Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	believe_v	scripture_n	tradition_n	2,838	5	9.5550	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62634	Several discourses viz. Proving Jesus to be the Messias. The prejudices against Jesus and his religion consider'd. Jesus the Son of God, proved by his Resurrection. The danger of apostacy from Christianity. Christ the author: obedience the condition of salvation. The possibility and necessity of gospel obedience, and its consistence with free grace. The authority of Jesus Christ, with the commission and promise which he gave to his apostles. The difficulties of a Christian life consider'd. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Children of this world wiser than the children of light. By the most reverend Dr. John Tillotson, late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury. Being the fifth volume; published from the originals, by Ralph Barker, D.D. chaplain to his Grace.	Tillotson, John, 1630-1694.; Barker, Ralph, 1648-1708,	1698 (1698)	Wing T1262A; ESTC R222204	187,258	485

of it This Book of the Scriptures may with ordinary human Care be transmitted intire and free from any material Error to all succeeding Ages But Revelations unwritten if they have any lasting and considerable Effect they must at least in every Age be renewed and repeated otherwise in a very short space either through the unfaithfulness or carelessness and frailty of Men they will either be quite lost or so corrupted and depraved that they will signifie nothing From all which it appears that we have so little cause to murmur and repine at the Providence of God which in these later Ages of the World does not make those more immediate Discoveries and Manifestations of himself to us that he did to former Ages that we have rather great reason to admire the Wisdom and Goodness of God's Providence which hath privileged us with this standing Revelation of his written Word which hath so many ways the Advantage of frequent and extraordinary Revelation and in respect of the generality of Mankind is much more useful and effectual to its end I know there are some that have endeavour'd to perswade the World that Doctrines may much better be preserved by common Rumor and Report than by Writing and Record but I hope there is no Man so destitute of common Sense as to believe them contrary to the Experience of all Men. I come now to the 4th thing I propos'd to be consider'd namely That there is sufficient Evidence of the Divinity of the Scriptures By the Divinity of the Scriptures I mean that they were revealed by God and that the things contained in them were not invented by Men but discovered to Men by God and that the Pen-men of these Books did not write their own private Conceptions but were inspired by the Holy Ghost Now if we can be satisfied of this we ought to receive the Scriptures with the same Reverence as if an Angel from Heaven should declare these things unto us or as if God should immediately reveal them to our Minds for nothing can come with greater Authority than this that we believe it to be revealed by God and provided we be assured of this it matters not which way the thing hath the same Authority Now that we have sufficient Evidence of the Divinity of the Scriptures will best appear by considering what is sufficient to give Authority to a Book so that no prudent or reasonable Man can question but that the Book was writ by him whose Name it bears For what Evidence we would accept of for the Authority of other Books we must not refuse in this case for the Scriptures if we do we deal unequally and it is a sign that we do not want Evidence for the Authority of the Scriptures but that we have no mind to believe them Now the utmost Authority that any Book is capable of is that it hath been transmitted down to us by the general and uncontroll'd Testimony of all Ages and that the Authority of it was never questioned in that Age wherein it was written nor invalidated ever since And this Evidence we have for the Authority of the Scriptures As for the Old Testament I shall not now labor in the proof of that by Arguments proper to it self but shall take the Divinity of them upon the Authority of the New which if it be proved is sufficient Evidence for it tho' there were no other Now for the Scriptures of the New Testament I desire but these two things to be granted to me at first 1. That all were written by those Persons whose Names they bear and for this we have as much Authority as for any Books in the World and so much as may satisfie Men in other cases and therefore not to be rejected in this 2. That those who wrote those Books were Men of Integrity and did not wilfully falsifie in any thing and this cannot reasonably be denyed because these very Persons gave the utmost Evidence that Men could give of their Integrity The highest Attestation that any Man can give of the Truth of what he relates is to lay down his Life for the Testimony of it and this the Apostles did Now if this be granted that they did not falsifie in their Relations concerning the Miracles of Christ and his Resurrection and the miraculous Gifts which were bestowed upon the Apostles after his Ascension this is as great an Evidence as the World can give and as the thing is capable of that our Saviour was a Teacher come from God and that the Apostles were extraordinarily assisted by the Holy Ghost and if this be granted what can be desired more to prove the Divinity of their Writings But it may be said that tho' the Apostles were granted to be Men of Integrity and that they did not wilfully falsifie in their Relations yet they might be mistaken about those Matters But that they were not we have as much Evidence as can be for any thing of this Nature namely that the things which are related are plain sensible matters of Fact about which no Man need mistake unless he will and they did not write things upon the report of others who might possibly have designs to deceive but upon the surest Evidence in the World their own Knowledge and the Testimony of their Senses the things that we have seen and heard testifie we unto you So that if they were mistaken in these things no Man can be sure of any thing and by the same Reason that we disbelieve the Authority of the Scriptures upon this account we must believe nothing at all This is in short the whole force of the Argument for the Divinity of the Scriptures which I might have enlarged infinitely upon but I design now only briefly to represent to you that we who live at the distance of so many Ages from the time of this Revelation are not destitute of sufficient Evidence for the Authority of the Scriptures and such Evidence as they who reject in other Cases are esteemed unreasonable I should come now to the 5th and last Thing namely that it is unreasonable to expect that God should do more for our Conviction than to afford us a standing Revelation of his Mind and Will such as the Books of the holy Scriptures are But this I shall refer to another Oportunity in a particular Discourse upon the 31 verse which contains the main Design the Sum and Substance of this whole Parable SERMON XII The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Sermon III. Preach'd at Whitehall Anno 1678. LUKE XVI 31. If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded tho' one rose from the dead THESE Words are the Conclusion of that excellent Parable of our Saviour concerning the Rich Man and Lazarus and they are the final Answer which Abraham gives to the Rich Man's last Request who being in great Torment and not able to obtain any Ease for himself is represented as concerned for his Relations whom

Besides the Jews have a Proverb that God is not content to perform barely what he promiseth but he usually doth something over and above his promise That the Messias should heal the blind and the deaf and the lame Isaiah Prophesied and God makes good this Promise and Prediction to the full the Messias did not only do these but which is more and greater than any of these he raised the dead to life Secondly It was likewise foretold of the Messias that he should preach the Gospel to the poor Isa 61. 1. the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to preach the Gospel or good tidings to the Poor so the LXX render the words and they are the very words used by our Saviour here in the Text. 'T is true indeed this was no Miracle but it was the punctual accomplishment of a Prophecy concerning the Messias and consequently an evidence that he was the Messias But besides it had something in it which was very strange to the Jews and very different from the way of their Doctors and Teachers For the Rabbies among the Jews would scarce instruct any but for great Reward they would meddle with none but those that were able to requite their pains The ordinary and poorer sort of People they had in great contempt as appears by that slighting expression of them Joh. 7. 48 49. Have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him but this People who knoweth not the Law are cursed And Grotius upon this Text tells us that the Jewish Masters had this foolish and insolent Proverb among them that the spirit of God doth not rest but upon a rich man to which this Prediction concerning the Messias was a direct contradiction The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the Poor In old time the Prophets were especially sent to the Kings and Princes of the People but this great Prophet comes to preach the Gospel to the Poor None have so little reason to be proud as the Sons of Men but never was any so humble as the Son of God our Saviour's whole Life and Doctrine was a contradiction to the false Opinions of the world they thought the rich and great men of the World the only happy persons but he came to preach glad tidings to the Poor to bring good news to them whom the great Doctors of the Law despised and set at nought and therefore to confound their pride and folly and to confute their false Opinions of things he begins that excellent Sermon of his with this Saying Blessed are the Poor for theirs is the Kingdom of God Thirdly It was foretold of the Messias that the World should be offended at him Isa 8. 14. He shall be for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel And Isa 53. 1 2 3. Who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed he hath no form nor comeliness and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him he is despised and rejected of men and we hid as it were our faces from him he was despised and we esteemed him not and this likewise is intimated in the last words of the Text and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me Intimating that notwithstanding the great works that he did among them which testified of him that he came from God notwithstanding the Predictions of their Prophets concerning the Messias were so clearly and punctually accomplish'd in him yet notwithstanding all this they would take offence at him upon one account or other and reject him and his Doctrine but even this that they rejected him and would not own him for their Messias was another Sign and Evidence that he was the true Messias foretold by the Prophets for among other things this was expresly Predicted concerning him that he should be despised and rejected of men And thus I have done with the First thing I propounded to speak to namely the Evidence which our Saviour here gives of his being the true Messias First The many and great Miracles which he wrought prove that he came from God And Secondly The correspondence of the things he did with what was foretold by the Prophets concerning the Messias declare him to be the true Messias I now proceed to the next thing I propounded to speak to namely Secondly An Intimation in the Text that notwithstanding all the Evidence Christ gave of himself yet many would be offended at him and reject him and his Doctrine In speaking to which it will be very proper to consider First How the Poor came to be more disposed to receive the Gospel than others Secondly What those Prejudices are which the World had against our Saviour and his Religion at its first appearance as also those which men have at this day against the Christian Religion and to endeavour to shew the unreasonableness of them Thirdly How happy a thing it is to escape and overcome the common Prejudices which Men have against Religion First How the Poor came to be more disposed to receive the Gospel than others the Poor have the Gospel preached unto them Which does not only signifie that our Saviour did more especially apply himself to them but likewise that they were in a nearer disposition to receive it and did of all others give the most ready entertainment to his Doctrine And this our Saviour declares to us in the beginning of his Sermon upon the Mount when he pronounceth the Poor blessed upon this account because they were nearer to the Kingdom of God than others Blessed are the Poor for theirs is the Kingdom of God So likewise St. James Chap. 2. v. 5. Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him So that it seems the Poor were upon some account or other in a nearer disposition to receive the Gospel than the Great and Rich Men of this World And of this there are three Accounts to be given First The Poor had no Earthly interest to engage them to reject our Saviour and his Doctrine The High-Priests and Scribes and Pharisees among the Jews they had a plain worldly Interest which did engage them to oppose our Saviour and his Doctrine for if he were received for the Messias and his Doctrine embraced they must of necessity lose their Sway and Authority among the People and all that which rendred them so considerable their pretended skill in the Law and in the Traditions and Observances of their Fathers together with their external shews of Piety and Devotion would signifie nothing if our Saviour and his Doctrine should take place And there are very few so honest and sincere as to be content for truth's sake to part

his own Kingdom 2. They pretended that though he did many great Works yet he gave them no Sign from Heaven Matt. 16. 1. it is said They desired him to shew them a Sign from Heaven It seems they expected that God should give some immediate Testimony to him from Heaven as he did to Elias when Fire came down from Heaven and consumed his Enemies And particularly they expected that when he was upon the Cross if he were the true Messias he should have come down and saved himself And because he did not answer their Expectation in this they concluded him an Impostor Now what could be more unreasonable when he had wrought so many other and great Miracles perversly to insist upon some particular kind of Miracle which they fancied As if God were bound to gratifie the Curiosity of Men and as if our Saviour were not as much declared to be the Son of God by rising again from the Dead as if he had come down from the Cross Fourthly As to his Conversation they had these three Exceptions 1. That he used no severity in his Habit or Diet took too much Freedom as they thought came Eating and Drinking that is he freely used the Creatures of God for the end for which they were given with Temperance and Thanksgiving and did not lay those rigorous Restraints upon himself in these matters which many that were esteemed the most Religious among them used to do But he plainly shews them that this Exception was meerly out of their Prejudice against him For if he had come in the way of Austerity they would have rejected him as well They were resolved to find Fault with him whatever he did Matth. 11. 16. Whereunto shall I liken this Generation John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking and they say He hath a Devil He lived in a more austere and melancholy way he came in the way of Righteousness used great Strictness and Severity in his Habit and Diet and this they took Exception at Our Saviour was of a quite contrary Temper and that did not please them neither The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they say behold a Wine-bibber and a Glutton So that let our Saviour have done what he would he could not have carried himself so as to have escaped the Censures of Men so peevishly and perversly disposed 2. That he kept Company with Publicans and Sinners To which Exception nothing can be more reasonable than our Saviour's own Answer that he was sent to be a Physician to the World to call Sinners to Repentance and therefore they had no Reason to be angry or think it strange if he conversed with his Patients among whom his proper Imployment lay 3. They objected to him Prophaneness in breaking the Sabbath and that surely was plain that he could not be of God if he kept not the Sabbath-day The Truth was he had healed one on the Sabbath-day To this our Saviour gives a most reasonable and satisfactory Answer that surely it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath-day that that was but a Positive Institution but works of Mercy are Natural and Moral Duties and God himself had declared that he would have even his own Institutions to give way to those greater Duties that are of natural and eternal Obligation I will have Mercy and not Sacrifice And then from the End of the Sabbath The Sabbath was made for the Rest and Refreshment of Man and therefore could not be presumed to be intended to his Prejudice The Sabbath was made for Man and not Man for the Sabbath Fifthly Another great Prejudice against him was that Persons of the greatest Knowledge and Authority among them did not embrace his Doctrine John 7. 48. Have any of the Rulers or Pharisees believed on him So that here was the infallible Rule and Authority of their Church against him There is no doubt but the Example and Authority of our Guides ought to sway very much with us and over-rule us in doubtful Cases but not against plain and convincing Evidence there we ought to follow and obey God rather than Men. There is sometimes a visible and palpable Corruption in those who are to lead us they may have an Interest to oppose the Truth And thus it was with the Pharisees and Rulers at that Time And so it hath been among Christians in the great Degeneracy of the Roman Church The Christian Religion was never more endangered nor never more corrupted than by those who have been in greatest Authority in that Church who ought to have understood Religion best and have been the principal Support of it Men may err but God cannot So that when God sends a Prophet or by his Word does plainly declare his Will to us Human Example and Authority ceaseth and is of no force The last Prejudice I shall mention which the Jews had against our Saviour and his Doctrine was that it did abolish and supersede their Religion as of no longer Use and Continuance though it was plain it was instituted by God This had been a very specious Pretence indeed had not this been part of their Religion and had not their own Prophets foretold that the Messias should come and perfect what was wanting and defective in their Institution It was expresly said in their Law That God would raise unto them another Prophet like to Moses and that they should hear him when he came So that in Truth it was the Accomplishment of all those Revelations which were made to the Jews and did not reprove the Jewish Religion as false but as imperfect And did not contradict and overthrow but perfect and fulfill the Law and the Prophets And thus I have gone over the chief Exceptions and Offences which the Jews took at our Saviour and his Doctrine and I hope sufficiently shown the Unreasonableness of them I have not now time to proceed to what remains But by what hath been said you may easily see upon what slight and unreasonable Grounds Men may be prejudiced against the best Person and Things and yet be very confident all the while that they are in the Right For so no doubt many of the Jews who opposed our Saviour and his Doctrine thought themselves to be Therefore it concerns us to put on Meekness and Humility and Modesty that we way be able to judge impartially of things and our Minds may be preserved free and indifferent to receive the Truths of God when they are offer'd to us Otherwise Self-Conceit and Passion will so blind our Minds and biass our Judgments that we shall be unable to discern and unwilling to entertain the plainest and most evident Truths We see here by the sad Example of the Jews that by giving way to Passion and cherishing Pride and Self-Conceit Men may be so deeply prejudiced against the Truth as to resist the clearest Light and reject even Salvation it self when it is offer'd to them So that it is not in vain that the Scripture saith

shall be revealed in us The consideration whereof was that which made the Primitive Christians to triumph in their Sufferings and in the midst of all their Tribulations to rejoyce in the hopes of the Glory of God because their Sufferings did really prepare and make way for their Glory So the same Apostle tells us 2 Cor. 4. 17. 18. Our light Afflictions which are but for a moment work for us a far more exceeding and Eternal weight of Glory whilst we look not at the things which are seen for the things which are seen are Temporal but the things which are not seen are Eternal 3dly and lastly The assurance of our future Reward is a mighty Encouragement to Obedience and a Holy Life What greater Encouragement can we have than this that all the good which we do in this World will accompany us into the other That when we rest from our labours our works will follow us That when we shall be stript of other things and parted from them these will still remain with us and bear us company Our Riches and Honours our sensual Pleasures and Enjoyments will all take their leave of us when we leave this World nay many times they do not accompany us so far as the Grave but take occasion to forsake us when we have the greatest need and use of them but Piety and Virtue are that better part which cannot be taken from us All the good actions which we do in this World will go along with us into the other and through the Merits of our Redeemer procure for us at the hands of a Gracious and Merciful God a Glorious and Eternal Reward not according to the meanness of our Services but according to the Bounty of his Mind and the vastness of his Treasures and Estate Now what an encouragement is this to Holiness and Obedience to consider that it will all be our own another day to be assured that whoever serves God faithfully and does suffer for him patiently does lay up so much Treasure for himself in another World and provides lasting Comforts for himself and faithful and constant Companions that will never leave him nor forsake him Let us then do all the good we can while we have opportunity and serve God with all our might knowing that no good action that we do shall be lost and fall to the ground that every Grace and Virtue that we exercise in this life and every degree of them shall receive their full recompence at the Resurrection of the Just How should this inspire us with Resolution and Zeal and Industry in the Service of God to have such a Reward continually in our Eye how should it tempt us to our Duty to have a Crown and a Kingdom offered to us Joys unspeakable and full of Glory such things as Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard nor have entered into the heart of man And such are the things which God hath laid up for them who love him heartily and serve him faithfully in this World SERMON V. The danger of Apostacy from Christianity HEB. VI. 4 5 6. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightned and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the holy-Ghost and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come If they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance seeing they crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame THESE words are full of difficulties and the misunderstanding of them hath not only been an occasion of a great deal of trouble and even despair to particular persons but one of the chief Reasons why the Church of Rome did for a long time reject the Authority of this Book which by the way I cannot but take notice of as a demonstrative Instance both of the fallible Judgment of that Church and of the fallibility of Oral Tradition for St. Jerome more than once expresly tells us that in his time which was about 400 years after Christ the Church of Rome did not receive this Epistle for Canonical But it is plain that since that time whether moved by the Evidence of the thing or which is more probable by the Consent and Authority of other Churches they have received it and do at this day acknowledge it for Canonical from whence one of these two things will necessarily follow either that they were in an error for 400 years together while they rejected it or that they have since erred for a longer time in receiving it One of these is unavoidable for if the Book be Canonical now it was so from the beginning for Bellarmine himself confesseth and if he had not confessed it it is nevertheless true and certain that the Church cannot make a Book Canonical which was not so before if it was not Canonical at first it cannot be made so afterward so that let them chuse which part they will it is evident beyond all denyal that the Church of Rome hath actually erred in her Judgment concerning the Authority of this Book and one error of this kind is enough to destroy her Infallibility there being no greater Evidence that a Church is not Infallible than if it plainly appear that she hath been deceived And this also is a convincing instance of the Fallibility of Oral Tradition For if that be Infallible in delivering down to us the Canonical Books of Scripture it necessarily follows that whatever Books were delivered down to us for Canonical in one Age must have been so in all Ages and whatever was rejected in any Age must always have been rejected but we plainly see the contrary from the instance of this Epistle concerning which the Church of Rome which pretends to be the great and faithful Preserver of Tradition hath in several Ages deliver'd several things This is a peremptory instance both of the Fallibility of the Roman Church and of her Oral Tradition Having observed this by the way which I could not well pass by upon so fair an occasion I shall betake my self to the explication of these words towards which it will be no small advantage to consider the particular Phrases and Expressions in the Text. It is impossible for those who were once enlightned that is were solemnly admitted into the Church by Baptism and embraced the profession of Christianity Nothing was more frequent among the Ancients than to call Baptism 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Illumination and those who were baptized were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 enlightned Persons because of that Divine Illumination which was convey'd to the minds of Men by the knowledge of Christianity the Doctrine whereof they made Profession of at their Baptism And therefore Justin Martyr tells us that by calling upon God the Father and the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and the name of the Holy Ghost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the enlightned Person is washed and again more expresly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this Laver