Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heart_n	faith_n	good_a	unfeigned_a	2,823	5	11.0408	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A32052	Saints memorials, or, Words fitly spoken, like apples of gold in pictures of silver being a collection of divine sentences / written and delivered by those late reverend and eminent ministers of the gospel, Mr. Edmund Calamy, Mr. Joseph Caryl, Mr. Ralph Venning, Mr. James Janeway.	Calamy, Edmund, 1600-1666.; Caryl, Joseph, 1602-1673.; Venning, Ralph, 1621?-1674.; Janeway, James, 1636?-1674.	1674 (1674)	Wing C263; ESTC R13259	89,295	292

the neglect of that Soul-saving duty will rise up in Judgment against you The Righteous and the Wicked will be tried by their Consciences and that will discover the whole truth Study that Lesson which the Apostle Paul hath set before you To have always a Conscience void of offence towards God and towards man The powers that are are of God therefore be subject for Conscience sake Let your rejoycing be in the Testimony of a good Conscience Put on Charity out of a pure Heart a good Conscience and of Faith unfeigned Justice hath leaden feet but iron hands and it is but just that they that encourage one another to sin should at last condemn each other It will be but cold comfort at the great Tribunal for sinners to remember their past follies Satan that now spreads abroad his temptations will then witness to their neglect of wholesom exhortations The holy Quire of Angels will point to the sinners Conscience and that will answer I am acquainted with all your sins The Spirit of Christ will testifie how often that hath moved the ungodly to repent The abused creatures that have been forced to promote sin will continue in the hearts of sinners the Beast of the field will rise up against the Glutton and the Wine against the Drunkard Pray often for Prayer is a sheild to the Soul a sacrifice to God and a scourge to Satan Shun all appearances of evil resist the Devil and he will flie Seek not after Riches they have wings and flie away but study for Wisdome it 's price is above Rubies To seek after the Riches of this World is vanity But the fear of the Lord is wisdome and to depart from evil is understanding The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdome and instruction What can be more pretious than Wisdome for it is the gift of God Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding What can be stronger than Wisdome that buildeth houses and heweth out its pillars Who can be more pious than the wise man He that getteth Wisdom loveth his own Soul What can be more clear than Wisdome for that excelleth folly as far as light excelleth darkness The wicked mans fate is to be wise too late The Veil of Hypocrisie cannot hide our sins from God he will make us know that it is his Christ that we resist What is gotten by resisting our Saviour Or what shall a man gain if he get the whole World and lose his own Soul What are the Riches of this life to the Joys of heaven And who is a better Guide to that happy place than the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the World And why should not we love God since he so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Was one Guest found out that had not a Wedding-garment and will not God then find out every unholy Soul The Righteous themselves are pardoned sinners but the wicked are impenitent Each Soul that labours in the Lords Vineyard shall receive his reward according to his merit Let your acquaintance be few and good Cousins Country-men and School-fellows are spenders of money and time Let your study be furnished not with many but with choice books Let wisdom direct your actions the wise man takes care for necessaries not for superfluities Wisdom is Riches indeed it teacheth a man the Art of contentment in all conditions It makes a man not onely Master over others but Conquerour of his own passions Premeditation is commonly accompanied with Wisdom The wise man sees his own faults by the follies of others He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he that ruleth his Spirit than he that taketh a Citie Wisdome is more useful in a City than the strength of mighty men So true is that of Solomon This Wisdom have I seen under the Sun and it seemed great unto me 14. There was a little City and few men within it and there came a great King against it and besieged it and built Bulwarks against it 15. Now there was in it a poor wise man and he by his wisdome delivered the City yet no man remembered that same poor man 16. Wisdom is better than strength nevertheless the poor mans wisdom is despised and his words are not heard However he that getteth wisdom loveth his own Soul and he that keepeth understanding shall find good 18. For Wisdom is better than Weapons of war but one sinner destroyeth much good Ingratitude is the Epitomy of Impiety To render a good deed for a good deed becomes a man to give evil for good is diabolical to repay evil for evil becomes a sinner but to return good for evil is the Quality of a Saint Injuries should be wrote in dust but Kindnesses in marble Nothing more spurs a man on to be ungrateful than the sin of covetousness Set not your heart upon wealth For the love of money is the root of all evil The wicked borroweth and payeth not again but the righteous sheweth mercie and giveth To be always begging or borrowing and never paying is the disposition of a covetous and ingrateful man and doth oftentimes set the dearest friends at variance Nature excuseth the follies of a fool but the ungrateful man hath no Apology To be courteous to one that is ungrateful is like ones hiding his treasure in the Sea Neer Relations that are strongly bound by the bonds of Affinity and Consanguinity are oftentimes divided by this black sin of ingratitude He that will forget a kindness is ungrateful but he that renders a discourtesie for a courtesie is impious And blessed is he that considereth the poor the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble Wo be unto the covetous rich man that hath his heart fixt upon his heaps the poor man is happier than he For the Lord heareth the poor The needy shall not alway be forgotten the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever There is an evil under the Sun saith Solomon and it is common among men A man to whom God hath given riches wealth and honour so that he wanteth nothing for his Soul of all that he desireth yet God giveth him not power eat thereof but a stranger eateth it this is vanity and an evil disease He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver nor he that loveth abundance with increase 12. When goods increase they are increased that eat them and what good is there to the owners thereof saving the beholding of them with their eyes The poor mans labour rocketh him to sleep but the cares of the rich man keepeth him awake 13. There is a sore evil under the Sun namely riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt 14. Those riches perish by evil

of Gospel-worship I confess it is a sad sight to see a bad man do that which is bad or a wicked man do that which is wicked yet I say it is a sadder sight to see a bad man continuing in his state having no spiritual principles to go on doing good God often declares himself very highly against such as do good themselves continuing evil The good that you do will not profit you 't will not advantage you 't will be no plea at the Great Day You may have Iehu's Penny a deliverance from an outward Judgment but there is no deliverance from Wrath and Eternal Judgment Thus those that are not far from Heaven shall never come there yet I would exhort the worst of men to do good though they please not God in doing it yet they displease him in not doing it And thus faln man if he neglect to do good sins If he doth good he spoils it in the doing of it Hence we see the necessity of regeneration we are not born with a pure Heart A pure Heart a good Conscience Faith unfeigned are the Issues of the new birth Education cannot make the Heart pure it must be Revelation which makes the Heart pure Education may change a mans Course but it cannot change his Nature that 's only done by Regeneration He must be good before he can do good spiritually God works us before we can work for him he makes us good before we can do good We by Union to Jesus Christ come to have a spiritual Principle to carry us out in the doing of all good works Here 's your way you must be Gods workmanship before you can do Gods works As we are grafted into Christ he changes the Branch Then all your Fruits are sweet Fruits and pleasant Fruits they are well-tasted Why It is done first from a Principle of life in Christ. And secondly It is done from a Principle of love unto Christ. The Heart of man is the greatest cheat in the world The Heart of man received such a crack in the fall that there is no mending of it It must be new made The Heart is made wholly new by the power of God Meritoriously by the Blood of Christ that cleansing Blood it is made pure by the Spirit of Christ the Spirit is a purifier The Word of God is a purifier Instrumentally Applicatorily the Heart is made pure by Faith When the command of every sin When the custom and practice of every sin And when the love of every sin is gone such a Heart is free from these powers that Soul is Evangelically pure He that indeed hath this pure Heart is really sensible that once his Heart was very impure And also is as sensible that to this day there remains much impurity in his Heart He also that hath a pure Heart loves every thing that is pure and the more pure it is the more he loves it A pure Heart will be full of pure thoughts a pure Heart converses with God in purity of thoughts Whereas the wicked they have not the Pure God nor the Holy God in all their thoughts A pure Heart is full of pure desires he desires to be more good to be better he desires to know more of God and to honour God more he desires to enjoy God more he hungers and thirsts after God A pure Heart hath pure purposes and pure resolves and by resolves the Heart is more settled and fixt Resolution is the establishment of the Soul He resolves let the Winds blow high or low to cleave to Christ. There is a purpose in a pure Heart against all that 's evil He will neither defile his Heart nor his Life and these purposes he carries quite thorough all unto the end A pure Heart hath pure ends in all it doth a holy aim a single eye not self-profit not self-applause not pleasure but he purposes the profit of many that they may be saved Weigh it well whether you have this pure Heart The hardest thing that we have to do and the greatest kindness which God can do to us is to cleanse our Hearts Our hearts are the filthiest part of us If there be impurity in the hand there 's much more in the Heart Till the Heart be made pure nothing can be pure God is a friend indeed to those who have a pure Heart Keep pure Hearts with all diligence for the Devil comes a Heart-stealing continually unless you wash it weed it sweep it Cobwebs will grow Spiders will creep in they will be weaving their Webs To the impure Heart there is nothing pure Holy Ordinances honest Callings great Possessions all these to an impure Heart are not pure The pure in Heart are onely fit for Communion with God they onely are fit to call upon God who have a pure Heart Onely the pure in Heart shall see and enjoy God Impure eyes cannot behold God they cannot bear the Glory the excellence of his Presence THE HEART ANATOMIZED THe wicked search out Iniquities they accomplish a diligent search the inward thoughts of their Hearts are deep The Heart is commonly hard Harden not your Hearts as in the provocation in the day of Temptation in the Wilderness The heart of a godly man may be said to be perfect for David saith of himself I will behave my self wisely in a perfect way Oh when wilt thou come unto me I will walk within my house with a perfect heart The heart is said to be sound A sound heart is the life of the flesh but envy the rottenness of the bones The heart is sometimes merry sometimes melancholy A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken The heart hath many devices Nevertheless the Counsel of the Lord that shall stand The heart of an Holy man may be said to be pure He that loveth pureness of heart or hath grace in his lips the King shall be his friend The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked Who can know it The heart is said to be stony I will give them one heart saith the Lord and I will put a new spirit within you and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and I will give them an heart of flesh The heart is the chiefest Jewel which the Lord requires of a Christian My Son give me thine heart and let thine eyes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my Laws He that keepeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Lord shall be 〈…〉 Law of his God is in his 〈…〉 none of his steps shall side Blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the Law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his Testimonies and that seek him with the whole heart Mr. Caryl's DIVINE SENTENCES OR A GUIDE TO An HOLY LIFE HE prepareth a fit Habitation for the Lord whose Reason is neither deceived nor Will perverted nor Memory defiled Happy is that Soul

Blessings of the Righteous in the the World to come 1. WIth everlasting Salvation 2. With everlasting Life 3. With everlasting Glory 4. With everlasting Honour 5. With everlasting Liberty 6. With everlasting Dominion 7. With everlasting Riches 8. With everlasting Kindness 9. With everlasting Peace 10. With everlasting Light 11. With everlasting Joy 12. With everlasting Security The Curses of the Wicked 1. Everlasting Damnation 2. With everlasting Death 3. With everlasting Shame 4. With everlasting Contempt 5. With everlasting Bondage 6. With everlasting Slavery 7. With everlasting Poverty 8. With everlasting Tribulation 9. With everlasting Darkness 10. With everlasting Sorrows To avoid the Curses We must endeavour to be Reconciled to God through Christ. We must endeavour to be really Justified and Sanctified We must endeavour to love God's Word in Sincerity We must endeavour to walk according to the Rule of it We must endeavour to have our minds fixed on God We must endeavour to trust in him effectually We must endeavour to be upright before him We must endeavour to please him in all our ways We must endeavour to do that which is good in his sight The bare Title of a Christian is not sufficient for Salvation if we are not obedient to the will of Christ we are no more Christians than a Picture is the Body of a man At the last day the Great Question will be Did you serve Christ or only pretend to do so Behold the great Assize is drawing nigh and our Judge is coming to the Court. A Crown of Glory and a consuming Fire attend for the appearance of the trembling Sinner Then the poor Soul appears to answer for what was done in the flesh At the Resurrection that power of the Almighty God that made man of nothing will new make him again Repentance and a good Faith are sure guides to Eternity Obstinate Impenitence leadeth to destruction Though it be above our powers to bring men acquainted with their hearts to assure them their Faiths are infirm and their Repentance lame the Great Judge that searcheth all mens hearts will at last convince them Though we hold the Candle of the Gospel in our hands yet the men we plead with are in the dark for they shut their eyes and will not see But the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to shew himself strong in behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him He is not onely an all-seeing God but he is eyes to the blind and feet to the lame God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble This God we should endeavour to know but many men know many things yet do not know themselves Wherefore we should return from things External to things Internal and from things Internal ascend to things Supernal So may a man know from whence he came or whither he shall go the way to know God is for a man to study the art of knowing himself By how much the more I profit in the knowledge of my self by so much the more I approach to the knowledge of God I finde three things in my mind by which I remember consider and desire God and these are my Memory Understanding and Will By my Memory I remember by my Understanding I consider and by my Will I desire and love When I remember God I finde him in my memory and that gives me an occasion to rejoyce By my understanding I consider what God is in himself what he is in his Angels what he is in his Saints what he is in Men and what he is in his Creatures In himself he is incomprehensible because the beginning and end the beginning without beginning the end without end I understand from my self how incomprehensible God is because I cannot understand my self whom he hath made In his Angels he is desireable Which things the Angels desire to look into In his Saints he is delightful for they being happy continually rejoyce in him Do ye not know that the Saints shall judge the world In his Creatures he is admirable because he Powerfully createth Prudently governeth and Sweetly disposeth of all things Every creature of God is good In men he is Amiable as he is their God and they are his people He dwelleth in them as in his Temple Ye are the Temple of the living God as God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people Since God is so ready to inhabit in man how happy is that man that can entertain so great and so good a Guest How great is the Humility of such an Omnipotent Creator to dwell in so poor a Cottage Why then should we despise others he doth not visit the Rich for their riches but he saveth the poor from the sword Despise no man though never so wretched but be moved toward him with a brotherly affection Think another mans miseries to be thine and take the like care to relieve them Reverence the poor for they are those that receive others into the Eternal Tabernacles If thou seest an apparent sin in another be as sorrowful for his Iniquity as if thou sawst an imminent danger of death to thine own body For one Soul wounded with sin is of more value than all the bodies in the whole world As I would be careful to defend my body from death much more I ought with all diligence to endeavour to withdraw my Neighbour from sin by my Prayers Example and Exhortations Let no man envy his Neighbours success but rather affect his good as his own and rejoyce at his welfare especially in spiritual Affairs tending to the good of his Soul Give no credit to reports but believe more good of your Neighbour than you can see with your corporal eyes Love your Neighbour as your self but not with so strong an affection but that you still keep the chief room in your heart for your God Love that man best that is most vertuous he may requite benefit for benefit and for courtesies received offer prayers to God As we have opportunity let us do good unto all men especially those who are of the houshold of Faith When you discourse with another let God be in your minde and consider he sees you and you see him as effectually as you see the person you discourse with Whatsoever you attain to acknowledge it to be the benefit of God Every good and perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the father of lights with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning Think every man better than your self neither be proud in your own conceit for God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble Give no cause of discontent to any neither be apt to commend your self

let Religion be your business for he is most capable of rejoycing in the evening that watcheth his words thoughts and deeds in the day To despise the world is the way to enjoy heaven and blessed are they who delight to converse with God by Prayer What folly can be greater than to labour for the meat that perisheth and to neglect the food of Eternal Life God or the World must be neglected at the parting-time for then is the time of Tryal then shall the Righteous continue Righteous and be Blessed To seek your self in this world is to be lost and to be humble is to be exalted First study to believe there is a life of Blessedness hereafter then will you be the better strengthned to hunger and thirst after Righteousness If you would have the Lord receive you into Heaven you must give your self unto Prayer Prayer is defined by Gregory Nyssen to be a Discourse between the Soul and God it is of two sorts Vocal and Mental that is outward expressions of the Voice and an inward lifting up of the Mind to the Throne of Grace Before you enter into Prayer ask your Conscience these Questions with a resolution to return an Answer 1. To what end O my Soul art thou retired into this place 2. Art thou not come to discourse with the Lord in Prayer 3. Is he present will he hear thee 4. Is he merciful will he help thee 5. Is thy business slight is it not concerning the welfare of thy Soul 6. What words and reverence wilt thou use to move him to Compassion Let these Interrogatories be considered Discoursing with thy self will prepare thee the better to discourse with God To make thy preparation compleat consider thy condition thou art but dust and ashes and he the great God Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that cloatheth himself with Light as with a Garment Remember these or such like devout expressions O let my Prayer enter into thy presence Let my Prayer be set before thee as Incense and the lifting up of my hands as the Evening Sacrifice As the clay is in the Potters hand to fashion it at his pleasure so man is in the hand of him that made him to render to them as liketh him best I will praise thee O Lord with my whole heart I will shew forth thy marvellous works The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit a broken and a contrite Heart O God thou wilt not despise Let us search and try our ways and turn again unto the Lord. If your hearts condemn us God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things Such Expressions as these from a devout Soul open the windows of Heaven and prevail with God to hear its Prayers In your Prayers or Meditations beware of Satan's devices of which these are some He endeavours to intice sinners to presumption by lessening a sin and making it seem to be slight On the other side he studies to betray some to the sin of despair insinuating such a crime is Haynous and beyond pardon But thus saith the Lord Though your sins be as Scarlet they shall be white as Snow Though they be red as Crimson they shall be as Wooll He shewed to our Parents a golden Cup but discovered not the Poyson hid therein when he said God doth know in the day that ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil Thus he attempted to betray Christ when he tempted him with the glories of the World saying All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me He hath likewise the art to put false glosses on particular sins as Pride that he pretends is Neatness Covetousness is good husbandry Drunkenness he calls good fellowship and Extravagancies the effects of a liberal Spirit He extenuates sins by whispering to the credulous wretch To be Drunk to Swear c. are but little sins and repentance is no hard task it is but to ask pardon and cry Lord have mercie upon me He insinuates these delusions into the sinner You may walk by the Harlots yet not enter you may drink with the Drunkard yet not be drunk you may handle a bag of Gold yet not steal it He assures the Soul that the wicked man is happier than the devout Soul for the former enjoys all the delights of the world whilst the others are Persecuted Imprisoned and oftentimes undone One chief designe of Satan to delude the Soul is to conduct him into evil company Beware of false Teachers that lead your Judgment astray They reproach the Embassadors of Christ so did Korah Dathan and Abiram to Moses and Aaron Good Michaiah was likewise aspersed by Ahabs false Prophets They are devisers of false Prophesies The Lord said The Prophets prophesie lies in my name I sent them not neither have I commanded them neither spake I unto them they prophesie unto you a false Vision and Divination a thing of nought and the deceit of the heart They are stiled blind guides That strain at a Gnat and swallow a Camel They are counterfeit and unclean Wo unto you Scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites that make clean the outside of the cup and platter but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness They endeavour to delude men to their opinions rather to carry on their own Interests than to better their Conversations Wo unto you Scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites for ye compass Sea and Land to make one Proselyte and when he is made ye make him twofold more the Child of Hell than your selves Wo unto you blind guides which say Whosoever shall swear by the Temple it is nothing but whosoever shall swear by the Gold of the Temple he is a debtor Ye fools and blind whether is better the Gold or the Temple that sanctifieth the Gold He that sweareth by the Temple sweareth by it and by him that dwelleth therein False Prophets privily bring in damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction Since then Satan is so busie what remains but that we Arm our selves with spiritual Weapons Wherefore take unto you the whole Armour of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day For the Weapons of our Warfare are not Carnal but Mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds David said to the Philistin Thou comest to me with a Sword and with a Spear and with a Sheild but I come unto thee in the Name of the Lord of Hosts the God of the Armies of Israel whom thou hast defied Let a Christian keep his Faith firm for that will carry his Heart through many difficulties Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God prepareth for them that love him The

See see the day by sable Clouds orespread And bids us Weep for Caryl now is dead But by and by do's seem to say This Globe Could not detain him from his patient Job Calamy went before but there 's no odds Since each design'd to be a Child of God's Observe the hours how striving to retire Caryl and Comfort seeming to expire Bids Night and Nature hang the Vniverse With Black due Obsequies for such an Herse He ne'er was cruel to exhaust a Tear All Weeping was reserv'd to spend it here Those flattering Arts which Poets use to save Decaying Reputations in the Grave Are here but vain for no Hyperbole Can tell the World how great his Merits be And Chronicles themselves can say no more Than what his Learning told the World before His Pious Sermons did declare his worth His Expositions set his Learning forth And whilst we here lament his being gone Angels with Anthems welcome him at home And I my self a Catholick could be At least to Pray to such a Saint as he Caryl whose Conversation free from ill Can be express'd but by an Angel's quill As in some mirrour you might clearly see In him a perfect Map of Piety The Beauty of whose Vertues may incite The World to imitation and delight Let us lament our loss and blame his fate For not allowing Life a longer date Reverend Caryl may his Vertues shew As bright hereafter as they 're Glorious now Who when he through this Earthly Globe had past He dy'd left he should idle grow at last For when grown Ancient he would even then Both study Piety and use his Pen He like an Artist did true Patience paint To us on earth now to some Glorious Saint He shews the same who can no longer cease That to extol as Caryl's Masterpiece His EPITAPH HEre lies the Earthly Carkass of a man Whose life too justly may be call'd a span He liv'd converting those that went astray But Death now snatcht this Heav'nly Guide away Then careful Earth unto his Corps be just A Divine Soul was once within his trust But being call'd away it now is flown From hence to take Possession of a Throne A SPIRITUAL GARDEN OF Sweet-smelling FLOWERS OR Mr. VENNING's DIVINE SENTENCES THat Soul that is settled in the love of God is blessed in the peace of Christ. When such a Soul suffereth an outward War she looseth not her inward peace No troubles whatsoever which do outwardly make a noise do violently enter into the silence of her inward repose She coveteth nothing abroad and therefore resteth wholly within by love Such a Soul the Angels do visit and honour she being the Temple of the Lord and the Habitation of the Holy Ghost Happy is that Conscience in which Mercie and Truth are met together for there Justice and Peace have kissed each other God is a God of Mercie and will take pity on him that is truly sorrowful for his sins By Mercie and Truth Iniquity is purged and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil The Kiss of Justice is to love our Enemies to forsake Parents and Possessions for the love of God to endure with Patience injuries inflicted and in all places to flie from honours that are offered The Kiss of Peace is to invite Foes to friendship peaceably to sustain Adversaries lovingly to instruct such as do amiss meekly to comfort those that mourn and to be at amity with all men It is our Saviour's command Love your enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you For all that will live godly in Christ Iesus shall suffer persecution The Almighty hath three degrees of Wrath his threatning Wrath his punishing Wrath and his condemning Wrath. Adam sinned and was cast out of Paradice the Angels sinned and were cast into Hell We have many sins to repent for viz. our Church-sins our Sermon-sins our Sacrament-sins and the sins of our very Prayers Is any man rich let him not put his trust in them for riches make themselves wings and flie away Lazarus was poor but was received into Heaven Dives was rich but however was carried into Hell Moses went up unto the Mount to pray and took the Rod of God in his hand because with that Rod God had formerly done wonderful things for his people If any mistake through a vain hope of Heaven let him be earnest in the examination of himself to be deceived in this necessitates damnation To hear Sermons to commend them or admire them and not to practice what we hear and understand is to make Sodom and Gomorrha's case at the day of Judgment better than our's Then will the world discern the Blessed from the Wretched when the wrath of God is throughly kindled Those that are now so idly busie in heaping up their Treasures of an Ant-Hillock and building up the tottering Fabricks of a child remember not that the foot of death is coming to spurn it all abroad and to trample down both you and it Let us study how to answer the great and last Question Hast thou performed the condition of the Gospel Let us search our hearts that God may finde them in a condition to receive him For thus faith the Lord I the Lord search the heart I try the reins even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruits of his doings Make not sale of Heaven for the false pleasure of a few sins for a little delight and ease that vanisheth in a moment Repent before thou becomest Old left thy Repentance should come too late for thou leftst not thy sin but thy sin left thee Take heed of dissembling with thy God lest he so discover thy craft that thou shalt not be trusted by man Accommodate Nature withthings convenient but beware of nourishing a lust for that is to hug a Devil in thy bosom To acknowledge God to be just is good and it is just we likewise acknowledge him to be good When thou Prayest rather let thy heart be without words than thy words without an heart Prayer will make a man to cease from sin or sin will intice a man to cease from Prayer It is good to have a good Name but it is better to have a good Conscience It is good to be great but it is better to be good Teach thy heart to walk wholly with thy God as well as holily Only a profession of Christianity is not the only profession of a Christian Your words and works may satisfie the judgments of men but God is the great Judge of our hearts Pray for mercie before you receive and forget not to praise when you have received It is common to have the name of Christ in common The Swearer swears by it the Begger begs by it the Jester joyns it to his jest but wo be to them that shall tremble at it Vain sinner

either crucifie our sins or we shall dye in them Our hope of glory is not only Christ without but Christ within us What is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you the hope of glory Many men are at one and the same time both alive and dead for they that wallow in the deceitful pleasures of sin are dead though they live You hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins When man is most idle then is the Devil most busie It was Latimer's saying that one holy day produced more service to Satan than many working days This was the Iniquity of Sodom Pride fulness of Bread and abundance of Idleness was in her and in her daughters neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy The Righteous man saith What is lawful that will I but the unrighteous man saith What I will is lawful or to me all things are lawful All the wayes of man are clean in his own eyes but the Lord weigheth the spirit It is the pleasure of Almighty God to bless us without any cause given him How much then are we to bless him who hath given us the cause so to do Praise waiteth for thee O God in Zion Sing forth the honour of his Name make his praise glorious The devout Soul should so live as that the Gospel should not be ashamed of him nor he of that As he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation Where no assurance is there may be grace but no assurance can be where there is no grace Let us draw neer with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience and our bodies washed with pure Water The godly man sets a greater value by far upon the motions than the notions of grace All the blessings that a Saint receives are the more dear welcom because they savour of a Saviour Christ is our treasure as David saith With thee is the Fountain of Life and in thy light we shall see light He that denies himself shall be saved but he that denies his Saviour shall be damned It is Christ himself that saith He that taketh not his Cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me He that findeth his life shall loose it and he that looseth his life for my sake shall finde it When God sends us an evil visitation even then God is good to us for he sends that evil for our good The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works When a sinner repenteth of his sin his sorrow speaks it self to be great when he cannot speak for sorrow A Saint will keep to the Doctrine of his life that he may keep life in his Doctrine God loves us not for what we have but for what we are and we are bound to love God were it for no other reason but because he loveth us The wicked man mindeth not the God that made him but sets his affections upon the God of his own making But your gold and silver is cankered and the rust of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire ye have heaped treasure together for the last days It is more honourable to purchase fame from a low degree than to become contemptible and infamous though sprang from an honourable Family The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom and before honour is humility Most men are naturally lovers of Gold yet that came but from the earth from the Gold comes Dross yet few men mind that so is it with good and bad men the Vertuous though they come from a mean stock are honoured and the Vicious though of splendid families are despised Wherefore Adde to your Faith Vertue and to Vertue Knowledge Why should we rejoyce in the pleasures of this world for we no sooner set our affections on them but of a sudden they are blasted or we are taken from them or by sickness disabled to enjoy them Wherefore seek ye the Lord Jesus Christ in whom is hid all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge And the Lord give thee understanding in all things THE SINNER'S Character Arraignment and Punishment BY Mr. RALPH VENNING IN Divers Sentential and Experimental DIVINE SAYINGS SIn is contrary to God Sinners are called enemies to God And sin is called enmity it self as being contrary to God It makes men walk contrary to God revelling rising up against and contending with God Hence men hate God resist God sight and blasphame God And Atheistically say there is no God Sin would ungod God Sin is by some of the Antients called God-murther or God-killing All these are in the nature of every sin more or less but are all of them in the heart of all sinners in their Seed and Root c. Hence sin is not onely High-Treason against the Majesty of God but it scorns to confess its Crime God is glorious in Holiness● Sin on the contrary is all sinful only sinful altogether sinful As in God there is no evil so in sin there is no good God is the chiefest of goods and sin is the chiefest of evils As no good can be compared with God for goodness so no evil can be compared with sin for evil Sin opposes all Gods Names and Attributes It deposeth God's Soveraignty it will not that the King of Kings should be in the Throne Pharaoh spake the Language of sin I know no Lord above me Sin denies God's all-sufficiencie as if there were more in sinful pleasures than in him Sin dares God's justice and challenges God to do his worst it provokes the Lord to jealousie and tempts him to wrath Sin disowns God's omniscience Tush say sinners God sees not Sin despises the Riches of God's goodness Sin turns all God's Grace into wantonness sin is the dare of God's Justice the rape of his Mercie the jear of his Patience the slight of his Power and the contempt of his Love Sin is the upbraid of his Providence the scoff of his Promise and the reproach of his Wisdom Sin is contrary to God's works and is called the Devil's work God's works were good and exceedingly beautiful But the works of sin are deformed and monstrous ugly Sin may be impleaded for all the mischiefs and villanies that have been done in the world 'T is the Master of Mis-Rule the Author of Sedition the Builder of Babel the Troubler of Israel and all mankind Sin is contrary to God's Law and Will to all the Rules and Orders of his appointment Sin is not only a transgression of but a contradiction also of the Will of God Sin is an Anti-Will to God's Will David in fulfilling of God's Will was said to be a man after God's own heart and they that obey the will of sin are said to