Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
soul_n	body_n	good_a	receive_v	4,445	5	5.1808	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A56801	A beam of divine glory, or, The unchangeableness of God opened, vindicated, and improved : whereunto is added, The soul's rest in God / by Edward Pearse ; to which is prefixed the author's last letter, written in the time of his sickness to some peculiar friends.	Pearse, Edward, 1633?-1674?	1674 (1674)	Wing P970; ESTC R32172	116,330	239

them with whom he was before at peace So Job 30.21 Thou art become cruel to me or thou are turned or changed q. d. Thou wert good and gracious but now thou art severe and cruel So Isa 63.10 He was turned to be their Enemy and fought against them Thus both these ways God seems to be represented under changes and how then is he unchangeable Nevertheless unchangeable for all this and to vindicate God's unchangeableness notwithstanding this I would intreat you to consider two Things 1. Consider that God is unchangeable under the most various and changeable dispensations that he does or can walk in towards us 'T is true the external dispensation changes his outward course and carriage towards us is very changeable and various now he smiles and then he frowns now he fills and then he emtyes now he lifts up and then he casts down now he breaks and then he binds up c. Thus the outward dealings and dispensations of God are very changeable and various yet in and under all he himself changes not but is still the same the same in his Being and in his Blessedness and the same in his Counsel Covenant and love to us Hence Psal 25.10 All the Paths that is the providences and dispensations of the Lord are said to be Mercy and Truth to his People His Paths towards them are very various in themselves but God's Love and Grace is the same in all The outward dispensation of God toward us it may be is changed he did smile but now he frowns he did give but now he takes away he did form Light but now he creates Darkness for us and hereupon we apprehend that God Himself his Heart his Counsel his Covenant his Love is changed but 't is only in our apprehension for indeed and in truth he is the same still the most variable of his dispensations do not argue the least variableness in him at all and indeed where he is a Friend he is a Friend for ever and where he is an Enemy he is an Enemy for ever the change is only in the external dispensation 2. Consider that the change is in us and not in God God is alwayes the same but we are not the same when God is pacified towards those with whom he was offended they are changed not he he is the same he was and when he is angry with Saints with whom he was before at peace they are changed not he the change was in Job not in God when he said thou art turned to be cruel to me the change was in the Church not in God when he was said to be turned to be their Enemy God says a worthy Divine is the same his Love is the same his Wrath is the same his Mercy is the same his Justice is the same and that for ever but we changing are cast sometimes under the effects of his Love and sometimes under the effects of his Wrath we are sometimes under the saddest droppings of his Justice and sometimes under the sweetest influences of his Mercy As a man that changes his Aspect and turns about his Body to another Point of the Heavens that part of the Heavens which was before at his right hand is now at his left Not but that the Heavens are as they were they change not either their Position or Motion but the Man hath changed his So the Wrath and Love the Justice and Mercy of God stand alwayes at the same point but we turn sometimes Justice-ward sometimes Mercy-ward now we face his Wrath and then his Love thus the change is in us and not in God and so he remains unchangeable still 4. The fourth Proposition is this That God's Unchangeableness does no way exclude or invalidate the use of means If God be unchangeable then to what purpose is the use of means Why do we Pray or Hear or use any means in order to our eternal Good Why my Beloved God's Unchangeableness does no way exclude or invalidate the use of means for pray consider First That God wills the Means as well as the End and the Means in order to the End he wills our Praying as well as our Pardon our Hearing as well as our Happiness our Sowing as well as our Reaping our Sowing in the use of Means as well as our Reaping in the Harvest of Mercy He wills our believing as well as our blessedness he wills the one as well as the other yea he wills the one in order to the other and that with the same absolute immutable and eternal will He hath ordained we should walk in good works Eph. 2.10 and he ha h chosen us to Salvation through the sanctification of the Spirit and the belief of the Truth 2 Thes 2.13 Secondly Consider that as God wills the Means as well as the End so through the use of these it is that he gives out himself and his blessings to us and at last brings us to the End God makes a Covenant with his People and therein layes himself under bonds to do great things for them as great as a God can do but he will have them pray for them nor will he do them but in a way of Prayer Ezek. 36.37 and God tells us that he never said to the Seed of Jacoh Seek ye me in vain Isa 45.19 Indeed God is not wanting to his People in the use of mean The Lord is good to them that wait for him to the Soul that seeks him Lam. 3.26 Ordinarily God will not communicate himself and his love any other way and that Soul that neglects this puts himself out of the way of the Manifestations and Communications of God and his Love Indeed God has as it were tied himself to Souls under a conscientious use of means to do them good Ask and you shall receive seek and you shall find knock and it shall be opened to you for every one that asketh receiveth and every one that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it is opened As you therefore value communion with God and the manifestations of his Love take heed of laying aside the use of means Thirdly Consider that these things we call means such as Prayer Hearing and the like are instances of our Homage Worship and Obedience to God hereby we worship God and give so far the Glory to him that is due unto his Name and consequently to cast off these is to cast off the Worship of God and to deny we owe Homage to him Lay all these together and our Proposition is clear that God s Unchangeableness does no way exclude or invalidate the use of means and when we use means 't is not to change but fulfil the Mind of God 't is not to alter but to accomplish his Counsels and bring us into the fruition of them Thus by these Propositions I have vindicated the unchangeableness of God from cavil and contradiction and it remains a truth that the Lord Jehovah is an unchangeable God CHAP. VI. Several

the Nature or Life of the Soul they are carnal sensible things and so are suitable to the flesh and sensual part and are pleasing to it but they have nothing suitable in them to an immortal Spirit nothing that an eternal Soul can feed upon the Body may as soon feed upon Air and Ashes as the Soul upon Creatures But now in God there is that Good that is every way suitable to the Soul to the Nature Life and Wants of the Soul the Soul is of a Spiritual Nature and God is a Spiritual Good God is a Spirit Joh. 4.24 The Soul is of a vast capacity 't is next to Infiniteness in its capacity and desires and God is a vast and comprehensive Good having as has been shewn all good in him Without suitableness in the Object to the faculty there can be no Rest Would you have an original independent Good such a Good is God Dulcius ex ipso fonte petuntur aquoe Waters drink most pleasantly at the Fountain-head In God you have all Good all Sweet all Comfort at the Fountain-head Hence he is said to be a Fountain of Living Waters and the Creatures broken Cisterns Jer. 2.13 the Fountain has all in and from it self but Cisterns you know have no more than is put into them all that Good that is in God he has it in and from himself but the Creatures yea the best of Creatures Angels themselves not excepted have no more than he puts into them Now how much is the Fountain to be preferred before a Cistern Would you have a pure and an unmixed Good Gold that has no Dross Wine that has no Water in it such a Good is God God is light and in him there is no darkness at all 1 Joh. 1.5 All things on this side God have their mixtures they have a dark as well as a bright side all this Wine is mixt with Wormwood this Gold with Dross Who of us did ever meet with the Creature-Injoyment that had not many allayes the sweetest Rose has its prickles and the rarest Beauty its spots among the Creatures but now God is every way a pure and an unmixed Good he is all Light Life Love Holiness and the like Would you have a sweet and satisfying Good Such a Good is God yea indeed there is infinite sweetness and satisfaction to be found in him he can infinitely delight ravish solace and satisfy the Soul for ever O how sweet how satisfying are the Sights of God the Tastes and Descents of his Love what an Heaven does one sight of God one descent of his Love make in the Soul David casting his eye upon God as his in Covenant is even ravished with it and cryes out the lines are fallen to me in pleasant places I have a goodly Heritage Psal 16.5 6. and elsewhere we read of Pleasures of Rivers of Pleasures of Satisfaction of abundance of Satisfaction and all as that which Souls do or may find in God and communion with God Psal 36.8 and David over and over tells you of Sweetness and Satisfaction and Satisfaction as with Marrow and Fatness in but the very thoughts and meditation of God Psal 63.5 6. and Aug. I remember speaking of God and to him often breaks out into such language as this O my God my Life Deus meus Vita mea Dulcedo mea c. my Sweetness O Sirs holy Souls who live in Communion with God will tell you that there is no sweetness like that in God no Love like his Love no Comforts like his Comforts They will tell you that one sight of God one sensible token of his presence in the Soul has more solace and sweetness in it than al the delights of this world yea than many Worlds and they accordingly chuse and desire it Oh how sweet is it to be led into the Banquetting House by Christ and there have the Banner of his Love displayed over us and Flagons of that Wine poured out unto us How sweet is it to have one sight of the King in his beauty how much more to walk and converse with him in his Galleryes How sweet is it with God in his Sanctuary and have him revealing Himself his Love his Beauty his Glory to us O taste and see how good the Lord is Would you have a sure eternal and unchangeable Good a Good that never fades failes nor has any period such a Good is God and God alone From everlasting to everlasting be is God Psal 90.2 But this has been sufficiently spoken to elsewhere Well you see what a blessed Rest God is for Souls Why then should we ever think of looking out any where else for Rest O wretched hearts of ours that will leave this God and go out to a vain World and dying Creatures for Rest and Happiness In a word if God has all that in him which thou needest or art capable of to give thee Rest and Happiness than retire solely to him for it Now what dost thou want or what art thou capable of to give thee Rest and Happiness Dost thou want and desire Life With God is the Fountain of Life Psal 36.9 Dost thou want Peace God is the God of Peace Rom. 16.20 and frequently elsewhere is he so called Dost thou want pardon he is the God of pardons so the words are in the Psalms when he is said to be ready to forgive and you know he has promised to pardon iniquity transgression and sin sins of all sorts and sizes all degrees and aggravations if Souls come to him Heb. 8.12 Dost thou want Grace he is the God of all Grace 1 Pet. 5.10 Dost thou want comfort he is the God of all Consalation Dost thou want Mercy he is the Father of Mercies 2 Cor. 1.3 Dost thou want strength strength to do to suffer to live to die he is the Lord Jehovah with whom is everlasting Strength Isa 26.4 Dost thou want Joy in his presence is fulness of Joy Psal 16.11 Dost thou want Salvation Salvation Temporal Salvation Eternal ●e is the God of Salvation and as such the Church glories in him Psal 68.20 Thus no Rest ●●ke that in God Souls need not look elsewhere for Rest and Happiness for there is all in God alone 4. Consider what a restless World you live in ●nd what a troublesom time you are fallen upon The more restless this World is and the more troublesom the times are which we are fal●●n upon the more we are concerned to take up our Rest in God Now certainly the World was scarce ever more restless nor the times mo●● troublesom than now In Zech. 1.11 we rea● of a time when the whole World was at Rest excepting only the Church of God but 't is eve● quite contrary now for now the whole World Church and all are in a restless troublesom state We see and hear of little but Wars and rumours of Wars and as 't was of old destruction upon destruction is cryed and what and when the end

his Power his Wisdom his Holiness his Justice his Goodness his Faithfulness his All-sufficiency and the like all which are not distinguished in him either from himself or from one another but are all one and the same God revealed and manifested to us under various notions and that to help us the better to conceive and apprehend him as also to perform our homage and worship to him accordingly we may say the Holiness of God is God the Wisdom of God is God the Power of God is God the Goodness of God is God And to come to my Text the Unchangeableness of God is God and indeed the unchangeableness of God is God manifested and revealed under a sweet and blessed as well as a glorious Notion to us under such a Notion as conduces-much to the quickning and incouraging of our Faith and Love our Comfort and Obedience in him and to him and so indeed the Text represents it I am the Lord I change not therefore ye Sons of Jacob are not consumed In which words we have two things to be noted 1. Here is a Display or Representation of God in one Ray or Beam of his Divine Glory and that is his Unchangeableness I am the Lord I change not or I the Lord am not changed for it may be read either Actively or Passively and the sense will be the same I change not I am not alter'd or varied at all what I was I am what I am I still shall be Deus hic se tacitè mortalibus opponit et a se Procul repellit omnem inconstantiam Calv. God here as a judicious Expositor observes tacitly opposes himself to mortal men and removes and renounces all wavering and inconstancy from himself I change not as if he should have said Men die but I live men change but I change not I am still the same 2. Here is a Mention or Declaration of the blessed Fruit or Issue of this Glorious Perfection of God in reference to his Church and People and that is their preservation from destruction Therefore ye Sons of Jacob are not consumed Here two things must be enquired into First Who are we to understand by the Sons of Jacob And secondly What by their being not consumed 1. Who are we to understand by the Sons of Jacob By the Sons of Jacob here we are to understand God's Professing Church and People We read in Scripture of the House of Jacob the Seed of Jacob and the Sons of Jacob by all which are meant God's Church and People whom he takes into Covenant with himself and makes the Objects of his Love and this will be evident by comparing my Text with Cap. 1.2 where God sayes expresly that he loved them And again I loved Jacob. 2. What are we to understand by their being not consumed It imports and carries in it these two things 1. An Exemption from Temporal Ruine 2. A Preservation from Eternal Destruction 1. An Exemption from Temporal Ruine Therefore ye are not consumed that is therefore you are not cut off from being a People therefore you are not utterly broken by my Judgements 't is true some afflictions you have had yea great afflictions but yet still you live still you are a People you are preserved from utter ruine and destruction And why so Not because you have not deserved to be utterly cut off and destroyed but because I am unchangeable I am the Lord I change not therefore ye Sons of Jacob are not consumed 2. A Preservation from Eternal Destruction Therefore ye are not consumed that is therefore you are not in Hell therefore you are not under the eternal Revelations of my Wrath which alas is what you have deserved As if God should say to them True you have had affliction but alas it has been nothing to the desert of your sin your sins have been many and great against me such as deserved utter ruine yea eternal destruction an utter Consumption both of Body and Soul for ever and this had been your portion long since had you not had to deal with an unchangeable God not your desert but my unchangeableness is the sole cause why you are not utterly and eternally destroyed In short the design of the whole was to upbraid them with their sins and particularly their ingratitude and withall to let them know that the reason why it was not worse with them than it was yea why they were not totally and eternally destroyed was not because they did not deserve to have had it so but because their God was unchangeable I am the Lord I change not therefore c. In which God seems thus to bespeak them You complain of me and have hard thoughts of me because 't is with you as it is and I do not presently arise for your help but let me tell you 't is well for you that 't is not ten thousand times worse with you than it is 't is well you are a People 't is well you are not among the Damned Sure I am you highly deserv'd to have had it so with you you are a sinful sinning rebellious people a people that have deserved to be destroyed ten thousand times over I have done great things for you above any people I have shewn you much love but you have not walked sutably and answerably to the great things I have done for you nor the great love I have shewn to you No you have abused all and sinned against me under all and that with an high hand whereby you have deserved to be utterly consumed and destroyed and indeed had I not been an unchangeable God consumed and destroyed you had been long agoe I see that in you and among you for which I might justly destroy you and that for ever and nothing but my own Unchangeableness keeps you alive Should you therefore complain of me Should you not rather admire at my patience and forbearance so long with you and towards you Truly 't is a Miracle of Grace Goodness and Patience in me that you have not been long since destroyed once for all This I take to be the true scope and meaning of the Word the sum of which together with the foundation of my intended Discourse from them I shall give you in this short Position Namely That the Lord Jehovah is an unchangeable God or how changeable soever the Creatures are yet God the Lord changes not Whoever changes I the Lord change not I am alwayes and for ever the same Now that God is unchangeable wherein he is unchangeable why or whence 't is that he is unchangeable as also the vindication of his unchangeableness from all Cavils and Objections that seem to lye against it with the practical improvement of all are the principal matters that will fall under consideration in the prosecution of this Argument and I hope by the assistance of God we shall find some light and much comfort and quickening in our going through them CHAP. II. Which containes a