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
A45354	A defence of revealed religion in six sermons upon Rom. I, 16 : wherein it is clearly and plainly shown that no man can possibly have any real ground or reason to be ashamed of Christianity / by Henry Hallywell.	Hallywell, Henry, d. 1703?	1694 (1694)	Wing H459; ESTC R26653	55,183	216

a Happiness By what means then comes it to pass that the World is no fuller of true and sincere Christians Answ It is true indeed and must be confess'd with all sadness of Heart that notwithstanding our Duty is so clear and manifest and that the Summ of Religion like the Prophet's Vision Hab. 2.2 is written in such legible Characters that he that runs may read it yet it hath not had that due effect upon the Hearts and Lives of Men as it ought to have And although the unsuccessfulness of Religion may be resolved into many and different Causes yet I shall only instance in some which are most obvious and frequent As 1. Because Men place their Religion in Opinions and Sects in Words and Notions more than in the everlasting Rules of Righteousness Charity Goodness and Truth It cannot but be matter of Sorrow to every sober and serious Christian to see the Catholick Church rent into so many Pieces and Divisions one crying as of old I am of Paul and another I am of Apollos and a third of Cephas as if a Christian were not Baptized into Christ Jesus but into some particular Person whose Dictates and Perswasions he most of all affected to follow Every one almost locking up the Gates of Heaven with the Key of his own private Opinion and excluding all them that cannot compromise with his Judgment and Perswasion And thus they build up again that Partition-Wall between Jew and Gentile which at the Death of Christ was rent asunder to intimate to us That in the Christian Religion as the Apostle shows Col. 3.11 there should be neither Greek nor Jew Circumcision nor Uncircumcision Barbarian Scythian Bond nor Free but Christ should be all and in all That is there should be no more distinction of Parties but all should be of the same Mind professing the same Christian Faith and owning the same common Saviour and should be so united and incorporated together as to become as it were one Mystical Christ Religion lies not in the Brain neither is it this or that Opinion that will bring a Man to the Haven of his desired Happiness without the constant Practice of all Christian Vertues and the indispensible Duties of the Gospel of Christ Great Knowledge without the inward Life and Power of Religion is but like the fruitless Fig-Tree that sent forth nothing but broad Leaves and renders a Man so much the more miserable by how much the more he knew his Masters Will and did it not Happy were it for the World if every Mans Knowledge would blossom into Practice and bring forth Fruits answerable to that Holy and Pure Religion he lives under There is no knowledge in Christianity that will do a Man any good unless it be in order to Practice and he only is truly Wise who makes this use of his Knowledge that he may become the better Christian Though I speak with the Tongue of Men and Angels and have not Charity says St. Paul 1 Cor. 13.1 I am become but as sounding Brass or a tinkling Cymbal And if a Man had all the Wisdom of the World epitomiz'd and contain'd within his own Breast yet if he made use of this for Ostentation or to gain a Party and not for the purifying his Heart and enlarging the Kingdom of GOD in his Soul his Religion would be but an empty noise and he would find this building which he has raised upon the Sands too weak to hold out against the Storms of Troubles and Afflictions The Wisdom which is from above as St. James informs us Chap. 3.17 is first Pure then Peaceable gentle and easie to be Intreated full of Mercy and good Fruits without Partiality and without Hypocrisie And again Chap. 1.27 Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this to visit the Fatherless and Widows in their Affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the World Now when Men shall neglect these plain and indispensible Duties of Christianity and take up with some self-chosen Opinions that contribute nothing to the true honouring of GOD or the edifying of our Fellow Christians it is no wonder that Religion does not gain ground and thrive in the World 2. Another Reason why Religion prevails so little upon Mens Hearts is because they live too much upon Sence We are more affected with the present Objects of our Senses than with the things that are invisible and at a distance from us and are only Objects of our Faith Whereas Christianity when firmly seated in us and the Power of it displayed upon our Souls would teach us to Walk by Faith and not by Sight 2 Cor. 5.7 And Accordingly if we did make the infinite Rewards of Immortality but present to our Minds and did as firmly believe them as we do what we see and hear and handle it is impossible but that we should be equally affected with them and they would have as strong a Faith upon us The sure Promise of Immortal Glory would as strongly move and put us upon Action as any worldly and sensible Good if the Belief were equal And if we acted agreeably to the Constitution of our own Natures the Reasons and Arguments suggested to us by our Rational Faculties ought as forcibly and powerfully to perswade us as those which are urged upon us by our Senses But while we speak doubtfully and believe waveringly and uncertainly the Felicities and Joys of the other World make little or no Impression upon us And this doubtless is one great Reason that Religion has so little effect upon our Minds Suppose we saw our Lord and Saviour coming in the Clouds attended with Thousands of mighty Angels to judge the World which with the Glory and Brightness of their Heavenly Bodies should cause a Light surpassing that of the Sun How strangely would such a sight as this affect us Surely it is nothing but our Earthliness and the dwelling of our Minds so much upon Sense that we are so little affected with the thoughts of it now since that which will certainly come to pass ought to be looked upon as just now present 3. Lastly to the foregoing Particulars we may add as one no mean Cause why the Gospel prevails so little upon Men viz. the want of that which the Apostle St. Jude speaks of ver 20. The building up one another in our most Holy Faith As GOD renews and regenerates our Natures by his Holy Spirit so it is the Duty of all Christians to be workers together with him and to edifie and strengthen one another and help to carry on to perfection that work which GOD has begun in their Souls In Rom. 15.2 3. the Apostle charges this Duty upon every Christian Let every one of you please his Neighbour for his good to Edification i. e. Let every Man subject his own ends and desires to the spiritual Good of other Men viz. to the confirming and building them up in the Christian Faith And to bind this Exhortation yet