Selected quad for the lemma: friend_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
friend_n	abraham_n	faith_n	work_n	983	5	7.3635	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01711	Certaine sermons, vpon diuers textes of Holie Scripture Whereof some haue been seuerally before published, and other some for the greater benefit of the godly reader are here now added. By M. George Giffard, preacher of the worde of God at Mauldon Essex.	Gifford, George, d. 1620.; Gifford, George, d. 1620. A sermon on the parable of the sower. aut; Gifford, George, d. 1620. Two sermons upon I. Peter 5. vers. 8 and 9. aut; Gifford, George, d. 1620. Foure sermons uppon the seven chiefe vertues of faith. aut; Gifford, George, d. 1620. A godlie, zealous, and profitable sermon upon the second chapter of saint James. aut; Gifford, George, d. 1620. A sermon preached at Pauls Crosse the thirtie day of May. aut; Gifford, George, d. 1620. A sermon on the third chapter of Saint Iames. aut	1597 (1597)	STC 11848.5; ESTC S120470	152,707	288

naked and destitute of daily foode 16 And one of you say vnto them Depart in peace warme your selues and fill your bellies notwithstanding ye giue them not those things which are needfull to the bodie what helpeth it 17 Euen so the faith if it haue no workes is dead in it selfe 18 But some man might say Thou hast the faith and I haue workes shew me thy faith out of thy workes and I will shew thee my faith by my workes 19 Thou beleeuest that there is one God thou doest well the diuels also beleeue it tremble 20 But wilt thou vnderstand O thou vaine man that the faith which is without works is dead 21 Was not Abraham our Father iustified through workes when hee offered Isaac his sonne vpon the Altar 22 Seest thou not that the faith wrought with his workes and through the workes was the faith made perfect 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which sayth Abraham beleeued God and it was imputed vnto him for righteousnesse and he was called the friend of God 24 Ye see then how that of workes a man is iustified and not of faith only 25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot iustified through workes when she had receiued the messengers and sent them out another way 26 For as the bodie without the spirit is dead euen so the faith without workes is dead I Haue chosen this portion of scripture to interpret because there is very great vse and commoditie in the true and right vnderstanding thereof and the doctrine therein contained is most necessarie for all Christians to know First because it doth directly and fully ouerthrow beat downe all carnall profession of the Gospell shewing that the common and dead faith cannot saue a man Secondly because it is the principall piller which the Papists doe leane vnto and the chiefe place of Scripture which they doe peruert and abuse to prooue and establish Iustification by workes and the merits of men and to ouerthrow the free Iustification wee haue in our Lord Iesus Christ through faith The hold which they take in this point is vpon the speeches and phrases which the Apostle doth vse as when he saith Abraham our father was iustified through workes Also Rahab the Harlot was iustified through workes Likewise ye see that of workes a man is iustified and not of faith onely Herein the two Apostles of Christ Saint Paul and Saint Iames do seeme to be flat contrarie the one to the other for whereas Saint Paul saith Abraham was iustified by faith alone and not by workes Saint Iames saith he was iustified by workes Saint Paul saith and prooueth by sundrie and inuincible reasons that a man is iustified by faith alone without the workes of the law Saint Iames saith ye see that a man is iustified by workes and not by faith only This contrarietie is but in appearance for they both wrote by one spirite which is alwaies like himselfe and alwaies agreeth with himselfe The whole blame thereof is to light vpon vs that wee are so dimme sighted as not to see how these two seruants of GOD doe iumpe and agree together without any iarre at all I thinke it needefull for this cause before I come to handle the words of the Text as they lye in order first to take away this shewe of discorde If any man will demaund what cause there was which made them to appeare in outward shew so contrarie the one to the other I answere that although there be no contrarietie in the matter it selfe which they teach yet the diuersitie of the schollers which they lighted vpon the contrary affection of those whom they instructed caused them to vse a diuers and contrarie order of teaching Saint Paul hauing to deale with such as would seeke to be iustified partly by faith in Christ and partly by their owne deedes or the deedes of the Law vseth this order first shewing that we were lost and condemned in our selues then next iustified and saued through the merites of Christ afterward that we are sanctified in him and must shew foorth the fruites of our faith in a pure and holie life Saint Iames lighting vpon another sort of men which confessed the free iustification through faith in Christ yet in this they were deceiued that they did not consider how all those that are iustified are sanctified how all those that are in christ Iesus are new creatures that they are new borne and walke not after the flesh but after the spirit that the true liuely and iustifying faith doth bring foorth the fruites of righteousnesse in a holie conuersation Now because this cannot be remooued or separated from the right and liuely faith Saint Iames goeth as it were backward and prooueth that where this latter that is to say the fruites of faith are wanting there faith is wanting and so his drift is to shew that all vngodly and carnall professours of Christ haue but a dead faith which in no respect is able for to helpe or saue them A second cause why they seeme so much to differ is herein that men doe not marke well how they handle not the selfe same matter nor haue not the same drift For Saint Paul laboureth to prooue that the true faith doth ioyne vs to Christ and thereby saue vs. Saint Iames here beateth vpon this poynt that the dead faith which is but a bare image of the right faith cannot profite a man this shall appeare in the wordes of the Text and also a third cause is that they doe not take this word iustified in the same sense but diuersly as it shall bee prooued afterward Now will I come vnto the Text. What auaileth it my brethren though a man saith hee hath faith when he hath no workes can the faith saue him This is his proposition and the matter which he will dispute vpon in the whole text following thus much it is in effect that it doth not auaile a man to say he hath faith nor it doth not profit him to boast and bragge and to make profession thereof when he hath no good workes the reason is this because it cannot saue him marke and obserue this well for here at the first enterance the blindnesse of the Papists and their follie doth manifestlie bewray it selfe when as they doe not see nor vnderstand that it is not the purpose of the Apostle in this place to dispute vpon this point whether the true faith doth saue iustifie or not but to shewe that such as haue not good workes haue not the true faith in them and therefore whatsoeuer they professe they cannot bee saued For hee doth not propound his matter thus what auaileth it though a man haue faith and haue not workes but What auaileth it though a man say hee hath faith and hath not workes Whereby it is very manifest that when Saint Iames doth attibute the name of faith vnto this dead image hee doth it not in proper but in abusine speech and after

yet finde a hole to creepe out at although they bee neuer so wicked for thus they will say It is true Gods worde saith that faith is shewed foorth by good workes well I thanke GOD though I haue many vices in mee and am full of infirmities yet I am not altogether without good workes I am not so gracelesse but at some times I remember GOD by prayer I doe according to my abilitie giue to the poore I am readie to pleasure my friend doe not these things sufficiently shewe that I haue faith Dearely beloued take heede for here you may soone bee deceiued it is not the meaning of the Apostle when hee saith shew me thy faith by thy workes that a fewe scattered scrappes of good deedes among great heapes of sinfull workes and as it were a fewe grains of corne in a great heap of chaffe shuld be a true witnesse of the same For it must be shewed both in forsaking and renouncing all euill waies and also in following after all goodnesse for it is without all controuersie that those which seeme to bee good workes before men are not so before GOD in the man which is giuen ouer to commit sinne can that which is good come out of the same heart in which vngodlinesse raigneth Either make the tree good saith Christ and the fruite good or els make the tree euill and the fruit euill A good tree cannot bring foorth euill fruite Matt. 12.13 Luk. 6.43 neither can an euill tree bring foorth good fruite Can the same tree bring forth both good fruit euill fruite Doth a fountaine at the same place saith S. Iames send foorth both sweete and bitter water Iames 3.11 1. Iohn 3.7 Be not deceiued saith Saint Iohn he that worketh righteousnesse is righteous he that committeth sinne is of the diuell Some man will say doth not the most godly man that liueth commit sinne and doeth not the good and the bad come together from him The godly are loden with the corruptions of the flesh but yet they doe not commit sinne that is to say they are not giuen ouer as vngodly men are to the obedience of sinne they are spotted with imperfections but they doe not take pleasure therein as the wicked doe although they feele a lumpishnesse in them vnto good workes yet their whole race is applied vnto good workes they would very faine obey their God on both sides that is to say in forsaking all that is euill and doing all that which he commandeth them Contrariwise the fleshly Infidell doeth with all his heart giue vp himselfe in the whole race of his life to that which is filthie if hee doe any thing which is good it is but in shew being not done sincerely nor comming from a good roote but of selfe-loue vaine glorie or such like hee doth not any thing for the Lords sake but for his owne For loue him and ye shall finde him readie to doe you good cease that and his goodnesse doth dye Praise him hee will praise you againe discommend him although hee deserue it neuer so much ye shall not come in his bookes be ye neuer so good Forget not this then I pray yee good brethren when God hath set down so plain a rule to trie our selues by whether we be faithfull or Infidels If wee finde our selues full of good workes and our heart doth beare vs witnesse that we doe them euen for loue towards God well are we this doth declare our faith But if our euil deeds abound and our heart bee vncleane it is time to looke about vs wee are in a most miserable case I wish of GOD that wee might often thinke vpon this and be careful to shew our faith to the world by our good and pure life Be not afraid to applie this to our selues and also to deale against the vngodly with it For in this dissolute age wherein iniquitie hath almost gotten the vpper hand it is most necessarie that we vse this instrument which God hath put in our hands Thou saist thou beleeuest shew thy faith by thy workes Now followeth another reason Thou beleeuest there is one God thou doest well the diuels also beleeue and tremble Way this argument well ye shall plainly perceiue that it doth nothing at all helpe a man to say he hath faith when he hath no good deedes if this kinde of faith could saue him then should the diuels be saued also because they haue the same beleefe but because it is most certaine that the diuels shall not thereby bee saued therefore it is also as manifest that those men who haue no other beleefe but that which they haue cannot bee saued Let vs see then how farre the faith of Diuels doth goe Thou beleeuest saith he that there is one God or that God is one and so thou thinkest this a great matter not to beleeue as the vaine Gentiles which did thinke there were diuers gods and indeede for so farre thou doest well but yet marke what a great matter thou hast attained the Diuels doe beleeue the same and yet haue thereby no benefite or reconciliation with GOD for they tremble when they remember the terrible iudgement seate and the euerlasting fire which is prepared for them This faith of the diuels is not to be restrained to some one poynt but stretcheth vnto the whole doctrine of Faith They doe stedfastly beleeue and know that Iesus Christ dyed for the sinnes of the world this is a sure reason that they know the doctrine of GOD when they seeke to deface and ouerthrow it by contrary errors When a man therefore is of a sound iudgement in the Scriptures for matters of faith and is able to confirme euerie poynt and to ouerthrow the contrarie errours though many will say hee is a sound man and hee taketh himselfe to bee as great a Gospeller as any other yet if hee haue no workes if his faith bee not a liuely regenerating saith hee may esteeme of himselfe what he will but the Lord telleth vs that hee is no more forwarde then the diuels they are as founde in the knowledge of trueth as he And if this common and generall faith would serue they should bee saued as well as hee But it may bee here obiected that there is great difference betweene the faith of Diuels and the faith of those men which beleeue and yet haue no fruites of godlinesse in them The Diuels indeede doe beleeue all matters of faith to bee true but they doe not nor can not beleeue that they pertaine any thing at all to them they haue no hope of mercie but men although they bee very sinfull yet they are in hope that they shall bee saued Heere is a great difference therfore the faith of such men goeth far beyond the faith of Diuels The Lord giue vs eyes to see and hearts to vnderstand for I will shew that the difference is That the faith of the Diuels is more perfect For what is the