Selected quad for the lemma: knowledge_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
knowledge_n	grace_n	patience_n	temperance_n	1,937	5	11.6778	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62592	A sermon preached before the King, Febr. 25th, 1675/6 by John Tillotson ...	Tillotson, John, 1630-1694.	1676 (1676)	Wing T1229; ESTC R10103	13,508	40

Spirit of God is only to be known by the real fruits and effects of it If we be led by the Spirit and walk in the Spirit and do not fulfil the lusts of the flesh then the Spirit of Christ dwelleth in us As for the case of melancholy it is not a reasonable case and therefore doth not fall under any certain rules and directions They who are under the power of it are seldom fit to take that counsel which alone is fit to be given them and that is not to believe themselves concerning themselves but to trust the judgment of others rather than their own apprehensions In other cases every man knows himself best but a melancholy man is most in the dark as to himself This cause of trouble and doubting is very much to be pitied but hard to be removed unless by physick or by time or by chance One may happen to say something that may hit the humour of a melancholy man and satisfie him for the present but Reason must needs signify very little to those persons the nature of whose distemper it is to turn every thing that can be said for their comfort into objections against themselves Thirdly But besides those who mistake their condition either by presuming it to be better or fearing it to be worse than it is there are likewise others who upon good grounds are doubtful of their condition and have reason to be afraid of it Those I mean who have some beginnings of goodness which yet are very imperfect They have good resolutions and do many things well but they often fall and are frequently pull'd back by those evil inclinations and habits which are yet in a great measure unsubdued in them These I cannot liken better than to the Borderers between two Countries who live in the marches and confines of two powerful Kingdoms both which have a great influence upon them so that it is hard to say whose Subjects they are and to which Prince they belong Thus it is with many in Religion They have pious inclinations and have made some fair attempts towards goodness they have begun to refrain from sin and to resist the occasions and temptations to it but ever and anon they are mastered by their old lusts and carryed off from their best resolutions and perhaps upon a little consideration they repent and recover themselves again and after a while are again entangled and overcome Now the case of these persons is really doubtful both to themselves and others And the proper direction to be given them in order to their peace and settlement is by all means to encourage them to go on and to fortifie their good resolutions to be more vigilant and watchful over themselves to strive against sin and to resist it with all their might And according to the success of their endeavours in this conflict the evidence of their good condition will every day clear up and become more manifest The more we grow in grace the seldomer we fall into sin the more even and constant our obedience to God is the greater and fuller satisfaction we shall have of our good estate towards God For the path of the just is as the shining light which shines more and more unto the perfect day And the work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever I shall only make two or three Inferences from what hath been discoursed upon this Argument and so conclude 1. From hence we learn the great danger of sins of Omission as well as Comission Whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God The mere neglect of any of the great duties of Religion of piety towards God and of kindness and charity to men though we be free from the commission of great sins is enough to cast us out of the favour of God and to shut us for ever out of his kingdom I was hungry and ye gave me no meat thirsty and ye gave me no drink sick and in prison and ye visited me not therefore depart ye cursed 2. It is evident from what hath been said That nothing can be vainer than for men to live in any course of sin and impiety and yet to pretend to be the Children of God and to hope for eternal life The Children of God will do the works of God and whoever hopes to enjoy him hereafter will endeavour to be like him here Every man that hath this hope in Him purifies himself even as He is pure 3. You see what is the great mark and character of a mans good or bad condition whosoever doth righteousness is of God and whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God Here is a plain and sensible evidence by which every man that will deal honestly with himself may certainly know his own condition and then according as he finds it to be may take comfort in it or make hast out of it And we need not ascend into heaven nor go down into the deep to search out the secret counsels and decrees of God there needs no anxious enquiry whether we be of the number of Gods elect If we daily mortify our lusts and grow in goodness and take care to add to our faith and knowledg temperance and patience and charity and all other Christian graces and virtues we certainly take the best course in the World to make our calling and election sure And without this it is impossible that we should have any comfortable and well grounded assurance of our good condition This one mark of doing righteousness is that into which all other signs and characters which are in Scripture given of a good man are finally resolved And this answers all those various phrases which some men would make to be so many several and distinct marks of a child of God As whether we have the true knowledg of God and Divine illumination for hereby we know that we know him if we keep his commandments Whether we sincerely love God for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments And whether God loves us for the righteous Lord loveth righteousness and his countenance will behold the upright Whether we be regenerate and born of God for whosoever is born of God sinneth not Whether we have the Spirit of God witnessing with our Spirits that we are the children of God for as many as have the Spirit of God are led by the Spirit and by the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the flesh Whether we belong to Christ and have an interest in him or not for they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof In a word Whether the promise of heaven and eternal life belong to us for without holiness no man shall see the Lord but if we have our fruit unto holiness the and will be everlasting life So that you see at last the Scripture brings all to this one mark viz. holiness and obedience to the Laws of God or a vicious and wicked life In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the Devil Whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God Let us then deal impartially with our selves and bring our lives and actions to this tryal and never be at rest till the matter be brought to some issue and we have made a deliberate judgment of our condition whether we be the children of God or not And if upon a full and fair examination our consciences give us this testimony that by the grace of God we have denyed ungodliness and worldly lusts and have lived soberly and righteously and godly in this present world we may take joy and comfort in it for if our heart condemn us not then have we confidence towards God But if upon the search and tryal of our ways our case appear clearly to be otherwise or if we have just cause to doubt of it let us not venture to continue one moment longer in so uncertain and dangerous a condition And if we desire to know the way of Peace the Scripture hath set it plainly before us Wash ye make ye clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord though your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Though our case be very bad yet it is not desperate This is a faithful saying and worthy of all men to be embraced that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners And he is still willing to save us if we be but willing to leave our sins and to serve him in holiness and righteousness the remaining part of our lives We may yet be turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God We who have ventured so long upon the brink of ruine may yet by the infinite mercies of God and by the power of his grace be rescu'd from the base and miserable slavery of the Devil and our lusts into the glorious liberty of the sons of God And thus I have endeavoured with all the plainness I could to represent every man to himself and to let him clearly see what his condition is towards God and how the case of his soul and of his eternal happiness stands And I do verily believe that what I have said in this matter is the truth of God to which we ought all gladly to yield and render up our selves For great is Truth and mighty above all things She is faithful and impartial in her counsels and though she be not always welcome yet 't is always wise to hearken to her for in great kindness and charity she lets men know their condition and the danger of it that they may take care to prevent it With her is no accepting of persons and in her judgment there is no unrighteousness I will conclude all with that excellent advice of a Heathen Philosopher Antonin lib. 10. Make it no longer a matter of dispute what are the marks and signs of a good man but immediately set about it and endeavour to become such an one FINIS

the person that deliberately commits them And they who are guilty in any of these three degrees now mentioned are most certainly not doers of righteousness and consequently it is manifest that they are not the Children of God In the second place I shall enquire who they are that in the Apostles sense may be said to do righteousness In short they who in the general course of their lives do keep the Commandments of God And this implies these two things That the tenour of our lives and actions be agreeable to the Laws of God And that these actions be done with a sincere and upright mind out of regard to God and another World and not for low and temporal ends And I chuse rather to describe a righteous man by the actual conformity of the general course of his actions to the Law of God than as some have done by a sincere Desire or resolution of obedience For a desire may be sincere for the time it lasts and yet vanish before it come to any real effect And how innocently soever it was intended it is certainly a great mistake in Divinity and of very dangerous consequence to the souls of men to affirm that a Desire of grace is grace and consequently by the same reason that a desire of obedience is obedience A sincere desire and resolution to be good is indeed a good beginning and ought by all means to be cherished and encouraged but yet it is far enough from being the thing desired or from being accepted for it in the esteem of God For God never accepts the Desire for the deed but where there is no possibility no opportunity of doing the thing desired but if there be and the thing be not done there is no reason to imagine that the desire in that case should be accepted as if the thing were done For instance If a man give alms according to his ability and would give more if he were able in this case the desire is accepted for the deed And of this case it is and no other that the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 8.12 If there be first a willing mind it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not That is God interprets and accepts the charity of men according to the largeness of their hearts and not according to the straitness of their fortunes But it is a great mistake to draw a general conclusion from this Text that in all cases God accepts the will for the deed For though a man sincerely desire and resolve to reform his life as I doubt not many men often do but do it not when there is time and opportunity for it these desires and resolutions are of no account with God all this righteousness is but as the morning cloud and as the early dew which passeth away Men are not apt to mistake so grosly in other matters No man believes hunger to be meat or thirst to be drink and yet there is no doubt of the truth and sincerity of these natural desires No man thinks that covetousness or a greedy desire to be rich is an estate or that ambition or an insatiable desire of honour is really advancement Just so and no otherwise a desire to be good is righteousness The Apostle's caution a little before the Text may fitly be applied to this purpose Little children let no man deceive you He that doth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous Not but that the best of men do sometimes fall through infirmity and are betrayed by surprise and born down by the violence of temptation but if the general course of our actions be a doing of righteousness the grace of the Gospel in and through the merits of our blessed Saviour doth accept of this imperfect but sincere obedience II. I shall endeavour to shew that by this mark every man may with due care and diligence arrive at the certain knowledg of his spiritual estate and condition By this the children of God are manifest and the children of the Devil Whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God By which the Apostle means that this is a real mark of difference betwixt good and bad men and that whereby they very often manifest themselves to others especially when the course of their lives is eminently pious and virtuous or notoriously impious and wicked But because it doth not so much concern us curiously to enquire into much less severely to censure the state of other men I shall only consider at present how far by this mark and character every man may make a certain judgment of his own good or bad condition 1. By this character as I have explained it he that is a bad man may certainly know himself to be so if he will but consider his condition and do not wilfully deceive and delude himself As for those who are vicious in the general course of their lives or have been guilty of the act of some heinous and notorious sin not yet repented of their case is so plain even to themselves that they can have no manner of doubt concerning it Such men stand continually convicted and condemned by the sentence of their own minds and whenever they reflect upon themselves which they do as seldom as they can they are a terrour to themselves and full of amazement and fearful expectation of judgment And for those who are sinners of a lesser rate and perhaps allow themselves only in one kind of vice they likewise have reason to conclude themselves in a bad condition especially if they consider that he who lives in the breach of any one commandment of God is guilty of all because he contemns that authority which enacted the whole Law And 't is easie for any man to discern the habit of any sin in himself as when he frequently commits it when he takes up no firm resolutions against it when he useth no competent care to avoid the temptations to it nor puts forth any vigorous endeavours to break off from it or however still continues in the practice of it For the customary practice of any known sin is utterly inconsistent with sincere resolutions and endeavours against it there being no greater evidence of the insincerity of resolutions and endeavours in any kind than still to go on to do contrary to them 2. By this character likewise they that are sincerely good may generally be well assured of their good condition and that they are the children of God And there are but two things necessary to evidence this to them That the general course and tenour of their actions be agreeable to the Laws of God and That they be sincere and upright in those actions And both these every man may sufficiently know concerning himself for if the Laws of God be plain and lye open to every mans understanding then is it as easie for every man to know when he obeys God and keeps his commandments as when he obeys the commands