Selected quad for the lemma: act_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
act_n	believe_v	faith_n	habit_n	3,078	5	10.3510	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47199	The way to the city of God described, or, A plain declaration how any man may, within the day of visitation given him of God, pass out of the unrighteous into the righteous state as also how he may go forward in the way of holiness and righteousness, and so be fitted for the kingdom of God, and the beholding and enjoying thereof : wherein divers things, which occur to them, that enter into this way with respect to their inward trials, temptations, and difficulties are pointed at, and directions intimated, how to carry themselves therein ... / written by George Keith in the year 1669 ... : whereunto is added the way to discern the convictions, motions, &c of the spirit of God, and divine principle in us, from those of a man's own natural reason, &c.	Keith, George, 1639?-1716.	1678 (1678)	Wing K235; ESTC R33462	109,527	235

of the natural powers of the Soul for the supernatural power to do these things is never subject unto mans command and will but alone unto the will and command of God And thus we find it to be in our experience as did the holy men of Old who spake and preached and prayed and wrote declarations of the Truth as they were moved of the Holy Ghost so their using this power stood in the will of God and not in their own A third Instance is this that this power in them judged by them to be the power of Godliness in its greatest growth and heighth is very compatible and consistant with many evil thoughts desires words and actions yea it can very easily be reconciled unto many sins and hath not so much as an appearance of enmity at such sins as are not contrary unto these acts which have produced it as ye shall find that a man who hath got a strong habit or custom of praying twice or thrice a day if he omit this practice at a time how will he be troubled for it and what is the matter of his trouble his habit strongly inclines him to it and gives him no peace nor rest till it be done and this inclination he may readily judge to be from the Spirit of God whereas it is but from his own habit and so be the more troubled as supposing he resisteth the Spirit by this forbearance but now if he omit the necessary performance of other things he is not accustomed to he will not be troubled at all And thus how many care not to omit the duties of Faithfulness and Righteousness towards their Neighbours who are at a great care to say their Prayers But verily that power in man which inclines him to some things good in themselves and not to all other good things and practices and which is not as a fire a sword and a hammer in him against every evil way and work yea the least evil motion in the mind is not the true power of godliness it may well be a habit as aforesaid Yet by what is said let none suppose that I judg all who have not in such a clear distinct and explicit way been acquainted with these aforesaid steps of inward conversion to the Light continuance therein and passiveness and forbearance above-mentioned in the said continuance as if they were utterly devoid of the power of godliness having nothing but a natural habit in the room of it For as I am fully perswaded that many or most have no other but the natural habit so I verily believe there are some hidden ones hidden many waies who are truly partakers of some measure of the power of godliness which at times stirreth and moveth hiddenly in them and by which they act divers practices of Religion as by a certain secret instinct as it were unknown to themselves but they are such babes poor souls who know not the right hand from the left that is to say cannot distinguish plainly betwixt the true power of godliness and that which is but the natural habit and so act sometimes from the one and sometimes from the other yea more from the habit then from the true power ten or an hundred to one perhaps and many times that which they are aptest to judg to be the true power is but the natural habit for the habit is great and strong in them perhaps but the true power is a weak and tender thing even as a smoaking flax and bruised reed to which the habit is an enemy always in its actings and the devil seats himself in the habit and fights against the true power in the Soul by the acts of the habit he concurring therewith And truly ere the true power can become strong in the Soul so as to have the dominion the habit or habitual power must be broken down for it is but an image of the beast And glory to the Lord for ever who is giving to a remnant the victory over this Image and raising up the power of his own Holy Life over it to its brusing and destroying Now albeit such souls have not as to a distinct reflection and knowledg of the way of their attaining unto these small beginnings of the true power of holiness passed through these steps of inward recollection conversion passiveness and forbearance yet after some secret and hidden manner unknown to themselves in some measure they have no doubt flid through them the darkness so far prevailing that they could not observe their way but surely where one hath got through this way a thousand have missed stuck at the entrance and never got truly into it Therefore I may warrantably say the want of the plain and clear understanding of these steps hath made the way unto Holiness if not altogether impossible yet very difficult and much more then it is in deed and in truth CHAP. VI. Wherein divers things needful to be known by them who do or would enter into the way of Holiness in relation to the nature of Conversion Regeneration of the Life and Powers of Holiness and of Vnion with God are opened and the gross mistakes of most Professors touching these things discovered and cleared GReat and woful have been the mistakes and misconceptions of the Professors whether of one sort or another touching these tings which have occasioned great hurts and impediments both unto their entrance into Holiness and progress therein the clearing of which would be of great use and profit Therefore I find it with me to declear somewhat touching them according to the understanding given me of God not that any thing said by me can suffice simply to the clearing of any it being the Spirit of the Lord who only can do that yet the declaration hereof may be an occasion as the Lord shall bless it for them to weigh and consider these things in the true Light whereby they may come truly to judg of them I. As touching Conversion and Regeneration It is supposed simply to consist in the Lord 's infusing certain supernatural habits of Grace into the Soul which sometimes they express under this term the Seed of Grace or the Seed of God so that that they judge that instantly at the infusing of this Seed the Soul is converted and that all these Souls into whom this Seed is infused are instantly converted and regenerated which is a gross errour II. They suppose that Conversion and Regeneration is wholly done in an instant and that at the very first instant the Seed spreads it self or is spread and diffused through every power of the Soul wholly which is another great error III. They suppose that God works so irresistibly in all men in whom this Seed is sown or infused that it is impossible for them to resist but converted or regenerated they must be which is a third For though the Lord can so work or may do so in some yet it is certain he doth not so in all but in

but the more abundant fruit it bringeth forth this Month or year the yet more abundantly it bring forth the next Yea its life is so much in working and bringing forth fruit that if it be hindered in its movings and workings it dyeth even as the fire goeth out if it be stopt from burning and the water dyeth if it be kept from running Besides The Lord is so well pleased in the Soul that is diligent in good works through his own holy Life and Spirit that he doth reward it with a further measure and taketh delight to water the Soul that is fruitful therein the more abundantly with his heavenly vertue and Spirit even as the Husband-man doth his garden which yieldeth him good fruit But the Vine-yard which bringeth not forth Good Grapes but the Sowr and Bitter Grapes of evil works see what he doth to it Isa. 5. I will lay it wast saith the Lord it shall not be pruned nor digged c. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it But it may be said Is not faith a work and is not believing working And yet thou grants that the Soul comes to attain unto the first beginning or beginnings of a holy and spiritual life through faith and believing Unto this I answer that there is a twofold property of Faith 1. Receptive or receiving 2. Operative or working Now the Soul doth not attain unto the beginning of a holy Life through the property of faith which is opperative but through that which is receptive And least any should think this distinction too nice or subtile I shall prove it from the express words of Scripture 1. That faith is operative is clear from that Scripture where it is said Faith worketh by Love and where it is said to purifie the Heart and do a great many good things in many other places 2. That it is receptive I shall go no further then Ioh. 1.12 For proof To as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God And that this receiving Christ is a believing in him is plain from the words immediately following even said he to them that believe in his Name So here is the receptive faith for receptive is as much as to say in English receiving Nor are there many examples wanting in natural things to shew that a thing may have the receptive power when as yet it hath not the operative yea that the receptive maketh way for the operative as to instance in some 1. The needle of the compass must first receive its vertue from the load stone being touched with it before it can direct it self towards the pole 2. The branch that is cut-off from its own natural stock and grafted into another it first receiveth life and vertue from the stock into which it is grafted and drinketh it in before it proceed to send forth either leaves or flourish or fruit 3. The womb first receiveth seed before the powers of nature in it proceed in their operation for its conception and formation 4. The Stomach first receiveth the meat into it before by the powers of nature therein it digest and turn it into the nourishment of the body And indeed this last example doth with great clearness hold forth the thing in hand For suppose now a man through hunger were even faint and as it were dead so that he were able to do nothing yet receiving a little food the vertue of it doth suddenly revive him and gives him natural strength whereby he may do and work as formerly And thus the Soul receiving and drinking in that divine vertue of life that is in the divine Seed is thereby quickened and strengthened to do the things that pertain unto an holy Life in some measure All which examples and many more which could be adduced prove that a thing may have a receptive power and not the operative yea that the receptive maketh way for the operative And to this purpose these words of Christ are observable He that believes in me saith he though he were dead yet shall he live which imports that a Soul though it be dead may believe that is to say receive the Seed and principle of Life into it for this Divine Principle is of an insinuating and penetrating nature it doth make way for its own reception in the heart insinuating and as it were winding it self thereinto as the Fire doth into Wood or any combustible matter But now when this Principle doth labour to work it self into the Soul and its powers the Soul may resist and doth so many times whereby it remaineth dead though otherwise it might have lived by giving way unto or receiving this Divine Principle and Seed And thus that subtle objection may be answered which is thus Believing or Faith is an act of Spiritual Life indwelling in the Soul and can only proceed from the Soul that liveth a Spiritual Life For as a dead Body cannot walk or move so nor can a dead Soul believe From this it is inferred That the Soul must first live before it can believe or have Faith and consequently that none others can have Faith but they who are already partakers of a Spiritual Life which is contrary to what ye say that it is possible for all men to believe while yet ye grant all men are not spiritually alive But this is answered by the former distinction of the twofold property of Faith Therefore unto that proposition on which the whole strength of the objection lieth viz. that Faith is an act of Spiritual Life indwelling in the Soul I thus answer That the Operative Faith or Believing is an act of Spiritual Life indwelling I grant but as for the receptive property of Faith through it the Soul is made a partaker of the Spiritual Life by which it comes to indwell in the Soul and therefore the Soul cannot be conceived to live Spiritually before the receptive Faith This receptive Faith is the same with the Soul 's converting or turning or being converted or turned inwardly by the Lord unto the Divine Seed and Principle in it and to the Divine Presence of God and Christ Jesus therein whereof I have said somewhat chap. 4. And whether the Soul be supposed only to be passive in this receptive Faith or partly passive and partly active the matter is not much provided it be acknowledged that it cannot so much as believe even according to the receptive Faith but as it is enabled and assisted after a supernatural manner by the Lord. Also some may object This Doctrin seemeth contrary to what ye seem to hold when ye say That it is possible for all men to do the things that God requires of them and that no man perisheth for want of power to do the will of God Answ. There is no contrariety herein for when we say it 's possible for all men to do the things that God requires of them we understand not this simply and absolutely

alive unto holiness which is also the true Spiritual Baptism that christeneth or maketh a Christian in Spirit and in truth And of these two Principles to wit Faith and Repentance Faith is the first in the order of Nature for by it Repentance comes to be wrought in the heart as is above declared how that by the Soul 's converting unto God in the Divine Seed and turning it self unto the Light of Jesus Christ therein it cometh to find that Light to become a fire in it which by its operation produceth some beginnings of a spiritual death and holy life as aforesaid But notwithstanding that Faith and Repentance are commonly acknowledged both by Papists and Protestants to be the foundation or ground work of a Christian life as also that Faith is the first step unto a holy life and as it were the spring and root of holy actions yet how contrary unto this acknowledgment is not only the common practice but also the common principle that goeth currant among them whereby they set the unbelievers and ungodly who have not so much as tasted of the least beginnings of true Faith and Repentance upon working and operative exercises of the Christian Religion such as to pray and to sing psalms which are holy and spiritual exercises and can only be performed by a holy life and no otherwise Their principle is this that even unbelievers and ungodly who have not the least measure or grain of saving Faith and Holiness should pray and sing Psalms in the very state and frame they are in and that this is a probable way to attain unto Holiness wresting and abusing that Scripture to prove it by The Fathers will give the holy Spirit to them who ask him ask and ye shall find But it is neither here nor elsewhere said in Scripture that the Father will give it to them who ask in unbelief but plain contrary Iames saith Let not him that asketh not in faith think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. Indeed I willingly acknowledg all unbelievers and ungodly should pray and worship God but I say it should be in the order and way commanded of God and not as they practise viz. They should convert and pray repent and pray believe and pray c. for God hath joyned these together and forbids that any man should attempt to separate them yea they cannot be separated This woful errour both in their principle and practice is a most grievous let and impediment unto Peoples attaining unto holiness for as much as their praying and singing or any other exercises in relation to the service of God are not the true and real practices of Religion but a meer counterfeit formality and shew or imitation of these things for true prayer and thanksgiving can only commonly proceed from the true and real power of a holy Life even as singing and writing naturally can only proceed from the power of a natural life And besides They most lamentably cheat their own Souls for by these and such like operative exercises and practices which are but hypocritical formalities and shews as is said and through their continuance therein they acquire a certain natural habit or disposition more and more and easily and finely to perform them which natural habit they set up in their hearts as it were as the great power of God or Godliness and many no doubt apprehend it to be so so that when at any time they are acted or enabled to perform such and the like exercises somewhat more finely and easily than at first and with some heat perhaps in the imagination and inferiour powers of the Soul they impu●e it to the very principle of Godliness and look upon themselves as grown or advanced Christians in the way of Godliness for by the power of this acquired habit they will find many times thoughts spring up into their understandings of God and Christ which will seem unto them as Divine contemplations and acts of true adoration Also by the same the affections will be stirred sometimes greatly and as it were a fire kindled in them yet it is but the sparks of their own kindling and not that true Divine and Sacred fire aforementioned which cometh down from Heaven however it may appear to them so to be Such men are not unfitly by some called Habitualistae or Habitualists who go about to frame or form unto themselves the power of Godliness whereby to perform holy exercises through working themselves into a habit by such counterfeit and hypocritical actions as aforesaid But true and real holiness is not attained unto by the frequent workings tho never so sublime of the meer natural powers of the Soul neither is it a habit produced of these workings but is a spiritual and supernatural power springing up from the Divine Seed as it comes to take root and bud in the Soul Yet if we shall take an impartial view of that which is called and accounted Holiness amongst Professors commonly we shall find it to be no other but such a habit as is demonstrable from these two or three Instances 1. How have they come by this Holiness Was it by a true or real converting or turning in their minds unto the Light and Power of Iesus Christ inwardly revealed in them in the Divine Seed by which they felt the Divine fire kindled in the very ground or bottom of their hearts which purified a place in them for the Divine Seed to conceive and bring forth the buds of a holy life and the powers thereof Nay Such a way they have not known and they commonly call it fancy errour and what not Or did they attain unto their holiness by falling instantly upon working and operative exercises as their Parents or Masters have taught them Being nothing acquainted with these waies of inward conversion or recollection of mind unto a Divine Principle in their Souls objectively present never expecting nor looking after it as judging it to be ceased If so then I say there is no difference betwixt their praying or plowing or writing or singing common musical Songs or common purposes for the power of doing both the one and the other is but an habit acquired by natural working for such kind of actions as to plow write sing require no other principle but the natural powers of a man which at the first can begin to do a little and so by degrees through repeated acts acquire a habit which becomes a power in them to enable them the more readily and finely to perform them and with greater ease A second Instance is this that this power whereby they exercise themselves in the operative exercises as in Praying Singing Preaching or the like they can use in their own wills and times they have it wholly at their own dispose and can command it as they list pray when they will meditate and preach when they will which is an in●allible instance that it is but a habit meerly acquired by the on●y workings