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
A88418	The Christian warfare being some serious, humble, and practical reflections on Psalm XV, wherein the princely prophet David's great and soul-ravishing question, divine answer and application, are considered / by J.L. ...	J. L.	1680 (1680)	Wing L27A; ESTC R226420	153,924	205

calls an immovable immortal Stability And indeed as in this so in all things they both mind the same thing their Weapons which David calls Integrity Tummim Righteousness Truth c. are the same with the Apostle's Armour of Righteousness Now therefore having found out what are the Weapons of this Warfare who the Enemies and what the strong Holds are which we are to subdue we shall now proceed to the manner of the War where first I say 't is perpetual from the day of a Believer's Call until his Consummation Secondly Universal in all Ages and to all the Elect. Lastly One Lord one Christ one Captain of Salvation unto all and as he was made perfect by Suffering so must all his Souldiers Now the first denouncing or proclaiming of this War was in the beginning of Time together with the first Promise of our Leader I will put enmity between thee and the Woman thy Seed and her Seed it shall bruise thy Head thou shalt bruise his Heel Gen. 3.15 Therefore early and irreconcileable was this War and no Cessation of Arms or Parley until one become absolute Victor Also it produces various Successes for sometime the Serpent and his Angels shall prevail as Amalech did against Israel cutting off some of the hindermost weary and slothful but the end shall be the destroying the Beast and false Prophet and taking Captivity captive Lastly It is Universal as the Preacher saith Eccles 8.8 No Man hath power over the Spirit to retain it neither power in the day of Death nor no discharge from this Warfare neither shall wickedness deliver her espoused Ones for this is that Hour of temptation that shall come upon all Flesh and happy shall they be that keep the Word of his Patience 11. Now though the whole Life of a Christian is a perpetual Warfare as no wary Christian who hath made any competent Essays in following and imitating Christ can be ignorant yet are there some more notorious Conflicts and one above all most Certain and Critical Certain because it must come upon all Flesh Critical because none knows the day it shall come and yet according to the decision thereof the success of the future War dependeth and therefore the Magnum Oportet of the Gospel-Church for first there are warrings in the Soul when a Man is called from a natural to a spiritual Estate which at first is legal and again another War when from this legal State we pass over into a State of Grace which indeed is the great and critical Battel c. Lastly There is a perpetual War even under this state of Grace and all these are represented to us in Scripture The first in the case of the Chrildren of Israel the Elect Seed out of Bondage pleasures of the natural Life figured by Pharaoh and his Egyptians in which we are chiefly to contend with Flesh and Blood for as yet spiritual Wickednesses have not molested us because as long as Satan hath the Soul fast in those carnal Fetters he never once troubles it with the Baits of Superstition because his Snares of Lusts do more surely and deeply inthral and plung the Soul into that destruction he aims at and as Pharaoh Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses so the carnal Powers and Wisdom of Man resists by crafty Sorceries the first breathings after God and so desireable is the vassalage of the Spirit of Nature whilst it serveth its Lusts as nothing can break its Chains but Plagues and Miracles from Heaven nor indeed until they be with Pharaoh sunk down into the bottom of the Sea And now here the Soul first inrolls it self as a Souldier in the Warfare of God and hence Jehovah is called The Lord of Hosts the Congregation of Israel the Hosts of God and the Books recording these Passages the Books of the Wars of God particularly mentioning what he did at the Red-Sea and Brooks of Arnon But yet this is not that inrolment which makes the true Souldier of Christ not a Volunteer serving freely and from Love but as I may say a Prest or Mercenary restrained and obedient through the severe Laws of Martial Discipline answering to a legal Obedience which yet in some manner happens even to all in our Gospel-Day for no Man upon his first inlightning becomes straitway a perfect Man of God but must bring it about by beating down one strong Hold after another for though the Power of the Law and the Sting of Death was taken away in Christ's Death yet still the Rule of Evangelical Obedience is to us a Law and as long as a Man legally or litterally obeys it or his false Heart perswades him that by the Works thereof he can work righteously or merit even so long is this Soul under a legal Yoke for what is not purely and simply of Grace that is legal for there is no medium betwixt these so as whilst a Man fights with the Spiritual Weapons legally he is but a legal mercenary Souldier which things by a Figure are represented to us by the Israelites often murmuring in the Wilderness clearly shewing they were led by a mercenary Spirit having their Desires fixed Moses Caleb and Joshua excepted upon the fertility and pleasure of the Promised Land and therefore upon any want of Food Water or the like were ready to forsake Moses the Type of Christ their Leader and to make themselves a Captain and return for Egypt as I fear many Gospel-Professors yet under legal hopes do who perceiving the great ease that Men of the World live under and finding themselves in their legal Performances under straits pinch'd with hunger and thirst and finding no saturity or peace of Mind in that way do again wish they could return to their natural Estate And that this Allegory is according to Truth the Apostle fully witnesseth for says he 1 Cor. 10.2 The Fathers were all baptized into Moses implying in the same similitude as we are into Christ with many of whom God was not well-pleased Now these things were our Greek A Type or Figure Ensamples c. vers 11. written for our admonition that we should not lust after evil things as they lusted not Idolaters not Superstitious not Fornicators not making the Ordinance of God an Idol not tempting of Christ not disponding that he will not or is not able to save in all straits for that which above all displeased God was that upon the return of their Spies they dispaired Moses or rather God was able to drive out their Enemies and give them possession of the promised Land which in all our murmurings ought to teach us that we ought not above all things to distrust our Captain as not able to bring us into the true Rest of God for hitherto God winked at their Rebellions but now sware in his Wrath They shall not enter into his Rest which therefore being a Figure unto us upon whom the ends of the * Gr. Ages World are come Therefore vers 12. let him that

which God will bottle up or in a Groan mayest offer up a well-pleasing Petition which could not be uttered in words therefore be not deceived of thy Birth-right for 't is not to abolish the Duty that this befals thee but thy whorish Pride and Deceit for formerly thou boastest in thy many and pleasant words proceeding from head to head in method and tho when thou hadst finished thy deceitful Heart said it is naught it is naught yet in secret boasted with the Pharisee I thank thee I am not as this Man I pray without Book now I have obliged God to do me good in blessing and confessing him in Spirit but learn thou That the sighings of the Poor and needy God will not forget And this being fully set upon thy Heart God will enlarge thy Mouth again and thy Tongue shall be like a Hind let loose Hast thou given Alms and thy Heart recoileth upon thee that it was not in pure Charity but to stop the mouth of a guilty Mind or to obtain a better Reward for thy self yet by no means withdraw thy hand but even now whilst this Sentiment is upon thee make haste and go and give again more largely than before for thy Mind cannot tax thee now that thou givest for base ends whilst thou believest such Gifts bring no Blessing but rather a Curse Perhaps thou hast heard or read a gracious Promise and thy Soul found no relish in it yet hear and read again if it be but for the Commands sake and that Obedience is better than Sacrifice And again consider the Promise is here it cannot fail because the Promiser is faithful and just to forgive Sins if we confess them But thou wilt say Truth but the Promise belongs not to me because I cannot believe This indeed I grant is a strong pang but no strange thing for thou must also resign the Promises as Abraham did for in sacrificing the Promised Seed he resign'd back the Promise for if in Isaac's both Abraham and all Nations must be blessed then with him sacrificed and as yet without Seed must the Promise cease and in it all Hopes save in the Promiser alone therefore this is the great Point and there remains nothing but that thou give it back in Abraham's Faith which is in assurance that thou shalt receive it again and not in a Figure but Essence for indeed it is but required of thee in the Figure Besides there is not a Promise in the whole Book of God but thou hast put thine own construction upon it mis-shaping it to the purpose of thy legal and carnal Heart and so believed in it so as in truth thou didst not believe in the pure Promise of God but in an Idol thy Invention had form'd out of it and it is but this Idol thou must offer up for the Fundamental Promise is The Seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpent's Head and as thy Fathers mis-shaped it so hast thou they thought he would do it in Power and Might but it was fulfilled in Infirmity and Death in due time as thou knowest and now the Promise being Believe baptize and be saved thou thoughest a formal Baptism with some few shreds of thine own Righteousness would carry thee up to Heaven on Eagles Wings but thou wast mistaken God's Ways are not as thy ways nor his Thoughts as thine for thou must baptize in his Death all thy Righteousness must go into his Grave thy Merit must become as rags and thou and all thy Vertues must stand still as Israel did at the Red-Sea while he treadeth down the Seed of the Serpent under thy feet for he will make good his Promise but not in thine but his own Way and therefore indeed thou givest it not up but thy own mis-shapen construction of it and therefore yield it freely and know nothing beside thy own unworthiness but him and trusting in him abhor thy self repent in Ashes and the thing is done as a ripe Fruit thou shalt drop into the Land of the Living And here let me interpose one word of Advice to them in whom this Confusion and Division have taken hold that is when Brother and Sister-Gifts begin to accuse and criminate each other then stop thine Ears against the Accusation but if any accuse it self then hear with tender compassion for if my Experience deceive not That is Satan in the form of an Angel of Light And thus is Christ teaching us to judg our selves that is If Faith stand up and perswade that it hath laid hold of the Promises aright and without doubting believed but Obedience Prayer Charity c. have stoln the Wedg and Babylonish Garment and troubled Israel in this then be assured this is not Faith but bold-fac'd Presumption rigged forth by Satan in the out-side form of Faith and therefore send him out of the Camp in the Vally called Achor unto this day And so if Obedience Prayer Good-works or any Gift stand up upon such-like terms reject them as Accusers of their Brethren perswaded by Satan to act his part but if Faith accuse it self or being accused by others as the Acan is ready to confess the Fact I have sinned these are innocent I had a great trust in the Army I carried the Shield but fiery Darts falling as thick as Hail I fainted and fled away I am the guilty Jonas cast me over-board and ye shall live Now in this state call every Grace to its station let the Rowers row hard let the Steerage be plied and call to him whom the Wind and Sea obey but if the troubled Conscience still foam and the Spirit bluster from on high and no hope to bring it safe to Land there 's no Remedy over-board it must but yet shall not perish for out of the Belly of Hell it shall cry and be heard and after a while perhaps three Days and three Nights it shall sing to the Lord a New Song Thou hast brought me from Corruption my Soul fainted in me and I remembred thee my Prayer came before thee They that observe lying Vanities forsake their own Mercy And thus do thou with every Gift which hath its more immediate Life in God as Faith Hope Love c. such I say as if a Man could give his whole Substance for it would be contemned But if a practical Gift commanded by God as an Offering from thee fall under this Self-condemnation then neither be so hasty to call others to its assistance nor yet to cast it out because he that so commanded hath also given it a certain Talent to perform at least in some measure but rather stir it up to take an Oar into its own hand that is if Prayer say I am formal I profit not I have no life in me If Charity say I am a Merit-monger and my Alms hypocritical If Fasting say I am vain-glorious and Pharisaical cast us over-board and be safe do not humour them at all in this but encourage them to ply afresh