conference had given her an exact knowledge thereof As then the true Spouse of Christ can onely rightly discern Christs voice so whosoever hath not plighted his faith to him knowes it not from the voice of a stranger and so may soon be deluded as may appeare by Ahab giving credit to the lying spirit in the mouthes of his false prophets 1 King 22. 22. Object But some may object that saying of Christ No man knoweth the Son but the Father neither Matth. 11. 27. knoweth any man the Father save the Son and hee to whomsoever the Son will reveal him Sol. The words are to be understood comparatively that is as the knowledge of the Son is originally in God the Father and it is by the Fathers revealing of the Son that any come to know the Son that is to beleeve in his Name so the knowledge of the Father is originally in the Son and it must be by the Sonnes revealing of the Father that any can come to know him Excellently therefore saith Chrysostome None know the Chrysost Father with that knowledge with which the Son knoweth him that is fully to obey him and in all things perfectly to conforme to his will which is knowledge unto salvation Of this perfection of knowledge which is solely in Christ the best of Gods children come short in this life 'T is true they know him and see him but here it is weakly and imperfectly as from behinde a wall Or thus As by seeing a piece of coine a man may know whose coine it is by the image and superscription engraven thereon so the Spouse of Christ knoweth whose image is engraven in the heavens and who that is that shewes himselfe in the windowes of the Scriptures and in the grates of Conscience Or thus As by seeing a picture a man may know whom it represents especially if there hath been any former acquaintance so the Church which is Christs Spouse seeing the face of God in the light of the Scriptures and the beauty of the Creatures exactly

are the clay thou art the potter we are all the work of thine hands And saith that holy Psalmist Know Psal 100. 3. yee that the Lord God is hee that hath made us not wee our selves 2. If wee enquire Of what man was made See wee His substance was the dust of the ground Gen. 2. 7. and even that at first was of nothing so that man originally is nothing 3. If we enquire Of what form man was made Moses also tels us that in the image of God God created Gen. 1. 26 27. him which image as I have already showne is Wisdome Knowledge c. Imaginis hujus subjectum animam esse rationalem dicimus sanctitatis Tilen de imag Dei in hom thes 8. veritatis justitiae dotibus exornatam 4. If wee enquire the end why man was created It was for Gods glory Now God is then glorified by man when man cometh to the true knowledge of God and loveth him with all his heart with all his soule with all his strength and maketh him the true and onely object of his prayer Homo principaliter conditus est ad celebrationem u●sin Cat. Dei hoc est ad professionem invocationem nominis Divini c. In the first of these is seen the goodwill and pleasure of God in that hee would make so glorious a creature as man In the second is seen the power of God in that hee could make him In the third is seen the love of God in that he would make him after his owne Image In the fourth is seen the wisdome of God in that hee would make him a rationall creature jointly together they all shew that neer conjunction that ought to be of man with God and how earnestly man should desire a fuller enjoyment of his presence and communion who is unto man all in all So then you see that man is to be considered in a double respect First as hee is a creature Secondly as endued with a rationall soule of both which God is the principall authour Our parents indeed were the instruments of our fleshly being under God for without God they could not doe that for the fruit of the womb is the blessing of the Psal 127. 3. Lord And if the parents of the flesh were the onely and sole instruments of generation without God then might they exactly know how many muscles nerves veins bones of all sorts humours and joints were in the body yea where and how located but this they know not even the skilfullest Anatomist may fail herein hence saith the Psalmist I am fearfully and wonderfully made c. Psal 139. 14 15 16. Againe if the Parents of our flesh had the sole and onely power in our making then when our body is sick they might recover us or if any member were rotted away or cut off by violence they might restore it but this neither can they doe Sith then God is the principall cause of the bodies being which is earthly wee may well conclude that hee onely created the soul which is spirituall and that our earthly parents had no share in the creating of that at all Quod ex carne natum est caro Joh 3 6. est That which is born of the flesh is flesh But the soul is immortall created onely by God he onely it was who breathed in man the breath of life Gen. 2. 7. Adde to this the union of the soul with the body which makes the body to be compleat could not be effected by any other save onely that powerfull Worker whose word is a law no skill but Divine could unite them twaine together As then wee are creatures as wee are rationall creatures wee solely are the work of his hands that is of his Wisdome and of his Will Hence are those sayings in Scripture Thy hands have made mee and Psal 119. 33. Job 10. 11. fashioned me round about Thou hast clothed mee with skinne and flesh and fenced mee with bones and sinewes And saith the mother of the seven sons I know 2 Mac. 7. 22 23. not how yee came into my womb for I neither gave you breath nor life nor was it I that formed the members of every one of you But doubtlesse the Creatour of the world who formed man and found out the beginning of all things Secondly consider we whereof man was made viz. of the earth which is slimie and filthie and which wee tread under our feet By how much therefore man is made of viler substance by so much it stands him upon to be lowly and humble knowing that as hee is of the dust so to dust hee must returne and that dust at last shall be reduced to its former nothing for saith Peter The heavens 2 Pet. 3. 7. and earth that are now are by the word kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of judgement 'T is true that body which wee shall have at the generall resurrection although it shall be the self same flesh with which wee are now cloathed shall yet be incorruptible it shall not be as now it is earthy animated onely by a soul separable but it shall be spirituall all danger of separation being done away by Christs Spirit quickning it if wee be inheritors of the kingdome of heaven so much the words of Saint Paul import Flesh and bloud 1 Cor. 15. 50. cannot inherit the kingdome of God where by flesh and bloud the Apostle meaneth bodies earthy and fraile Nor may wee think with Origen that Mayer in loc our bodies shall not then consist of flesh and bones as now they doe and that the flesh shall be abolished because they are then called spirituall But as here our bodies are called animall because animated by the soule they both being kept together by means of sustenance Even so then our bodies are called spirituall because perfectly guided by the spirit and vivified unto a life that being without all sustenance shall never have end And that this is the Apostles meaning is evident when hee saith Corruption doth not inherit incorruption Thirdly Consider wee the forme in which man was created God created man after his own image it is not said after his own similitude Imaginis enim vox est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word signifies diversly either it may be taken for the very Essence of God and so onely Christ is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Image Col. 1. 15. of God Or more emphatically as the same Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the expresse image Heb. 1. 3. of his person Or else the word may be taken as signifying Wisdome Justice c. which I have observed formerly Again Man was created or formed after Gods image not of Gods substance As then the substance of which man was made was more vile so the image in which hee was made was more glorious Nor doe I mean the outward shape of man consisting

most delightsome garden to solace a mans soule in it is the Exchequer of the King of kings in which hee keepeth the audit of all his accounts it is the high Court of the great God and the habitation of the holy Ghost and think not to beguile conscience or to delude Gods all-seeing eye for the one will be an upright witnesse the other a severe Judge I conclude this point with that observation of Tilenus In calamitates magnas incident qui vel subdoli ingenii strophis Magistratûs cognitionem eluserant vel virium fiduciâ perruptis legum clathris Judicum subsellia contempserant ad ineluctabile enim tribunal summi Judicis pertrahentur qui nec fraude eludetur nec vi superari poterit Thus have I at large declared how God is pleased to manifest himselfe to the consciences of men both by the ministery of the word and also by the checks of the same In a word take as a Corrolary the summe of all God is pleased to exhibite himselfe to all our senses Thus wee see him in the admirable fabrick of the world and varietie of creatures Thus wee hear him in his word preached Thus wee taste him in the fruits of the earth carnally but spiritually in the blessed Sacrament Thus wee smell him in the fragrancy of his graces And thus wee feel him in the checks of our consciences our outward senses being the grates or windowes of our soules nothing being conveyed into the one but by the other Wee understand nothing we know nothing but either the ear or the eye or some other sense must first present it to the soule As then many windowes yeeld more light into a roome so the more senses there are that present a matter to the soule the more cleerly doth the soul understand it and conceive it These Beloved are the windowes grates and lattesses thorow which Christ looketh upon his Spouse the Church Yet as followeth in my third Generall It is but hieroglyphically enigmatically obscurely The Egyptians used to expresse themselves by mysticall cyphers and when Almighty God appeared to Moses it was either in fire or else in a Exod. 3. 6. cloud in both which to the eye of Moses it was Cap. 40. 34. obscurely So when the Lord appeared to Elijah it was by a voice which is audible not visible 1 King 19. When Christ was transfigured upon the Mount it Mark 9. 3. was in such a brightnesse that the Apostles could not endure to behold the glory of his Majestie So that although God is every-where about us yet such is our dimnesse wee cannot perceive him like the servant of Elisha wee are blinde and see 2 Kin. 6. 16 17. not God neer us unlesse God in mercy open our eyes as hee did his The book of the Creatures the book of the Scriptures and the book of Conscience may serve us in some stead yet are but as dark shadowes glimeringly setting forth him who is light invisible They may serve as a candle in the night but as when the light of the Sun appeareth the light of the candle is darkened so when our vaile of mortality is put away wee shall see God more perfectly In the Scriptures we read of a four-fold light First Light is taken properly as of the Sun Moon and Starres which give light to all creatures Gen. 1. 14 c. upon the earth to this end they were created Secondly Light is taken figuratively sometimes for God himselfe God is light sometimes 1 John 1. 5. for Gods countenance so David prayeth God to lift up the light of his countenance upon him sometimes Psal 4. 6. it is taken for Christ for his Apostles for true Luk. 2. 32. Matth. 5. 14. beleevers or it may be taken for the light of Gods Spirit with which some were endued in the dayes Ephes 5. 8. of the Apostles for the discerning of those who spake by the Spirit of God from those who spake by a false spirit therefore it was called the gift of 1 Cor. 12. 10. discerning of spirits Thirdly Light is taken for the light of the Scriptures leading us to God Thy word is a lanthorne Psal 119. 105. to my feet and a light unto my pathes for naturally our understandings are darke onely God in mercy revealeth himself unto us by the light of the Scriptures Hence is it that wee are advised both by that Evangelicall Prophet Isaiah as also that beloved Apostle John to walke in the light of the Isa 2. 5. 1 John 1. 7. Lord. Fourthly Light is taken for comfort after the troublesome stormes of affliction so the Prophet Micah Rejoyce not against mee O mine enemy When Micah 7. 8. I fall I shall rise when I sit in darknesse the Lord shall be a light unto me When Hamans plot was defeated The Jewes had light and gladnesse joy and honour Esth 8. 16. and saith David Light is sowne for the righteous Psal 97. 11. and joyfull gladnesse to them that are true of heart Hence is it that the Prophet Isaich comforteth the Church in the uberity of her children by the promulgation of the Gospel Arise be enlightned Isa 60. 1. for thy light cometh and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee The first of these lights makes not for our purpose the three later may help us very much If therefore the Spirit of God shineth upon our souls it will clear our understandings to discerne God in the light of the Scriptures and if wee can see God in the light of the Scriptures wee shall be sure to attain to the light of saving comfort because the latter dependeth on the former Thus the Eunuch although his devotion led him to Act. 8. 30 c. read the Scriptures yet did hee not understand all that hee did read till the Spirit sent Philip to expound it unto him then went hee away rejoycing Nor was it saith Calvin unprofitable for him to Calvin exercise his minde in places of Scripture more obscure because by searching and studying therein the sense of them through the assistance of Gods Spirit is to be attained unto And by the way Note the blinde condition of the Romish Note Laitie who satisfie themselves with imbracing any doctrines of their Church without searching the grounds thereof from the Scriptures taking all upon the trust of others and being content to goe without examining them by that touchstone But to proceed Our knowledge of God in this life is in part that is is imperfect as the beholding of a man suddenly passing by whose back-parts onely wee can look upon our more fuller knowing God is reserved untill that time in which we shall be made like unto him When wee all with open 2 Cor. 3. 18. face beholding as in a glasse the glory of the Lord shall be transformed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord.