Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	life_n	live_v	way_n	4,654	5	5.6415	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A31113	A sermon preached at St. Mary-le-Bow, to the societies for reformation of manners, Octob. 2, 1699 by Samuel Barton ; published at the request of the said societies.	Barton, Samuel, 1647 or 8-1715.	1700 (1700)	Wing B994; ESTC R32551	15,537	49

to do it in the Dark and hide their Wickedness all they can from the sight of Men. Thus St. Paul tells us That they that are drunken are drunken in the night 1 Thes 5.7 And Job That the eye of the adulterer waiteth for the Twilight saying no eye shall see me and he disguiseth his face Job 24. And speaking of Thieves says he In the dark they dig through houses which they had marked for themselves in the day time they know not the light For the Morning is to them as the shadow of death if one know them they are in the terrors of the shadow of death There is Fear indeed as well as Shame that hinders Men from acting this sort of Wickedness openly and Shame itself indeed has always a mixture of Fear with it it implies a fear of Disgrace and that curbs and checks Men and keeps 'em from committing openly the more gross and heinous sort of Sins and from glorying in 'em when they have committed 'em unless they can meet with Companions as wicked as themselves or think themselves too strong for any that would oppose ' em Men naturally love to have the good Opinion of others and dread the being hated and abhorr'd of Mankind which wou'd be the effect of many gross and open sorts of Wickedness And therefore what they practise of that nature they endeavour to keep as secret as every they can Yea many seem desirous to hide their own Wickedness as much as possible even from themselves 't is such an odious and shameful thing And therefore they 'll scarce dare to look into their own Consciences or consider their own ways They have so ill a Face and carry such a Deformity in 'em that they cannot well bear to look at it And therefore they sometimes invent to themselves miserable Excuses or take up most senseless and absurd Opinions only to hide the ugliness of their Vices that so deform'd a Spectacle as their own Souls are if seen in a true Glass may not be a perpetual Terror to ' em Now 't is true that wicked Men are but Fools in all this to think that what they hide from Men they can hide from the all-seeing Eye of God too Or because they can make a poor shift to deceive themselves a little that therefore they shall be able to impose upon him and blind his Eyes And this therefore shews us another Reason why the Works of Wickedness may very well be call'd Works of Darkness Viz. 2. Because they proceed from a darkned Mind a Mind that has some way shut out the Light at least do's not suffer the Light of Truth to shine bright and clear as it ought to do For the thing is so evident That a Man ought to be obedient to the Laws of his Maker and that all Sin is Unreasonable in the highest Degree and extreamly Foolish This I say is so evident if a Man will consider any thing that he can hardly forbear seeing it But Wicked Men therefore especially those that are so in an high and notorious Degree are wont to be afraid of Thinking and serious Reflection do not care to Examine impartially the Principles on which they go nor to compare their Actions strictly with the Rule but rather huddle up the Matter and suffer their Lusts and Passions or some Foolish and Licentious Notions plausibly set off perhaps by the Wit of some of their Atheistical Companions to darken and hoodwink their Understandings so that they do not clearly discern the Folly and Unreasonableness of their own Practices but go on in a blind and inconsiderate manner which is quite contrary to the way of good Men Whose path as Solomon speaks Prov. 4.18 is as a shining light which shineth more and more unto a perfect day And hence it is that such in Scripture are call'd the Children of Light and of the Day 1 Thess 5.5 Whereas wicked Men are call'd The Children of Darkness as being such in whom the Prince of Darkness or the Ruler of the Darkness of this World as he is call'd hath blinded their Minds Yea they are call'd Darkness itself in the abstract at the 8th verse of this Chapter For the Apostle tells the Ephesians That whilst they were in their Heathen State and liv'd Ungodly and Prophane Lives they were Darkness Ye were sometimes darkness but now are ye light in the Lord. And this Darkness which possesses the Souls of wicked Men is so palpable and plain to all that have their Minds well enlighten'd with the knowledge of the Truth that they cannot choose but wonder at it's prevalence and admire the Sottishness and Ignorance of those that are so blinded Whence it is that the Psalmist speaks it by way of Admiration Psal 14.4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge Implying that a very little might have serv'd to shew 'em That 't was both their Duty and their Interest to act in another manner And thus the Works of Sin and Wickedness may be styl'd Works of Darkness as proceeding from a darkned Mind And they may be also call'd so 3. From their tendency and aptness to darken it still more and more For this is certain That nothing can more tend to cloud and darken the Reasonable Soul than an habitual Indulgence to such Practices as are directly contrary to Reason and suffering Brutish Lusts and unruly Passions to bear sway and over-rule the Understanding This is the direct way to extinguish as far as it can be done the Light of Reason to put out that Candle of the Lord as far as a Man is capable of doing it And there want not those who too plainly shew us that it may be done in a great measure They cou'd not else go on so securely in their wicked Courses as they do if they had not gone a great way towards extinguishing the Light and caus'd it to shine but very dimly if they had not stifl'd the reluctancy of their Consciences to the practice of Notorious Impieties Nevertheless 't is true they cannot so stifle Conscience or put out the Light of their own Minds as to secure themselves that it shall never trouble 'em no more Conscience will be awakened and the Light will shine again either happily here to bring 'em to Repentance before it be too late or else to their endless Torment and Confusion hereafter Yea there want not Instances of those who have had their Consciences thus awakened to terrifie and torment and begin an Hell in 'em in this Life without bringing 'em to a true Repentance They being such as in the Apostle's Expression Heb. 10.27 have had nothing left 'em but a certain fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery Indignation which shall devour the Adversaries 4. And this minds me of a 4th Reason why works of Sin and Wickedness may be styl'd Works of Darkness viz. Because without Repentance they will certainly bring Men to that State of Wo and Misery which the Scripture calls by