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A65299
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Heaven taken by storm, or, The holy violence a Christian is to put forth in the pursuit after glory by Thomas Watson ...
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Watson, Thomas, d. 1686.
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1670
(1670)
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Wing W1128; ESTC R9123
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95,888
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234
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throw it away that thou maist the faster run to the heavenly Kingdom If you would be violent for Heaven take heed of despondency of spirit Be serious but chearfull He whose spirit is pressed down with sadness is unfit to go about his work An unchearful heart is unfit to pray or praise God When the strings of a Lute are wet it will not put forth any sweet harmony Such as go drooping under fears and discouragements cannot be violent in Religion When a souldier faints in the field he soon le ts fall his sword David chides himself out of his melancholy Psal. 43. 5. Why art thou cast down O my soul Why art thou disquieted within me hope yet in God A sad heart makes a dull action We use the Drum and Trumpet in Battel that the noise of the Trumpet may excite and quicken the souldiers spirits and make them fight more vigorously Chearfulness is like musick in battel it excites a Christian's spirits and makes him vegete and lively in duty What is done with cherfulness is done with delight and the soul flies most swiftly to Heaven upon the wing of delight If you would be violent for Heaven take heed of a supine lazy temper A slothful Christian is like a fearful souldier that hath a good mind to the plunder but is loth to storm the Castle So he would fain have Heaven but is loth to take it by storm enerves animos odisse virtus solet Sloth is the soul's sleep Many instead of wo king out of salvation sleep away salvation Such as will not labour must be put at last to beg they must beg as Dives for one drop of water An idle man saith Soâ—…omon putâ—… his hand in his bosom Prov. 19. 24. He should have his hand to the pâ—…ough and he puts it in his bosom God never made Heaven an hive for drones Sloth is a disease apâ—… to grow upon men shake it off A ship that is a slug is a prey to the Pirate A slugish soul is a prey to Satan When the Crocodile sleeps with his mouth open the Indian Rat gets into his belly and eats his entrails While men are asleep in sloth the Devil enters and devours them Take heed of consulting with flesh and blood As good consult with the Devil as the flesh The flesh is a bosomtraitor An enemy within the walls is worst The flesh cries out there is a Lion in the way The flesh will bid thee spare thy self as Peter did Christ Obe not so violent for Heaven spare thy self The flesh saith as Judas What needs all this waste So what needs all this praying and wrestling why dost thou waste thy strength what needs all this waste The flesh cries out for ease it is loth to put its neck under Christ's yoak The flesh is for pleasure it had rather be gaming than running the heavenly Race There is a description of fleshly pleasures Amos 6. 4 5 6. That lie upon beds of Ivory and stretch themselves upon their Couches that chaunt to the sound of the Viol that drink Wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the chief ointments These are the delights of the flâ—…sh Such an one was he spoken of in Beard 's Theatre that did strive to please all his five senses at once He did bespeak a room richly hung with fair Pictures he had the most delicious musick he had all the choise Aromaticks and Perfumes he had all the Candies and curious Preserves of the Confectioner he was lodged in the bed with a beautiful Curtisan Thus did he indulge the flesh and swore that he would spend all his estate to live one week like a God though he were sure to be damned in Hell the next day O take heed of holding intelligence with the flesh The flesh is a bad Counseller St. Paul would not confer with flesh and blood Gal. 1. 16. The flesh is a sworn enemy to this holy violence Rom 8. 13. If ye live after the flesh ye shall die You have taken an oath in Baptism to renounce the flesh Take heed of listning to the voice of such carnal friends as would call you off from this blessed violence Fire when in Snow will soon lose its heat and by degrees go out Among bad company you will soon lose your heat for Religion The company of the wicked will sooner cool you than your company will heat them Vinegar will sooner sowre the Wine than the Wine will sweeten the Vinegar How often do carnal friends the same to our souls as infected persons do to our bodies convey the Plague The wicked are still disswading us from this violence they will say it is preciseness and singularity As Christ's friends laid hold on him when he was going to preach Mark 3. 21. They went out to lay hold on him for they said he is beside himself Such as are unacquainted with the spirituality and sweetness of Religion judge all zeal phrensie and therefore will lay hold upon us to hinder us in this sacred violence When we are earnest suitors to Piety our carnal friends will raise some ill report of it and so endeavour to break the match Galeaciâ—…s Marquess of Vico being resolved for Heaven what a block in his way did he find his carnal Relations and what a do â—…ad he to break through that impediment Take heed of a soare in your bosom This is one of the Devil 's great subtilties to hinder us from Religion by our nearest Relations and so to shoot us with our own rib He tempted Adam by his wife Gen. 3. 6. Who would have suspected the Devil there He handed over a temptation to Job by his wife Job 2â—…9 Dost thou still retain thine integrity What notwithstanding all these disasters that have befallen thee dost thou still pray and serve God Throw osf his livery Curse God and die Thus would the Devil have cooled Job's violence for Heaven but the shield of his faith quenched this siery dart Spira's friends stood in his way to Heaven for advising with them about Luther's Doctrine they perswaded him to recant and so openly abjuring his former faith he felt an Hell in his conscience Take heed of such tempters resolve to hold on your violence for Heaven though your carnal friends disswade you 'T is better to go to Heaven with their haâ—…red than to Hell with their love It was a saying of St. Hierom If my Paâ—…ents should peâ—…swade me to deny Christ if my Mother should shew me her breasts that gave me suck if my wife should go to charme me with her embraces I would forsake all and fly to Christ. If our dearest friends alive would lie in our way to Heaven we must either leap over them or tread upon them Take heed of setting up your stay in the lowest pitch of grace He that hath the least grace may have motion but not violence It is a pitiful thing to be contented with just so much
Prison but stay till God by death lets us out The Sentinel is not to stir without leave from his Captain nor must we dare to stir hence without Gods leave Our Bodies are the Temples of the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6. 19. when we offer violence to them we destroy Gods Temple The Lamp of life must burn so long as any natural moisture is left like oil to feed it Secondly When one takes away the life of another There 's too much of this violence now adays No sin hath a louder voice than blood Gen. 4. 10. The voice of thy Brothers Blood crieth unto me from the ground If there is a Curse for him that smites his Neighbour secretly Deut. 27. 24. then he is double cursed that kills him If a man had slaiâ—… another unawares he might take Sanctuary and fly to the Altar but if he had done it willingly the holiness of the place was not to protect him Exod. 21. 14. If a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour to slay him with guile thou shalt take him from mine â—…ltar that he may die Joab being a man of blood King Solomon sought to slay him though he caught hold on the horns of the Altar 1 King 8. 29. In Bohemia formerly the Murderer was to be beheaded and put in the same Goffin with him whom he killed Thus we see what violence the Text excludes 2. What violence is meant here it is an Holy Violence This is twofold 1. We must be violent for the Truth Here Pilaâ—…e's question will be moved What is Truth Truth is either the blessed Word of God which is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Word of Truth Or those Doctrinals which are deduced â—…om the Word and agree with it as the Dial with the Sun or the Transcript with the Origiâ—…al aâ—… the doctrine of the Trinity the doctrine of the Creation the doctrine of Free-grace Justification by the blood of Christ Regeneration Resurrection of the dead and the life of Glory these Truths we must be violent for which is either by being Advoâ—…ates for them or Martyrs Truth is the most glorious thing the least filing of this gold is precious what shall we be violent for if not for Truth Truth is ancient it 's gray hairs may make it venerable it comes from him who is the Ancient of daies Truth is unerring it is the Star which leads to Christ. Truth is pure Psal. 119. 140. It is compared to Silver refined seven times Psal. 12. 6. There is not the least spot on Truth 's face it breathes nothing but sanctity Truth is triumphant it is like a great Conquerour when all its Enemies lie dead it keeps the field and sets up its Trophies of Victory Truth may be opposed but never quite deposed In the time of Dioclesian things seemed desperate Truth ran low soon after was the golden time of Constantius and then truth did again lift up its head When the Water in the Thames is lowest an high tide is ready to come in God is on Truth 's side and so long there is no fear but it will prevail The Heavens being on fire shall be dissolved 2 Pet. 3. 12. but not that Truth which came from Heaven 1 Pet. 1. 25. Truth hath noble Effects Truth is the Seed of the new birth God doth not regenerate us by Miracles or Revelations but by the word of truth Jam. 1. 18. As truth is the breeder of grace so the feeder of it 1 Tim. 4. 6. Truth sanctifies John 17. 17. Sanctifie them by thy Truth Truth is the Seal that leaves the print of its own Holiness upon us it is both speculum and lavacrum a Glass to shew us our blemishes and a Laver to wash them away Truth makes us free John 8. 32. it beats off the fetters of sin and puts us into a state of Sonship Rom. 8. 11. and Kingship Rev. 1. 6. Truth is comforting this Wine cheers When Davids Harp and Viol could yield him no comfort Truth did Psal. 119. 50. This is my comfort in my affliction for thy Word hath quickned me Truth is an antidote against errour Errour is the Adultery of the Mind it stains the Soul as Treason doth the Blood Errour damns as well as Vice A man may as well die by Poyson as Pistol and what can stave off Errour but Truth The reason so many have been trapanned into Errour is because they either did not know or not love the Truth I can never say enough in the honour of Truth Truth is basis fidei the ground of our faith it gives us an exact model of Religion it shews us what we are to believe Take away Truth and our Faith is Fancy Truth is the best flower in the Churches Crown We have not a richer Jewel to trust God with than our Souls nor he a richer Jewel to trust us with than his Truths Truth is Insigne Honoris an Ensign of Honour it distinguisheth us from the false Church as Chastity distinguisheth a vertuous Woman from an Harlot In short Truth is Ecclesiae praesidium the Bulwark of a Nation 2 Chron. 11. 17. it is said the Levites who were the antesignani the Ensign-Bearers of Truth strengthened the Kingdom Truth may bee compared to the Capitol of Rome which was a place of the greatest strength or the Tower of David on which there hang a thousand shields Cant. 4. 4. Our Forts and Navies do not so much strengthen us as Truth Truth is the best Militia of a Kingdom if once we part with Truth and espouse Popery the Lock is cut where our strength lies What then should we be violent for â—…f not for Truth We are bid 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to contend as in an Agony for the faith delivered to the Saints Jude 3. If Truth once be gone we may write this Epitaph on Englands Tomb-stone The Glory is departed 2. This holy violenceis when we are violent for our own salvation 2 Pet. 1. 10. Give all diligence to make your Calling and Election sure The Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies anxious carefulness or a serious beating ones thoughts about the business of Eternity such a Care as sets Head and Heart a work in this channel of Religion all a Christians zeal should run 3. The third thing is what is implied in this holy violence It implies three things 1. Resolution of Will 2. Vigour of Affection 3. Strength of Endeavour 1. Resolution of the Will Psal. 119. 6. I have sworn and will perform it that I will keep thy righteous Judgements Whatever is in the way to Heaven though there be a Lion in the way I will encounter it Like a resolute Commander that chargeth through the whole Body of the Army The Christian is resolved come on it what will he will have Heaven Where there is this resolution danger must be despised difficulties trampled upon terrours contemned This is the first