Selected quad for the lemma: enemy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
enemy_n	field_n	seed_n	sow_v	1,239	5	10.0934	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41017	Thrēnoikos the house of mourning furnished with directions for the hour of death ... delivered in LIII sermons preached at the funerals of divers faithfull servants of Christ / by Daniel Featly, Martin Day, John Preston, Ri. Houldsworth, Richard Sibbs, Thomas Taylor, doctors in divinity, Thomas Fuller and other reverend divines.	Featley, Daniel, 1582-1645.	1660 (1660)	Wing F595; ESTC R30449	896,768	624

grows idle and unfit for the exercises of man-hood or of his Calling and the like So it is when a man is immoderately and excessively fast asleep with the cares of this Life the lusts of his heart the pleasures of this present world or whatsoever it is that luls him and rocks this Cradle when he is thus asleep he grows fat and pursie his natural heat is gone he falls from his first zeal and affection and desire and practice Alas Brethren we may speak to the shame and sorrow of many I doubt that hear me that have exchanged their care of godliness that have exchanged their seeking of God in the means with company with good-fellowship with Drunkenness And let the Lords Marriners come to them and say Up sleeper call upon thy God why dost thou not do thy first works Why art thou lazy he grows angry as Jonas was that thought he did well to be angry to the death This is the misery of many that live under the teaching of the Gospel in the light of the Gospel This is another mark and a signe of sleep when we cannot abide of any thing to be wakened To draw to a Conclusion the last Use of this Point it serves to rouze and to raise us from this sleep and security this slumber that is in the best of us And know my Brethren I speak not now to those that are out of the Church and those that are notoriously wicked those that are scandalous and rebellious to good Counsel but I speak to those that live in the bosom of the Church those that profess goodness and godliness yea those that are Disciples and are near the side of Christ let this exhortation be to them to raise and rouze themselves out of this sleep It is time saith the Apostle that we rise out of sleep The sum of this Exhortation I will propound and then draw to a conclusion First consider how unprofitable a man a Christian man is when he is asleep What is a man when he is asleep but that there is hope of awaking and to come to the actions of life again a man that is asleep he lives but the life of a Plant there is nothing but being and nourishment a waking Beast is more profitable but that I say there is hope that afterwards he will awake So when we sleep and slumber and tumble and toss our selves in dead security how unprofitable are we to Gods glory and to our own selves Saint Paul saith that Onesimus was unprofitable before his conversion but now saith he he is profitable both to thee and me A man that is asleep is unprofitable and certainly he that is asleep in security and sin this man is most unprofitable to Gods glory and to his own soul Secondly consider when a man sleeps and slumbers in sin how unfit he is for any Christian duty and exercise for the main parts of Godliness and Christianity How unfit is a sleepy man for the actions of life and of his calling and how unfit and unable and indisposed is a man that sleeps in sin to the actions of spiritual life There be some main parts and branches of our general Calling to which this sleep makes us unable The first of them is the exercise of godliness the main thing in the profession of a Christian to exercise himself in godliness how unfit is a sleepy Christian for this who sees a man that is asleep that works in his Calling that can do any good in it So how can a Christian exercise himself in the actions of his general Calling when he sleeps in his praying in his hearing in his reading if these duties be done coldly what are they worth Actions that are done in a mans sleep they come to nothing so a man that sleeps in sin let him do never so many good actions they are of no value A second main branch of our Christian Calling is the spiritual combate to fight against our corruptions Now alas how unfit is a sleepy man either to expect or to repel an enemy when he is asleep he lies open to all disadvantage Sisera himself a strong and noble Captain was so weak that a silly woman Jael shew him when he was asleep therefore we know this part of our Christian calling cannot hold as long as we sleep in sin Thirdly another part and main branch of Christianity is to expect our Masters return to wait for the coming of our Lord that we may enjoy that sweet blessedness that he hath promised and made us expect and wait for now how unfit is a sleepy man to wait for his Masters coming to set things in order Thus we see in these particular main duties of Christianity they cannot be performed by men that are asleep therefore we had need to wake our selves if we will either honour God or profit our selves if we will be fit to do service to God or to his Church we must keep our selves awake especially in the main duties of Christianity Thirdly consider while we sleep and are secure the enemy never sleeps he is then most watchful against us We may sleep and think we do well enough to take our ease but Satan sleeps not we have a watchful enemy to deal with And then he hath some advantage by our sleeping in Mat. 13. in that Parable The enemy sows tares while men slept he comes into the field of the heart where the word of God the good seed is sown and what doth he do there he sows a crop of thorns and they make the heart of a Christian like the field of Solomons sluggard Prov. 24. I passed by the field of the sluggard and it was all thorns c. Thus is the heart that is neglected of a man that is sleepy and secure in sin When do robbers and theeves assault the house In the dead time of the night when they may take men at advantage in their first sleep then they come and break into the house Shall theeves and burglaries watch at mid-night to break the house and cut mens throats and wilt not thou watch to save thy self Further consider as the enemy never sleeps so Gods mercy never sleeps Gods mercy is ever watching over us to do us good and it watcheth to keep us watchful for what should all the mercies of God do to us but keep us watchful Our God that we serve is not as Baal the God of Idolaters perhaps he is asleep and must be awaked or he is chasing his adversaries No no the strength that keeps Israel slumbers not nor sleeps Therefore let not Israel slumber nor sleep because God watcheth over his children let them watch with him and keep themselves neer to him Fiftly if this will not move thee then consider as Gods mercy sleeps not so Gods judgments sleep not Tha●… man that sleeps in sin let him know that Gods judgments sleep not As Balaam when

respect of the metaphor the Apostle aludeth unto it is taken from the sting of a Serpent and so Sin is a sting in a double respect First in respect of the fearfulness and then in respect of the hurtfulness of it First in respect of the fearfulness It is Sin that makes Death fearful to a man Indeed I confess that in the best Christian though Christ have pulled out the sting of death yet there are natural grudgings and shruglings As to a Serpent though the sting be pulled away yet there are some abhorrings and dislikes in a man But then how terrible is Death when it cometh in a compleate Armour as it doth against a person in whom Sin remaineth in its full power it must needs then be terrible See the differences between two persons the one is afraid of every one he meeteth the other is not what is the reason the one is greatly indebted and ingaged the other is free So it is with a Christian and another man the one cannot hear of Death but his heart breaks he is full of fear and horrour the other heareth of Death and is only somewhat affected in the hearing of it but not possessed with that fear as is the other what is the reason the sting of death remaineth in one and not in another Sin therefore is a sting in that respect Secondly it is a sting in respect of hurtfulness The sting of the Serpent is a hurtfull thing it poysoneth the vitall parts it takes away life it self All the evill that cometh to us by death cometh by sin Man need not complain of the ilness of the prison so much as of his own folly that he ingaged himself in debt whereby he is cast into prison Why complainest thou of the misery in Hell rather labour to break off thy sins that are the cause of all that misery all the hurtful quality and miserable condition that befalleth a person in Death and Hell is for Sin the eternal separation of the soul from God and all punishment that follows after in Hell are the fruit of mans sin Hell had not been Hell without Sin it is Sin that causeth it to become hurtfull Thus I have explained these inquiries Now I come to make Use and application and so conclude the Point The first Use of this point shall be this If Sin be the sting of death let it be our wisdom to get this sting pulled out in the time of our life Oh that this people were wise faith God then would they consider their latter end If you were wise that hear me this day you would consider that Death will come and if it be not taken away before-hand with a sting upon the soul My brethren we have many enemies to deal with even now at this very instant but there is yet an enemy as the Apostle faith The last enemy to be subdued is Death he his behind and here is the difference betwixt Death our last enemy and some other of our enemies some other of our enemies cannot be subdued but by their presence but let me tell you this Death is such an enemy as is never subdued but by his absence thou canst never overcome Death in death thou must not reserve this combat till thou come to the field but thou must overcome this enemy before he cometh thou must overcome him in thy life How is that Pull out the sting of him now then Death is conquered How will you disarm the tongues of malicious slanderous persons and deprive them of their viperous speech by an innocent life So how will you take away the sting of death watch against Sin take away sin and you take away the power from Death set upon Sin and Death is overcome so much sin as is now dead so much is Death conquered I beseech you seriously consider these particulars First that it will not be long ere Death knock at these doors of ours these houses of clay must shortly be ruinated we must certainly be resolved into dust What is this life of ours but as a ship that is driven by a gale of breath When the breath of man ceaseth the ship lieth in a dead calm Man goeth to his long home saith Solomon and the mourners follow in the streets Death is our long home we all are the mourners we follow in the streets This dead carcass is an example that leads us to our home and a sermon to tell us that we must follow we follow now in a charitable expression but we shall follow one day in paying of the same debt Look over all the times of the world and the dispositions of persons look over learning and folly greatness or poorness find me a man that escaped Death Die we must and we have need to have this much pressed upon us for it is a hard matter to beleeve that we must die that I must be the man that must die common notice of Death are granted but that I must die and lie in the dust and stand before God it is a hard matter to beleeve this And consider this secondly that Death will be terrible to thee if he knock and find a sting in thee Thou that now wilt not be reclaimed from swearing Alas what will become of that blaspheming soul of thine when death shall come and find a sting of blasphemy in thee How darest thou think of giving up that swearing soul of thine to the Judge of heaven and earth Thou unrighteous person that wilt not sanctifie the Lords day how darest thou give up that unholy soul of thine to the holy God Dost thou think to have an eternal rest in heaven and wilt not give God a rest here So I might say for all kind of sinners Think of this take heed lest Death find a sting in thee for all the sting that Death hath it findeth in thy self look to it thy condition will be fearful if Death come and find Sin unmortified unrepented of in thee God will certainly bring thee to judgment for every thought and word and action Thirdly consider this that naturally we are so tempered that if Death come he shall find his weapons and strength in us in every man of us I mean considered naturally But how shall I know whether Death when he cometh shall find a sting in me or no I will only give you two tryals you shall know it thus First if thy conscience now sting thee for some approved sin if thou repent not Death will assuredly meet thee with a sting that approved sin of thine will be the ●…ting of death Conscience will sting a man either for the act done or for the approbation of the act if conscience sting a man for his approbation of a sinful quality or for a sinfull course if a man continue in that course surely that will be the sting of death to his soul therefore look to thy self perhaps thou art convicted of such a sin perhaps thy