Selected quad for the lemma: enemy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
enemy_n	hand_n	lord_n	redeem_v	1,004	5	9.2097	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93240	Divine cordials: delivered in ten sermons, upon part of the ninth and tenth chapters of Ezra, in a time of visitation. By that godly and faithfull preacher of Gods Word, Iosiah Shute, B.D. and late rector of Mary Woolnoths in Lumbard-Street London. Published by authority.	Shute, Josias, 1588-1643.; Reynoldes, William.	1644 (1644)	Wing S3714; Thomason E38_7; ESTC R7756	101,687	190

2.12 So in Ioel 2.12 Turn unto me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning there is compunction of soule and amendment of life And saith Saint Iames Cleanse your hands you sinners and purifie your hearts yee double minded Iames 4.8 Iam. 4.8 Vse 1 This lets us see the vanity of those who say they have repented of and yet have not turned from their evill wayes it may be while Gods hand was on them they repented and said they would forsake all sin but no sooner is the rod off their backs but they renew their unsanctified Olims turning with the dog to the vomit and with the sow that was washed to wallow in the mire what repentance doe men call this when as they have neither cleansed their hands nor purged their hearts darest thou say thou art cured of the lea prosie when it appeares white in thy forehead I know thou darest not and dare any be so impudent as to say they have repented of their sins when as they daily renew them this is so farre from deserving the name of true repentance that it is poenitentia poenitenda repentance to be repented of Vse 2 Secondly as wee say wee repent of our sins so let us turne from them this was the savoury counsell of Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar O King break off thy sins by righteousnes and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poore it is possible for a man to turne from sin and yet be never the better if hee grieve not for it and it is possible for a man to grieve for sin and yet far enough from true repentance if hee turne not from it if any of us should have a servant that grieved for his offence promising no more to commit the like and yet as soon as our back is turned should run into the same againe wee would presently conclude that hee did but dissemble what then shall wee think of our selves when wee say wee disclaime sin and yet our lives testifie the quite contrary let us in the feare of God sorrow for sin and turne from it else God shall be just in consuming us Should we return to break thy Commandements The manner of Ezra his speaking intimates to us that it is possible for a man to be engaged in sinne when he hath had a taste of Gods mercy and if so give me leave from hence to gather this Observation After the receit of great mercies Gods children are apt to be engaged in great sinnes See it made good in some instances was there ever a greater deliverance bestowed on any then that which the Lord afforded Noah when he out-rid that storme of the Deluge in the Ark when all the World besides him and his were drowned It is true for the present hee was so affected with it that hee built an Altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings on it but soone after hee forgat this great favour and was over-taken with intemperance could there bee a greater deliverance then Lots hee was snatcht by the Angell out of Sodom as a brand out of the fire and in his flight God gave him his hearts desire and that was to escape to Zoar yet after his going to live in the Mountaines he made the Mountaine where he lived a Sodom for there he committed incest with his two daughters the like we see in wicked Pharaoh he is very passionate with Moses and Aaron to have the judgements of God removed and when hee hath his desire hee is so farre from being better that he is worse then he was before just like Iron which is soft as long as it is in the fire but being coole returnes to its former hardnesse hee got strength by his fall So in the children of Israel what a deliverance did God vouchsafe them when hee freed them from Egyptian bondage while their necks were under the yoak of that oppressour they were in as great distresse as ever people were well it pleased God to ease them of that servitude and to give them a miraculous passage thorow the red Sea would any man have thought that ever they would have forgotten this transcendent blessing yet with in a few weeks Moses being but gone up to the Mount to receive the Law of God for them they make a golden Calfe and worship it how soone was this forgotten So in the book of Iudges we finde the same people often guilty of the same fault they provoke God and hee sold them into the hands of their enemies sometimes for eight yeares sometimes for eighteene sometimes for fourty yeares but no sooner are they delivered but they run their old bias and are engaged in foule transgressions as if they had beene redeemed to dishonour their benefactour The like wee see in Hezekiah the Lord bestowed upon him a strange deliverance for when Senacherib came against him with a puissant Army thinking to destroy Ierusalem the Lord for his insolence and blasphemy put a hook into his nostrils and slew of his Army in one night an hundred fourscore and five thousand and so delivered him out of his hands after this the Lord smore him with the plague as most Interpreters think and yet he recovered no sooner was this done but the Babylonish Embassadours comming from their Master to congratulate his recovery he was so taken with it that he shewed them the house of his precious things which was a baite to that King to come and destroy his Land and it fell out accordingly for when Isaiah had asked him from whence those men came and that Hezekiah had told him adding withall that he had shewed them all his treasures he saith the Lord of Hosts saith Behold the dayes come that all that is in thine house and that which thy Fathers have laid up in store untill this day shall be carried to Babylon as if the Prophet had said thou hast made thy will O Hezekiah and the King of Babylon shall be thy Executour and so it fell out afterwards for the King of Babylon made warre against him and took and carried away all the Treasure which formerly had been shewed to his Embassadours And when our blessed Saviour saith to the man whom hee had restored to his limbs Sinne no more lest a worse thing come unto thee Iob. 5.14 it intimates to us Iohn 5.16 that men are apt to runne into sinne when they have had the sweetest relish of Gods mercy What may bee the reason of this Reason 1 First it is from the corruption of our nature since the fall of Adam which is so depraved thereby that we are apt to forget the mercy of God even then when wee have most cause to remember it Reason 2 Secondly it proceeds from the malice of the Devill for when hee sees God to bestow great mercies on men hee then labours especially to engage them in transgression and why so that the mercies of God may be obscured by their unthankfulnesse who but even now were

hee must confesse them with hope to obtaine mercy and pardon and if yee look into sacred Writ you shall finde that when Gods children have come to confesse their sinnes they have still done it with hope of forgivenesse therefore sometimes they urge him by his Covenant Nehem. 9.32 sometimes for his mercy sake Nehem. 9.32 Psal 6.4 Psal 25.11 Psal 6.4 and sometimes for his name sake Psal 25.11 as if they had said O Lord wee know wee for our sinnes deserve not to be heard yet Lord finde matter in thy selfe of being mercifull unto us and for thy goodnesse sake reject us not the depths of whose misery call for the depths of thy mercy Let the consideration of this Vse teach us to take out this needfull lesson some there be that confesse their sinnes but it is with despaire thus did Cain and Iudas and of Francis Spira we read that being neare unto death he could not be perswaded of Gods mercies but died despairing But for our selves let us confesse our sinnes with hope that God will pardon us and with the servants of Benhadad let us addresse our selves to him and say we have heard that thou who art the King of Israel art a mercifull King let us never despaire but still come in hope of mercy though wee know that God hath just cause to damne us because the sharp grapes of our sinnes have sowred his countenance with indignation Let us not for all that cast away the staffe of our confidence but look up to heaven and say with Iob Though thou killest me yet will I trust in thee thou our God hast punished us Doth he call him their God and yet doth he punish them hee seemes to impropriate God unto them and yet he saith he punished them by the conjunction of these together I lay down this as a firme conclusion God may love and yet punish I will make it plaine unto you sometimes God punishes unwillingly Lam. 3.33 He doth not punish willingly Lamen 3.33 nor grieve the children of men And when hee is forced to punish Isa 1.24 it is with Ah and alasse Isa 1.24 Secondly it appeares thus because he desires to bee stopt in his way of punishing yee see on what faire tearmes he would have been taken off from punishing Sodom and Gomorrah if there had beene but ten righteous persons in those Cities hee would have spared them for tens sake Gen. 18.32 nay Gen. 18.32 Ezek. 22.30 in Ezek. 22.30 the Lord saith if he could but have found one man to stand in the gap before him for the land he would not destroy it and in Ierem. 5.1 he saith Ierem. 5.1 Runn to and fro thorow the streets of Ierusalem and see now and know and seek in the broad places thereof if yee can find a man if there be any that executeth judgement or that seeketh the truth and I will pardon it God would have beene glad if one could have been found to avert his indignation Nay when he finds no such intercessours then he tells men before-hand what he will doe that by their repentance they may keep him out of the way of his justice Amos 4.12 Amos 4.12 Therefore thus will I doe unto thee O Israel and because I will do thus unto thee prepare to meet thy God O Israel it is the saying of Seneca and it is a true one a man that professeth hatred to another is thereby prevented of doing him the mischiefe hee intended Hence it was that Absolom forbore to speak either good or bad to his brother Ammon for three yeares together for feare he should suspect some mischiefe towards him and when God tells men plainly before-hand what hee will doe unto them it is a cleare demonstration that be desires to be stopt in the way of his fury Thirdly this shewes it because that when his hand of punishment is upon them it shall be removed if they repent This we finde often made good to Israel on their performance of the condition and it is a signe we have not repented under Gods hand if wee have not found it true in our own experience Lastly it appeares to be true by this he punishes men because he loves them this is plain Prov. 3.12 Revel 3.19 Prov. 3.12 cited in Rev. 3.19 whom the Lord loveth he correcteth He sees punishment as necessary for his children as meat and when hee layes it on it shall not be so much penall as medicinall therefore there must needs bee love in it Vse 1 I desire from my soule that people would bee perswaded of this I confesse it is durus sermo a hard saying and men will hardly be drawn to believe it especially when the affliction is smart How often did Iob think God his enemy when his hand was heavie upon him I knew it was in his paroxysme and hot bloud for in his coole bloud he retracts whatsoever he had said before the like we see in the Jewes because God did not presently settle them in the Land of Canaan therefore they say because the Lord hated us hee hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us Deut. 1.27 Deut. 1.27 And as a man is apt of himselfe to think so so the World and the Devill are prone to suggest such thoughts unto him the World saith as Moses supposeth the Enemies of God would say if hee should destroy his people Deut 9.28 Deut. 9.28 the Lord layes this affliction upon thee because he hates thee and the friends of Iob were conceitd that God punisht him because he hated him and his wife doubtlesse thought no other therefore shee bids him curse God and die The Devill also is busie at this when hee seeth Gods hand heavie upon a man What saith hee is this the God yee serve that thus layes load upon you assure your selves he would never punish you in this manner if he loved you this is but a draught of that cup the dregs whereof yee shall suck out in Hell thus hee layes an assault to our soules to hinder our eternall good wronging Gods mercy like a lyar as hee hath been from the beginning Why should we think it strange that God should love and punish see it in Ioseph the time was when hee took his brethren to be spies and felons all this while Ioseph offered violence to his own heart cruciat amat hee torments them and loves them for when he handled them most roughly hee could not forbeare but he must goe out and weep shall hee doe all this and yet love his brethren and may not God much more punish his children and yet at the same time love them So in David all men knew that he loved his Absolom well but yet when he turns Rebell he must take up armes against him yet at the same time hee bids his men intreat the young man Absolom kindly now can man punish

under a great judgement and wee hope thou our God dost not think it small but bee it what it will wee are sure thou art just in inflicting it upon us and because contraries doe best appeare when they are brought together yee shall see how contrary the wicked be to the godly in this Cain cryes out that his punishment is greater then he could beare hee complaines not of his sinne but of his punishment as if God punished him more then hee deserved and Saul takes it ill that Samuel should charge him with disobedience though it were grosse and palpable and yee shall finde in Scripture that God exposes his actions to scanning Ierem. 5.19 Ierem. 10.16 that it may appeare to all the world how just he is In Ierem. 5.19 and in Chap. 10.16 the wicked are not ashamed to question God why hee punished them as if hee had done it without cause Ezek. 18.25 So in Ezek. 18.25 They say the Lords wayes were not equall as if he had punished the children for their Fathers sinnes when as the same sinnes were found in the children Mal. 3.8 So in Mal. 3.8 when God challengeth and plagueth them for their transgressions they reply What have wee done As if God punished them without desert and this humour of turning againe will not leave the wicked at the last day for when Christ shall say unto them on his left hand depart yee cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devill and his angels for I was an hungred and yee gave mee no meat I was thirsty and yee gave me no drink then shall they answer him saying Lord when saw we thee an hungred or a thirst Vse 1 This lets us see how the world failes in this particular when God layes his hand on men how apt are they to dispute with God and say why doth hee deale thus and thus with us and by this meanes they are so farre from mitigating that they encrease his hand upon them Nay there bee those presumptuous ones that in argumentation will aske why God elected some and reprobated others but take heed of this is it not enough to knock at the doore but wee must break it open Who art thou O man that repliest to thy Maker Vse 2 Secondly let us alwayes bee perswaded of the justice of God in all his proceedings for though wee see not the reason why hee doth this or that yet there is good reason for it Voluntas Dei secreta sit nunquam injusta the cause why God punisheth may bee hid but it is never unjust Therefore when thy tumultuous flesh shall say with Rebeckah Why am I thus know that it is for thy excesse thy Sabbath-breaking thy hypocrisie thy lewd conversation Therefore change thy note and say with the Church Mich. 7.9 Mich. 7.9 I will beare the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him I know it is a hard thing to suppresse the tumultuous thoughts which arise in men in times of trouble but these must bee laboured agaist with all our power for no man gets by contending with his Maker but multiplies his stroaks Wee proceed now to the reason which hee gives for justifying God for wee remaine yet escaped as it is this day As if hee had said thy goodnesse is demonstrate hee that runnes may read it thou hast been abundantly more mercifull to us then to thousands of our brethren who perished in the captivity for lo we remain even to this day That which I collect from hence is this In generall judgements which God brings upon the World there is still some escaping When God sent the Deluge upon the world Noah and his Family perished not in the fiery shower which God rained on Sodom and Gomorrah Lot and his Daughters perished not nay a whole City to wit Zoar is spared at Lots entreaty When Pharaoh commanded all the male children of the Iewes to bee drowned Moses was preserved and when Iericho was destroyed Rahab and her Family were spared and when for Davids pride seventy thousand were consumed by the Pestilence many thousands in Israel escaped and when the last great Plague was among us thousands and ten thousands had their life for a prey What is the ground of this Reason 1 First all Gods wayes are interveined with mercy Reason 2 Secondly God still spares some to bring them to repentance that they may turn out of the crooked into the straight path Vse 1 Let me advise them that have tasted of Gods mercy in this way never to forget it and for this let me stirre up my own soule to prayse God with you when my next neighbour was smitten dead why was not I smitten also it was only Gods mercy when some in the same house with us were infected and died of the plague why were wee spared it was of Gods meere mercy and it ought to bee marvellous in our eyes Vse 2 Secondly let us bee farre from censuring any that dyed in the last visitation as if they were greater sinners then others farre bee it from us to bee of this wicked humour for many a good soule went to Heaven then and many a Cham was spared Wee are bound to praise him for our selves for why did hee spare us was it not that wee should bee better Gods sparing men is either to harden them or to amend them therefore except wee repent wee shall likewise perish The reason which hee gives on their part is that though God had spared them yet they were before him in their trespasses as if hee had said O Lord thou hast to the full performed thy counterpart with us but wee are yet in our sinnes for wee are as bad or worse then wee were before Here take notice of thus much What a fearefull judgement it is not to profit by afflictions It is that for which God finds great fault with his people in Deut. 29.2.3.4 his hand had been heavie upon their Enemies in their sight and view Deut 29.2.3 4. yet they were never the better So in lsa 1.5 there the Lord saith to Israel Isa 1.5 why should yee bee stricken any more yee will revolt more and more Ierem. 12.13 The like also we see in Ierem. 12.13 They were sick and had no profit This was the sinne of Cain hee was stigmatised for a wretch yet hee was as wicked as hee was before It was also the sinne of Pharaoh Ahab and Ahaz they were all the worse for comming under the rod and are therefore branded by the spirit of God to all posterity There is a great deale of difference between Gods afflicting the godly and the wicked Isa 27.7 as may appeare Isa 27.7 Hath hee smitten them as hee smote those that smote him What is the reason the godly profit by affliction but the wicked are the worse for being afflicted Every thing works together for the best to Gods people but every thing turnes into sinne to the wicked according