Selected quad for the lemma: grace_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
grace_n	lust_n	teach_v	ungodliness_n	3,273	5	11.6124	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54215	Som free reflections upon occasion of the public discourse about liberty of conscience and the consequences thereof in this present conjuncture in a letter to a friend / by one who cordially imbraces whatsoever there is of tru religion in al professions, and hates every thing which makes any of them hate or hurt one another.	Penn, William, 1644-1718.	1687 (1687)	Wing P1366; ESTC R40051	12,299	21

writ I cannot but suspect that a Prejudice may arise against me in some Mens Mindes from the Disinteressedness I have shewn in respect of the different Sects of Protestants as if I were my self a Papist and designed wholly to favorize that Party To obviate that Prejudice I therfore desire the World may know that I am so far from being ingaged in any Party that I sincerely desire the Distinctions of all Parties may be obliterated amongst Mankind and that al the Ends of the Earth may be brought into Subjection and Obedience unto the Gospel of the Holy Jesus and own no other Name or Profession but that of Christianity Oh what glorious Days Oh what transporting Comforts and solid Happiness would that Temper of Spirit bring into the World Then would the Root of Contention be cut up when al Men were engaged in the same Cause Disputes would surely cease when Men came to know that the Religion which Jesus Christ came to institute upon Earth consists not in any airy Speculations nor shadowy Ceremonys but wholly and solely in actual Obedience to his Holy Precepts They would then easily infer from such a Foundation that Notions and Doctrins and much more outward Cults ar only so far necessary unto Salvation as they ar proper to influence Mens Lives They would then know that the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto al Men and that therfore it doth not ly hid in Difficultys and Obscuritys which few or none do comprehend but that the Rules it prescribes us ar plain even to the meanest Capacitys teaching us that denying Vngodliness and worldly Lusts we should liv soberly righteously and Godlily in this present World. This would make al Men more intent upon then Duty upon the strict Observance of the Rules of Justice of Truth and of universal Charity and Good-wil towards one another which is the choicest Flower in al the Garland of Christian Vertues And in the same Proportion as those Vertues increased stil further Knowledg and a sound Judgment in Divine Truths would increase with them and the Seeds of Discord would at the same time be destroyed We should then turn our Swords into Plow-shares and our Spears into Pruning-hooks we should not learn War any more but rest Fearless under our own Vines and our own Fig-trees and every Man walking in the Name of his God. Princes would not then press Uniformity in things of smal Consequence with a Violence only tolerable in Occasions of the most fundamental and greatest Importance Subjects would not refuse Conformity in things indifferent with a Headstrongness only excusable in Points most essential Nor would either the one or the other mistake those fundamental and essential Points when al were agreed that they consisted only in Piety Sobriety and Vertu An Authority tempered with Sweetness and a Subjection mixed with Lov would make al Estates of Men as happy as our frail Condition of Mortality can admit This Thought you see has a little warmed me and no wonder it should For indeed it is the only Fire that heats my Zeal the only Spring that gives Motion to my sluggish and indifferent Temper God grant that it may kindle som Measures of a like Flame nay a higher Measure I beseech him in those that read it Then should I hope daily to see more and more considerable Advancements in the Work that Providence seems to be now acting in the World. Shal I explain my Meaning Why not I am sure it tends not to the Injury of any Man and therfore it can not be reputed Criminal Wel 't is this The Persecution we have heard of in France I am wel informed has inspir'd a strange Spirit of Reformation into the Romish Clergy themselvs They acknowledg the Abuses that ar in their Church as far as ever its outward Oeconomy and public Authority wil admit They preach openly at Paris against al manner of Superstition and Idolatry They instruct their Auditors in a spiritual Adoration of the supreme Deity They do not rack the Consciences of their Penitents with any strict Determination in Points incomprehensible but they turn them wholly to the Essential Dutys of Life And in this Manner they endeavor to produce and maintain Vnity between themselvs and their New Converts as they cal them in the Bond of Peace This appears to me an Antiperistasis to the Designs of the Authors of that Persecution a Rebound guided by Providence which produces a far different Effect from the direct Blow But this is not al. We have heard of somthing like it in Italy and in Spain which has already made som Noise and a very considerable Progress in those Countrys Perhaps indeed these things may be censured by som Doctors of that Communion who ar as much wedded to their old-fashioned Popery as the narrower sort of Church-of-England-Men amongst Protestants ar wedded to their liturgical Rites and Ceremonys But however it is one Step nay a great Advancement towards a general inlightning of Mens Minds in tru Religion which I strongly hope wil be conducted by Providence to a happy Issu And as I contemplate the Prospect of our English Liberty as a Dispensation of Gods own Direction extended unto us by a Hand from whence we least expected it as an Instrument more exactly fitted by him for the Atchievment of this great Work than those others aforementioned so I heartily wish that al tru-hearted Englishmen would put their Hands unto this Work that we may be al found diligent Laborers in the Vineyard where we ar placed faithful Servants in the Improvement of the Talent committed unto us and by no means barren and unfruitful in the Knowledg of our Lord Jesus Christ unto which we have so much pretended Pardon I intreat you this Excursion It is now time for me to return to my first Theme and draw towards a Conclusion of this tedious Letter Those that read it with unprejudiced Eys wil easily discern that I write it not to serve the Interest of any one Party further than that Interest tends to the general Good And that I despise the Censures of al Partys in comparison to the Satisfaction I propound unto my self in contributing towards that Good. My Rule is streight Let others make theirs so too and we shal al infallibly arrive at that happy Rest which we al breath after I wil sum up what I have said or supply what I have omitted in a few Words Liberty of Conscience is the natural Right of Mankind and the general Interest of England Penal Laws and Tests ar direct Infringements of that Right and they tend evidently to the ruin of that Interest Wil we therfore acquit our selves like honest and prudent Men let us settle our selves in that our natural Priviledg and let us abolish every thing that is opposite therunto Let us abolish those things I say we that ar private Persons in perswading every Man his Neighbor to that Disposition And when we shal be called to it let us elect such Members to serv in Parliament as shal be disposed to consent unto the abolishing of them by Law. That is the surest Means to ingage the King unto us and to ingage us al unto one another His Government wil be so much the more easy as he finds his People the more compliant with his just Desires And our Security wil be so much the greater nay it wil be intire when our Propertys our Libertys and our Religion shal be defended by the common Union of al Partys against our onely public Enemies al turbulent and ambitious Innovators I am Dear Sir Yours c. FINIS