Selected quad for the lemma: enemy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
enemy_n	death_n	die_v	reconcile_v	1,129	5	9.1851	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29090	The doctrine of free-grace, no doctrine of licenciousnesse, or, That Gods free unconditionall pardoning of sinne is the best way to mortifie the power of sinne in believers asserted and cleared by Edward Bagshawe ...	Bagshaw, Edward, 1629-1671.	1662 (1662)	Wing B410; ESTC R5497	30,451	48

bringing any to the Knowledg of Christ 2 Cor. 4.6 God saith he that commanded Light to shine out of Darkness hath shone into our Hearts to give unto us the Knowledg of his Glory in the Face of Christ So in the New Testament when our Saviour commanded the Sea to be still the Blind to See the Dead to Rise c. there was no Ability in those Creature to Obey his Commands but his Command going out with Divine Authority gave unto them Power so when the Ministers of the Gospell command Sinners to Believe and to Repent the word goes out in the Name and in the Strength of God and whereever it is effectuall it conveighs that Power which was not there before And this is it which makes Preaching necessary unto the worlds end because the Spirit of God doth cooperate with it as the Apostle hath it when he commands a Minister to be Meek and ready to Teach even those that set themselves to oppose the Truth if saith he 2 Tim. 2.24 peradventure God will give them Repentance We Preach to and Pray for Sinners onely with a Peradventure perhaps God may work some good by us but if God doth not work our Words cannot and the Sinner himself will not Vse This may serve to teach all those who begin to be troubled for their past Sinnes which way they must take to arrive unto Comfort and satisfaction There are some Ignorant and Unskilfull Physicians of the Soul who prescribe Fasting Pennance Uneasie Postures of Prayer and the like which are at the best but Bodily exercise 1 Tim. 4. which Profits little because it reacheth not to the Core of Sinne that lies within Such kind of Methods as these doe onely prune and lop the Branches of Corruption but leave the Root entire Men may in a needless Rigour starve their Bodies and all the while doe nothing else but feed their Pride My advice rather is to a disconsolate Sinner that he would presently lay hold upon his Pardon And my grounds for this Advice are these two Motive 1 1. Nothing doth more engage us in a Wilfull and Deliberate Course of Sinning than Despair of Pardon When once Cain cries out Gen. 4. that his Sinne was greater than could be forgiven the next News we hear of him is That he went out from the Presence of the Lord. Thus when God summoned the People by his Prophet Jeremy Jer. 18.12 to return from the Evill of their Wayes he brings them in saying There is no Hope and then it presently follows but we will walk in the Imagination of our own Hearts The Apostle Peter therefore exhorting those to whom he writes to make a Progress in Holiness by adding one Grace to another But he saith he who wants these things is blind 2 Pet. 1.9 forgetting that he was cleansed from his old sinnes thereby intimating that as Presumption begets Confidence so Despair begets Carelesness in Sinning As we read of some who have died for fear of Death so is it in this case when men dare so much wrong Gods goodness as to imagin that he will not make good his Promise to them though it runs Indefinitely they runne so farre in Sinne till at last they dare not think of Returning which seems to have been Davids case when he cries out Innumerable Evils have compassed me about mine Iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I am not able to look up they are more than the hairs of my head therefore my heart faileth me While he stayed and forbore to pass the Ford which Mercy had shallowed for him his Sinnes like a Torrent began to overwhelme him with horror and amazement Motive 2 2. Pardon of Sinne for the time past and Power against Sinne for the time to come goe both together As when a Judge doth free a Prisoner at the same time he gives him Liberty he knocks off his Chains so when God intends to doe good unto a Sinner he never severs his Gifts but compleats the work of his Redemption by Purifying and strengthening Grace at the same time As he speaks by the Prophet Ezek. 36. I will sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean then he presently adds A new heart also will I give you and I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my wayes and you shall keep my Judgments and doe them And the reason of this is clear because when a Sinner hath once received his Pardon he may boldly goe to God and Christ and by Prayer engage their Power in his behalf but till then he is not able to doe any thing he cannot pray in Faith because he hath no Assurance that he shall be heard he cannot act in Faith because he hath no Promise that he shall be assisted but when once he hath taken what God offers he hath a certainty of both But some may object That were their Sinnes less Object then there was some Hope but their Sinnes have been so many and so strangely aggravated that they must needs sit down under the sorrow as being in an hopeless condition For answer I wish all those who make this Objection Answ as indeed none ever thinks of returning to God but he meets with this Lion in his way would seriously ask whether they find themselves as Willing to forsake their Sinnes as they pretend to be sorry for them And if they doe then let them consider these three things 1. The Latitude and Extent of Christs Death I doe not mean as to the Universality of the Persons for I find no ground for that but as to the Qualifications of those for whom Christ died And we shall find it was for Sinners for the Ungodly for Enemies Rom. 5.6 8 10 from whence a Repenting Sinner may thus argue If Christ died for Sinners then certainly he will not refuse me because I have been a Sinner If he died for Enemies then sure he will not cast me off if I am ready to lay down my Weapons and be reconciled unto him This was it which comforted Paul It is saith he a Faithfull saying 1 Tim. 1.15 that Christ came to die for Sinners among which I am chief he confesses as much Guilt as could possibly stick to him and yet takes comfort in that generall Truth that Christ came to die for Sinners And then proposes his own Example For this cause I obtained Mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting We must take heed how we frustrate the Grace of God for as the Apostle argues If Righteousness or Justification had been by the Law then had Christ died in vain So if Sinners who are desirous above all things to come unto Christ should therefore be driven out from him because they have been Sinners then would Christ have died in vain 2. Consider the Freeness and