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	love_n	temperance_n	1,495	5	11.3666	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A65648	A sermon preach'd at the anniversary meeting of the sons of clergy-men, in the church of St. Mary Le Bow, on Tuesday, Decem. 3, 1695 printed at the desire of the stewards of the feast, to whom it is humbly presented / by Tho. Whincop ...	Whincop, Thomas, d. 1730.	1696 (1696)	Wing W1665; ESTC R34743	10,856	31

our hopes of Happiness and moreover First render our Services more acceptable unto God Are Means Secondly of bringing more Glory to his Name And Thirdly by which we shall be the greatest Gainers and reap most Advantage 1. They render First our Services more acceptable unto God's Purity and Holiness in the Heart before there be or when there is no opportunity to work are in themselves good but when they are demonstrated by godly and charitable Actions then smell they sweet and are Sacrifices well-pleasing Thus Noah's Thankfulness to God for his Preservation from that universal Deluge of all except himself Gen. 8.21 and those with him in the Ark and Abraham's Faith Gen. 22.12 were well known unto God but when the one publickly built an Altar and offered burnt-offerings unto the Lord and the other readily went to sacrifice his only Son the Text tells us that thereupon God smelled a savour of rest and now I know that thou fearest God A Man being inwardly upright towards God harmless and innocent tender and compassionate towards Man may have comfort and satisfaction in himself upon such Reflections but it would be far better to unlock those treasures and disperse them abroad by which they will gain greater Acceptance at God's Hands who is more especially delighted with the fruits of our Faith in the Practice of Piety and Exercise of a Christian Life both towards God and Man 2. By which Secondly God's Name is more glorifi'd which reason is affign'd by our Saviour why our light should shine before men Mat. 5.16 that thereby we may glorifie our father which is in heaven and he is so more particularly either in our selves or in others In our selves by our Obedience to his Commands which were therefore given us not that we might know only but do them Both natural and spiritual Endowments are given us 1 Cor. 12. as St. Paul speaks to profit withal Gifts themselves then cease so to be when their Use and Benefit ceaseth and those are subject to a most severe Account who bury their Talents as well as those that employ them ill A not gaining will condemn as well as a losing and a not doing good as well as doing evil with the unprofitable Servant in the Parable Men will be severely sentenc'd for bringing no Glory to their Maker in not being means of praising him as by their good Works they may In others God is glorifi'd by Mens good Works and truly blasphemed by their evil Ones Our Saviour and his Apostles curing the Impotent healing the Diseased Acts 4.21 and raising the Dead makes the Beholders glorifie God upon the sight of what was done and acknowledg'd Luk 7.16 That a great Prophet was risen among them and that God had visited his people Our Saviour there they took to be but a Man at best a Prophet attribute therefore no more to him but to God who as they thought had given such gifts unto men as upon St. Peter's Relation to the Apostles Acts 11.18 how God by his Preaching had converted the Gentiles when they heard these things they held their peace and glorified God And as good Works do win Glory to God so evil Ones on the contrary do mightily dishonour him and cause his Holy Name to be evil spoken of by those that do not believe This was St. Cyprian's Complaint long since what the unbelieving Heathens said in his time upon like occasion against the Christians Ecce quam jactant se redemptos c. saith he These are the men that boast themselves of their Redemption and Deliverance of their Baptism and Gospel when their whole Life was a Contradiction to it and then presently fall a railing at their Religion and speaking evil of that God whom they worshipped As Nathan could tell David after his Murder and Adultery By this deed saith he thou hast caused the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme and St. Paul objects the same thing to the Jews Rom. 2.23 24. Thou that gloriest in the law by breaking the law dishonourest thou God For the name of God is dishonoured among the Gentiles through you Which very Argument we find made use of as a principal Incitement to Honesty of Life and Manners 1 Tim 6.1 That the name of God and his doctrine be not evil spoken of for which reason also servants are to count their masters worthy of all honour that the name of God be not blasphemed as a Doctrine of Liberty and a Religion that allows any thing And indeed there is nothing wounds our Religion more or lays a greater Blemish upon it than a Form of Godliness and no Power a ' Semblance of Religion and yet licentious Practices these do more Injury to our Profession and bring more Dishonour to our God than an open Infidel and Pagan that denies both 3. By our good Works Thirdly we shall be the greatest Gainers or Losers in that by them we make our calling and election sure as St. Peter tells us 2 Pet. 1.10 Give all diligence saith he to make your calling and election sure and how this was to be done he directs by adding to their faith vertue to their vertue knowledge to their knowledge temperance to their temperance patience to their patience godliness to their godliness brotherly-kindness and to their brotherly-kindness love The Apostle there lays down a full Catalogue of those Graces which beautifie a Christian's Life and those Works by which a Man comes as it were step by step to a full Perfection in Christ the Foundation of all which is Faith and the Top Love to our Brethren These are the works saith he that assure us of election that if we live in them we shall certainly be saved in the end But 't is to be remembered that whatsoever good Wrok we do is no meritorious Cause of our Election or Salvation but necessary Effects which follow and from whence we may ground an Assurance to ur unutterable Comfort that if we continue in them our End shall be Peace and why Because the Promise of God is sure and stedfast Joh. 5.29 That they which have done good shall come forth of their Graves to the resurrection of life and they that have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation and every Man shall receive his Wages according to his Labour And it is observable God hath often declar'd that those unspeakable Joys in Heaven are therefore prepared by him only as Rewards of Mens well-doing in this World and shall be distributed to each according to the measure and proportion of that Good which they have done in the World Come Matth. 15.34 ye blessed of my Father will our Saviour one day say inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world and the Reason is added I was hungry and ye fed me thirsty and ye gave me drink a stranger and ye took me in in prison and ye visited me Gal. 6 9.