Selected quad for the lemma: friend_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
friend_n	answer_v	ask_v	see_v	761	5	2.8567	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A19413	A very soueraigne oyle to restore debtors; being rightly and seasonably vsed Extracted out of that most tried and quintessensed oyle, by the prophet Elisha. By vertue whereof the vviddovv indebted, (mentioned in the second booke of the Kings) was restored out of debt, and her children released of the bondage whereof they were in danger. Written by Samuel Cotesford, late minister at Stepney: and now newly published by W. Crashavve ...	Cottesford, Samuel.; Crashaw, William, 1572-1626.	1622 (1622)	STC 5841; ESTC S108836	64,803	115

and within the Land doe oppose themselues to it to extinguish it let it not O Lord be euer put out vntill that perfect and euerlasting Sonne of righteousnesse Christ Iesus himselfe doe come triumphantly in the cloudes to make a full end of all for the accomplishment whereof let euery one that waites for and loues his appearing say with mee Come Lord Iesu come quickly Amen Euen so be it Lord so be it But now to returne to our Widdow againe Had not the Prophets Counsaile wrought in her as the commaund of God himselfe and that by his speciall instinct through faith and animating or incouraging of her to the vsing of her neighbours she might haue beene dishartened at his Counsaile in willing her to goe to her neighbours and to borrow of them Alas she might haue said to her selfe No neighbour will lend me ought they will be jealous of me that I should make it away and because my debt is so great already I may perish before I get ought Nay this is the course of the World they will answer negatiuely and by way of preuention they will discourage me from asking before euer I aske But if I doe aske they haue their Answere ready Nay truely I cannot lend I haue sworne to the contrary I haue bound my selfe in bonds I haue promised all my friends not to lend So farre are men from the true knowledge of walking in that golden meane betweene two extreames Or else they will not with the Prophets minde but for their owne gaine aske of me what I haue if I haue a faire pawne a pledge or a suretie perhaps somewhat may be had or if I haue any thing to sell out-right they will then try their friend to buy it if they may haue a penniworth or if I will vse reason Now this reason vpon extremity you must vnderstand is as much as little or nothing For it is commonly held that those goods of the decayed though as good as the Rich mans euery way for value and price yet being in a ruinated decayed and a poore broken mans hands is worth some fourth part or lesse perhaps This is the fashion of the World whereunto euery man fashioneth himselfe that is rather to keepe him downe that is downe or if not downe but going in the way to beat him downe altogether rather then to helpe to raise him vp againe This is one discouragement that might haue staied this Widdow especially had she liued in this Iron or steely age of ours from following the good Prophets Counsaile Another stay arising also from the frailty of an vnbeleeuing heart had not God wrought faith in her might haue stopped her course of being contented to be directed by the Prophet as thus Alas might she haue said what should I doe thus troubling so many of my neighbours in borrowing so many empty vessels Why what good will emptie vessels doe mee mine owne poore pitcher of Oyle is not able to fill it selfe how then shall it be able to fill any one other much lesse so many as may amount to the price or value of my debt Vnfaithfulnes or distrust in God is able to discourage flesh bloud from vsing meanes seeming vnlikely to mans conceit yea it hath bred great doubtfulnesse in the very deare children of God yea so far it hath preuailed as that they haue expostulated the matter with Gods messengers as in a thing not possibly to be effected as that of Zachary about the birth of Iohn Baptist where he reasons with the Angel thus Then said Zacharias to the Angell Whereby shall I know this for I am an olde man and my wife is of great age Likewise the blessed Virgin Marie vpon the salutation of the Angel Verse 28 where the Angel certifies her that she shall conceiue and beare a sonne in the 34. Verse shee enquires of him about the point How shall this be saith shee seeing I know not man This troubled the blessed Virgin greatly as is set downe in the 29. Verse so as after shee had heard the saluation of the Angel as is written she said thus And when shee saw him she was troubled at his saying and thought what manner of Salutation this should be So that wee see where faith in God is not fully setled as in a continuall groath it must be in vs during life by many turbulent distractions vnbeliefe wil breake out and cause many times a yeelding to doe that which may be very ill for vs and a leauing off to doe what otherwise may be and is warrantable for vs to doe the doing whereof may turne to our great good the not doing to our greater hurt Indeed this increase of Oyle as out of it selfe without further meanes by the power of God in the ministry of Elizha was miraculous and may seeme incredible wherein if I should take occasion to speake of miracles how they were then and afterwards vnder the dayes of the Gospel and to what end they tended and vnto what time they were limited If also I should speake of the abuse of the Church of Rome in that poynt of miraculous working a meere illusion to deceiue the people by I should not take my selfe vp in any good time yet thus farre to say because they onely are the miracle-mongers we seeke not to take the credit of working miracles out of their hands If counterfaited signes and lying wonders by the working of Sathan with all power to deceiue by which they arrogate to themselues and that among them that perish spoken off by the Apostle Paul as purposely to set forth in some of his colours their Antichrist be miracles I yeeld it to them For wee of the Gospels profession doe not require any iuggling or apish trickes to bleare our peoples eyes withall we hold them close to the holy and onely Word of truth for the working of faith in them and that by the preaching of the same as the Apostle Paul saith Receiued you the Spirit by the workes of the Law or by the hearing of Faith preached A time there was when before the whole truth of Gods Word in the holy Scriptures was come in and digested into those two Testaments the Old and the New as they now are and so haue beene miraculously preserued through the dangers of many ages and reserued to the Churches perpetuall vse as also propounded to the view of the whole World to the end that the preachings of the Prophets as also the Doctrine of our Sauiour Christ himselfe and of his Apostles might be the more beleeued and rested vpon as the very truth of God himselfe they had power to worke miramircales as this Prophet three times in this Chapter did besides this in hand thereby to testifie to the people that he was the true Prophet of God Concerning the which point the Prophet Eliah vpon the triall of the true worship of God and the idolatrous worship of Baal betweene him and those foure hundred

to yeeld to what indifferent course for both their goods he shall at the very instant assigne them vnto For doubtlesse it is generally supposed that euery Law of Iustice especially amongst vs Christians hath these two things in it that is the very extremity in plaine termes according to the letter of the Law and the mitigation of the extreamity according to circumstances implyed in it because otherwise Summum ius cannot be but Summa iniuria And this seemeth the Prophet Dauid to teach from himselfe in his owne person when he saith I will sing mercy and iudgement But to what end is all this will some say Truly not beside the matter in hand wherein my purpose is to iustifie the execution of both these parts of the Law viz. Extreamity and Mitigation each of them according to their times and this to doe as in other cases so in the case of the Creditor and Debtor first as any one of them shall be spyed out to exceede in oppressing each other that then according to the expresse letter of the Law the intent of the Law being the good of the people they be so dealt withall thereby to breake the necke of the stubborne and contentious party to make him to know himselfe as yet the other point of mitigation closely concealed without the which no Law intented to be may for the ioynt good of either according to equity be duely also and seasonably by the Iudge executed prouided alwayes that this moderation of Law in the extreamity thereof come not too late when if not at all yet the greatest part of that worth of that which is sued for is come already into the Lawyers Coffers a little perhaps remaining behind for the suing party himselfe and this doubtlesse is the generall complaint throughout the Land I know againe it will be said that I goe ouer-far in this point medling with the Law beyond my limits To this I answere that when a meere cruell oppressour shall vnder colour of Law to get his owne where perhaps it is not possibly to be had and in all extreamity to wreake his wroth by it keepe that his poore debtor in prison so long vntill he be ready to starue and so endanger his life which is an entrance vpon the Kings free-hold yea and this to doe as vnder the Kings name in the abuse of the Kings Writ making the Law and the King ioyntly partakers of this their cruelty to the ouerthrow many times of a better Subiect to the King then himselfe is It is time then that equity the fountaine whereof is the Word of God and we as the buckets by whom ye all must draw forth as out of the holy and heauenly wells the comfortable waters of your saluation it is high time for vs to put in fact considering that it is a doctrine which Salomon as from Gods speciall instinct hath left vs to teach In the multitude of a people is the honour of a King saith he and for want of people commeth the destruction of the Prince Whence thus I reason If Kings themselues by all equity and clemency are to encrease and not by tyranny to lessen their people as doubtlesse they are and good reason because where this care is not their Territories and Countries are easily subdued and the borders of their gouernment diminished Much lesse are they to suffer the people one to eate vp and deuoure another yea if so be the people will and doe generally condemne tyrannous cruelty and oppression in their Kings to them much more were it to be condemned betweene themselues The doctrine then hence is that all Kings Magistrates and people must by all meanes auoide all occasions of bloud-shedding or wilfull murdering of any because God will not suffer the life of a man to goe vnreuenged as it is said At the hand of a mans brother will I require the life of man Who so sheddeth mans bloud by man shall his bloud be shed For in the Image of God he made man Whereunto let me adde this that not onely murder it selfe is forbidden but euery tracke or path that leadeth to it The vse that we must make of this point is alwayes vpon the troublesome and furious motions of our wrathfull and reuengefull affections and fierie passions to looke backe to the holy Word of God and thereby so to temper our selues as that we suffer not our rage in any wise to breake out because if God as it is said will put the teares of his Saints into the bottle of his remembrance much more shall he auenge himselfe of the bloud of any of his people But now to returne againe to the Widdow so pittifully complaining to the Prophet vpon the Creditor his taking her two sonnes to be his bondmen concerning whom her sorrow being then so great vpon the losse of her two sonnes if thou shalt by comparing time past with the present time and the courses which then were vsed for the satisfying of debts to the Creditors with those straight courses that now are vsed and shalt finde and as it were sensibly feele that the Creditors of these dayes and the meanes they vse towards those poore debtors of theirs are more hard and grieuous learne thou first whilest thou art at liberty and thy state sound learne betimes to auoide all occasions of falling into the hands of so vnmercifull men and no further deale with them if it be possible then thou mayest at thine owne pleasure easily escape out of their hands If thy liberty thy state thy Wife thy Children yea thy life be so deare vnto thee and the losse of them so sharpe and grieuous let not present pleasures nor the seruing of thy turne to prodigall or vnnecessary vses or any way besides the duties of thy calling so soon or so easily draw thee to buy repentance at so hard a rate But doth this lesson come a little too late art thou already caught by the heele learne then from this Widdow a second lesson lie not thou still in thy wofull and perplexed estate but speedily repaire for remedy and comfort where it is to be had to God first by prayer for the remedying or reforming rather of what master-sinne soeuer is in thee or for patience vnder this thy crosse then to the Minister to the Magistrate to thy Creditor to thy Friends as helpers and sollicitors for thee loose no time redeeme it rather it is the Wisedome of God by Salomon Doe this now my sonne and deliuer thy selfe seeing thou art come into the hand of thy neighbour goe and humble thy selfe and sollicite thy friends giue no sleepe to thine eyes nor slumber to thine eye-liddes deliuer thy selfe as a Doe from the hand of the Hunter and as a Bird from the hand of a Fowler What thou doest herein doe speedily Mora trahit periculum make proofe at once of the lawfull meanes and leaue the successe to God knowing this that he it is that hath the hearts