Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	apostle_n	bring_v	sin_n	4,680	5	5.1414	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01550	The spirituall vvatch, or Christs generall watch-word A meditation on Mark. 13. 37. By Thomas Gataker B. of D. and pastor of Rotherhith.	Gataker, Thomas, 1574-1654.	1622 (1622)	STC 11677; ESTC S102924	129,834	148

not of it yet are we in it neither can we goe or get out of it when we will our selues we must stay in it till it please God to call vs out of it And so long as we are in it we tread vpon embers we walke among snares of euill example of allurement by profit and pleasure of shame and abashment by derision scorne and contempt of terror and affrightment by opposition threats and discountenance if we doe not as others doe We are in as much danger if not much more by euill men as by deuils by deuils incarnate as by deuils indeed they are limmes of the deuill and the instruments that he oftest maketh vse of We are more in danger of wicked men for our soules then they are for their bodies that liue in the wide wildernesse where wilde beasts are most frequent They were men like themselues that our Sauiour warned his to beware of when he said Take ye heed of men for they are they that may doe you most mischiefe They were Men-wolues that he forewarned them of when he told them that he should send them out as sheepe among wolues And had not they need to walke warily that haue so many snares in their way Had they not need to stand continually vpon their guard that haue their enemies on either side nay on euery side of them Haue they not iust cause to watch night and day that abide there where Lions Wolues and wilde beasts of rauenous disposition are most rife § 8. But there is yet a third enemie as vigilant and diligent yea more incessant and more dangerous then either of the former and that is our owne corrupt nature For the other two are without vs this is within vs it is an inbred an home-bred aduersarie A mans enemies saith the Prophet and our Sauiour from him shall be those of his owne house An houshold foe is much more dangerous then a forainer then one out of the house though dwelling at the next doore But this enemie of ours is not in our house but in our heart lodged and seated in the very inwardest and secretest closet of our soule The other two are professed aduersaries this a pretended friend And a pretended friend is more dangerous then a professed foe It was not a professed enemie saith Dauid that did me this wrong for then could I well haue borne it nor was it an open aduersarie that set himselfe against me for then could I have shunned him but it was thou ô man my companion my counsellor my guide my familiar And therefore Trust not a friend saith the Prophet take heed especially of a false friend put no confidence in a counsellor keepe the doores of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosome But this false-hearted friend of ours lieth not in our bosome but within our breast Againe the other two cease sometime their opposing of vs this is incessant it neuer ceaseth Though there be a continuall enmitie a perpetuall hostilitie a warre without truce betweene Satan and vs yet are we not alwayes actually in skirmish and combat We are not alwayes in fight though we be alwayes in the field Nor is the deuill himselfe alwayes about vs or with vs. But our corrupt nature is neuer from vs it is alwayes in the very middest of vs we carry it about with vs continually whithersoeuer we goe or wheresoeuer we become And it is neuer idle in vs but incessantly working on vs continually either hindering vs in well-doing or prouoking and egging of vs on vnto euill The flesh saith the Apostle lusteth and striueth against the Spirit so that ye cannot doe what you would And I finde by wofull experience that when I would doe good euill is present with me For mine inner man delighteth in the Law of God But I see and feele another law in my limmes rebelling against the law of my minde and leading me captiue to the law of sinne that is in my limmes § 9. Lastly without the helpe of this traitor no other enemie can hurt vs. The deuill himselfe cannot foyle vs vnlesse w●… our selues will He may perswade and entice suggest and prouoke but he cannot enforce or constraine nor vnlesse our owne heart giue consent cause vs to sinne As we vse therfore to say of the Land State that we liue in that We need not feare any foraine foe if we be true among our selues So may it be said much more truly of our spirituall estate we should not need to feare any outward aduersarie either world or deuill if our owne heart were and would be sure to keepe true to vs. But it is our owne heart within vs that is ready to ioyne with our aduersaries without vs and to betray vs vnto them The prince of this world saith our Sauiour hath beene dealing with me but he found nothing in me and therefore preuailed not against me But he neuer commeth to assault vs but he findeth enough and too much in vs the maine cause why so oft he preuaileth against vs. He findeth a many Iudasses within vs that are ready to ioyne with him to second him to assist him to fight for him to betray vs into his hands Without this intestine traitor then the deuill himselfe cannot hurt vs but it alone is able to hurt vs without him We need no other Tempter to tempt or entice vs to euill we haue an Eue a Tempter of our owne each one within vs more powerfull and more effectuall then any is or can be without vs and one that needeth not any helpe from without Euery man saith the Apostle is tempted when he is inticed and drawne aside by his owne lust And so lust hauing conceiued bringeth forth sinne and sinne being consummate bringeth forth death No need is there of other deuill to delude or destroy vs there is deuill enough in the hearts of euery one of vs to doe either there is enough in vs without any deuils helpe to effect either § 10. We haue as much cause then to watch euen against our selues as against any aduersarie whatsoeuer Since that as the Heathen man sometime said Euery man is the first and the greatest flatterer of himselfe and others could neuer come to fasten their flatteries vpon vs if we did not before flatter our selues So euery man is the first and the greatest enemie to himselfe and other enemies could neuer doe vs any harme if we did not first conspire with them to hurt our selues And if they had need to be exceeding vigilant and extraordinarily circumspect that haue not onely many open enemies besetting and assaulting them on euery side without but many close traitors also that haue busie

when he is once in and so may be beside his purpose with-drawne from that which he should principally attend So the Apostle Peter of many Christians that hauing escaped the defilements of this world that is such sinnes as worldly men are wont to be ordinarily defiled with by being intangled to wit in the like occasions of sinne and such snares as Satan had in the same set for them they come at length to be ouercome and vanquisht againe to wit by being drawne againe to the practise of such foule enormities as in themselues they had formerly reformed In regard whereof it is that our Sauiour doth admonish his Disciples to Watch and pray that they enter not into temptation For that if they doe enter an hundred to one it is such is mans naturall weaknesse and pronenesse to euill that they come not out without some foile And agreeable to our prayer should our practise be or else it is but a mock-praier and a mockery of him whom we pray to As we are taught to pray that we may not enter into temptation so must wee take ●…eed how we offer our selues vnto temptation Else what is it but a meere mocking of God to aske that of God which wee wilfully deny to our selues when we might haue it Or how can we hope that God should heare vs when we heare not our selues when we refuse to put an Amen to our owne prayer Wee must shun saith the Apostle and be shie of the very shew and shadow of sinne be afraid not with the burnt childe of the fire and the flame only but of the very smoake it selfe of sinne remembring that though the smoake can doe no great hurt it selfe yet the fire that may burne vs shrewdly is not farre from it § 27. Where commeth to be met with the idle plea of those who when they are admonished or aduised to forbeare some courses some companies that may in this kinde proue preiudiciall and dangerous vnto them are wont to say Why Is it not lawfull to doe this or that or Is it simply vnlawfull to be in such and such company Yea but saith the Apostle to such All things that is all things in their owne nature indifferent are lawfull but all such things are not expedient Things in themselues lawfull in the vse of them proue oft inexpedient and then become they in that regard and so farre forth vnlawfull to vs. The vse of a thing and the abuse of it are many times so close twined and twisted together that a man cannot lay hold on the one but he shall be taken with the other he cannot pull the one to him but the other will come with it and accompany it in spight of his heart though he doe not desire the company of it or to haue any dealing at all with it Yea sure it is as one well saith that Hee that will needs doe all that euer he may doe will be soone drawne to doe somewhat also that he ought not to doe And better it were for a man to forbeare many things that he might doe there is no hurt in such forbearance it will neuer begriefe or offence of heart to him as shee said to Dauid in another case that hee hath so done then by venturing so farre betweene winde and water in what he may doe to be but once ouertaken in what he should not doe which may proue a corasiue to him as long as he liueth And certainly as it were but a fond course for a man that is trauelling by the way when hee hath a faire broad path to walke in to presse so neere the brinke or banke of a brooke that runneth along by it and that where the ground is slippery and when the wind is high and bloweth stiffe that ten to one he is in ouer shoes if not ouer head and eares ere he goe far yea that at euery step almost he is in danger to slip in So here it is a very vnwise and improuident cariage for a man when hee hath the broad rhoad of Gods law giuing him scope enough to walke at large without danger in the vse of Gods good creatures and in the ordering of his courses yet to presse needlesly so neere vpon the borders and confines of sinne that as Dauid saith to Ionathan as sure as God liueth there is but a step betweene death and me so there is but a step betweene sinne and them or as he of men at sea but a three inch plancke betweene them and death so but an inch or two betweene them and that that may be their bane and the very break-necke of their soule and that step or inch further may the Deuill soone push them or the very swinge and sway of their owne corruption may of it selfe easily cary them For it is in going to God-ward as in climbing an hill a man shall be enforced to stay and breath himselfe oft ere hee would it is in walking to sin-ward as in running downe an hill a man shall not be able to take vp his fierce and disordered affections and to stay himselfe where hee would A man is carried with the strong streame of his owne affections in the one hee must striue and struggle against the maine current yea the swift and stiffe torrent of his owne corruptions in the other so that vnlesse he striue and straine hard if hee grow but remisse hee will soone be going amaine backward and when he is once going on toward sinne or neuer so little gone in sinne it is not easie for him to stop and stay when he will And how carefull had we need then to bee of keeping aloofe off from that how fearefull of making toward it or pressing neere vpon it which if we doe but approach vnto we shall hardly keepe out of if we once chance to step into wee shall hardly but goe on in and if we step but once into may be if we goe on in will be our end Oh let vs consider then how dangerous it is euen to approach neere to this whirlpit where we may so soone be wheeled in ere we are aware let vs take heed how we be playing about the hole of the Aspe or neere the den of the Cockatrice let vs remember that it is in the vse euen of things indifferent that Satan most vsually setteth his snares for Gods seruants and that hee preuaileth against those that be not grossely prophane and vngodly more often by the immoderate and inordinate vse of things in themselues lawfull then by drawing them to such things as are simply euill and vnlawfull in themselues And withall that it is as easier so safer for the fowle to passe by the snare while she is yet out then it is to wind her selfe out againe when she is once in She is safe enough for being caught if she keepe aloofe of