Selected quad for the lemma: end_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
end_n	faith_n	heart_n	unfeigned_a	1,237	5	10.9662	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93868	Vindiciæ fundamenti: or A threefold defence of the doctrine of original sin: together with some other fundamentals of salvation the first against the exceptions of Mr. Robert Everard in his book entituled, The creation and the fall of man. The second against the examiners of the late assemblies confession of faith. The third against the allegations of Dr. Jeremy Taylor, in his Unum necessarium, and two letter treatises of his. By Nathaniel Stephens minister of Fenny-Drayton in Leicestershire.	Stephens, Nathaniel, 1606?-1678.	1658 (1658)	Wing S5452; Thomason E940_1; ESTC R207546	207,183	256

every man is free in the committing of this or that particular sin though it be true in the General an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit It is possible that an healthy man by disorder may fall into great sicknesses but a man of frail and infirme constitution is wholly enclined to sicknesses and diseases As great nay a farre greater difference was between that liberty that Adam had before his fall and what we now have He had a freedome to choose the good and to refuse the evil so have not we now But to take away the force of this answer he further argueth That we can choose the good and as naturally love good as evil and in some instances more A man cannot naturally hate God if he knowes any thing of him a man naturally loves his parents he naturally hateth some sorts of uncleannesse Repl. We do not deny but by the general concurrence and assistance of God man since the fall hath some ability to choose and love the good But what kind of good that which is ethical and moral but not that which is spiritual In the very best actions that a natural man doth when he gives alms when he observes promises when he doth performe any good he sins in the manner because his actions do not proceed from sincere love neither are they directed to a right end The end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart a good conscience and faith unfaigned 1 Tim. 1.5 Because a natural man wants these principles his best actions are stained with sinne As strange as this doctrine seemes to be there is none of us all but may finde a truth of it in our own experience For let us heare reade pray meditate give alms dispute for the truth reforme errours and abuses and do much good for the Church yet we can have no comfort if our conscience once tell us that we do not these things for God but for our selves This is the very case of every natural man besides the sinisterity of ends his actions do not proceed from right principles And whereas he argueth that a man cannot naturally hate God if he knowes any thing of him If he speak of the excellency of God and his holinesse In such a sense if men did know him they could not hate him For that they love him fear him obey him trust in him do all for him leave all for his sake this is grounded upon the right knowledge of that excellency and goodnesse that is in himself And therefore since the fall the blindnesse of minde is the cause of a great part of the mischief The will is perverse in her choice the affections are out of order because the judgment is not rightly informed In a lower sense we do acknowledge that men may know some things of God and their knowledge may be the ground of their hatred of God It may be with some wicked men as with the Devils they beleeve there is one God and tremble But as to the choice of spiritual good he further saith Neither was Adams case better than ours in this particular For that his nature could not carry him to heaven or indeed to please God in order to it seems to be confessed by them who have therefore affirmed him to have a supernatural righteousnesse Repl. If the collation be between state and state Adam had a power to understand that good which is spiritual tolove choose it more than we now have since the fall The wise man saith God made man upright but they have sought out many inventions Eccles 7. ult He must needs speak of a spiritual uprightnesse contrary to the deceits that are to be found amongst thousands of men and women And whereas he saith that Adams nature could not carry him to heaven If this be so God provided worse for him than for the rest of the creatures The rest of the creatures were made with such natures sutable to their ends If therefore God did not make Adam in a state someway fit for heaven why did he create him with an immortal soule This state plainly sheweth that had he stood or eaten of the tree of life he should have lived for ever But falling he did runne the hazard of the losse of that life that might have been had Lastly if Adam coald not have gone to heaven in that nature that God had made him the falling short of eternal life could not have been any fault of his own and the blame would have laid on the creation Were it rational for God to require Adam to go to heaven and yet no way to make him sutable or fit for such a condition This were to require the whole tale of bricks and to give no straw And for that Tenet of the Romish Doctors I wonder that he should stand upon it that Adam was endued with supernatural righteousnesse in that sense at least as they understand it for look what righteousnesse Adam had it was by creation The had stood he had propagated it to posterity The reliques of the image of God do plainly shew in what state he was made in the beginning In the creation of man it is said he made all things very good Hearbs Trees Birds Beasts Fishes all these may be good in their kinde though they were not made in a state fit to go to heaven But it is impossible that Adam could be made in a state very good but he must be some way fit for union with God in which all spiritual and eternal good doth consist Now he comes to the main objection and here he tells us that it is certain there is not only one but many common principles from which sin derives it self into the manners of all men This he undertakes to prove in opposition to our assertion who hold that the pravity and corruption of nature doth flow from the disobedience of the first man But let us heare him speak in his own words The first great cause saith he of an universal implety is that at first God had made no promises of heaven he had not propounded any glorious rewards to be as an argument to support the superiour faculty against the inferiour that is to make the will to choose the best to leave the worst and to be as a reward for suffring contradiction And going on he further addeth this to be the reason of the general corruption of the old world Because saith he there was no such thing in that period of the world therefore almost all flesh corrupted themselves excepting Abel Seth Enos and Enoch we finde not one good man from Adam to Noah and therefore the Apostle calls that world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the world of the ungodly It was not so much wonder that when Adam had no promises made to enable him to contest his natural concupiscence he should strive to make his conditions by the Devils Promises Reply It is true the Apostle calleth the old world

at meat nor pray in their families nor hear the Word nor perform any other spiritual duty untill they have a motion of the Spirit Indeed the Waiters in this sense do come to your pitch they think themselves to be discharged from duty till the coming of the Spirit But is there no middle between these desperate extreames Is there no discharge of duty in obedience to the Commands of God There is no man that lives in the Kingdome of grace but in some one thing or other he must be contented to stay the Lords time what then shall we say because he is necessitated to wait he is therefore discharged of all duty Not so he is still to act in a lower spheare and to wait for further communications as it shall please the Lord to impart them These are the words of the Apostle let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded and if in any thing you be otherwise minded God shall reveal even this unto you Neverthelesse whereunto we have already attained let us walk by the same rule Phil. 3.15 16. The meaning of the place is this every man should walk according to his present attainments and abilities ☜ and in walking doing and discharging his duty wait upon God for further discoveries A natural man is furthest off from God what then is he absolutely discharged from duty Is he not to come to Church to hear the Gospel and to wait upon the means peradventure God may give him repentance to convince him of the evil of his ways Though it is not in his own power to repent yet thereby he is not acquitted and discharged from all performance of duty And so in sundry cases men are to discharge their duty according to present abilities they are to walk in those paths that he hath appointed and to wait upon him for the supply of spirit It is the voice of the Church in her great tribulation I will look unto the Lord I will wait for the God of my salvation Mic 7.7 Now tell me I pray you seeing the Church was compelled to stay Gods time to wait as it were on a Watch Tower for so the word in the Original doth signifie will you lay that in this whole interval she is discharged from all duty This is not so she did discharge her duty in praying seeking and looking to God onely and in the performance of all these she waited upon him for comfort she had none else in all the world no father no brother no friend no wisedome of the flesh no other refuge but God onely When she had darknesse and no light she had a firme perswasion that at last he would plead her cause execute judgment for her that he would bring her forth to light and she should see his righteousnesse But you go on do not other men say of God that he so pitied the world seeing their hard cold frozen hearts therefore of his own goodnesse did he provide fewel enough to warm and melt them but when that is done with-holds the right hand of his power from putting the fewel into a flaming fire to succour them in their distresse and then comes to them and saith be warmed and comforted likening God to that hard hearted man spoken of Jam. 2.15 16. And more such like passages you have page 72. Who these other men are whom you here intend I cannot certainly tell if you mean the friends and followers of this Church from whom you have departed I must tell you you do charge us with that which we do not maintain It is not the result of our doctrine to resemble God to that hard hearted man Who bids them be warmed and gives them not wherewithall We say there are promises to give faith as well as to faith given to give love as well as to love given to put fear into the heart as well as to fear which is put into the heart There are sundry promises given to that end that men may go chearfully about the performance of action that doing their duties they may feel the power and presence of the Spirit to go along with them Therefore we do not say that God keeps the fewel in his own hand and that men are frozen for want of heat These are your calumnies but not our doctrine But to aggravate the matter you further adde The Physician openeth the mouth of one in a hundred and poureth it in by force as for all the rest they are not alotted any share or part therein and yet shall suffer deeply for not taking it it being proffered but not given them page 73. How hard a thing is it for you to leave your old custome of corrupting our sayings before you do confute them We hold that there is a peculiar number which God hath chosen from the beginning to salvation these in time he effectually calleth justifieth and sanctifieth but we never teach that he poureth his grace into them by force Again for others we hold there is a grace given to them nay temporary believers have very great degrees of grace which they fall from by their own desault It is an Impudent calumny then to affirme of us that we should say there is no share or part alotted to them that grace is proffered and not given For my part I do believe in the ordinary way God gives more abilities to men by the convictions of his Spirit then they do profitably use All the difficulty of the point will come to this issue touching the peculiarity of this grace which carries some infallibly and certainly to salvation when others are left for their resisting of the Spirit If then you list to go further and ask after the reason why God doth deal so unequally with men here the Scriptures doe confine you to the Lords good pleasure This I am sure they would not do if a substantial reason otherwise might be given from any thing in man himself Why else should our Saviour say Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes even so O Father because it pleaseth thee And yet further ☜ they who do with judgment maintain the doctrine of election do not think that this mystery is to be propounded to all men and at all times as some unadvised and inconsiderate men have done To let passe all that may be said if you will go to the Doctrine of the Church of England in the seventeeth Article you shall finde that the main sense and import of the Article is this that such persons onely should have the consideration of their election in Christ propounded to them who feel in themselves the Spirit mortifying the works of the flesh As for curious and carnal persons it is more proper for them to look to the threats of God that they may be humbled and for others also when they come to be humbled it is not for them presently and immediately to meddle with election but