Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heart_n	harden_v	judgement_n	pharaoh_n	2,936	5	10.9003	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A31997	The Godly mans ark, or, City of refuge, in the day of his distresse discovered in divers sermons, the first of which was preached at the funerall of Mistresse Elizabeth Moore : the other four were afterwards preached, and are all of them now made publick, for the supportation and consolation of the saints of God in the hour of tribulation : hereunto are annexed Mris. [sic] Moores evidences for heaven, composed and collected by her in the time of her health, for her comfort in the time of sickness / by Ed. Calamy ...	Calamy, Edmund, 1600-1666.	1658 (1658)	Wing C248; ESTC R22111	99,589	306

Dilectum delictum thy peccatum in deliciis thy beloved sin what is that sin to which thou art most of all inclined and if that sin prevaile over thee and thou canst not say with David Psal. 18. 23. I have kept my self from mine iniquity It is very probable that for the subduing of that sin thou art corrected of God 4 If ever thou hast been at the gates of death despairing of life consider what that sin was which did thee most of all trouble and perplexe thy conscience or if ever thou hast been in a dream supposing thy self to bee dying and breathing out thy last what was that sinne which did then most of all affright thee It is very likely that God by afflicting thee intends to get that sin more conquered and mortified 5 Consider what those sins are for which thy godly Minister under whose care thou livest doth reprove thee and of which thy true and real friends do accuse thee for if thou hast sleighted the voyce of thy faithful Minister and friends surely God out of his love to thee followeth their advice with the voyce of his Rod that thereby hee may open thine ear to Discipline and command thee to depart from those iniquities But if thou canst not finde out that particular sin for which God afflicts thee labour to repent of every sin and then thou wilt bee sure to repent of that sin If thou canst not finde out the Bee that stings thee pull down the whole Hive or the thorn that pricks thee pull down the whole Hedge Do that out of wisdome which Herod did out of malice who because hee could not finde out the Babe Iesus killed all the children in Bethlehem from two years old and under that so hee might bee sure to ' kill Iesus Let us seek the utter ruine and death of all our sins and then wee shall bee sure to destroy that sin for which God afflicts us and when the cause is removed the disease will forthwith bee cured and the Almighty pacified and reconciled unto us 2 Let us labour that the good wee reap by our afflictions may abide upon us after our recovery from them There are very many who while they are under the Rod seem to bee very penitent and do purpose and promise to amend their lives but as soon as the Rod is removed they returne like the Dog to the vomit c. Such was Pharaoh whilst he was plagued he confessed his sin and prayed for pardon but as soon as ever the judgement was gone hee hardened his heart Such were the Israelites Psal. 78. 34 35 36 37. They were not stedfast they turned back Just like a truantly School-boy who while his Master is whipping him will promise any thing but when it is done forgets presently to doe what hee promised Or like unto water which while it is upon the fire is very hot but as soon as ever it is taken off the fire presently groweth cold I knew a man who in the time of his sickness was so terrified in his conscience for his sins that hee made the very bed to shake upon which hee lay and cried out all night long I am damned I am damned and made many and great Protestations of amendment of life if God would bee pleased to recover him In a little while hee did recover and being recovered was as bad and as wicked as ever before And therefore let us labour that the good wee get by our afflictions may not vanish away with our afflictions but may abide on us after wee are recovered that wee may bee able to say with David It is good for mee that I was afflicted not onely that I am but that I was David praiseth God in health for the good hee had got in sickness and which still abode with him Let us say with the same Prophet Psal. 66. 13 14. I will go into thy house with burnt offerings I will pay thee my vows which my lips have uttered and my mouth hath spoken when I was in trouble Let us pray unto God that his afflictions may not onely skin over our spiritual diseases and coup up our sins but mortifie them and so change our natures that wee may never return to folly I will conclude this point with a famous saying of Plinius secundus worthy to bee written in letters of gold A friend writes to him and intreats him to give him advice how to frame his life so as hee might live as becomes a good man Hee returns him this answer I will not prescribe many rules there is this one only which I commend to thee above all other Ut tales esse perseveremus sani quales nos futuros profitemur infirmi Let us labour to continue and persevere to bee such when wee are well as wee purpose and promise to our selves to bee when wee are sick There is hardly any man so wicked but hee will in sickness make many and great promises of a new life and of universal reformation if God would restore him Now then if we not onely bee such but continue to bee such when restored as wee promise to bee when sick then wee shall bee excellent Schollars in the School of Affliction and God will either as I have already said deliver us out of affliction or send us to heaven by affliction So much for the first Truth supposed The End of the first Sermon THE Word of God IS THE Saints Delights SERMON II. PSAL. 119. 92. Unless thy Law had been my delights I should then have perished in mine Affliction NOw I come to speak of the second Truth supposed in the Text. That the Word of God is the Saints darling and delights not onely their delight but in the plural number their delights that is as our Annotations say a Saint doth greatly delight in Gods Law or as Iunius All the delight of a Saint is in Gods Law Gods word is the center of his delights Nisi lex tun erat omuit oblectatio mea Many were the troubles and sorrows of Davids life but against them all hee found as many comforts and delectations in Gods Word therefore hee saith vers 29. Thy Testimonies are my delights c. and 143. Trouble and anguish have taken hold on mee yet thy Commandements are my delights And in the Text Unless thy Law had been my delights c. Whilst others delight in vanity and iniquity whilst others take pleasure in hunting hawking carding dicing eating and drinking the Saints of God can say with Austin Sacr a Scripturae tuae sunt sanctae dellctae meae Thy holy Scriptures are my holy delights Quest. Why do the Saints of God take such delight in the Law of God Answ. 1. Because they are spiritually inlightned their eyes are opened to behold the glory and beauty and to understand the deep mysteries of the Law therefore David prayeth vers 18. Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy Law As the Apostle

Legacies left them by Christ in his last Will and Testament The Saints are called the Heires of the Promises Heb. 6. 17. And if they would bee filled full of joy in the day of their distresse they must bee frequent in reading these Legacies The Promises are as it were the breasts of God full of the Milk of grace and comfort And it is our duty to bee sucking out by meditation the milke of grace and comfort contained in them That which the Prophet saith of the Church of Christ may as truly bee said of the Promises of Christ. Rejoyce O yee people of God and bee glad all yee that have an interest in the Promises Rejoyce for joy all yee that are mourners in Sion that yee may sacke and bee satisfied with the ●easts of their consolations that yee may milke out and bee delighted with the abundance of joy and comfort contained in them The Promises are the Saints Aqua-vitae as one calls them the Saints Cordials the Saints Planke to swim to Heaven upon the Saints Fiery Chariot to carry them up to Heaven And the great reason why they walke so uncomfortably so disconsolately and so unbeleevingly in the time of their tribulation is because they do not smell of these 〈◊〉 they do not chew these Cordials they do not read over these spiritual Legacies they doe not by serious meditation and consideration sucke out the comfort comprehended in them For as fire will not warme us unlesse wee tarry at it and a Bee cannot sucke out the ho●y that is in a flower unless shee abide upon it no more can any Childe of God receive supportation and consolation from the Promises in the houre of temptation unless hee seriously and solemnly ponder and meditate on them There is a double difference between a presumptuous sinner and a poor humble distressed Childe of God 1 A presumptuous sinner studieth nothing but the promising Word Hee sleights the commanding and the threatning Word The Word commands him to keep holy the Sabbath day not to love the world not to lust but hee turnes a deaf ear to it The Word threatneth to wound the hairy scalp of every one that goeth on in his wickednesse but because God is patient and long-suffering therefore hee regards it not But as for the Promising word hee snatcheth at it hee doth not truly lay hold on it but snatcheth at it before it belongs to him and Spider-like sucks the poyson of sin out of it and makes of it a Cradle to rock himself asleep in sinful courses Because God hath promised That whensoever a Sinner turnes from his sins which hee hath committed hee shall surely live and not dye therefore hee delayes and prorogues his turning from sin But now a poor distressed humble Christian fails on the contrary part hee pores upon the commanding and threatning Word but never ponders the promising Word God saith hee commands mee to love him with all my heart and soule to wash my heart from iniquity to love my enemies to cut off my right hand and to plucke out my right eye c. But I cannot performe these commands therefore surely shall never bee saved God saith hee hath threatned to curse every one that continueth not in every thing that is written in his Law to do it and therefore surely I am accursed But hee never studies nor ponders the promising Word for if hee did hee would quickly know three things for his everlasting comfort 1 That there is nothing required by God in his Word as our duty but God hath either promised to bestow it upon us as his gift or the Saints have prayed to God for it as his gift God commands us to love him but hee hath promised to circumcise our hearts to love him c. Deut. 30. 6. God commands us to fear him to turn our selves from our transgressions and to make our selves a new heart and a new spirit But hee hath promised to give us a new heart and a new spirit to put his fear in our hearts that wee shall never depart from him and to turn us from our evill wayes The Saints of God also have prayed unto God for this as the fruit of his free mercy Ier. 31. 18. Lam 5. 21. There is nothing commanded in the Covenant of works but God hath promised in the Covenant of grace in some measure to work it in us for hee hath promised to work all our works in us and to write his Law not one Commandement of it only but the whole Law in our hearts and to put it in our inward parts and to cause us to walk in his wayes 2 That God under the Covenant of grace will for Christs sake accept of less than hee requires in the Covenant of works Hee requires perfection of degrees but hee will accept of perfection of parts hee requires us to live without sin but hee will accept of our sincere endeavours to doe it If there bee a willing minde it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that hee hath not 2 Cor. 8. 12. 3 That though hee cannot in his owne person perform all that God commands yet Iesus Christ as his Surety and in his stead hath fulfilled the Law for him and that God will accept of Christs perfect as a cover for his imperfect righteousnesse That Christ hath redeemed him from the curse of the Law being made a curse for him That the Threatnings of the Law are Serpents without a sting and that Christ hath taken away the power and force of them Did a broken-hearted and wounded sinner ponder and meditate on these things they would fill him full of joy and comfort Hee would flye from the Covenant of Works to the Covenant of Grace from his owne unrighteousnesse unto the righteousnesse of Christ and from the commanding and threatning word unto the promising word hee would say Lord Thou commandest mee to walke in thy Statutes and to keep thy Lawes This I cannot do of my selfe but thou hast promised to cause me to walke in thy ways and to write thy Law in my heart Lord give me power to doe what thou commandest and then command what thou wilt 2 A presumptuous Sinner is alwayes studying the promising Word to bolster up himself in sin but hee never studies his sins and iniquities to repent for them and from them Hee meditates on the Promises to harden his heart in sin but not at all on his sins to humble himself for them and to turne from them But now on the contrary A poore distressed Christian pores upon his iniquities and corruptions but never mindes himself of the Promises and this makes him live so dejectedly and disconsolately A wicked man studieth his Corruptions too little A distressed Christian too much If hee did study the Promises as much as he doth his corruptions hee would not walk so uncomfortably Wherefore if ever you would