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
A23773	The whole duty of divine meditation described in all its various parts and branches : with meditations on several places of scripture / by the author of The whole duty of man.	Allestree, Richard, 1619-1681.	1694 (1694)	Wing A1168A; ESTC R43055	62,234	194

now consider the Efficacy of Faith and offer up an Oblation of Praise and Thanksgiving unto him who is the only Giver of it It is that alone which ingrafts us into the Body of Christ and as Branches extract their Sap from the Vine so from him proceeds Life Righteousness and Salvation Adam in his pristine State fell and lost his Divine Image by his Incredulity but we are restor'd again by Grace and the Image of the Almighty by Faith is renewed in us By this Faith Christ dwells in our Hearts and where He inhabits there His Grace resides and an Assurance of an Inheritance of Eternal Life II. AND as the Effects of Faith are Wonderful in their Operation so they are Exemplary in their Demonstrations For By Faith Abel offered unto God a greater sacrifice than Cain Heb. 11. 4. So by Faith we are enabled to offer Omnipotency spiritual Sacrifices that is the Fruit of our Lips Heb. 13. 15. And by Faith Enoch was translated Heb. 11. 5. So that Vertue withdraws us from the Society of the World and invites us to place our Conversation in Heaven Phil. 3. 20. By Faith Noah prepared an Ark Heb. 11. 7. So we by that Theological Virtue are received into that Church wherein our Souls are preserved amidst all the Storms and Tempests which happen in the World III. BY Faith Abraham left an idolatrous Land and went into a strange Countrey in Expectation of the Promised Land Heb. 11. 8 9. So by the Energy of that Vertue we depart this World forsaking all that is near and dear to us expecting to arrive at that Celestial Ierusalem which God hath prepared in the Heavens Rev. 21. 2. We are Strangers and Pilgrims on this side Heaven and travel by Faith unto a heavenly Countrey By Faith Moses chose rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a season Heb. 11. 25. So Faith animates us to contemn the World and to despise the Glory Honour Riches and Pleasures of it and excites our Minds to Eternal Felicities VI. BY Faith Israel kept the Passover Heb. 11. 28. So we by the Eye of Faith celebrate the Lord's Supper where Christ is the Paschal Lamb whose Flesh is meat indeed and whose Blood is drink indeed Joh. 6. 55. By Faith Rahab was saved Heb. 11. 31. So in the universal Conflagration of this World we shall be saved from Destruction By Faith the Fathers overcame Kingdoms stopt the Mouths of Lions and quenched the force of fire Heb. 11. 33. So we by Faith destroy the Kingdom of the Prince of Darkness escape the Treacheries and Rage of the infernal Lion and are deliver'd from Hell's implacable Malice and everlasting Burnings V. NOW Faith is not a naked Opinion and slender Profession but a true and lively Apprehension of Christ propounded to us in the Gospel a full Assurance of his Grace residing in us the Tranquillity of our Souls which relies only upon Christ's Merits This Faith is fructified of the Seed of the Sacred Word whereby the Holy Spirit and this Vertue is united Now Faith resembles a spiritual Illumination for our Hearts are illustrated by its Splendor and the Rays of a Life of Sanctity shines forth Evil Actions are the Works of Darkness and What communion saith the Apostle is there between light and darkness 2 Cor. 6. 14. Deeds of Darkness are the Seeds of Satan but a lively Faith proceeds from Christ and What communion is there between Christ and Satan 2 Cor. 6. 5. VI. LASTLY By Faith our Hearts are purified but no Internal Purity can center where the Words and External Actions are defiled St. Iohn tells ye That Faith is the victory which overcometh the world 1 Joh. 5. 4. Now there cannot be a true Faith fixed where the Flesh vanquisheth the Spirit and leadeth it away Captive into the Law of Sin No impenitent Sinner that persevereth in his Sins can be Partaker of Life Eternal neither can he without true Repentance claim any Privilege or Share in the Merits of Christ Jesus Kindle in us O God the Light of True Faith that by the Vertue of it and Thy alone Merits we may obtain Eternal Salvation and reign with Thee for evermore in Thy Kingdom of Glory World without end Amen MED XVII The Canaanitish Woman's Faith Mat. xV. 28. And Iesus answered and said unto her O woman great is thy faith be it unto thee even as thou wilt BEHOLD this Canaanitish Woman how fortunate and happy she was to be found worthy of so great an Expression Her Female Weapon compensated for the Guilt of its past Follies having now by its seasonable Answers merited so Divine an Eulogy Poor Female how enrich'd was she in whose Bosom was concealed a Treasure which Emperors Kings and Princes compared to her are Indigent All the Holy Land with its precious Balm and odoriferous Spices could not furnish her with a sufficient Antidote to revive her Darling and charm away the Infernal Spirit from tormenting her Behold these Miracles of Faith that at once could save two Souls the Mother's and her Daughter's II. SO miraculous and potent is solid Faith that even the least grain of it can remove lofty Mountains level steep Hills and smooth the most aspert and ambitious Soul into a meek and fructifying Valley 'T was this that calmed the Surface of the foaming Ocean that made the boisterous Waves an easie Path and turn'd their furious Rage into a pleasant Walk for St. Peter's Feet 'T was the Centurion's Faith that gave his Servant a Respite from the Hands of Death which all his Guards could never have prevented 'T was by Faith that the Blind Man was restored to his Sight which was beyond the Skill of Art and Nature to perform III. ALL the Admirations of the Gospel were always concluded with Thy Faith hath saved thee And yet that Faith which then operated so many Miracles is now grown the greatest Miracle it self Whil'st some take the Symbol for the Thing they fix the Magnitude of their Faith on the Greatness of their Works and have so candid an Opinion of themselves that they imagine it Faith enough only to do well Others expect to be Canoniz'd for their Doctrines though not for their irregular Lives they scoff at all Religious Duties and imagine to tread the Path to Heaven only by their Faith IV. OBEDIENCE hearty Contrition for Sin that amiable Robe of a perplexed Soul and the Royal Ornaments of our Spiritual Warfare are but vacant Ceremonies and both these Parties Belief are of their own forming But Heaven is not purchas'd only by Speculation He that fixeth his Faith in his empty Skull and imagines Religion hath not its Attendant may like Moses view and discourse of the Promised Land at a distance but never approach to it Our Obedience must cry out louder than our Pretensions 'T is not our Noise and Nonsence that will create us Saints 't is not our external Shew of

4. the Elements melt with fervent hert 2 Pet. 3. 10. and this magnificent imbellish'd Structure of the Material Creation must perish in a Conflagration IV. When the ecchoing Sound of the Last Trumpet will be loud enough to astonish drowsie Mankind out of the sleep of Mortality and all those innumerable Bodies which for so many past Ages have inhabited the vast Re-Regions of Forgetfulness shall arise from their Beds of Dust and appear before the Aweful Tribunal of the Great and Impartial Judge The Books will then be open'd the Indictments read and every Man's Works shall be produc'd at the Barr and Evidence given either for or against him No Title of Honour or Dignity of Place no Preheminence of Nativity or Excellency of Natural or Acquired Endowments will in this Court of Equity be admitted as a sufficient Demurr to an immediate and impartial Tryal but the High and the Low the Rich and the Poor the Noble and the Mean the Learned and the Ignorant he that sits on the Throne and he that stands behind the Mill even from the Swayer of the Scepter to the Drawer of Water must be equally impleaded and without respect of Persons receive a Compensation proportionable to their Merits V. IN this Great Day the Lord of the Harvest will gather his Wheat into Heaven's Granary bat the Chaff shall be thrown into Fire Unquencheable He shall separate his Fine Gold from the Dross and distinguish Right Jewels from False and Counterfeit Sparkles The Sheep will then be separated from the Goats and True Believers manifestly known from Formal Hypocrites But what Tongue not that of Angels can express the Joy of those vigilant Servants whom their Lord at that time will find diligently employ'd in the Performance of their Duties All that formidable Pomp and dreadful Solemnity which shall precede and attend the Advent of the Judge will but contribute to their Comfort and enhance their Consolation For they shall know that He who appears with such ineffable Majesty to keep his General Sessions of Righteousness is the same Iesus which was crucify'd for their Redemption VI. THEN that Exalted Saviour will accost his Followers in the Regeneration Mat. 19. 28. with these or the like transporting Expressions you my beloved Disciples who renounc'd all that the World call'd Grandeur and Generosity for the sake of your Crucify'd Lord and Master and despis'd the present Enjoyments of Flesh and Blood in Expectation of a Future and Invisible State of Felicity You who who retain'd your Obedience in the mid'st of a Rebellious Generation and embrac'd Vertue in an Age of Impiety and Prophaneness You who subdu'd your sensual Appetites by the Austerities of Self-denial and conform'd them to the sublimer Dictates of Reason and Religion And You who rejoyc'd in the Day of Tribulation and adorn'd the Doctrine of the Gospel by an exemplary Patience in the Day of Adversity This is the Day wherein you shall receive a Recompence for all your Sufferings a Recompence so incomparably Glorious and of such Sublimity that it will at once create and accomplish your Beatitude VII Your Troubles were Finite and expired in a Moment but the Duration of your Bliss will be Infinite and Eternal You shall now enter into that Heavenly Kingdom where all your Tears shall be wiped from your Eyes and those Chrystal Drops which you plentiful shed in the Prosecution of your Salvation shall be congeal'd into Pearls to enrich your Diadems and imbellish your Robes of Immortality There no Deluge of Sorrow shall disturb the Serenity of your Felicity no Anxiety or Perplexity no Discontent or Vexation shall intrude within the Limits of your Happiness but you shall securely bathe in Oceans of unmix'd Pleasures and feast upon Delights which know no period VIII BUT while these Fluctuations of the Divine Mercy will consummate a Beatifick Calm in the Breasts of the Righteous what irresistable Tempests of Consternation shall excruciate those impenitent Wretches who chose their Portion on this side Heaven and preferr'd the Dung and Miseries of a transitory World before the Real Joys of a Solid Eternity Now they shall in vain invoke the Mountains to bury them beneath their perpetual Ruines that by a more tolerable Destruction they might evade the Fury of that Almighty Indignation ready to overwhelm them But what will attribute them in these inextricable Exigencies that they possess'd the Quintessence of the Earth that they were splendid in Wealth and Honour that they inhabited Palaces of Cedar and took their Repose under Canopies embroider'd with Gold that they were homag'd by Crouds of Parasites and grew Famous in Popular Applause that they were the Favourites of Crowned Heads and the Darling of the Multitude that all things past currrant according to their Desires and were not molested by the Misfortunes of other Men when those illustrated Accommodations did contribute but to render 'em the more magnificently Miserable when they vanish'd like a visionary Dream of the Night but the Memento and Guilt of their Absurdity will like venomous Snakes and Serpents cling to their Consciences and become their remorseless Executioners for infinite Ages IX THEN the Eyes of their Understanding will be opened which the Fascinations of Sin had kept long clos'd and they shall perceive the Folly and Frailty of those impertinent Trifles which they courted with so much Passion and Eagerness and for whose unsatiable Fruition they neglected their Immortal Souls forfeited their Title to a blissful Immortality and subjugated themselves to those tremendous Extremities which are the inseparable Concomitants of an inevitable Damnation What heaps of Treasure then would they give to re-enjoy one Minute of that inestimable Time which they profusely expended in the unprofitable Works of Darkness that for so inconsiderable a space they might be but within a Possibility of Salvation What Presidents of Mortification What Miracles of Piety What inimitable Examples of Vertue and Goodness would they appear to Mankind were they to renovate the Lease of their Lives How would they disesteem all those magnificent Shadows and glittering Annihilations which the idolizing Worldling so preposterously admires and esteem the unmatchable Treasure of a Pacifick Conscience unspeakably beyond the most transcendent Terrestrial Enjoyments X. BUT alas 't will be then too late for Repentance and they who in the Day of their Visitation contemn'd the repeated Proposals of a Redeemers Reconciliation shall at this Juncture with Tears of Blood supplicate for Mercy and be refus'd it and the Lord Iesus who would have been their Saviour and so frequently extended his compassionate Arms to receive them into Favour if they would but Believe and Repent will as their inexorable Judge utter this direful Sentence against them Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels XI O IRREVERSIBLE Decree from whence there can be no Appeal and which no sooner pronoun'd but those Condem'd Wretches must be for ever exil'd from the Ecstatical Presence of the