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	knowledge_n	temperance_n	6,959	5	12.3060	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41017	Thrēnoikos the house of mourning furnished with directions for the hour of death ... delivered in LIII sermons preached at the funerals of divers faithfull servants of Christ / by Daniel Featly, Martin Day, John Preston, Ri. Houldsworth, Richard Sibbs, Thomas Taylor, doctors in divinity, Thomas Fuller and other reverend divines.	Featley, Daniel, 1582-1645.	1660 (1660)	Wing F595; ESTC R30449	896,768	624

will handle apart in the Explication and proof and joyn them together in the application and use For the first then that A Christian is not perfect without patience Our Saviour exhorting his Disciples to patience in the fifth of Matth. because they should meet with many enemies injuries in the world he concludeth be perfect faith he as your heavenly father is perfect What perfection speaks he of here Such a perfection such a work of Grace as might inable them to carry themselves as became them in the middest of those many enemies and opposites they should meet withal I will not stand upon this I will endeavour to make it appear to you First it may appear thus There is a twofold perfection of a Christian There is a perfection of parts and a perfection of degrees A child is a perfect man in respect of parts but not in respect of degrees because it is not come to that measure of strength for that age is not capable of it which a man hath Now there is a necessity that there should be a perfection of parts First perfection of parts in a Christian is but the making up of all those graces which are necessary to a Christian and without which he cannot obey God nor walk according to the rule All these are necessary Now Patience is one of those parts one of those habits of grace with which every renewed soul is indowed and without which a man is not truly sanctified without which a man expresseth himself not to be regenerate And for this observe what the Apostle Peter saith Ad moreover to your faith vertue to vertue knowledge to knowledg temperance to temperance patience to patience godlinesse to godlinesse brotherly kindnesse to brotherly kindnesse love What is the reason of it If these things be in you and abound you shall neither be idle nor unfruitful in the work of the Lord. As if he should say you will be idle and unfruitful professors unlesse that these graces be in you and abound in you Now what are the Graces you shall see the necessity of every one of them The Apostle exhorteth beleevers there to the giving all diligence to the making their calling and election sare to make it certain to themselves that they are effectually called But might some say there are many graces necessary to a Christian but there is one principal which we call the radical and main grace of all Faith I but saith the Apostle there are many others necessary besides that as you must have faith towards God so you must also carry your selves so as may adorne your profession among men therefore adde vertue to faith But they might say vertue that is that that guideth a man in all Morrals in all the course of his life and conversation You shall have many provocations to sin therefore adde to vertue temperance But we have many discouragements to good therefore adde to temperance Patience But what though you should have both temperance and Patience these are but moral vertues Therefore adde to Patience godlinesse that you may in all things you doe ayme at God and approve your selves to him But when we have carried our selves in a holy manner according to the rule and word of God yet nevertheless there are many Christians that require offices of love from us and what shall we doe to these Therefore adde to godlinesse brotherly kindnesse But then again beside that conversation we have with beleevers there are many men in the world that expect certaine duties from us Therefore adde to that Love that extendeth to all men according to their necessities So you see how the Apostle takes all graces as it were into several parcels and sheweth how they cannot be without one parcel of grace they cannot goe through the course of Christianitie except they heve every thing they cannot carry themselves toward God without faith they cannot adorne their profession without vertue they cannot escape temptations without temperance neither can they be encouraged against discouragements without patience Therefore he bringeth patience in amongst the rest as a necessary part and dutie of a Christian without which he cannot goe through the worke of Christiantie and religion Again in the second place as it appeareth by the parts of a Christian and Christianity that a man cannot be perfect without Patience so it appeareth by another argument and that is this A Christian cannot be perfect without that without which he cannot keep that grace he hath Look what ever grace is in the soul a man cannot keep it without Patience By Patience possesse your souls The soul which is the seate and subject of Grace cannot it self be kept without Patience therefore neither can any grace be kept in the soul without Patience because as the riches and treasures in a Castle cannot be kept when the walls are beaten downe so those treasures of grace in the heart of man cannot be kept when once patience which is as the wall of the soul that keeps it from the battery of tentations from the enemie that would steale them away while men sleep I say unlesse these walls these supporting graces specially this of Patience be in the soul it cannot stand intire For indeed let impatience once into the soul and you let in all sin with it impatience is a destroying of all grace a pulling downe of the wall Nay what is sin indeed but impatience in a sense What is pride but the impatience of humilitie What is uncleannesse but the impatience of chastity What is drunkennesse but the impatience of sobrietie Every sin beginneth in impatience when a man cannot bear with that abstinence and forbearance as formerly cannot keep that strict course in his wayes but groweth impatient against the rule of God he runneth into a course of sin presently So you see that for the very preserving the soul the subject of grace and grace the treasure of the soul it is necessary that we should have patience And then again thirdly It will appear thus to you that a Christian cannot be perfect without patience because he cannot doe his worke without Patience he cannot doe the works of Religion the taske that God layes upon him without Patience Looke in what measure Patience is defective in that measure he halteth in his dutie in the very actions of Religion he goeth about Take any one duty of Religion that you can name see whether a man can doe that without Patience Suppose it be Prayer How can a man goe on in the duty of prayer without Patience Sometimes God delayeth the grant of a mans petition A man will now sink and give over in discouragement if he have not Patience to support the soul The Canaanitish woman when she came to Christ and spake once to him and he did not answer a word she had so much Patience as to make her speak the second time to him then he answered her

degree cannot enter into the heart to conceive and this will help to keep us waking Then in the next place when a man hath opened his eyes to see the light then there must be a rouzing of the senses This awakes a man when his senses that were bound up by sleep are loosed that now he is able to see and to move and to talk c. What unbinds the spiritual senses of a man in this sleep of sin only faith in the Son of God that opens the eyes of them that were dead in sin it restore new senses and life that they are able to walk in the wayes of God and to move in the actions of godliness and Christianity Therefore the second thing that a man must doe to awake himself out of sleep is to get faith in his soul that he may suck vertue from Christ and to get his senses loofed that he may see and taste and feel the goodness of God which without Christ he cannot attain Thirdly and lastly a man must get out of his bed to awake him out of sleep when his eyes are open and his senses loosed leap out of the bed that is by repentance this is to cease to do evil Therefore when the Apostle exhorts to rise out of sleep these are the three main things the Apostle aims at wherein he expresseth it plentifully First to get the true knowledge of God to see those objects that may allure and draw our minds And then labour to get faith in the Son of God whereby our senses may be unbound And then to get out of the bed of sin by repentance to cease to do evil and learn to well this is to awake out of the bed of sleep Thirdly who they are that must arise out of sleep Every man for so the Apostle plainly expresseth it Ephes 2. Awake thou that sleepest whosoever thou art that sleepest awake and rise out of sleep But who are they that sleep Two sorts of men all sorts of men may be reduced to two heads The Natural Man The Regenerate Man And both sleep The natural man is in a fast dead sleep you shall as soon get a rib out of his side as God did out of Adam when he was asleep as wake him You shall sooner drive a nail into his temples as Jael did to Sisera then awake him He is in a fast dead sleep in the sleep of death as a man in a Lethargy that never wakes again Therefore this man had need to arise to be called upon and to be rouzed out of the sleep of death Awake thou that sleepest stand up from the dead that Christ may give thee light Arise as a man ariseth out of the Grave out of the bed of sleep This is the man that is in a dead sleep But not only these are in a dead sleep but the regenerate also are in a sleep and they keep not themselves so waking and so watchful as they ought to do therefore the Apostle applies it to himself and to all the Saints It is time for us to awake out of sleep He puts himself in the number For he that is most wakeful had need to be more and to rise out of sleep still Cant. 5. It is the voyce of the Church I sleep but my heart waketh Even the Church her self that was waked already in part in a great part yet she confessed that she slept Her sleep was not so dead and so fast as formerly yet she slept and slumbred I sleep but my heart waketh It was not a hearty a dead sleep as the other was So in Mat. 25. it is said of the wise virgins as well as of the foolish they all slumbred and slept The foolish slept that is they were fast asleep the wise virgins they slumbred And so the Disciples themselves by the side of our Lord even when a temptation was neer and the tempter was upon them they fell fast asleep and were not able to watch with Christ no not one hour as Christ saith Thus we see brethren that those also that are Regenerate those that have received the greatest measure of grace and are in the highest form in grace for who was higher then Saint Paul they themselves have need to be called out of sleep It is time for them to awake out of sleep though they be waking persons even those that have received grace to beleeve and obey and be watchful in some measure even these must be called out of sleep Therefore in Revel 3.2 It is the counsel that is given to the Church of Sardis that had received some grace and was in some measure watchful saith the holy Ghost to that Church Be awake and strengthen the things that are ready to die He tels them in the words before Thou hast a name to live but art dead that is thou art even almost dead there is a little life of grace in thee thou art almost dead for so it is explained in the words following awake and strengthen the things that are ready to die Thus we see the difference between the calling of the wicked and the godly in their sleep The one is called from sleep to stand up from the daad the other to streng then the things that are ready to die And thus we see the persons who must wake In the next place Why doth the Apostle call upon sleepers to awake out of sleep We see natural men are as dead men in a dead sleep he doth but lose his labour and spend his breath they cannot hear and understand And the godly likewise it is with them as with a man in a sleep they are drowsie and do not much intend what is spoken To this I answer briefly Exhortations in Scripture are never in vain fall where they will This voyce of exhortation if it come upon regenerate men that are awake in part it is a means to awake them more it is a means to keep them awake as it was a means to awake them at the first If it fall upon wicked men that are in a dead sleep it serves if not to awake them yet to convince them to make them inexcusable for such a man might object What is this to me I am called on to awake I am in a dead sleep can I hear if I be in a dead sleep But know this thou that art in a dead sleep that art not able to hear thou art not able to hear because thou hast cast thy self into a dead sleep For this is the difference Suppose a man in the night season be in his first sleep tell him a message from God what he would have him to do he understands it not he knows it not it is no sin of his because he is a-sleep because God hath ordained this sleep to be due to nature But it is not so in the sleep of sin God doth not cast a man into the sleep

themselves and pay him So liberal a Patron he was that he not only freely bestowed all the Benefices that fell in his gift but was also at all the charge of institution induction composition first-fruits and whatsoever burthen fell upon the Incumbent Such patterns of Patrons we may rather wish then hope for after him what shall I need to add more concerning him whose birth was illustrious his education liberal his Patromony great his Matches sutable his life exemplary and his death comfortable Single vertues we meet with in many but such combinations as were in him such affability in such gravity such humility in such eminency such patience in such trials such temperance and moderation in such abundance as we have just cause to bless God for in him so we have great cause to pray for in others of his Rank In his tender years he was set as a choice Plant in the famous Nursey of good learning and Religion the University of Oxford where living as a Commoner in Corpus Christi Colledge under the care and tuition of Doctor Sebastian Wenfield he very much thrived and grew above his equalls both in grace and in knowledge gaining to himself as much love as learning After he was removed from thence he fell into very great troubles as well before as after the death of his Father but the Lord delivered him out of all These crosses and afflictions served but as Files to brighten those gifts and graces in him which shined afterwards most brightly in his more setled estate and eminent employments being chosen Deputy Lievetenant in Wiltshire Commissioner in three Shires Four times High-Sheriff and often Knight for the Shire in Parliament in all which places of important negotiations and great trust he so carried himself that all men might see in all his actions he had a special eye to the Motto in his Escouchion Jeay bonne cause for with Mary he alwayes chose the good part and stood up for the truth which he confirmed with his last breath You have heard what he was in publick but what was he in private we have seen him in the Sun how demeaned he himself in the shade True Religion is like the precious stone Garamantites which casteth no great lustre outwardly but semper intus habeat aureas guttus but we may discern as it were golden drops within Three of these after I have presented to your view I will then set free your patience and give your sorrow full scope to vent it self in tears The first of these was tenderness of conscience which is one of the most infallible tokens and marks of the Child of God so tender was he that he would undertake no business before he was fully perswaded of the lawfulness thereof both by clear texts of Scripture and the approbation of most learned and conscientious Divines he made scruple not only of committing the least known sin but of imbarking into any action which was questionable among those that love the truth in sincerity And therefore although God blessed him with great wealth and store of coyn yet he never put it to Usury or Intrest thereby to increase it for he held the tolleration of the Law in this Kingdome to be no sufficient warrant for any violation of the divine Law the destinctions lately coyned of toothless and biting Usury he no way allowed judging truly that all Usury according to the Hebrew Etymology is biting and hath not only teeth but Adders teeth envenomed for all Usury if it bite not our Brother as per accidens sometimes it may not yet it biteth the conscience of all such who have any remorse of sin The second aurea gutta was Christian compassion whereby he took to heart the afflictious of Joseph and misery of Lazarus whose fores he cured with the most precious balsamum he could buy for his money What Pliny writeth lib. 32. c. 8. Attalus usus est Thynni recentiores adipe ad ulcera on the Fish in Latin Thynuus that it is a soveraign remedy against many diseases and cureth all kind of ulcers was truly verified in him for he furnished himself with the best cordials and the rarest medicinal receipts and when he heard of any poor sick or hurt he not onely sent them money but Bezar and balsamum thinking nothing could cost him too dear whereby he might save the life or recover the health of the poorest member of Christ Jesus In the years of death and sickness he sent provision to all the Parishes about him and thrice a week relieved a hundred at least at his gate neither did his compassion die with him for in his Will and Testament confirmed by him the day before his Death he bequeathed divers Legacies to the poor whereof these following came to my notice To Saint Margarets in Westminster 10. pound To Kempsford 60. pound To Cosley 60. pound To Froome and the Woodlands 100. pound To Warmester 100. pound To Deverill and Mounten 100. pound The last aurea gutta which I shall present to your view at this time was his servency of zeal for the truth of the Gospel in all the Benefices which he bestowed he took special care to make choice of men sound in the Faith no way warping either to Popish superstition or schismatical seperation as he made greatest accompt of those Ministers of the Gospel who were servent in spirit zealous for the truth so he hated none more then temporizers and luke-warm Loadiceans he seldome spake of any Romanist without expressing a great detestation of their idolatry and superstition the night before he changed this life for a better after an humble confession of his sins in general and a particular profession of the Articles of his belief in which he had lived and now was resolved to die he added I renounce all Popish superstition all mans merits trusting only upon the merits of the Death and passion of my Saviour and whosoever trusteth on any other shall find when he is dying if not before that he leaneth upon broken reeds Here after the benediction of his Wife and Children being required by me to ease his mind and declare if any thing lay heavy upon his conscience he answered nothing he thanked God yet like an obedient child of his Mother the Church of England both heartily desired and received her absolution and now professing that he was most willing to leave the world he besought all to pray for him and himself prayed most fervently that God would enable him patiently to abide his good will and pleasure and to go through this last and greatest work of faith and patience and the pangs of Death soon after coming upon him he fixed his eyes on Heaven from whence came his help and to the last gasp lifted up his hand as it were to lay hold on that Crown of righteousness which Christ reacheth out to all his children who hold out the good fight of Faith to the end and conquer in the end Which