Selected quad for the lemma: grace_n
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A54656
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The gain of Godliness being a consideration of I Tim. 4. 8. / by Charles Phelpes.
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Phelpes, Charles.
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1682
(1682)
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Wing P1977; ESTC R131
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86,937
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202
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thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort thou shalt do welt 3. Joh. 5. 6. And so on the other hand they are called ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into Lasciviousness in a general consideration Jud. 4. 2 Pet. 2. 5 6. And very frequently in the book of the Psalmes where in the Translation after the Hebrew we read wicked the Septuagint read ungodly and so doth our Vulgar Translation as we by observation may see And thus as I have said Godliness is to be accepted in this place in such an Extensive and Comprehensive consideration And so taking it and looking upon it we may say 1. That by Godliness here we are to understand the Christian Faith or the Articles thereof which are to be believed by us and the unfeigned belief thereof which this Apostle calls the mystery of godliness when he saith without Controversy or Confessedly great is the Mystery of Godliness God was manifest in the flesh justified in the spirit seen of Angels Preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the world received up into Glory 1 Tim. 3. 16. And of which Truth or mystery the Church of the living God is the ground and Pillar v. 15. And so this mystery of Godliness contains in it the incarnation abasement sufferings death Resurrection Ascension and Exaltation of the Son of God and all the Truths of the Gospel which are therein Preached to us to the end they may be unfeignedly and heartily embraced and entertained by us and which mystery is called the Gospel Thus when the Apostle saith to the Corinthians I declare unto you the Gospel which I Preached unto you which also ye have received c He then more Particularly acquaints them with and re-minds them of the Gospel which he had formerly Proclaimed unto them saying For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures and that he was seen of Cephas then of the Twelve c. 1 Cor. 15. 1 4 8. And so this Doctrine of Godliness is called The word of Faith which the Apostles have Preached and delivered Rom. 10. 8. 10 15 17. And the Faith of the Gospel Phil. 1. 27. And the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of Glory Jam. 2. 1. And the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints Jude 3. 4. To which I shall not here particularly speak 2. And by Godliness here we are also to understand the Christian life and practice which is Taught us by the Gospel of Christ as it is now Preached unto us according to the Revelation of the Mystery Hence the Gospel of Christ is called the Doctrine according to Godliness because it doth teach us to serve God acceptably with Reverence and Godly fear to serve him without fear in holiness and Righteousness before him all the days of our life 1 Tim. 6. 3. Heb. 12. 28. As the Apostle Paul saith the grace of God which bringeth Salvation unto all men hath appeared teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present world in this posture looking for the blessed hope c. Tit. 2. 11 12 13. And the same Apostle declaring to the believing Ephesians the sad miscarriage of the Gentiles that knew not God And how they walked in the vanity of their mindes he then saith unto them But ye have not so learned Christ if so be that ye have heard him and been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts And be renewed in the spirit of your mind And that ye put on the New-Man which after God is Created in Righteousness and Holiness of Truth To give us to understand that the word of the Truth of the Gospel of Christ doth Teach us to be pure in heart and Pious in all manner of Demeanour and conversation for which cause also it is called the Truth which is after Godliness Eph. 4. 20 24. With Tit. 1. 1. It gives unto us more perfect Easy and excellent commands and rules then the Law doth however as to the clearness of them It sets before us more excellent and forcible Motives and Arguments on the right hand and on the left to Enforce our Duty It propounds to us the most excellent example of Jesus the Son of God That we might follow his steps and walk as he hath walked And also with it are afforded more abundant and powerful assistances of the grace and spirit of God to work in us both to will and to do of good pleasure That we might do all things without Murmuring and disputings that so we might be blameless and harmless And therefore as our blessed Saviour saith except your Righteousness shall exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees which were the most strait sect of the Jews Religion Act. 26. 5. Ye shall in no Case enter into the Kingdome of Heaven Mat. 5. 19 20 47 48. To whom much is given of them much will be required Luk. 12. 47 48. And we therefore being preferred above the Jews ought to exceed them in all Godliness and Goodness 1 Pet. 1. 10 12 13 18. What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and Godliness Be we then diligent that we may be found of him in Peace without Spot and Blameless 1 Pet. 2. 9 10 12. 2 Pet. 3. 12. 14. And so in a few words the Godliness here commended to us doth contain in it an hearty unfeigned and operative belief of the Gospel and a life Practice suitable thereunto to wit in sincere Holiness Righteousness and Sobriety Rom. 6. 17 18 21. And thus according to my weakness I have briefly shewn what is here meant by Godliness 2. Consider we in the next place what is here Affirmed of Godliness by way of its Commendation And for our encouragement to exercise our selves thereto And that is It is profitable for or unto allthings It is that which is of greatest and most general advantage to them that exercise themselves heartily unto it But before we speak any further thereto we may observe that the Apostle here doth not declare unto us the whole excellency of the Christian Faith and Life or give unto us a Compleat Commendation of it for it is pleasant sweet and grateful also it is as delightful as Gainful as pleasurable as profitable as it is said of Wisdome to wit of Sincere Piety her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace Prov. 3. 13 17. Great peace have they that Love thy Law And nothing shall offend them Psal 119. 165. Believing in Christ with Faith unfeigned they rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1 6 8. And such as uprightly exercise
6. is ratified and made sure by the most precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot Indeed the first Testament was confirmed and Dedicated with blood For Moses took the blood of Calves and of Goats with water and Hysop and sprinkled the book saying This is the blood of the Testament which God hath enjoyned unto you Exod. 24. 3 8. with Heb. 9. 18 20. But this better and far more excellent Covenant and Promise which is entail'd on sincere Piety is ratified and established by the blood of the Son of God who is the Mediatour of it Thus when our Lord Jesus instituted his Supper in the night in which he was betrayed He took the Cup and gave it unto his Disciples saying Drink ye all of it for this is my Blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the Remission of Sins Matth. 26. 27 28. This Testament of exceeding great and precious Promises is confirmed by the Blood of himself who is the Testator For where a Testament is there must also of necessity be brought in the Death of the Testator For a Testament is of force after men are dead otherwise it is of no strength at all while the Testator liveth Heb. 9. 16 17. Hence this Covenant is called The New Testament in his Blood Luke 22. 20. 1 Cor. 11. 25. And his Blood is said to be The Blood of the New Testament or Covenant Mark 14. 24. Heb. 10. 29. and the Blood of the everlasting Covenant Heb. 13. 20. And our Lord Jesus who hath obtained sealed and ratified this New Testament with his own Death is raised again from the Dead and is now Alive a 〈…〉 ives for evermore and is the Mediator 〈…〉 is New Covenant to see to the faithful Execution and Performance of his own last Will and Testament As the Apostle saith And for this cause he is the Mediator of the New Testament That by means of Death for the Redemption of the Transgressions that were under the First Testament They which are called to wit called according to purpose so as they unfeignedly obey the call might receive the Promise of the eternal Inheritance Heb. 9. 14 15. So that the Promise being thus Confirmed by the Oath of the ever-living and eternally unchangeable God and by the Blood of the eternal and Immutable Son of God Heb. 13. 7 8. appears hereby to be a faithful and true saying and therefore as we have said is worthy of all hearty and honourable Acceptation and Entertainment from us all To conclude all then in a few words Let us all so carefully and seriously minde and consider the General Gainfulness of sincere Piety and Goodness both in this present State which we are now in and in that future and eternal State which we must hereafter enter upon which is fully and abundantly evidenced in this that it hath the Promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come And that the Author and Maker of this Prom 〈…〉 s the living God the Incorruptible God the most Merciful most Powerful and Faithful God And that this Promise is ascertained and confirmed by his most solemn Oath to shew unto the Heirs of his Promise the Immutability of his Counsel and that it is also Ratified and Established by the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ who is the same yesterday and to day and for ever Heb. 13. 7 8. And who ever liveth to see to the performance of his Covenant and Promise Heb. 1. 10 12. that we may resolvedly and constantly deny Impiety and all sinful and worldly lusts and affections by the aid and assistance of the Spirit of Grace lest we come short of enjoying the Benefit and advantage of this excellent and most beneficial promise as Heb. 4. 1. And let us uprightly and perseveringly follow after and exercise our selves not to the Form only or mainly but to the Power and Practice of real Godliness that so we may have an Interest in and an enjoyment of The Gain and Advantage of Godliness both now in this present Day and to the Day of Eternity O let us not by observing lying Vanities which cannot save us from evil nor satisfy us with good forsake our own Mercies God hath Inseparably joyned together our Duty and our Interest that we cannot Possibly have the Latter unless we sincerely perform the Former nor can we heartily exercise our selves to the Former but we shall without all doubt be made Partakers of the Latter What God therefore hath so joyned together let no man fondly imagine or foolishly endeavour to put asunder As by annexing and assuring this general and most valuable advantage to Godliness God doth Intimate our backwardness to exercise our selves thereto and our averseness therefrom So in that he proposes and promises such a Reward to Piety He doth plainly give us to understand that it is his gracious Mind and Will that we should be Good and Pious that we may be truly Blessed and Happy We must indeed take Christs Yoak upon us and unseignedly undertake his service if we will meet with and find Refreshing to our Souls But that we may heartily and willingly so do He doth assure us that it is an easie that it is a gainful one and so draws us to take the Yoke upon us with the Bands and Cords of Profit and Advantage both Earthly and Heavenly And thus he did allure his people in former times to the well-pleasing service of him by assuring them that it would conduce unto their own Advantage and Interest And now saith he by Moses What doth the Lord thy God require of thee but to fear the Lord thy God to walk in all his wayes and to love him and to serve the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul to keep the Commandments of the Lord and his Statutes which I command thee this day for thy Good But for what Good should they do this surely for their present and for their future good for their earthly and for their heavenly advantage And so much may be signified in what immediately follows with a note of attention perfixed thereto namely Behold the Heaven and the Heaven of Heavens is the Lords thy God the Earth also with all that therein is Deut. 10. 12 13 14. O then Let us Exercise our selves unto Godliness For Godliness is profitable unto all things having promise of the Life that now is and of that which is to come This is a Faithful saying and worthy of all Acceptation THE END Books to be Sold by Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and three Crowns in Cheapside A Hundred select Sermons on several Texts by Tho. Horton D. D. Sermons on 4 select Psalms viz. 4th 42 51 63. by Tho. Horton D. D. Mr. Baxters Christian Directory Sermons on the whole Epistle of Saint Paul to the Collossians by Mr. J. Daille translated into English by F. S. with Dr. Tho. Goodwins and Dr. John Owens