Selected quad for the lemma: friend_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
friend_n	covenant_n	lord_n	solicitous_a	24	3	16.0419	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26714	Instructions about heart-work what is to be done on Gods part, and ours, for the cure and keeping of the heart, that we may live in the exercise and growth of grace here, and have a comfortable assurance of glory to eternity / by that eminent Gospel-Minister Mr. Richard Allein, author of Vindiciæ pietatis.	R. A. (Richard Alleine), 1611-1681.	1681 (1681)	Wing A994; ESTC R19556	262,157	306

Christ reconciling you to himself 2 Cor. 5.19 You have not had us dealing with you in the name of Christ who are the Ministers of Reconciliation 2 Cor. 5.18 but he who is the great Reconciler Christ himself hath been dealing with you and hath reconciled you to God So sure as the Devil hath been dealing with sinners he hath drawn them away from God drawn them to sin and wickedness against God hath been hardning them against God you could never have been so wicked you could never have been so hardned against God as you are hardned against conversion hardned against repentance if the Devil had not been dealing with you You see what hard hearts you have we cannot humble you we cannot perswade you to repent and turn our words do nothing with you you will not be perswaded to return but you go on your way and remain stupid and sensless of your sin and misery you will not be perswaded 't is so bad with you We cannot for our hearts make you sensible of your wretched cases nor put a stop to you in your sins You may see well enough who hath been dealing with you that you continue so sinful still and so hardned in your sins It is the Devil that hath had to do with you thus to deprave you and to harden you as sure as the Devil hath been dealing with sinners so sure hath Christ been dealing with his Saints 'T is not Ministers that have awakened you that have convinced and humbled you and brought you about to the Lord 't is Christ that hath done these things for you We could never have humbled you we could never have perswaded nor turned nor reconciled you to God if Christ himself had not done it You were once foolish and disobedient led about with diverse lusts you were once Drunkards Liars Covetous and Prophane and you had been amongst this uncircumcised Crew to this day if Christ had not fetched you off 't is with him you have had to do as 't is said Heb. 4.13 All things are naked and open before his eyes with whom we have to do You have to do with Christ Christ hath been dealing with you that are Christians or you had never come to this you had never been these living Souls you had never known what you do of God nor known what you do of Sin nor been washed from your sins your had never been here praying and hearing and praising the Lord and become followers of the Lamb if Christ had not had to do with you Particularly you that are Christians there have been great transactions betwixt God and your Souls 1. In point of Covenant Behold you that are Christians you are in Covenant with the Lord by reason whereof I may say concerning you as Moses concerning Israel Deut. 26.17 18. Thou hast avouched the Lord to be thy God to walk in his ways and keep his statutes And the Lord hath avouched thee to be his peculiar People You have avouched the Lord to be yours and the Lord hath avouched you to be his a solemn and mutual Covenant hath there passed between the Lord and you he is become your Covenant God you are become his Covenant People How came this to pass how is it that you are not still as poor sinners are in Covenant with Death and Agreement with Hell how comes it to pass that when poor sinners are in Covenant with the Devil you are in Covenant with God O you may thank Christ for this he hath been effectually dealing with you in this thing He hath not only procured such a gracious Covenant a Covenant of Mercy a Covenant of Pardons a Covenant of Peace but he hath also 1. Made offer of this Covenant of God to you inviting you to come and joyn your selves to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant that shall never be forgotten 2. He hath made void your Covenant with Death and disanull'd your Agreement with Hell He hath given you an heart to break and make void that wicked Covenant to break with the Devil to break with Sin and the World and to come out from among them 3. He hath effectually perswaded you into this Covenant of God He hath brought you into the bond of the Covenant Ezek. 20.37 He hath sprinkled you with the Blood of the Covenant and hath gained your hearty acceptance of all this You have opened your Mouth to the Lord you have vowed your selves you have sworn your selves his Covenant Servants not with your Mouths only not in profession only but you have engaged your hearts to the Lord. Jer. 30.21 Your Hearts are no longer your own you have given them to the Lord to be his for ever So that you can now say through Grace to the Lord what he said to Israel Is 54.20 The Mountains shall depart and the Hills shall be removed but through the help of God my faithfulness shall not depart nor shall the Covenant of my peace ever be removed His I am and through his Grace I am determined to be the Lords for ever Friends such a solemn and sacred Covenant transaction hath there been in those very Hearts of yours betwixt the Lord and you He hath avouched himself to be yours and you have avouched your selves to be his own and those Hearts of yours are the Records wherein this Transaction is registred and kept Remember and look back and consider if there have not been such mutual engagements passed betwixt the Lord and you Look into your Closets and remember what of this kind hath passed between him and you in secret look back to your Sacraments and remember what Covenanting have been between the Lord and you at his Table and what solemn sealing there hath been God sealing to you and you sealing back to him Your Hearts are the Records wherein these Sacred Transactions have been Registred look into thine Heart doth not this testifie for thee how thou hast bound thy self to be the Lords for ever and hast accepted of his Bond to thee The remembrance of this Covenant Transaction will be of use to you as long as you live will be of use to comfort you in the day of your doubts and fears to confirm you in the day of Temptations to hold you close to the Lord according to the Vows that are upon you to quicken you and hold you on in that way of holy and lively Obedience which you have covenanted for When you grow cold and careless and remiss in your way of Religion then remember Is this the Life I covenanted with God to live When you are tempted to decline to a worldly life or a fleshly life then remember I have promised to the Lord that I will never return to such a life again When you are out of heart and complain of weaknesses and want of strength and so are discouraged and disheartned I shall never be able to hold to such an industrious life then remember the Covenant of the Lord with you who

a bondage to it to be tied up so short The more of this the higher the Disease is and the more to be doubted whether such mens Christianity be sound The strictest Christian is the most healthful and the most evidently a Christian indeed and the greater latitude the heart indulges its self to the more sickly the Soul is if it be not quite dead and no Christian at all Friends You that are Christians indeed if you know what you have done you have vowed the greatness strictness possible That is to press on towards it and to reach out after it You did not Covenant to follow Christ to such a degree and no higher to advance in Religion to such a pitch and no more you did not Covenant for thus much Obedience thus much duty thus much diligence thus much Zeal and no more if ye be Christians indeed you have covenanted to follow the Lord fully to watch to every Duty to watch against every sin to press on to the highest pitch of holiness to do to the utmost to please the Lord. If there were any reserve in your vow to Christ of any little liberty to the Flesh of any limit of your zeal and care if there were any such reserve you are false in your Covenant and but false Christians O friends have you vowed the greatest strictness then watch against the least degrees of looseness Get a settled Judgment of the excellency and necessity of strictness get an hearty love and good liking of it let your Souls be bent upon it let it be your desire and your aim and your hope and your labour to hold you close by Christ and if you would not have licentious practises abound in your life let no licentious Principles no licentious affections nest themselves in your hearts see that there be no lust after any other liberty then Christ hath allowed you Get to be heartily well pleased with all the Laws of Christ with his narrowest ways let that latitude of Religion which is the measure of carnal disciples be your fear and not your desire And if you feel any itch after it look upon it as a disease and distemper of your heart Count thy self but a weakly and sickly Christian whilst is is thus with thee Know that it is your greatest Excellency if Holiness be an Excellency then the more strictly holy the more Excellent Yea and you will find it your greatest Liberty the more holiness the more enlargement of your hearts to all the holy ways of God Psal 119.44 45. I will keep thy law continually c. And I will walk at liberty his meaning was not I will walk licentiously at liberty from thy Laws at liberty from Rule but I will walk freely in thy ways when thou shalt knock off my fetters that hinder me The more we can hold in and inure our selves to be punctual in our Religion the more freedom shall we find and with the more ease and delight shall we run the way of Gods Commands And know this that by how much the more loose you are from the ways of God by so much the more loose from God and what will you have to comfort you what will you have to sweeten Religion to you whilst God is at a distance from you Keep you fast to him and you shall live the more under his reviving and refreshing influences Religion hath its troubles and its harshness and you will have little else then the harshness of it longer then you keep you close to the Lord. The Waters of the Sanctuary will tast but brackish to you longer then the Sun shines upon them a little Sun-shine from above a smile from the Face of God this is the sweetness this is the Blessedness Keep close to God and you shall keep the passage clear between Heaven and your Hearts Religion will be like Ephraims Idolatry Hos 8.7 It will be but a dry stalk the Bud will yield no Meat There will be the Labours of it and the Troubles of it but no Meat for your Souls to feed upon longer then you meet with God in your Duties Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you Jam. 4.8 Keep close by God and he will keep close to you May be some of you have never yet tasted how Gracious the Lord is nor will you ever be like to do if you set not in closer in his ways Loose Religion will keep you still in the dark and in a weary and uncomfortable State There 's no such way to make Christ's ways pleasant as by keeping constantly in them no such way to make Christs Yoke easie as by holding it close to your Necks it never so galls and wrings as when it hangs loosely on resolve upon strictness and you shall taste the sweetness Hold you in from running out after the Pleasures of the Flesh and the Face of God will be a pleasure to you which the Distemper of a loose and carnal Heart will certainly deprive you of and hinder you from the relish or finding delight therein 3. Listlesness A dull untoward sluggish unactive lifeless temper where the Edge of our Spirits is blunted insomuch that whatever opportunities we have or whatever calls we have to be doing for God or our Souls we have no list to them but through the way-wardness and and untowardness of our hearts we let them slip and either do nothing or nothing to purpose Opportunities are a price put into our hands but by reason of this sluggish listless untoward temper we have no heart to them but became like the Fool Prov. 17.16 In vain is there a price put into the hands of a Fool which hath no heart to it This is a wretched and pernicious Distemper 2. It proceeds from an evil cause From the carnality of our hearts and our unsuitableness to the work of God It is ungrateful and unpleasing work to us our hearts are so contrary to it we had rather be any where then with God we had rather be about any work then the work of our Souls We can be brisk and sprightful about our carnal and earthly employments but for any thing of Religion there we dragg and go heavily on we are all Soul and Life in what we have to do for our Flesh but our hearts hang backward and come but heavily and untowardly on to do any thing for God This is from the little interest that God hath in our Souls and the little affection we bear to him We are yet carnal and that 's the reason we have so little Edge or so little list to spiritual things 2. It is an ill sign What ill sign is it 'T is a sign of want of Grace either that we have no Grace at all or at least are but very low in the Grace of God that our day is yet but a day of small things Where is our Faith in Christ when we are so backward in the work of Faith As Christ sayd Mat. 14.31

meek man none would be a fury but a Fool. Meekness of Spirit is the way to get every mans love and good opinion and the way to our own ease and serenity of heart Frowardness and fretfulness is its own punishment what vexations and galls are such Persons to their own hearts and what a reproach and a by-word and an odium are they to others Others are easily provoked and hardly pacified a little spark will kindle a fire but many waters will not quench it A soft answer saith Solomon Prov. 15.1 turneth away wrath In some 't will but in others neither soft nor hard words will do it no contending no stooping no yielding no loving obliging words or carriage will stop the current till time hath a little allayed and worn it out This is a wretched temper and next to the worst soon angry and long angry Others are soon angry and never pacified The grudge of their hearts is a cancer in their breasts there it corrodes and frets but will not be cured These are Devils incarnate 't is the malice of the Devil that is implacable malice That 's the 4th limit not long Angry 5. Restrain the sinful effects of Anger Such as are 1. Angry looks we read Prov. 25.23 of an angry countenance an angry look is either a furious look the fire of the heart sparkling out at the eye or a sowre and sullen a dogged or discontented look 2. Angry words as reproachful words Mat. 5.22 Racha or thou fool calling names Liar Theef Varlet Knave or railing and bitter words words dipped in Vinegar or Gall spoken on purpose to irritate and provoke 3. Distances and Estrangements Keeping aloof refusing society with those we are angry with I 'le do him no hurt but I 'le never have to do with him more there 's an angry resolve Never talk you are not angry whilst this fruit of it distance and estrangement continues 4. Revenge When the grudge lyes burning within and watching to do him an ill turn or to be even with him as they usually express it Revenge is the intending endeavouring or doing hurt to such as offend us to satisfie our malice and wrath We may right our selves upon those that abuse and wrong us either in our Estates or our Names in just and honest ways and in such cases where God or Conscience or the honour of Religion does not call upon us to suffer wrong and pass by or put up abuses we may right our selves in case of wrongs but never out of Malice to satisfie our wrathful hearts Some wretched spirits there are that in some trifling offences that are offered them could pass them by but only for the satisfying their malice their wrath must be satisfied This if it be a righting of thy self yet if that which puts thee upon it be the malice of thy heart this is a revengful righting of thy self how often do some men speak at such a rate not so much that I do regard the thing but I scorn to be abused Well these are the limits to bound your Anger Be not angry with God nor any of his Providences be not sinfully angry with men not soon angry not angry without a cause not over angry where you have a cause not long not implacably angry lay aside an angry look restrain an angry tongue and beware of meditating revenge let not there be a secret grudge remaining which will make revenge sweet to thee Now because this is a great peice of the Government of the heart and of great difficulty I shall direct you to some means for the bringing it about 1. Prize seek and maintain your peace with God 1. This will find you other work to do then to mind every little offence that comes athwart you The wrath of God is as the roaring of a Lion Whilst you are in fear of that or caring how to escape it you will not mind the barking of a Dog or the hissing of a Goose What hast thou nothing else to take up thy thoughts then these trivial things its an ill sign 't is a sign thou mindest not God as thou shouldst nor thy soul as thou shouldst when thou art so apt to be in a pett at every little thing 2. Your breaking peace with men is your breaking peace with God Art thou sinfully angry with thy brother or with thy husband or thy Wife take heed God is angry with thee Psal 18.26 With the froward thou wilt shew thy self froward You that are given to frowardness study that Scripture and tremble Canst thou stand before an angry God wouldst thou that God should carry it as frowardly towards thee as thou catriest it towards others wouldst thou see such a frowning face wouldst thou hear such words of fury from the Lord against thy Soul thou must look for no other from him if thou carriest it thus frowardly to thy Friends Mind your peace with God more be more solicitous about the taking up that deadly Controversie that hath been betwixt him and thee and prevent the raising of new quarrels with God and then we should have fewer quarrels one with another Is it peace betwixt God and thy Soul is all fair and friendly betwixt him and thee methinks thou shouldst bear any thing then from men Is it not peace betwixt God and thee Is that great work yet to do Is there such a weighty concern lying upon thee Is thy Peace with God yet to make What a foolish wretch art thou to disturb thy self with these little matters 2. Totally espouse the interest of God and renounce the interest of this Self and Flesh It is this self that is the make-bate and the rise of all our quarrels If you would know no other interest but the interest of God you would never be angry but where you should be angry you would only be angry with sin against God If you had renounced your felfish and fleshly interest you would never take its part nor take up the Cudgels on its side all our carnal anger it is but our taking part with carnal self any thing that 's spoken or done against thy self anger must be called up to revenge this quarrel Be more zealous for the interest of God and these quarrels of self would cease 3. Know that a pettish angry disposition whilst it remains unconquered will make thee a briar and a thorn to whatever company thou art in Yea and 't will make every one else seem to be a briar and thorn to thee What wouldst thou have people say there dwells a wasp or an hornet there goes a briar or thorn take heed how you come near him least you be scratch'd or stung If you would not make every one else to seem a briar and thorn or wasp to you then kill this wasp in your own bosom If people would but study more their own ease and the calme of their own hearts and to be freed from those troublesome boylings and burnings of their own Spirits they