Selected quad for the lemma: enemy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
enemy_n	advantage_n	fight_v	great_a	1,170	5	3.0086	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A65466	A sermon concerning reformation of manners preach'd at St. Jame's Church, Westminster, Feb. 13, and afterwards at St. Brides, to one of the religious societies / by Samuel Wesley ...	Wesley, Samuel, 1662-1735.	1698 (1698)	Wing W1377; ESTC R14620	17,055	50

hates and which hates him and would if possible Dethrone him Lest otherwise they be dealt with as Saul was for sparing the Amelekites when he ought to have obey'd the Commandment of the Lord and to have utterly destroy'd them But we have yet a further Relation to the Almighty which obliges us to be valiant in his Cause and to fight his Battels We are his Servants as well as his Children and his Subjects he sav'd us from our Enemies he sav'd us when Rebels he rescu'd us from the Devil he ransom'd us by the Blood of his Son he has therefore by all imaginable Titles the Right of Dominion over us we are not our own but are bought with a Price and are therefore to glorifie God with our Bodies and Souls which are his and can by no means be accounted either grateful or faithful Servants if we desert the Interest of our Master if we refuse to engage in his Cause or are patient while he is Dishonoured Now if these Obligations and to which many others might be added did really cross our true Interest there might be some Pretence for our not pursuing them but if instead of that it shall appear that the Publick opposing of Vice does highly conduce to our Private our Civil our Temporal and Spiritual and Eternal Happiness what excuse can we make for our Negligence in this matter As for our Civil Happiness we are all born Members of a Community and consequently must desire the Good of the Whole unless we can hate our selves who are Parts of it Now 't is hard to say whether has done greater Mischief to the Publick either Ill Principles which have taken Men off from that Passionate Regard to their Country which was so remarkable and so glorious among the antient Heathens or else a Bad Life and a Dissolution of Manners which from a complication of many unhappy Circumstances has of late so visibly broken in upon us both of which have so plain an Influence upon each other Thus much is however certain that whoever truely loves his Country will heartily endeavour to make it better which cannot be expected considering the Disingenuity of the Bulk of Mankind without the due exercise of Discipline and the Punishment of those that do Evil. But this is an Article which has been so often toucht and so much exhausted that I shall insist no longer on it only leaving it to the Consideration of every prudent Person whether there would be so much Baseness so much Falshood Treason Bribery and Injustice so much Unrighteousness and Strife every where were Persons generally influenc'd with the Principles of Probity and Virtue nay had they not on the contrary abandoned themselves to the Stream of Vice and Lewdness which therefore 't is the concern of every Good Man to oppose with all his Might to prevent if possible that threatning Deluge which is likely to break in upon us and cover the Face of our Land Nor is the Opposition of Vice in order to the suppressing or at least the restraining of it less conducive to domestick Happiness than 't is to that of the Publick it being evident that the want of Discipline is the Ruine of Families and that the restoration thereof would make better Servants better Children better Masters and render all Relations much more useful and comfortable and happy But Vice is further injurious to every Mans personal Happiness to his Profit as well as Reputation to his Body as well as his Mind by innumerable Inconveniences it brings upon him Of how base a Spirit therefore he must be who yields to that Sin which as it first brought Death into the World so it continues daily to slay its Thousands brings the Judgments of God upon us emaculates Mankind taints and poisons the very first Threads of Life projects its Mischief beyond the present Age and loads Posterity with a feeble and a miserable Offspring Let us next reflect on what passes in our own Minds and the necessity there is if we consult their Happiness to oppose Vice in others as well as in our selves because its Contagion is so very spreading and dangerous Mistaken Men may call the Proud happy and so of other Sinners but 't is impossible they should be so and they know the contrary themselves for what more severe Tormentor can a Man have in his own Breast than any uncontroul'd Vice or sinful Habit. There are few Men who are altogether lost to the sense of Virtue and to that natural Tast of Goodness at first imprinted on the Mind and consequently Vice must needs be a Torment to the Mind as well as to the Body since 't is so contrary to our true Nature and a Man must be as uneasie under it as a wounded Person with an Arrow sticking fast in his Body It s true an Ill Man makes as good a Show as he can and thinks he bears it well out but 't is all Paint and Vernish he has something within that denies him Ease all his Triumphs are but like the miserable Ravings of one in a Fever who perhaps looks as fresh as ever and tells you he feels no pain when 't is but an unnatural flushing he 's still sick at Heart all within is disorder'd and he 's not far from his End Nor is the eternal Interest of every Man less concern'd in these matters than the present quiet of his Mind For unless we oppose Wickedness 't will as certainly gain ground upon us and hurry us away in the stream as the Sea will break in upon a Level if there be no Beach or Banks to resist it We know that the Wages of Sin is Death both temporal and eternal we know 't is an acceptable Service to God to oppose and resist it that he himself has told us Those who Honour him he will Honour and that our blessed Saviour has assured us That those who confess him before Men he will also confess them before his Father which is in Heaven II. I proceed to the second thing That as good Men are oblig'd to oppose Vice and Wickedness so they are to do this with united Councils and Endeavours What is a single Persons Duty in this matter cannot alter its nature when it falls into the Hands of Communities or Bodies of Men but may be much more hopefully and successfully attempted by them for the Offenders may sometimes be such Sons of Zerviah that they 'll prove too hard for any single Person Their Numbers may be so great that there will need one somewhat proportionable to oppose them since Miracles are generally ceas'd and tho Sampson and others of old could slay their Heaps upon Heaps yet 't is not now for single Persons to attack whole Armies nor will a greater Number of undisciplined Men who fight loose and stragling gain equal Advantages on the Enemy with a much smaller Body who engage with Discipline and Order It s true that the Kingdom of Darkness is likewise the Kingdom of

A SERMON Concerning Reformation of Manners Preach'd at St. Iames's Church Westminster Feb. 13. And afterwards at St. BRIDES To one of the RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES By SAMUEL WESLEY M. A. LONDON Printed for Charles Harper at the Flower-de-Luce over against St. Dunstans Church in Fleetstreet 1698. To the SOCIETIES FOR Reformation of Manners And the RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES In the KINGDOMS of England and Ireland THIS SERMON Is Dedicated by Their hearty Well-wisher And humble Servant S. Wesley PSALM XCIV v. 16. Who will rise up for me against the Evil-doers or who will stand up for me against the Workers of Iniquity Or as 't is in the Old Translation Who will rise up with me against the Wicked and who will take my part against the Evil-doers IF these Words had not been spoken by God himself or which is the same thing by the Psalmist in his Name and by his immediate Inspiration 't is certain that any who should now have asked the same Question must at least have expected the Censure of two much heat and forwardness or the yet more severe one of designing a Factious Combination instead of a Religious Union The Occasion of them as well as of the whole Psalm is judg'd to have been the Affliction of Gods People in Babylon where they had no Friend or Helper in which Condition they address themselves in the pathetic words of this Psalm to him who never fails those who trust in him expressing their firm Faith and dependance on the Almighty and that notwithstanding all they had endur'd The Lord would not cut off his People nor forsake his Inheritance but that at the last Iudgment should return unto Righteousness The time should come under the Reign of the Messiah principally and ultimately tho immediately and imperfectly under Zerubbabel's and Ioshua's Administration of Affairs when there should be a more equal distribution of things and all good Men should with one mind and one mouth glorifie God and adore his wonderful Providence and Goodness And then it follows in the words of the Text Who will rise up for or with me against the Evil-doers who will stand up for me or take my part against the workers of Iniquity Who is there that has Courage or Zeal sufficient for such an Undertaking and to assist the Civil and Ecclesiastical Governours to accomplish these happy Alterations to reform Abuses punish the Wicked depress the Proud and raise the Humble Which great Work the Psalmist v. 17. ascribes primarily and immediately to God tho not excluding Man's free Agency and Co-operation yet not depending upon them nor expecting much from them Unless the Lord had been my help my soul had well nigh dwelt in silence But I shall not in my Discourse from these words insist any further on the occasion of them or their connexion with the preceeding or subsequent Verses but consider them as independant on the rest of the Psalm and desire you to take notice that the Rising up for or with the Psalmist here mentioned against Bad men implies Zeal and Courage which he was then so solicitously enquiring after as the standing up for him or as 't is in the Syriac fitting and preparing a Man's self for such an Enterprise may denote that caution and prudence which was necessary on so emergent an Occasion as both of these Expressions imply an Union of good Men with the firmest Resolves and steadiest Endeavours against the workers of Iniquity From the Words we may deduce these Two Propositions I. That it is very difficult to persuade Men to engage in the Cause of God against Wicked Persons and Evil-doers Thisis fairly imply'd in the Words of the Question Who will rise up with me Who will stand up for me What need of such a careful and exact Enquiry if the Answer had been obvious and easie II. That 't is the indispensible Duty of Good Men with united Councils and with the utmost Zeal and Prudence to oppose Vice and Wickedness The former of which Propositions I shall insist on more briefly the second more at large in the Body of my Discourse and then apply the whole First then We may learn from these Words that it is very difficult to persuade Men to engage in the Cause of God against wicked Persons and Evil-doers The matter of fact is too plain and obvious since neither Mens Obligations to God nor those to their Country nor the Dictates of their own Consciences nor the Persuasions and Examples of better Men nay nor even their own solemn Oaths can oftentimes prevail upon them to the Performance of this hazardous Duty Nor are the Reasons less evident than the matter of Fact is The Singularity of such an Attempt the Disuse of the Laws the Opposition of the Guilty the Coldness of those who might and ought to encourage such as act in this manner the Disobliging Mens Friends or Neighbours the Fear of injuring their own Temporal Interest but above all the backwardness of those who are in Publick Offices and that general Dis-regard which most Men seem to have of their own and others Souls together with the want of a true Love to God and concern for his Glory are but too plainly at the bottom of such an unexcusable Negligence I shall not therefore need to insist any further on this Proposition but proceed to the II. That 't is the indispensible Duty of Good Men with united Councils and with the utmost Zeal and Prudence to oppose Vice and Wickedness Which Point may be divided into three Parts 1. That Good Men ought to oppose Vice and Wickedness 2. That they should do this with united Councils and Endeavours And That 3. With the utmost Zeal and Prudence that a Matter of so high an Importance needs and deserves In speaking to the first of these Heads I shall first enquire into the strong Obligations Men are under to the performance of this Duty and then prove that 't is their true Interest to answer those Obligations And one would think there should be but little need to insist on the former of these Heads to any who remember their Baptism for by their Renouncing the World the Flesh and the Devil they have actually entred into a War against them they have listed themselves under the Banner of the Cross and have taken a virtual Oath to be Christs faithful Servants and Soldiers to their Lives end Now we cannot make this War Defensive only without great Disadvantage nor will it be policy to expect it at home but rather to carry it into the Enemy's Country where we may expect if not wholly to put an end to it yet at least more successfully engage against it Daring and open Wickedness is a plain Contradiction to the Almighty and High-Treason against the Majesty of Heaven against him who is a great God and a great King above all Gods and are not all his Liege Subjects under the deepest Obligations to oppose it for that reason to hate that which his Soul