Selected quad for the lemma: grace_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
grace_n	good_a	life_n	work_n	14,387	5	5.8853	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47216	A sermon preached at St Maries in Cambridge, to the Universitie September the 6, 1668 the Sunday before the Sturbridge fair / by Edvvard Kemp ...	Kemp, Edward, d. 1671.	1668 (1668)	Wing K259; ESTC R19271	11,870	26

housed in them this artificial and dexterous representing to men their condition and state indeed soothing and flattering them with the gay title of Saints and godly parties whil'st they see their faces in a crackt glass by the divided word or in the whole glass exposed to them by some false light in which they shew them unheard of marks and characters of grace in them yet seals to them of their election which if the word were but truly and without deceit applyed to them would perhaps make them soon renounce and break in pieces such counterfeit seals of adoption and by all Christian endeavour and a holy care even to repent of those graces and call for more true and holy to wash them out And this is so dangerous besides a deceitfull handling of the word i even to their souls to whom they present this kindness of Saintship so unwarrantably as they do that by this means they keep them perpetually warm with conceits of I know not what purity that they seldom but content themselves with that which they are assured from their Preachers gives them a title to eternal life and blessedness Thus these Drainers of holy Writ for they quote it much by opening such wide sluces to some doctrines have dryed up the streams that is made as it were useless the precepts that should feed a holy life to the impoverishing of the Christian Common-wealth and making us bankrupts of graces a deceit and cozenage so prejudicial to our holy Commerce that we cannot but look upon them as great betrayers of the profit treasure and wealth of good souls and will one day answer for bringing into this Mart such wares as cannot but be forfeited as no way vendible to sober and well-minded Christians But it is less to be wondred at that men content themselves with so few graces and good works to go to heaven with even without purifying their lives and conversations when by some of our Scripture-drivers they are assured of eternal life and sonship upon another account which no vitiousness or licentiousness can reverse no good life can further nor ill led life can cancel and so without any further pursuit of true pietie and holiness indeed make a stand there never seeing the errour they are soothed into which is perhaps embracing filthy lusts as spiritual pride and schism for graces and going away in triumph with these never looking back to repentance humilitie or godly sorrow which we may well suppose was never taught them for they were ingaged in those sins under the specious Titles of Vertues and Godliness are miserably in the way to destruction which these preachers have paved for them with wrested and abused Scripture This Word is precise in all rules of holiness and austerities of life mortification self denyall taking up the Cross yet have some trimmers up of more generous Doctrine smoothed and kembed these Texts to the great satisfaction of the looser joviall and more sanguine Christian either by lessning the weight of these Injunctions or urging something in favour of them who have altogether dispensed with themselves for such severities if not by scoffs taunts and censure of chastisers of the body as of morose unsociable sowr tempers But for taking up the Cross I marvel not that that Text feels not much the hammer of our Commenting we are unwilling to preach what people are averse to hear perhaps our selves not well resolved to practise and truly some have got so much I think by wise avoiding of suffering that I should wonder ever to see them in the blessed list of Confessours Alas they are too tender Christians to endure scratches with thorns though Christ himself our Head bleeded with them and wore a Crown of them in his Inauguration to his bitter passion Indeed we cannot but conclude that such texts in their hands are the greatest sufferers which they torture make confess and extort from them what the holy Ghost never breathed upon wise politick Doctrines it may be and so having something of the Serpent but few feathers of the Dove in them He that would save his life shall lose it saith our Saviour It is astonishment then to hear them boldly aver that Martyrs were too easily won out of their lives and estates too soon parted with and lost all to see them make sallies from such texts for self preservation which is indeed most in their eye though Martyrdom may be in their tongue to hear them put in their cautions and advices lest we should unwisely strip our selves of the enjoyments of this life and give our back to the plowers Indeed lest they themselves should not lay in provision to live in all times in all changes and variations lest they should be to seek how to clear Texts from difficulties that may betray them some time or other to proverty or want lest they should fail of Arguments to swallow once more all Oaths or to demur upon alteration of religious worship nay without any niceness to step into other mens livelyhoods proprieties and estates Thus these Rovers at Sea and pirates in the trade of holy Scripture exercise their violence and robberies upon the sacred Text sinking with their force lesser vessels wavering weak unstable Christians which are a prey to them and they easily boarded and indeed seldom themselves strike sail to primitive and unerring verity I may soon tire you with the sorting out of such doctrines as are exposed to sale upon pretence that they are choice Balsams Sovereign Restoratives distilled waters of the Spirit costly spikenard perfumes rich embroideries fine wooll of the holy Lamb such names have they fixed to desperate errours they have vended varnisht disguised with the Word it self clapt holy Scripture upon them to put them off with and to drill the buyer Such are Doctrines that wrong God and injure him in his Attributes his power justice and mercy such as withdraw us from the love of God our hearts and affections from him such as too much favour profanation abhorrencies of persons that are not of our adhevencies perjuries Sacriledge schism disobedience irreverence slighting of Gods holy Service and Worship These can never come out of that Mint out of that store-house of holy Writ onely such as exhort us to doing of justice shewing mercy walking humbly to study to be quiet to do our own business to work out our salvation with fear and trembling to purge us from wordly lusts that we may be vessels unto honour meet for the Masters use prepared unto every good work These are Merchandizes not shut up in tills or boxes not upon high shelves that we need stretch our arms wrench our sinews our invention to reach them but they lie scattered open spread in every corner in the lowest desk of holy Writ I shall take notice but of one thing more in this Text Our Apostle doth not conceal but confess the number of these Corrupters and Deceivers Many that corrupt And truly the world is much