Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	concern_v	zeal_n	zealous_a	32	3	8.9367	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A64470	Two sermons preach'd against immorality and profaneness The first, on January 13. 1698/9. The second, on May 3. 1700. By John Thane, M.A. and one of the prebendaries of Chester.	Thane, John, 1653 or 4-1727.	1700 (1700)	Wing T834A; ESTC R201131	27,921	65

of God revil'd in his Person or ridicul'd and evil spoken of in his Laws and Doctrine if we are silent and passive on such an occasion he may not then justly reckon us as asham'd of him and of his Words The Sum of all is this If we will own Christ for our Master we must then serve him to the utmost of our Power we must espouse his Interest and maintain his Cause against all Opposers whatsoever against the Theist and the Unitarian the Blasphemer and the profane Person against the Common Swearer the Drunkard and the Lascivious All which are one way or other either in Principle or in Practice the avowed Adversaries of Christ and of the true Christian Faith and Religion This if we consider is as little as any of us can do so long as we profess our selves Servants to the Blessed Jesus all whose Commands ought to be dearer to us than our very Lives And since Christ our Lord hath strictly charg'd all Men of all sorts and degrees without Exception to shun the Ways of Sin and the Paths of Iniquity let us contest this Matter with our selves and with all our might strive against the force and bent of our evil Inclinations and Passions Whatever Difficulty there may be in the Attempt still Duty and Obligation ought to take place here Let us not take upon us to dispute or cavil at any of his Commands but let us readily comply with them all whatever they be and be thoroughly satisfied that it is our Interest as well as Duty to fulfil and obey them Let us not think any thing too hard or too dear to part with for his Sake who hath shew'd himself the best Friend and the greatest Benefactor to Mankind that ever was And so much the rather because in return to those manifold unspeakable Advantages which he hath procured to us all that he expects or requires from us is that we constantly maintain and practice his excellent Religion whatever Contempt or Hardship we may meet with from the World In a word Tho' Vice and Profaneness have got many powerful Advocates on their side yet let not that be any discouragement to us while we have Christ on ours The Cause which we undertake is in it self highly honourable and at this Juncture the most necessary of all other The things that we contend for are Truth Virtue and Religion the best the most valuable in themselves and the most deserving of our Zeal and Concern Christ is our Master and Lord and as his Servants we appear we strive we oppose Letus be found true to his Service just to his Interest and zealous for his Honour and then that God who hath said them that honour me I will honour shall translate us into his own most Glorious Kingdom and shall actually Reward and Honour us to all Eternity Almighty and Merciful God of whose only Gift it cometh that thy faithful People do unto thee true and laudable Service Grant we beseech thee that we may so faithfully serve thee in this Life that we fail not finally to attain thy heavenly Promises through the Merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN A SECOND SERMON Preach'd against Immorality and Profaneness DEUT. xxxii 6. Do ye thus requite the Lord O Foolish People and Vnwise THese Words are part of that Prophetick Song which Moses composed and which he tells us he spake in the Ears of all the Congregation of Israel Here in a kind of Poetical Strain he sets forth the Goodness of God and the Perverseness and Disobedience of the People And being shortly to leave the World he Summons them together and rehearses this Song for a Testimony against them if so be they should hereafter turn aside and forget their God as he foresaw they would Alas so very deceitful is the Heart of Man so prone to Evil and so averse from Good that the wisest and best Instructions can make but little Impression upon it Tho' Moses here saith my Doctrine shall drop as the Rain my Spirit shall distil as the Dew yet from so corrupt a Root so cold and barren a Soil scarce any fruit or increase was to be hop'd for such was the unhappy Temper of that People so weak their Judgment and so perverse their Will that the Prophet seems to give them up for lost They are says he a Nation void of Counsel neither is there any Understanding them ver 28. And indeed what Wisdom or Understanding or Counsel can any People or Nation be said to have when once they have cast off God and Religion and are sunk into all manner of Wickedness and Vice That is a sad and deplorable Case indeed and which will bring swift inevitable Ruin upon us if we do not bethink our selves in time and return to a wiser and better Mind Which is the best thing that we can do and the only certain way for us to escape the Danger Whereas while we are thus Unmindful of the Rock that begat us and do thus forget God that form'd us we have reason to expect that he will rub up our Memories and will to our cost make us feel the weight of that Displeasure which we refused to stand in awe of I say we have all just cause to fear that because as this kind of behaviour is the worst sort of Ingratitude so it is moreover a very high Dishonour to God and a downright Contempt of his Majesty and Laws And do ye thus requite the Lord O Foolish People and Unwise In discoursing upon which Words I shall endeavour to make out these Four things I. The Baseness and Ingratitude of a Sinful and Irreligious Course of Life II. The gross Absurdity and Unaccountable Folly of such a Course III. The evil Consequences which attend it with respect to Men's private Interests and Concerns IVly and Lastly As it is Destructive of the Welfare and Prosperity of any Nation or People I. The Baseness and Ingratitude of a Sinful and Irreligious Course of Life The Obligations we lye under to God are Certain and Unquestionable whether we take the light of Nature or the brighter Discoveries of Revelation for our Rule and Guide Either of which doth plainly shew Impiety to be Baseness and Disobedience the utmost Ingratitude Thus several of the Heathens tho' they had only the dim light of Reason to direct them could nevertheless discover the necessity of Obedience to the Will of God Which made one of them to say Virtue Philosophy and Justice are but the sound of empty Words 't is only a good Life that can make Men Happy Sen. Ep. 123. But then as for Revelation that indeed hath made our Duty and the several Obligations of it so plain that Men must be utter Infidels if they reject it So that upon either of these Accounts no pretence of Ignorance whatsoever can excuse Men for their Disobedience or Unbelief For as Moses saith in the Words immediately after the Text Is not he thy Father that

of an Incurable Loathsom Distemper These are very often the Effects of a loose and irregular course of Life But alas so besotted and senseless are most wicked Men that they never consider the Consequences of their Actions Whatever Inconveniencies they are like to endure whether Poverty or Disgrace or Sickness or even Death it self they still hug and caress their Vices and pursue their Debaucheries They will not refrain their lewd intemperate Courses tho' thereby they break their Strength and destroy their Health and ruin their Constitution so that at last whole troops of Diseases seize upon them and they go down with rottenness to the Grave And now all things consider'd is not this a fine discreet way of managing things What! are these the marks and properties of Wisdom and are such Men to be accounted the only refin'd and improv'd Wits of the Age On the contrary to speak yet plainer is it possible that such Folly or rather Madness as this is should pass for Sense and Reason and Understanding Or that a Course of Life which is so Prejudicial both to Soul and Body should ever come to be so universally ingag'd in And yet as unaccountable as the thing is how many are there in the World who tho' they live at this vile abominable Rate are so far from thinking the worse of themselves for it that they rather take a pride in being Extravagant and Glory in being distinguish'd for their Vices As if there was no Sense but in sinning and no Reason like that of living like Beasts From what has been said upon this Argument 't is I hope pretty plain that Religion is the truest Wisdom and that Sin and Vice are nothing else but downright Ignorance and Folly That wicked Men as wise as they take themselves to be are all grosly mistaken that the Principles they proceed upon are False and Groundless and that their Practices are utterly inconsistent with the Dictates of right Reason and the Laws of Sound and pure Religion This is what I have endeavour'd to prove tho' I am sensible when all is said wicked Men may still plead in behalf of their Vices and may deceive themselves if they please and too many I fear have so little Sense as to do so But yet when live as if there was no God and do every thing in Contradiction to Reason as well as Religion surely then 't is no hard Matter to prove them to be void of true Understanding David I remember in one place hath this Expression The Lord looked down from Heaven upon the Children of Men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God Ps 14. 2. Which Words seem to Imply that Wisdom and true Piety tho' they are different in Terms are yet in Effect but one and the same thing And Consequently that none but good Men and such as seek or fear God and regard his Service can in a proper Sense be said to Understand The like was spoken also by Job long before And unto Man he said the fear of the Lord that is Wisdom and to depart from Evil is Understanding Thus I have shew'd at large the Ingratitude and the Folly of a sinful course of Life I come now in the Third place to consider the evil Consequences which attend it with respect to Men's private Interests and Concerns 3. Great and manifold are the Mischiefs which attend the practice of Sin and Vice and so close and constant is the attendance that no Man thus ingag'd but is sure to have a share of them To prove which I might appeal even to wicked Men themselves whether they have not experienc'd in some Measure more or less the sad unhappy Consequences which these produce Whether the Sins and Enormities they are Guilty of have not done them some real sensible Prejudice Whether they have not either wounded their Conscience or blasted their Credit or brought some outward Calamity and Disaster upon them 'T is true indeed some Sinners may and do escape better than other because the evils of this Life do not happen to all alike Tho' some for their Sins do meet with quick and speedy Disappointments yet others are seen to flourish still and make a glorious shew till at last some odd unlucky chance some unexpected fatal stroke dashes all their greatness in Pieces When that happens then is that Sentence of Zophar verified Tho' his excellency mount up to the Heavens and his Head reach unto the Clouds yet they that have seen him shall say where is he The Eye also which saw him shall see him no more neither shall his Place any more behold him Job 20. 6 7 9. Many and various are the Instances and Ways in which the evil Consequences of vice Appear I shall at present mention but these Three 1. That of our Reputation 2. Our Estates And 3. Our particular Callings 1. As to our Reputation in the World That I Confess is a very true and tender Point and most Men pretend to a more than ordinary Concern for it Nay there is hardly any Body so dissolute so void of all sense of Honour or Virtue but will express some kind of Resentment some Concern at least whenever that is Attacqu'd or Question'd And yet were that in truth as dear to some Men as they say it is certainly they would take more and better care of it than they do Had they such a desire to be well thought of in the World they would not surely expose themselves to Censure They would not transgress the rules of Decency Modesty and Sobriety nor break in upon the Obligations of Truth and Justice They would not Swear and Curse and Blaspheme and be guilty of the vilest Practices as they too commonly are Such Men perhaps may look great in their own Eyes and fancy themselves priviledg'd to do as they please But still while they demean themselves at this rate are sure to appear Contemptible to every Body else For as the wise Man rightly observes Who will Honour him that dishonoureth his own Life Many 't is certain there are who will talk much and loud of their Reputation and will assert it too sometimes very unreasonably but for all that are content to part with it almost at any Rate and as if they were weary of keeping it will Sacrifice it to the next Temptation that comes in their way Alas so little regard have Men now-a-days to their Reputation that they rather seem to put it to sale and for fear lest they should lose their Market are willing to let it go at any Price A small sum of Money or a thin gust of popular Breath or any the most sordid Vice is able to purchase it Some again are very shy and reserv'd in their outward Behaviour and while they suspect that others observe them are afraid to take the least step amiss These Men the better to conceal their ill Designs have put on a Mask of Piety a Form of Godliness but