Selected quad for the lemma: doctrine_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
doctrine_n	able_a	law_n	zion_n	14	3	10.0231	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A38026	Polpoikilos sophia, a compleat history or survey of all the dispensations and methods of religion, from the beginning of the world to the consummation of all things, as represented in the Old and New Testament shewing the several reasons and designs of those different administrations, and the wisdom and goodness of God in the government of His church, through all the ages of it : in which also, the opinion of Dr. Spencer concerning the Jewish rites and sacrifices is examin'd, and the certainty of the Christian religion demonstrated against the cavils of the Deists, &c. / by John Edwards ...	Edwards, John, 1637-1716.	1699 (1699)	Wing E210; ESTC R17845	511,766	792

Shadows Christ in this sense is call'd the tr●e Light and true Bread Joh. 1. 9. Joh. 6. 32. The Ceremonial Law was but a Figure of the Evangelical Truth And this is deservedly called Tr●th because all the Ceremonial Types are Verified and Fulfill'd in Christ. All those Iudaick Hieroglyphicks are now unridled and plainly discovered to the World and he that runs may read them The Types and Symbols are gone and now the Things themselves are present and are clearly understood by us This makes the difference between the Mosaick Dispensation and the Evangelical One. The Doctrine of Salvation and the means of Life by Christ are more intelligible and plain than they were before Their Conceptions of those things were intricate and obscure but we have arrived to clear and distinct Notions concerning them In short the way of Salvation was before more dark and general they saw Christ through ●ertain Perspectives afar off but now the fulness of time is come and hath given us a near and more perfect view of those things which they saw but in a glass darkly 4. The Religion of the Gospel is more Inward and Lively than that of the Law and the Jewish Administration There is now introduced a Rational and Manly Service our Religion is chiefly the employment of our Minds and Understandings and not so much of our Bodies and lower Faculties We now worship God in Spirit as well as in Truth of which I spake befo●e we worship in a spiritual manner opposed to outward and bodily Service as Sacrifices Purifications c. The Evangelical Righteousness is a Spiritual Administration a Vital Principle able to beget a Divine Life whereas the Law comparatively was an external dead Letter and did not sufficiently actuate the Minds and Spirits of Men. It is true the History of the Gospel or the Doctrin of the Evangelists as it is merely propounded and written is as much external as the Law but the ministration of the Spirit as the Apostle calls it going along with the Gospel in a more especial and peculiar manner is a powerful Principle in the Souls of Men whereby they are inwardly renewed and transformed And so the Gospel compared with the Law is of greater Power Might and Efficacy and is able to produce a heavenly and spiritual frame of Soul and a sincere performance of the Divine Laws This is the Law promis'd to be written in the Hearts of Men and to be put into their inward parts Jer. 31. 33. 5. This Dispensation of the Gospel is larger and ampler than that of the Law and of other Dispensations before it For the Church was shut up in narrow bounds and confined to a few Families of the Patriarchs Afterwards it was limited to the Land of Canaan and to the H●brew People excepting a few that were without who knew God's Will and were graciously accepted But after Christ came the Church was not tied to one Place or certain Nation but hath been ever since the Congregation of all such as truly know and worship Christ in any part of the World The Christian Dispensation is not local and temporary not confined to place or time not circumscribed by a particular Country Now not one Nat●on only or a few of others are honoured with Laws given from God himself but Gentiles and Iews Greeks and Barbarians all Kindreds and Tongues all Countries and Regions of the Universe have heard the sound of the Gospel and have had the Divine Laws which were given by Christ himself offer'd to them Our Saviour bid his Disciples go into all the World and teach all Nations And accordingly as was observ'd before they travell'd into all the World which was at that time known and proclaimed the Messias to them Thus Christ came and preach'd Peace to them that were afar off and to them that were nigh Ephes. 2. 17. All Places and Countries had the privilege of the Gospel and might receive advantage by it This is one remarkable Difference between the Legal and the Evangelical Dispensation the former was Narrow and Contracted the latter was Full Ample Comprehensive and Catholick 6. Altho as hath been said the Conditions of Salvation are the same now as to the main with those before yet they vary as to several Circumstances To begin with Faith the first and chief Condition of Salvation the grand Fundamental Grace of Christianity This is reckon'd by the Reverend Bishop Taylor among the Instances of Duties which are new under the Gospel But the true account is this that Faith was not a Precept of the Natural or Moral Law but was a new Precept added to it by Revelation when the First Promise and New Covenant were made But ever since that it hath not been New for as I have proved the Antient Patriarchs were saved by Faith in Christ. He was the Object of Faith then as well as now the Faith of the first Believers was the same with the Faith of Christians Yet notwithstanding this this Grace of Faith hath a different aspect from what it had The Fathers believed in the Messias that was to come and we believe in the same Jesus who is come and hath taken on him our Nature and laid down his Life and shed his precious Blood for the redemption of lost Man and rose again and ascended into Heaven Thus the believing of Christ's Birth Passion Resurrection and Ascension is in this respect n●w that Faith looks upon them as accomplished But otherwise in respect of the things themselves it is the old Faith i. e. the same which those that lived before the time of the Messias exerted Christ that was to be crucified was the Object of their Belief and Christ already crucified is the Object of ours This is confirm'd ●rom Isa. 53. Acts 15. 11. 1 Cor. 5. 7. Heb. 9. 11. and abundance of other Texts St. Augustine having affirmed that the Saints of old were saved in the same way that we are viz. by Faith in Jesus adds this distinction They saith he were saved by Faith in Christ's future Sufferings and we by Faith in those Sufferings as they are already past This is that which our Church saith speaking of the People of God that lived before Christ's Incarnation Alth● they were not named Christian men yet was it a Christian Faith which they had for they looked for all the Benefits of God the Father through the Merits of his Son Iesus Christ as we now do This difference is between them and us that they looked when Christ should come and we are in the time when he is come Besides a more general Belief was sufficient for mens Salvation before the Messias's coming than is now It was not necessary to Salvation to believe so expresly and explicitly concerning Christ and his Undertakings as we are obliged to believe since So that tho there is not now a New Faith neither are there New Articles of Faith yet there are New Exertments of Faith and more clear

right hand of God which is another effect of his Resurrection is expresly spoken of by the Psalmist Ps. 110. 1. The Lord said unto my Lord sit thou at my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool which St. Peter takes notice was fulfilled Acts 2. 34. And indeed the Antient Rabbies generally interpreted the 110th Psalm of the Messias And that they had reason to do so is plain from Christs Question to the Pharisees Matth. 22. 43. How doth David in spirit call the Messias Lord which would have been frivolous and to no purpose if this Psalm were not to be understood of the Messias yea if it was not so understood by the Pharisees They might have denied that Hypothesis of his and have reproved him for misinterpreting the Psalmist's words But you see they were so far from doing so that they sneaked away in silence being not able to answer him a word ver 46. they knew full well that they were gravelled with our Saviour's Query and that that Psalm was one of the clearest Prophesies of the Messias and his Kingdom and Offices that is in all the Old Testament Thus all the remarkable Passages concerning our Saviour were foretold his Birth Life Doctrine Conversation Miracles Death Burial rising again and ascending into Glory and we cannot deny but that they were as punctually fulfill'd and thereby the Truth of Christianity is abundantly declared Many other Predictions concerning Christ might be mentioned as that first and most early one of all in Gen. 3. 15. The Seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpents Head which in St. Iohn's Language is no other than this that the Son of God was to be manifested to destroy the works of the Devil 1 Ep. ch 3. v. 8. Afterwards that Message of the Angel to Abraham in Gen. 22. 18. was a Prediction concerning Christ in thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed which cannot be understood of any but the blessed Jesus who is a universal Blessing a Catholick Benefit to the World Of his coming Moses his words are to be understood Deut. 18. 15. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee of thy Brethren like unto me unto him ye shall hearken There never appear'd any Prophet like unto Moses but Iesus the Messias the Parallel between which two Eusebius hath excellently shew'd in sixteen or seventeen particulars Yea Christ far exceeded Moses in all great and miraculous Actions as well as in his Doctrine This latter is spoken of in Isa. 2. 3. Out of Sion shall go forth the Law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem signifying that Christ was to change the Law of Moses as to many considerable things and to establish one which should be more excellent and more lasting That also is a most pregnant place Hag. 2. 7 8 9. I will shake all Nations and the desire of all Nations i. e. the Messias shall come and I will fill this House this second Temple with Glory saith the Lord of Hosts The Silver is mine and the Gold is mine saith the Lord of Hosts with these I could adorn and enrich the Temple but it shall be dignified with some greater thing viz. the appearing of the Messias in it upon this account the Glory of this latter House shall be greater than of the former saith the Lord of Hosts and in this place will I give Peace saith the Lord of Hosts Here it is plain that the Messias was to come before the second Temple of Ierusalem should be destroyed by the Romans for the second Temple is said to be more glorious than the first though in it self less glorious because Christ came into it in the days of his Flesh and honour'd it with his Presence If you look to the second Temple it self which was built by Zor●babel and afterwards adorned by Herod and compare it with the first Temple built by Solomon it was far less glorious than that It was not so rich and sumptuous a Fabrick and it wanted several things which were in the other as the Ark with the Mercy-seat and Cherubims the Holy Fire from Heaven the S●ekinah or Presence of the Divine Majesty the Holy Ghost and the Vrim and Thummim Thus they are reckon'd up in the Talm●d tho others say some of these were not lost in the Captivity as the Ark and the sacred Fire but were preserv'd and were placed in the Temple a●terwards However granting this to be true the loss of those other things rendered this Temple much inferior to the former one Therefore for this reason alone it is that the Glory of the second Temple is greater than of the first viz. because of Christ's Presence there This is expresly mention'd by the Prophet Malachi the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his Temple Mal. 3. 1. And further you may observe that it is said here the desire of all Nations i. e. Christ or the Messias shall come which denoteth this to us that the Messias came at that time when he was expected and desired by the Nations by both Iews and Gentiles and that was the very time when he was born as I shall shew afterwards Again those Prophesies are remarkable where the Branch is promised Thus the Prophet Isaia● treating of Christ's Kingdom in the 4 th Chap. of his Prophesy hath these words In that Day shall the Branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious ver 2. Or you may read it the Branch the Lord i. e. the Branch who is the Lord Iehovah viz. the Messias who is God as well as Man Of him the same Prophet speaks again in chap. 11. ver 1. There shall come forth a Rod ●ut of the Stem of Jesse and a Branch shall gr●w o●t of his Roots Which it is evident by the Character that follows can be meant of none but the Messias So likewise I●r●miah prophesying of the times of the Gospel speaks thus Behold the Days come saith the Lord that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch and a King shall reign and prosper and shall execute I●dgment and Iustice in the Earth In his Days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his Name wh●r●●y he shall be call'd the Lord our Rig●teousness Jer. 23. 5 c. And with a little variation he repeateth the same in chap. 33. ver 15 16. which if you consult the Context in both places cannot be understood of any but Christ th● Lord. Nor can that of Z●chary be taken otherwise Be●old I will bring forth my Servant the Branch chap. 3. ver 8. And again chap. 6. ver 12 13. Behold the Man whose Name is 〈◊〉 Branch and he shall grow up or branch up out of his place and he shall build the Temple of the Lord even 〈◊〉 shall build the Temple of the Lord and he shall bear t●e Glory and he shall sit and rule upon his Throne c. which last Clause

Loretto and by St. Iames at Compostella I could shew that the Miracles of the Papists are question'd by themselves their Truth is doubted of by Cajetan de Concept Virg. Espencaeus in 2. Tim. 4. and others of that Communion 9. We may with Reason suspect the Roman Miracles because our Religion was proved and confirmed by Miracles long before It is not requisite they should be repeated and reiterated afresh There is no more need of New Miracles than there is of New Revelations They were wrought to confirm the Truth which we hold at this day therefore since we have the same Truth that was confirmed by those Miracles of old what need is there of any farther Confirmation Lastly the Popish Miracles are no True Miracles because they are exerted to maintain a false Religion for such is that of the Church of Rome consisting of damnable Doctrines Superstition Idolatry and all manner of Ungodly Lewd and Prophane Practices We cannot think then that God will by Miracles attest and allow of such Abominations If then they still insist on the Miracles wrought by some of them among the Indians as they pretend I say this that if it can be proved they were done among those Infidels it was to confirm the Christian Religion not the Popish Thus you see that these Boasters of Miracles and who make them a Note of their Church are found to be but Pretenders and can lay no claim as they are of that Church to those Miracles which are Real Ge●uine and True and which only are the certain Testimonies of the Truth of Christianity Which brings me to the 3 d and last thing I undertook viz. To evince that these Miracles are and ought to be look'd upon as an Infallible Testimony of the Truth of Christianity To these Christ himself appealed as a Proof of his Divinity and Messiahship Mat. 11. 4 5. To that Question Art thou he that should come or do we look for another the Answer was Go and shew those things which you hear and see the Blind receive their Sight the Lame walk C. So when the Iews were earnest with him to declare who he was If thou be the Christ say they tell us plainly Iesus ●nswer'd them The Works which I do in my Father's name they bear witness of me John 10. 24 25. These are a sufficient Attestation of my Divine Authority Therefore he saith in John 15. 24. If I had not done amongst them the Works which no other Man did they had not had Sin i. e. their Unbelief had been no Sin for if those Works were not a Proof of my Divine Commission they were not bound to believe me But on the contrary those miraculous Works being undeniable Evidences of his acting by a Power from Heaven it was a grievous and damning Sin to disbelieve him So the Apostles when their preaching the Gospel was opposed and contradicted thought they sufficiently disproved the Gainsayers by shewing that Iesus of Nazareth whom they preach'd was a Man approved or demonstrated of God among them by Miracles and Wonders and Signs which God did by him in the midst of them as they themselves also know Acts 2. 22. Christ's Miracles were a Demonstration of the Truth of his Doctrine and consequently of that of the Apostles because it was the same Thus St. Paul argues the Truth of Christianity from the miraculous Indowments and Gifts of the Apostles and declares to the Hebrews that it is extreme dangerous to neglect that Doctrine and that Salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord himself and was afterwards confirmed unto them by them that heard him God also bearing them witness both with Signs and Wonders and with diverse Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Ghost Heb. 2. 3 4. Here is the just Method of the Progress and Proof of the Gospel here is first the Author and Founder of it the Lord Christ Jesus who at the first began to speak and deliver it Secondly the Evidence of its delivery it was confirmed by them that heard it i. e. by the Apostles who were Ear-witnesses of this Divine Doctrine Thirdly the Truth and Certainty of the Apostles Testimony concerning Christ and his Doctrine God bore them witness with Signs and Wonders and with diverse Miracles which are as great a Confirmation of what they deliver'd as can possibly be desired Yea Miracles have been always accounted such even by those who were not very forward to imbrace our Saviour and his Doctrine The Common People when they had seen the Miracles that Iesus did could say this is of a Truth that Prophet that should come into the World John 6. 14. This was the reasoning of the Man that was born blind and was restored to his sight Since the World began was it not heard that any Man by his own Power opened the Eyes of one that was born blind If this Man were not of God were not assisted with an infinite Power he could do nothing of this nature Iohn 9. 32 33. And not only the simple and illiterate but the wise and learned argued after this manner Nicodemus a Ruler of the Jews came to Christ with this Acknowledgment we know that thou art a Teacher come from God for no Man can do these Miracles that thou doest except God be with him John 3. 2. Here he confesses it as a known Truth that Miracles are sufficient to attest a Person or Doctrine to be from God and consequently they are good Arguments of the Truth of what our Saviour taught and they prove him to be the Messias And the Chief Priests and Pharisees could say this Man doth many Miracles if we let him thus alone all will believe on him John 11. 47 48. This strongly implies that Miracles are able to create Belief and so unawares they acknowledg that the Miracles which Christ and the Apostles wrought are good evidence that their Doctrine was from God and that it was to be believed and imbraced The Iewish Rabbins in their Writings speak much of the Miracles the Messias shall do which is an Argument that those Men were really perswaded that Miracles are a Proof of a Divine Commission and that they are to seal the Truth of God This was the very Notion and Sense of the Pagan World as is plain from that Passage recorded in the Acts of the Apostles chap. 14. 8 11 12. When Paul cured a certain Man at Lystra impotent in his Feet being a Cripple from his Mothers Womb who never had walked the People of the place seeing this Miracle presently lifted up their Voices saying the Gods are come down to us in the likeness of Men. Their natural Reason dictated to them that this was done by Divine Power and could not be done otherwise The Workers of Miracles are by these poor Heathens reputed as Gods St. Paul was taken by them for Mercury he that could give motion and nimbleness to the Lame Man of Lystra was thought to be the God with