Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heart_n	bring_v	evil_a	treasure_n	9,368	5	10.7622	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26689	Divers practical cases of conscience satisfactorily resolved ... to which are added some counsels & cordials / by Joseph Alleine ...	Alleine, Joseph, 1634-1668.	1672 (1672)	Wing A969; ESTC R170093	56,044	102

must speak with him face to face as a man with his friend His word shall be as it were a Law with God Speak for whom he will they shal be spared though they seemed to be devoted to destruction But speak against him who durst he shall be sure to bear his iniquity Numb 12. 8. Forget self Renounce thine own wisdom thine own worthiness thine own will Bite in thy passions Curb thine appetite Bridle thy tongue This do and thou shalt be greatly accepted and shalt find that Gods favour will infinitely reward thee for all the murmuring oppositions and discontents of thy flesh which will be ready to be impatient to have the reins held so hard VII Maintain a spirit of resolution and constancy in the ways of God Heb. 10. 38. This was the renown of the three Worthies Dan. 3. They feared not the fierceness of Nebuchadnezzars rage nor the fire of the furnace all the world could not make them bow and how gloriously did God own them and miraculously evidence his pleasure in them Stand your ground Resolve to live and die by substantial godliness cleave to the Lord with full purpose of heart Let no difficulties make you change your station then shall you be an honour and a pleasure to the God that made you Well then would you know what frame of heart is pleasing to God why this humble sincere zealous active frame this believing meek self-denying resolved frame this is the frame that is well pleasing in the sight of God Secondly As to your performances more briefly that those may please God you must heedfully look to these five things 1. That they be done by the right Rule which is Gods Word You must not follow the imaginations of your own hearts Numb 15. 39. you must not do that which is right in your own eyes In all sacred actions you must have Gods command to warrant you you may not offer to God of that of which you are not able to say Thou requirest these things at our hands Isa. 1. 12. In all civil actions you must have Gods allowance Be sure he will never accept that which his Word condemns under pains of Gods displeasure dare not to set your hands to what the Word forbids 2. That they be done to the right end which is Gods glory How damnably did the Pharisees erre How miserably did Iehu miscarry and both in acts for the matter commanded for want of aiming at this end 3. That they proceed from right Principles 1. Faith without which it is impossible to please God Prayer will not avail except it be the prayer of Faith Heb. 11. 6. We beleeve and therefore we speak 2. Love If we should give our goods to the poor and bodies to the fire and not from Love it would profit us nothing Where the slavish fear of hell only or of the lashes of conscience or the love of mans praise carries men to duties or where any other carnal principle is predominant in the act it cannot please God 3. Fear we cannot serve God acceptably without reverence and godly fear not slavish fear The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him in them that hope in his mercy Observe the happy mixture where these two are conjoyned that is a true filial fear and faith Saith David I will come into thy House in the multitude of thy mercy Behold his faith and in thy fear will I worship towards thy holy Temple there is his fear with faith Faith without fear were bold presumption Fear without faith is sinful despair joyn them together and God is well-pleased 4. That they be done in a right manner Preparedly not rashly and inconsiderately in the presence of so dreadful a Majesty prudently for lawful acts may be spoiled and be done unlawfully without consideration had to the offence that may in some cases attend them yea holy Duties as well as common Actions may be turned into sins by being ill-timed and for want of a due attending the present circumstances Holily not rashly uttering any thing with our mouths before God but behaving our selves as in his sight Heartily not feignedly with our lips going when our minds are gadding 5. That they be directed through the right means that is Iesus Christ the only way to the Father Bring all thy Sacrifices to the High Priest offer all upon this Altar else all is lost not that it is enough to say Through our Lord Iesus Christ Amen at the end but in every duty you must come with lively dependance on him for righteousness and strength for assistance and acceptance Remember to do all in the name of the Lord Iesus to come leaning upon his hand without this all your services will be rejected at last CHAP. II. A third Case of Conscience grounded upon the words of our Saviour John 8. 29. For I do alwayes those things that please him Qu. I. Is any man able in this life to come up to the Example of Christ in this To do alwayes those things that please God Ans. In regard there is none that doth good and finneth not and God is not nor can be pleased with sin no not in his own people but most of all hates it in them it cannot be that any man in this life should fully come up to Christs Example in this yet may we come so far on towards it as that not only in our immediate addresses to God but in the general course of our lives we may come to please God Thus Enoch and Noah walked with God i. e. in their general course they walked so as to please God and approve themselves in his sight Thus the meanest of actions if done by us as unto the Lord as the Servants of Christ have a promise of acceptance and reward Col. 3. 22 23 24. Q. II. How may we come in our measure to be followers of Christ in this to do always those things that please God Answ. In order to this there is something necessary with reference 1. To our Persons 2. To our Principles 3. To our Practices with reference to our Persons and here it is necessary 1. That there be an alteration of our natures by renewing grace for they that are in the flesh cannot please God Rom. 8. 8. These wild Vines must needs bring forth sowre grapes Isa. 5. 4. The fruit that they bear how specious and fair soever to the eye is evil fruit Matth. 7. 17. Where there is not a good treasure of grace in the heart a man cannot in his actions bring forth good things Matth. 12. 36. Many enlightned sinners think by reading and praying forsaking some conscience-wasting sins to pacifie God and set all right Mistaken souls let me undeceive you you begin at the wrong end your first and greatest care must be to get your hearts and natures changed and renewed by the power of converting grace you labour in vain at the streams while the fountain of corruption in the heart remains in

for this argues there is nothing but flesh that there is no contrary principle in such a heart For if there were the spirit would at least make opposition This was the very frame of those unsanctified sinners that counted the Sabbaths and Service of God an unprofitable burden a very weariness a bondage not to be born Mal. 1. 13. A gracious heart when under such a distemper as that Gods service seems a weariness is even weary of himself while this is burdensome he is a burden to himself he cannot enjoy himself while in such a frame wherein he cannot enjoy God and if this be the Case our State is good though the frame be bad 5. Where this weariness and unwillingness is not from a rooted dislike of the food but an accidental and preter natural indisposition of the stomach or being disappointed of Gods presence in duties the main state is safe You know under a distemper the appetite may disgust and nauseate the food that a man doth love above all other meats when he is well and so it is here Do you when you are your selves relish more sweetness in Gods service then in your Meats and Drinks are no sweets so delightful to you as fellowship and communion with God when you can attain to it in duties Do you come away discontented because you cannot meet with God Is the ground why your countenances fall and your hearts be discouraged because you have with them toyled and spread the net and have not caught what you went for because you have no answer nor income from God If it be thus it is a sign your hearts be set upon God and that you place the happiness and comfort of your lives in God and so that your state is safe Otherwise when there is a fixed antipathy to duties and an habitual dislike of them and contrariety to them the Case is very sad 6. Where our weariness and unwillingness is such as makes us to give over our duties so as to live in the ordinary neglect of them it is a fearful sign but where notwithstanding present discouragements we hold on in the performance of our duties and a humble waiting upon God for removal of our difficulties till we are brought to a better frame this argues well The Church her self may be greatly deserted but then she gives not over duties but seeks after her beloved and makes diligent enquiring and will not be at rest until she hath found him But the hypocrite gives up and will not wait upon the Lord any longer Not but that a deserted soul may under the violence of temptations omit duties for a time But his condition this while is most painful restless and grievous to him and he quickly returns-again and never comes to live in a quiet and ordinary omission of known duties Conclu 7. When our weariness and unwillingness is such as makes us fall out with the service of Christ and willing to ease our selves of his yoke and to throw off his burden This is a bad sign But when we fall out with our selves and justifie and approve Christs Ways and Service it is well Thus it was with Paul he doth not quarrel with the Law as too strict and too severe nor think of breaking off his bonds and taking his liberty but he pleads for the Law and greatly approves it and commends it and condemns the backwardness of his own nature Rom. 7. 12. 25. When men are more willing to be rid of Christs burden then of the distemper that makes it grievous and cast about for ease by widening their bonds and not by bringing their minds to them it is a woful discovery of an unsound heart And thus much for this Case Awakening Questions propounded to the VNCONVERTED And Counsels to the CONVERTED THat I may reach every Mans Case I shall speak something to the Unconverted and something to the Converted For the Vnconverted there are these Six Questions which I would advise them daily to put to their Souls Q. I. What estate did my Soul come into the world in Was it not in a state of Death Ephes. 2. 1. An estate of Wrath Verse 3. Sirs awake and bethink your selves where you are and whither you are going While you are in your natural unconverted unbelieving state all your sins are unpardoned and the wrath of God abideth on you Acts 3. 19. Iohn 3. 36. Suppose you saw a poor creature hanging over a burning fiery furnace by nothing but a twine-thred like to break every moment would not your hearts shake for such a one Sirs it is your very case you hang over the infernal burnings by nothing but the small thred of your lives which you know not but it may crack the next moment and then where are you Is this a Case for you to go on merrily and contentedly in Q. II. What condition is my soul now in Am I changed and renewed by conversion or am I not Speak Conscience hath this man this woman man been soundly and savingly changed both in heart and life where are your evidences Can you shew the marks of the Lord Jesus upon your souls Let your conscience answer where was the place what was the means when was the time that thy soul was throughly renewed At least if you cannot shew the time place nor means can you prove the thing Can you say with him one thing I know that whereas I was blind I now see Sirs be not deceived I tell you whatever you be and whatever you do nothing will avail you to salvation except you be new creatures Gal. 6. 15. Q. III. What if I should lose my soul What fair work should I make of it then This is very possible Matth. 16. 26. Yea it is the case of the most There are but few few of the children of men that do escape safe to Heaven Matth. 7. 14. Sirs be aware of your danger and fear lest a promise being left of entring into Rest any of you should at last come short of it Heb. 4. 1. Suppose a man were to travel through some perilous Wood or Wilderness having but one Jewel in all the world in which his All was bound up and should see some stand on one hand and some on the other and hear one company in this place and another in that crying out under the hands of some cruel Robbers Oh in what fear would this Traveller go least he should lose this Jewel and be Robbed of all at once Why thou art the man This Traveller is thy self This Jewel is thy Soul This Wilderness or Wood is this World thou art to Travel through Swarms of sins Legions of Devils a whole world of Temptations these are the Robbers that lie in wait for thy Soul and if all that these can do can keep thee out of Heaven thou shalt never come there Oh what if thy Pride or worldliness thy delays and triflings in Religion should at last betray thy Soul into the Robbers