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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	bring_v	good_a	think_v	1,523	5	3.8429	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62632	Several discourses viz. Of the great duties of natural religion. Instituted religion not intended to undermine natural. Christianity not destructive; but perfective of the law of Moses. The nature and necessity of regeneration. The danger of all known sin. Knowledge and practice necessary in religion. The sins of men not chargeable on God. By the most reverend Dr. John Tillotson, late lord arch-bishop of Canterbury. Being the fourth volume; published from the originals, by Ralph Barker, D.D. chaplain to his Grace.	Tillotson, John, 1630-1694.; Barker, Ralph, 1648-1708.; White, Robert, 1600-1690, engraver.	1697 (1697)	Wing T1261A; ESTC R221745	169,748	495

the grace of Contentment by great Consideration and diligent Care of himself in several Conditions not as if the habit of this grace had been infused into him at once Phil. 4. 11 12. I have learn'd in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need And thus I have done with the first thing I propounded to Consider namely the true and just Importance of this Metaphor of the new Creation The two Particulars which remain I shall by God's assistance finish in my next Discourse SERMON IX Of the Nature of Regeneration and its Necessity in order to Justification and Salvation GALAT. VI. 15. For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Uncircumcision but a new Creature THE Observation I am still upon from these Words is this viz. That in the Christian Religion nothing will avail to our Justification but the Renovation of our Hearts and Lives exprest here by a New Creature In treating of which I propos'd the doing of three things First To shew the ●rue import of this Metaphor of a new Creature Secondly To shew that this is the great Condition of o●● Justification And Thirdly That it is highly Reasonable that it should be so In treating of the first of these Particulars I have consider'd some Doctrines as founded upon this Metaphor which I have shewn at large not only to have no Foundation in Scripture or Reason or Experience but also to be very unreasonable in themselves and contrary to the plain and constant tenour of Scripture and to the ordinary Method of God's grace in the Regeneration of Men whether by a Religious and Virtuous Education or in those who are reclaim'd from a notorious wicked Course of Life And that I have so long insisted upon this Argument and handled it in a more contentious way than is usual with me did not proceed from any love to Controversie which I am less fond of every day than other but from a great desire to put an end to these Controversies and quarrellings in the dark by bringing them to a clear state and plain issue and likewise to undeceive good Men concerning some current Notions and Doctrines which I do really believe to be dishonourable to God and contrary to the plain declarations of Scripture and a cause of great perplexity and discomfort to the Minds of Men and a real discouragement to the Resolutions and Endeavours of becoming better Upon which Considerations I was strongly urgent to search these Doctrines to the bottom and to contribute what in me lay to the rescuing of good Men from the disquiet and entanglement of them I will conclude this Matter with a few Cautions not unworthy to be remembred by us That we would be careful so to ascribe all Good to God that we be sure we ascribe nothing to him that is Evil or any ways unworthy of him That we do not make him the sole Author of our Salvation in such a way as will unavoidably charge upon him the final impenitency and ruine of a great part of Mankind That we do not so magnifie the grace of God as to make his Precepts and Exhortations s●gnifie nothing Such as these Make ye new He●●ts and new Spirits strive to enter in at the strait gate Where if by the strait gate be meant the difficulty of our first entrance upon a Religious Course that is of our Conversion and Regeneration I cannot imagine how it is possible to reconcile our being meerly passive in this work and doing nothing at all in it with our Saviour's Precept of striving to enter in at the strait gate unless to be very active and to be meerly passive about the same thing be all one and an earnest contention and endeavour be the same thing with doing nothing Again that we do not make the utmost degeneracy and depravation which Men ever arrived at by the greatest abuse of themselves and the most vile and wicked practices the standard of an unregenerate state and of the common Condition of all Men by Nature And lastly that we do not make some particular instances in Scripture of the strange and sudden Conversion of some Persons as namely of St. Paul and the Jaylor in the Acts the common rule and measure of every Man's Conversion so that unless a Man be as it were struck down by a Light and Power from Heaven and taken with a fit of trembling and frighted almost out of his wits or find in himself something equal to this he can have no assurance of his Conversion whereas a much surer Judgment may be made of the sincerity of a Man's Conversion by the real Effects of this Change than by the Manner of it This our Saviour hath taught us by that apt resemblance of the operation of God's Spirit to the blowing of the wind of the Original Cause whereof and of the reason of its ceasing or continuance and why it blows stronger or gentler this way or that way we are altogether ignorant but that it is we are sensible from the sound of it John 3. 8. The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound of it but canst not tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth So is every one that is born of the Spirit The effects of God's Holy Spirit in the Regeneration of Men are sensible tho' the manner and degrees of his operation upon the Souls of Men are so various that we can give no account of them by which one wou'd think our Saviour had sufficiently caution'd us not to reduce the Operations of God's grace and Holy Spirit in the Regeneration of Men to any certain Rule or Standard but chiefly to regard the sensible effects of this secret work upon the Hearts and Lives of Men. And after all it is in vain to contend by any Arguments against clear and certain experience If we plainly see that many are insensibly changed and made good by pious Education in the Nurture aud Admonition of the Lord and that som● who have long lived in a prophane neglect and contempt of Religion are by the secret power of God's word and Holy Spirit upon calm consideration without any great terrours and amazement visibly changed and brought to a better Mind and Course it is in vain in these Cases to pretend that this Change is not real because the Manner of it is not answerable to some Instances which are Recorded in Scripture or which we have observ'd in our Experience and because these Persons cannot give such an account of the time and manner of their Conversion as is agreeable to these instances which is just as if I should meet a Man beyond Sea whom I had known in England and would not believe that he had crost the Seas because he said he had a smooth and easie

to our selves as concurring some way or other to this work Hence we are said to believe and repent to turn from our evil ways and to turn to the Lord to cleanse and purifie our selves Hence likewise are those frequent Commands in Scripture to amend our ways and doings to wash our hearts from wickedness to repent and turn our selves and to make our selves new Hearts and new Spirits So that all these Causes the Spirit of God his Ministers his Word and we our selves do all some way or other concur and contribute to this Effect God indeed is the Principal and hath so great an hand in this Work from beginning to end that all the rest are nothing in Comparison and we do well to ascribe to him the whole glory of it that no Flesh may glory in his sight But nevertheless in strictness of speech sufficiently warranted by Scripture the Ministers of God and the Word of God and we our selves do all co-operate some way or other to our Conversion and Regeneration and by ascribing to any of these such parts as they truly have in this work God is not robbed of any part of the glory of his grace much less of the whole Much less is it the ascribing it all to our selves whom we affirm to have the least part in it not worthy to be mention'd in Comparison of the riches of God's grace towards us And yet unless we do something what can be the meaning of making our selves new hearts and new spirits Is it only that we should be passive to the irresistible operation's of God's grace that is that we should not hinder what we can neither hinder nor promote that we should so demean our selves as of necessity we must whether we will or no. So then to make our selves new hearts and new spirits is to do nothing at all towards the hinderance or furtherance of this work and if this be th● meaning of it it is a Precept and E●hortation just as fit for Stones as for Men that is very improper for either 2. Objection But however we do extenuate and lessen the grace of God if there be any active concurrence and endeavours on our part towards this Change For answer to this three things deserve to be consider'd First It is very well worthy our Consideration that they who make this Objection have the confidence to pretend that they do not d●minish the grace of God by confining it to a very small part of Mankind in Comparison nay they will needs face us down that by this very thing they do very much exalt and magnifie it and that the grace of God is so much the greater by how much the fewer they are that are partakers of it But I hope they only mean that the grace is greater to themselves in which conceit there is commonly as much of envy as gratitude but surely they cannot mean that the grace which is limited to a few is greater in it self and upon the whole matter than that which is extended to a great many it being a down-right Contradiction to say that the grace of God is magnified by being confined For at this rate of Reasoning the lesser it is the greater it must be and by undeniable consequence would be greatest of all if it were none at all So that it seems the grace of God may be extenuated in favour of our selves but when we do so we must say we magnifie it Secondly But to come close to the Objection tho' it be true that if God's grace in our Conversion do not do all it does not do so much as if it did all yet this is really no injury or dishonour to the grace of God and tho' in some sense it doth extenuate it it doth not in truth and reality take off from the glory of it In my Opinion the grace and favour of a Prince is not the less in offering a Pardon to a Traytor who puts forth his hand and gladly receives it than if he forc'd it upon him whether he would or no. I am sure it is in the first Case much fitter to give it and he on whom it is conferr'd much better qualified to receive it 'T is no disparagement to a Prince's Favour that it is bestow'd on one who is in some measure qualified to receive it But be it more or less in one Case than the other this is certain that in both Cases the Man ows his Life to the great grace and goodness of his Prince and I cannot see how it lessens the grace that the miserable Object of it the guilty and condemned Person was either by his humble submission or thankful acceptance of it in some degree better qualified to receive such a Favour than an obstinate Refuser of it Thirdly Which is the Principal Consideration of all we must take great heed that while we endeavour to make God to do all in the Conversion of Sinners we do not by this means charge upon him the ruine and destruction of impenitent Sinners which I doubt we should do if we make the Reason of their impenitency and ruine their utter impotency and disability to Repent and we certainly make this the Reason of their impenitency and ruine if there be no other difference but this between penitent and impenitent Sinners namely that in the one God works Repentance by an irresistible act of his Power so that he cannot but Repent and denys this grace to the other without which he cannot possibly Repent But the Scripture chargeth the destruction of Men upon themselves and lays their impenitency at their own door Oh Israel thou hast destroyed thy self but in me is thy help Hosea 13. 9. But where is the help when the grace absolutely necessary to Repentance is denied And how is their destruction of themselves if it is unavoidable let them do what they can Isa 5. 3 4. God appeals to his People Israel that nothing was wanting on his part that was fit and necessary to be done that they might bring forth the fruits of Repentance and better Obedience And now O Inhabitants of Jerusalem and Men of Judah judge I pray you between me and my Vineyard what could have been done more to my Vineyard that I have not done in it wherefore when I looked that it should bring forth grapes brought it forth wild grapes Is it true that God hath done all that was necessary to have brought them to Repentance Then if irresistible grace be necessary he afforded them that but that was not afforded them because then they must unavoidably have Repented and there had been no cause for this Complaint If he did not afford it but only the outward means of Repentance without the inward grace as some say then it is easie to judge why they did not Repent Because they could not and there seems to be no Cause either of Wonder or Complaint Besides that it will be hard to justifie that Saying What could I have done more

them but the Remedy which he prescribes against this mischief of Knowledge is not to with-hold from Men the Means of it and to Celebrate the Service of God the Prayers of the Church and the Reading of the Scriptures in an unknown Tongue but quite contrary Chap. 14. of that Epistle he strictly enjoyns that the Service of God in the Church be so performed as may be for the edification of the People which he says cannot be if it be Celebrated in an unknown Tongue and the Remedy he prescribes against the accidental mischief and inconvenience of Knowledge is not Ignorance but Charity to govern their Knowledge and to help them to make a right use of it ver 20. of that Chapt. after he had declared that the Service of God ought to be performed in a known Tongue he immediately adds Brethren be not Children in understanding how-be-it in malice be ye Children but in understanding be ye Men. He commends Knowledge he encourageth it he requires it of all Christians so far is he from checking the pursuit of it and depriving the People of the Means of it And indeed there is nothing in the Christian Religion but what is fit for every Man to know because there is nothing in it but what is designed to promote Holiness and a good Life and if Men make any other use of their Knowledge it is their own fault for it certainly tends to make Men good and being so useful and necessary to so good a purpose Men ought not to be debarr'd of it Thirdly Let it be Consider'd that the proper and natural Effects and Consequences of ignorance are equally pernicious and much more certain and unavoidable than those which are accidentally occasioned by Knowledge for so far as a Man is ignorant of his Duty it is impossible he should do it He that hath the Knowledge of Religion may be a bad Christian but he that is destitute of it can be none at all Or if ignorance do beget and promote some kind of Devotion in Men it is such a Devotion as is not properly Religion but Superstition the ignorant Man may be zealously superstitious but without some measure of Knowledge no Man can be truly Religious That the Soul be without Knowledge it is not good says Solomon Prov. 19. 2. because good practices depends upon our Knowledge and must be directed by it when as a Man that is trained up only to the outward performance of some things in Religion as to the saying over so many Prayers in an unknown Tongue this Man cannot be truly Religious because nothing is Religious that is not a Reasonable Service and no Service can be Reasonable that is not directed by our Understandings Indeed if the end of Prayer were only to give God to understand what we want it were all one what Language we Prayed in and whether we understood what we asked of him or not but so long as the end of Prayer is to testifie the sense of our own wants and of our dependance upon God for the supply of them it is impossible that any Man should in any tolerable propriety of Speech be said to Pray who does not understand what he asks and the saying over so many Pater Nosters by one that does not understand the meaning of them is no more a Prayer than the repeating over so many Verses in Virgil. And if this were good Reasoning that Men must not be permitted to know so much as they can in Religion for fear they should grow troublesome with their Knowledge then certainly the best way in the World to maintain Peace in the Christian Church would be to let the People know nothing at all in Religion and the best way to secure the ignorance of the People would be to keep the Priests as ignorant as the People and then to be sure they could teach them nothing but then the mischief would be that out of a fondness to maintain Peace in the Christian Church there would be no Church nor no Christianity which would be the same wise Contrivance as if a Prince should destroy his Subjects to keep his Kingdom quiet Fourthly Let us likewise Consider that if this Reason be good it is much stronger for withholding the Scriptures from the Priests and the Learned than from the People because the danger of starting Errors and Heresies and Countenancing them from Scripture and managing them plausibly and with advantage is much more to be feared from the Learned than from the Common People and the Experience of all Ages hath shewn that the great Broachers and Abettors of Heresie in the Christian Church have been Men of Learning and Wit and most of the famous Heresies that are Recorded in Ecclesiastical History have their Names from some Learned Man or other so that it is a great mistake to think that the way to prevent Error and Heresie in the Church is to take the Bible out of the hands of the People so long as the free use of it is permitted to Men of Learning and Skill in whose hands the danger of perverting it is much greater The Ancient Fathers I am sure do frequently prescribe to the People the constant and careful reading of the Holy Scriptures as the surest Antidote against the Poison of dangerous Errors and damnable Heresies and if there be so much danger of seduction into Error from the Oracles of Truth by what other or better Means can we hope to be sec●red against this danger If the word of God be so cross and improper a Means to this End one would think that the teachings of Men should be much less effectual so that Men must either be left in their ignorance or they must be permitted to learn from the word of truth and whatever force this Reason of the danger of Heresie hath in it to deprive the Common People of the use of the Scriptures I am sure it is much stronger to wrest them out of the hands of the Priests and the Learned because they are much more capable of perverting them to so bad a purpose Fifthly and lastly this danger was as great and visible in the Age of the Apostles as it is now and yet they took a quite contrary Course there were Heresies then as well as now and either the Scriptures were not thought by being in the hands of the People to be the Cause of them or they did not think the taking of them out of their hands a proper Remedy The Apostles in all their Epistles do earnestly Exhort the People to grow in Knowledge and commend them for searching the Scriptures and charge them that the word of God should dwell richly in them And St. Peter takes particular notice of some Men wresting some difficult passages in St. Paul's Epistles as likewise in the other Scriptures to their own destruction 2 Pet. 3. 16. where speaking of St Paul's Epistles he says there are some things hard to be understood which they that are unlearned