Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	judge_v	open_v	see_v	2,927	5	3.9041	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A44515	Delight and judgment: or, a prospect of the great Day of Judgment and its power to damp, and imbitter sensual delights, sports, and recreations. By Anthony Horneck, D.D.	Horneck, Anthony, 1641-1697.	1684 (1684)	Wing H2824A; ESTC R215360	126,341	401

in Darkness and after all to share in the boundless Inheritance with the Children of Light How unlike thy self wilt thou appear before God if thou come without these qualifications Thou art a Christian but where is the Life of Christ that should be in thee Will the Judge ever take thee for his Sheep when it 's evident thou do'st not hear his Voice How ridiculous is that Man that hangs out a Bush and yet hath no Wine to sell And how foolish is that Apothecary that writes glorious Names upon his Pots when the rich drugs that are named have no being in his Shop And will it not tend to thy everlasting confusion that thou hast had the Name of a Christian and done nothing like a Christian Thus the particular proceedings of that future judgment must be applied to our selves if we resolve that the prospect of a future Judgment shall damp our carnal delights and satisfactions and without using this method we do but trifle and talk of breeding Mountains and bring forth ridiculous Mice play with Religion and are not in good earnest when we say we believe a future account 3. But neither the Reflections aforesaid nor the Application we have spoken of will make any deep impression except all be seconded with earnest Prayer that God by his holy Spirit working in our Minds would make the attempt effectual this must set to its Seal drive in the Nail and clench it The Eternal Spirit must give success to these enterprizes and in vain do we plant or water except he gives the increase He is that anointing which must supple the Soul and Crown all with Laurels and Victory By strength of thought and application the Fort of sin may be assaulted but without this Spirit lends his helping Hand it will never be taken or subdued His Power must overcome the Oppositions our Flesh and the World will certainly make in this case and if he blows upon our Hearts the strong Holds of Iniquity like the Walls of Jericho will fall and nothing can stand before him and he will certainly come in to our assistance if our Prayer and Addresses be fervent and importunate Upon such Devotions the frequent Discourses of this Day of Judgment we read or hear will be so far from bringing the thing into contempt with our Souls that our Hearts will be awaken'd more and it 's impossible we can miscarry in the pious design if with strong cries we apply our selves to him who hath appointed a Day in the which he will judge the World in Righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordain'd whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the Dead Act. 17.31 That which we are chiefly to insist upon in these Addresses is that we may get lively apprehensions of that Day and such apprehensions as no pleasure no folly no temptation of the World may darken or destroy and here let the Soul break forth into such Ejaculations O God Great and Glorious make me deeply sensible of that Day and of that Hour when the Son of Man will come when the Goats shall be separated from the Sheep the Tares from the Wheat the Good from the Bad when neither Prayers nor Tears shall be able to deliver the guilty and polluted Soul from the impendent danger when it shall be said to the humble Friend sit up higher to the proud Fool Give place to him that 's more Honourable than thou art when the Book of Conscience shall be open'd and the Dead Judged by the contents of that Book when the Sinner will not know where to flee and his Spirits will fail him for fear of him that sits upon the Throne O God! Fix these considerations in my Soul strengthen my Faith that I may believe these things unseen without wavering How apt is the World to get between this tremendous Day and my sight Quicken thou mine Eyes that I may see through all impediments into that process and reflect what manner of Person I ought to be in all Holy conversation and Godliness Lord Jesu Great Judge of the World Let the Lines of that Judgment be written so legibly in my Mind that my Soul may delight to read them that nothing may divert me from studying and considering them let this be my chief study and let me feel the same effect that those men did who were converted at thy Apostles Sermon let me be prickt at the Heart and cry out What must I do to be saved Let the thoughts of this Day make a Reformation in my outward and inward Man that it may appear that thou hast touch'd me with a Coal from the altar O God to whom Vengeance belongs shew thy self and disperse my foolish desires Let my Soul feel the transactions of that day as well as believe them Clear my Understanding and enlighten my Mind that I may have a livelier prospect of it I will not let thee go except thou bless me Look down from the Habitation of thy Holiness and visit my Soul Expel the prejudices I have against severity of Life and with the Thoughts of this Day destroy them utterly Let the consideration of this Day so work upon me that my Ambition Covetousness Pride and Anger may tremble at the sight and leave their Habitation and may be ever afraid of returning Oh tell me that this Day will certainly come and that the Day of my Death will be the Emblem of it Oh assure me of the Terrour of that Day that shall burn like an Oven wherein all that do wickedly shall be Stubble and the Fire shall burn them up that it shall leave them neither Root nor Branch let me not take example by the careless World that put this evil Day far from them Let it be always before me Let my Mind be never free from the contemplations of it Let it mingle with my Business with my Meals with my Converse with my Sleep and with all my Undertakings In every sin I am tempted to let it frighten me in my going out and in my coming in let it continually beat upon my Mind Oh my Lord let me muse upon this Day of Retribution this Day of Recompence this Day of Trouble this Day of Terrour this Day of Joy this Day of Comfort this Day wherein thy Promises and Threatnings will be fulfill'd this Day which must decide the controversy of my Life and Death this Day which will bring to light all hidden things this Day which will revive the good and confound the bad this Day of Consolation this Day of Consternation let me ruminate upon it till thoughts of this Judgment prevail with me to become a new Creature thy Grace must melt my stubborn Heart without thee I can do nothing O relieve me O come in with the light of thy Countenance Stir up my Soul and rouze it from its carelesness Call to me as thou didst to thy People of Old let that Voice sound in my Ears

of the Arch-angel Arise ye dead and come to Judgement saith St. Hierome These thoughts made him eat drink with great moderation These brought a Holy fear upon him in all his actions These kept him from going beyond the bounds God had set him These struck seriousness into him in all places These made him as circumspect in the Market-place as if he had been at Church and as devout in the Street as if he had stood at the high Altar And therefore I do not wonder at that Hermit that he became so serious a Man as Antiquity reports him who carried a little Book about him consisting only of four Leaves in which he was always seen reading and after reading meditating in the first leaf was express'd Christ's passion and what that darling of Manking suffered for poor Mortals during his abode in the World in the second was represented the process of the future Judgment with the Terrours and Constureations that guilty men will be in at that time in the third were described the Glories of Paradise and of that third Heaven which all Holy Souls shall enter into there to possess the Inheritance of the Saints in light in the Fourth was drawn to the life the Picture of Hell and of the Miseries which shall await the stubborn and impenitent in the next life these four Leaves were soon read over but they afforded infinite matter for thoughts and meditations and by these his Soul was so warmed that he cared not what became of him here so he might but enjoy the promis'd Glory that Life Immortality Christ had brought to light by the Gospel So true is that saying of St. Chrysostom There is no Man that thinks much of Hell that will ever fall into it as indeed there is no Man who makes light of it that will ever escape it For as it is among men they that are afraid of the Penalties of the Law seldom or never feel them for their fear makes them shun those actions which deserve them This keeps them from Theft and Rapine from Murder and Adultery from Burglary and Wrong from Violence and Oppression and consequently from the punishments the Law inflicts in such cases The Plagues and the Stripes they fear make them cautious and whatever their inclination may be the Rods and Axes they fear restrain them whereas those that are regardless of the Mulct bring it upon themselves so it is here the frequent thinking of it is the best Antidote against the Terrours of that future Judgment if the Ninivites had not feared their overthrown they had certainly been overthrown and how could they have feared it if they had not thought of it If the men that lived before the Flood had thought of it and been afraid they would not have been drown'd nor would the People of Sodom have been consum'd by Fire if they had taken this course It 's a great misfortune not to think of the fulfilling of Gods threatnings for he that thinks nor of it of all men will be the first that shall have woful experience of it It is reported of Agatho that in his last sickness falling into a Trance for three Days together he lay with his Eyes fix'd upon Heaven and all that time look'd very ghastly recovering out of the extasy and being ask'd by his Friends where he had been and what his thoughts had been during those three Days and what made him look so strangely O my friends said he do you ask me Where I have been alas I have been these three Days standing before the great Tribunal and seen how the most just Judge sentenced divers Souls to Eternal darkness and who would not stand amazed at the dreadful spectacle It was therefore a very good Prayer of St. Ambrose I do most vehemently desire O Lord that thou wouldst be pleased to imprint and very deeply imprint the Landskip of the future World the Miseries of the Disobedient the Groans of the Stubborn the Agonies of the Impenitent the Shrieks of the Profane the Vexations of Hypocrites the Fears of the Careless the Destruction of the Covetous the Perdition of Worldlings the Flames of the Revengeful the Terrour of Damnation and Eternal Torments and the future Felicity of thy Kingdom upon my Mind for it is impossible that he that thinks much of these things should not become thy Child and Servant and one of those whom thou hast predestinated to Eternal Life Do'st thou laugh said the Old Man in Ruffinus to a youngster whose behaviour was very light when you and I are to be judged before Heaven and Earth and indeed that Person that surveys what the Divine Jesus hath said of this future Judgment thinks how in that Day the Powers of Heaven will be shaken the Sun turned into Darkness the Moon into Blood and the Stars forbear to give their Light how the World and all the Elements will be on Fire the Universe melt like Wax the Earth be burnt up the Seas dried and the Rivers consumed and with what Glory and Bravery the once afflicted Son of God will then appear with an Army of Angels about him displaying their Banners and carrying the Sign of the Son of Man before him how before him all Nations will be assembled and all that are in their Graves upon hearing the Voice of God loud as Thunder and more dreadful too will be summon'd to appear before his Bar the Judge shining in his Meridian Glory brighter than Moses clearer than the Sun and how the Consciences of Guilty men will quake at this sight their Hearts misgiving them that their Portion will be in outward Darkness how formidable all the transactions will be how immutable the Sentence after it is once passed not to be altered or deprecated by Saints or Angels how all evasions and subterfuges will be out of doors there and all possibility of transferring our Errours upon others who have been partners with us in our sins will vanish how those that make themselves fools for Christ's sake in this life were reproached reviled derided and laughed at for their severities would not lose their Souls for a trifle nor sell their Birth-right to Eternal Bliss for a Morsel of Meat would held fast their Integrity though solicited by innumerable losses and crosses and by their nearest Relations to curse God and die how these who were here made the off-scourings of all things will then be absolved and quitted and have Seats appointed them in the Mansions of Glory there to reign and sing the goodness of God to all Eternity I say he that seriously surveys these things if he be a Person who hath not debauch'd or lost his reason cannot but be affected by passages of this Nature and think it time to curb himself in his sensual delights and satisfactions But 2. Bare thinking is not enough but the particulars of this future Judgment must be actually applied to our selves general things and what is done to others though they may

affected with these representations and if there be any thing of evil in them how readily is it imbibed or if not imbibed yet excused if not totally excused yet qualified and construed as a thing of no great hurt and thus its dreadfulness abates and it 's afterwards left out in the Catalogue of errors God was either so jealous of his own glory or so render of the spiritual welfare of the Israelites that he would not suffer them to take the names of the Heathen Gods in their mouths nor suffer them familiarly to mention them for fear their frequent naming of them should lessen their awful apprehensions of the supream Deity or they be tempted through that familiarity to think there was no great harm in worshipping of them this was no ceremonial precept nor judicial The substance is moral and consequently cannot be supposed to be abolish'd by the death of Christ and since God would not permit it to the Jews how should he be supposed to give leave to Christians of whom he requires greater strictness to be lavish in such expressions How in our modern Plays in most prayers wishes and imprecations the Heathen Deities are brought in I need not tell you The Actors indeed swear by God in the singular number but in their entire Harangues or witty sentences or expressions which they intend shall move most the Gods are call'd in and that 's the grace of thier part if it be said that this is done out of a reverential respect to the true God who is too great to be mention'd in such trival speeches it 's a marvellous thing they are not afraid to swear by him and to take his name in vain and though they mince their Oaths sometimes yet that doth not excuse the crime as long as it shews their willingness to act it but the truth is such men seek to turn Religion again into Paganism so the style they use in their respective speeches about things above is fitted for that purpose I know that it 's commonly alledged that the stories which are Acted relate to transactions among the Gentiles and that it would be incongruous to represent their actions and not to mention their Deities or to speak in their language but not to mention that there is no necessity of representing passages of this nature there being as noble things among Christians that deserve remembrance why cannot the vertues of Pagans be represented without mentioning their Gods or the sins and extravagancies of their Gods whereby corrupted nature is so easily debaucht into a mean opinion of the great Soveraign Being and tempted to believe the powers above either subject to the same infirmities that we are or at least not much displeased with our irregularities here below He that makes bold with false Gods does very easily slide into contempt of the true and while men are brought in to dare the supposed Deities above they 'l be more ready to affront him that is the same yesterday today and forever Nor will it follow because Books that treat of Heathen Gods may be read that therefore those Deities may be Acted and mentioned on the Stage for there is a great difference between reading of a thing and seeing it acted with all the vanity and boldness that usually attends it In reading a mans serious thoughts are not dispersed or scattered but keep within the compass of modesty and weigh things in the ballance of reason whereas being Acted to the life they naturally strike vanity into the mind affect the sensual part drive away seriousness and leave an unhappy tincture behind them And if it be against the Divine law familiarly to mention or talk of these fictitious Deities it cannot be very agreeable to the sense of it for Christians to go and hear that idle talk for as in other concerns the receiver is as bad as the thief so he that with delight hears that which another is forbid to speak makes himself accessory to his sin and draws needless guilt upon his Soul Flatter not your self Sir with a fancy that these Plays are no where forbid in the Bible and that therefore it may be lawful to see them for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Revelling I mentioned before and to which the Apostle threatens exclusion from the Kingdom of Heaven Gal. 5.21 and from which the word Comedy in all probability is derived though I know others fetch it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a village because in ancient times they did sing Songs about Country Towns I say this word includes all such vain lascivious Ludicrous and Jocular representations not only Dancing and luxurious Feashing but wanton light and amorous Interludes and all that belongs to the pampering and satisfying of the Flesh such as amorous Songs Complementing of Mistresses Love-tricks and immodest parts and speeches which make the vainer sort of the company merry for the word is very comprehensive and being so one would think should fright every serious person from coming within the guilt of that which hath so severe a threatning annex'd to it And is it worth losing Heaven and eternal happiness for the sight of such jocular Shows Are the pleasures arising from hence of that consequence that they will counterballance so great a loss Had you rather forfeit Gods savour then these ludicrous transactions Are these momentary satisfactions of that value that you would run the hazard of being for ever deprived of the beatifick vision for them That usual exception that God will not be so cruel as to condemn Men for such harmless sports is of no weight at all for God hath no where declared that he will govern himself by Mens fancies but his eternal wisdom is the rule he 'l go by if men will have their pleasures he hath thought fit to forbid they must thank themselves if they go without his favour and since they were warned of this danger they can have no excuse but are as the Apostle speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 condemn'd of themselves Tit. 3.11 Let 's but consider the Nature scope and drift of our Religion it commands us decency modesty sobriety vigilancy or watchfulness over our thoughts and words and actions simplicity in the inward and outward man redeeming the time employing the hours God hath lent us in profitable discourses and things useful and tending to edification It bids us abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul it condemns all Rioting chambering wantonness and making provision for the Flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof It commands us to walk after the Spirit to be heavenly minded to have the same mind and temeper in us which was also in Christ Jesus to grow in grace to advance in goodness to grow strong in the Lord and in the power of his might it bids us stand up for the glory of our God and to be concern'd when his Name or Religion or things Sacred are abused it bids us avoid Scandal and take heed we do