Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	apostle_n	faith_n	work_n	3,971	5	6.0202	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A36466	Rex meus est deus, or, A sermon preached at the common place in Christs-church in the city of Norwich by G.D. ...	G. D. (George Downham)	1643 (1643)	Wing D2061; ESTC R209871	32,251	33

Imprimatur July 28. 1643. This is licensed and entred into the Register of the Company of Stationers according to Order Rex meus est Deus OR A SERMON Preached at the Common Place in CHRISTS-CHURCH in the City of Norwich By G. D. Scatter thou the People that delight in warre Psal. 68. 30. EX IGNE RESVRGIT VIRTVS LONDON Printed in the Yeare 1643. CIVITATI LONDINENSI Salutem et quietem a IESV CHRISTO humiliter precatur G. D. Rex meus est Deus OR A SERMON Preached at the Common Place in CHRIST-CHURCH in the City of Norwich Gen. 4. 7. If thou doe well shalt thou not be accepted and if thou doest not well sinne lieth at the doore and unto thee shal be his desire and thou shalt rule over him AS there was never any history in the world comparable to the books of Moses either for antiquity of time or for latitude of extent or for variety of matters most memorable and none of Moses his works for all respects like this of Gen●sis so neither is there any particular passage of this booke more memorable then the relation of Cains patricide wherein we have a man killing a man a bad man a good man a brother slaying a brother an elder brother a yonger brother hatred and envie moving action in the one v●rtue and goodnesse occasioning passion in the other One of the first riddles that ever was made the first man that ever was born killed the first man that ever died Which God foreseeing who is {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} the only searcher and knower of mens hearts Cui pervium omne solidum apertum omne secretum cui obscura ●larant muta r●spondent as Leo wittily To whom every solid thing is pervious transparent every secret thing open and manifest to whom dark things shine bright dumb● things speake loud from whom nothing c●n b● hidden or conceal'd I say t●is omniscient power perceiving the malicious intentions of this malevolous wretch against his innocent brother doth in the words of my text labour to prevent it by disswading him from committing so horrible a sinne by these three arguments The first is argumentum ab utili a reason drawn from profit and comfort in well doing nonne si bone egeris remissi If thou ●o well shalt thou n●t ●e acc●pted The second is Argumen●um ab iuutili an argument taken from the unprofitablenesse of the contrary doing not well sicerò non ben eg●r●s prae foribus est peccatum exe●bans and if thou doest not well sin lieth at the doore Lastly here is Argumentum ab●aequo et bono a reason drawn from right and equity at ●rga te est appetitus illius tu●raees illi And unto these shall be c. And these are the measures of your patience and of this time of them in order and first of the first argument which is taken from the comfort and profit that ariseth from well d●ing si be ●egeris if thou doe well shalt not thou bee accepted In i● there are two things co●siderabl● a work and a reward The worke supposed if thou do well the reward promised shalt thou not be accepted the question putting ●t out of question of these first jointly and by themselves and afterwards as they are put together where I will thew you how our doing well makes us to be accepted The first I divide again into these three particulars First the work or duty it self Doe 2 the manner of performing it well 3 the person admonished to parforme it Cain shadowed under the pronoune primitive Thou first of the worke or duty it selfe Doe By which is understood the conformity of our whole carriage unto ●ods wi●l revealed in his law not that we can performe obedience to the Law legally that is in that perfection which the law requireth for in many things we off●nd all saith the Apostle but when I speak of doing the will of God I meane that we should conform our sel●es and all our actions according to the rule of the Law after ●n evangellical manner that is we must desire resolv and endeavor to perform unto it as perfect obedience as we can and this doing of the word and fulfilling of the law almighty God accepteth for his sons sake who hath in all points and parts perfectly fulfilled the law for all those that believe But without this doing of the will of God there can be no salvation for as the law saith Doe this and live so Christ in the Gospel pronou●ceth them onely blessed that so doe therefore this was Saint Pauls first Quaerie Lord what wilt thou have me to doe and likewise the poor Goaler Sirs what shall I doe to be saved Which condemneth the carnall gospellers of these times that are all for faith and nothing for works that believe they shall be saved as soon as the best but they have nothing to shew for it but this shewing the Apostle will have Iam. 2. 18. shew me thy faith by thy works for the tree is knowne by it's fruit Know ye therfore O ye carelesse ●●●●ration you scandalizers of religi●n you enemies of grace that faith is operative working by love it is not if thou believest well but if thou doest well that shall rend●r thee acce●ted before God for what is the ●ody without the soule but a dead carcase such is thy faith without works according to Saint ●ames as the body without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also therefore for all your boastings I may say of you as he Angell said of the Church i●Sard●s that you have a name that you live but indeed you are dead Againe if thou do well This pusheth sore at all ou● idle talkers ●f religion whither they be those of the clergy that preach the will of God but doe it not like Noahs carpenters building houses for other men per●shing themselvs or whither they be the common-tatlers of the times that goe from house to house prating of religion a great deale more then their sha●e whose works if you look in●o you wil take them for Atheists rather then for Christians these in stead of making godlinesse a great gaine according to the Apostle make a great gaine of godlinesse the first of these if they bee Christs true disciples are taught by their masters example first to doe and then to tea●h Act. 1. 1 and the latter may be admonished by his sharp rebuke Matth. 12. 34. O generation of vipers how can ye being evil speak good things how is it that I heare Iacobs voice but feele Esaus hands Once more if thou do well shalt not thou be accepted what have most of our forward hearers to do with this who of men and women are become monsters having all eares but no hands as if relgion were to go no

then bar●arous in the words for what Papist of them all can for outward respects doe a better work then Cains who yet neither shewed vertue to God nor merited reward unto himself ●ittifull to think how many famous worthy works they have spoiled in their People by their false doctrine either erecting them upon false grounds or directing them vnto false ends For when I read in Bede and others of so many Churches built hospitalls edified monasteries erected schooles founded Colledges endowed c. I cannot sufficiently admire our ancestours devotion but when I go further and finde that these works were done in remea●um ani ae●●n remissionē peccatorum i● honorem divae virginis ad promerend●m De●m c. for their soules health for remission of their sins in honour of our Lady and to merit heaven I cannot but lament their teachers ignorance and do often wish that they had some of our science we more of their conscience they our knowledge we their devotion Finally away with each hypocrite and prophane person The hypocrite vult bonus esse inordi●ate he desires to be good without the order outwardly acting some laudable deed inwardly respecting some detestable end and the prophane person would have faine have well at death but he is not willing to doe well in life he is angry at his punishment but delighteth in his sinne Let both these learne of Iohn the Baptist of whom our Saviour saith that he was Lucerna ardens or lucens a burning and a shining light Wicked men doe but one of these The hypocrite will not care much to gliste like a glow-worme with the false fire of holinesse he is content to shine but he will not burne with the true zeale of piety and the prophane person will not grudge to burne with Balaam with the love of heaven o that he may dye the death of the righteous Yes by all meanes but he will not shine with the light of vertue in his life that men seeing his good workes may glorifie God at lucere parum ardere vanum lucere et a●d re perfectum to shine onely is in vaine without profit to burne only is in vaine to no purpose but to shine and to burne too is perfect Would we then be perfect let us burne with the true love of God sacrificing to him what Cain kept to himselfe that is our hearts he wil coole us cum potabit é torrente voluptatis when hee shall drench us in the river of his pleasure let us also shine with the light of grace so will God adde more lustre to us by making us shine in the light of glory And 〈◊〉 much shall suffice to have spoken of the worke Doe with the manner of performing it well wee come now to the person upon whom it was urged Cain shadowed under the pronoune thou If thou dowel Thou that hast offered me sacrifice with an hypocritical and deceitfull heart thou that hast conceived against me unjust anger in thy breast thou that repinest at thy brothers integrity thou that harbourest in thy heart a bloudy resolution to slay the innocent without a cause and he thy brother there being but one man more in the world and he thy father thou that art guilty of al this wickednes yet if thou do wel shalt thou not be accepted A like place to this wee have in the 19th of Saint Lukes Gospell where our Saviour Christ comming neere he City of Ierusalem weeping over it said If thou hadst knowne even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy p●ace thou that hast alwayes beene a stiffenecked and rebellious people thou that killest my Prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee thou that hast drawne iniquity with cords of vanity and sinne as it were with a cart-rope yet if thou hadst known even thou How free is the Lord in the dispensation of his grace 〈◊〉 there is no man so abominably wicked to whom he doth not proffer it if hypocriticall envious bloodthirsty Cain will at last doe well hee shall be accepted herein God shewes himselfe to bee a God of mercy and compassion not desiring the death of a sinner but rather that he turne from his wickednesse and live Witnesse those passionate wishes that wee heare in scripture comming from him oh that there were such a heart in them to feare me that it might go wel with them Deut. 5. 29. Witnesse his mournefull exp●stulations as Esaiah 5. 3. judge I pray you between me and my vineyard what could I have done more for my vineyard and turne yee turne yee why will you dye oh house of Israel Ezek. 33. 11. witnesse his melting commiserations of the lamentable condition of foolish men that will not bee reclaimed Oh Jerusal●m Ierusalem how often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and you would not Matthew 23. 37. But now that men will not apprehend the doctrine of salvation nor accept of grace thus freely offered them but will goe to hell after all this debemus nos i●orum vitio non Christi gratia adscribere wee ought to lay the blame upon them and not upon the grace of Christ The raine falls upon the stony rocks as wel as upon the fruitfull soyle but doth i● pr●duce the same effect from both No for the soyle is made fruitfull but the rocks remaine hard and barren as before is the fault then in the raine no but in the rockes which because of their flintie hardnesse will not bee mollified and made fruitfull God in like manner raineth downe the showres of his ordinances upon the wicked as well as upon the righteous the meanes of salvation are held out to all if thou or thou or any thou in the world wilt doe will thou shalt be accepted But the same effect is not produced from all for some doe lay hold upon grace thus freely offered others againe stand out rebell and will not yeeld The believer and unbelieve are like waxe and clay before the fire the same heat which mollifies the one hardens the other Let not men therefore cavill at Christs intention and Go●s election but let them looke into their owne hearts and they will tell them that they are rebels and live in prophane and wicked courses in neglect of all holy duties they carry their owne sentence and cause of their damnation in their owne breasts As for Gods secret purpose in electing some and rejecting others it is hid from the world and therefore that cannot bee the rule of our obedience but look to Gods revealed will looke to what is commanded thee in his word and if thy conscience tell thee that thou hast not accepted of grace being offered thee nor yeelded that obedience unto God that thou oughtest and mightest hereupon comes thy condemnation to be just