Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	death_n	sin_n	sin_v	3,797	5	9.4651	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A03597	A remedie against sorrow and feare, delivered in a funerall sermon, by Richard Hooker, sometimes fellow of Corpus Christi College in Oxford	Hooker, Richard, 1553 or 4-1600.; Jackson, Henry, 1586-1662.; Spenser, John, 1559-1614.	1612 (1612)	STC 13722; ESTC S121049	7,781	18

them afraid of committing sin because the naming of sinne sufficed not therefore he addeth further that it is as a Serpent which stingeth the soule Againe be it that some nociue or hurtfull thing bee towards vs must feare of necessitie follow herevpon Not except that hurtfull things doe threaten vs either with destruction or vexation and that such as wee haue neither a conceit of abilitie to resist nor of vtter impossibilitie to avoid That which which we know our selues able to withstand we feare not add that which we know we are vnable to deferre or deminish or any way avoid we cease to feare we giue our selues over to beare and sustaine it The evill therefore which is feared must bee in our perswasion vnable to bee resisted when it commeth yet not vtterly impossible for a time in whole or in part to be shunned Neither doe we much feare such evils except they be imminent and nere at hand nor if they be neere except we haue an opinion that they bee so When we haue once conceaued an opinion or apprehended an imagination of such evils prest and ready to invade vs because they are hurtfull vnto our nature we feele in our selues a kind of abhorring because they are though neere yet not present our nature seeketh forthwith how to shift and provide for it selfe because they are evils which cannot be resisted therefore shee doth not provide to withstand but to shun and avoid Hence it is that in extreame feare the mother of life cōtracting her selfe avoiding asmuch as may be the reach of evill and drawing the heate together with the spirits of the body to her leaveth the outward parts cold pale weake feeble vnapt to performe the functions of life as we see in the feare of Balthasar king of Babell By this it appeareth that feare is nothing else but a perturbation of the mind through an opinion of some imminent evill threatning the destruction or great annoyance of our nature which to shun it doth contract and deiect it selfe Now because not in this place only but otherwhere often we heare it repeated Feare not it is by some made a long question whether a man may feare destruction or vexation without sinning First the reproofe wherewith Christ checketh his Disciples more then once O men of little faith wherefore are yee afraid Secondly the punishment threatned in the 21. of Revelations to wit the lake and fire brimstone not only to murtherers vncleane persons sorcerers Idolators lyers but also to the fearefull and faintharted this seemeih to argue that fearefulnesse cannot but be sin On the contrary side we see that he which never felt motion vnto sin had of this affectiō more then a slight feeling How cleere is the evidence of the spirit that in the daies of his flesh hee offered vp praiers and supplications with strong cries and teares vnto him that was able to saue him from death and was also hearde in that which he feared Heb. 5. 7. Wherevpon it followeth that feare in it selfe is a thing not sinful For is not feare a thing naturall and for mens preservation necessarie implanted in vs by the provident and most gratious giver of all good things to the end that we might not run headlong vpon those mischiefes wherewith we are not able to encounter but vse the remedie of shunning those evils which we haue not habilitie to withstande Let that people therfore which receiue a benefit by the length of their princes daies that Father or Mother that reioiceth to see the offspring of their flesh growe like greene and pleasant plants let those children that would haue their parents those men that would gladlie haue their friends and bretherens daies Prolonged on earth as there is no naturall hearted man but gladly would let them blesse the Father of lights as in other things so even in this that he hath given man a feareful heart and setled naturally that affection in him which is a preservation against so many waies of death Feare then in it selfe being meere nature cannot in it selfe bee sinne which sinne is not nature but thereof an accessary deprivation But in the matter of feare we may sinne and do two waies If any mans danger be great theirs greatest that haue put the feare of danger fartherst frō them Is there any estate more fearefull then that Babilonians Strumpets that sitteth vpon the tops of the seaven hils glorying and vaunting I am a Queene c. Revel 18. 7. How much bettter and happier they whose estate hath been alwaies as his who speaketh after this sort of himselfe Lord from my youth haue I borne thy yoke They which sit at continuall ease are setled in the leeze of their securitie looke vpon them view their countenance their speech their gesture their deedes Put them in feare O God saith the Prophet that so they may know thēselus to be but men wormes of the earth dust ashes fraile corruptible feeble things To shake of securitie therefore and to breed feare in the harts of mortall men so many admonitions are vsed concerning the power of evils which beset them so many threatnings of calamities so many discriptions of things threatned and those so liuely to the end they may leaue behinde thé a deepe impression of such as hath force to keepe the heart continually waking All which do shew that we are to stād in feare of nothing more then the extremity of not fearing When feare hath delivered vs from that pit wherein they are sunke that haue put far from them the evill day that haue made a league with death and haue said Tush we shall feele no harme it standeth vs vpon to take heede it cast vs not into that wherein souls destitute of all hope are plunged For our direction to avoide as much as may be both extremities that we may knowe as a ship master by his carde how far we are wide either on the oneside or on the other we must note that in a Christian man there is first nature secondly corruptiō perverting nature thirdly grace correcting and amending corruptiō In feare al these haue their severall operations Nature teacheth simplie to wish preservation and avoidance of things dreadfull for which cause our Saviour himselfe praieth and that often Father if it bee possible In which cases corrupt natures suggestions are for the safety of temporall life not to sticke at thinges excluding from eternall wherein how farre even the best may bee led the chiefest Apostles frailtie teacheth Were it not therefore for such cogitations as on the contrarie side grace and faith ministreth such as that of Iob Though God kill me that of Paule Scio cui credidi I know him on whom I do relie small evils would soone be able to overwhelme even the best of vs. A wise man saith Salomon doth see a plague comming and hideth himselfe It is nature which teacheth a wise man in feare to hide himselfe but grace faith doth teach him where Fools care not where they hide their heads But where shal a wise man hide himselfe when he feareth a plague comming Where should the frighted childe hide his head but in the bosome of his loving father Where a Christiā but vnder the shadow of the wings of Christ his Saviour Come my people saith God in the Prophet Enter into thy Chāber hide thy selfe c. Esay 26. But because wee are in danger like chased birds like Doues that seeke cannot see the resting holes that are right before them therefore our Savior giveth his Disciples these encouragements before hand that feare might never so amaze them but that alwaies they might remember that whatsoever evils at any time did beset them to him they should still repaire for comfort councell and succour For their assurance where of his Peace hee gaue them his peace he left vnto them not such peace as the world offereth by whom his name is never so much pretēded as when deepest treachery is meant but Peace which passeth all vnderstanding peace that bringeth with it all happines peace that continueth for ever and ever with them that haue it This Peace God the Father graunt for his sonnes sake vnto whom with the holy Ghost three persons one eternall and everliving God be all honor glorie and praise now and for ever Amen FINIS Eccl. 6. ver 2.