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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
hand_n	heaven_n	place_n	right_a	5,096	5	6.6111	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59652	Moral vertues baptized Christian, or, The necessity of morality among Christians by William Shelton, M.A., late fellow of Jesus Colledge in Cambridge, and now vicar of Bursted Magna in Essex.	Shelton, William, d. 1699.	1667 (1667)	Wing S3099; ESTC R37384	107,365	208

man is a beastly man who lives like a beast and he a manly man who lives and acts like a man accordingly he who is thus God-like doth so far deserve the name of a Godly man The Heathens had the same apprehensions of their Vertues though they fel short of the attainment yet so far as their Philosophy made them vertuous Hi●rocl it did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And is not this a great ennoblement of our souls that we may be raised up to be like God doth not God infinitely excel all his creatures wherefore though we come infinitely short of the divine perfections yet so far as we do attain to any resemblance of him it is our excellency to be like that God who doth so infinitely excel To be transformed into the Image of our Creatour what can be more desirable yea may we not say if we should suppose that which yet cannot possibly come to pass that if it were possible for holiness and happiness to be separated from one another it were a greater perfection and glory to be like God in holiness then in happiness The state of happiness in Heaven we call a glorious state and it is a greater glory then we can now conceive But is not holiness more glorious if unholiness be worse then unhappiness then is holiness better then happiness now so it is for unhappiness is our misery but unholiness is our sin and therefore more to be avoided Where are now the men that dare sit in the Seat of the Scorners to despise and laugh at all manner of Goodness and Vertue is it nothing to be like God should we chuse to be like the Devil in Malice and Revenge and ill will and such like evil dispositions is it a thing to be gloried in is there any will glory that he is going to Hell to keep company with the Devils surely we do not understand our Natures or we cannot but acknowledge it is a great excellency to be like God as we are in the exercise of these Moral Vertues To which might be added as a consideration contiguous to this the life of Christ doth greatly commend Moral Vertue He was Temperate and Meek and Humble he went about doing good and many proofs in the Gospel there are that in all his dealings with all men he behav'd himself as did become him which may help to confirm us in a belief of the excellency of Vertue it is such an imitation of God as the life of Christ was very remarkable for But I adde no more to this first Instance Sect. 3 To live in the exercise of Moral Vertue is a Type of Heaven So do the Angels and Saints live in Heaven though in greater perfection as being altogether in a sinless state Not in every particular so that kind of Justice and Honesty that is of use now in this world and we call Commutative Justice is of no use there There is no need of Buying or Selling or Exchanging for there is no need of Eating and Drinking their bodies after the Resurrection are made glorious and spiritual bodies and ● Cor. 15. therefore for the same reason they will not exercise that Vertue of Temperance as it is here exercised but the carriage and behaviour as there must be some whereby they behave themselves one towards another in that Glorious Quire is always as it ought to be There is Love and Meekness and Humility and such like good Affections there is no Envy nor Pride nor ill Will nor any such Hellish quality their Charity is particularly 1 Cor. 13. said never to fail Indeed there is somewhat else in Heaven that doth augment the glory of the place and their happiness who are taken up thither they are in close Communion with God in whose presence is fullness of joy Psa 16. and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore Yet as it is an accessory to their glory to be in company with one another so is this somewhat not to be despised that their love is made perfect and all the correspondencies of Heaven are sinless and pure Hell shall be shut up in Hell all Devilish qualities shall be banished Heaven and Holiness and Righteousness will be in its Triumphancy in that Church Triumphant Now if this be the utmost perfection of which our natures are capable to be translated into this state how must it needs be an excellent attainment to be in any measure like those glorified spirits There is somewhat in our natures that doth mind us of an imperfection in every state and attainment in this world for it is natural for us to desire a change There are the strivings of the Infant in the womb which discover the inclinations of its nature to be born into the world and to be at liberty Boys would fain be Men and Men notwithstanding that they despise Old Age in others yet would live to be old themselves an Apprentice would be out of his time to set up for himself and a Servant hath a great desire to become a Master There is scarce any thing in the Universe but would be graduate and commence some higher degrees of perfection then it hath yet attained All this would not be if there were not a belief an imagination at least that there is some greater excellency in those states to which we are not yet arrived then for the present we do enjoy wherefore if ever we desire after Heaven while we are upon Earth as we ought always to do this supposes we believe it to be a place of more glorious excellencies then any we have yet seen or tasted now in this world and if it be so then we must go on to argue that in regard it is not so much the place as the the state that makes the happiness the nearer we come in the disposition of our minds and the tenour of our lives to that Heavenly state our lives are so much the more excellent And this being true of a Vertuous and good life that it is some resemblance to and some weaker degrees of the life of Heaven it adds to the Argument that as there is a great necessity of so there is a superlative excellency in Moral Vertue CHAP. II. Sect. 1 ANd now I think these premises are strong enough to bear and inforce the Conclusions I would draw from them which are only these two I infer 1. A just Apology for those who preach up Morality 2. An Expostulatory Plea against those who do not practise it Here is Apology enough for those Preachers of the Gospel who Preach the Moral Law in Gospel times who would put Christians in mind that they are men still and must not forget the duties of man to man It is a Doctrine that we have this only reason to be asham'd of that we who Preach it to others do so little practise it our selves else if we suffer in our good names for this kind of Preaching we suffer for righteousness

make them of equal Authority We acknowledge a power in the Church Artic. 20. to de●ree rites or ceremonies and authority in controversies of Faith they add Infallibility to that Authority We acknowledge a superiority of order and jurisdiction they add the supremacy of their Pope We own two Sacraments they add five more We believe in one Mediator between 1 Tim 2 5 God and man the man Christ Jesus they make many And so in many other cases particularly to our present purpose we acknowledge a necessity of good works they adde that they are meritorious Now because the Papists go so far to ascribe so much to good works therefore some unwary men have adventured in contradiction to them to ascribe too little if they be necessary the Papists make them meritorious on the contrary l●st they should be thought meritorious some have judged them little or not at all necessary The extream opposite to the Papists in this case is the Antinomian whom yet I reserve for another Head afterwards their Doctrine being of so dangerous concernment that it doth deserve a distinct con●ideration now I onely consider them as those who in contradicting the Papists have run themselves into as great a danger on the other side Vtrinque in contrarias partes velus in extremitates Holds● Lect. 19 P. 158. s●induntur adversarii Hinc Pontificii plus aequo ad dextram vergunt dum causam salutis nostrae in legis operibus ponunt illinc Antinomi ad sinistram dum legis usum omnem obligationem explodunt On either hand adversaries run into extreams The Papists erre too much on the right hand by making good works the cause of our salvation The Antinomians on the left by denying that there is any use of or obligation to the law Sect. Thus it appears to have been in the difference between George Major and Nicholas Amsdorfius two German Divines Major defends this Proposition according to Scripture Melch. Adam in vitis corum Bonorum operum studium est necessarium ad salutem The study of good works is necessary to salvation Against this Flacius Illyrious and Amsdorfius cry out amain It is a Popish Doctrine and would introduce merit and therefore they oppose this bold and wicked speech to it Bona opera sunt noxia perniciosa ad salutem Good works are hurtful and pernicious to salvation Which proceeding out of a dislike to the Popish Doctrine of merit had been just if it had gone no farther for it is Usher answ to Jesu challenge p. 498. a doctrine which as a very Learned and Reverend Prelate saith from our very hearts we detest and abhor But see how easie it is for men to contend for victory rather than truth and rather than not oppose an adversary they will condemn him though he be Innocent Many men contend for the truth as men run for the ball when they come at it they step over it or kick out of the way to wrestle with their adversary whereas the truth of the case is we do not merit by good works yet we are obliged to them we do not merit so we acknowledge Good Artic. 12. works which are the fruits of Faith and follow after justification cannot put away our sins and endure the severity of Gods judgement yet we believe them to be necessary for us for it follows in the same place Yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively faith And surely these have been thought by learned men to be very consistent though good works do not merit yet they are necessary else a Reverend Doctor afterwards a Prelate of our Church did little understand himself in his disputation upon this argument where this is one conclusion Bona Davenant de justit actual Cap. 31. Con. 7. opera justificatorum sunt ad salutem necessaria necessitate ordinis non causalitatis vel planius ut via ordinata ad vitam aeternam non ut causae meritoriae vitae aeternae That is in few words Good works are ordained as a necessary means to eternal life but they do not deserve eternal life Sect. 4 This Objection hath hitherto been considered as concerning good works in the general but it doth manifestly relate to the Argument in hand for moral vertues so qualifyed as shall afterwards be said works of Justice and Mercy and Sobriety c. these are exercises of morality and so far as good works are necessary so far will these be found to be the necessity of which is not now to be proved but asserted and vindicated from this Objection which vulgar people that do not know how to distinguish are ready to burden it with when we are industrious to urge upon men the duties of honesty and righteous and just dealings between man and man let it not be suspected that this is done out of a secret design to symbolize with the Papists For may not a man go 10. mile unlesse he go 20. True it is we do go on part of the way with the Papists for the truths sake that is to assert good works and moral vertues necessary and here we ●ix they would draw us on further to a perswasion that they are meritorious that doth not at all follow upon the necessity we ascribe to them there is a necessity upon other accounts as shall be demonstrated in due time And this is enough to be yeilded to this plea whereupon some speak but meanly of moral vertues and there does not yet appear any thing to the contrary but they may be necessary for a Christian CHAP. III. Sect. 1 Object 2 A Sense of the insufficiency of moral vertues to salvation without the addition of faith and repentance hath been another reason why some other men have attributed less to moral vertues than otherwise they would have done if they had been considered out of that competition The merit of good Davanant ●● supra works and the perfection of them are two different things and diversly and apart handled by a fore-cited Author although therefore they be not supposed to merit yet if they be thought so perfect as that faith and repentance may be laid aside no wonder if sometimes they be lightly made of and seemingly disparaged for it is to preserve our due esteem of faith and those spiritual graces which are required in us over and above those Moral Vertues which the Heathens at any time could attain to We do not wonder when we 〈◊〉 Ch Princ. ● 4 3. read Moral Principles to such as rely upon them and seek no further prove Mortal Principles or as another likewise of our own If Moral Vertuousness Bolton's Discourse of True Happiness p. 14. were able to put on the greatest Magnificence and applause that ever it antiently enjoyed among the precisest Romans whereby it might worthily draw into admiration and just challenge even these times of Christianity yet

duties then are we under an obligation to them and they are necessary for us It is therefore evident that Repentance is so far from excusing us in our Immorality that it doth suppose the contrary Vertues necessary for us if they were not we were fools to repent that we have not practised them but in regard they are theirs is the greater folly that make Repentance a Plea to excuse themselves and this were enough to be said in the case but it is not all Sect. 2 For 2. if the Nature of Repentance be understood the necessity of that proves the necessity of good works Repentance in the comprehension of it is an exercise of the life as well as of the heart he that repents must not onely be sorry for his sins but he must turn from them and forsake them Let the wicked forsake Isa 55. his way c. and let him return to the Lord c. and therefore Repentance and amendment of life are put for one and the same thing The old English Translation did so express it Amend your lives for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand And certainly if a man be sincerely sorrowful for his former sins he will take care for the time to come to do so no more there will be a change in his life as well as in his heart So there was in his who would not at first obey his father but afterwards he repented Math. 21. 29. and went He that repents in earnest will say If I have done iniquity I will do no more When sorrow is after a Godly sort it Job 34. 32. makes a man careful studious and industrious What carefulness it wrought in you Now if ● Cor. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this be necessary thus to amend and change then so far as Repentance is necessary instead of being an Argument the other way it doth clearly prove the necessity of a holy life He that repents of Drunkenness and dishonesty must leave it else he is an Hypocrite he that must leave it must practise the contrary It is not possible a man can leave Drunkenness if he be not sober And he that must practise is therefore under an Obligation so that because it is necessary to repent of Immorality and this wicked men acknowledge If they understood the consequence of the Argument they must needs acknowledge also the necessity of Moral Vertues Sect. 3 Much more might be said to convince of the danger of deferring Repentance though it be not for us to determine the grace ●f God if it please God to accept of a man that is just dying before be repent and return to him according as it hath been sometimes said Betwixt the stirrup and the ground Mercy is sought Mercy is found Yet certainly the hazard is great that ●●ey ●● who defer Repentance It is very hazardous whether ever they may live to execute their Intentions They give great provocations to God to cut the● off in their sins and in Impenitency among the rest They lay many hindrances and obstructions in their own way because the longer they live in sin it is the harder for them to leave it at last if they do not make themselves incapable But these things are somewhat more out of my present purpose and they are Arguments that may be more safely omitted because they are more copiously handled in their proper places by those that write particularly about Repentance So much for answer to the second presumption the possibility of Repentance is no Argument against the necessity of Moral Vertues but the necessity of Repentance is a great Argument that they are necessary Sect. 4 But is not Christian Liberty a salve for all Excesses may we not understand that voice to Peter what God hath cleansed that call not thou Acts 10. common of things as well as men and of the Moral as well as the Ceremonial Law are not all things now lawful to us is there any difference between one action and another now under the Gospel are we not free so as not to entangle our selves with any yoke of Bondage so sure they would gladly hope that say God sees no sin in his people But it is a pitiful pretence to think that Christian Liberty should deliver us from a necessity of Obedience If men will make a Gospel of their own and a Religion of their own they must expect to be saved by a Saviour of their own But then wo be to those men that neglect that great salvation H●b 3. which Christ hath purchased and procured and will effect in his own way If we make the Gospel of Christ our rule then nothing is more plain then this that the freedome which Christ hath purchased for us though it be from the Curse of the Law yet it G●l 3. is not from our Obligation to the Law Being Rom. 6. then made free from sin ye became the servants of Righteousness There is more in the same Chapter to the same purpose Indeed the whole Gospel is a proof to the contrary there is no Liberty may be called Christian but what is allowed in the Gospel It is not imaginable that the Gospel should allow us Liberty to transgress those commands which it doth so frequently urge unless we think Christ would be divided against himself which is the way Luk● 11. by his own confession not to have his Kingdome stand Wherefore it is enough to say that the Gospel being the Rule both of our Liberty and Duty though it be true that we have allowances which the Jews had not and that is our Liberty yet we have commands which both Jews and Gentiles had and that is our duty And then it must needs follow that the Liberty which would take us off from good works and Moral Vertues is Anti-Christian and Devilish It is not the Seed of God remaining in men but the Seed of the Serpent that teaches them to wind and turn and roll themselves about any way so as they may but shift out of the paths of Gods Commandments The commands of the Gospel for Moral Vertues are strict and severe neither the pretence of Faith nor of Repentance nor of Christian Liberty is any sanctuary for men of unhallowed lives And this is the proof from Scripture It is Necess●●●● 〈◊〉 necessary for a Christian to live Righteously and Soberly because there are many plain particular peremptory commands whereby God requires these things of us which was the first necessity assigned because God in Scripture hath commanded them CHAP. VI. Sect. 1 TO which Argument in regard it doth depend upon the pleasure and authority of the Law-maker it will be sitting to adde another Consideration which will be a great strength to it and in likelihood may have greater force upon those that are most likely to transgress And this it is As it hath pleased God to command Moral Vertues so he hath added in the same Word many