Selected quad for the lemma: world_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
world_n	pure_a	religion_n	undefiled_a	1,985	5	11.7434	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45205	Dorcas revived the second time: or a sermon preached at the funerals of Mrs. Anne Mickle-thwait the one and twentieth of March 1658.	Hunter, Josiah, minister in York.	1656 (1656)	Wing H3765B; ESTC R224179	44,466	48

of a very large extent yet it hath pleased the Holy-Ghost to reduce them under three heads 2 Tit. 12. Sobriety towards our selves Honesty towards our neighbour and Godliness towards God So that when it is said Dorcas was full of good works the meaning is this She was very Sober Honest and Godly in respect of her disposition and full of Acts of sobriety honesty and godlinesse in her conversation Only take notice of this before I come to the Doctrine Though Dorcas be here commended for her good works yet the Scripture speaketh sometimes of good works by way of Diminution and debasing of them which in what respect it is done is very necessary for us to observe Take notice therefore when good works are compared with the righteousness of Christ in relation to justification then they are rejected as unable for any such use and called menstruous rags 64 Is 6. dross and dung 3 Phil. 8. when the best works we do are considered in the Court of Justification there they are damnable and have so much dross in them that God doth reject them as wholy insufficient but look on them as fruits of Faith done out of obedience to Gods command and with respect to his Glory and so the Scripture doth highly commend them Thus then the Scripture commends good works against the Antinomian who holds them unnecessary but condemns good works yea the best works against the Papist who holds them to be meritorious whereas when we have done all Nisi Deus per misericordiam pareret non haberet quos per justitiam coronaret in Ps 100. we must say that we are unprofitable and acknowledge with Augustine that unless God did spare in mercy he should find none whom he might Crown in justice surely he that relyes upon his works doth like a man that on a moon-shinie night mistakes his own shadow for a bridge and so falls into the River and is drowned Now let the observation be this All that make profession of the Gospel should accompany their profession with fruitfullness in good works So Paul gave in charge to Titus These things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have beleeved in God be carefull to maintain good works 3 Tit. 8. two greek words are observable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it be their care and study the bent of their minds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to maintain or rather to be examples and presidents going before others in good works these are the richest and most usuall styles of commendation in Scripture Moses a man mighty in words and deeds Cornelius 7 Act. 22. 10 Act 2. 7 Luk 4.5 9 Act. 39. 16 Rom. 23. 2 Tim. 1.16 a man fearing God and giving much Alms. The Centurion worthy of favour for He hath built us a Synagogue Dorcas made so many Coats for the poor Gaius the Host of the Church Onesiphorus hath Paul his earnest Prayers for mercy because he often refreshed him and as one observes wittily the Scripture speaks but little of the learning of the Apostles but much of their Acts. The reasons why Professours of the Gospel should be full of good works are these 1 because true Christian Religion doth not consist meerly in Negatives It is not sufficient to abstain from evil except we do good cease to do evil learn to do well 1 Isa 27. That Tree which bears not good Fruit 13 Luk. 7. is a Cumberer of the ground and shall be cut down for the Fire as well as that which boars ill fruit and poysons the ground We must not only put off Wrath Malice Blasphemy 3 Colos 8. c. filthy Communication and Lying but put on also bowels of Mercie Kindnesse Humblenesse of mind Meeknesse Long-suffering and above all Charity which is the bond of Perfection 18 Luk 11. Thou sayst that thou art no Extortioner unjust or Adulterer but this is not sufficient thou tellest of the evil works which thou dost not but where are the good works thou dost though he be usually accounted a good man that doth no evil yet he is rather an evil man saith Chrysostome that doth no good And we read that at the day of Judgement men shall be condemned not only for the evil that they have done 25 Matth. but for the good that they have left undone Many there are that seem to be Religious when they deceive their own hearts For pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this to visit the Father-lesse and the Widow and to keep our selves unspotted from the world 1 Jam. 27. Hereby we give testimony of the truth of our Profession when we are fruitfull in good works For he that professeth himself to be a Christian and is barren in good works is like a painted Tree that stands only for shew like Zeuxes Vine painted so lively that the Birds came to pick at it thinking to have filled their bellies but went away hungry as they came or like the Fig-tree in the Gospel of which Christ thought to have eaten 21 Mat. 18 19. Ruffin Eccles Hist. lib. 2. c. 10. but when he came near it had nothing but leaves as one Moses renowned for piety said to Lucius reputed an Arrian Bishop tendring the confession of his Faith to clear himself Tush saith he what tellest thou me of the Faith of the Ears let me have the Faith of the Hands So thou tellest me that thou art a constant hearer of the word thou art able to discourse out of it but Oh man what tellest thou me of the Faith of the Ears or the Faith of the Tongue let me see the Faith of the Hands Few I confesse troubled with the deaf and dumb Spirits in these times Ubi bona opera non apparent ad extra ibi fides non est ad intra Mr. Burgesse but most having withered Hands It was a saying of Iohn Husse that where good works are not without there Faith is not within and so some learned men say that good works are necessary to preserve a man in the State of Justification though they do not immediately concurr to the Act as in a man although his Shoulders and Breast do not immediately concurr to the Act of Seeing yet if a mans Eyes and Head were not knit to those parts he could not see and though the Fire do not burn as it is light yet it could not burn unlesse it were so The chief scope of St. Iames his Epistle is to urge hearers to be doers and vain boasters of justifiing Faith to justifie their Faith by their works 2. God is gloryfied by good works therefore saith our Master 5 Mat. 16. Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and gloryfie your Father which is in Heaven The men 31 Job 20. 29 Job 15. 1 Jam. 25. for whom our Heavenly Father is Gloryfied are such whose works shine before men who warm the Loins of the Poor and