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	stretch_v	1,025	5	9.8952	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A71233	Publick sorrovv A remedy for Englands malady. Being an explanation of the fourteenth verse of the first chapter of the prophet Joel. By Ellis Weycoe, M.A.	Weycoe, Ellis.	1657 (1657)	Wing W1524; ESTC R221984	81,520	112

Christ finding him Preaching to the People they hearkned unto him with that earnest and diligent attention that they had quite forgot to put in execution that which was given them in charge by the Pharisees And being demanded by them why did ye not bring him along with you they returned this Answer Never man spake like this man The glorious Doctor Saint Augustine before that he had unwinded himselfe out of the error of the Manichees he went on purpose to heare Saint Ambrose but not with any intention to give any credit to his Doctrine but onely to please his Eares with the Elegancy of his Phrase and being ravished with the sweetnesse of his expressions had his Heart taken as well as his Eare his attention supplyed the fault of his intention this was that putting of a Knife to the throat The Apostle Saint Paul goes a little further and calls Gods word not onely Cultrum but Gladium not a Knife but a Sword Take unto thee the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God that thy Soule be not distracted with the troublesome businesses of this world freeing it from all worldly cares and molestations The fourth is Audire cum conservatione to heare with a retention and to lay up the Word in our Hearts to locke it up in the closet of our Soules and so Blessed are they that heare the Word of God and keep it The Physitian despaires of that Patients Stomacke that cannot keep its meat but throwes it up as soon as it receives it So he that hears a Sermon should retire himselfe into his Chamber and there imprint it in his memory Many take no pleasure in Flowers or care any further for them then to look upon them to smell at them and to have them in their Hands while they are sweet and fresh and lovely and then throw them by but the Bee drawes from them both honey and was So many heares Sermons for pleasure for delicacy of words for gravity of Sentences and for gracefulnesse in the delivery but this is but to make a Nosegay to smell at for a while and presently to cast it away but we must heare with retention we must seale it up in the coffers of our Remembrance For blessed are they that heare the Word of God and keep it And now having learnt how to behave our selves in the House of the Lord our God in his Publick Service and Worship and particularly how to comport our selves in the Hearing of the Word both to our Comfort and Profit We come now to the greatest and the most excellent service that God requires of us and that is Prayer which is that very Art of Arts that adornes a Christian And David saith That the holinesse of the Temple consisted in the Prayers which then had their force there And here you see That the Assembly gathered into the House of the Lord their exercise there is Sighing Sobbing Praying Crying Cry unto the Lord. And to this the Angels whet on our diligence and the Lord himselfe by Prayer permits us familiarly to poure out our hearts before him for Prayer is nothing else but an opening of our hearts in the presence of God and the best remedy we have to releeve our cares anguishes miseries oppressions and troubles is to lay them all up in his bosome Cast thy burthen upon the Lord saith David and he shall nourish thee And therefore whensoever we feele our selves deprived o● Gods benefits towards us whensoever we finde a want or 〈◊〉 with holding of Gods wonted favour and mercy from us by reason of our sins whensoever the height of our sinnes brings downe the weight of Gods Judgement upon us whether it be by Plague Famine Warre or any other calamity let us run to this House and importune the God of glory and compassion for this is the onely businesse of this Fast and of this Solemne Meeting which brings us to the last Circumstance in the Method or Order And cry unto the Lord. Good cause had all this People to figh and weep and cry continually for their Land was russeted with a bloodlesse Famine And for us of this Land Lamen 2.1 c. How hath the Lord darkened the Daughter of Zion in his wrath and hath cast downe the beauty of Israel and remembred not his foot-stoole in the day of his wrath He hath cut off in his fierce wrath all the herne of Israel he hath drawne backe his right hand and a Fire was kindled in Jacob which devoured round about he hath bent his Bow like an Enemy his right kand was stretched out as an Adversary He hath despised in the indignation of his wrath the King and the Priest So that well may we take up a lamentation such as was not in the dayes of our Fathers for alas no lamentation can proportion our affliction so that a Deluge of Teares is little enough for the Ocean of our miseries Let then sorrow be our individuall companion with this we begun with this let us end nay never let us make an end of mourning for the abominations of this Land and let us all learne that last lesson of our Saviour to weep for our selves to weep for our sins And for this cause I shall still leade you on with paces of lamentation to the House of mourning where we are to cry unto the Lord. We will stay no longer to look upon the behaviour of this People whose teares did not onely runne downe like a River Day and Night but their very Hearts cryed unto the Lord They poured forth their Hearts like Water before the face of the Lord they lifted up their Hands towards him for the lives of their young Children that fainted for hunger in the Corners of all their Streets the services they brought unto the Lord were not onely Prayers but Teares they did not onely Pray but Cry And since we have so sinned and have been so punished doth it not now concern us and is it not now high time for us to betake our selves unto this Sanctuary of Prayer nay what manner of Prayers should we now send up to Heaven surely not such as most what we use to make such cold and frigid ones as if they were onely for fashion sake and as if there were an indifferency in us whether or no they found acceptation from the Lord and People that are in the fiery Furnace of affliction under the torrid Zone of Heauens indignation to be so luke-warme nay so very cold in their Devotions what doth this argue but either desperation that their praying is to no purpose or else mindlesnesse under the heavy hand of God whereas there is no better meanes for the removing of this Hand then Prayer For what sin doeth Prayer undoeth especially fervent Prayer Therefore the sins of our Nation being so great and loud as that the cry of them hath brought downe such horrible Vengeance upon us who can tell whether the cry of humble Prayer unto

onely Pray but Cry Let us then having first washed our hearts and hands from unrepented sins goe unto the Lord and cry unto him to give us the assurance of eternall life and the joy of the holy Ghost and then come life or death it matters not much for though our name and liberty and riches and all be taken away from us yet we shall be setled in the assurance of an happy issue out of all our straits and difficulties for the Lord our God will maintain our cause against all those that strive with us and will stand on our part and fight against those that fight against us according to that of the Prophet Isaiah He watcheth over them night and day and waters them every moment and he will contend with them Isa 27.3 that contend against his people and so either free them from their oppressions and miseries or else which is best of all take them to himselfe where they shall be sure to have joy without sadnesse pleasure without paine wealth without want health without sicknesse life without death and a Kingdom without a change The consideration whereof me thinks should strike terrour into the hearts of those that are injurious unto the servants of God they may be bold where the hedge is low every Dwarfe will adventure to leape over there but let them know that God is a wall of fire about those that are his and he will maintain the right of his children and therfore it must needs at last goe ill with such as list up themselves against them Lam. 3.58 O Lord thou hast maintained the cause of my soule there is our stay Let us be sure we have a good cause and lay it before Gods judgement seat and then though we be overborne God will not be overborne but he will stand on our side even he that loves goodnesse and hates wickednesse and will be avenged on those that bend themselves and their endeavours to doe mischiefe unto his people Lam. 3.59 Again all our wrongs are known unto God O Lord thou hast seen my wrong nothing is done spoken or imagined against any of Gods Children but God takes knowledge of it there is not one practice slander or devise of cruell wolves against the sheep of Christ but God sees it and markes it and it belongs unto him to judge the cause of his servants Reuel 20.12 and to reward every one according to their works He must and will give them full pay and for that end keeps all upon just and due record so that as the works of the righteous shall stand for them so shall the works of the wicked he written in great Capitall Letters against them that all the world may take notice of them at the last day How may we then cheare up our hearts in all distresse for howsoever our Adversaries be busie and watchfull to plot and procure our hurt yet they cannot be so vigilent for our hurt as God is watchfull for our good and therefore we may be sure to have an happy issue out of all our troubles if so be we can but make our moan to God and wait patiently for his mercy And though God knows our griefes and oppressions before hand and purposeth to destroy our enemies yet would he have us to prefer our Bill of complaint and goe on in our suite against them and still cry unto the Lord. Neither is this to be restrained onely to corporall adversaries but it holds much more strongly for spirituall enemies Say a man be surcharged with sin and Sathan who play the Tyrants over him his soule being even scorched with the flames of Hell let him but bemoane his Case before the Lord and it will be a marvellovs ease unto him Therefore in all such extremities likewise let God be our refuge and Tower-Royall let us cast all our cares and sorrows upon him who is both able and willing to beare them and in due season will both free us from them and in the end make us gainers by them if we cry unto the Lord. To come to the close In the first of the Chronicles 1 Chron. 4.9.10 Jabez the son of Ashur is said to be more honourable then all his brethren the reason is because his Mother bare him in sorrow and his name is a name of sorrow and it is there said That Jabez called upon the God of Israel to be delivered from evill and the Lord saith the Text heard him and granted the thing that he asked And is the Lord so ready to hear and willing to grant how then comes it to passe that we who have been so severely scourged with the whip of Gods indignation after all these years of sufferings of punishments and of divisions amongst us the hand of the Lord should be stretched out still for though thanks be to God we are no way disquieted with any sound of war nor alarmes to Battell in our Nation yet the reformation of Religion which was one main thing intended at the beginning of our unhappy differences and as hopefully expected and prayed and sought for hath been hitherto so eclipsed as that whereas before there were different opinions amongst us as indeed there was never Church without the wrinkles of division so now men are grown to such variety of conceits about Gods service as that we have almost as many religions as men insomuch that we who should have all one God to our Father all one Church to our Mother all one Christ Jesus to our elder Brother are so far from unity amity and unanimity amongst our selves in respect of these woefull divisions as that opinions must either be suffered to take wall of Scripture and substance give way to circumstance which God sorbid or else as branches we cannot grow together nor as members agree together nor as brethren love and live together nor as Christs Sheep Feed and Fold together And what is the reason that after all this while we are not yet helped but Religion in stead of being reformed must still receive new and more wounds then before Surely the cause is this Because we have not so mourned as we ought in these our common calamities for the sins of the times and for the abominations of the Land because we have not sighed and groaned heartily for the sins that cleave to our soules otherwise God would have been as ready to heare as we to cry for good suiters are alwayes good speeders but it seems we have howled upon our Beds as the Lord himselfe complains in Hosea Hos 7.14 And though these rents in our Church be sufficient of themselves to open the floud-gates of sorrow and clothe all our dejected soules with the garments of heavinesse and liveries of mourning yet there are other miseries and troubles though not fit to stand in competition with these that lye so sadly upon us as might well fill our eyes with tears our breasts with sighs To name them were superfluous