Selected quad for the lemma: virtue_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
virtue_n	faith_n	godliness_n	temperance_n	4,219	5	11.6041	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29181	Practical discourses upon the parables of our blessed Saviour with prayers annexed to each discourse / by Francis Bragge ...	Bragge, Francis, 1664-1728.	1694 (1694)	Wing B4201; ESTC R35338	242,722	507

Dresser of it Christ Jesus who have such great Helps and Assistances to bring forth fruit unto Holiness and consequently such full Assurance of Hope Heb. 6.11 that the End will be Everlasting Life Let Them give Thanks from the Bottom of their Hearts whom the Lord hath thus Redeem'd and deliver'd from the Hand of the Infernal Enemy and be telling of his Salvation from Day to Day And let us of these Happy Islands in the first place magnifie him for this his Infinite Goodness for none have had a greater share of it than we none better Planted nor better Cultivated than the Members of this Church of England and which does much advance the Blessing none were in a more sad and deplorable Condition than the Inhabitants of these Islands before the Preaching of the Gospel And indeed what the Prophet Isaiah says of God's dealing with the Jewish Church which was then his Vineyard Isa 5.4 may be very truly said of his gracious Dealing with this our Church What could have been done more to his Vineyard that he hath not done in it He hath planted it in a very fruitful Hill and fenced it by his Providence from the Incursions of its Enemies and gather'd out the Stones thereof purg'd it from scandalous Heresies and Superstitions which are Stones of Stumbling and Rocks of Offence and built a Tower in the midst of it guarded it with the Civil Power making Kings its Nursing Fathers and Queens its Nursing Mothers and made a Wine-press in it furnish'd it with all Necessaries of Holy Instruction and the Service of an Excellent Ministry to inforce the great Truths of Religion and lay all the Beauties and Excellencies of it before the People And now what could have been done more for this Church than the Lord has already done for it And what an inestimable Happiness is it that we enjoy who were Born in this Church early Consecrated to God in Baptism and thereby planted in this Vineyard and sed with the sincere and unmix'd Milk of the Word plainly and without Reserve or the cunning Craftiness of Men that lye in wait to deceive We are invited to a Frequent and Entire Reception of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper that great Conveyance of the Divine Grace and Aid and have as many and as moving Exhortations to live up to our Holy Profession as are enjoy'd by any Part of the Christian World What an inestimable Happiness is this And what great Reason have we as to bless God for this his unspeakable Goodness to us so to bring forth the Fruits of Righteousness in great Abundance 'T is but Just and Right that we should do it and God expects it from All that are Planted in his Vineyard much more from such as have had extraordinary Care and Cultivation bestow'd upon them as we have had For so in the Second Place we find in this Parable that the Owner of the Vineyard came to the Fig-Tree he had planted in it expecting Fruit from it The Fruit that God expects from Christians that have enjoy'd the Means of Grace and spiritual Improvement is that which is call'd Fruit meet for Repentance and the Fruits of the Spirit Fruits meet for Repentance are the Advances to a New and Spiritual Life such as shall demonstrate a sincere Renovation and Change of Mind a Turning from a Course of Rebellion against God and Hatred of him to entire Obedience to him and hearty Love But he that to the Profession of Christianity adds Debauchery of Manners and instead of bringing forth the Fruits of the Spirit such as Love Joy Peace Long-Suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance and such like Drudges in the Works of the Flesh such as Adultery Fornication Uncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry Witchcraft Hatred Variance Emulations Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies Envyings Murthers Drunkenness and such like such Men as these are as St. Jude expresses it Trees Jude 12. whose Fruit withereth without Fruit twice dead or dead a second Time after they were enliven'd by the Grace of Christ and planted in his Vineyard where they might have lived and flourish'd and brought forth much Fruit well pleasing unto God and by this their Barrenness are as 't were pluck'd up by the Roots and to whom is reserv'd the Blackness of Darkness for ever and whose End is to be burn'd When our Lord as he was returning from Bethany to Jerusalem saw a Fig-Tree at a Distance very promising and full of Leaves and went to it expecting to find Fruit upon it but finding nothing thereon but Leaves only curs'd it and said unto it let no Fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever he plainly enough told the World that the Profession of Christianity must always be attended with the Fruits of Piety that he expects to find it so and will severely punish where he finds it otherwise The Leaves of a Fig-Tree are broad and strong and hang thick and are of a lovely Colour and therefore very apt to represent the Profession of Christianity which makes the fairest Appearance of any Religion that was ever taught the World and the Title of a Christian does include all that can be suppos'd excellent and good in a Man But as the Fig-Tree besides flourishing Leaves bears a Delicious Fruit and has always upon it Fruit coming to Maturity so Christianity must not be all Shew and Profession but the Fruits of Holiness must appear as well as the Leaves of Fair Speeches and the outward Performance of some of the more Customary and Publick Duties of it and as is observ'd in the Fig-Tree there must always be some Fruit growing to Ripeness and Perfection God expects to find it so and where he is disappointed the Fate of the Barren Fig-Tree will be their Portion We are all of us too apt with our first Parents to cover our Spiritual Nakedness with Fig-leaves and by tacking together a few External Observances of Religion think to hide our Shame and pass for good Servants and Disciples of the Lord Jesus But this is too thin a covering to conceal our Vileness from his Eye to whom all things lie naked and open and who knows the very Secrets of the Heart He that is indeed a Follower of Christ and loves him in Sincerity must walk as he walk'd imitating his Example and treading in his Blessed Steps departing from all Iniquity denying himself and all his vile Lusts and Affections obeying chearfully the Holy Commands of his great Lord and giving all diligence to add to his Faith Virtue and to Virtue Knowledg and to Knowledg Temperance and to Temperance Patience and to Patience Godliness and to Godliness Brotherly Kindness and to Brotherly Kindness Charity 2 Per. 1.5 6 7 8. for if these things be in us and abound they make us that we shall be neither Barren nor Unfruitful in the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ And he only that has thus his Fruit unto Holiness shall in the End attain Everlasting Life

be very little Hope if any of its Fruitfulness For in all Learning 't is Meditation that gives a Root to what is read or heard and fixes it deep in the Mind 't is that which makes it a Man 's own and serviceable to him upon occasion and without it the most accurate Discourse would tickle the Ear only not inform the Understanding and truly the more excellent the less Beneficial unless it be weighed and examined by a serious and near Inspection Thus the Doctrin of Christianity tho the most excellent in it self as proceeding from the Divine Word the Wisdom of the Father is seldom embrac'd as such by Persons of a trifling unthinking Spirit but rather appears harsh and unreasonable or at best is but faintly approv'd of and for a short Continuance For the Beauties of Holiness like other chief Excellencies are not to be clearly seen and fully discovered by a slight and cursory Glance but by a diligent and curious Search like Gold that is not to be found upon the Surface of the Earth but lies further in and is treasured up within her Bowels Wherefore as we tender our Perseverance in the Faith and our eternal Salvation we must not think our Task is over when we have heard the Word but always set some time apart and the sooner the better to meditate and lay it to Heart and frequently revolve it in our Minds consider it in all its Relations and Tendencies its Nature and its happy and glorious Effects and then we shall be intirely satisfyed that 't is our most reasonable Service and above all things our Interest to practise its Divine Precepts and that it flourish in our Souls and bring forth Fruit in Abundance Thirdly This Seed so planted and fixed in this good Ground must be likewise diligently kept and preserved in it Sloth and Idle Carelessness always have an ill Effect and many hopeful beginnings are nipp'd and crush'd and come to very deplorable conclusions for want of that care and Industry which was necessary to promote and further them to Perfection But above all they are most Dangerous in Religion For besides that they Naturally tend to make Virtue weak and degenerate they give a fair Occasion to our great Enemy to assault us that infernal Bird of Prey who is ready immediately to catch away the good Seed if unregarded and throw his wicked Suggestions into their Place and who is glad to find us thus weak and unarm'd and careless of our Safety and is too wise not to improve such Opportunities to his best Advantage And what Hopes but we shall be shamefully plundered of that Precious Seed which God has sowed in our Hearts that it may spring up to Immortality when we are thus careless and negligent and unable to make any great Resistance Therefore the Wise Man advises to keep the Heart with all Diligence Prov. 4.23 and St. 1 Pet. 1.5 Peter to give all Diligence to add to our Faith Vertue c. that so these good things may be in us and abound And our Lord tells us Mat. 13.25 in the next Parable to this that 't was while Men slept that the Enemy came and sow'd Tares Wherefore awake to Righteousness 1 Cor. 15.34 1 Pet. 3.8 says St. Paul be sober be vigilant says St. Peter for your Adversary the Devil goeth about like a roaring Lyon seeking whom he may devour Let us therefore endeavour as St. Paul advises Timothy 1 Tim. 6.2 to keep that which is committed to our Trust and to walk circumspectly not as Fools but as Wise lest as the Serpent beguiled Eve through his Subtilty so our Minds should be corrupted from the Simplicity that is in Christ We must be wise as Serpents as well as innocent as Doves lest when the Word has begun to thrive and prosper in our Souls it be at length rooted out by the Temptations of that old Serpent and bring no Fruit to Perfection Fourthly we must expect the Encrease of this good Seed with Patience and Perseverance and take care that the Fruits come to full Maturity We must expect the Increase of this good Seed with Patience because all Improvement is a thing of Time Men can't arrive at Perfection even in Vice in an instant much less in Vertue There are many intermedial Steps and Advances to it and as when Seed is sown there first appears but a tender Blade which in process of Time improves to a Stalk which every day grows taller and stronger and at length appears the Ear and the Grain in the Ear and even after that compleat Formation of the Plant there is yet some considerable Time before it comes to perfect Ripeness and all this while the Husbandman waits with Patience till the Time comes of gathering the ripe Fruits of the Earth So in Religion there are gradual Advances to Perfection The Beginnings of Religion the first Sproutings of this Heavenly Seed are and will be tender and unconfirm'd but Time will strengthen and improve them every Day will make some Advance to Perfection where there is an honest and good Heart and Sincerity at the Bottom But these Advances may be very leisurely and like the Growth of Plants scarce discernable in their Progress and yet at length the Word of God brings forth its genuine Fruits in great Abundance And this though perhaps slow pace in Religion must be born with Patience and Hope for in due Time for all this we shall reap if we faint not And this those should consider who expect to be compleat Christians in an instant and are impatient of Delays and disheartned by every Rub and Difficulty and because their Practice can't keep pace with their too forward and passionate Wishes and Desires are apt to despair of ever coming to that Ripeness of Christianity which will fit them for their great Masters Garner and too often let slip what they have already attain'd and give over in much Dejection after they have made a very hopeful Progress But this is a cunning Artifice of the Devil and ought with the greatest Care imaginable to be provided against and a Man's best Defence in this Case is Patience or a calm and resign'd Expectation of Encrease and Blessing from God in his due Time when we have done our own best Endeavour a waiting God's Leisure a confiding in his Goodness who only gives the Encrease And as St. Jam. 5.7 James expresses it as the Husbandman waiteth for the precious Fruit of the Earth and hath long Patience for it untill he receive the early and latter Rain so should we be also patient and in Patience possess our Souls and establish our Hearts For there is a latter Distillation of the Divine Grace as well as that which is early and at First and which when God pleases to afford it we shall then grow up to Perfection And though sometimes it may not be so plentifully showr'd down as we could wish yet will not be