Selected quad for the lemma: grace_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
grace_n	deny_v	teach_v	ungodliness_n	4,302	5	11.7286	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A56660	A friendly debate betwixt two neighbours, the one a conformist, the other a non-conformist about several weighty matters / published for the benefit of this city, by a lover of it, and of pure religion.; Friendly debate between a conformist and a non-conformist	Patrick, Simon, 1626-1707.; Wild, Robert, 1609-1679.	1668 (1668)	Wing P798; ESTC R41393	117,976	250

Grace that they were a praying people and much in seeking God As if S. Paul did not understand himself when he told us that the Grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness and all Worldly Lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in the World And to deal Freely with you I am much afraid there are many of this kind of Godly people whom you associate your selves withal I am sure some of those who were Patrons to their wickedness and allowed if not justified the killing of the KING and were Army-Chaplains and now private Preachers and not a little adored N.C. Well no more of this For I am satisfied we are not the only Godly But yet I am still inclined to think there is more of the Power of Godliness to be found among us than any where else C. I alwayes thought the Power of Godliness did not consist in words but in a great deal of Humility and a great measure of Charity together with exact Justice and Meekness and Peaceableness and purity of Heart Now me-thinks there is not such store of this among you as one would expect at least not more than we see in other people N.C. Do you call this the Power of Godliness C. Yes and so doth the Apostle as will appear if you think good that we consider seriously together the Character he gives of those that deny the Power of Godliness and content themselves only with the shew or Image of it which he calls the Form of Godliness N.C. With all my heart For that will be a better way of spending our time and edifying one another than the continuing Dispute will be C. You say very well and I love you for that sense of Piety which you discover Let 's take the Book then and read what S. Paul teaches us in 2 Tim. 3.2 3.4 c. concerning them that want the Power and have only the Form of Godliness First he tells us they are lovers of themselves i. e. as I understand it study above all things their own Profit Credit Honour and Pleasure From which as the Root of wickedness they grow to be Covetous or Lovers of Money and then Boasters that is people who magnifie themselves arrogating to themselves more than is their due and bragging they can do that which they are not able to perform From whence it follows that they are Proud that is Contemners and Despisers of others who perhaps are better than themselves Blasphemers i.e. of Magistrates Dignities upon a pretence perhaps that they have nothing of God in them or are Antichristian Disobedient to their Natural Parents as some now are because they say they are unsanctified and unregenerate people Vnthankful to their Benefactors Vnholy and impure Wretches or as some have expounded it to me such as make no difference between things Sacred and Profane without Natural Affection viz. to their Children or Kindred as well as Parents Truce-breakers or perfidious people whom no Bond or Tie can hold to their Promises or Duty False-accusers or such as calumniate and tell false and devised Stories to the prejudice of those whom they do not love or set themselves to oppose Incontinent which I have been told signifies such as have no Power over themselves and their Passions and as are inconsistent with themselves Fierce that is Bloudy-minded men and such whom no Kindness no Benefits can reconcile to Society Friendship or Modesty Despisers of those who are good i. e. that have no Kindness for men who are solidly Good or as our Translation seems to take it such as contemn true Vertue as a mean thing Traitors that is such as will betray their best Friends and Companions for to serve their own Interest Hea●y that is rash inconsiderate impudent and bold people ready for any bad Design High-minded or men puft up and swoln with an Opinion of themselves of their own Knowledg suppose or Piety Lovers of Pleasure more than lovers of God or such as pretend to God only to have a better opportunity to satisfie their desires of pleasure And in conclusion he tells us that they were of this number who in those days crept into folks houses and insinuated themselves into the Favour of silly Women having a design either upon their Wealth or their Chastity And Women they were for their turn being led away with divers Lusts ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth that is always frequenting Christian Assemblies but getting no good by them or else opening their Ears to every Wind of Doctrin desiring still to hear some new thing running from place to place where any novel Teachers were but remaining just as wise as they were before and not a whit the better for all the Sermons they heard N.C. Me thinks you have made me a short Sermon at least I have heard the Doctrinal part of it would you would come to the Use and tell me what you gather from hence C. I gather two things and leave you to gather the rest N.C. What are they C. First that all this Wickedness which I have described from the Apostle will consist with a Form or shew of Godliness For that 's a part of the character of these very men vers 5. Having a Form of Godliness c. Secondly I collect from hence that those men have the Power of godliness who are of a disposition quite opposite to them now named Such I mean as deny themselvs for God's and their Neighbor's sake that set not their hearts upon getting Riches that are humble and modest that reverence their Governors and study in word and deed to preserve their Authority that honour their Parents though not of their Opinion or perhaps ungodly that are sensible of Benefits and grateful to their Benefactors that study Purity and Chastity that are kind and tenderly-affected to their Relations that keep their Faith and perform their Promises though to their own damage that are easily reconciled if they have been grosly injured that speak well if they can of their Neighbours and are not ready to believe every Story of them that endeavor to preserve an even Temper that command their passions are steady and uniform in their Actions that are meek and submissive peaceable and sociable that love Vertue wheresoever they see it and do not despise or reproach it under the name of meer Morality that are faithful to their Trust sober advised and considerate in their Vndertakings that have no high Opinion of themselves and love God above all things that choose rather to keep at home and mind their own Concerns than to be prying into the Secrets of their Neighbors Houses that have no other Design upon any either Man or Woman than to make them good and further their increase in true Wisdom These and such like men in whatsoever place you find them undoubtedly have the Power of Godliness though they should not talk of it so much as others N. C. I see you are able to

as will give no rest to themselves or others And they have one peculiar Quality proper to themselvs alone which is to revile our Ministers even as they go along the streets a thing which I could never observe our ungodly people to be guilty of towards your Ministers who may pass peaceably enough nay I think is not committed in any Country in the World where they are of different Religions Perhaps you will say that ours would do it did not the power of the Lord over-awe them and shut up their Mouths that they may not reproach his faithful Servants But this is only a cast of your skill in searching the Hearts of men and gives us a taste of the opinion you have of your dearness to God N.C. I doubt not but they are very dear to God and that God will reprove even Kings for their sakes saying Touch not mine anointed and do my Prophets no harm C. You have a strong Faith But methinks before you suffer it to grow to such a Confidence you should soberly consider whether some of those precious ones may not be anointed that make godliness a pretence for their Disobedience to Kings and Sauciness towards their betters that flatter you into a conceit of your godliness that you may flatter them with the title of the Prophets of the Lord To me it is no mean argument of their want of Integrity that they teach you no better and connive at all this Wickedness and never that I could hear of lay bare and rebuke these Sins that reign so much among your Party Tell me whence came all the scurrilous Pamphlets that are abroad Out of what Shop do the venomous Libels fly about the Town Who are they that not only despise our Clergy but put open affronts on them as they quietly and soberly walk the Streets That have the Poison of Asps under their Lips and spit it in good mens faces That in a fearful manner scorn and revile their Holy Calling and salute them every where with the ordinary name of Baal's Priests Are they not all bred up in your Churches Do they not all frequent your Meetings And do not by-standers of your Perswasion laugh and rejoyce when they see this Contempt poured on them Do they not seem to encourage those by their Applauses who are so rude and insolent in their behaviour toward good men And yet these stile themselves the godly and take it ill if we do not think them so These you are content to wink at that your Congregations may be full Your Ministers dare not preach down these Abuses lest they should be thought to be friends to Baal N.C. There will be some bad people every where C. I am glad to hear you say so By and by you will confess that there may be also goo● people every where and that some of our Ministers may be good though your Revilers make no difference but if they see a man in a Cassock presently throw dirt in his face and call him a Limb of Anti-Christ or some such thing So bruitish and outragious are the Passions of this Heady people So wonderfully do they profit in your School in those new Vertues of Hatred to ancient Customs and Habits though never so innocent and Hatred or Anger to all that are not of their Way For such is the Fire I have sometimes seen in their Eyes when they meet one of our Ministers that one would think they had a mind to burn them up And I make no doubt they would call upon your Prophets if they were but like Elijah to call for Fire down from Heaven to consume us You may condemn their Folly perhaps but whatsoever you are pleased to say they are the most Zealous of your Party and think themselves the most godly And for any thing I can hear they may think so still It not being the manner of your Preaching to meddle with such things as these nor the time I doubt to be named when you heard a Sermon to reprove the scurrilous and railing language of some among you against the English Clergy No the way hath been and I doubt still continues to declaim only against Superstition and Formality and Will-worship and sometimes against Morality and then to exhort the people to prize Ordinances and seek after pure Ordinances and admit of no humane Mixtures But whilest the poor people are thus afrighted and made exceeding timorous lest they should be righteous over-much by following vain Traditions of men they have little or no fear wrought in them of being wicked over-much by Schism and Disobedience and letting loose their furious Passions and unruly Tongues by reviling God's Ministers nay by despising Governments and speaking evil of Dignities N.C. I think they should be taught to fear these things more than they do C. I and they should be taught not to think themselves godly too soon Whereas the manner hath been quite contrary to breed in them an opinion of their Piety if they be but a praying people and follow Ordinances and frequent private meetings And when they are taught on such easie terms to call themselves gracious and godly then your Ministers make this an Argument against us that all or most of the Godly are on their side And now it comes into my mind that this was the Pretence wherewith they countenanced the late Rebellion as now I suppose you will give us leave to call it But to let you see how idle and frivolous such Arguments were and that they might serve any bodies purpose it was not long before you were numbred among the ungodly For the Army learnt to call themselvs the only godly party and in a manner excluded you Though I believe You would have lik'd it well enough if a Painter had drawn a man with his Eyes lifted up to Heaven and one hand on his Breast with the other Hand in his Neighbors purse or cutting of his Throat and writ over it this Inscription An Army-Saint I mean you thought them an ungodly untoward generation But whatsoever you thought the Argument was as plausible succesful for them as it had been is for you for the people were strangely drawn away by it This cut off the King's Head that it was for the safety of the godly This was in a fair way to keep our present Soveraign from returning to us that those that feared the Lord were against it and would be undone by it And I find that to this day this pretence of godliness hath left an impression on some peoples minds and excuses all those impieties For not long since I heard one commending them for a very gracious people and when it was soberly objected that they were unjust even Cruel and False and Turbulent and Disobedient to their own Governors and Troublers of the Nation it was answered that notwithstanding all these things there was more Grace among them than there is to be found now-adays Meaning I suppose by their