Selected quad for the lemma: evil_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A30570
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The excellency of holy courage in evil times by Jeremiah Burroughs ; published by Thomas Goodwin ... [et al.]
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Burroughs, Jeremiah, 1599-1646.
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1661
(1661)
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Wing B6066; ESTC R25757
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147,222
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223
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so such a one comes no longer to live the life of care he doth not tremble any more And suitable to his expression so was his life speaking of Eudoxia the Empres saies he what wil she do wil shee bannish me the earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof Wil she cut me asunder so was Isaiah Wil she drown me John was cast into the Sea Will she stone me So was Steven Will she behead me so was Paul Will she take away my substance my heart is taken a way from that already It is reported of Illaria meeting with theeves say they are you not affraid no saith he I have nothing to loose but We will Kill thee saith he I am prepared to die And to a Heart seeing it hath nothing to loose and it is prepared to die it doth not fear it values no evil in the creature nor any good in it and therefore it is not affraid Now it is faith that glorious and mighty grace takes the heart off from all creature Evil and creature good and by this you may know the work of Faith in your Souls When you feel a principle within you taking you from the creature and lifting you aboue creature comforts and creature evils that is the glorious work of Faith And that is the Seventh thing Eightly Faith doth interest God in the cause of a Beleever Whatsoever cause a beleever doth undertake wherein he doth exercise faith his Faith doth interest God in it so that it hath not only the countenance command and faithfulness of God to help it but the Name of God and God himself As in England if a man hath a debt and knows not how to get it he will turne it over to the King and if he can interest the King in the debt He thinks that will be a way to help himself So here when a beleever is in a straight and he knows not what to do he looks this way and that way and sees nothing but fears and Terrours and knows not how to help himself yet if he can but turne over the cause to God and interest him in the cause he is quiet Ninthly Faith hath a notable work to help against fear in that it fils the heart with spirituall good and the true boldness that is in any heart comes from the fulness of spirituall good that is in their Souls As the Naturalists observe the reason why the Lyon hath that courage and boldness Is because he hath a heart compacted and filled with strong spirits Many things when they are empty are weake but when they are filled ful of that which is sutable to them it makes them strong So when a Soul hath a fulness of spiritual good in it it is very strong Look what is the reason of the boldness and courage and impudence of wicked men in their sin the contrary is the reason of the boldness and courage of Gods people in the way of God The speciall reason of the courage and boldness of the wicked in a way of evill is the fullness of wickedness that is in their souls And therefore in that fact of Ananias and Saphira Acts. 5.3 saith the Apostle Why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie unto the holy Ghost If Satan had not filled your hearts you could not have been thus bold to have lied to the holy Ghost And so it is a notable passage we have in Esther 7.5 speaking concerning Haman saith the King Who is he and where is he that durst presume in his heart to do so In the Hebrew it is who hath filled his heart to do this who hath a heart so ful as to venture upon such an evill as this As the filling of the heart with evill makes it bold and couragious in that which is evill so the filling of the heart with spirituall good makes it forward in that which is good As it is observed concerning Steven after Steven was filled with the Holy Ghost how bold was he he could look upon the face of his persecuters with boldness in Acts 6.15 and the Councell looked upon him and saw his face as it had been the face of an Angel because his heart was filled with the Holy Ghost And so the Apostles were very feareful before the Holy Ghost came down upon them but when they were filled with the Holy Ghost they had no more feare And so Elisha how full of courage was he when the three Kings came to him saith he Had it not been for Jehosaphat I had not seen thy face What was the reason he had the Spirit of Elijah double upon him and therefore he was bold As there is a Plerophorie of evil that causeth boldness so there is a Plerophorie of good that filleth the heart with boldness and nothing doth so fil the heart as faith that fetcheth of the fulness of Christ and of his fulness we are full In the Tenth place Faith hath a great deale of power to cause boldness and take off the heart from the feare of Man because Faith doth acquaint a beleever with the waies of God towards his people and therefore he doth not fear A beleever comes to have skill in the passages of Gods Providence and his dealings towards his people and thereby he comes to know that it is Gods ordinary way to suffer the enemies of his people to rage against them and prevail against them and to have much power over them and yet they are his people And it is no argument that God hath forsaken them because of their affliction And therefore you know the Scripture speaks oftentimes of Gods leading his people through the Fire and the Water and that God will be with them there Isa 43.2 It is the way of God to choose his people and set his heart upon them in the Fiery Furnace when he intends the greatest good to his people He brings them through Fire and Water and setteth them in wealthy places Psal 66.12 And if one be acquainted with Gods way he doth not fear If a souldier be not acquainted with the way of his General when he seeth him undertake great things and brings them into danger he is affraid but one that is acquainted with the way of his General how he will lay his stratagems and knows that it is his way to go through such dangers he is not affraid And so it is true carnal Hearts assoon as they see any danger they are affraid because they have not the skil to understand the mind and will of God in his way towards his people when as the people of God know that it is the ordinary way of God to work good out of Evil. As Luther saies He doth kill that he may quicken and cast down that he may raise up And the like and so he goes on in three or four lines together but saith he For to know this this is the art of arts and the Knowledg of Knowledges very few do know and understand this way
were another matter if you had gone through those fears and yet were bold but a beleeving soul may say yea Lord the gates of death and the shadow of death hath been in some measure made known to me and yet I am bold The Prophet saith in Jer. 17.17 Be not thou a terror to me for thou art my hope in the day of evil Lord let me be delivered from thy terror and all the world shall not terrifie me Those that have been brought up delicately and know not what any danger means if they heare of any commotion and danger they tremble but those that are used to warrs that continually heate the noise of Cannons and see the affrighting objects and desperate things that are there they are not so soon made affraid because they have been where terrors have been and have been delivered from them and so a beleeving soul hath been acquainted with other manner of terrors than the terrors of men and faith delivering from them will deliver from these Fourthly Faith helps against the feare of men and all dangers and evils by implanting the true feare of God in the soul Where faith comes as it brings all grace with it so it brings the grace of the feare of God and the reason of al disorderly feare in the world is for want of the true fear of God I do not meane the fear of his wrath but that reverence that we owe to God as creatures to the Creator that fear of God wherein a great part of Gods worship consisteth if the soul were possessed with that other fears would vanish As in other afflictions True spiritual joy will overcome carnal joy and the best way to cure carnal joy is to have the heart possessed with spiritual joy many take content in the flesh but they never come to have their carnal joy mortified till their souls be filled with spiritual joy And therefore though in the time of sickness They cry out against their carnal joy it is not mortified but they returne to it again because they had only the conviction of conscience that their carnal joy was naught but had not a contrary stream to fil their hearts And so for sorrow There is no way to mortifie carnal sorrow as to sorrow for sin and so for desires no way to mortifie sinful creature desires as to have desires Sanctified for God As in other afflictions so in that of fear no such way to mortifie carnal sinful fear as to have the true fear of God planted in the heart As Moses when the rod was turned into a Serpent the Magicians turned their rods into serpents but the text saith in Exod. 7.12 that Moses Serpent did devour the Magicians Serpents So there is enough in the true feare of God to take up al the soul that it hath no space for the fear of Man As when God is truly worshipped there he is only worshipped so when God is truly feared there he is only feared and all other fears are in subordination to that Where God is truly feared nothing else is feared and indeed nothing else need be feared As where God is not feared no creature can help us so where God is feared no creature can hurt us in Hosea 10.3 Because we feared not the Lord What then should a King do to us so on the contrary because we feare the Lord what then can a King what can all the power in the world do against us Fiftly Faith doth discover unto the soul that it hath more with it than against it You know the Prophets man was affraid when he saw their enemies about them ready to apprehend them the Prophet prayed to the Lord to open his eyes and to let him see in 2. Kings 6.16.17 There were more with him than against him So till a mans eyes are opened by faith he may see many enemies against him to cause fear but when God doth open the eyes of his Soul to see more with him than against him all fears are gone It sees al the Attributes of God all the waies of Gods Providence all Angels all creatures working for the good of it and so it sees more with it then against it If a child or man be alone in danger he is affraid but when he comes into the company of his freinds that hath more with him than against him he is not affraid So by the eye of faith we see more with us than against us and that frees from feare Sixthly Faith keeps from feare by bringing in the spirit of Jesus Christ into the Soul and makes the Soul partaker of the spirit of Christ Now Christ is called the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah Revel 5.5 He was full of courage and did not feare any thing which opposed him in his way now every Christian doth partake of the Lion-like spirit of Christ and hath something of it in him and that puts strength courage into him In Isa 11.2 We read of the spirit of Christ that he was anointed withal the spirit of wisdom and understanding spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledg and the fear of the Lord. Wheresoever the spirit of Christ is there is a spirit of might and strength that will not easily yeeld to feare It is a sign of a poor low spirit to ly down and feare every thing that is never so little feareful but a spirit that is magnanimous and a raised spirit wil not easily feare The spirit of Christ is a magnanimous glorious spirit he hath the same spirit with his Father and so those that are Christs come to have the same spirit of the Son and of the Father with them And therefore saith Saint Paul in 2 Tim. 1.7 We have not received the Spirit of fear but of power The Spirit of Christ hath a great deal of power and strength in it and when faith brings in the spirit of Christ it must needs help against fear Seventhly Faith helps against feare by taking off the heart from the creature and from all the comforts that are in it Why doth a man feare but because he thinks the creature wil take away some comfort from him now if the heart be taken off from the creature and the comforts of it and so from creature evils neither esteeming the one nor accounting much of the other there is not much cause why he should feare now faith takes off the heart from the creature In Revel 12.11 It is spoken of those that overcome Antichrist that they loved not their lives and if they were taken off from the love of life then by consequence they were taken of from the love of any creature It is a notable speech that Chrisostome hath concerning a worldly man None more miserable and more feareful than a man that is fastned to earthly things for saith he he doth continually live the life of care and of trembling but when faith comes it takes off the heart from being fastned to the creature and