Selected quad for the lemma: sense_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sense_n	faith_n	reason_n	word_n	5,359	5	4.6154	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A88660	A word in season: being the commentary of Dr. Martin Luther, on three selected Psalms: viz. the CXXIVth, CXXVth, and CXXIXth. With his commentary on some part of the fourth and fifth chapters of the First Epistle of St. Peter. Being of special use for the present times.	Luther, Martin, 1483-1546.	1685 (1685)	Wing L3519; ESTC R180278	46,197	62

grass on the house tops maketh a shew of that which is not true because it is fruitless So the Pope and his Prelates with other Tyrants and Persecutors have a resemblance and a counterfeit shew that they are the Church They hold and enjoy Dignities Prebends Benefices as grass hath his stalk and ear but indeed they are none of the Chrrch like as grass is no Corn for it withereth away before it can bring forth fruit For this is the chiefest argument wherewith they fight against us that for this glorious shew whereof I speak they usurp and challenge to themselves the title of the Church But we are commanded to take heed that we be not deceived by outward shews Yea and we are admonished also that such shews are oftentimes occasions of great calamities Beware saith our Saviour Christ of False Prophets which come to you in Sheeps-cloathing Also By their fruits ye shall know them Whereas then they challenge unto themselves the name of the Church and for a goodly shew which the grass also that groweth on the house tops hath as well as they will be counted good Corn this will not we grant them For if they be good Corn let them fill the hand of the Mower but this they do not They are unprofitable Grass yea worse then grass For in that filthiness of their wicked lusts and fleshly pleasures wherewith they are horribly polluted and that cruelty which they exercise against the true Church they retain not so much as the outward shew which they pretend Wherefore since there is nothing to be found in our adversaries but a naked and an hypocritical shew and the same also miserably and many ways deformed and defaced since I say there is nothing else in them but meer hypocrisy we judge and denounce them not to be the Church of Christ but of Satan Wherefore they are prepared as chaff and stubble to the fire although under a shevv and colour of the Church they afflict and Persecute us never so much Verse 8. Neither they which go by say We bless you in the name of the Lord. This also commendeth and setteth forth unto us the similitude of the grass For true Corn hath this commendation that it is the blessing of God They therefore vvhich see it grovv vvish that God vvould bless and prosper it This saith David shall not be said of that grass that is to say of the Tyrants and the adversaries of the Church but rather they shall be cursed of all men yea the malediction both of God and man shall be heaped upon them Like as it hath also hapned to the Church of Rome which before our doctrine and preaching most gloriously flourished But now that the Gospel hath plucked away her visour and sheweth that she is not without fruit all her cursed hypocrisy is bewrayed and her memory is perish'd from among the godly Thus the Prophet comforteth the faithful and sheweth that the wicked what glorious brag and pretence soever they make are indeed nothing and because God blesseth them not they shall inherit nothing but malediction and shall be confounded like as Judas the Pharisees Corinthus A●ius and Pelagius though they seemed to slourish most miserably perished with all their glory Wherefore let us whose doctrine by the grace of God is sound and agreeable with the holy Scripture remember this similitude that when we must suffer hatred slander reproaches and all manner of injuries for the Gospels sake we are not afraid but may learn hereby to judge the Pope the Bishops the wicked Princes with the tormentors and executioners of their cruelty to be nothing else but grass on the house tops which seemeth to be somewhat when indeed it is nothing and therefore it is without all blessing To such it shall be said with the rich glutton in hell Luke 16. Son remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy pleasures For if we consider the whole history of the Church even from the beginning of the world we shall see that God hath always so wrought by his secret counsel that as grass on the house tops withereth away before the harvest come so Tyrants are suddenly cut off and never come to their full time Wherefore let us constantly abide and endure with patience in all afflictions until the end do shew that it was nothing but grass and suddenly withered when it was most like to increase and flourish The wicked do enjoy all good things for the Churches sake like as the grass on the house tops hath the benefit of the rain and of the Sun as well as the Corn in the fields But as they shall not live half their days and as they shall see their own counsels and devices to be but vain and without success so shall they be as a perpetual shame among men insomuch that no man shall wish any good unto them As at this day the memory of Judas Pilate the wicked Jews Dioclesianus Maximinus and other Tyrants is without honour yea most execrable and odious unto all men This consolation is set forth by the holy Ghost by these gross similitudes and examples that we may conceive in our minds some shadow or resemblance of Gods Works since we cannot rightly judge and esteem the things themselves according to the truth but we judge the enemies and Persecutors of the Church by their goodly shew and outvvard appearance to be good Wheat because they prosper and flourish so long upon the earth Wherefore vve must rest vvholly in the Word which with such similitudes painteth out these things and we must with draw our senses from all outward sights and shews and judge no otherwise of the adversaries of the word then of most vile grass that groweth on the house tops and is contemned of all men For so saith the Spirit of faith tho' our senses say otherwise In like manner must we do also in spiritual tentations when our conscience accuseth us and giveth testimony against us as well in the agony and danger of death as in other conflicts Here if we follow that which appeareth to reason and our own senses to be true it shall seem unto us that our enemies are invincible and almighty and that there is no remedy but we must needs be overcome and utterly perish The sight and feeling of this greatness pertaineth to the eyes and to the senses onely and riseth of the judgment of reason and not of the truth But when we look to the true greatness which the word setteth forth unto us we are constrained to say that Death Sin Satan and the very gates of hell are indeed nothing else but grass on the house tops but stubble but a very bubble swimming upon the water vvhich vvith the least occasion breaketh and vanisheth avvay So must these things be amplified and set against all kinds of tentations vvhether they be Persecutors of the Word as the vvorld and vvicked Princes or else Sin Death and Satan All vvhich vve

it Likewise where four or five or ten godly Persons are to be found for their sakes the whole City is called Holy For these are the Elect corner stones these are the precious Pearls which God so highly esteemeth and for whose sakes he spareth the Wicked Therefore saith David As Jerusalem is compassed about with Mountains so doth the Lord compass his People and mightily defend them on every side In like manner Zachary Prophecyeth of a City whose Wall is of fire These Similitudes do set forth unto us the Safety of Gods People that weak and little poor Flock against all Dangers Upon this promise if we also do rest which at this day enjoy the inestimable Benfit of Gods Holy Word we shall be defended against the Rage of Satan and the whole World not by fiery and brazen Walls but by the Lord himself These things albeit we cannot comprehend yet should we believe them so certainly as if we did see them with our bodily Eyes If we should see our selves compassed about with brazen and fiery Walls we would be without all fear and Triumph against Satan But it is a matter of Faith not to trust unto that which the Eyes see but which the Word offereth and promiseth This one thing therefore is lacking in us that we have not eyes of the Spirit but we judge according to the eyes and sense of the Flesh For else we should be no more afraid then they which being closed within the Walls of an invincible Castle fear not the force and power of their Enemies be they never so terrible We must not doubt therefore but if we believe we are compassed about with fiery and brazen Mountains that is to say we abide for ever invincible against the Rage of Satan and all the Powers of Darkness Blessed therefore is he that believeth These Mountains are the Angels which compass us on every side that Satan with his Angels and Ministers cannot hurt us as he would Whose Malice and Power is such that if they did not continually behold us continually defend us and watch over us he would destroy us every moment This can all they testifie which know that Satan is a Murtherer and a Lyar which cannot abide to see the godly prosper and therefore he seeketh by all means to root them out from the face of the Earth That we are not then utterly consumed it is the benefit of these Mountains by whom we are so compassed and defended Sometimes Satan hurleth his Darts at us as it were through the window to destroy us and worketh us indeed some sorrow but he cannot move us This similitude seemeth to be taken out of the Story of Helizeus in the second book of the Kings where the servant of Helizeus saw the Hills about him full of fiery Chariots and Horsemen compassing Helizeus round about and mightily defending him This succour which the Servant of Helizeus saw and the Prophet believed when he saw nothing is saith the Prophet round about all them which trust in the Lord as also the 34. Psalm witnesseth The Angel of the Lord pitcheth round about them that fear him But our eyes are shut up and see not these miracles whereof not with standing we have daily experience This promise then will never deceive us only let us not deceive our selves If therefore we did believe no doubt we should sleep we should live we should die yea that more is we should suffer what soever Satan and the world can do against us without all fear For thus should we think if I suffer any thing it is not without the Will of God nor without good cause well known tho' not unto me yet unto God Therefore although Satan break through the wall in one place yet shall he never be able utterly to overthrow it altogether Thus should we think in our troubles and afflictions and comfort our selves with the good Will of God But we are afraid when any trouble cometh and never feel that security which Faith bringeth Thus do we worthily suffer the punishment of our infidelity which we nourish within us although we be called away from it by so many notable places of Scripture Besides all this it is not enough that we are compassed about with fiery Walls that is with the sure Custody the continual Watch and Ward of the Angels but the Lord himself is our Wall so that every way we are defended by the Lord against all Dangers Above us he is a Heaven on both sides he is as a Wall under us he is as a strong Rock whereupon we stand so are we every way sure and safe Now if Satan through these munitions cast his darts at us it must needs be that the Lord himself shall be hurt before we take harm But great is our incredulity which hear all these things in vain Yet must they be taught and learned least the time come that we be destitute of all Counsel and Comfort in these matters For certain it is that the hour shall come when we must have experience of these things or else utterly perish Where he addeth From henceforth and for ever By these words he sheweth that this vigilancy of the Lord our God over us is not temporal but eternal according to that which he said before in the first verse of this Psalm They shall remain for ever Let us learn therefore out of this Psalm that our Constancy and perseverance consisteth in this that we are defended by the Power and Providence of the Lord on every side Verse 3. For the rod of the Wicked shall not rest on the lot of the Righteous least the Righteous put forth their hand unto Wickedness Here the Prophet plainly declareth that the People which rest under this Defence and Protection are afflicted and subject to all Miseries and Calamities as touching the flesh altho' they be compassed about with such high and mighty Mountains as touching the Spirit as Satan can never surmount yet touching the Flesh and the Old man they lye open on every side to the Darts of Satan and the World For God by these means will afflict and exercise the Flesh that Sin and the foolishness of the Flesh may be mortified in them and that spiritual Wisdom and the inward man may increase This is the cause why we are according to the Flesh as a broken Hedge and as a City whose Walls are cast down and so lyeth open to the Enemies on every side Wherefore there is no sort of men so vile and abject which do not think that they may do what they list against the true Professors of the Gospel Hereof come such intollerable injuries horrible blasphemies cruel torments and bloody slaughters of the Saints of God For the Flesh hath no Walls no Munitions to defend it but the Spirit Therefore the flesh is in danger to all Storms and Tempests broken and troden down of the wicked as Isaiah saith Chap. 51. Which have said unto thy Soul Bow down that