Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	brethren_n	know_v	life_n	4,656	5	5.3920	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A76316	An examination of the chief points of Antinomianism, collected out of some lectures lately preached in the church of Antholines parish, London: and now drawn together into a body, and published for the benefit of all that love the holy truth of God, / by Thomas Bedford B. D. Vnto which is annexed, an examination of a pamphlet lately published, intituled The compassionate Samaritan, handling the power of the magistrate in the compulsion of conscience: by the same author.	Bedford, Thomas, d. 1653.	1647 (1647)	Wing B1668; Thomason E370_15; ESTC R201292	67,960	90

work But the Motive and main cause of their performances it is some by-end and base respect as in Jehu and the Pharisees which appeareth in this That when that end is gained or that respect ceaseth then also their work is at an end though the Glory of God and the good of Christs Church be never so much concerned None but the Childe of God doth make the Glory of his Father the end and aim of all his actions All others begin and end in Self Object This sincerity is not found in the ordinary practises of Christians either in the exercises of Religion or in the works of mercy and justice For why saith the Doctor Is there not much Self mixed in their performances in praying and fasting Is not the end of these Duties to be delivered from Danger Sol. It is I grant one end but not the Vltimate end In these exercises we seek our own good bread pardon preservation deliverance and that not unlawfully For Christ hath taught us to put them into our prayers but still with this caution For thine is the Glory i. e. To desire them only as subservient to the glory of God should we desire these for our selves i. e. to spend them upon our lusts to live to our selves in matter of profit pleasure and preferment this were self-seeking But thus to desire them that in the use of them we may be the more instrumental to glorifie God in our several places this is not Self-seeking Say the same of Men-pleasing though a man do encourage himself in goodness by the praise of men by listening to the acceptableness of his well doing yet so long as the praise of men is not as it was in the Pharisees the prime and principal inducement of doing what is done this is not Men-pleasing both of these are defined not by the subservient but by the ultimate end of our endeavors if that be right there is sincerity in the Obedience and this sincerity is a ground of confidence the work of the spirit an Argument of our Adoption Object Not so saith the Antinomian Doctor For we read in Rom. 10. 1. 3. That the Jews had a zeal-and this was exercised in Obedience to the will of God yet these were En 〈…〉 to Christ And how can that be an evidence of Adoption that is found in an Enemy Sol. Is not this a gross mistake The point is touching sincerity and his proof is by an instance of zeal Is there no difference Is not sincerity the singleness of the heart and zeal the earnestness of the spirit Besides this their zeal was not according to knowledge If this kinde of zeal profit not shall not that which is according to knowledge and guided by the rules of Holy discretion shall not that afford comfort That which he addeth viz. That their zeal was not in a corrupt way of their own devising is directly contrary to the Apostle For he saith of them That in seeking to establish their own Righteousness they have not submitted to the Righteousness of God It was therefore a way of their own devising which is proved Verse 4. Christ is the end of the Law for Righteousness to every one that believeth So that to seek the establishment of the Law though the Law of God for another end then God hath appointed yea in opposition to that end is not an Argument of sincerity but an act of a turbulent passion Papists contend much for the efficacy of the Sacraments But while they place in them an efficacy altogether independent upon Faith do they not seek to establish their own fancies and not the truth of God T●●s did these Jews they pretended for God but in a way of their own devising Not much unlike to many among us who pretend for the Scepter of Christ but only in a way of their own Were the zeal of all th●se sincere as it should be there would be in them a readiness to embrace and submit to what shall appear to be the minde of God and say Vnicat Veritas or as St. Paul in 2 Cor. 13. 8. We can do nothing against the truth 3. Text. 1 Joh. 3. 14. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the Brethren Hence we collect That the state of our Adoption and standing right in the sight and favor of God is a thing that may be known that this love of our Brethren is a note and evidence thereof For why Love is of God cap. 4. 7. an effect of the Spirit Gal. 5. 22. For while the Spirit of Adoption doth shed abroad the love of God in our hearts and make us sensible of it it doth cause in us a love to him that loved us first and for his sake who hath begotten us a love to them also that are as we are begotten of God This is so plain that it may seem strange that any should either deny it or doubt of it Yet saith the Doctor Object The scope of the Apostle is to comfort them against the hatred of the World and he sheweth what esteem they had one of another q. d. though the World do not esteem us yet our judgement one of another is that we are the people of God grounding our selves upon this that we do love one another so that this is rather a mark how another may know me then how I may know my self Sol. Is not this strange That the Apostle should set this down as a ground of comfort to bear up the heart against the hatred of the World viz. The good esteem that Christians have of us Will this secure the soul against sadness and sorrow will not Satan suggest What if they be deceived They know not the heart they judge by the outward appearance by the expressions of love to the Brethren and therein they may be deceived And that the Text must be understood of that immanent and reflexive act of knowledge which passeth a Censure upon our selves it is evident by that that followeth For the Apostle having set this down as a rule of discerning their spiritual estate and proved Ve●●e it 15. and pressed it by the example of Christ whose love was manifested by laying down his life for us Verse 16. whom we are to imitate in a real demonstration of our inward affection to the Brethren He urgeth again this Motive That hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him And I would gladly ask whether here also the Apostle doth intend to teach us that by this act of love we way assure our selves touching others and rest secure that we are not decceived And what so great matter is this if in the mean space we may not evidently judge the state of our own souls And what meaneth he to adde this Verse 21. If our heart condemn us not we have boldness toward God Certainly the Apostles intention is to set down an evidence of Self-discerning Object But suppose it

Doctrine of Good and Evil of Good and so the Rule of an holy life of Evil and so the revealer of Sin and Transgression This was the substance of that which we call the Moral Law The Circumstance of it was That it was made the condition of a Covenant for Life and Salvation and so required of all them that were under the Covenant and expected life and salvation by it of them I say it required complete and perfect obedience otherwise no hope to obtain their expectation Nay more it exacted this obedience under a Curse so that in case of disobedience not only shall they fail of Life but come under the condemnation of Death and this was that that proved the ruine of man In the constitution of the Church of Israel the Ceremonial Law was added This set down that Form of Worship and Service of God in the right observation whereof they might finde both Expiation of their Offences and Acceptation of their Obedience This consisted in many Rites and Ceremonies Sacrifices and Ordinances all limited to the observation of Times when of Places where and of Persons by whom these were to be performed ex gr. No Sacrifice might be offered but upon one Altar Nor by any person but by one of the Family of Aaron No Circumcision but upon the Eighth day Nor Passover eaten but on the Fourteenth of the first or second Moneth and this no where but at Jerusalem Three times a year must every Male appear before the Lord and every Woman at her Purification make a journey thither so that this became a yoke of Bondage to the Church of Israel especially in the latter Age thereof when they of that Nation were scattered among the Heathen and lived in places far remote from the Temple of Jerusalem This then is the yoke of Moses Law No hope to escape the Curse of the Moral Law but by those expiations prescribed in the Ceremonial Law No hope of acceptance in what they endeavored in the way of Obedience except they attend upon and seek it in those services appointed No nor those services accepted but in a most exact observation of all the circumstances which the Law set down From this yoke it is which Christ by his death hath freed the Christian And in this liberty it is that St. Paul would have have them stand fast that they be not entangled again in that former yoke of Bondage So then the Ceremonies of Moses Law are quite taken away by Christ the Sacrifice of whose Death is become the only expiation for all Transgressions and the only way and mean of Acceptation in the performance of all duties whatsoever Yea the Moral part of Moses Law is taken away in respect of the circumstance thereof it is no more the condition of the Covenant for Life and Death Not of life and so Justification may be had without it Not of death and so no fear of Condemnation by it provided alway that by Faith men lay hold upon Christ keep close to him and walk according to those Rules of Holiness that he hath prescribed for in so doing we obtain what the Law promised Life and Salvation By him we escape what the Law threatned Death and Condemnation So then though the Law be taken away in respect of this Circumstantial use thereof as a condition yet not in respect of that Substantial consideration viz. as the Doctrine and Direction of Good and Evil Nay in this respect it is reassumed and re-established by Christ In the former consideration of it it is that the Apostle saith Romans 10. 4. That Christ is the end of the Law i. e. he hath done that for man which the Law would but could not The Law would bring man to life and salvation This is the primary end and intention of it but the Law could not in respect of mans weakness Rom. 8. 3. This Christ hath done and so is become the end of the Law for Righteousness and Justification to every one that believeth In the same circumstantial consideration of the Law it is that the Apostle saith Rom. 6. 14. Ye are not under the Law and Rom. 7. 4. We are dead to the Law and so delivered from it viz. as it was the condition of the Covenant And that this is the meaning of it is plain by this That it is set down as a reason to prove that sin shall not have dominion over us viz. to binde us to condemnation in case of defectiveness and failings Because saith he ye are not under the Law but under Grace not under that condition of full and perfect Obedience in which if any defects were found sin did presently dominier and threaten death But under a condition in which not only sincerity of obedience is accepted though it be imperfect but also help and assistance in doing the Duties is afforded So that with much cheerfulness may we strive against the raign of Sin and that over-masterful sway which heretofore it had in us and over us Yet this doth not prove but that still we are under the Doctrine and Direction of the Law for Duties of Holiness Yea those duties which by the grace of Christs Spirit we are enabled to perform for this must be acknowledged That though the Law requireth many Duties of Holiness and Sanctification yet is it only the Spirit of Christ which enableth us to perform them these I say are justly termed the Works of the Law because done in relation to the Law though not in the capacity of a condition as in the Covenant of Works yet in the capacity of a Rule and Square of Direction and a Duty of Holiness Object They Reply That St. Paul saith Gal. 3. 10. They that are of the Works of the Law are under the Curse So that either the Law is abrogated even in respect of the Works thereof or else neither is the Curse abrogated if Christians be tyed to the Works they are not freed from the Curse True if they will be of the Works of the Law they shall be under the Curse But what is it to be of the Works of the Law Is it to take directions from the Law for our ways and walkings Is it to yield obedience to the Law No It is to seek Justification and Salvation by the merit of Works done in obedience to the Law This is plain to him that readeth the former Verses to be of Faith is to seek Salvation by the Gospel i. e. by believing in Christ and so To be of the Works of the Law is to seek salvation by them Now then such who will seek salvation by the Works of the Law are under the Curse saith St. Paul Good reason because they cannot satisfie the perfection of the Law And he that will challenge any thing in the way of Iustice must be content to suffer the penalty if he come short of the perfection which the Rule requireth Object Nay but say they The Law is not made for a Righteous

so yet so intricate is this way of Examination that a Christian shall finde himself much puzzled in it Why so Because hard it is to know both what it is to love and who is a Brother And till these be known how can we try our selves by the Sign Sol. Grant it to be hard yet if not impossible we know that difficulty doth not take off but stirreth up diligence What it is to love we may learn from 1 Cor. 13. 5. and 1 Job 3. 16 17. And who is a brother from Gal. 6. 10. Quest But who can truly say I love the Brethren if those be acts effects and properties of love Who can approve himself to have loved in all those particulars Ans. Even he that hath received the Spirit of God for Love is one of the fruits of the Spirit And though peradventure he hath not attaind to that perfection of love which another hath himself desires yet is he not therfore excluded from the truth therof Quest But who can know that this or that man is a Brother Doth not this Brotherhood confist in being united unto Christ Doth any man know this but God alone Ans. Is not this in effect to tell the Apostle he speaks absurdly and sets down a mark of knowing which cannot be known For when the Apostle saith We know Because we love Doth he not pre-suppose that it may be known We love the Brethren both in respect of the Act and Object i. e. both what it is to love and who are the brethren But admit that I cannot infallibly discern who is and who is not a Brother yet may I discern the ground of my love to him viz. because I conceive him to be a Brother I love him under that notion Object So do Papists and Sectaries these love their own and under the notion of Brethren Sol. It may be so but what then Is this therefore no sign or mark of our spiritual condition which St. John hath set down But indeed neither Papists nor Sectaries do love under this notion in St. Johns meaning if their love be confined to Papists and Sectaries He loveth a man under the right notion of a Brother who doth love him eo nomine because there is Aliquid Christi in him because he is of the Houshold of Faith a believer in Christ But if in case of a Brothers necessity yet there be no fruit of love to be seen except also there be in him Aliquid nostri viz. That he be of our Sect and Opinion If all Christianity be confined within the narrow compass of this or that Opinion surely this is not to love the Brethren Let all Sectaries look to it and the Antinomians by name who pretend to be the only Brethren because they only sit down by the free grace of God and rest themselves upon the promises of the Gospel though they see themselves full of sin Let them I say look to it for if their Charity will not extend it self to relieve the necessities and bear with the infirmities of those other whom they accuse to run after Moses and the Law for their peace and satisfaction of Spirit in as much as they cannot but know that if we do erre it is through mis-understanding of the Scripture according to which we desire to frame all our faith and practises certainly they cannot approve themselves to love the Brethren you will say this may easily be retorted Nor will I deny the justness thereof should I suffer the difference of Opinion so far to draw off mine affection from any that professeth Christ as in the case of his necessity to neglect him to reckon him no better then a Turk I should doubt whether the Spirit of Christ dwelled in me or not Is he a man that would not succor a man though a Heathen or Turk against a Lyon or a Bear And is he a Christian that will not succor a Christian though perhaps a Papist or a Sectary against a Turk Is not the Text of St Paul plain Do good to all but especially to the Houshold of Faith And why to them especially But because they embrace the Gospel and so profess themselves the subjects and servants of Christ Truth it is that among them there is some difference also by a different measure of the Spirit And as each is before other in it so the especially falls upon him We say that God himself is the first and chief Beloved other things are loved for Gods sake viz. All the Creatures but especially Man because there is in him more of God then in the rest All men but especially Christians Because they profess subjection to Christ All Christians but especially them in whom the work of the Spirit is most eminent This it is to love the Brethren But now if beyond all this there must be Aliquid nostri in them some special Relation to us or else no love extended to them This is not to love the Brethren Of such St. Iohn addeth He that loveth not his Brother abideth in Death The second Proposition That the new way of evidencing our Adoption and Iustification only by the Spirit and Faith cannot lay the Ground of a firm setled Peace except the work of the Sanctifying Spirit also do come in to give Testimony For the manifestation of which I shall shew 1. What is delivered touching each 2. Wherein I conceive it to fail of the Truth First Touching the Spirit It is termed The Revealing evidence which speaks to a mans own Spirit saying Be of good cheer thy sins are forgiven Christ administred this Comfort only in general But the Spirit cometh home to every man in particular Whence he is called The Comforter because he so speaks to the Soul that the Judge is also satisfied And when men do fear My sin is not pardoned The Spirit speaks to the Soul and saith They are pardoned Till this be revealed all the World shall never satisfie the Soul all signs and marks are meer riddles The Spirit of Adoption teacheth as to cry Abba Father The Spirit it self i. e. the immediate voice of the Spirit without any instrument what God hath determined of this or that man is not set down in the scripture But it is revealed by the Spirit Hence the Spirit is the seal and the earnest To this effect the Antinomian Doctor And hereupon he expostulateth Why do men scorn and cry out of them that teach and profess this as of Enthusiasts men that have Revelations Is not saith he the Spirit of God the Spirit of Revelation Is he not given to reveal these things And to confess the truth In all this I see not what can be denyed or much doubted of though all his proofs are not convincing that one Text of Rom. 8. 16. doth speak home to the point That the Spirit of God is the Revealing evidence The voice of the Spirit is the chief though not the only Testimony of our Adoption But all the