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	tree_n	12,463	5	9.4505	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A12160	Corona charitatis, = The crovvne of charitie a sermon preacht in Mercers Chappell, May 10. 1625. at the solemne funerals of his euer-renowmed friend, of precious memory, the mirroir of charitie, Mr. Richard Fishburne, merchant, and now consecrated as an anniuersary to his fame; by Nat: Shute, rector of the parish of Saint Mildred in the Poultry, London.	Shute, Nathaniel, d. 1638.	1626 (1626)	STC 22466; ESTC S117282	35,817	55

if I touch it 2. Reg. 4.39 I will not gather my lap full or if I gather it I will not shread it into the pot of the Sonnes of the Prophets I wish from the center of my heart that the Church of England may not haue a wrinkle in her garment not the least contention for there is a feare beates vpon my heart that when we haue stretched all the sinewes we haue in these difficulties we shall make but a Flemmish reckoning of them L. 8. c. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Sozomen saith that alwayes in the dissention of the Church the Common-wealth was also troubled Therefore for my part in my poore way I shall bee readie to offer still to Gods people the staffe of bread I meane the weightier things of the Law and to keepe their braines from burning with such subtill lightning as this is My good deeds Now in this phrase wipe not out my good deeds there doth further rise vp before our consideration what deeds these are Neh. 13.10.12 First he speakes of one in particular Remember me concerning this which was the sustentation of the Leuits by the tithes of Corne Wine and Oyle a worke of that grace and fauour with God that Nehemiah dares begge a reward for it alone in particular Cum decimas dando terrena coelestia possis munera promereri quare per auaritiam duplici benedictione te fraudas Aug. de temp ser 215. Remember me concerning this Seeing by giuing of Tithes thou maist obtaine both earthly and heauenly rewards why doest thou by couetousnesse defraude thy selfe of a double blessing saith Saint Augustine But because this particular is drowned in the generall clause of his mercy To the offices of the house of God I only thus farre salute it and next inuite you to his good workes in generall And first I bespeake your attention to the name of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 70. miserationes meas Vulgata misericordias meas Pagnin pietates meas Munster in loc The word in the Hebrew signifies as much as my mercies and so doth the Greeke and Latine render it with others because he did it with a free heart as Caietan saith and not for humane fauour but for Gods glory as Lyra hath it Euery mercie is a good worke but euery good worke is not a worke of mercy Two things make a good worke a worke of mercie The first is in subiecto or him that worketh when hee doth it freely without respect of glorie or carnall profit to himselfe or others and this is properly Grace Gratia The seccond in the obiect or the matter vpon which we transfer our Charity whether it be on men or things belonging to God or men Misericordia when they are in the iawes of Necessitie and this is called Mercy Both which conditions were in Nehemiah's workes for he did them freely sine rimula Ostentationis without tha least chinke of Ostentation and he did them mercifully in case of necessitie therefore his workes are not euery sort of workes but workes dyed in a deeper graine they are mercies but I cannot stand to view euery seuerall roome in my Text Time is my Master I must subiect my selfe to him And so I giue out from the name of these deeds in the Originall and come vpon the second thing which is their Attribute They are Good deeds The workes of good men are good indeed first Gal. 5.22 Nihil à Deo non bonum quia diuinum Tertull. de fuga in persecut cap. 4. in regard of their efficient God who not only commands them but produceth them The fruit of the Spirit is Loue Ioy Peace Now God neither commands nor produceth any thing that is faulty Nothing from God but it is good because it is from God saith Tertullian Secondly they are good in regard of the obiect and matter Iac. 2.19 Thou beleeuest that there is one God thou doest well Thirdly in regard of the forme whence they proceed Mat. 7.18 2. Sam. 18.27 from a good heart purified by true faith A good tree cannot bring forth euill fruit as Dauid said of Ahimaaz He is a good man and commeth with good tidings so a good man hath good workes Fourthly in regard of the end because by them men intend Gods glory their brethrens good Mat. 6.22 and their own saluation If thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light Euen as a good eye is the glory of the face so a good intention is the glory of the action Ipsa iustitia nostra vera est propter veri boni finē ad quem refertur Aug. de Ciu. Dei l. 19 cap. 27. Bell. de iustific l. 4. cap. 10. Stapl. de iustif l. 6. c. 7. alii Our righteousnesse saith Saint Augustine is a true righteousnesse because of that end of true goodnesse to which it is referred Our Aduersaries then of the Chruch of Rome shew but the Canker in their mouthes and pens to say and write that wee hold good workes to bee sinnes nay mortall sinnes For that we say may be put vp into these three conclusions First that Good workes done according to the conditions forenamed are in the truth and substance of their nature and of themselues good yet by accident they are though not sinnes yet mingled with sinne in that they passe through this channell of our corruption these graues of our concupiscence euen as water of it selfe cleere contracts corruption by running thorow a foule pipe Secondly They are truly good but they are not perfectly absolutely or meritoriously good whereby a man may fulfill the law or deserue heauen as our aduersaries would blazon it for for meritorious workes in the stiffe sense of condignitie it was neuer embraced of old Pueri meritorij Cic. in Philip. 2. nor yet can be except it bee in one sense that wee call workes meritorious as boyes or harlots are called meritorious which deserue rather shame or death than a reward Thirdly yet doth not this accidentall mingling of our workes with sinne nor want of this absolute perfection take away the kind or essence of our good workes For the first Though that Concupiscence which blisters our good workes bee by the law morall and in it owne nature yet vnder Christ a mortall sinne for Christ destroyed no part of the morall law quoad obligationem obedientiae reatus in regard of the obligation of obedience and guilt yet quoad obligationem poenae in regard of the obligation of punishment That which is mortall in it owne nature is now not mortall by effect through Christs death Rom. 8.1 There is now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Iesus Gal. 3.13 who walke not after the flesh but after the Spirit And Christ hath redeemed vs from the Curse of the law being made a curse for vs a part of which curse was Gal. 3.10 D. Iohn

White Way to the true Church Digress 37. Docet hoc tantùm ad quam perfectionem contendendum sit sed non obligat Staplet de Iustif l. 6. c. 1. Soto de iustit l. 2. q. 5. a. 4. co 2 that the law bound vs to beare the punishment of euery inconformitie to her in thought word and deed Cursed is euery one that continueth not in all things which are written in the booke of the law to doe them but now sinnes of ignorance infirmitie and inconsideration are not through Gods mercie in Christ imputed to Gods children and so doe not extinguish the workes of our true righteousnesse neither make the workes loose the name of good workes nor put the doers into a state of damnation as a reuerend Diuine of late hath it For though it is true that wee are bound still to a generall perfection of obedience whatsoeuer our Aduersaries blab to the contrarie who still gather where it is not strawne Mat. 22.37 Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soule and withall thy mind and that hee that is bound must needs incurre a guilt by breaking his bond yet doth not that guilt in smaller things now through the death of Christ and Gods mercie apprehended by faith put him into a state of damnation because one man at the selfesame time cannot bee in a state of saluation in regard of his faith and workes that please God and in a state of damnation in regard of his necessarie imperfections Water mingled with Wine doth not tollere substantiam vini but diluere doth not take away the substance of wine but weaken it so our smaller sinnes take not away the nature of good deeds but doe weaken them and make them lesse perfect Malum per accidens non destruit bonum per se Black sprinkled vpon white doth not take away the whole colour of white but onely darkens it so our good workes are not rooted vp by our infirmities but onely defaced and obscured The law is like Sampson Iud. 16 20. with his haire cut off it goes out to shake it selfe as before but it hath in this case no strength to rise against vs. Secondly Gradus non mutat speciem Neither doth the want of the degrees of absolute perfection take away the kinde or substance of good workes no more than the want of a finger the being of a man or the want of a fringe the substance of a garment The imperfection of the worker is to bee distinguisht from the substance of the worke A man that is in cutting downe a tree with an ill axe cuts it downe in the end though not so neatly and a good man is still destroying the body of sinne by obedience though it bee with some hacking and imperfection but I will put out this lampe and conclude Good workes are not sinnes formally and properly taken much lesse mortall but of themselues and in their nature good onely by accident mingled with euill as appeares euen by this one thing Heb. 13.16 that they please God To doe good and to communicate forget not for with such sacrifices God is well pleased Now it is a thing against the graine if not blasphemous to say that a worke which is properly a sinne should though by the indulgence of God be pleasing vnto God But to turne mine hand from our aduersaries to our selues If our good deeds be good indeed I cannot but deepely censure them that vnder pretence of aduancing faith doe deuance good workes and because good workes are mingled with euill therefore to make them cheape and contemne them as if a man should perswade a beaten trauailer to seeke an vnknowne way and to leaue the high way because there is a little dust in it What is this but to doe with Religion as Iosephs brethren did with him Gene. 37.23.28 strip her of her parti-coloured coat her robe of righteousnesse and sell her away to the Midianites Let vs banish this spirituall idlenesse Though wee receiue grace freely and without labour at the first yet wee cannot preserue it without labour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil Nicaen 1. part 2. cap. 31. A. Gell. l. 5. c. 6. say the blessed Fathers of the first Nicaene Councell Thy labours proceeding from a sincere faith and to a sincere end are not onely good in themselues in the truth of their nature but notwithstanding their smaller cracks and imperfections God will entertaine them as perfectly done yea crowne them in the end euen as the Romans when they gaue the Obsidoniall Crowne to one that had deliuered a Citie from the siege of the Enemie made him a Crowne of that grasse and those flowers where the Citie was besieged so will God giue vs a reward of those workes which wee haue done well for the glorie of his name and the good of our brethren Though perchance our gold want some few graines Which I haue done for the house of God But all this while my Sunne hath shone through a cloud in generall let vs now fasten our thoughts vpon the good deeds of Nehemiah in particular These are of two sorts or haue a double obiect First those good deeds which he did for the house of God Secondly those which he did for the offices thereof First for the house of God The Temple of Hierusalem was called the house of God First in a wider or larger sense ab efficiente 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as wee say because God commanded it to be built Thy sonne whom I will set vpon thy throne 1. Reg. 5.5 in thy roome hee shall build an house vnto my Name Secondly more pressely and in a closer sense in regard of the end or vse of this house and that was double First in respect of God who dwelt in this house and had possession of it that is testified his presence more cleerely there then else-where both in the Arke of the Couenant and the Cloud The Lord hath chosen Sion 1. Reg. 8.6.11 Psal 132.13 hee hath desired it for his habitation Secondly in regard of his Seruice Sacrifices and Prayers and other holy exercises being performed there by Gods people therefore it was called the place where his Name should be 1. Reg. 8.29 I might here bury a great part of my time about the distinction and dignitie of the house of God aboue other places not cōsecrated or made ouer to Gods seruice but I must draw in my sailes So I trauell on from the terme of the house of God to place mine eyes vpon the liberalitie of Nehemiah to this house Vpon this house besides his flaming zeale in repayring it and the wall about it he gaue with a full hand to the enriching of it a thousand drammes of gold Nehem. 7.70 fiftie Basons fiue hundred and thirtie Priests garments a rich example for euery able man to put vp vnto his consideration it being a holy good

whether good or euill Now there are three things of a good man written by God first his feare of God A book of remembrance was written before him for them that feare the Lord. Mal. 3.16 Concerning whom lend mee but your eyes a little further and see what God saith in the next verse And they shall bee mine Verse 17. saith the Lord of Hosts in that day when I make vp my Iewels These bee Gods prime seruants his Iewels the signets of his right hand whom hee did not write in a booke with the rest of his Saints but made a booke as it were a part for them and such a booke wherein they should bee diligently remembred as the word imports Secondly hee writes our teares Put thou my teares into thy bottle Sepher Siccaron are they not in thy booke God hath both a bottle and a booke for our teares A bottle to put our teares themselues in Ps 56.8 and a booke to write downe the Number and the bitternesse of these teares Thirdly hee writes downe our good deeds as in this place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 70. nay the word in the Greeke signifies as much as if they were not onely written but painted yea and that in oyle for perpetuitie O the infinite mercie of God what tongue so rich that is able to embellish it Hee doth not onely write our names in the booke of life Luke 10.20 nay write and engraue our remembrance in manibus suis Esay 49.16 in the palmes of his hands with great Characters euen the nayles of his Crosse his bloud being his inke his paper his owne flesh yea our very members are written by him Psal 139.16 but writes our workes and that so tenderly and fauourably Iob 13.26 that though our deserts might sway his hand to write bitter things against vs yet he writes for vs. Mens Chronicles the truer they are the freer they are in taxing errors 2. Reg. 21.17 as an ingenuous Painter takes out the moles as well as the fairer lineaments The rest of the acts of Manasseh and his sinne that hee sinned are they not written in the Booke of the Chronicles of the Kings of Iudah but the vaines of Gods mercy are so large and full that as he suffers his mercy to triumph ouer his iustice in rewarding Iac. 2.13 so he suffers the same mercy to triumph ouer his truth in writing and writes not our sinnes but only our good deeds Gods Booke is not like a Merchants Booke of Creditor and Debitor wherein a man writes both what is owing him and what hee owes himselfe for God in his mercy wips out that wee owe him and writes that only which he owes vs by promise much like the cloudes that receiue ill vapours from vs yet returne them to vs againe in sweet raines that mans braine is yet darke that doth not duly consider this for a great mercy Againe if God write vp our good deeds this is as a full winde in our sailes to put vs on euen to load Gods Chronicle with them writing vpon our selues by a reall profession of his seruice as Aaron did Exod. 28.36 Esay 49.4 Holinesse to the Lord. For Surely our Iudgement is with the Lord and our worke with our God What mans heart so dry that is not moued when he heares that our prayers and our almes goes vp for a memoriall before God Acts 10.4 not to be remembred as it were with one sole act of his memory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but as the word carries it to bee a standing monument and remembrance of vs for euer in his presence Shall our good workes bee like Esai's trees Esay 10.19 so few that a child may write them when we haue such a God for whom we worke will not only thinke vpon our workes but write them vp in such royall paper as his owne Booke Let no feare inuade vs as if that paper could sinke and so wee should lose our workes for if men lose not small deeds sometime 2. Sam. 1.18 and Sauls teaching but of the vse of a bow deserued a roome in a Chronicle certainly better deeds shall neuer be blasted but God will write them and seale them vp for all eternitie Secondly as this word wipe not out implyes that our good deeds are written by God so againe it tels vs that though they be written yet they they may be wipt out againe else had it beene in vaine for Nehemiah and a dead request to haue commended such a petition to the eares of God that his workes might not bee wiped out actually had hee not first presumed a possibility of wiping them out For not to touch the skirts of the fierie hill I meane the question of falling or not falling away from iustifying faith or imputed righteousnesse A man may fall away from some part of sanctification by a sinne of prophanenesse for he that so sinnes cannot be holy and vnholy in the same respect As it is granted by all Enormibus peccatis pij reatum mortis incurrūt Synod Dordracena c. 5. artic 5. that good men may fall into grieuous and ennormous sinnes so this instance following shewes that a contrarie act of prophanenesse must needs wipe out some part of sanctification Dauid chast before falls into adultery wee must needs say hee lost that part of his holinesse except we say his adulterie was holy which no man of the leanest vnderstanding will affirme Now how farre not one mortall sinne perchance originally proceeding from infirmitie or precipitancie may quite eate out sanctification and so faith as some say considering probably that an habit of faith is not easily lost but may seeme to stand with some true acts of inward Sanctification some being lost as in another case the foundation may stand when the roofe or a piller of the house is falne but many seuerall acts of foule and wilfull sinning without repentance Iude verse 20. not onely efficienter by acts directly contrary to the habit of faith but demeritoriè by acts cōtrary to the habits of other vertues when a man doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sends away or casts farre from him a good conscience as the word imports how farre I say these sinnes may make or not make na●fragium fidei the shipwracke of faith 1. Tim. 1.19 I will leane vpon the bosome of the Church till it be determined only I desire leaue to adde my poore iudgement which is that if this question and some others were not so rigidly stated the diuision had not grown like Ahabs cloud from the bignesse of a mans hand to a storme But no more of this because my text is properly of wiping out deeds of sanctification Secondly because I can no more contract the whole discourse of this argument within an houre than all the beames of the Sunne within a ring Thirdly because in gathering herbes I am loath to touch the wild Vine or