Selected quad for the lemma: work_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
work_n	faith_n	good_a	show_v	19,332	5	6.3296	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01731	A sermon on the parable of the sower, taken out of the 13. of Mathew. Preached at London by M. G. Gifford, & published at the request of sundrie godly and well disposed persons	Gifford, George, d. 1620.	1582 (1582)	STC 11863; ESTC S118278	14,987	41

doeth robbe them of their glorie and therefore they cannot willynglye abide to heare of it Let vs come now to the third kinde of ground which receyueth the séed among the thorns héere is depth inough of earth so that as the second sort of hearers séemed to go far beyond the first so these séeme to goe farre beyond them and to come nigher to eternall life for héere the word doth grow and hath roote so déepe that it springeth foorth so farre that Christ saith it groweth vp and the thornes grow vp with it the stalk doth shoote foorth the eare and lacketh but riping For this may be proued by Saint Luke who saith that they be not Telesphorountes that is such as beare ripe and timely fruite for these professors doe many good workes and séeme to bring forth the fruites of the Gospell and that in such wise that men cannot alwayes discerne them but thinke their déedes to be notable but Christ Iesus doth shew that their works before God who onely cannot be deceyued are as Corne which lacketh riping which béeing ouershadowed with bushes withereth in the eare and commeth to naught this is a daungerous case if we looke not to it That a man may heare the Gospell preached carrie it away be moued thereby to doe many good workes and yet be damned He is a thousande folde madde therefore which doeth not looke to himselfe in this point to trye what soundnesse there is in the fruits of his faith and how sincerely he doth imbrace Gods word As before I sayde that some would obiect and say this wil destroy the faith so am I sure that héere it will be said much more because this séemeth to take away the surest tryal of faith if a man may not by and by saye I haue good workes therefore I haue the true and lyuely faith I aunswere that whosoeuer hath any good worke in him the same hath the true faith which hath brought foorth that good worke because it is impossible without faith to do any good thing or to haue any good motion or intent but withall I saye that it is one thing to séeme good before men and another thing for to be good indéede before God In outwarde appearaunce there is little difference betwéene the good déeds of them which feare God sincerely and the vntimely fruite of worldlyngs but God whose eye doth not looke vpon the outward shew but the inward affection séeth which procéedeth of faith and which doth procéede of vaine glorie or some other sinister respect putteth as great difference betwéene them as he did betwéen the sacrifices of Cayn Abel We must take héed then that the fruits of our faith be ripe timely otherwise they be good but in shew We must come then to sée first what these thorns are in S. Mathew they are called the cares of this world the deceitfulnes of riches in Saint Luke the cares of riches pleasures of this lyfe And in very deed these thornes doe grow together For were it not for the pleasures of this life there would be no cares of riches he which doth séeke gréedelye for wealth it is eyther because he woulde be able to haue wherewithall to fill the lusts of y● flesh and to pamper his body delicately or els to set forth himselfe in pride to clyme ambitiously to honour For so long as a man doth take pleasure in any of these so long he is couetous raketh together so much that as the common saieng is he raketh vp the Diuell and all What must we doe then Our heartes are as a ground that is ranke bringeth foorth many wéeds we are set a work as God speaketh by his Prophet Ieremy chap. 4. 4. Plow vp your falow sow not among the thorns we must put all diligēce care that our hearts may be rid of such noisome wéeds as will choke the word of God make that it shal not bring forth fruit in vs. So long as we suffer any of these in vs either to loue daintie delycate féeding of our flesh and to fill our selues with the lusts thereof or to be gallant in the eies of men hautely to lift vp our selues in our vainglorious mindes for the maintenance of these delights bend our care to the world so long shall we be vnprofitable scholers in the school of Christ Alas poore men which wold faine come to God yet are glewd to the world they offer one hand to Christ the other to the diuel they can talke of the spirit yet are led by the flesh the gospel is in their mouth couetousnesse lodgeth in their hearts their workes glister are gréene before men and are withered before God they séeme to be faithfull are faithles to be heires of glory yet are the children of cōfusiō Ther are great plētie of these herers specialy in such places wher ther is wealth and honours how many fall away cheked with the world And yet we are not afraid of our selues to take héede that we stand fast A great mercie of God it is that we haue not onely the doctrine layed before vs but also fearfull examples so that we may buy our wit with other mens cost For when we sée the world with delights and pleasures with conetousnesse and ambition to carrie away those which professe the Gospell is not our owne matter in hande are not we made of the same mettall they are doth not the world assault vs as it doth them Yes and we shal be ouercome also if the Lorde haue not mercie vpon vs. The hardnesse of this worke ought not to discorage or make vs slack but hearing what Christ saith whome we ought to beléeue the more harde the more we are to stirre vp our selues vnlesse we make small reckoning of the saluation of our soules He that shall yéeld and giue ouer the digging vp of these thornes because he perceiueth they grow déepe in his heart and spring as fast as he can cut them is not worthy to enter into life be which will not continually till and wéede this grounde may well haue the Gospell in some sorte for to grow in him but not to saue him Déerly beloued we must be surely perswaded of this that as there be many godly men so haue they atteined it with great labour and toile yea they are still set a worke and cannot come to an end because these thornes cannot be vtterlye ro●ted out Those are greatly ouerséene which thinke it to be an easie thing to professe Christ vnto saluation make no further account but to bée Gospellers at ease if they can vanquish in disputatiō to thinke they haue won the field no no they haue a heart which is harde to ouercome they haue thornes which wil not easily be destroied héere lieth the victory and getting of the spurs this man shall be crowned because he hath willingly giuen vp himselfe to the power of Gods grace