Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
lord_n	beseech_v	hear_v	please_v	23,606	5	9.1368	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A64834	Sin, the plague of plagues, or, Sinful sin the worst of evils a treatise of sins tryal and arraignment, wherein sin is accused for being, proved to be, and condemned for being exceeding sinful : and that 1. as against God, his nature, attributes, works, will, law, image, people, glory and existence, 2. as against man, his good and welfare of body and soul, in this life, and that to come : with the use and improvement to be made of this doctrine, that men may not be damned, but saved, &c. : being the substance of many sermons preached many years ago in Southwark / by Ralph Venning ...	Venning, Ralph, 1621?-1674.	1669 (1669)	Wing V226; ESTC R38391	212,020	400

is not to rail at it but to tell it its own for 't is the Quinitessence of evil which hath made all the evils that are and is worse then all the evils it hath made 't is so evil that 't is impossible to make it good or lovely by all the Arts that can be used poyson may be corrected and made medicinal if not nutritive but sin is sin and can be no other its nature cannot be changed no not by a pardon To speak as the thing is 't is not only ugly but ugliness not only filthy but filthiness not only abominable but abomination there is not a worse thing in Hell it self it hath not its fellow there All this and much more may be said of and against sin and having laid this ground-work I shall now build upon it the fourth thing viz. The Application The Application and Improvement of the Doctrine of Sins sinfulness 1. Then Sin is the worst of Evils By way of Inference for our Information in several things as first in general That Sin is the worst of Evils the evil of evils and indeed the only evil nothing is so evil as nay nothing is evil properly but sin nor in comparison of it As the sufferings of this present time of our life which are upon us are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us so neither the sufferings of this life or that to come are worthy to be compared for evil with the evil of sin No evil is displeasing to God or destructi●e to man but the evil of sin 'T is worse then affliction then death then Devil then Hell affliction is not so afflictive death is not so deadly the Devil not so devilish Hell not so hellish as sin is and this will help to fill up the charge against its sinfulness especially as it is contrary to and against the good of man These four Evils that I have named are terrible indeed and from all which every one is ready to say Good Lord deliver us yet none of these are all of these are not so bad as sin and therefore our prayers should be more to be delivered from sin and if God hear no prayer else yet as to this we should say We beseech thee to hear us good Lord 1. Worse then affliction and suffering 'T is worse then any evil of affliction there are afflictions of several sorts and they are all called Evils is there any evil of what sort or kind or quality soever in the City and I have not done it Amos 3.6 God you see will owne himself the Author of it but not of sin that 's a bastard of someothers be getting and breeding the evil of plagues and afflictions are of Gods bringing though of sins deserving now indeed no affliction seemeth to be or is joyour for the present Heb. 12 11. but though they are not to be desired yet they may be endured but sin is neither to be desired nor endured any sin is worse then any suffering one sin then 〈◊〉 suffering the least sin then the greatest suffering What you will say is it worse then to be whipt to be burnt to be sawn asunder c yes by a great deal as appears by what our Saviour saith Mat. 10.28 fear not them that can kill but fear him that can damn q. d. 't is better to be killed then to be damned We ma● more easily suffer from men then sin against God One may suffer and not sin but 't is impossible to sin and not suffer They that avoid suffering by sinning sin themselves into worse suffering Th●● seems to be clear enough yet because truth are seldom well improved till they be believed and are seldom believed till they are well proved I shall therefore make this out more fully That sin is worse then suffering first by this Argument in general because Sin is all evil only evil and always evil which no affliction is nor can be in my flesh saith the Apostle there dwelleth no good no not the least and this is ever present with me this cannot be said of afflictions that there is no good in them that they dwell in and are always present with us there are some lucida intervalla Sun-shines in Winter One may say 't was good that I was afflicted Psal 119.71 't is good to bear the yoke in ones youth Lam. 3.23 but one can never say 't was good that I sinned no though 't were but in my youth Eccl. 11.9 12.1 All things may be corrected and made to work for our good and we can say not only God that afflicted me was good but the affliction wrought for good 2 Cor. 4.17 but we can never justly say that sin did us good Many can say periissem nisi periissem I had been undone had I not suffered but none can say periissem nisi peccassem I had perished if I had not sinned no no 't is by sin we perish and are undone many have thankt God for affliction but never any for sin Some indeed mistake that place Rom. 6.17 as if the Apostle thanked God that they were sinners no by no means but he thanks God that they who once were sinners were become obedient to the Gospel and the proper sense and reading is Thanks be to God though ye were the servants of sin in time past yet now ye have obeyed the form of Doctrine which was delivered to you or as the Margine and Greek whereunto ye were delivered Sin of it self is neither good before nor after its commission 't is not good to be committed nor good after 't is committed nor doth it do us any good but hurt all our days but other evils though we cannot call them good before and so desire them yet we can call them good after and so thank God for them More particularly 1. Suffering may be the object of our choice which sin cannot be for that which is evil and can be no other and so is sin cannot be the object of our volition and choice 't is contra-natural If men did not call evil good and good evil they could never love the evil nor hate the good nor can fin be chosen as a means to a good for as 't is evil and nothing else so it doth evil and nothing else But now affliction though not chosen for it self yet for an end a good end and effect of it may be chosen yea and rather then sin it may be chosen though no other good thing should follow then this that one did no evil Instances we have of this as the three young Worthies Dan. 3.17 whose gallantry of spirit was such that though they should not be delivered by their God yet they would not they were holily wilful they would not sin against their God nor so much as demur deliberate or take time to consider whether they should suffer or sin t was past dispute with them brave and noble

been said and to bethink you what an ugly and abominable thing sin is The worst of Evils worse then the worst of words can express it to be I have shewn you how contrary 't is to God and man for proof whereof I have brought witness from Heaven Earth and Hell I have shewn you how dear it cost Christ Jesus who dyed for it and how dear it will cost you if you live and dye in it Stand in awe and sin not lay up the Word of Gods Command Promise and Threatning that you may not sin against him take heed of sinning for at once you sin against God and your own souls I have entred your closets and your hearts to tell you of your secret sins I have told you of and warned you against the sins of your lips and of your life I have told you of your Shop and Calling-sins that you might beware and what shall I say or do more for you I have preacht to you pray'd and wept for you I have shewn you the way of repentance faith and holiness and were it to dye for you I hope I should not account my life dear to me that I might save your souls by losing it Oh let me again intreat beseech and beg you for Gods sake and your souls sake not to sin these things are written that ye sin not but as 't is Jer. 13.15 16 17. Hear ye and give ear be not proud for the Lord hath spoken give glory to the Lord God c. But if ye will not hear my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride and mine eyes shall weep sore and run down with tears If you hear not you make this sad work for me and others that teach you but alas much sadder for your selves you make us weep on earth but you if you repent not will weep in Hell I beseech you therefore learn what the grace the saving grace of God teacheth you to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts to live soberly righteously and godlily in this present world Titus 2.11 12. or as 't is in Luke 1.75 to serve the Lord in righteousness and true holiness all the days of your life and as 't is 2 Cor. 7.1 Having these promises which according to 2 Pet 1.4 are the greatest and precious let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God Shall we commend holiness in them that are dead and not like holiness in our selves while we are alive Holiness is the beauty of Earth and Heaven without which we cannot live well on Earth nor shall ever live in Heaven certainly they that jeer and scoff at holiness and rejoyce that they are none of the holy ones they do as if they should make Bon-fires ring the Bells and give thanks that they shall never be saved for if they be not holy saved they cannot be or as one words it they that shall be in Heaven will be in no danger to be derided for the sake of piety for those that deride it will not be admitted there And as for the wicked God will turn them into Hell and all the Nations all them of any Nation that forget God Psal 9.17 Poor Soul think a little yea think much of the great day of thine accounts Gods judgment which though thou put far from thee yet it will surely come and wo unto thee if it overtake thee unawares and as a thief in the night 1 Thes 5.3 4. Seeing this may be and that will be Oh what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversations and godlinesses as 't is in the Greek 2 Pet. 3.10 11. What shall I say more I will shut up all with what was long since excellently spoken by a great Doctor in our Israel and which is worthy to be written in the hearts of all men and to be often before their eyes and in their thoughts 't is this At the last saith he there will come a day when all mankind shall be summon'd naked without difference or degrees before the same Tribunal when the Crowns of Kings and shackles of Prisoners when the Robes of Princes and the rags of Beggars when the Gallants Bravery the Peasants Russet the Statists Policy the Courtiers Luxury and the Scholars Curiosity shall be all laid aside when all men shall be reduced to an equal Plea and without respect of persons shall be doomed according to their works Then those Punctoes and Formalities Cuts and Fashions Distances and Complements which are now the darling-sins of the upper end of the world shall be proved to have been nothing else but well-acted vanities Then the Pride Luxury Riot Swaggerings interlarded and complemental Oaths nice and quaint Lasciviousness new-invented Courtings and Adorations of Beauty the so much studied and admired sins of the Gallantry of the world shall be pronounced out of the mouth of God himself to have been nothing else but glittering abominations Then the adulterating of Wares the counterfeiting of Lights the double Weight and false Measures the courteous Equivocations of men greedy of gain which are now almost woven into the very Art of Trading shall be pronounced nothing else but Mysteries of iniquity and self-deceivings Then the curious subtleties of more choice Wits the knotty Questions and vain strife of words the disputes of Reason the variety of Reading the very Circle of general and Secular Learning pursued with so much eagerness by the more ingenious Spirits of the world shall be all pronounced but the thin Cob-webs and vanishing Delicacies of a better temper'd Prophaneness And lastly Then the poor despised Profession of the power of Godliness a trembling at the Word of God a scrupulous and conscientious forbearance not only of oaths but of idle words a tenderness and aptness to bleed at the touch of any sin a boldness to withstand the corruptions of the times a conscience of but the appearances of evil a walking bumbly and mournfully before God an Heroical resolution to be strict and circumspect to walk in an exact and Geometrical Holiness in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation which the world esteems and scorns as the peevishness of a few silly unpolitick men shall in good earnest from the mouth of God himself be declared to have been the true narrow way which leadeth to Salvation and the enemies thereof shall then when it is too late be driven to that desperate and shameful confession We fools counted their life madness and their end to have been without honour how are they now reckoned among the Saints and have their portion with the Almighty Consider what hath been said and the Lord give thee understanding in all things 2 Tim. 2.7 FINIS

Cor. 5.21 There are yet other circumstances which added to his sorrow and suffering such as these he came to his own and they receiv'd him not he had least honor among his own in his own Country yea he was wounded in the house of his friends and one of his own betray'd him devil that he was Joh. 6.70 He did good to many but had little thanks from any of ten Lepers cleansed but one returned to give him thanks oh disingenuity and ingratitude but oh the aggravating circumstances at the latter end He was taken and apprehended as a sinner they came against him as to take a Thief with swords and staves they charged him with blasphemy for speaking the truth they preferr'd Barabbas the Son of their Father the Devil before him his Disciples left him his Father forsook him as was hinted before Alas who can reckon up the aggravating circumstances of his sufferings he was crucified between two thieves and upbraided by one of them his death was painful shameful c. as before But I pass from hence to the Third thing 3 His suffering witnesseth the sinfulness of sin to shew that the greatest sufferings that Christ underwent are a full witness against the sinfulness of sin Oh what an odious thing is sin to God that he will pardon none without blood Hebr. 9.22 that God would accept no blood but the blood of his Son not that of Bulls and Goats Hebr. 9.22 but that of his Son 1 Pet. 1.18 19. that God would not abate one drop one dram of this blood but he must powre out his life the very heart-blood must be spilt and spent for sinners and which is the wonder of wonders all this was a pleasure to God for it pleased the Lord to bruise him That it should please the Lord to bruise the Son in whom he was well-pleased is to us men an inconceiveable mystery Well then upon the whole this is a great witness that God hath born against sin that he would send his Son to die for sinners oh what an hell of wickedness is that which none but God can expiate and purge and that God doth not do it without taking humane nature and that God-man could not do it without suffering and no suffering serve but death no death but an accursed one oh what an evil odious evil is sin that must have blood the blood of God to take it away This shall suffice for the first thing viz. the witness of God against sin as exceeding sinful 2 Angels bear witness against sin 2 Angels witness against sin 1 The good both good Angels and bad Angels 1 Good Angels the Angels of God and heaven as they are often called do bear witness against sin as an exceeding sinful thing 1 Their very title which contains their nature and imployment too being holy Angels sheweth that they have an antipathy against and are at enmity with sin that which is meat and drink to wicked men to do the will of the devil 't is poyson to holy angels whose meat and drink it is to do the will of God they are all holiness to the Lord and cannot endure iniquity they often contend and fight with evil Angels and so witness against sin Jude 9. Their being holy loving holiness and contention against the Devil are their witnessings 2 Holy Angels witness against sin in being Gods Heralds to proclaim the Law which is against sin 't is the aggravation of the sin of the Jews that they kept not the Law which they receiv'd by the disposition of Angels Act. 7.53 The Law which was added because of transgressions was ordained by Angels Gal. 3.19 Every transgression of this Law receiv'd a just recompence of reward for the word spoken by Angels was stedfast Heb. 2.2 So that Angels in proclaiming the Law have openly declared against sin as exceeding sinful 3 They witness against sin in that they will not sin though provoked to it to be revenged on the Devil himself They will not rail at a Devil because railing is a sin nay 't is said of Michael that he durst not bring a railing accusation Jude 9. One would have thought he would have told the Devil his own and have put it home upon him that 's true but he durst not bring a railing accusation nor give the Devil ill language We hot-spurs and hot spirited that we are are apt to render evil for evil and railing for railing to pay men their own in coin but Angels dare not to do so for 't is a sin railing is language that holy Angels cannot speak 4 They witness against sin by this that they will not suffer men to sin that would do it to honor them When John fell at one of their feet to worship him saith the Angel See thou do it not Rev. 19.10 do not that to me which is to be done to God alone And again Ch. 22.8 9. I fell down saith S. John to worship before the feet of the Angel which shew'd me these things but he said unto me see thou do it not but worship God The Angels are so holy that they cannot endure the least reflection should be cast on God or least duty neglected towards God though they might be worshipped 5 Their testimony against sin appears thus that where they find it though in Gods own people they rebuke it and that sharply and severely Though Hagars hard usage made her run away yet saith the Angel to her return to thy Mistris and submit thy self to her Gen. 16.8 9. As if he had said Hagar Hagar 't is better to suffer then to sin When Sarah laugh'd at the tyding of a Son and after denied it being afraid Nay saith the Angel but thou didst laugh he told her her own roundly Gen. 18 12.-15 When Zachary believed not the Angel he was made dumb Luke 1 13.-20 Thus they rebuke for sin 6 Angels witness against sin by rejoycing at the conversion of sinners 'T is the recovery of a soul from a dead and lost condition to be converted and then do Angels rejoyce Luke 15 7 -10 As there is a kind of joy in hell among the Devils when one sins that is converted and when sinners are not converted so there is joy in heaven at the conversion of a sinner The Rabbies speak as if while sinners are rejoycing in their sins the Angels were grieving for them when and while men live in sin they dishonor their and the Angels God but when converted they give glory to God which is the Angels work and joy 't is their Song glory to God on high and when men bear a part with them in this Song 't is their joy 7 Angels witness against sin by the constant opposition they make against wicked Angels and wicked men Who would abuse their charge that is good and holy men good men are committed to the charge of good Angels He gives his Angels charge to keep them in all their ways Psa 91.11 and