Selected quad for the lemma: virtue_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
virtue_n	darkness_n	light_n	shine_v	1,307	5	9.6147	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A23679	A sermon preacht in Bridgewater, the next day after the election of burgesses, February 27, 1680/1 by William Allen, B.D., and Vicar of Bridgewater, Somerset.	Allen, William, fl. 1681-1697.	1681 (1681)	Wing A1079; ESTC R9086	9,674	20

according to their Works And every mans own Conscience tells him though none else is conscious of it that God to him is just and righteous in all his dealings But though God be Judge and that eminently so and the righteous Judge yet hath he deputed Men as his Substitutes the King as Supreme under him and other Magistrates as ordained by the King Magistracy which is but a Power over others for a common Good is a pious and primitive Institution derivative from God the great and sole Monarch of the World First founded in the Paternal Relation and that afterward expanded but as Families increas'd And Honour thy Father and thy Mother which is the first Commandment with promise engageth us equally if not more to Obedience to the Pater Patriae to Kings and Queens as Nursing-Fathers and Nursing-Mothers as to our proximate or dearest Relatives And therefore the Hypothesis of Hobbes and Calvin are as absurd as mischievous in making Kings and Magistrates the creatures of the People Justin the Heathen tells us Principio rerum Gentium Nationumque Imperium penes Reges erat That in the beginning of time the Government of the World in all the Kingdoms of it was managed by Kings and Monarchs I say both profane and Scripture-History assure us that Kingly Government was the first Establishment And though the Mosaical Government be urged as a refutation of this proposal yet it is rejoyned that that was a Theocrasie nay and as humane it was Monarchical too Deut. 33.5 for Moses is said to be King in Jesurun And it is evident from Josephus and the Machabees and other Writers that when that people fell under the Government of a Sanhedrim that is a Presbytery they soon fell into ruine and became not a people But not to animadvert upon their Misfortunes nor to make that an Argument of the Justice or Injustice of any particular Polity It is very clear from the Records of the first Times that the Government of a Commonwealth is but an Apostacy from if not a Rebellion against the first Model And as Christ said of Polygamy that from the beginning it was not so the like may we affirm of the whoredom of Republicks And as the one was but permitted the Jews so the other at this day is but permitted of God for the hardness of mens hearts Having thus by the way adjusted the Right of Monarchical Government and withal shewed you that that Government more than any is from God and that persons entrusted with it bear his Authority and as they are his Vicegerents they are to do his work and to personate a Righteous God which Righteousness they are to display in the vindication of Gods Honour in the defence of Gods Laws in the protection of Gods people in the punishment of Gods enemies and this must be done with respect to God as the chief Judge to the common good as the subordinate end and that for the discharge of their own Consciences as they will give an account of their Stewardship at the great Day of Judgment So likewise Under-Magistrates are the Kings Vicegerents and their Righteousness consists in this not only in being true to their God but faithful to their King In preserving his Prerogatives in defending his Person in promoting his Honour in executing his Laws and every way in their places securing the present Establishment Which brings me to the Second Particular general Secondly The peoples Security and Satisfaction in such Governours or Rulers They will do Judgment and therefore all Good and Loyal men will bless God for such a Prince and such Magistrates because they are at once assured of God's protection and their King 's and those that are employ'd and authoris'd by both now if ever shall they lead their lives in all Godliness Peaceableness and Honesty Blessed certainly are the people that are in such a case For as Children are often blessed for the Piety of their Parents and according to God's own promise it is to descend to many generations So for the sake of David a Prince and Ruler after God's own heart Judah shall be blessed And though indeed for his sins the Land did mourn yet upon his Repentance they and he were restored to God's favour And why may I not make this Remark by the way that for the sake of our late English David for the Piety and Constancy of Charles the First the Defender of the Faith yea of that Faith once delivered to the Saints and that even to the Death God in mercy remembred the sinful People of this Land and knock'd off those Chains we enthrall'd our selves in and brought us out of the Land of Egypt out of the house of Bondage and disabled our many Pharaohs and their Hosts from making us a continued prey Why may we not impute the Blessings we now enjoy in the many years of our now lawful Prince and those to the Prayers and Piety of that Glorious Martyr whose Memory ought to be dear and precious to us And would to God that all the Subordinate Magistrates of this Realm who hold their Power by Patent-Royal would defend the same Faith as he and his Successour do and worship God faithfully in the same way and plead for and Christianly and courageously appear for that Righteousness which is established by a Law then might we the people of this Realm confidently hope Isa 48.18 that our Peace should be as a River and our Righteousness as the waves of the Sea For this satisfaction would farther insue that the Inhabitants of the Land and every distinct Corporation and every Member of the same that they might sit peaceably under their own Vines and eat the Fruit of their Labours And that satisfaction shall arise not only from God's promise given to a people so * Isai 1.19 governed but from the confidence we shall have in such Governours For they that will not act contrary to God's Law nor to Magna Charta that will not be imposed upon against the Law of the Nation and the Religion establish'd by Law they will be a terrour to Evil-doers and a praise to them that do well And when we are thus guarded by God's Blessing and the Magistrates Power a wall of Brass or of Fire cannot be more our Security than this double Bulwark of Defence Besides this Security and in it this satisfaction from such just Rulers would arise that the Hypocrites in Sion would tremble and be afraid The resolved and exemplary Loyalty both to God and the King in such men would awe the most impudent and daring Delinquents into a sneakiness of temper and into an external thô not a real compliance The same Bravery and Goodness of Minde in a private person we by experience finde puts oftentimes a check upon the most dissolute and disaffected Naked and unarmed Virtue is too powerful for the powers of Darkness and a little light will dispel the shades below But when the Righteousness of the

righteous breaks forth as the light and shineth more and more unto perfect day then will the Sinners of the night or of the day either hide their heads or themselves for shame If now these lesser Luminaries are so dazling and powerful how much more the Sun and Moon in the Firmament for so the Scripture Emblematically denotes Magistrates to be When you Magistrates display the rays of Righteousness you will not only discover all the corners of nastiness but purge them too Factious and seditious Sinners would shun the light of your presence and dread your persons and would not dare to blaspheme God and the King there would be neither railing nor reviling in our streets at least not against the Lord 's Anointed The Apostle tells us 1 Tim. 1.9 10. The Law is not made for the righteous man but for the lawless and disobedient for the ungodly and sinners and amongst the rest that he instances in these are some for Murderers of Fathers for Manslayers for Menstealers for Liars for perjured persons and if there be any thing that is contrary to sound Doctrine And nothing can be more so now adays than binding Kings in chains and Nobles in fetters of iron Nothing can more subvert the Law of the Spirit of Life and of the Land than those Principles which the Papists and our Dissenters at this day insist upon And therefore would but our inferiour Magistrates be true to God and the King to the Law of the Gospel and to that Righteousness as now established by Law we need not yet fear the Sons of Corah nor all the Machinations or Designs of the Conventicle or of the Conclave But for this I shall farther account for under the Applicatory part of this Sermon And so I pass to my last Consideration which is Thirdly The satisfaction the Just-man hath in doing Judgment It is a joy to the just to do Judgment And herein Magistrates with other just men are concerned and what is a comfort to one is to either the testimonie of their Consciences that in Simplicity and Godly Sincerity not with fleshly Wisdome but by the Grace of God they have managed the Affairs of Civil Government in the world to allude to the Apostle's expression 2 Cor. 1.12 For nothing more refreshes the Minde than a reflex upon its own Innocency nor any thing affords more solid peace and pleasure than a good Conscience kept void of offence both towards God and man The just Steward can look back upon his Disbursements and upon his many and great employs and dealings with men with a calm and a chearful minde For he is ready to give up his his Account with Joy Such Just Men they have confidence God-ward and because they have been faithful both to him and to their Office they will be able to hold up their heads in the day of Judgment Samuel you know he was not only a Prophet but a Judge in Israel and thô a wanton and licentious people were uneasie under his Presidency and would not be satisfied with his management of Affairs but sought by multitude and murmur to discharge him from his Government yet this is his comfort that as a just man he had done Judgment and for this he hath not only the testimony of his Conscience but he challenges it from the people too Behold here I am 1 Sam. 12.3 witness against me whose Ox have I taken or whom have I defrauded whom have I oppressed or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blinde mine eye therewith That is in other words Wherein have I acted contrary to the Law wherein have I been perjured with whom have I basely comply'd to the subversion of Government and the present Establishment Thus in a triumphant manner he descends the place of Judicature and resignes his Office and satisfies both the People and his own Conscience This was that which comforted and buoy'd up the Spirit of Job under his sore Afflictions and you know he was a great man in the East and had others under his Conduct and Government as you may collect from Job 31.21 It is possible that those that have sate on high may be brought to sit in the dust and that those that have judged others may fall into condemnation But such a reflex as this that they have done Judgment will renew their Joy even in the day of Sorrow These words It is a Joy to the Just to do Judgment have these various Paraphrases that is Just men do Judgment as their work and that not an uneasie one but as a labour of Love and an office of Kindness and Charity to a distressed world And 't is their joy to do Judgment implying that it would be a pain and torment to them to do otherwise and it is the very comfort of their Office as well as the Duty of it to do Judgment And now Sirs you that are to judge others will do well to pass Judgment upon your selves that the * Rom. 2.1 Obrade of St. Paul may never recoyl on either of you But in the Application of this Discourse I shall address my self to all my Auditory as being as much concerned in the subsequent part as you to whom I have particularly spoken Beloved it is granted by all First That they are to be esteemed only just men that act up or according to their Principles that is to those measures which they are convinced are Canons or Rules by which they are to square their actions St. Paul had the testimony of his Conscience that he had been an honest and just man that he was always true to that way in which he thought Righteousness was to be advanced When he was a Pharisee he did as a Pharisee the righteousness of a Pharisee he pursued and would establish And hence it is that he declares for his own Justification I have lived in all good Conscience even unto this day that is he had acted according to his Convictions he was sincere in his way he was not so much a Fool or a Knave as to betray his Cause or abuse his then Conscience by any base compliance in contradiction to his Principles and Profession And when afterward he had been blessed with a new Light and a better Rule of Righteousness than that of the Scribes and Pharisees he is as faithful and constant as ever he was before Sequaciousness is always a sign of a weak or a wicked minde they are Children in Understanding that are tossed to and fro with every wind of Doctrine And they that will meddle with those that are given to change have bad heads and worse hearts A man cannot more plainly proclaim himself a Wretch and a Traitor than to side with those that he knows are Enemies to his Truth and would by all or any means subvert it Judas is not so much branded for his Cowardise and his Covetousness as for the Villany of betraying his Master and his Gause And now my