Selected quad for the lemma: doctrine_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
doctrine_n	apostle_n	church_n	teacher_n	2,224	5	8.9443	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A44148	The true reformation of manners, or, The nature and qualifications of true zeal in a sermon preach'd in the parish church of Bridgewater : occasion'd by a more than ordinary concourse of dissenters there, upon that pretence / by Matth. Hole ...	Hole, Matthew, 1639 or 40-1730.	1699 (1699)	Wing H2414; ESTC R8060	15,367	34

THE True Reformation of Manners OR THE NATURE and QUALIFICATIONS OF True Zeal IN A SERMON Preach'd in the Parish-Church of BRIDGWATER Occasion'd by a more than ordinary Concourse of Dissenters there upon that Pretence By MATTH HOLE B. D. And Vicar of Stokegursy in Somersetshire 2 King 10.16 Come with me and see my Zeal for the Lord. OXFORD Printed by L. Lichfield for Henry Clements 1699. TO THE READER THE design of the ensuing Discourse is not to hinder but promote Reformation by directing to the true way and means conducing thereunto Neither is there any thing in it to Reproach but only to Regulate our Zeal which derives all its Goodness from the Object or End to which it is directed and like Fire is either useful or dangerous according as it keeps or leaves its due place and bounds I know 't is hard and perhaps improper too to treat coldly of this Subject which is apt to excite a Warmth in the Speaker and to enkindle also some Heat in the Hearers And therefore 't will require no small Skill to know the true limits and measures of this Vertue and likewise no less Care to observe and keep within them For private Persons to be very solicitous about the amending their own Ways and reforming their particular Errors and Vices is a very commendable Property and Duty of a good Christian But for such to be over-busy and clamorous about the Reforming others is many times to go out of their Station and to meddle with things that appertain not to them True Reformation like Charity begins at home and makes Men more careful to correct their own Faults than to pry into and censure the Manners of others Such Censores morum had need have not only sufficient Authority but an exemplary and unspotted Integrity lest their own Miscarriages should upbraid the forwardness of their Zeal and confute their goodliest Pretences They that can allow themselves in the hainous Sins of Schism Division and Disobedience may indeed talk and pretend much to Reformation but can never be true Reformers Such a preposterous Zeal hath commonly very bad Designs conceal'd under it and 't is well known what direful Evils have been contrived and acted under this mask of Reformation So that we are concern'd to watch our Zeal as we do our Fire lest it grow headstrong and exorbitant and set not only whole Houses but whole Kingdoms in a Combustion that we be not twice deceiv'd by the same Artifice I hope this warm Subject hath not transported me beyond the Bounds of Reason and Meekness in the handling of it and that no wise Reader will see any just cause to complain of it as Satyrical or Sarcastical To rectify a mistaken Zeal and prevent the Danger of it were the sole Ends of Preaching this Sermon and to answer the Requests of some and remove the Prejudices of others were the true Reasons of its Publication FAREWEL A Sermon c. GALAT. IV. Part of the 18th Verse It is good to be Zealously affected always in a good thing THE occasion of these Words was from some false Teachers that had crept into the Churches of Galatia with a design to destroy the Credit of the Apostle and the Doctrine deliver'd by him To which end they preach'd up Circumcision and other Rites and Ceremonies of Moses's Law on purpose to undermine the Truths of the Gospel In this Attempt they prevail'd so far as to shake the Faith of many who began to decry the Apostle and to cry up those deceitful Teachers above him This put St. Paul in this Chapter upon reasoning the Case with them ver 16. Am I become your Enemy because I tell you the Truth i. e. Am I become vile and despicable in those eyes which you would not long since have pluck'd out and given to me How comes this change to be made in you that the great Love you lately bore to my Person and Doctrine is thus of a sudden turn'd into a Hatred of both Why he found that an Enemy had done this i. e. Those false Teachers taking the opportunity of his Absence had planted their Tares to hinder the growth of that good Seed he had sow'd among them and therefore with great earnestness cautions these Galatians against them as the great enemies of their Faith and Salvation leting them know that whatever shew they might make of Zeal towards GOD or Affection towards them there was nothing under it but Falshood and Hypocrisy They Zealously affect you saith he ver 17. but not well There is no Sincerity in their goodliest Pretences and in all they say or do their Love is not to you but themselves Yea They would exclude you saith he that you might affect them meaning that they would shut you out from the true Faith that you might affect their Persons and embrace their Errors Wherefore he wills them to beware of them and to shun them as Cheats and Impostors and from their false and counterfeit Zeal takes occasion to recommend True Zeal to them in the Words of the Text But it is good to be Zealously affected always in a good thing In treating of which Words I must enquire First Into the Nature of Zeal and shew what it is to be Zealously affected Secondly I must speak to the two Qualifications of true Zeal mention'd in the Text the one respecting the Time of its continuance which must be always the other the Object about which it is to be employ'd which is a good thing Thirdly I must shew the Goodness or Excellency of true Zeal from those Words It is good to be Zealously affected c. Fourthly I must lay open some of the Mistakes and Miscarriages of Zeal and then conclude with an Inference or two from the whole I begin then with the Enquiry into the Nature of Zeal that we may see what it is to be Zealously affected and here we may note First That Zeal in the general Notion of it is a warmth of Mind that carries it out in an eager pursuit of its Object accompanied with Indignation at any thing that opposes or lies in its way And this is sometimes in Scripture and other Authors taken in a bad fence for Emulations Wrath and bitter Envyings St. James makes mention of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a bitter Zeal proceeding from an over-heated and exasperated Mind and is translated bitter Envyings Jam. 3.14 St. Paul reckons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is render'd Emulations among the works of the flesh Gal. 5.20 This is an inordinate heat of the Soul whereby 't is carried out too eagerly after some earthly sensual Objects or Designs But passing by this we are now to treat of a Religious Zeal which is a warm and powerful Inclination of the Mind after Heaven and Heavenly things For the better understanding whereof we must note 2ly That Zeal is not any one single Passion or Affection but a mixture or composition of more 't is made up chiefly of Love

that they ran well for a time in their Christian Course but they soon waxed faint and tired and so lost the Prize for not holding out to the end of the Race Christianity is often in Scripture styl'd a Warfare in which you know 't is not the furious Charge but the deliberate Courage and Constancy that wins the Field In like manner 't is Perseverance only that commends our Zeal and crowns our Actions with success and victory And therefore the Apostle wills us to hold on in our Christian Course and to be zealously affected always even to the end which is the first Qualification of true Zeal The second respects the Object about which it is conversant and that must be a good thing It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing where we are taught to measure the goodness of our Zeal not by the height of the Passions of which 't is compos'd but by the goodness of the thing about which 't is employ'd And here two things are to be observ'd for the better clearing of this Matter As First The object of our Zeal may be sometimes a thing that is evil and yet a Zeal about it may be a good and commendable thing as for example All Sin in general and particularly Atheism Profaneness Sacriledge Schism and the like are all very bad things and yet to be zealous against these is to be Zealously affected in a good thing but here the Zeal consists not in the love but hatred of them not in practising but punishing of them yea the worse the thing is the better is the Zeal that is employ'd against it Thus the more bold and daring any Sin or Wickedness is grown the higher act of Zeal is it to oppose and suppress it Again Secondly A thing may be materially good and yet a Zeal about it may be sometimes a very bad thing as for instance All acts of Religion in general and particularly Praying Hearing Reformation of Manners and the like are all very good things and yet a seeming Zeal about them may be sometimes a very evil and pernicious thing as when they are embas'd by bad Ends and made use of to promote evil Designs you know the Pharisees made long Prayers the better to devour Widows houses you cannot be ignorant how some upon occasion attend the publick Worship only to qualify them for an Office and take the holy Sacrament to enable them to undermine the Communion of the Church Do not some talk much of reforming the Manners of others without any regard at all to their own 'T is no new thing to pretend Reformation to carry on very bad Designs and we all know what vile things have been acted under a cloak and colour of Religion so that a great talk and appearance for Reformation may be rather Collusion than Zeal and a pompous shew of Religion about it may be rather a mocking than serving of GOD. In short A thing may be materially good and carry a fair shew of being so and yet may want many Qualifications that are necessary to make it really and in truth such It may proceed from a bad Principle be carried on by bad Means and tend to a bad End either of these may spoil the goodness of the thing and marr the Zeal that is employ'd about it The Object then of Zeal may be good and evil and a hearty loving of the one and hating the other will justify our Zeal in both for as Goodness hath charms enough to engage the Affections so Sin hath deformity enough to beget dislike and aversation and consequently to be zealous for the one and against the other is in both to be zealously affected in a good thing But to come to particulars What are those good or evil things about which our Zeal may be thus lawfully and laudably employ'd I shall mention some of the chief of them the better to direct you in these great and weighty Matters of Religion As First To be zealous for the Glory of GOD and the Honour of his Laws is to be zealously affected in a good thing The Glory of GOD is the great end of our Creation and as the Almighty ever propounds it to Himself so ought we to make it the principal aim and scope of all our Actions Whether ye eat or drink saith the Apostle or whatever ye do do all to the praise and glory of God 1 Cor. 10. This is to be the chief care and business of our Lives in which if we are sincere we cannot easily exceed for the highest degrees of all pious Affections are to be fix'd on GOD He is to have our most ardent Love our strongest Desire our firmest Hope our purest Joy all which when screw'd up to the highest pitch fall vastly short of the infinite Perfections of his Nature and our great Obligations to his Goodness And therefore our Minds should be eagerly bent on things whereby GOD may be glorified that his Power Wisdom and Goodness may be celebrated in the World and his Praises sound to the ends of the Earth Again We are to set our selves with all our might and main against those things whereby GOD may be dishonoured his Name prophan'd his Worship neglected or contemn'd we are to have a tender love and esteem for GOD's Laws and be deeply affected with the breach and violation of them These are proper Matter for our Zeal and are to be prosecuted with the utmost warmth and vigour of all our Faculties and when we stand thus affected to the Honour of GOD and his Laws then may we be truly said to be zealously affected in a good thing yea in the chiefest good and the best of things Secondly To be zealous for the Honour of CHRIST and the Doctrine deliver'd by Him is to be zealously affected in a good thing This is the Zeal here recommended by St. Paul namely To strive for the Truths of the Gospel against those false Teachers that would subvert or undermine them And herein we of this Age ought to be more than ordinarily zealous when the Being and Divinity of CHRIST are both call'd in question and the Mysteries of the Gospel not only denied but derided Is not a Crucified Saviour once more become a stumbling block to some and to others foolishness And do not too many use their Tongues and Wits in decrying all Divine Revelations And is it not time to appear for Christ and his Religion in such a profane and dissolute Age St. Jude exhorts Christians to Contend earnestly for the Faith once delivered to the Saints and elsewhere we are charg'd not to let go but to hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering meaning that we should not betray it by Cowardise nor corrupt it with Error nor suffer it to be lost or swallowed up by Infidelity but to come forth in the defense of the Truth against all its Adversaries to use our utmost endeavours in our several Stations to vindicate the