Selected quad for the lemma: evil_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
evil_n	bitter_a	good_a	light_n	2,289	5	8.2364	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29686	A cabinet of choice jevvels, or, A box of precious ointment being a plain discovery of, or, what men are worth for eternity, and how 'tis like to go with them in another world ... / by Thomas Brooks ...	Brooks, Thomas, 1608-1680.	1669 (1669)	Wing B4937; ESTC R1926	368,116	442

of Dispensations in his dealings with a man When God sets a man up before all the world as a mark to shoot at as he did Job Now a poor Christian is ready to doubt and conclude Job 7.20 c. 16.12 Surely the Lord has no regard of me he has no entire love for me his heart is not certainly towards me seeing all these sore tryals make so much against me but here the poor Christian is mistaken as Jacob once was Gen 42.36 And Jacob their Father said unto them Me have ye bereaved of my children Joseph is not and Simeon is not and ye will take Benjamin away all these things are against me Gen. 45.5 6 7 8 9. But Jacob was out for all those things made for him and for the preservation of the visible Church of God in the World Certainly all the afflictions that befall the people of God Rev. 3.19 Heb. 12.5 6. are but his love-tokens As many as I love I rebuke and chasten and therefore those Christians are miserably mistaken that take them for testimonies of his wrath and effects of his disfavour O Sirs what can be more absurd displeasing and provoking than for a Christian to make that an Argument of Gods hatred that he intends for an instance of his love and ye● Christians are apt thus to act It is observable the Apostle reckons affliction amongst Gods honoraries and tokens of respect Judg. 6.12 13. Exod. 17.7 Phil. 1.29 For to you t is given saith he not only to believe but also to suffer Which saith Father Latymer is the greatest promotion that God gives in this world Job 7.17 18. Job when he was himself could not but admire at it that God should make such an account of man and that he should so magnify him and dignify him as to think him worthy of a rod a whiping as to think him worth a melting Prov. 1.32 Psal 73.5 Eccles 9.1 2. and trying every morning yea every moment T is certain that great prosperity and worldly glory are no sure tokens of Gods love and t is as certain that great troubles and afflictions are no sure marks of Gods hatred and yet many poor Christians when the waters of affliction rise high and are ready to overflow them O how apt are they to conclude that God hates them and will revenge himself upon them and that they have nothing of God or Christ or the Spirit or Grace in them Or 5. Lam. 1.16 When the Spirit the Comforter stands afar off and witholds those special influences without which in a common ordinary way a Christian cannot divinely candidly clearly and impartially transact with God in order to his own peace comfort and settlement Or 6. When either a Christians evidences are not at hand or else they are so soiled darkned blotted and obscured as that he is not able to read them Psal 88. Job 33.10 It is an old saying that Melancholia est vehiculum Daemonum In the German proverb Luther sayes it goes for currant Caput Melancholicum diaboli Balneum The melancholy head is the Devils bathing place Or 7. When a Christian is extreamly opprest with melancholy Melancholy is a dark and dusky humor which disturbs both Soul and body and the cure of it belongs rather to the Physitian than to the Divine It is a most pestilent humor where it abounds one calls it Balneum Diaboli the Devils Bath t is a humor that unfits a man for all sorts of services but especially those that concern his soul his spiritual estate his everlasting condition The Melancholy person tyres the Physitian grieves the Minister wounds Relations and makes sport for the Devil There are 5 sorts of persons that the Devil makes his Ass to ride in triumph upon viz. the ignorant person the unbelieving person the proud person the hypocritical person and the Melancholy person Melancholy is a disease that works strange passions strange imaginations and strange conclusions It unmans a man it makes a man call good evil and evil good sweet bitter and bitter sweet light darkness and darkness light The distemper of the body oftentimes causeth distemper of soul for the Soul followeth the temper of the body A Melancholy spirit is a dumb spirit you can get nothing out of him Mat. 9.28 29. It is no more wonder to see a Melancholy man doubt and question his spiritual condition than it is to see a child cry when he is beaten or to hear a sick man groan or to hear a drowning man call out for a boat You may silence a Melancholy man when you are not able to comfort him Whilest Nebuchadnezzar was under the power of a deep Melancholy he could not tell whether he was a man or a Beast Melancholy is the mother of fears doubts disputes and discomforts and a deaf spirit you can get nothing into him Now of all the evil spirits we read of in the Gospel the dumb and the deaf were the worst darkness sadness solitariness heaviness mourning c. are the only sweet desirable and delightful companions of melancholy persons Melancholy makes every sweet bitter and every bitter seven times more bitter the melancholy person is marvellously prone to bid sleep farewel and joy farewel and meat farewel and friends farewel and Ordinances farewel and duties farewel and Promises farewel and Ministers farewel and his Calling farewel and t is well if he be not even ready to bid God farewel too Melancholy persons are like Idols that have eyes but see not and tongues but speak not and ears but hear not Melancholy turns truths into Fables and fables into truths it turns fancies into realities and realities into fancies Melancholy is a fire that burns inwards and is hard to quench Now if a Christian be under the power of natural or accidental Melancholy his work is not now to be a trying his estate or a casting up of his accounts to see what he is worth for another world but to use all such wayes and means as God hath prepared in a natural way for the cure of Melancholy for as the Soul is not cured by natural causes so the body is not cured by spiritual Remedies Now in the seven cases last mentioned a Christians work lyes rather in mourning self-judging self-loathing self-abhorring and in repenting and reforming and in fresh and frequent exercises of Faith on the Lord Jesus on his Blood on his Promises and on his free rich sovereign and glorious Grace ●hat is displayed and offered in the Gospel and in a patient waiting upon the Lord in the use of all holy and heavenly helps for deliverance out of his present straits t●yals and exercises then in falling upon that great work of casting up his spiritual accounts and of searching into the Records of glory to see whether his name be Registred in the Book of Life or no. O Sirs when poor Christians are bewildered their proper work is to cast themselves upon the

they remained with loud cries and tears to testify their remorse for offending him and shall we make nothing of offending those weak Christians that are the price of Christs bloud and the travel of his soul the Lord forbid Besides our venturing upon the appearance of evil may prove a great temptation to weak Christians not only to venture upon seeming evils but also to venture upon real evils doubtless many weak Christians have been drawn to apparent evils by observing others to venture upon the appearance of evil 'T is commonly seen that when strong Christians will adventure upon appearing evils weak Christians will be emboldned thereby to commit real evils 1 Cor. 8.8 9 10. But meat commendeth us not to God for neither if we eat are we the better neither if we eat not are we the worse But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak For if any man see thee which hast knowledg sit at meat in the Idols Temple shall not the Conscience of him which is weak be emboldned to eat those things which are offered to Idols When the weak shall see men of knowledg communicating with Idolaters in their Feasts their Consciences will be emboldned and confirmed in their old Superstition about those Idols which they were beginning to leave returning now a fresh to a more reverent esteem and service of them than ever c. O friends as you would not offend the weak as you would not tempt the weak keep off from all shews and appearances of evil c. But Sixthly Christians venturing upon appearing evils will exceedingly harden and encourage wicked men to commit real evils 'T is very natural and customary with wicked men to make use of the appearing infirmities of the Saints as excuses and Apologies to bear them out in their greatest enormities and wickednesses Why did not such and such knowing eminent Christians do thus and thus and we have gone but one step beyond them and is that so great and hainous a crime they have been playing and sporting themselves about the pit and we are but slipt or stept into the pit They have been sitting and bibbing with such and such company and we have but taken two or three merry cups more than ordinary in the same company and is that so great a sin c. O Sirs As we should walk wisely towards those that are without 1 Thess 4.12 Jude 22. so we should walk compassionately towards those that are without Of some have compassion making a difference Jer. 9.1 Did not Jeremy wish that his head were waters and his eyes a Fountain of tears that he might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of his people Did not Samuel mourn for Saul 1 Sam. 15.25 Luke 19.10 Luke 10 30-35 Phil. 3.20 Levit. 19.17 1 Sam. 17.34 Gen. 31.40 Did not Christ weep over Jerusalem Did not the compassionate Samaritan bind up his wounds pouring in Oyl and Wine who fell among Thieves in his going from Jerusalem to Jericho Did not Paul weep over those that were enemies of the Cross of Christ Yea shall we shew pity and compassion to an Ox or an Ass that is fallen into a Ditch Nay shall David rather venture upon a Lyon than lose a Lamb Shall Jacob rather endure heat by day and cold by night than neglect his Flock Shall Moses fight with odds rather than the Cattle shall perish with thirst Nay shall Xenocrates a Heathen shew compassion to a poor Sparrow that being scared and pursued by a Hawk flew into his bosome for succour c. And shall not we have that compassion on poor sinners precious and immortal Souls as to abstain from the appearance of sin which may more wayes than one prove so exceeding prejudicial to them c. Jer. ●● 50 Wicked men are wonderful prone to watch for the Saints haltings Christians are lights upon a high Hill yea they are Stars in the Firmament of the Church and therefore every mans eye is upon them and if wicked men can but discern the least indecency the least appearance of any excentrick or irregular motion O how readily will they let fly against God and the Gospel against Religion and against all that have a Profession of Religion upon them Now the honour of God and the credit of the Gospel should be so dear and precious in the eyes of every Christian that he should rather chuse to dye than to venture upon the least apparition of sin whereby the honour of God may be clouded or the credit of the Gospel impeached or eclipsed or the Soul of a poor sinner endangered or worsned both the least sin and the least appearance of sin must be avoided and prevented the Cockatrice must be crushed in the Egg else it will soon become a Serpent the very thought of sin if not thought on will break out into action action into custome custome into habit and then both body and Soul are in the ready way of being irrecoverably lost Camerarius tells us a sad story of two Brothers who walking out in the evening and seeing the Element full of bright spangling Stars one of them being a Grasier wished that he had as many Oxen as there were Stars in the Firmament then said the other Brother If I had a Pasture as big as all the World where would you keep the Oxen he answered In your Pasture What said the other whether I would or no Yes said his Brother The matter was very light 't was but a little evil or an appearing evil but it fell out very heavily for presently they fell to words and then drew one upon another and in the close killed one another O friends as you love the lives of sinners and as you love the Souls of sinners keep off from all appearance of evil But Seventhly Other precious Saints have abstained from all appearances of evil witness Joseph Paul Daniel c. but lately cited And to these let me add that great instance of Augustine who retracted even Ironies because they had the appearance of evil And so the Primitive Christians would not let up Lights and Bayes at their doors though for this they were persecuted as enemies to the Emperour Tertullian because the Temple and the doors of Idolaters were wont to be thus garnished 2 Sam. 24.21 22 23 24. And so David refused to take the Threshing floor and Threshing instruments and Oxen c. of Araunah as a gift but would needs buy them at a price and this he did partly out of a Divine nobleness and partly to avoid the very shew of Covetousness Now why has God left all these famous Presidents upon Record but on purpose to encourage his Saints in all Ages to abstain from all appearing evils as well as from all apparent evils Certainly God looks that we should so eye the best the highest the worthyest and the exactest examples as that we

should make it our great business and work to come up to them and to imitate them to the life O friends the examples last cited should be very awakening very perswading very convincing and very encouraging because in them you may see that though abstinence from the appearance of evil be a difficult thing yet 't is a possible thing Shall we love to look upon the Pictures of our friends and shall we not much more love to look upon the holy examples of those eminent Saints that had the lively picture of Grace and the lovely Image of Christ fairly stampt upon their hearts and lives 'T is both our Mercy and our duty to eye the examples and to follow the footsteps of those Christians that have been most eminent in Grace as you may plainly see by comparing of these Scriptures together Prov. 2.20 Heb. 6.12 1 Thes 1.6 Phil. 4.9 2 Tim. 3.10 11 12. Heb. 12.1 Phil. 3.17 1 Cor. 11.1 Titus 2.7 He that would fain write a fair hand had need have his eye often upon his Copy and he that would fain abstain from all appearance of evil he had need often to eye the gracious examples of such who have made Conscience of abstaining from appearing evils as well as from apparent evils But Eighthly and lastly Consider what some refined Heathens and civilized Pagans have done in this very case There are stories of Heathens that would not look upon excellent Beauties lest they should be ensnared D●mocrit●● pluckt out his own eyes to avoid the danger of uncleanness Socrates speaketh of two young men that flang away their Belts when being in an Idol-Temple the lustrating water fell upon them detesting saith the Historian the garment spotted by the Flesh Alexander would not see the woman after whom he might have lusted Scipio Africanus warring in Spain took New Carthage by storm Aure victor at which time a beautiful and noble Virgin fled to him for succour to preserve her Chastity he being four and twenty years old and so in the heat of youth hearing of it would not suffer her to come into his sight for fear of a temptation but caused her to be restored in safety to her Father So when Dem●sthenes the Oratour was asked an excessive sum of money to behold the beautiful Lais he answered He would not buy repentance so dear neither was he so ill a Merchant as to sell eternals for temporals Nor Caesar would not search Pompeyes Cabinet lest he should find new matters of revenge Memorable is the story of the children of Samos●ta that would not touch their Ball but burnt it because it had touched the Toe of a wicked Heretical Bishop as they were tossing and playing with it Now shall some refined Heathens shall civilized Pagans abstain from the appearance of evil from occasions and temptations to sin and shall real Christians fall short of them Shall blind nature do more than Grace Shall men fallen in the first Adam do more than those that are raised and enlivened by the second Adam But to prevent all mistakes let me add though many Heathens have abstained from the appearance of some evil yet they have not abstained from the appearance of all evil neither have they abstained from the appearance of any evil out of a hatred of evil nor from any principles of saving light or life or love nor out of any regard to any Royal Law of God nor out of any regard to the honour or glory of God but either out of vain-glory and popular applause the Pole-stars by which they steered all their actions or out of Hypocrisy which set a tincture and Dy upon all their actions what Writer hath more golden Sentences than Seneca against the contempt of Gold yet if Tacitus and others of his contemporaries may be credited none more rich none more covetous than he as if out of design he had perswaded others to cast away their money that he himself might come and gather it up again c. And thus you see that there are very great reasons why every Christian should avoid the very shew suspition or appearance of evil c. But Eleventhly and lastly He that sets himself resolutely mostly habitually against his bosome sins his constitution sins Psal 18.26 his most prevalent sins c. he has certainly a saving work a powerful work of God upon his Soul True Grace will make a man stand stoutly and stedfastly on Gods side and work the heart to take part with him against the most darling sins though they be as right hands or as right eyes True Grace will lay hands upon a mans most beloved lusts and cry out to Heaven Lord Crucify them Crucify them down with them down with them even to the ground Lord do Justice do signal Justice do speedy Justice do exemplary Justice upon this Head-lust this Master-sin Lord hew down root and branch let the very stumps of this Dagon be broken all in pieces Lord curse this wild Fig-Tree that never more Fruit may grow thereon Certainly God and Christ is set up highest in that mans heart who bends most of his thoughts strength and endeavours against his constitution sins against the sins of his Place Calling condition and complexion 'T is very observable that the Jews after they had been in the Babilonish Furnace for Idolatry they ever hated and feared that sin as much as the burnt child dreads the Fire yea they would dye any death rather than admit an Idol Josephus tells us how stoutly they opposed Pilate and Petronius that would have set up Caesars Statue in their Temples offering their throats to the Swords of the Souldiers rather than they would endure that Idol in Gods house O when once the heart of a Christian comes thus to be set against all his Golden and Silver Idols then we may safely say Behold a true Israelite in whom there is no guile He that finds his lusts his bosome his darling lusts begin to fall before him 〈◊〉 6 1● as H●m●● once begun to fall before Mor●eoai he may safely and confidently conclude that he is of the seed of the Jews and that the seed of God abideth in him 1 John 3.9 But having discoursed so largely as I have concerning bosome sins darl●ng lusts head-corruptions in my other writings I need say no more at this time And thus you see that there are Eleven particulars in regard of sin and a Christians act●ngs about it that speaks out a true saving work of Grace to be in the Souls of the Saints But c. Secondly Where the constant ordinary standing and abiding purpose disposition frame and general bent of a mans heart soul spirit desires and endeavours are fixed and set for God for Grace for Holiness in heart and life there is a most sure and infallible work of God past upon that mans soul the constant bent and the setled purpose of a true child of God is for God for Grace for Holiness in heart