Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	serpent_n	sin_n	sting_n	4,692	5	12.2188	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A15673	A glasse for the godly Contayning many comfortable treatises to perswade men from the loue of this world, to the loue of the world to come, and exhorting them with cherefulnes to passe through the crosses and afflictions of this life. Full of spirituall comfort for all such as hope to be saued by Iesus Christ. The first [-second] part. By R:W: minister of Gods word.	Wolcomb, Robert, b. 1567 or 8.	1612 (1612)	STC 25941; ESTC S121029	292,196	642

lyes And are not drunkards that depriue themselues of reason and common sense that abuse the good creatures of God that de●● their soules and bodies with vices and prepare themselues to be as spunges to receiue all iniquitie are they not comprehended vnder the name of vncleane persons and dogs If any say that these are but probabilities and collections then behold those most cléere places where the holy Ghost saith by the mouth of the Apostle 1. Cor. 6.10 Gal. 5.21 that drunkards shall not inherite the kingdom of God and that drunkennes and gluttonie are manifest workes of the flesh and that they which do such things shall not inherite the kingdome of God The second Metaphor borrowed spéech which the Apostle vseth in his exhortation is likewise taken from earthly souldiers and warfare when he saith and watch If the souldiour that lieth in field against his enemie be not watchfull but careles and sléepie how soone may his foes preuent and circumuent him so if they that are enrolled souldiours in Christs band to fight his battels vnder his banner be remisse drousie and negligent the enemies of their soules may soone ouerthrowe and destroy them It is necessarie therefore for vs to watch And why must we watch We must watch for the comming of Christ our Lord and Maister for so he commaunds saying Watch therefore for ye know not what houre your Maister will come If this be sure that if the good man of the house knew Matt. 24.42.43.44 at what watch the theefe would come he would surely watch not suffer his house to be digged through therfore be ye also readie for in the houre that ye thinke not will the Sonne of man come And againe Let your loynes be girded about Luk. 12. ●5 36 and your lights burning and ye your selues like vnto men that waite for their Maister when he will returne from the wedding that when he commeth knocketh they may open vnto him immediately And why must we watch for Christs comming because it will be suddaine for the day of the Lord shall come euen as a theefe in the night 1. Thess 5.2.3 for when they shall say peace and safetie then shall come vpon them sudden destruction as the trauell vpon a woman with childe they shall not escape And whereto must we watch we must watch to righteousnes godlines vertue good works for so the Apostle S. Paul doth admonish vs saying awake to liue righteously sinne not 1. Cor. 15.34 As if he had said sin is like the Aspe for as that Serpent when it stings any it brings them into a drousines and they die sléeping so they that are hurt with the sting of sinne fall into a drousie forgetfulnes of God godlines and except the Lord touch their hearts with repentance they senselesly sléepe vp into the second death Ephes 5.14 Awake therefore thou that sleepest and stand vp from the death of sinne and Christ shall giue thee light And why must we watch we must watch least Sathan sowe tares among the good séede of Gods word and take it away out of our hearts and choake it with the thornes of cares and voluptuous liuing Matt. 13.34.25 For Christ saith expressely That the kingdome of God is like vnto a man which sowed good seede in his field but while man slept there came his enemie and sowed tares among the wheate and went his way Briefly wherein must we watch we must watch in praier for so our Sauiour taught his disciples Matt. 26.41 Luk. 21.36 saying Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation And again Watch therefore and pray continually that ye may be counted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to passe and that ye may stand before the sonne of man And so Saint Paul commaunds continue saith he in prayer Col. 4.2 and watch in the same with thanksgiuing And iustly might he commaund vs to pray continually for what else is praier to the soule but that which the kéele is to the ship the foundation to the house and the moisture to the tree and the sinewes and ioynts to the body Take the kéele away and the ship is dissolued take the ground-worke away and the edifice falles take the moisture from the trée and there comes no fruit take away the sinewes and cut the ioynts of the bodie and the members will not hange together and take away prayer from the soule and it is exposed as a preie to euery Enemie Praier to the Christian is as a sword to the traueller that chaseth away the théefe and the bowe of the hunter that kils the sauage beast and the fortresse and bulwarke that defends the cittie and castle for the wicked spirits are put to flight when they see our soules armed with supplication and the enemies that as gréedie beasts would deuoure our soules are driuen off by the spirituall arrowes of zealous praier and the castle of the soule is protected by praier and thereby made inexpugnable Chrys de diuersis and therefore if praier be taken from the soule perinde est ac si piscem ex aqua traxeris vt illi vita aqua ita anima preccs it is as though a fish were drawne out of the water As water is life to the fish so prayer is life to the soule Art thou in tranquillitie pray to God that thy tranquillitie may be permanent Dost thou sée a gréeuous storme comming pray to God that he would auert it and turne it into calmenes Art thou heard thanke God for hearing thée Art thou not heard perseuere that thou maiest be heard For although God defer for a little space yet he doth it not of hatred towards thée neither for that he reiects thée but by deferring he keepes thee the longer by him Chrys de profectu euangelij as fathers are woont not to grant presentl● to their children whō they loue entirely ●he things which they desire but to put them off with some delay that they may tarrie the longer with them and desire it the more feruently and estéeme it the more regardfully when it is graunted Wherefore since prayer is so profitable and necessarie for vs let none passe away the time ordained for prayer in sléepe and trifling and in worldly cares and musings or in vttering the words of prayer coldly and negligently and with a roauing and wandring minde onely vsing his lips but let vs powre foorth our praiers before the Lord with attentiue mindes and carefull hearts Cyprian saith well Let the minde muse on nothing else then that which it praieth for And againe How canst thou desire to be heard of God when thou hearest not thy selfe Vis esse deum memorem tui cum tu ipse memor tui non sis Wilt thou haue God to remember thee when thou remembrest not thy selfe Bernard also hath a memorable sentence I offer saith he great iniurie to God when I pray

him to heare my prayer which I doe not heare that vtter it forth I beseech God to giue heede to me when I my selfe giue heede nor to him nor to my selfe but which is much worse by tossing vncleane and vnprofitable things in my heart I bring before his sight an horrible stinch And another said as fitly that as in a garland it is not enough Chrys hom 4. cum esset presbyter designatus for the flowers to be pure and cleane except the hand that ioynes and binds them vp be pure and cleane also in like sort in the prayses and prayers offered to God not onely the words must be godly but also the minde whence they proceed The second thing to be considered in Saint Peters words is a reason of his exhortation 2. A description of Sathan and therein a description of our arch-enemie Sathan in these words For your aduersarie the D●uell as a roaring lyon walketh about seeking whom he may deuour S. Peter saies that we are souldiours must fight as long as we remaine in this world and doth admonish vs that we haue to do not with a cōmon enemie but with one that like a lyon runnes hither thither readie to deuoure therefore he infers herevpon that we must be sober and watch And héere we may sée what thing our life is how the Apostle doth paint it out as that none regenerate by Gods spirit will not wish continually to be dissolued and to be with Christ For we are heere exposed to the assaults of Sathan like a traueller that is to enter into an Inne full of theeues and robbers Without doubt before he entered into that house if he must néedes enter he would arme and furnish himself as much as he might and he would sléepe very little in it that he might depart againe out of it without hurt Euen in the like danger doe we liue heere on the earth where Sathan beareth great swaie and so ruleth in the hearts of worldlings as that he holdes them captiues at his owne pleasure This is a terrible matter if it be duely considered And therefore blessed Peter labours to put vs in minde that we looke to our selues carefully and earnestly that is that we be sober and watch For we often abuse peace and quietnes vnto idlenes and sloath and thence it comes to passe that now and then the Enemie beguiles and oppresses vs because thinking our selues frée from all daungers we passe ouer our time in delights and pleasures as the flesh desireth How néedfull is it that we should watch since we haue an Enemie and what Enemie that eminent and notable aduersarie the diuell And what is he a lyon and what lyon a roaring lyon and what roaring lyon a roaring lyon wandring vp and downe and why wandring and walking vp and downe that he may spoile and deuour the soules of men Matt. 4.3 Ioh. 12.31 2. Cor. 4.4 Matt. 12.29 Isa 27.1 Reu. 12.3 Luk. 10.18 Heb. 2.14 This aduersarie is a tempter to impietie he is the Prince of the world he is the God of this world he is that armed man that kéepes his house with munition he is the hugie and hideous whale that doth swallow the vngodly in the gulfe of perdition he is that great dragon and old serpent he is like to lightning that will pierce most nimbly and straungely and doe wondrous things contrarie to all expectation he hath the power of death for from him came sinne and sinne brought forth death he it is of whom Saint Iohn saith He that ommitteth sinne is of the Diuell 1. Ioh. 3.8 for the diuell sinneth from the beginning And it is to be marked that he saies not the Diuell hath sinned but the Diuell sinneth to teach vs that he doth nothing else but sinne and entice to sinne One cals him magnum illum Peripateticum that great Peripatetick or walker And he may wel be so called for when he stood among the children of God Iob. 1.6 The Lord said vnto Sathan whence commest thou And Sathan answered the Lord saying from compassing the earth too and fro and from walking in it Yea but if Sathan be such a wanderer and compasser of the earth how can that place of Saint Peter stand 2. Pet. 2.4 where he saies that God spared not the Angels that had sinned but cast them downe into Hell and deliuered them into chaines of darkenes to be kept vnto damnation If the wicked Angels are deliuered into chaines of darkenes and so kept how can they wander vp and downe The answere hereunto is that God in the beginning assoone as the Angels had rebelled and sinned against him he thrust them into H●ll and the depth vnder the earth and yet in that sort that as often as it pleaseth him he suffe●s them till the last iudgement to goe forth vpon the earth and againe after a time shuts them vp into the d●pth that they may hurt no more nor no longer then it seemeth good to his heauenly wisedome Reu. 9.1 For where we reade that the keye of the bottomles pit that is of Hell was giuen to an Angell and when the pit was opened destroying grasse-hoppers came foorth that is infernall and hellish spirits whose king was the Angell of the bottomles pit and was called in Hebrewe Abaddon and in Greeke Apollyon that is a destroyer and that power was giuen them to vexe and disquiet men for a certaine time and where we ceade Reu. 20.1 that an Angell descended from heauen which had the keye of the bottomles pit and a great chaine in his hand with which he bound Sathan for a thousand yeares that he might deceiue the nations no longer vntill the 1000. yeares were accomplished for afterward he must be loosed againe for a small space what may be learned out of this but that the hellish spirits are so enclosed in their prison that is in Hell and in the depth vnder the earth that now and then they are sent foorth vpon the earth and then againe shut vp and bound at Gods pleasure But while Sathan is suffered so to compasse the earth he neuer ceaseth nor neuer resteth to assaye all enterprises and vndertake all courses that he 〈◊〉 ●●●lest the godly make himselfe sure of the wicked and so encrease the subiects of his infernall kingdome Gen. 3. He beguiled Euah in the person of a subtile Serpent If Paradise had no priuiledge and if the first woman created holy and vnspotted of sinne were subiect to his allurements who can promise securitie to himselfe He deceiued Saul in the forme of the old sacred graue Samuel he seduced Ahab by the mouth of Prophets 1. Sā 28. 1. King 22. 1. Chron. 21. 2. Cor. 12.7 Luk. 22.31 Luk. 4.13 he stird vp the Patriarke Dauid to number the people he mooued Paul to be proud of the vision he sought to winnow the Apostles as wheate to sift them to and froe and to cast them