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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	life_n	lord_n	name_n	2,550	5	5.1329	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A20529	Foure godlie and fruitful sermons two preached at Draiton in Oxford-shire, at a fast, enioyned by authoritie, by occasion of the pestilence then dangerously dispearsed. Likewise two other sermons on the twelfth Psalme. VVhereunto is annexed a briefe tract of zeale. / By I. Dod. R. Cleauer.	Dod, John, 1549?-1645.; Cleaver, Robert, 1561 or 2-ca. 1625.; Winston, John, fl. 1614-1634.; Greenham, Richard.	1611 (1611)	STC 6938; ESTC S114261	70,793	120

the preuenting of the like sinnes in others and the stopping of the mouthes of wicked blasphemers who would be readie heereupon to speake euill of the holy name of God and of the professours and profession of Christianitie Thus cold and carelesse were they till the Apostle had sharply reprooued them but after that they had well disgested his speeches and thorowly considered of all matters they fell to lament for their owne corruptions and for the transgressions of others and were zealous against all wickednesse and for all manner of goodnesse in themselues and others This was the effect of holy griefe in them and this will be found in all that attaine to that repentance which is vnto life in which regard when the Lord would worke a cure vpon the luke-warme Laodicians he biddeth them be zealous and amend That was their sinne that they were key-cold and euen frozen in the dregges of securitie exercising themselues in sundrie good duties for that must needes be because they were a Church but neuer regarding with what loue vnto God or men they performed the same therefore the Lord vrging them to reformation willeth them to be zealous and amend implying that these two euer goe hand in hand to wit sound repentance and godly zeale yet so that as euery one is of greater growth in the body of Christ so this grace is of greater strength in him as is euident in Dauid who speaketh thus of himselfe and that by the inspiration of Gods holy spirit and therefore cannot but speake truely My zeale hath euen consumed me because mine enemies haue forgotten thy word Weaker Christians haue some good motions of griefe for mens offances but the Prophet was exceedingly wrought vpon by his zeale so that it did euen spend him and consume him in regard of the fearefull breach of Gods commandements which he obserued in his very enemies And the like we find in another place The zeale of thine house hath eaten me and the rebukes of them that rebuked thee are fallen vpon me Thus was the holy man of God touched yea tormented with the things whereby Gods glory was impaired as if he had beene laden himselfe with reproaches and disgraces But most admirable was the zeale of Moses and Paul who for that feruent desire that they had of aduancing Gods glory could haue beene content to haue had their names put out of the booke of life and to be separated from the Lord so that his great name might be magnified in sparing and sauing their brethren the Israelites Now because our hearts may easily deceiue vs in this matter of zeale either by perswading vs that we haue it when we are farre from it or that we altogether want it when in some good measure we haue attained vnto it therefore will it not be amisse to set downe some rules whereby we may trie whether our zeale be currant or counterfeit First therefore touching the matter about which this holy zeale is to be exercised it must be good according to the saying of the Apostle It is good alwaies to be zealous in a good matter and it was before shewed that Gods people must be zealous of good workes otherwise if the matter be euill the more earnest any is the more sinfull neither is such earnestnesse worthy the name of zeale being nothing else but a diuellish and fleshly heate or rather a kinde of frenzie and madnesse Such was the zeale of Idolaters that would mangle and cut themselues and that would offer their children in the fire in honour vnto their gods Such was the zeale of the Scribes and Pharises who would compasse sea and land to make one a Proselite that is one of their owne sect With this violent and mad zeale was Paul carried before his conuersion as he himselfe confesseth in plaine tearmes Acts. 26. 11. and Phil. 3. 6. when he was enraged against Christians and spared no paines nor cost to make them denie and blaspheme the name of Christ. Heere then is to be condemned the zeale of ignorant Papists and Brownists and such like who are very hotte indeed for he must needes runne whom the diuell driues but in euill causes as might easily be prooued and may hence if by no other arguments be probably concluded in that they vse the diuels owne weapons to wit lying standering railing cursed speaking and the like in the pursute of the same But much more damnable and vile is their zeale to be esteemed who against their knowledge and consciences doe violently and maliciously oppose themselues against the Gospell and the professors thereof and stand for falshood and wickednesse and the practisers thereof as did those wretched Pharises that set themselues against our Sauiour and committed the sin against the holy Ghost A second rule is that as the matter in which we are zealous must be good in it selfe so it must be knowne vnto vs to be of that qualitie True zeale must begin where the word begins and ende where it ends for otherwise it cannot bee of faith which is euer grounded on the word and whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne We must not therefore content our selues with an honest meaning and hope that wee haue a good zeale towards God when we haue no warrant for our hope but must so acquaint our selues with the Scriptures of God that our zeale may be according to knowledge Which rule discouereth the corruptnes of their zeale whether close hypocrites or weake Christians who are led on meerely by the examples of good men whome they affect much to like of and earnestly to stand fot such things as they perceiue them in their practise to obserue and to make conscience of and if there be but a word spoken against any of the things that they haue taken a liking of they are maruellously stirred with indignation thereat and grow passionate and vehement against the parties though they haue neuer so good a meaning in that which they speake Yet let them bee vrged to prooue out of the word the necessitie of those duties which they so earnestly presse they can say little or nothing to the purpose for them and so grow manie times either to dislike and forsake all if they bee hypocrites or at least to bee discouraged and to bee at a stand if they be weaklings in Christ Iesus And whence proceed these inconueniences but from this that they are zealous for things that in themselues and vnto others are good and holie but not thoroughly discerned of them to bee of that nature the consideration whereof should make vs to sit sure in matters of godlinesse not building vpon the example of good men but vpon the truth of the good word of God and then our foundation shall neuer faile vs. A third propertie of true zeale is that it beginneth in our selues and after proceedeth vnto others for neuer can that man be truely zealous to others which neuer knew to

cried vnto thee ô Lord saith he saying thou art mine hope and my portion in the Land of the liuing Fourthly in such times of difficultie Gods glorious hand is more apparantly seene and so all the honour is ascribed vnto him If Moses had brought the Israelites out of Aegipt by force of armes being aided with two or three millions of souldiers much of the praise would haue bene giuen vnto them but when Moses was naked and altogether destitute of any power of man the Lords mightie Arme was more cleerely seene in the deliuerance of his people and the subuersion of their enemies And that worke of his hath bene is and shall be memorable in all ages So also Hezekiahs sicknesse had beene such as anie Physitian could haue cured his recouerie should neuer haue beene recorded in Gods booke as not making so much for his glorie but when the prolonging of his life was as much as the giuing of a second life then notice of it was taken and giuen by the holie Ghost to the euerlasting honour of Gods name And as it was then so is it yet still and euer shall be to the end of the world the greater the extremities and necessities of the Saints bee wherein God doeth relieue them and out of which hee doth deliuer them the more will it be for the magnifying of his omnipotencie and of his tender mercie therein expressed This serueth 1. First for the confutation of their foolish conceit and expectation who seeing mighty aduersaries against the Church and fewe or no friends to interpose themselues presently conclude that their case is desperate downe they must they are vtterly vndone and so they begin to forecast in their mindes the manner of their ouerthrow the forme of their lamētation when they shall bee thus and thus handled But these men for all their deepe reach may bee deceiued for all their conclusions are grounded on men they doe not consider what God may doe as wee see in Dauids enemies who perceiuing that manie did band themselues together and rise vp against him concluded that there was no helpe for him in God But what sayes Dauid Lorde thou art a buckler for mee my glorie and the lifter vp of my head And in another Psalme Mine enemies saith hee speake of mee saying God hath forsaken him pursue take him for there is none to deliuer him These speeches no doubt pierced Dauids soule but doth hee make the same conclusion No hee is farre from that hee rather layeth faster hold on God seeing cruell men to be so violently bent against him Goe not farre from mee O God saith hee my God haste thee to helpe mee let them be confounded and consumed that are against my soule c. Indeede if mens opposing of themselues against him could haue kept him from complaining vnto God or God from giuing eare vnto him his case had bene very lamentable but seeing that was impossible whatsoeuer they imagined there was safety enough for Dauid and so is there still for all the elect of God Secondly this is for instruction that seeing by how much lesse helpe we haue from men so much the more we shall haue from God therefore we should deale earnestly with the Lord in our distresses and wrestle with him as Iacob did when his brother Esau came with foure hundred men against him hee was vnable to encounter him and therefore hee encountreth the Lord himselfe by prayers and teares and that which was his refuge must bee ours and then wee shall haue peace and safetie if once wee can lay hand-fast on God as wee may in our houses in our chambers in our beds in the night or in the day then our case is good wee shall be protected from all the violent rage of the wicked so that none of the sonnes of violence shal be able to touch vs for our hurt and therefore herein let vs take comfort that though men forsake vs and our neerest friends reiect vs yet the Lorde will gather vs vp and prouide sufficiently for vs as he did for Dauid neither can mens perswasions withdrawe his compassion from vs nor mens threatnings terrifie him from releeuing of vs For there is not a godly man left c. From this lamentable complaint of his ariseth this doctrine that No outward thing comes neerer the hearts of God children then the decay of good men It much troubleth the soules of godly men to see a small number of Christians Hence proceedeth that lamentation of the Prophet Micah Woe is me for I am as the Summer gatherings c or I am in case as in the destruction of the Summer fruites as in Hoseah it is said The fishes of the Sea shall be gathered that is destroyed and that this is the sense it appeareth in the words following when it is said There is no cluster to eate My soule desired the first ripe fruites that is I am as one that hath a feruent longing for them and yet can get none of them and what is the reason of this his lamentation The good man saith hee is perished out of the earth and there is none righteous among men c. So that the effect of those words is thus much that looke how worldlings would grieue if they should see their grapes and figges which were speciall commodities in those countreys to faile and their expectation that way to bee vtterly frustrate so and much more bitterly did the Prophet bewaile the losse of good righteous men That was it also that did so pierce the heart of Elias Lorde saith he the children of Israel haue forsaken thy couenant broken down thy Altars slaine thy Propeets with the sword and I onely am left and they seeke my life to take it away Which losse of the Prophets was so grieuous vnto him that hee had no pleasure in his owne life and therefore hee intreateth the Lord to take away his soule In which regard whē the Lord would comfort him he vseth a fit remedie for his disease for whereas his griefe was that there were no godly men left but all were declined to Idolatrie he telleth him that he had reserued to himselfe seuen thousand that had not bowed the knee vnto Baal Yet further it may appeare what a matter of heauinesse the losse of good men is vnto those that are good themselues by that speech of Dauid who saith All my delight is in the Saints for if they be his chiefe delight then the want of them must needs be an occasion of very great anguish vnto him as is euident that it was Psalm 42. 4. when he remembred how he had gone with the multitude and had beene as a Captaine to leade them vnto the house of God which then he could not doe this cast him into wonderfull griefe so that he poured out his teares yea and his very heart as he there speaketh being in such