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cause_n	great_a	know_v	see_v	5,670	5	3.0830	3	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30208	Some gospel-truths opened according to the Scriptures, or, The divine and humane nature of Christ Jesus, his coming into the world, his righteousness, death, resurrection, ascension, intercession, and second comming to judgment, plainly demonstrated and proved and also answers to severall questions, with profitable directions to stand fast in the doctrine of Jesus the son of Mary, against those blustring storms of the Devils temptations, which do at this day, like so many scorpions, break loose from the bottomless pit, to bite and torment those that have not tasted the vertue of Jesus by the revelation of the spirit of God / published for the good of Gods chosen ones by that unworthy servant of Christ John Bunnyan ...	Bunyan, John, 1628-1688.	1656 (1656)	Wing B5598; ESTC R34771	92,539	312

the Lord give thee grac● to follow thou shalt escape these wicked delusions And first of all I admonish thee to be very serious touching thine estate and condition and examine thine own heart by the rule of the word of God whether or no thou hast as yet any beginnings of desiring after religion and if thou findest that thou hast lived untill now in ignorance and hast not set thy selfe to remember thy Creator as thou art commanded Eccles. 12. 1. then I beseech thee consider that thou art under the wrath of Almighty God and hast been so ever since thou camest into the world Eph. 2. 1 2. being thou in thy first parents didst transgress against thy Maker Rom. 5. 18. Therefore as by the offence of one that is of Adam ver 14. judgement came upon all men unto condemnation Besides the many sins thou hast committed ever since thou wast born Sins against the Law of God and sinnes against the Gospell of the grace of God Sins against the long suffering and forbearance of God and sins against his judgements Sins of Omission and sins of Commission in thoughts words and actions Consider I say thy condition yea get a very great sense of thy sins that thou hast committed and that thou mayest so doe Beg of God to convince thee by his holy Spirit not only of sins against the Law but also of that damning sin the sin of unbeliefe 2. If thou by grace art but brought into such an estate as to see thy selfe in a lost Condition because of sin without the Lord Jesus then in the next place have a care of resting on any dutie done though it be never so specious I say have a care of making any stay any where on this side the Lord Jesus Christ but above all strive to believe that that very man that was borne of the Virgin Mary did come into the World on purpose to save thee as well as other poore sinners I say thou must not be content till thou art enabled to say He loved me and gave himselfe for me And that thou mayest be sure to attaine to this most precious faith for so it is be much in applying the freest promises to thy own soule yea those that have no conditions annexed to them as these or other like Jer. 3. 3. Jer. 3 Joh. 6. 37. also Jo. 14. 19. Hos. 14. 4. I say labour to apply to thy owne soule in particular the most glorious and freest promises in the book of God And if at any time the divell besets thee by his temptations for so is his wonted manner to doe and so much the more as he sees thee labour to get out of his reach I say when he 〈◊〉 thee with his fierie darts be sure to act faith on the most free promises and have a care that thou doest not enter into any dispute with him but rather resist him by those blessed promises that are laid down in the word of God And withall be sure to meditate upon the blood of the Man Christ Jesus who also is the true God and read those Scriptures that doe most fully and cleerly speak of it as 1 Joh. 1. 7. Eph. 1. 7. Heb. 9. 14 Rom. 3. 25. But if thou say as it is often the speech of poore soules lying under a sence of Sin the apprehensions of wrath due to it I cannot apply the promises to mine own soule and the reason is because my sins are so great and so many Consider and know it for a truth that the more and greater thou seest thy sins to be the more cause hast thou to believe yea thou must therefore believe because thy sinnss are great David made it an encouragement to himselfe or rather the Spirit of the Lord made it his encouragement to crave yea to hope for pardon because he had greatly transgressed Psal. 25. 11. For thy Name sake O Lord saith he pardon mine iniquitie for it is great As if he had said O Lord Thy name wil be more glorified the riches of thy grace wil be more advanced thy Mercy and goodness will more shine and be magnified in pardoning me who am guiltie of great iniquitie than if thou pardonest many others who have not committed such hainous offences And I dare say the reason why thou believest not is not because thy sins are great but because thou doest reason too much with that wicked enemie of mans salvation and givest way too much to the fleshly reasoning of thine own heart For Christ hath said he that commeth unto me I will in no wise cast out Joh. 6. 37. And againe Though thy sins be as red as scarlet they shall be as white as snow Jsa 1. 18. And Christ calleth those that labour and are heavy laden to come to him with promise to give them rest Mat. 11. 28. Wherefore thou must not say my sins are too big but thou must say because I am a great sinner yea because I have sinned above many of my companions and am nearer to Hell and eternal damnation than they because of my sins therefore will I crie unto the Lord and say O Lord Pardon my sins for they are great Now that thou mayest not be deceived in a matter of so great concernment have a special care of these three things First have a care of putting off thy trouble of Spirit the wrong way which thou mayest doe three wayes First when thy Conscience flieth in thy face and tells thee of thy sins thou doest put off convictions the wrong way if thou doest stop thy Conscience by promising to reform thy selfe and lead a new life and gettest off thy guilt by so doing For though thou mayest by this meanes still and quiet thy conscience for a time yet thou canst not hereby satisfie and appease the wrath of God Yea saith God to such though thou wash thee with Nitre and take thee much Sope yet thine iniquitie is marked before me Jer. 2. 22. 2. If when thou art under the guilt of thy sins thou puttest off convictions by thy performances or duties and so satisfiest thy Conscience then also thou doest put off thy Convictions the wrong way For God will not be satisfied with any thing lesse then the blood righteousness resurrection and intercession of his own Son Acts. 4. 12. and thou shouldest not satisfie thy self with any less then God would have thee to satisfie thy selfe withall and that is the water of life Jsa 55. 1 2. which water of life thy duties and all thy righteousness is not for it is but menstruous ragges Jsa 64. 6. 3. Have a care that when thou art under conviction thou doest not satisfie thy self with a notion of the free grace of the Gospel My meaning is doe not content thy selfe with any measure of knowledge that thou canst attain unto or bottome thy peace upon it thinking thou art now well enough because thou canst speak much of the grace of God and his love in Christ to

thinking thy self to be wondrous well because of that Notion of the Truth and that notion thou hast in the things of God I say being in this state thou art lyable to these dangers First Thou art like to perish if thou die with this notion in thine head except God out of his rich gr ace doe work a saving work of grace and knowledge in thy heart for know this thou m●yest understand glorious mysteries and yet be a Castaway 1 Cor. 13. 1 2 3. Or else Secondly thou art lyable to the next damnable heresy that the Divel sendeth into th● world See and consider Luke 8. ●3 2 Tim. 2. 18. I say thou doest lie lyable to be carried away with it and to be captivated by it 〈◊〉 that at last through the delusions of the Divell thou mayst have thy conscience seared as with an hot iron so hard that neither Law nor Gospel can make any entrance thereinto to the doing of thee the least good And indeed who are the men that at this day are so deluded by the Quakers and other pernicious Doctrines but those who thought it enough to be talkers of the Gospell and Grace of God without seeking and giving all diligence to make it sure unto themselves And for this cause God hath sent them strong delusions that they should believe a lye That they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness as it is written 2 Thes. 2. 11 12. And indeed if you marke it you shall see that they be such kinde of people who at this day are so carried away with the Quakers delusions namely a Company of loose Ranters and light Notionists with here and there a Legalist which were shaking in their principles from time to time sometimes on this Religion sometimes on that and thus these Vnstable Souls are deluded and beguiled at last 2 Pet. 2. 14. So that these who before as one would have bought had somthing of God in them are now turned such enemies to the glorious truths of the Gospel that there is none so obstinately erroneo●s as they And indeed it is just with God to give then over to believe a lye 2 Thes. 2. 11. who before were so idle that they would not receive the Truth of God into their hearts in the love of it And to be bewitched by the Divell to obey his temptations and be damned who would not obey the truth Gal. ● 1. that they migth be saved But you will say what lyes are those that the Divell beguileth poor souls with all I shall briefly tell you some of them but having before said that they especially are lyable to the danger of them who slip into high Notions and rest there taking that for true faith which is not I shall desire thee seriously to consider this one Character a Notionist Such an one whether he perceives it or not is puffed up in his fleshly mind and advanceth himself above others thinking but few may compare with him for religion and knowledge in the Scriptures but are ignorant and foolish in comparison of him thus knowledge puffeth up 1 Cor. 8. 1. whereas when men receive truth in the love of the truth the more the head and heart is filled with the knowledge of the mysterie of Godlinesse the more it is emptied of its own things and is more sensible of its own vileness and so truly humbled in its own eyes And further a Notionist though he fall from his former strictness and seeming holiness and appeare more loose and vain in his practises yet speaks as confidently of himself as to assurance of Salvation the love of God and union with God as ever But now to return and declare some of those lyes which the Divell perswades some of these men to believe First That salvation was not fully and completely wrought out for poor sinners by the man Christ Jesus though he did it gloriously Acts 13. 38 39. by his death upon the cross without the gates of Jerusalem Heb 13 12. compared with Jo. 19. 20. 2. This is another of his lyes wherewith he doth deceive poor sinners bidding them follow the light that they brought into the world with them telling them that light will lead them to the Kingdome for say they it will convince of sinne as swearing lying stealing covetousness and the rest of the sins against the Law Rom. 3. 20. But the Law is not of faith Gal. 3. 12. And then I am sure that it with all its motions and convictions is never able to justifie the soul of any poor sinner For as many as are of the works of the Law are under the Curse for it is written Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the Book of the law to doe them Gal. 3. 10. but that no man is justified by the law is evident for The just shall live by faith ver 11. Now because I am not altogether ignorant of the delusion of the Divell touching this grace of faith also I shall therefore in short give thee reader a briefe yet true description from the Srcipture 1. What true justifying faith is and what it laye● hold upon 2. I shall shew who it doth come from 3. That every one hath it not 4. What are the fruits of it First therefore True faith is a fruit work or gift of the Spirit of God Gal. 5. 22. 2 Thes. 1. 11. and 1 Cor. 12. 9. whereby a poor soul is enabled through the mighty operation of God Col. 2. 12. in a sence of its sins and wretched estate to lay hold on the righteousness bloud death resurrection ascension intercession and comming againe of the Son of God which was crucified without the gates of Jerusalem for eternal life Jo. 3. 16 18. compared with Mat. 3. 17. Gal. ● 20. Rom. 5. 8 9 10. Ro. 3. 25. Act. 16. 31. Heb. 13. 12. according to that saying in Heb. 11. 1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen that is the things that are hoped for faith sees layes hold upon and embraces them Heb. 11. 13. as if they were present yea it seales up the certainty of them to the soule Therefore saith the Apostle it is the evidence or testimony or witness of those things that are not seen as yet with a bodily eye which are obtained by the bloud of the man Christ Jesus Heb. 9. 14. compar●d with Heb. 10. 12 19 20. by which the soule sees as in a glass the things that God hath laid up for them that feare him 1 Cor. 13. 12. 2 Cor. 3. 18. Secondly If you would know who this faith comes from read Ephes. 2. 8. For by grace ye are saved saith the Scripture through faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God Againe in Phil. 1. 29. it is thus written For unto you that is believers it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to

week he appeared first to Mary Magdalen out of whom he had cast seven devils Where take notice how the holy Ghost layes it down in these words Out of whom he had cast seven Devils To intimate to u● the certainty that it was the same Jesus that was born of the Virgin Mary who did many miracles and cured many diseases who did also cast seven Devils out of Mary Magdalen that did rise again Yea saith the holy Ghost it was the same Jesus that did work such a wonderful miracle on Mary he appeared to her first out of whom he had cast seven Devils And let these Scriptures suffice to prove the Resurrection of the son of God Secondly you shall have the testimony of the holy Angels also by the Scriptures And first look into Mark 16. 3 4 5 6 and 7. verses the words are these And they viz the Disciples said among themselves Who shall roll away the stone They had a good mind to see their Lord but they could not as they thought get away the stone which covered the mouth of the Sepulchre And when they looked that is towards the Sepulchre they saw the stone rolled away for it was great and entring into the Sepulchre they saw a young man that is an Angel sitting on the right side cloathed with a long white garment And they the disciples were affrighted And he said unto them be not afraid you have no cause for it you seek Jesus of Nazareth which was crucified He is is not here he is risen behold the place where they laid him What Scripture can be plainer spoken then this Here is an Angel of the Lord ready to satisfie the Disciples of Jesus that he was risen from the dead And lest they should think it was not the right Jesus he spoke of yes saith he it is the same Jesus that you mean you seek Jesus of Nazareth do you not why he is risen he is not here But doe y●u speak seriously and in good earnest Yea surely if you will not believe me behold the place where they laid him This Scripture or Testimony is very clear to our purpose But again the next place is in Mat. 28. 3. 4 5 6 7. In the third verse there is an Angel as before bearing witnesse of the resurrection of Jesus His countenance was like lightning and his raiment white as snow and for fear of him the Keepers did shake and became as dead men And the Angel answered and said unto them viz. to the women who came to seek Jesus Fear you not but let them that seek to keep the Lord in his grave fear if they will for you have no ground of fear who seek Jesus who was crucisied He is not here for he is risen he cannot in be body here and risen too If you will not beleeve me come see where the Lord lay and go quickly and tell his Disciples that ●e is risen from the dead and behold he goeth before you into Galilee there shall you see him But shall we be sure of it yea saith the Angel Loe it is that have told you See how plainly this Scripture also doth testifie of Christ his Resurrection Here saith the Angel you seek a Saviour and none will content you but he even the same that was crucified Well you shall have him but he is not here Why where is he then He is risen from the dead But are you sure it is the same that we look for yea it is the same that was crucified v. 5. But where should we find him why he goeth before you into Galilee where he used to be in his life time before he was crucified And that you might be sure of it there to find him know that he is an Angel of God that hath told you ver 7. And thus have you in brief the testimony of the Angels of God to witnesse that Jesus the Son of the Virgin the Son of God is risen from the dead Object But you will say might they not be deceived Might not their eyes da●le and they might think they did see such a thing when indeed there was no such matter Answ. Well because it is so difficult a matter to be perswaded of the truth of this thing that Christ is raised againe out of the grave that very man with that very body though these things that have been already spoken might be enough through grace to satisfie yet because of the unbelief of some we shall turne to some more of those infallible proofs that are spoken of in Acts 1. 3. to prove the point yet more cleer And therefore First of all do but see how the Lord doth deale with an unbelieving Disciple John 20 v. 23 24 25 26 27 28. You shall see in the 23. ver Christ after his resurrection is talking with his Disciples but Thomas was not with them But when the Disciples saw him againe they said to him We have seen the Lord ver 25. but Thomas would not believe them Another time Jesus comes to his disciples again and then Thomas was with them then so soon as the ●ord had said Peace be unto you he turned himselfe to Thomas and said to him Thomas Reach hither thy finger and behold my hands and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side and be not faithless but believing v. 27. As much as if the Lord should have said Come Thomas thou hast doubted of the truch of my resurrection very much Thou saiest that thou wilt not believe except thou doe feel with thy fingers the print of the nailes and doe thrust thy hand into my side Come Thomas reach hither thy finger and behold my hands and see if there were not the nayls driven through them And reach hither thy hands and thrust them into my side and feele if I have not the very hole in it still that was made with the Speare that the Souldier did thrust into it and be not so full of unbelief but believe that my resurrection is a glorious truth Another in fallible proofe is that in Luke 24. from the 36. to the end of the 44. verse In v. 36 it is said that the Lord even while they were talking stood in the midst of them and said Peace be unto you But they were so far from being at peace that they were terrified and supp●sed that they had ●eet a Spirit And Jesus said to them Why are ye troubled and why do thoughts arise in your hearts what doe you thinke that I am a spirit Do you think your eyes dazle behold my hands and my feet Look well upon me and see my hands and the holes in them and likewise my feet and the holes in them and know that it is I my self and not a spirit as you suppose Know that it is I my self and not an ther. Doth your heart faile you then take hold of me with your hands yea handle me and see for a spirit hath not flesh and