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	good_a	temperance_n	1,131	5	11.1758	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A04199	The celestiall husbandrie: or, The tillage of the soule First, handled in a sermon at Pauls Crosse the 25. of February, 1616. By William Iackson, terme-lecturer at Whittington Colledge in London: and since then much inlarged by the authour, for the profit of the reader: with two tables to the same.	Jackson, William, lecturer at Whittington College.	1616 (1616)	STC 14321; ESTC S107500	126,595	177

Corpore deposite liberam si scandis in aethram Tunc dem aeternus fies mortalia linquens If quite from earthly drosse thou soare Then shalt thou be a God and dye no more But as yet all our labours are like vnto the husbandmans seede castinto the earth which seemes to rot and vtterly to perish It is reported of Hillary that from the fourteenth yeere of his age to the 84. had serued the Lord in sowing this seede yet it seemed to him lost while he vttered this sentence Goe foorth O my soule goe foorth why art thou afraide why doubtest thou Likewise Iob saide What shall I doe whether shall I turne when the Lord shall-comc to iudgement Thus the godly are subiect to trouble of spirit and vexation of conscience The world sees not the fruite and we perceiue not the fulnesse of our sowing as yet onely here is our comfort our workes are with the Lord and the crowne of righteousnesse shall come hereafter Secondly the husbandman receiues not the benefit of his labours as soone as he hath sowne his seede it is long in growing vppe in ripening and at the length is cut downe and brought into the barne Euen so is it with the godly now they sowe and reape hereafter This world is the seede time the next is the haruest time and so much the wise man shewes saying Cast thy bread vp on the waters and after many dayes thou shalt finde it The like saith the Apostle Paul I haue fought a good fight I haue kept the faith Here is his seēde time the haruest sollowes Hence foorth is laide vp for mee the crowne of righteousnesse In this world the children of God are but in their apprentiship to learne their arte they shall be truely free men onely in heauen this is their time of feare and trembling the haruest of full-ioy and happinesse is hereafter The Church is compared to a vineyard that is first digged then planted groweth bloweth and afterward commeth the liquor Sometime also to a shippe that goes to the Sea and is beaten with the waues tossed with the windes and then at the length comes home full fraughted with Merchandies Also to a building wherein there is much hewing squaring and great paines taking before it be a fit habitation To a fielde that is plowed sowne harrowed growes ripens and then comes the haruest The child of God is a planter a Merchant a builder and a husbandman but the wine is not yet tasted of the shippe is not yet returned the house is not yet inhabited and the seede is not yet in the barne Therefore I say vnto you as the Apostle said to his hearers ye haue neede of patience 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that after yee haue done the will of God yee may receiue the promise yet a little and hee that shall come will come Post lacramas risus post exilium Paradisus After weeping comes laughing and after banishment comes Paradise After sowing comes haruest and after obedience comes glory The husbandman comforts himselfe with the presedence of his labours and feedes vpon future hopes His well dunged and manured ground his seasonable tillage and his good seed will surely bring a plentiful haruest in the end more then answerable to his paines The husbandman cannot so much hope for an ensuing crop as the child of God hath an assurance of his future glory His well manured soule with the grace of God his seasonable and good seed of obedience puts him in such an hope and giues him such assurance of a blessed haruest that he will not sell his future estate for a present Monarchy Moyses had rather forgoe his present dignities then loose his future hopes Thirdly it is fitly compared to sowing because as one corne brings foorth many and a little increaieth much so the seede of righteousnesse brings foorth an vnspeakable weight of glory Eye hath not seene care hath not heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man what God hath laid vp for those that loue him so great is the reward as that it cannot be numbred so precious as that it cannot be valued so lasting as that it euer endureth O ioy aboue all ioyes mirth without sorrow life without labour light without darkenesse aglorious reward for so small a worke Here is a blessed increase and yet no vsurie an hundred for tenne yea a thousand for one yet no extortion our seede finite the reward infinite A cup of cold water giuen to a pious vse shall be put in the Chronicles of heauen and rewarded with no lesle then a kingdome Fourthly obserue that out of one hand comes many graines and cornes which are dispersed into many parts of the field So the good childe of God must bee as plentifull in good workes doing good vnto many The seruant is not aboue his Lord. If Christ so sowed wee ought to follow For omnis Christi actio nostra debet esse instructio Euery action of Christ ought to be our instruction who went about doing good vnto all people Among the Iewes none might be a Rabbin till he could speake seuen languages the tree is not accounted a good tree till it bring forth much fruit and who can bee a good Christian till hee bee found fruitfull in good workes A Christian must be like the tree that Clusius reports of calling it the Indian figgetree and Gorobius calleth it the tree of Adams transgression Let it be what it is it groweth vp with one faire body the branches spreading themselues very large reaching downe vnto the earth taking hold thereof and springeth vp againe into little trees that often it comes to passe that the ground is couered and ouerspread for the space of a mile with the ouer spreading branches The Christian is compared in Scripture to a figge tree It seemes that this is the cause of it to teach the childe of God to be as farre spreading with his workes We reade that when Christ fed the people he fed them by multitudes to teach vs to doe good vnto many While wee haue time saith the Apostle let vs doe good vnto all When the ayre hath giuen influence the cloudes sent downe the seasonable deawes of grace and the sunne of righteousnes bestowed his kindly heat then a Christian becomes fruitfull Man is compared to the earth that brings forth herbes of all colours and fashions and of seueral smelles These herbes are as dumbe masters to teach vs our duety to be plentifull in good workes of all sorts as Peter teacheth Ioyne vertue with faith and with vertue knowledge with knowledge temperance with temperance patience with patience godlinesse with godlinesse brotherly kindnes and with brotherly kindnesse loue See what a golden chaine of vertues are here linked together That which was prophesied of vs must bee made true in vs Our roabes namely our workes must bee wrought with diuers collours It must not bee with vs as it

are in the state of grace or no. Knowe yee not that Christ is in you except yee be reprobates Me thinkes the same wisedome should bee obserued with the soule as is with the body A man prooues his horse that he be not deceiued a man casteth vp his estate that he prooue not a begger and shall wee not prooue the state of our soules that we bee not damned A man be he neuer so poore will not out of one house till he be sure of another and shall we depart this life and not bee sure of heauen O no. The Mandarins hold it a thing vnfortunate to die before they haue made ready their sepulchres I hope a Christian then should be more wise for his soule to worke out his saluation with feare fearing to depart before hee hath finished the same Therefore let vs liue well as long as wee haue time for neither the Pilot when the shippe is drowned nor the Physition when the sicke man is dead profiteth any thing at all and therefore make your calling and election sure that you may liue in comfort die in peace and rise in glory And thus you haue heard and seene the haruest of grace The next circumstance obiects to our meditation the haruest of glory and here I must confesse I want a head to inuent a heart to conceiue knowledge to vnderstand iudgement to determine memory to retaine and a tongue to expresse What a croppe the haruest of glory is for as it is written Eye hath not seene care hath not heard what God hath prepared for those that loue him Situ altissimum it is high in situation quantitate maximum great in quantity natura purissimum pure in nature luce plenissimum full of light capacitate amplissimum and exceeding large for continuance eternall and for quantitie infinite I may with more peace of conscience to my selfe and greater profit to you shewe you how to come to so great a glory then to tell you what it is The manner THe last branch of this haruest is the manner which is according to merey so saith my text lephi chesed and we may reade and turne it thus to the face of mercy or to the fauour of grace or to the mouth of beneuolence or the fauour of hope all meeting as so many lines in one center shewing that all things temporall and spirituall are of the mercy of God For neither our plowing nor sowing deserueth this haruest but Gods mercy giuing it It is not in him that willeth or in him that runneth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but in God which sheweth mercy This is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 grace for grace First God giues grace to serue him and then hee giues a second grace as the reward So Augustine on this obserues Ipsa fides gratia est faith it selfe is grace Et vita aterna gratia est progratia And life eternall is grace for grace But is it come to this to bee for all our plowing of repentance and sowing the seede of obedience still of mercy Obserue then that man hath nothing of deseruing and by vertue of merit so doeth Christ tell vs that when we haue done all that we can yet are wee still 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnprofitable And if it please you to take another witnesse you may from the Syriach word battila vnprofitable And thus by the mouth of two witnesses this sentence is firme when all is done wee are vnprofitable Siinutilis est qui fecit omnia c. If hee bee vnprofitable which did all what reward is due to vs then Surely none of the blessed promises of God but a fearfull looking for of iudgement And therefore the Apostle desired not to bee found in the puritie of his owne workes because thereby he could not be saued but in the righteousnesse of Christ. It is manifest therefore that there is no saftie in our workes because the spirit teacheth vs to flee from them as not a sure refuge to trust vnto And to this tends that saying of Iuda where he saith we should looke not for the reward of works but the mercy of God which as it did initiat vs into grace so it must consummate vs to glory The trueth whereof will yet more plainly appeare by this proposition Those works which are not perfit deserue nothing But the workes of the Saints are not perfit Ergo Our workes deserue nothing For how can an euill cause produce a good effect We know that Qualis causa talis effectus Such a cause such effect Man is not so iustified not so sanctified Vt non sit in nob is peccatum That there should bee no sinne in vs and while it is in vs it is a stayne to our workes as a little milke changeth the fountaine of water and a cloud obscureth the light of the Sunne And so what patience without murmuring what faith without doubting what zeale without coldnesse what loue without hatred what charity without couetousnesse what knowledge without ignorance what chastitie without concupiscence and what obedience without defect So saith Esai that our righteousnesse is as a stayned cloth And as Augustine saith Multum boni facit sed non perfectum bonum facit He doth much good but not that which is perfectly good So that wee haue neede to goe to God and aske pardon rather for the sinne in the worke then a reward for the good Then to conclude the Saints reape this haruest Non pro merito not for merit sed pro gratia but for grace I must not let passe now the doctrine of Popery which teacheth a doctrine contrary to this namely that wee are not simply beholding to God but in some sort to our selues as to workes And they make two kindes of workes or merits the one is Meritum de congruo merit of congruity which are preparatiue workes that goe before iustification Such were the works of Cornelius as they say which though they be not meritorious ex debito institiae by due debt of iustice yet do deserue at Gods hands of congruity The other they call Meritum de condigno merits of condignity when the reward is iustly due by debt and such are the works of the Saints But this distinction of workes wee approoue not of For these workes done before iustification though they seeme to haue a shew of goodnesse in themselues yet are they not pleasing to God because the persons are not iustified and his worke that is not iustified is abominable in the sight of God Secondly they are not done in faith and Whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne so that these cannot be preparatiue workes Againe for those workes done after sanctification we deny not but that they are pleasing and acceptable to God yet doe they deserue nothing by vertue of their worth as Ambrose saith In respect of others that is other men they are worthy but in respect of the thing

was with the Athenians For the more good they did know the lesse they did But Scire tuum nihil est nisi te scire hoc sciat alter Thy knowledge is nothing vnlesse another man know that thou hast knowledge Fiftly it is fitly compared vnto sowing because the best seede is to bee put into the ground to teach man what seede of obedience to sowe namely the best And to shew the same God commanded in the Law they should offer the best of all their cattell and without blemish It is not the sowing but the good sowing that brings this haruest of happinesse For the husbandman knowes if he should cast bad seede into the earth that either it would not spring vp or being sprung vp it would come to bee lanke and emptie corne So if wee sowe seede which is not good it will die and perish or if it doesping vp to giue vs any comfort it is vnitable and vanishing Therefore our seede must be such as that it will endure the earth vndergoe the stormes and boisterous weather When the merchant sets his shippe to the sea hee lookes that it be sound within and without and able to endure the weather or else shee is neuer like to returne home againe but with losse Would a Christian send forth his seede of obedience let it bee good that it may endure all weathers otherwise it will hardly returne againe and if it doe it will bee with a broken conscience and a weather beaten spirit God commanded the Tabernacle to be made of the best stones wood gold and other things and the best spices for ointments principally to teach the people that their obedience must be of the best sort Answerable hereunto was that of Marie who brought oyntment and that very costly to anoint Christ Shee knew she ought to obserue the custome of the Law in bringing the best as strictly should wee obserue and performe this duety in sowing the best obedience For it will be more glorious vnto God and with greater profit returne againe vnto our selues Here I cannot but condole and wish mine eyes to weepe day and night for the seede of our dissembling Protestants who like the Grecians speake much and do little They beleeue as Christians but liue as Pagans ciuile in speach rude in their manners The name of God is in their tongues but the feare of God is not in their hearts The Papists call vs Solifideans but our workes doe declare vs rather Nolifideans for the more we knowe the lesse good we doe we frie in words and freeze in deedes speake by elles and worke by inches changing workes into wordes and godly deuotion into bare knowledge O remember that the Vrim and the 〈◊〉 must goe together That is light of knowledge and holinesse of life for there is as great danger in not doing of good as there is profit in forbearing of euill It was a question whether it were better to haue a soe that hurts not or a friend that helpes not The rich man is in hell Non quod abstulerit Not for taking away another mans Sed quod non donarit sua But because he gaue not of his owne Barrennesse was euer accounted a curse a shame and areproch The first borne of idlesle is to doe nothing The second is to doe some thing to no purpose And the third is to doe that which is pernitious and hurtfull Some will take no paines in sowing vnlesse the deuill set them a worke and too many haue wee of these sowers in this land So that I thinke there was neuer more filthinesse in Sodome drunkennesse in Flanders lying in Creete and hypocrisie in Iurie then is now practised in England The custome of iniquity hath so chased away the shame of sinne that common wickednesse is taken for no priuate offence He ere is such vnmercifulnesse bribing oppressing and grinding the faces of the poore as if there were no God to honour Deuill to dread Heauen to hope for nor hell to shunne Men are more ready to keepe their money then their consciences and their soules are of lesse credit then their seales Is this the sowing of our Christians the practise of our profession the seale of our faith and the fruite of our Religion O remember the tree that had no fruite on it was accursed how much more when there is euill fruite thereon as drunkennesse adultery swearing lying stealing killing brybing c. Some cruell as Lions craftie as Foxes filthy as swine enuious as dogges and as rauenous as wolues Homo homini lupus est Man it to man a wolse Therefore let my counsell bee vnto you as Daniel was vnto the King Breake off your sinnes by righteousnesse and your iniquity by mercy towards the poore let your soules be pure your hearts zealous your liues religious your actions holy and your handes 〈◊〉 or good workes that it may be saide to you as it was to that good seruant Well done thou good and faithfull seruant enter into thy masters ioy Giue me leaue to speake one word more of this terrene sowing which is a worke very laborious yet not like vnto the spirituall sowing a worke very hard yet effected with ease greatly opposed yet not hindered much neglected yet most necessary commonly despised yet none more amiable A worke it is saith Saint Paul Worke out your saluation with feare and trembling For the kingdome of heauen comes not with obseruation there belongs more vnto it then haue and hold it dilligence that industerous worke-master must worke it out it is not gotten by speculation For the life of man is short the way is long if thou wilt come vnto the worke beginne to runne with speede The more a man hath to doe and little time allowed the greater is his labour to effect it Qui cupit optatem cursu contingeremetam Multa tulit facitque miser sudauit alist He that in running doth desire the wished marke to tuch He runneth very speedily and sweateth very much Nothing can bee effected without labour and shall wee thinke heauen to be obtained with a song Idlenesse in humaine affaires is accounted a sinne but in Religion a double sinne and many are infected therewith which rather then they will take a little paines to walke in the pathes of righteousnes that leades to heauen they will tumble in the greene pleasures of iniquitie which leade to hell The common harlot the world with her painted amorous face hath so bewitched the fooles of this age that they are sicke of loue and euery one is ready to doe her the best seruice they can Some are so infected with the silken dropsie that they cannot tread in the pathes of saluation without a Coatch and then they goe but like vnto a snaile least they should come there too soone The vsurer would walk in this would walke in this way but he hath not yet read ouer his billes nor gotten the waxe cleare from his fingers and