Selected quad for the lemma: work_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
work_n	eternal_a	good_a	reward_n	7,006	5	8.9757	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47330	The duty of the rich, in a sermon preached before the Lord mayor, and Court of Alderman and citizens of London at S. Sepulchres Church, on Easter-Tuesday, April 22d. 1690 by Richard Kidder ...	Kidder, Richard, 1633-1703.	1690 (1690)	Wing K405; ESTC R4840	13,722	38

eaten quickly and consequently not eaten by himself alone But his Neighbour was to be partaker with him Charity and Hospitality was thus provided for 'T was not the Offering that God accepted alone but the gratefull Mind and the thankfull Recognition of the Offerer And He was to express that by his kindness to his Brother Hath God given you Wealth and abundance Make your Acknowledgments to Him who alone hath made the difference Let it appear that you have a due Sense of his Bounty How many ways may you express the great Sense you have on your Mind of the peculiar Mercy of God to you There are some that want bread and cloathing some are diseased others in prison some hopefull Youths will want instruction and a way of livelihood without your charity and care You may if you please comfort many a mournfull Widow support many fatherless Children help many disconsolate Strangers keep many from Idleness and more from Starving God hath done much for you is it not fit you should cast about what to doe for Him For Him who hath given you all things richly to enjoy For Him who is your greatest Friend and Benefactor For Him who hath the greatest right to you and yours Shall we spend upon our Lusts or in the Service of the Devil what God hath so bountifully bestowed upon us This would be the greatest impiety and ingratitude at once I remember Cyprian upon this occasion brings in the Devil accompanied with his numerous train vaunting over our Saviour De Opere Eleemosyn Ego pro istis quos mecum vides nec alapas accepi nec flagella sustinui nec crucem pertuli c. For these followers of mine says he I have received no blows endured no stripes nor born a Cross nor shed my bloud a price of their redemption I promise no heavenly Kingdom no immortality in Paradise And yet says he they present me with great and precious and costly gifts c. Tuos tales munerarios Christe demonstra c. Shew me O Christ such followers of thee among the rich and the wealthy who are encouraged by the promise of Eternal life We shall be without excuse if we doe not that out of gratitude to God and our Saviour which others doe in the service of the Devil and prosecution of their lusts 4. To doe good c. is the way to secure to our selves Eternal life 'T is at least a necessary condition on our part and the way to it without it we must never expect that Blessed state And thus much is intimated to us in the words of my Text which come next to be considered Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on Eternal life 'T is considered as a foundation which though it doe not raise yet it must precede the following superstructure Our hope of Eternal life falls to the ground without this course And if we would build to any height or purpose we must lay a good foundation first But the Greek word we render foundation is thought to signifie somewhat else here and that as agreeably to my present purpose And this a writing that is obligatory or a writing that gives the Creditor caution and a right to recover his debt And this 't is supposed to signifie in correspondence to a certain Hebrew word that answers to it And thus this Greek word is supposed to signifie in the following Epistle The foundation standeth sure 2 Tim. ij 19. That is God's Covenant or Promise For it follows Having this Seal c. A Seal belongs properly enough to a writing or instrument of Contract but not to a foundation vvhich lies under-ground And in this sense they that doe good may be said to have good security that they shall not lose their revvard and 't is the best and surest vvhatsoever Quas dederas tantùm semper habebis opes He that gives to the poor lendeth to the Lord Prov. xix 17. and He hath engaged to re-pay him The Revvard is due novv by Covenant and Promise Henceforth says St. Paul there is laid up for me a Crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at that day 2 Tim. ij 8. We disclaim the Merit but must believe the Necessity of Good Works in order to obtaining Eternal life And this vve must doe if vve believe the Holy Scriptures They put us upon them as the vvay to Glory and Immortality Thus our Saviour Sell that ye have and give Alms Provide your selves bags which Wax not old a treasure in the Heavens that faileth not Luke xij 33. Again Make to your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when ye fail they may receive you i. e. ye may be received into everlasting habitations xvj 9. Give diligence says St. Peter to make your calling and election sure 2 Pet. i. 10,1● This is indeed according to our ordinary Copies but 't is othervvise in some other Copy of the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. i. e. Give diligence that by Good Works ye make your Calling and Election sure It follovvs For so an entrance shall be ministred unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ All this agrees exactly vvith the vvords of my Text Laying in store c. and affords a mighty Motive to doe good He that does good advances tovvard Heaven does that vvhich tends to the lessening his account and making sure his future Happiness He that shevvs Mercy for God's sake shall not fail to receive it vvhen he needs it most and vve shall need it at that Great Day These things vve firmly believe or vve doe not If vve doe not vvhy doe vve profess the belief of them If vve doe vve need no other Motive to doe good For vve take the vvisest course vvhen vve exchange Perishing for Eternal Riches vvhen by Works of Mercy here vve store up a reversion of Mercy at that great and terrible Day vvhen God shall treat every Man according to his Works And vvhen all good Men vvill receive a revvard incomparably beyond vvhat our Eye hath seen our Ear hath heard or hath entred into the Heart of Man to conceive IV. IV. I proceed now to make some Use and Application of what hath been said 1. We may learn from what hath been said the great danger of a plentifull and prosperous Condition St. Paul thought so when he put Timothy upon the Charge here in my Text Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded c. I wish we were duly sensible of this truth If we were we should now and then tremble for fear we should receive all our good things in this life Here 's enough to humble the most prosperous if it be duly laid to heart Here 's nothing in this World generally more unhappy than that Man is who meets with no Affliction or with very little We pity the poor and destitute and we ought to doe it But alas there are young persons to be seen in Coaches and with Trains after them that are acquainted with nothing but the glozing Side of the World that spend their Time in Plays and Pleasures that in the Judgment of a Wife man are greater Objects of Pity and Compassion 'T is a peradventure but these young persons lose their hopes of a future happiness They will be in great danger of forgetting God and themselves We treasure up Wealth for our Children we design to make them great Fortunes as we call it But alas vain Men that we are we know not what we doe We rake together what perhaps will be but the nourishment of their Pride the fuel of their Lusts and a snare to their immortal Souls God give us a due sense of this danger of prosperity This would mightily dispose us to doe good And for that reason sure St. Paul makes it the first part of the Charge That they who are rich in this World should not be high-minded c. 2. We may also learn from what hath been said the true use of Riches They are not things desirable upon their own account So far from it that the Wise man deprecates them as well as Poverty And indeed Poverty seems the less Evil of the Two to him that considers things with due Application But I will not enter into that Enquiry now 'T is certain that the Good of Riches lies in this That they give us an opportunity of doing good in the World 3. Give me leave then to press upon you the Duty that lies before you in the words of my Text To doe good to be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to communicate If you would have it in other words you may take it in our Saviour's Be mercifull as your Father which is in heaven is mercifull Imitate God and your Blessed Saviour shew whose Creatures and whose Disciples you are And if the Mercies of God and the Example of Jesus be not powerfull enough yet your own Interest methinks should not fail to move you Be kind to your selves and to your Posterity Lessen your accounts and lay up a store of Mercy against you need it Do not leave an unseasoned and unblessed Estate to your Children Correct it and make it wholsome that it prove not their Bane Let it have none of the Cries of the Poor mingled with it Adorn your Holy Religion and let all Men see the mighty Sense you have of the Mercies of God and of the Love of Jesus Doe good while you can Your opportunities will not always remain The time may come that you may not be able to doe it Serve your Generation with your Power and Wealth encourage Piety and Diligence promote with all your Might the good of Souls and the benefit of the Publick This will gain you a Name better than that of Sons and Daughters 'T will bring you Peace upon your dying Beds and if you continue and abound you will at last enter into Joy unspeakable and full of Glory Which that we may all doe God of his infinite Mercy grant for Jesus Christ's sake FINIS