Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	aaron_n	call_v	let_v	20	3	4.6494	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A23717	Forty sermons whereof twenty one are now first publish'd, the greatest part preach'd before the King and on solemn occasions / by Richard Allestree ... ; to these is prefixt an account of the author's life.; Sermons. Selections	Allestree, Richard, 1619-1681.; Fell, John, 1625-1686.	1684 (1684)	Wing A1114; ESTC R503	688,324	600

did warn thee and my Messengers call'd to thee yet I hardly expect that thou shouldst hear those whispers with all those Voices I did scarce break silence but now I will reprove thee and thou shalt hear the rod or hear thy own groans under it For that we may be sure to hear this Voice God does by it open the ear Job xxxiii 14 15 16. God speaks once yea twice yet man perceiveth it not in a dream and in a vision then he opens the ears of men by Chastisements as it follows in four Verses full of them 91 20 21 22. and sealeth his instruction that he may withdraw Man from his purpose i. e. that he may make him cease from sin It seems the place of Dragons is Gods chiefest School of Repentance and we may have a clearer sight of him in the dimness of anguish than Vision it self does give When men did not perceive that saith Job yet this open'd the Ear and so God sealeth the Instruction And truly when the Soul dissolves in Tears and when as David words it The heart in the midst of the body is even like melting wax then only 't is susceptible of Impression then is the time for sealing the Instruction Nor does Chastisement open the Ear only but the Vnderstanding also I will give her trouble 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will take her into the Wilderness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he and speak unto her Heart There is convincing Experience of all this Pharaoh that was an Atheist in Prosperity does beg for Prayers in Adversity before he suffers Pharaoh says Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice I know not the Lord neither will I let Israel go Exod. v. v. 2. but yet Thunder preaches obedience into him and Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said I have sinned the Lord is righteous and I and my People are wicked intreat the Lord that there be no more mighty Thundrings no more Voices of God the Hebrew words it and I will let you go Exod. ix 27. And in the Book of Judges you will find that whole Age was nothing but a vicissitude of sinning and suffering divided betwixt Idolatry and Calamity When Gods hand was not on them they ran after other Gods as if to be freed from Oppression had been to be set free from Gods Worship and Service but when he did return to slay them then they sought him and they returned to enquire early after God and they remembred that God was their Rock and the high God was their Redeemer Psal. lxxviii 34 35. So that from such induction the Prophet might pronounce that when Gods Judgments are in the Earth the Inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness Esay xxvi 9. and S. Peter in the Text they that have suffered in the flesh have ceased from sin Which calls me to my second Task 2. To shew first by what arts the flesh engages men into courses of sin and by what methods it does work them up to the heights of it That I may Secondly declare how sufferings blast those methods and make all the arts of flesh either unpracticable or too weak 1. That the carnal appetite should reach after and give up it self to sensual delights is so far from strange that it is its nature 't is the Law of the members the very signature of flesh and inclination imprinted into it of which it can no more divest it self than the heated Deer can restrain it self from thirsting and panting after water-brooks But when Reason and Religion have set bounds to this appetite for it to scorn these mounds for that Law in the members to fight with and prevail against the Law in the mind those original dictates born in it and Christian Principles infused into it this is the Fleshes aim and sin Now this it does by exciting to ill actions as being sauc'd with pleasures and contents and by indisposing to good actions as being troublesom or not at all delightful to the sense and as for all other delights it hath no apprehension of but indisposeth for them perfectly So that this it does it engages too much in Pleasures here and it takes off all cares or thoughts of any joys hereafter both these I will shew you and thus it works 1. It prevails with us to indulge our selves the full use of lawful pleasures and for this the Flesh will urge it is the end of their Creation to do otherwise were to evacuate Gods purpose in the making Did he give us good things not to enjoy them Thus every sort of sin insinuates it self at first Youth will not deny it self converses with temptations although he have reason to fear they will commit a rape upon his warmer passions which are chafed by such encounters But God has not forbid him Conversation and why should he be an Anchoret and recluse in the throngs of Cities and of Courts Another that would not by any means be luxurious or intemperate yet goes as near them as he can and contrives to enjoy all those delights that do indeed but sauce Intemperance and make Excess palatable And truly why should he restrain himself from meats and drinks and be a Jew again All these believe they live righteously soberly and godly enough This resolution works in every recreation pleasure honour and advantage of this World men are content to make as near approaches to the Sin as they can and indeed believe they have no reason to be morose unto themselves I will deny my self nothing that God hath not denied me but enjoy as far as possibly and lawfully I may But then by doing thus it Secondly does oft take in somewhat of the immoderate and unlawful which cannot be avoided both because it is hard to set the exact bounds and limits of what is lawful The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Line that meres out Vertue from its Neighbour Vice is not so plain in every place as to chalk out exactly to this point thou mayst come and no farther hence the man sometimes mistakes himself into a fault however the extremity of Lawful is we know the confines and very edge of Vice And then to him that plays upon the brink of sin it is a very easie step into it and indeed unavoidable when a man is rusht and hurried on not only by his inward stings and inclinations but by the practice of the World which makes use of that holy Name of Friendship to bring Vice into our acquaintance and to befriend us into everlasting Death of such Friends I can have legions in Hell and the God of this World will serve me upon this account to procure for my Sin and my Destruction but howsoever when the Appetite is heated they are not to be denied Thirdly this happening therefore sometimes proves a Snare and bait still to go on both as it takes away the horrour and the aversation of the sins which at the first seem