Linguistic DNA - Concept Modelling Demonstrator

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	effect_n	necessary_a	produce_v	6,956	5	9.5140	5	true

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01027	A fruitfull sermon made by the reverend and learned Mr. Iohn Forbes. Pastour of the English company of merchants adventures at Delft. Published by some of his flock out of sincere affection for common good	Forbes, John, 1568?-1634.	1626 (1626)	STC 11130; ESTC S116489	28,013	106

A FRVITFVLL SERMON Made by the Reverend and Learned Mr. IOHN FORBES Pastour of the English Company of Merchants adventurers at Delft Published by some of his flock out of sincere affection for common good AT AMSTERDAM Printed by Richard Plater 1626. Academiae Cantabrigiensis Liber A fruitfull Sermon upon 2. Cor. Cap. 13. vers 5. Proue your selves if ye be in the faith examine your selves know ye not your owne selves that Iesus Christ is in you except ye be reprobates IT is no vvonder that in all ages and especiallie in this sinfull profane age wherein wee now liue there hath beene and now is so great and universall a contempt of the blessed ministrie of Christ as of a base and Contemptible thing when an Apostle and such an Apostle as Paule had so much a doe to vindicate his ministrie from the Contempt base account therof amongst the Corinths notwithstanding that they had beene converted thereby and the sygnes of an Apostle had bene so powerfully wrought by him amongst them For if the weakenes and infirmitie of his flesh and outward estate worldlie did so blind the Corinthians eys that they could not perceave the divine power of Christs spirit in so weake a vessell what marveil is it that succeeding ages and this present fleshlie age judging according to the flesh of such as are far inferiour to Paule in grace doe not behould that heavenlie power which accompanyeth their ministrie The grief of this vanitie were easie to be borne if it were onelie the profane worldlings that did so seing no natural maÌ„ is able to discern the things of Gods Spirit But it s a more lameÌ„table error when it falleth in such as profes the trueth and doe vphold this ministrie and reape the sweet and vnspeakeable fruits thereof to esteeme so baselie of that which is the power of God to their salvation if ever they be to be saved Yet this example of that church which was not inferiour in anie thing to other churches by the Ap. Paules paines amongst them so comtemptiblie speaking of him who was not in anie thing inferiour to the verie chief Apostles that his presence was base and weake and his speach of no value may serve to teach al ministers patience under the like crosse but withall as Paule who was glad when he was weake and they were strong did play the foole in boasting of him self for the defence of his authoritie power of his ministrie not because of anie ambitious desire of vaineglorie but onelie to procure their edification that by their contempt of his ministrie they should not frustrate themselves of the blessed fruit thereof even so the faithfull ministers of Christ in this age haue more then just cause with Paule to speake somewhat for themselves not vainelie for their owne creditie sake but onelie to prevent the like daÌ„ger in their hearers upon the like contempt of their ministrie knowing that the same causes still produce the like effects In doeing this as it is necessarie so it shal be sufficient to use no more Apollogie then is contained in this one verse of this text As being the strongest argument whereby not onelie Paule forced the Corinthians to confesse the mightie strength of Christ in his ministrie towards them but also whereby all true and faithfull Pastors must convince the conscience of their hearers that they are not reprobate Pastors The maine scope and force of the Apostles argument being punctuallie taken up is this You Corinthians must eyther acknowledge the divine vertue force of my ministry or theÌ„ ye your selvs must be reprobates but wee trust yee are not reprobates neither will ye have us think so therefore yee must acknowledge the vertue of our ministry Thus doth he reduce them to a necessitie eyther of acknowledging him not to be a reprobate minister but such an one in whom Christ did speake or then of acknowledging themselves to bee reprobate Christians without faith and without Christ the evidence of the truth and soundnes of his argument wee shall God willing manifest in the particular opening thereof For the cleare vnderstanding of the Apostles meaning wee are first to consider what hath gone before and how this verse dependeth or cohereth with the former Two arguments have beene used by the Apostle to shew why he behooved to manifest to the Corinthians the authority of his ministry in not sparing them at his comming againe The first was because they were lawfullie convinced of obstinacie having bene now twice or rather thrice admonished and therefore he behooved to proceed against them with sharpnes if they did not now repent before his comming even according to the law of God which ordaineth that in the mouth of two or three witnesses everie word shall stand The second argument was this They who having felt Christ to be mighty in them by my ministrie doe yet seeke a proof of Christ speaking in me must needs haue it in sharpnes to make them know me to be an Apostle of Christ But ye Corinthians do yet after your conversion seeke an experience of Christ speaking in me Therefore you must haue a sharper proof seeing ye acquiesse not in that which ye haue alreadie and reverence not my admonitions given you upon that proof which ye haue of Christs power in me To shew yet farther the equity of this threatning upon this ground he layeth downe an assertion of the power of Christ in his ministrie towards them affirming that Christ in his ministrie towards them was not weak but mighty in them and therefore this their doing was nothing but a tempting of Christs power in him even as the people of Israel in the wildernes after sufficient proof of the mighty power of God in Moses by the miracles wrought in Egipt by leading them safely through the redd sea which overwhelmed their enemies by the waters given them out of the Rock c. did notwithstanding of all these and much more tempt the Lords power desiring yet a farther evidence thereof by covering them a table in the wildernesse and giving them flesh to eate as though all the preceding wonders had been no sufficient proofe of Gods almighty power Even so the Corinthians having had sufficient evidence and testimonie of Christ speaking in Paul by his mighty working in theÌ„selvs yet for all this did esteeme Paul but base and weak and his words of no value and so forced him to giue them a sharper experience of Christ speaking in him to their farther grief if upon this evidence past they would not reverence his words nor obey his warnings but would yet tempt Christ in him for a farther proof of his power Now before the Apostle prove this which he hath affirmed touching the might of Christ in them by his ministry perceaving the chief ground and cause of this their foolish judgment to be the weaknesse and poore estate of the Apostle in the flesh he first removed this

this knowledge in his disciples as also why the world is destitute of it speaking concerning the spirit saying whom the world cannot receaue because it sees him not neither knowes him but yee know him because he dwelleth with you and shal bee in you Iohn 14 17. This place being conferd with the former two teacheth us 3 speciall things touching the estate of a true Christian The 1 is that they are not ignorant of the things of God nor of any grace or blessing spirituall given them by God in Christ the 2 is That all this knowledge is taught theÌ„ by the spirit of God which is given them remaines within them The 3 that both the gift of this spirit and knowledge by him proceedes from this that God hath not left us in the world nor in the estate of servitude bondage but hath taken us out of the world and by reconcyling us to himself in Christ hath made us his friends as AbrahaÌ„ was The use of this is to convince the doctrine of the papisticall church of falshood whereby they maintaine that a Christian truely called can haue no certaine knowledge whether he bee in the estate of grace or not for if the Apostle urge the Corinthians by this speciall knowledge of their owne being in the faith and of Christs being in them to bee witnesses of the power of Christ in his ministry toward them it must necessarily follow that both they and all others called as they were must haue vndoubted knowledge of themselves that they are in the faith and Christ in them otherwise Christs argument before alleadged could not bee true when he saith that his disciples did know the spirit of truth because he dwelt with them and should be in theÌ„ which argumeÌ„t teacheth us thus much that the saints cannot bee ignorant of any gift or grace of God which dwelleth with them and is in them so that wee may Iustly concluded that a Papist houlding the former position for a truth must bee both faythles and gracelesse seing if eyther faith or grace were in them they could not be ignorant of them neither can they haue anie evasion by their old argument of the necessitie of some speciall revelation from God For this which we haue said before compared with the words of Iohn doth fully answer them saying If we receive the witnes of men the witnesse of God is greater For this is the witnes of God which he testifieth of his sonne He that beleeveth in that sone of God hath witnes in himselfe By which words we are plainly taught that faith can never be without the testimonie both of those three which beare record in heaven to wit the Father the Word and the Holy-ghost nor of these three witnesses which beare record in earth viz. The spirit the water and the bloud and therefore that it must follow that everie true beleever hath a most undoubted revelation of his salvation and blessed estate in grace and on the contrarie that whosoever hath not this vndoubted warrant is faithles indeed seeing as saith the Apostle whosoever beleeveth in the sonne of God hath this witnes of the Father of the Word and of the Holy ghost which are in heaven of the spirit and of the water and of the blood which are in earth then which there can be no revelation of greater force to confirm the certaintie of ones salvation For if according to Gods owne law at the mouth of two or three witnesses every matter shal be established how much more must a true beleeving christian know the certaintie of his salvation who hath it witnessed vnto him and that within himself by those sixe witnesses before mentioned of which none can lye and this is so much the clearer by that which Iohn in the same place speaketh ver 13 saying these things haue I written unto you who beleeve in the name of the sonne of God that ye may knowe that ye haue eternall life Whereby he utterly annulleth that blind argument of the Papists seing it enforceth theÌ„ eyther to confesse that they know they haue eternal life or then plainely to confesse that they beleeue not in the sonne of God for faith and knowledge of salvation are two unseparable adjuncts and ever such knowledge as is not builded upon a doubtfull opinion or conjecture but which is buylt upon the unfallible testimony of the six witnesses meÌ„tioned before Wee conclude therefore this point with the confortable use thereof to all true beleeving Christians viz. that they rejoyce always I say againe with the Apostle that they rejoyce always seeing their salvation is sure and that it s given unto them to knowe that it is sure Thus much for the Apostles argument for remooving of all pretence of ignorance Now followes the 2 point of tryall which is whether Christ bee in them or not but it s propounded in another manner then the first for touching faith he willd them to try if they were in it but this last he propounds as a thing which he would haue them undoubtedly to acknowledge and no marveil for the effects are more easie to be known then their causes now Christ he dwells in our hearts by faith and therefore wee can never have a true evidence that we beleeue untill we find that Christ is assuredly within us for this cause wee said before that this 2 point of tryall was the meane to know the former Moreover the Apo. subjoins this point unto his former argument whereby he remooves all pretence of IgnoraÌ„ce purposely to teach us both wheÌ„ and wherein it is that a Christian comes to know himself to bee in the faith and so receaves experieÌ„ce of the power of Christ in the ministry of the Gospell to his salvation whereof before wee spake wee will first somewhat consider the order of the Apostles words Wee see that in the first place he puts them to the tryall of their faith as being the evidence of the power of Christ in his ministry toward them to their salvation 2. In this examination he brings them to the acknowledging of themselves as the proper effect of true faith in all true beleevers 3. He brings theÌ„ to the acknowledgment of Christs presence in their hearts as the onely true testimony of the first proper matter of the 2. For if any man thinks he beleeves not having Christ within him he is miserably deceaved and if any man think he knowes himself to bee the child of God except he find himself and Christ united by faith pittifully abuseth himself by his owne judgment This order therefore of the Apostles proceeding teacheth us this lesson what way and by what meanes it is that wee come to the knowledge of the mighty power and outstreched arme of God in the ministry of his word to our salvation in the which 3 things are principally to be marked Our faith our selvs and that in our selves which makes us know our selves by faith to bee

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