Selected quad for the lemma: doctrine_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
doctrine_n	church_n	teach_v	teacher_n	2,504	5	9.1605	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A10393	The necessitie of righteousnes. Or A profitable and fruitfull sermon vpon the fift chapter of the Gospell of S. Mathew. vers. 20. Preached and penned by that famous, learned, iudicious, orthodoxall, holy, wise, and skilfull preacher and servant of God, now deceased, and with his God triumphing in Heaven, Iohn Randall, Batchelour of Divinitie, pastour of St Andrewes Hubbart in little East-cheape London, sometimes fellow of Lincolne Colledge in Oxford. And now published, to the glory of God, the edification of his Church, and the honourable memoriall of the author, by William Holbrooke, preacher of the Word of God in the church aforesaid	Randall, John, 1570-1622.; Holbrooke, William.	1622 (1622)	STC 20675; ESTC S115634	15,134	32

righteousnesse Text. and thirdly the measure of that righteousnesse so qualified it must not be scant but abound and exceede your righteousnesse must exceede Or els Text. that we may draw it into a narrower Division The thing required is righteousnesse which our Saviour describes by way of comparison with the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees In whose righteousnesse he seemes to taxe a double defect and requires in the righteousnesse of his Disciples the supplying of both those defects First their righteousnesse it was but counterfeit it was not good enough and therefore the righteousnesse of Christs Disciples must be a better righteousnesse and secondly their righteousnesse was very scarse and sparing and therefore the righteousnesse of Christs Disciples must be more there must be greater store of righteousnesse in them then was in the Scribes and Pharisees so that it must exceed both in goodnes in greatnes First of the matter of this Dutie which is righteousnesse whereby we are to vnderstand the whole obedience which a man doth owe vnto God both in respect of his faith and in respect of his life both for doctrine and also for manners For indeed so much is enforced exactly by the Antithesis or Opposition here specified whereas exception is made both against the Scribes and the Pharisees too For as it shall afterwards God willing more plainly appeare the Scribes they were skilfull in the knowledge of the Law and the Pharisees they were precise and formall in the practise of the Law the Scribes were the men of greatest learning and the Pharisees the men of exactest living that these times did affoord Therefore exception being taken against them both it is very plaine that our Saviour would haue his Disciples both to know the Law better then the Scribes and to practise the Law better then the Pharisees Your righteousnesse sayth he must exceed the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees both God as he hath appointed and prepared a Kingdome in heaven so because that is the holy of holies there is no way for any prophane or vncleane thing to enter into it and therefore the Lord requires that every one that would enter therin should be righteous and holy according to that Psal 118.20 This is the gate of the Lord the righteous shall enter into it It is the wedding garment which every one of vs must be covered withall if we would be fit ghosts for that wedding feast which the Lord hath prepared in Heaven The Scripture makes mention of a twofold righteousnesse Righteousnesse inherent and righteousnesse imputed First there is a righteousnesse that is within vs our obedience to the will of God or at least our endevour to performe it as neere as we can and secondly there is a righteousnes that is without vs which being inherent in Christ is apprehended of vs by a true and a liuely faith and so is imputed vnto vs accounted ours as really as if it were within vs. For true righteousnesse is nothing els but the fulfilling of the Law as contrariwise Sinne is nothing els but the transgression of the Law and if we do performe the Law of God our selues here is inherent righteousnesse here is our sanctitie and holinesse of life Nay if we do not performe it to the full for this never any mortall man could reach vnto but the Son of God alone yet if we endevour and striue to it the best we can God that accepts of the will as of the deed as the Apostle speakes doth in great mercie esteeme it for righteousnesse But because this our righteousnes is defectiue too light to be waighed in the ballance of Gods justice therefore wee must goe out of our selues to seeke for a better righteousnes such as may stand before God without controlment and be admitted without any exception and this is to be found in Christ alone who onely hath fulfilled the Law in every point which if we faithfully lay hold vpon perswading our selues assuredly that whatsoever Christ hath done he hath done it for vs then we make it become our righteousnesse The inherent righteousnes is the matter of our sanctification the imputed righteousnes is the matter of our iustification Now our Saviour requires here of his Disciples that they should be furnished with both these sorts of righteousnes Howbeit he aymeth principally at our inherent righteousnesse that is our holinesse of life wherein we must exceed the Scribes and Pharisees So then you see that this is an exhortatiō to good works For howsoever our Saviour came downe from Heaven to Preach the Gospell and the free remission of our sins through faith in his bloud yet he would not haue men to think that faith were enough to saue them without good workes but as many as looke to be partakers of his merites they must be careful to avoid sin and zealous of good works and with all their power endevour themselues to fulfill the Law of God It is a controversie betwixt vs the Church of Rome concerning the necessitie of good workes they charge vs that we teach the doctrine of faith alone trample the doctrine of good workes vnder our feet and that we proclaime a Gospel of liberty and security But this is a manifest slander against vs for we doe teach the doctrine of good workes and exhort men to be careful in seeking to please God by holines of life as earnestly as they doe True indeed that wee deny good workes to be necessary in the worke of our justification for it is faith alone that doth iustifie vs in the sight of God but wee hold them to be absolutely necessary to our salvation so that our adversaries doe very deceitfully change the state of the questiō that is betwixt vs bearing the world in hand that we deny all good works therby to discredit reproch our religion No beloved we for our parts doe very constantly hold against all the Libertines in the world that there never was any man nor ever can any man ordinarily be saued without good works We do indeed magnifie the doctrine of faith but doe we thereby disanull the doctrine of good workes God forbid saith the Apostle Nay rather we establish the law of workes by establishing the law of faith For when we preach vnto men the singular loue of Iesus Christ wherewith he hath loued them even aboue his owne life his own precious bloud which is the matter of our faith presently we make vse hereof as being a very forcible motiue to perswade men that they should endevour themselues by all meanes possible to requite this loue of Christ with loving him againe which is the matter of our good works But to leaue our adversaries and to come to the present matter it selfe which we haue in hand Our Saviour here exhorting his Disciples to righteousnesse shewes vs plainely what an odious thing it is in his sight for a man to be a professed Christian and Scholler of his when he hath no care to glorifie the name of God to grace his owne profession by liuing righteously in this present world nay he shews further that all that ever he hath done for vs he hath done it to this end that we might still be conversant in the exercises of righteousnesse A thing which the Apostle hath set downe in more plaine and expresse termes Tit. 2.11 where he saith the grace of God which bringeth saluation to all men hath appeared to what end that we should liue in security that we should turne it in wantonnes No but to this end that we should deny all vngodlines and worldly lusts and that we should liue soberly righteously and godly in this present world And as this duty is laid vpon all those that professe the name of Iesus Christ so it concernes vs of the Ministery more then any other let vs not content our selues with a vaine shaddow of Faith and let not vs thinke that it is our knowledge that can saue vs for vnlesse we haue righteousnes 〈…〉

Kingdome this is a lesson for you You that I haue made speciall choise of to preach my Gospell this is a lesson for you I say it to you first that you might learne it and practise it your selues and I say it to you that afterwards you may teach it to others For as it was in that miraculous banket when fiue thousand people were fedde with fiue Barly loaues and two fishes our Saviour tooke the victuals and gaue first to his Disciples and the Disciples gaue to them that were set downe as it is Ioh. 6.11 even so in this spirituall banquet of feeding soules our Saviour first giues this heavenly food to his Disciples I say vnto you sayth he that his Disciples might afterward deliver and impart the same vnto others Briefly vnderstand him thus I say vnto you as if he should familiarly conferre with them on this manner I am your Master and you are my Disciples and I would faine haue you to be saved howsoever all the world speedes besides therefore I say vnto you young beginners and petie Schollers are taught by those that are of a higher fourme and of longer standing then themselues are but the greatest and best Schollers are taught by the Master himselfe and therefore howsoever your predecessours being but as it were young Schollers haue beene taught by Moses or Elias or some one of the Prophets and Priests yet you as being the highest Schollers in the Schoole of my Gospell you I teach in my owne person I say vnto you that except your righteousnesse c. And so much for the opening of the true meaning of the Asleveration Now let vs see what profitable Observations may hence be gathered for our Instruction And first concerning the Author and Teacher of this Doctrine which is Iesus Christ himselfe who here sayth I say Behold here Beloved the wonderfull loue of God towards mankinde He had vsed the Ministery of the Patriarkes to instruct their Families but that did not satisfie him He had vsed the Ministery of Moses in the Law to instruct his people but that did not satisfie him He had vsed the Ministery of the Prophets to instruct them but that did not satisfie him He had vsed the Ministery of the Priests and Levites to instruct them but that did not satisfie him yea he had vsed the Ministery of Iohn Baptist one that was greater then a Prophet and yet that did not satisfie him And therefore after all those he sent downe his owne Sonne into the world to speake vnto men face to face and to instruct them in the matters of their salvation And this his loue will appeare yet to be the greater if we consider the desperate estate which the world in those times was come vnto all the foundations of the earth being out of course Psal 82.5 as the Psalmist speakes 1 Ioh. 5.9 and the whole world then lying downe in wickednesse as the Apostle speakes and there is as much here insinuated by our Saviour when he withdrawes his Disciples from the Scribes and Pharisees as being corrupted themselues and corrupting others They sate in the chaire of Moses and from their mouthes the people were to require the Law and the whole substance of salvation both for life and doctrine they were the very light and the eye of the body of the Church that then was Now the eye being wicked and the light being darkned oh how great was the darkenesse of the whole body In the middest of this darkenesse came the true light of the world to cleare the Law to cleare the Doctrine of salvation to loose the workes of the Devill as himselfe speakes 1 Ioh. 3.8 that whereas the Scribes and Pharisees Sathans instruments had taught the people hypocrisie he might convert them from being hypocrites and teach them true righteousnesse and whereas they had seduced the world into the pathes of destruction he might rectifie their course and shew and lead them the ready way to everlasting life Vse 1 Here then we learne with what reverence to embrace and in what price to esteeme the Gospell Christ himselfe being both the Author and the Messenger thereof If there were no further reason but onely because it is the wholesome Doctrine of our owne salvation we were to esteeme of it very highly but now that we see it comes from heaven that Christ himselfe is both the Author and Messenger of it oh how deare and precious ought it to be vnto vs This is the Vse which the Apostle makes of it Heb. 2. cap. the three first verses where he compares the Gospell with the word of Angels that is with the Law which was given by the hands of Angels If it were such great danger to neglect the word whereof the Angels were the Messengers how shall we escape if we neglect the great salvation even the Gospell wherof Christ himselfe was a Messenger who is much more excellent then all the Angels are as he had shewed in the 4. ver of the former chapter So likewise he compares it in the same terms of amplification with the word of Moses Heb. 10.28.29 He that despiseth the law of Moses he dieth without mercy of how much sorer punishment shall he be worthy which treadeth vnder foot the Son of God and the Gospell whereof he is a Messenger For as he had shewed before cap. 3. ver 3. Christ was far greater then Moses Were this imprinted throughly in our hearts as it ought to be that it is the word of Christ we would be more eager and desirous of it then now a dayes we are Consider who is the Author of it and what great danger there is in refusing and neglecting it We should flock to Christ as to our prey if we were true Eagles and resort to him in great abundance as we reade in the Gospell that the people still preased vpon him and ran after him thronged him for the earnest desire they had to heare him but now if Christ come to vs so it is but we will scarce so much as step out of our doores to heare him or if we doe it is but scatteringly and sparingly as if a man should gather Grapes after the Vintage Is this the fruit of so many happy yeares of the preaching of the Gospel amongst vs And as this warnes vs to thirst after the word more earnestly so also to embrace it more reverently as being not the word of any mortall man but as it is indeed the word of the true ever-living God Thinke not when you heare the word Preached that it is the Minister only which speaks it for it is the Lord that speakes it and it is he that fayth as here to his Disciples I say vnto you Vse 2 Againe here we see when we are in any error whither we must goe to be reformed even to Christ himselfe by whom the Disciples are here reclaimed for he is our only shepherd that must bring vs home againe when wee

like lost sheepe are gone astray He is our only Master as he is called Mat. 23.8 who must correct all our errors And whensoever we feele any ignorāce or blindnes to possesse our hearts Psal 119 1● he alone it is to whom we must pray with David O Lord open thou mine eyes that I may see the wondrous things of thy Law Secondly concerning his delivery of this Doctrine He saith it Wherein he giues vnto all the Ministers of God a notable patterne of that duty which is laid vpon them they must not be tongue-tied nor dumbe but they must Preach deliver the Lords Message vnto his people 1 Cor. 9.16 A necessitie is laid vpon vs and woe vnto vs if we doe not Preach the Gospell It is the liuely voice of the Minister which God hath ordained as an effectuall instrument wherwith to fasten his word vpon the hearts of those that shall be saved Isaiah 42.1 and therefore for Sions sake wee must not hold our peace nor be either afraid or vnreadie to speake Our Saviour here by his example in speaking to his Disciples doth shew vs our dutie that we ought to Preach and withall that he cannot away with a dumbe Ministery Thirdly lastly cōcerning his auditors you that is his disciples Wherein we are to obserue first that our Saviour had a very especiall care over his disciples that wheras they were separated to such an excellent office as to Preach the Gospell and retayning to such an excellent Master as he was therefore he would haue them to be more excellently instructed both for life and doctrine then others were He had placed them in the world as a Cittie vpon the top of an hill they were in open view and every mans eye would be fastened vpon them and if any grosse imperfection could be espied in them it would be a scandall to the Word a reproch to their Master a discredite to their calling and their evill example would spread it selfe like a running sore to the infection of many others and therfore he would haue them to be better then ordinary their righteousnesse to exceed the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees Now as our Saviour said Mark 13.37 Those things that I say vnto you I say vnto all men so the same which is here spoken to his Disciples he saith it also vnto you beloved Brethren and to as many of vs as succeede them in the worke of the Ministery Let vs carry a watchfull eye over all our wayes that we aboue all others may be good examples And as the Lord exhorts his people Hos 4.15 Though Israel play the Harlot yet let not Iudah so let vs beware that howsoever the Scribes Pharisees doe walke amisse howsoever the common people be negligent in their wayes yet we that are of the Ministery be carefull to liue without giuing any iust occasion of reproofe We are or should be the lights of the world let not our misdemeanour blemish that light of God that is within vs. We are or should be the Salt of the earth let vs not be vnsauoury least we be cast out vpon the dung-hill among the filth and trash of the world let vs duely consider that the Lords owne credite doth in some sort rest vpon our shoulders and that many other mens soules doe hang vpon our neckes and that the Lord having giuen more vnto vs then vnto others will require much more of vs then of others therefore for the good example of others or if that doe not moue vs yet for the saving of our owne soules or if we regard not that yet at the least for the glorifying of Gods most blessed name in whose stead we are I beseech you let vs euery one looke vnto our selues as the Apostle counsels vs and striue to a greater measure of righteousnesse then ordinary as our Saviour here willeth his Disciples to doe Secondly we may here obserue the wisedome of our Saviour in making speciall choise of tractable and towardly minds to whom he doth deliver this Doctrine If he had vttered it to the Scribes and Pharisees he had but striven against the streame they would haue beene so farre from beleeving it that contrariwise they would haue withstood it with all their power and defied the Teacher and beene more incensed against him as afterward they were in the like case If he had Preached it to the common people they would haue murmured against it as being a new Doctrine quite contrary to the wisedome of their forefathers If he had spoken it to the high Priests and Elders they would haue accused him spit on him condemned him crucified him as afterward they did Therfore he makes choise of better spirits then those were even such as he knew would be fitter to receiue readier to beleeue and forwarder to practise his wholesome Instructions he speakes it to his Disciples Neither is our Saviour vnlike himselfe in this course for it was the ordinary tenour of his proceedings he was alwayes very wise and wary in disposing of the mysteries of God We reade of the high Priest Mar. 14. 60. that he questioned with our Saviour about the destroying of the Temple and building it againe in three dayes but our Saviour would answere him nothing he knew that the high Priest was not a fit man to heare of such a matter Likewise of Herod Luk. 23.9 that he questioned with our Saviour about many things but our Saviour answered him nothing he knew that Herod was not a fit Auditor for such matters Likewise of Pilate Ioh. 8.38 that he asked our Saviour what was Truth But our Saviour though he never was wont to smoother or suppresse the truth giues him no answere he knew that Pilate was not a fit Scholler to learne the truth But aboue all other he makes himselfe most nice to the woman of Canaan Mar. 15.26 Where he giues the reason of that action and of all other of the same kind because it was not meet to take the childrens bread and to giue it vnto dogges In the fourth of Luke ver 23. there we may see that our Saviour had done many things in Capernaum of his owne accord which he refused to doe in his owne Countrey though they requested him earnestly What was the reason hereof Chrysostome telles you it was incredulitas populi sui the vnbeliefe of the people Nay Christ himselfe telles you vers 24. that it was the way wardnesse and perversenesse of his owne Nation who would not accept of a Prophet in his owne Country You see therefore that our Saviour in great wisedome doth here separate and take his disciples apart from the multitude into a mountaine as it is in the first verse of this Chapter and there by themselues alone doth communicate these heavenly mysteries vnto them as being fittest for each other they fittest for those mysteries and those mysteries fittest for them This Doctrine doth affoord vs a twofold Vse Vse 1 First here is