Selected quad for the lemma: woman_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
woman_n	bruise_v	heel_n	serpent_n	2,564	5	9.8176	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29936	St. Paul's triumph in his sufferings for Christ with some directions how a Christian ought to behave himself under, and may reap advantage by, his sufferings / by Matthew Bryan.	Bryan, Matthew, d. 1699.	1692 (1692)	Wing B5248; ESTC R36322	14,899	34

Heart or Root it breaks and throws down but those which are sound are the more confirm'd the more firmly rooted by those violent shakings To approve a man truly vertuous 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plat. de Rep. 2. and heartily righteous says an ancient Writer he must be exercis'd with all the Instances of Adversity not only in his Goods but his good Name not only his Estate but his Body and Life He must endure all the Instances of Cruelty he must be imprison'd and put upon the Rack and tortur'd and scourg'd and have his Eyes burn'd out suffer the pains of Fire and at last be impaled or dye upon a Cross It was the Cup of Poyson says Seneca Cicuta Magnum Socratem fecit Sen. Ep. 13. Calix venenatus qui Socratem transtulit e Carcere in Caelum Id. Ep. 67. Aequalis fuit intanta inaequalitate fortunae c. Id. Ep. 104. Rutilij Innocentia ac virtus lateret nisi accepisset injuriam dum violatur effulsit Id. Ep. 79. which made Socrates a Great man and which out of Prison did transfer him to Heaven or did procure to him that lofty esteem offering opportunity to signalize his constancy his equanimity his unconcernedness for this World and Life And the Vertue says he and the innocence of Rutilius would have lain hid if it had not by condemnation and exile received injury while it was violated it brightly shone forth And he that said this of others was himself in nothing so illustrious as in handsomely entertaining that death to which he was adjudged by the bloody Tyrant And generally the most honourable Persons in the Judgment of Posterity for gallant worth to this very end as * Sen. de Prov. 2.3 Plut. de Stoic Contr. Ep. 1931. such Philosophers teach were by Divine Providence deliver'd up to suffer opprobrious condemnations and punishments by the ingrateful malignity of their times He 's a vertuous Man indeed that can endure all this rather than renounce his Vertue and Integrity And such vertuous Men such stout couragious Sufferers the World has yeilded and that both amongst the Heathens and in the Church of God of which our Saviour and the Prophets and Apostles and Martyrs were glorious and illustrious Instances Thus you see that 't was for very good and wise Reasons that our Apostle chose this Character the Prisoner of the Lord. And now what Improvement should we make of this but to apply it to our selves in three or four particulars 1st Let us not be scandaliz'd at suffering or insult over those that suffer Let us not be offended at suffering 'T is the Lot of the Righteous in this World the Church's Patrimony the Portion of the People of God The Seed of the Woman 't is promis'd shall bruise the Serpent's Head but 't is threaten'd that it shall bruise his Heel Though the former is more fatal yet the latter is no less painful of which the Seed of the Woman and it 's genuine Off-spring have been and are sadly sensible Though God has assur'd the Church that his Grace is sufficient for her yet she must expect a Thorn in the Flesh the Messenger of Satan to buffet her Though he has promis'd to tread Satan under her Feet shortly yet in the Interim the Dragon bites with his Mouth and fights with his Tayl and stings and wounds and torments the Flesh Though the Church is the care of Heaven and the darling of Providence yet she is sometimes like her Lord driven into the Wilderness there to be tempted and persecuted by the Devil Though sometimes she is clad with Purple embrac'd in the Arms and sits upon the Throne with Princes whom God makes her nursing Fathers yet there is a time when you will find her with Job upon the Dunghil there sitting in her mourning Weeds sighing and groaning and uttering her complaints in the most doleful Accents Behold all ye that pass by and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow Which we must not wonder at for Tribulation is the Way to Glory Through many Tribulations we must enter into the Kingdom of Heaven This is the common Road which our Saviour and the Prophets and Apostles went to Heaven in Christians are Cross-bearers They wear it from the Font to their Funeral from the Laver to the Sepulchre Their Baptism of Water is often seconded with Baptism of Blood The Cross is not only the Ornament of the Fore-head but the Burden of the Shoulder too If any one will be my Disciple says our blessed Lord Let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me A Text which has often sounded in your Ears and has been learnedly and passionately improv'd in many excellent melting Sermons but alas by men rather skill'd in the Theory than the Practise in the Art of painting the Cross than bearing it in the Charms of tragical Eloquence and moving the Passions than the exercise of Christian Patience To whom I am sorry that Character of St. John's Sufferers in the Revelation does not belong Rev. 14.12 Here 's the Patience of the Saints here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus We have had excellent Discourses of suffering and of patience of bearing the Cross for the sake of Christ but few Examples of it We have had Teachers too much of the Pharisaick Temper binding heavy burdens and grievous to be born and laying them on Mens Shoulders which they themselves will not move with one of their Fingers But 't is not enough to talk of the Cross but we must take it up If any one will be my Disciple let him deny himself and take up his Cross He must neither be offended at nor yet despise it or those that bear it 'T is a mark of an unchristian Spirit to insult over those that suffer for Conscience sake 'T is to sit down in the Seat of the Scornful and partake with those from whom the primitive Sufferers had tryal of cruel mockings They who insult over scoff at and despise those that suffer for Conscience sake for their constant Adherence to the Principles of Faith and the Truth of the Gospel and the Laws of God would have done the same had they been then living to Jesus Christ and his Apostles and Martyrs who suffered for Conscience sake 2dly Let us rather choose to suffer than to sin Of which choice Moses has given us a President and Example Heb. 11.25 Choosing rather to suffer Afflicton with the People of God than to enjoy the pleasures of Sin for a Season Choosing rather None would choose to suffer Affliction could he honestly avoid it For no Affliction for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous Heb. 12.11 'T is a Thorn in the Flesh which throbs and akes But better be prick'd with those wounding Thorns than kick against the Pricks Better walk upon Thorns to Paradise though they wound and tear the Flesh than through flowery Meadows