Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	wonderful_a	work_v	wrought_v	23	3	7.6049	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A53959	A practical discourse upon charity in its several branches and of the reasonableness and useful nature of this great Christian virtue / by Edward Pelling ...	Pelling, Edward, d. 1718.	1693 (1693)	Wing P1086; ESTC R21750	75,615	304

fortified with Patience would turn it off with an easie and safe Hand as a Bolt shot from a weak Man's Mouth and then there would be no harm there neither These Things are Obvious and were it only for want of Philosophy that People know not how to avoid Nettles there would be some Excuse for those who have not been blest with a Liberal Education But the common Reason of all Mankind can tell us that when we are Affected by a Foolish Expression the Sting comes rather from our own Fancy than from a few Syllables and that the Hurt we feel is in the Imagination that Works powerfully but too rashly upon the Brutish Appetite to seek Revenge and Satisfaction for Trifles In Patience possess ye your Souls saith our Saviour Luke 21. 19. It is a certain way to be Easie in the World and to the World which I am sure is no little piece of Charity Considering the vast Disadvantages which come to Mankind by our Boisterous Passions and the Common Hurt which one single Person may do to a great many by them hardly can any particular Man endure too much Even a Real Injury to himself is to be born with Patience till great Charity requires him to seek for some Redress and that too must be done with a Charitable Mind and after as just and as kind a manner as may be And after all it should be considered that the Reparation gotten may not answer the Damage wherein a Man involves himself and others for want of Patience at first 3. There is yet a third Reason why Charity should teach us to endure all Things and it is taken from the Kindness we owe even those our Enemies that bring us into Affliction and perhaps designedly As Unjust as they be Christian Charity obligeth us to do our best to bring them to a Sense of their Wickedness that so they may be led to Repentance Now Patience is a very probable means of bringing this about because it is a most amiable Virtue and the Sight of it is very moving very apt to work upon the Affections It is enough to make a deep Impression upon any Hearts that do not consist of Iron or Flint to see Men take it patiently when they do well and yet suffer for it Compassion is many times a much stronger Thing than Argument and it hath often made the Spirits of Cruel Men relent when hardly any Thing else could It is indeed a common Saying That by bearing one Injury you do invite and encourage wicked People to load you with more But such Instances are very rare where there is a true Sense of Religion or Humanity and those Natures must needs be very foul and dreggy which take Delight and Pleasure in heaping up Injuries upon Injuries Yet even in that case Time and Patience do Miracles because Conscience if it stirs once is a very troublesome Thing to a Wicked Man and that which makes the pursuing of Mischief a very troublesome Work so that many times base Intentions tire of themselves when the Patience of an Innocent Oppressed Person holds out and they tire the sooner by it Witness the great Changes which were made in the Minds of Persecutors chiefly if not merely by the wonderful Patience of Christians in the Primitive Ages Tiberian the President of Palestine sent the Emperor Trajan word That he was weary of his Proceedings Usher Append Ignat. p. 9. against the Galileans as Christians were then commonly called Their Invincible Courage and Constancy and Calmness of Minds notwithstanding all their sharpest Sufferings made multitudes of the Heathens not only weary of Persecuting them but weary too of their own Principles for they concluded that Religion was from God indeed for which such vast Numbers of Men and Women did suffer the most exquisite Torments with unshaken Minds and evenness of Temper without any Transport unless it were of Joy for their Tribulations Justin Martyr confesseth that it was the Thing that Converted him to Christianity Apol. 1 p. 50. For saith he when I saw the Christians go to their Torments and Deaths so Vndauntedly I thought it impossible that such People should live in Wickedness and the Love of Pleasures because it concerns all Vicious and Voluptuous Persons to avoid Death Their Unconquerable Patience was an Argument that Truth was on their side and this made Proselites even of their Enemies so that in times of Persecution their Numbers increased For which reason that Politick Emperor Julian that hated Christianity so many times hindred its Professors from being put to Death because their Patience wrought such wonderful Effects upon the Hearts of the very Pagans Where Patience is there is God the Power and Spirit of God And who knoweth how soon and how powerfully that Holy Spirit may work upon the Hearts even of the Children of Disobedience I told you before That the Law of Charity ties us to endure all Things with Patience however Troubles come upon us whether by the Injustice and Enmity of some or by means of the different Perswasions of others concerning Matters of Religion And before I shut up this Discourse it will be necessary for me to say something upon that Point of Charity Any one may see how vastly Prejudicial it is to the Peace and Interest not only of particular Persons but of the Publick State that even those whom we may reasonably presume to be Pious and Sincere Christians cannot differ in their Judgments as to some Opinions that are in Vogue but on each side they are very hardly thought and very hardly spoke of Nay as if the Persecutions of the Tongue were not keen enough the Uncharitableness of Heady People hath proceeded to Confiscations and Flames also Before I go on upon this Theme I must lay down these two Cautions 1. That I do not take upon me to Prescribe to the Civil Magistrate whose Office it is to look after the Good of the whole Community what is most Necessary or Prudent for him whether to permit or to prohibit Differences of Opinion I do not presume to Define here Nor 2. Is it my Meaning That all Opinions should pass abroad without Lett or Contradiction though they directly tend some of them to Subvert the Foundation of the common Christian Faith or to corrupt Good Manners or to destroy or injure Humane Societies But when Men are not Legislators for others but Judges for themselves only when Points are knotty and Disputable and hard to be clearly determined and when Opinions are harmless enough especially while they lodge in the Minds of peaceable and modest Men we should express our Charity to each other by allowing every one the Liberty of his own private Judgment without denying those of a different Perswasion from us either our Communion or our Affections 'T is unreasonable to make Opinions Arguments to set up strait a separate Party and to use them as the Men of Gilead did the word Shibboleth Judg. 12. 6. for a