Selected quad for the lemma: virtue_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
virtue_n	diligence_n	patience_n	temperance_n	1,750	5	11.3528	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34575	The great necessity of preparation for death and judgment a sermon preached in the parochial chappel of Macclesfield, in the county palatine of Chester, at the funeral of Mr. John Corker, als Cor Cor, of Hurdesfield, on the eleventh day of November, 1693, and since revised and enlarg'd at the request of the relations of the deceased / by Samuel Corker, als Cor Cor ...	Corker, Samuel, 1645 or 6-1713.	1695 (1695)	Wing C6307; ESTC R9062	80,354	95

the most sweet and melodious Voices and all other delightful things as Musical Instruments of all sorts he denied not himself any thing that was pleasing to his Eyes or grateful to his Senses or that his heart desired neither was he hindred from the free and comfortable Enjoyment of all his Labours either by Wars abroad or Tumults at home or personal Afflictions or any outward Calamity or imbittering Occurrents and he had a heart to use and taste the sweetness of all his labours which the eager covetousness of wretched Misers will not suffer them to do who reap no more benefit by their Riches than to look upon them and to say the property thereof is Mine So true is that of the Royal Preacher He that loveth Silver Eccl. 5.10 11. shall not be satisfied with Silver nor he that loveth abundance with increase When Goods increase they are increased that eat them and what good is there to the Owners thereof saving the beholding them with their Eyes Which is a poor benefit indeed unable to make the Worldling compensation for his cares of getting and fears of losing them a Priviledge which is common to all others who may every day see more goodly sights the radiant lustre of the Sun adorned with Light as with a beautiful Garment and smiling upon the Earth with a most pleasant and amiable Countenance the sparkling Glories of the heavenly Bodies in their Constellations the lovely and fragrant Flowers of the Field the Rarities and Treasures of Nature and all the Pomp and Gallantry of Princes and Nobles all which are more pleasing sights to the Beholders But mark what Character he gives of all outward things after that he had taken a serious Review of all his Wealth and Labour and found himself disappointed in them Eccles 2.11 I looked saith he on all the labours that my hands had wrought and on the labour that I had laboured to do and behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit a disappointment of all my hopes and desires of satisfaction This was my portion of all my labour Alas all things here below are of too narrow an extent to satisfie the vast and capacious Desires of our Souls which are enlarged with enjoying and therefore the inspired Pen men of the holy Scripture have advis'd us That we labour not to be rich Prov. 23.4 Mat. 6.19 Colos 3.2 nor lay up for our selves Treasures upon Earth but that we set our affections upon things above 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Grace and Glory and the Inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled and fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for us and not on things on the Earth the Pleasures Honours and Profits of this World which we are prone to desire inordinately and to pursue immoderately tho' we are charged to the contrary Love not the World 1 John 2.15 neither the things that are in the World if any Man love the World the love of the Father is not in him Know ye not that the Friendship of the World is enmity with God James 4.4 whosoever will be a Friend of the World is the Enemy of God in open hostility with him and unfit to see his Face in Death or Judgment therefore our Saviour warned his Disciples to take heed and beware of Covetousness Lake 12.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or an inordinate desire of earthly things a Mans Life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth he may live as easily and comfortably without it Nature is content with little and Grace with less Abundance is not necessary to render our Lives happy the Poor are as merry and chearful as vigorous and healthy as well satisfied and contented with a small pittance as the Wealthy and Opulent with their Superfluity which serves only to administer to Pride and Vanity Prov. 23.11 to make them wise in their own conceit to puff them up with Haughtiness and Arrogancy Insolency and Imperiousness of Spirit and to betray them to sin and solly They that will be rich fall into temptations and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts 1 Tim. 6.9 which drown men in destruction and perdition which take up their time and fill their heads with solicitous Cares and Fears engross their Affections encumber their Lives with toilsome Labours about them expose them to a great many Sorrows which pierce their Souls and render Death and Judgment exceeding formidable to them Therefore since the love of this World is so dangerous a thing let us not with Martha be careful and troubled about many things and leave Mary's Vnum Necessarium wholly unregarded but rather spend our Days and Years in this mortal state in adorning our Souls with Evangelical Graces and Vertues to fit us for Heaven for if we had the Riches of both the Indies we can take nothing away with us when we depart hence Job 1.21 Naked came we out of our Mothers Womb and naked shall we return We must everlastingly part with all that we have when we dye and leave it as Solomon saith to the Man that shall come after us and who knoweth whether he shall be a wise Man or a Fool Ecoles 2.18 19. yet shall he have rule over all our labour and gather all that we have heaped up but works of Righteousness will accompany us into the other World and now is the time for us to be rich in good Works to grow in Grace and Holiness To give all diligence to add to our Faith Vertue to Vertue Knowledge to Knowledge Temperance to Temperance Patience to Patience Godliness and to Godliness Brotherly Kindness and Charity for if these things be in us and abound and our Minds fit loose to the Affairs of this Life we shall be ready and willing to leave them whensoever our Lord shall please to call us hence 3. This Readiness and Preparation for Death and Judgment does confist in making our Peace and Reconciliation with God and Men. 1. With God which is a thing of infinite moment for so long as we continue in enmity with him and maintain a Rebellion against his Crown and Dignity he is engaged for the Vindication of his own Soveraign Power and Justice to be our Enemy and to execute his severe Judgments upon us and we have no Security that he will not do it speedily without giving us farther time to consider our ways and throw down our Arms of Hostility against him For the Psalmist assures us Psal 7.11 12 13 That God is angry with the wicked every day even while his Providence seems to smile upon them and they think themselves most secure and confident If he turn not he will whet his Sword he hath bent his Bow and made it ready he hath prepared for him the Instruments of Death God is loth for the Glory of his Patience and Long suffering forthwith to proceed against us For my Names sake Isa 48.9 will I defer mine

or toward the North in the place where the Tree falleth there it shall lie which Scripture is thus interpreted by a learned Author Olympiodor in Eccles. In whatsoever place therefore whether of light or darkness whether in the work of wickedness or vertue a Man is taken at his death in that degree and rank doth he remain either in light with the just and Christ the King of all or in darkness with the wicked and Prince of the World There is no rectifying the errors of this Life in the next the day of Grace ends with this Life here all the Evidences and Graces of a Christian are to be acquired in the future state he shall receive his reward according to the things done in the Body Vid. Victoris Erabdum whether they be good or bad After we are gon from hence There remains no place for repentance no effect or benefit of satisfaction here Life is either lost or obtained and at the moment of death thou hast a passage hence to immortality So that whatever is done by us to obtain the favour of God and a blessed immortality must be done in this World The time of this Life Dr. Sherlock upon Death is all the preparation time that ever will be afforded to us to work out our Salvation There is no middle state or place as they of the Roman communion do fondly fancy to do it in we consist but of two parts Body and Soul and Solomon hath assured us that when we die Eccles. 12.7 the body returns to the Earth from whence it originally came Fundamentum ex pulvere et in pulvere finis ejus and the Soul to God that gave it The holy Angels conveyed Lazarus his Soul at his death into Abraham's bosom immediately upon its separation from the Body so saith the Spirit from henceforth from the instant of their dying the dead are blessed and rest from their labours from all the labours of their Christian calling their Race is at an end their course is finished and the crown is to be received All the Divine graces and Religious dispositions of mind which are requisite to fit the Soul for Heaven and make it happy when it leaves the Body must be obtained and exercised in the Body So that to day whilst it is called to day we must seriously mind and prosecute the things which belong to our peace and give obedience to the Commands of God which are reasonable and easie advantagious to our interest and do claim a Priority in our affections and endeavours for so we are directed to remember now our Creator and to seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness in the first place for by so doing we not only secure to our selves the temporal Emoluments of this Life so far as the wisdom of God seeth them good for us but dispose and prepare our selves for eternal Glory and our obedience shall not miss of a suitable reward ii The solemn work of preparation for Death and Judgment is difficult it is not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of his Father which is in Heaven that sincerely endeavours to fulfil the whole will of God by faith and holyness The truth power of piety lies not in a mouthful of good words be ye warmed be ye filled be ye cloathed nor in a meer outside Form of worship but in practice 't is not enough for us to live inofsensively and harmlesly to abstain from that which is evil but we must actually do good and abound in fruits of righteousness 'T is a great work to die well and unless we do lay up an ample stock of spiritual preparations we shall never be able to go safely through the dark passage of death to Eternity Assure your selves dear Souls that a few penitent resolutions forced promises death-bed sorrows mournful tears melancholy looks formal prayers and crying God's mercy and asking him forgiveness will not serve the turn and prove effectual no we must put forth the most painful efforts of our Souls in mortifying our earthly Members in conquering vicious habits in regulating disordered appetites in governing according to the Laws of reason and religion all the faculties of our Souls in eradicating strong prejudices from our Understanings in bending our obstinate and rebellious Will in regulating unruly Affections in taming wild extravagant Passions in guarding our Hearts from vain Thoughts and inordinate Desires in subduing powerful Lusts which war against the Soul in resisting temptations and repelling the fiery darts of the professed Enemy of our Salvation in fighting manfully under Christ's Banner against Sin the World the Devil and the rebellious Flesh in curbing its impetuous and eager desires in bridling our Tongues from idle obscene and unsavoury talk in directing our steps in the straight path of holiness in sustaining Crosses Afflictions and Troubles with a generous patience and unshaken constancy doing our duty faithfully to God conscientiously waiting upon him in his Ordinances studying to know his Pleasure to do his Will to obey his Commands to promote his Interest advance his Glory in the World We shall have need of sincere Repentance Faith unfeigned unshaken Patience universal Charity seraphyck Love invincible Constancy an humble submission to the Will of God to bring down the Joys of Heaven into our Souls perseverance unto the end and a well grounded hope of partaking with the Saints in joys unspeakable and full of glory unless our Souls be habited and attired with these goodly vertues we shall be very unfit to die and to appear in Judgment Now to obtain these heavenly Graces is the work which we are to apply our selves unto with diligence and vigour For every Vertue hath its peculiar difficulty 2 Thes 1.11 1 Thes 1.3 Faith is called the work of Faith 'T is a difficult thing to believe the Existence of things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither is the heart of man able to conceive the immortality of the Soul and the existence of it in an immaterial world It 's hard to believe firmly all the promises and threatnings of the Word to rely upon Christ alone for Salvation perfectly to submit our Understandings and to resign our Wills to his holy will Repentance is a work not easily wrought upon the Soul though it be highly reasonable that when we have done contrary to our duty we should be cordially sorry for it resolve to do so no more and labour to undo what we have done amiss by godly sorrow and compunction of heart humble confession to God and restitution to Men yet experience sheweth that it is very hard to do this Gan the Aethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots Jer. 13.23 then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil Hence it is called renovation a new creation regeneration a new birth in which there is pain and difficulty Charity

is a laborious exercise of many good works it consists in the performance of several kind Offices The Christian must exert that labour of love mentioned by the Apostle 1 Thes 1.3 Temperance is a vertue not easily attained it requires presence of mind and great wisdom to regulate unruly Appetites and to govern unnatural Lusts which are fired by a small spark of temptations and to withstand the allurements of pleasure to refuse the courtships and solicitations of jolly Companions to shun the snares of their wild examples and to bear with evenness and equanimity of mind the scoffs and sarcasms of those patrons and encouragers of Vice and Vanity who can have no kindness for those that will not run with them the same risk of madness and extravagance The like might be shewed concerning meekness humility self-denial and resignation to the Divine Will patience contentedness and all other Divine Graces which are from above from the Father of Lights who is the giver of Grace and Glory and hath placed them out of our reach that we might take pains to acquire them by fervent Prayer and Devotion and exert great diligence in the practice of them For since it is appointed for Men to die but once we should do all we can to prepare our selves to die happily and as St. John saith in the Lord that we may live for ever with the Lord. iii. The time allowed us to prepare for Eternity is precious for it is very short if we measure time according to the largest extention of it for all that space of this present life which is allowed us to do the works of our Callings in is exceeding short but if we take it for the opportunity of time or the proper season for the making our Calling and Election sure and securing our everlasting state 't is much shorter Of all the outward blessings and comforts which God is pleased to bestow upon us in this life he is not so frugal and provident in any of them as he is in the distribution of our time He confers upon us the comfortable accommodation of this world in great abundance but Time he proportions to us in a continual succession of days and hours and minutes so that we never enjoy two of them together but as one passeth away he gives us another and yet how profuse and lavish are we in the expence of them A considerable part of our time we have wasted in childish vanities and when we came to maturity of years and consistency of reason we spent no small part of it in gratifying inordinate appetites and in sensual pleasures So that before we seriously consider the end for which we were created the major part of our time is elapsed beyond revocation and we croud up this solemn work of preparation for Eternity into a narrow compass It concerns us therefore to redouble our diligence to redeem the time and to encrease in all Graces adding to our faith vertue and to vertue knowledge c. 2 Pet. 1.5 6 7. To reach forth with the blessed St Paul unto those things that are before Phil. 3.13 14 to stretch as hard as we can after that measure of holiness which we have not yet attained to press toward the mark that we may win the prize of eternal Glory and the rather should we exert the greatest vigour because we have but little time to do the work of him that sent us 1 Cor. 7.29 30 31. in The time is short furled like Sails when the Mariner hath finished his Voyage and is come into the Haven so that we should be careful to improve it to our best advantage which is a special point of wisdom commendable avarice as Seneca saith Nulla nisi temporis honesta est avaritia We are allowed to covet earnestly the best things amongst which this precious jewel of time may be reckoned and therefore not to be wasted in fruitless pastimes and carnal contentments in earthly pleasures and overmuch secular negotiations of this life much less in wicked projects or sinful practices but in adorning our Souls with such virtuous dispositions as will fit us for the presence of God and the society of the Saints in the future state of Glory When we come to die one of those days or hours which we have vainly wasted will be of more value to us then all this world It is scarce possible for us in the day of health and prosperity to conceive how valuable Time will then appear to us We shall sadly repent that we have spent any part of it in worldliness ambition idleness sensual gratifications or sinful lusts We shall heartily wish that we had improved every minute of it in the spiritual and everlasting concernments of our Souls and to be sure if we have any presence of Mind and the use of our Reason we shall then imploy every minute of it which is free from disturbances and interruptions in finishing our last preparatory work on Earth in order to our appearing before our great Judge It will be our wisdom to do that now with all our might which we shall then be so intent upon because a few sands more will bring us to that state in which we shall remain for ever and leave us in Eternity iv The urgent necessity of such a solemn preparation as I have described will farther appear if we consider that life it self which is the most valuable treasure the richest Jewel in this World is very short and uncertain and Death inevitable 1. Life is very short The most fading and vanishing things in Nature are made use of by the Penmen of the Holy Scriptures to set forth the brevity of the life of man 'T is represented by a Dream which for a little while affects the Fancy Job 20.8 but when the man awakes if not before it vanisheth away By a Flower of the Field or the Grass of the Earth Ps 73.20.90.6.103.15 which in the Morning is green and flourishing but in the Evening is cut down dried up and withered As for man his days are as grass as a flower of the field so he flourisheth Job 14.2 he cometh up like a flower and is cut down he fleeth as a shadow and continueth not His life slips away suddenly like a Tale that is told his beauty strength and all his excellencies consume away like a Moth Ch. 13.28.7.6.9.25 26. which by eating and fretting a Garment spoils the glory of it Sometimes the life of man is compared to a Weavers Shuttle which is an Instrument of a very swift motion and passeth the Loomb or Web speedily Sometimes it is compared to a swift Post which rideth upon fleet Horses and hasten his speed by land To swift Ships of Ebeh a River in the East where Job lived which by the force and strength of its Current added swiftness to the Vessels which sailed fast upon it And forasmuch as an Eagle of all the Fowls of the Air is