Selected quad for the lemma: virtue_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
virtue_n	godliness_n	grace_n	kindness_n	1,199	5	9.8511	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A22481	A commentarie vpon the epistle of Saint Paule to Philemon VVherein, the Apostle handling a meane and low subiect, intreating for a fraudulent and fugitiue seruant, mounteth aloft vnto God, and deliuereth sundry high misteries of true religion, and the practise of duties œconomicall. Politicall. Ecclesiasticall. As of persecution for righteousnesse sake. ... And of the force and fruit of the ministery. Mouing all the ministers of the Gospell, to a diligent labouring in the spirituall haruest ... Written by William Attersoll, minister of the word of God, at Isfield in Suffex.	Attersoll, William, d. 1640.	1612 (1612)	STC 890; ESTC S106848	821,054	582

God and hate his Brother hee is a Lyar for howe can hee that loueth not his Brother whom hee hath seene Loue God whom hee hath not seene And this Commaundement haue wee of him that he that loueth God should Loue his Brother also Where hee teacheth that the loue of God and the loue of our Bretheren are knit together with such a fast knot as can neuer bee loosed and dissolued the Workes of the first Table cannot be pulled assunder from the Workes of the second Table The Apostle Peter moouing the dispersed Iewes to giue dilligence to make their Election sure and their calling certaine that so they might neuer fall away p 2 Pet. 1 5 6 7. exhorteth them To ioyne Vertue with their Faith and with Fayth Knowledge and with Knowledge Temperance and with Temperance Patience and with Patience Godlinesse and with Godlynesse Brotherly Kindnesse and vvith Brotherly kindnesse Loue. These Christian graces of Gods Spirit he would haue in them and not onely to be found in them but to abound in them and not onely some of them but they must endeuour to get them all and to ioyne one of them to another that so we may bee fruitfull in all good Workes It is not therefore enough for vs to haue one guift alone and then think we are well Let vs not flatter our selues and boast of our Religion to say wee haue Faith or Knowledge or Temperance or Loue. Hee that hath but one of them hath indeede none of them We must haue many or else wee cannot assure our selues that we haue any at all For as hee that is reformed in one sinne is reformed in all knowne sinnes and he that truely repenteth of one truely repenteth of all so hee that hath obtayned one gift hath gotten many One sinne commonly goeth not alone so one Vertue goeth not alone When Fayth commeth there commeth a Traine with it it is as a Royall Queene that neuer trauaileth abroad without her traine Faith layeth holde vpon Christ in whome q Col. 1 19. 2 3. all Treasures of Knowledge Wisedome are hidden Whosoeuer possesseth him and hath him dwelling in his heart hee possesseth all thinges If then wee by attending on the ordinance of God haue gotten Faith r Rom. 20 17. which commeth by hearing and hearing by the Word so soone as Faith is entred a great multitude and mightie Armie of Gods Graces stande about vs and throng at the doore of our hearts as it were striuing and thrusting which of them shoulde enter first and they neuer giue ouer vntill they bee all come in and haue taken vp their lodging there neuer after to bee dislodged and dispossessed of that place Let vs not therefore bee so sparing and niggardly to thinke one grace of God sufficient for vs we serue a liberall Lorde and bountifull Maister that offereth to make vs partakers of all his Treasures and to bestow vppon vs all the riches of his house We may put our hands into his Coffers and store our selues with plenty and aboundance Wee see howe they that couer their houses Å¿ Plaut in Trinum Benefacta benefactis alijs pertegito ne perpluant do lay Tile vpon Tile or Stone vpon Stone or Strawe vppon Straw so thicke that it may not raine thorow and that they may be defended from winde and weather so should it bee with vs that are setting vppe a Christian building when we haue laide a good foundation wee must couer our houses with a strong couering wee must lay Grace vppon Grace and ioyne Vertue to Vertue that though the stormes of tentations beate vpon vs yet they may not preuaile against vs though the Raine of afflictions fall vpon vs yet it may not enter into vs and although the Windes of wickednesse doo oftentimes blow vpon vs yet they may not ouer-turne and ouerthrow vs. Vse 2. Secondly seeing Faith and Loue go together and dwell together we are put in minde of a notable dutie and are thereby directed to prooue our Faith by our Loue and our Loue by our Faith and to make one of them serue to assure the other The cause wil proue the effect and the effect will manifest the cause We may proue fire by the heat and the heat by the fire a good tree by his fruit the fruit by his tree Many wil seeme faithful religious they will glorify that they beleeue boast of their piety and godlinesse yet come to their liues you shal find therein no fruits of mercy no works of charity no tokens testimonies of their loue appearing in them This mans religion is in vaine his faith is in vaine his shew of godlinesse is in vaine for pure t Iam. 1 27 2 16. Religion and vndefiled before God the Father is this to visit the fatherles widdowes in their aduersity to keep himself vnspotted of the world And the same Apostle in the next chapter teacheth That it shal not profit any man to say he hath Faith when his Faith bringeth forth no Good-workes Againe many will shew some fruites of Loue to their Brethren in Almes in liberality in giuing vnto the poore in dealing iustly and vprightly and yet haue no faith they doo them as naturall men mooued by a naturall affection or stirred vp by vaine glory or hunting after the praise of men or constrained by the lawes of Princes or fearing the reproach of the world or seeking the merit of their owne saluation All such haue their reward according to their worke but not according to their hope They haue their reward already they must look for no other they haue it among men they shall loose it with God they haue the applause of the world but they must passe another doome in the life to come Such faith before spoken of without loue is but a shadow of faith and such loue without faith is but a shadow of loue both are naught and nothing worth if they be assunder The roote ioyned to the Tree are both good and make the branches fruitfull but seperate the one from the other pull the root from the Tree and you destroy them both you kill them both This is that vse u Iames 2 18. which S. Iames vrgeth chap. 2. Some man might say Thou hast the Faith and I haue workes shew me thy faith out of thy workes and I will shew thee my faith by my workes Whereby we are taught to try the truth of our faith the sincerity of our loue that we be not deceiued in the one or in the other But how shall this triall be made Surely by making one the Touchstone to the other laying one to the other and waighing one in the ballance with the other For the Apostle willeth the vaine Christian who hath nothing but the name of faith to glory in like a poore Begger that boasteth of great riches to shew the goodnesse of his Faith by the fruits of Good-workes or else his

did Paule him so Or doth hee thinke it enough to make him almost a Christian No halfe a Christian is no Christian and almost godly is not godly Therefore his desire was to take him by the hand or rather by the heart if he could haue sounded into the depth and bottome of it and to haue led him from Almost to Altogether Hence it is that when he seeth him comming toward Christ hee casteth out his Net to catch him if it were possible saying vnto him I would to God that not onelie thou but also all that heare mee to day were both almost and altogether such as I am except these bondes Thus he ceaseth not continually to call vppon the Churches to encrease more and more and to proceed from grace to grace Againe it belongeth to euery Maister of the Family to water that which himselfe or the Minister hath planted and to be alwayes weeding out the bitter roots that spring vp in his Garden If we haue brought any of his family to godlinesse and to embrace the Gospell let him make much of them let his countenance bee toward them let him fauour them aboue others and admonish them to frequent the exercises of Religion remembering that it is as great a Vertue to keepe as to get to preserue as to finde to holde fast as to take Moreouer as it is a generall dutie belonging to all of vs h Hebr. 3 7. and 10 24. to exhort one another while it is called to day and stirre vp one another to good things so if by our example of life or lighting of them a Candle to see their wayes they shall come to the acknowledgement of the truth we should loue them dearly and prouoke them to go farther forward in good works assuring them that such as continue to the end shall be saued This serueth seuerely to reproue those who hauing beene zealous in the faith and witnessed a good confession before many witnesses and beene a meanes to open the eyes of others to behold the glorious light of the Gospell that before wandered in darknesse are now gon back themselues or seeme to stand at a stay i Reuel 2 4. and haue left their first loue To whom I can say no more but wish them to turn backe to consider what they haue beene and to remember what they are knowing that it had beene better for them k 2 Pet. 2 21. neuer to haue knowne the way of righteousnesse then after they haue acknowledged it to turn away from the holy Commandement Let all such therefore call to minde the exhortation of Christ to the Angell of the Church of Ephesus l Reuel 2 5. Remember from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first workes or else I will come against thee shortly and will remoue thy Candlestick out of his place except thou amend It is a great shame to shew the way to another and to go out of it himseife to teach another and not to teach himselfe to stir vp another to go forward and himselfe to go backward to kindle zeale in others and himselfe to grow cold lukewarme and therefore to giue occasion to others to think that their former profession was but an heate of youth seeing they decline in their olde age On the other side such as haue bin won to the Gospell by others ought entirely and feruently to loue such as haue conuerted them to shewe themselues euery way thankfull vnto them The Apostle beseecheth the Thessalonians m 1 Thess 5 12 13. To acknowledge them that labour among them and are ouer them in the Lord and admonish them that they haue them in singular loue for their workes sake Who is it if he were blinde and had his sight restored vnto him would not speake well of him by whom it was restored and acknowledge himselfe bound vnto him all the dayes of his life We are all naturally borne blind haue not one eye to see the sauing truth of godlinesse If then we attain the sight of our selues and to knowe our naturall blindnesse how ought wee to praise Gods mercy toward vs and to loue those by whom we haue the eyes of our minds enlightned He is a very vnkind and vnthankfull person who hauing lost his way in a great and terrible wildernesse where hee knoweth not which way to turne or returne not whether to goe to get out meeteth with a certaine guide that is able and ready to conduct him and to enstruct him in his way wil neuer so much as open his mouth to giue him thankes Or hauing beene cured and recouered from a daungerous and desperate disease that brought him to the doores of death will neuer acknowledge the benefit and good turn that he hath receiued So is it with those that haue wandered a long time in the vanities of this world and in the pleasures of the flesh as in a wildernesse it is the greatest ingratitude not to acknowledge those his best and surest friends that haue shewed them the strait gate and the narrow way that leadeth vnto life And if our soules haue bin saued from death to which we made hast and ranne with greedinesse if there bee any comfort of loue or fellowship of the spirit or any compassion and mercy in vs we ought to shew it to those that haue bin as spiritual and speciall Physitians vnto vs to deliuer vs from death and to restore vs to life Whom I haue sent againe Hitherto we haue spoken of the first reason that concerneth the person of Onesimus who was vnprofitable but now is becom very profitable The second sort of reasons are touching Paule himselfe and touch either the present action of his sending of him backe or the common friendship that a long time had bin betweene Paul and Philemon The first of these reasons is in this 12. verse which may be thus concluded If I haue sent Onesimus backe vnto thee then it is thy duty to receiue him But I haue sent him backe againe Therefore it is thy duty to receiue him If there had not bin great cause that Philemon shold receiue him the Apostle would neuer haue sent him especially seeing hee found his abode with him and his seruice done vnto him very profitable Now we are to mark in this place that Paul requireth not Philemon to make his seruant free and to discharge him of his bondage and albeit Paul had great need to haue vsed the ministration of Onesimus in the extreamity of his imprisonment yet beeing another mans seruant and not his owne belonging to his own Maister and not to him and knowing that he ought not to couet another mans seruant he would not detaine him but sent him backe to Philemon to whom hee did appertaine and from whom he departed This is consonant to the trueth and purity of the Gospell this the Maister might well require and this dutie the seruant was bounde to performe euen to returne and repaire againe