Selected quad for the lemma: virtue_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A36466
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Rex meus est deus, or, A sermon preached at the common place in Christs-church in the city of Norwich by G.D. ...
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G. D. (George Downham)
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1643
(1643)
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Wing D2061; ESTC R209871
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32,251
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33
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further with them then aurium tenus up to the eares But what saith Saint James if Apostles may be credited in these dayes Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own souls where he doth not condemne hearing no more do I but I would have doing besides and so would he But as we may aske and goe without because we aske amisse so wee may doe and not be accepted because we do amisse therefore my next suit to you is that you doe so that you may be accepted that is well if thou doe well saith God for hee that doth well is of God saith Saint Iohn in his epistle to his beloved Gaius verse 11. The Lord here intimates unto Cain that his owne evill doing and not Gods evill judging is the cause of his rejection for howsoever he seem'd to walk in eqâ—ipage with his brother and to offer as devout a sacrifice as hee yet was there something amisse in it which God the searcher of the hearts did see and therefore did reject him It was bonis specie but malum inteâ—tione good in apparition but bad in intention and God is wont to love adverbs â—etter then adjectives non refert quam bonum sâ—d quam bene he regards not how good the worke bee when it is done but how well it is performed while it is a doing Therefore that a worke may be done well there are three things required first {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} conformity to the law of God which is the rule of righteousnesse to which every good work both for matter and manner must accord {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} and {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} sinne and deflection from Gods law are termes convertible so that whatsover is sinne erreth from the law and whatsoever strayeth from the law is sin therfore that a work may be well done it is required that it do accord with the Law Secondly fides faith in the doer by which his person may please God in Christ and the word be accepted for the persons sake for it is otherwise betweene God and man then it is betweene man and man with us the person is accepted for his gifts be he black as Vulcan or deformed as Thersites Ditia si attuleris mun ra gratus cris Bring a good present in thy hand and welcome but it is not so with God but cleane contrary for he accepts of the gift for the giver and reckons the worke good because a good man doeth it hee first makes the tree good and then its fruit as St. Gregory very clearly Deus gratum non habâ—t offerentâ—m propter munus sed munus propter offerentem thus verse 4. it is said unto Abâ—l and to his â—ffering God gave respect first unto Abel then unto his offering first loving the man in Christ and then regarding the worke for the man This excellent comfort faith brings with it that when it hath joyned us to Christ all our deeds are well thought off but where faith is not there can nothing be accepted for whatsoever is not of faith is sinne Laudo fructum boâ—i operis sed in fide agnosco radicem saith St. Augustin I commend the fruit of a good work but I account faith to be the roote from whence that goodnesse springs Faith saith Saint Bernard is the vine vertues the branches good works the cluster of grapes devotion the wine to conclude nec palmes fine vite nec virtus sine fide the branch cannot subsist without the vine to beare it nor a vertuous action without faith to breed it Finally there is râ—quired Respectus ad Deum a good intention and respect to God for the Pharisee may givâ— almes to the poore and Cain may offer sacrifice to the Lord and yet both justly rejected if they propound wrong ends unto their actions seeking rather to magnifie themselves then to glorifie God This is that that Saint Augustine tells the Pelagians non artibus sed finibus pensantur officia good works are not to be poysed by the art in the well contriving of them but by the ends for which they were contrived so Bucanus non tam artibus quam finibus virtut saviâ—â—is sunt dâ—scâ—rnendae It is not the action but the end of the action that must distinguish vice from vertue So then whilest Cain facrificed to the true God an offering for substance and matter allowable yet wanting faith in Christ to give the action a good beginning and respect to God to direct it to a right end he did not well and consequently he and his offering justly were rejected Away then with hereticall Pelagiâ—n â—sme that calls heathen vertues good works that thinks Aristides shall be saved for his justice Xenocrates for his temperance Fabricius for his abstinence Socrates for his patience and so Cain for his sacrifice And heark how in exclamation they cry out against us How is it possible ut erunt in damnatione sempiterna in quibus erat vera justitia that they should be in eternal condemnation whose works did seem to merit eternal coÌ„mendation But we reply with Saint Augustine quis hac sapiat nisi desipiat who will think that such works be good but hee that hath not the wit to think as he should or he that with Epicurus accounts vertues but voluptatis aâ—cillas servants to attend upon vaine pleasure Hear Saint Bernard to Cain Bene honâ—ras deum munere fatido bene placas fidei interfector doest thou think to honour God well with a stinking oblation that wants the salt of true faith to season it And such no better are all heathen works Yet wil not my charity suffer me to give all heathens for damned for I know that God is righteous in all his wayes that he loveth righteousnes I haue heard it also said that he reapeth not where he hath not sowen gathereth not where he hath not strawed but requireth of very man according to the talent which he hath given him more where he hath given more lesse where he hath given lesse therfore if any of them shall make the best use of their talent improve it according to their power to the best advantage why may not I think that God who hath promised that he will not break a bruiâ—ed reed nor quench a smoking flaxe will multiply increase their guifts according to his promise Habenti dabitur to him that hath it shall be given he shal have abundance may infuse into them so much knowledg of the Deity in generall of Christ the second person in particular as may save their soules Away also with Semipelagian Papism that câ—lls unrâ—generate actions meritorious deeds that imagines goodnesse is shewed grace purchased Ex opâ—â—e operato A term more monstrous in the sence
and right And so I passe from the worke supposed If thou doe wâ—l to the reward promised shalt thou not be accepted the interrogative put for the affirmative It is well observed by Pareus upon the place that the word here translated accâ—pted which is {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} a verbo {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} among other things signifies to lift up and so is also turned by some actively erit tibi elevare if thou doe well thou need'st not goe hanging downe thy head like a condemned man but thou maiest bee able to lift up thy countenance in sincerity of conscience as well as thy brother Of some againe passively erit tibi â—l vari if thou doe well thou shalt be promoted and advanced with the blessings of earth iâ— this life and with the crowne of blessednesse when this life is ended If you joyne them both together you shall finde that well-doing hath a double acceptance the gratulation of conscience within our selves and the gratuity of blessednesse from almighty God Concerning the first comfort of conscience is no small reward unto a righteous man many men reckon it enough and solely rest therein Virtus in seipsâ mercedem habet a good work carries her reward with her even the testimony and congratulation of a good conscience which is a precious jewell a hidden treasure our heaven upon earth our cheifest glory untill we come to the Kingdome of glory according to Saint Paul this is our glory even the testimony of our conscience Inaestimabile bonum est testimonium bonae insontis conscientiâ—… the testimony of a good conscience is an inestimable good thing without which no man can be truely merry and with which no man certainely sad for what can cast a man downe if conscience be upright or what can raise a man up if conscience once deject him what made Belshazar fall into his melancholy dumps in the midst of his cups and boone companions why nothing but an evill conscience is a continual fiend to haunt him and what made Saint Paul sing Psalmes at midnight in prison but a good conscience a continual feast to cheere him Finally I demand with a Father what thou accountest in this life pleasant and comfortable Mensanè deliciosa a table furnished with continual delicates Dives had this and yet was turned into hell Bona valetudo corporis Is it strength and soundnesse of body Goliah had this and yet knockt downe with a pebble stone Ingens gloria Great magnificence and glory Herod had this and yet was eaten up of lice Divitiarum â—â—pia aboundance of wealth and riches The glutton had this and foolishly lost his soule What then he concludes nihil aliud jucundum est quam conscientia proba et res futurorum certa nothing nothing truely comfortable in this world but a good conscience within our selves and a strong confidence in the God of heaven Had 〈◊〉 at the time of his oblation but knowne the benefit of a good conscience which was in Abel before he suffered his martyrdome and the woundâ— of an evil conscience which were fallen upon himselfe after he had committed his murder he would have laboured more earnestly to doe well in action that hee might more joyfully have sped well in acceptation And such would be the desire of all men were conscience valued at his true dignity and worth excellently Saint Bernard unicuique est liber propria câ—nscientia ad hunc librum discutiendum em â—dandum omnes alij inventi sunt every mans conscience is a booke and to cleare and refine this book all other books are invented and found out All our reading to our selves all our preaching to you all your and our hearing is joyntly for one end ne dissideat unu quisque a seipso that no man should be at oddes with his owne soule The benefit and comfort whereof were it sufficiently knowne to many men and earnestly loved of all men the shop-keeper would not by making short measure unto others make himselfe fall short of heaven the lawyer would not plead so long against the truth till his own conscience pleaded against himself the extortioner would not grinde the face of the poor til faenus pecuâ—iae proves funus animae his monies birth his soulâ—s death The Bankrupt would not so often compound with his creditors till the devill without compounding carries away his soule finally the whoring drunkard the roaring swaggerer and the raving blasphemer would not dance themselves in jollity into hell as they doe if they were but perswaded that a good conscience were but worth halfe so much as it is Againe besides gratulation of conscience well-doing getts acceptation from God and so it purchaseth reward without as well as partaketh of comfort within Indeed it hath ever been the devils pollicy to make men believe it is in vaine to serve God in Iâ—b 21. 15. the wicked will needs make it a question what profit they should have if they should serve God A base demand seeing as one observes every good man knows etiam submotâ mercedem virtuteÌ„ ipsâ— coronaÌ„ ac ornamentum esse that vertue carrieth her reward in her bosome and cannot want the comfort that is due unto her she is both the work and the reward herselfe yea and that in this present life Gods children want not comfortaâ—le blessings which are as it were the first fruits of their full inheritance God being gracious unto them dum per res parvas et in aspectum cadentes majoribus invisibilibusque fidem astruit whilest by outward things he strengthens their faith for greater and more glorious matters And they content themselves with his good pleasure and depend upon him without distrust saying one to another with Saint Paul Rom. 8. 32 He that loved not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shal he not with him also freely give us all things and to their owne soules with Origen quid de opâ—bus dubitas qui herum habes what doest thou doubt of the inheritance when thou hast the heire himselfe bestowed upon thee Yet herein they are discreet too for they have learned with Pelusiota that combatings appertaine to this world comfortings to the other world here crosses there crownes Such is Gods wisedome that generally he hath proportioned the worke for earth the wages for heaven and yet such is his goodnesse too that here also many goe not unrewarded For saith Augustine if God should reward no good man in this life it would be thought these temporal lessings did either belong to God for to give or to good men to receive and againe if he should reward every good servant with these outward things they would be thought the onely good and men would serve him for earthly commodities and so non pios nos fâ—e rei talis