Selected quad for the lemma: faith_n
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A79475
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A plot for the good of posterity. Communicated in a sermon to the Honorable House of Commons for the sanctifying of the monthly fast. March 25. 1646. / By Francis Cheynell.
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Cheynell, Francis, 1608-1665.
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1646
(1646)
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Wing C3814; Thomason E329_11; ESTC R200698
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45,495
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60
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their hearts wils consciences to the Will and Pleasure of Jehovah the mighty God the great Creatour the high Possessour and glorious Commander both of Heaven and Earth Secondly His Prudence he laide no unnecessary burthen upon them his Commands were not a Cabala of his owne Invention God did first catechise Abraham and then Abraham was the Doctor of his family and catechised his houshold there is no doubt but he did advise his houshold in Prudentials but he did command them in Points of Faith and Worship to walke in the way of Jehovah It is the most imprudent thing in the world not to distinguish betweene Prudentials and Articles of Religion Articles of Faith Thirdly His Love to the pretious soules of his children servants slaves O happy thrice happy slaves who by the Care and Instruction of a godly Master were brought home to God and made the free-men of the great Jehovah Fourthly His Diligence It was no easie matter to instruct children and bond-slaves with line upon line and precept upon precept Fifthly His Faithfulnesse For all his Commands were Regular Abraham kept close to the rule and therefore neither sonne nor servant could pretend Liberty of Conscience to depart from that Rule which Jehovah who gives Lawes to the Conscience had commanded them to set up for a Rule in their very Conscience No man can grant a licence or give liberty to depart from the Rule for that were to grant an Irregular Liberty an Vnconscionable Liberty Liberty is a Priviledge Irregularity a Sin and no man hath a Priveledge to sinne Observe the Command in the text it is To keepe the way of Jehovah to dâ—e Justice and Judgement It is the Scripture phrase to expresse Religion under the Notion of a way to teach men to make a constant progresse in Religion By way is meant the way of Faith Worship and Obedience Acts 18. 25 26. Luke 1. 6. Nay the way of inward worship as well as the parts of outward worship Deut. 10. 12. Enoch and Noah walked with God Gen. 5. 22. 24. Gen. 6. 9. It is not meant of obedience onely but of Faith I must not be a Selfe-mover I must not be my owne Rule my owne way or my owne righteousnesse Christ is Jehovah my way and as I have received Christ so I must walke in him and by the grace of Christ I must walke in those good workes which God hath prepared that I might walke in not in the way of the old world the way of Cain the way of Balam any wicked way Divers learned men conceive that Abraham did catechise his houshold in these weighty points Concerning God Creation Providence Concerning the innocency and happinesse of man in his first estate Concerning the Fall Sinne and misery of man Our losse and corruption by the Fall Our danger if we continue in that corrupt estate I change the persons that I may speake to you and my selfe Others there are that adde many more necessary points concerning the Law of nature the Immortality of the soule but the Mortality of the body the Day of Judgement Eternall life and Eternall death And O that we would consider that our soules must certainely have an everlalasting Being either in glory or in torments That we may in this our day consider those things which belong to our everlasting Peace least hereafter they be hid from our eyes But it is out of question that Abraham did communicate many other pretious and saving truths to his beloved family Concerning the rich mercy and free grace of God Concerning salvation by faith in the promised seede Concerning Prayer Vowes Sacrifices the Covenant of Grace and Circumcision the Seale of the Covenant Moreover the Commands of Abraham were not onely Regular but Practicall Commands he did not onely command them to know the way of Jehovah but to walke in it nor were they onely to talke of Judgement and Justice but to dâ—e it Judgement and Justice are here taken in a strict and practicall notion the 22. Chapter of Jeremiah from the thirteenth to the twentieth verse is an excellent Comment upon my text Jehoiakim the sonne of Josiah and King of Judah was buried with the buriall of an Asse because he did not learne of his Father to doe Judgement and Justice ver. 15. and to judge the cause of the poore and needy ver. 16. If the greatest of men remaine unjust they will have no blessing upon them all their life no honour at their death I shall not so much as examine whether those precepts which some say were delivered to the sonnes of Noah were not onely pressed upon Abrahams family but upon all those that were thought worthy of humane society by this little that hath beene saide it is cleare and evident that Abraham did not goe about to set up himselfe but to set up God in his family by a kinde of Theocracy the best of Goverments But the Jesuites tell us that Abraham had no written Catechisme to communicate to his Posterity and therefore they conceive that they may vent their unwritten lyes upon the Credit of some doating Pope Our answer is briefe The Scriptures have beene necessary * ever since it pleased God to expresse his minde in writing and will be so even to the end of the world We must not expect such unwritten Revelations as were vouchsafed to Abraham because the whole Counsell of God his Royall Will and Pleasure doe now stand upon record as his perfect Law full Testimony Compleate and Supreme Testament nothing is to be added to it or taken from it To say the Scriptures are not perfect is not to dispute but blaspheme and if the Scriptures were not perfect it is for certaine that they could never be perfected by humane traditions which are so full of imperfection A Synod is a solemne Ordinance of Jesus Christ and I looke upon that Counsell Acts 15. not onely as a Precedent but as a Warrant for the Examination of matters of Fact as well as Doctrines of Faith And such a determination of both as doth not onely direct but oblige severall Congregations to doe their duty by vertue of that Ministeriall Authority which is stamped upon such a Synod or Counsell by an Ordinance of Jesus Christ And yet unlesse it were in that Counsell Acts 15. the Church did for about three hundred yeares together convince and condemne Heretiques by scripture before any generall Councels were gathered or the Popes throne erected I have beene at paines to remove a great deale of rubbish that lay in my way but now I shall beginne to build 1. Governours of families are Gods Deputies they must command for God and give an account to him all the power that any man can challenge in his family as an Husband Father Master is a subordinate and limited power not an Independent or Absolute power for we must testifie our dependance upon God and
by the Gospell is preached unto you Say not then in your hearts who shall ascend into Heaven to bring downe the minde of Christ The Word is nigh unto you Oh let it be nearer to you yet let the word of faith which is preached out of this Gospell be a word of faith ingrafted in thy heart thou mayest safely build thy faith upon the holy Scriptures for they are the words of God and though the Kingdomes of the earth be shaken yet the Words of God will stand and stand for ever Be convinced and fully perswaded that this is the truth be not staggered about it but be confident of it If the Word of God faile I will give thee leave to curse me upon thy death-bedde for I can with reverence and confidence appeale to God and say Lord if in this point I am deceived thou thy selfe hast deceived mee Fifthly Abraham was the Freind of God We are all by nature enemies to God we doe naturally conceive an Atheisticall hatred against him onely because he is a God to Truth Justice and Purity and threatens to torment us for those sinnes which we are unwilling to forsake wicked men wish with all their hearts that God were not so pure just and true as indeede he is and must be unlesse they would have him to be no God at all Are you not ashamed of this Atheisticall quarrell Consider that God is truth can an understanding minde hate truth which is the very dareling of the understanding God is goodnesse it selfe and can thy will hate that which is good even goodnesse it selfe infinite goodnesse God is love and canst thou be out of love with love it selfe Doest thou not see that thy nature is extreamely perverted and become even unnaturall but let me tell you that our enmity though thus unnaturally naturall and grossely Atheisticall is highly aggravated by the Love of Christ Christ died to save me though he knew that I would be his deadly enemy and offers me a pardon sealed with his precious bloud and therefore I doe even hate my selfe for hating Christ and am willing to be ordered as well as justified by Jesus Christ Christs minde shall be my minde Christs will shall be my will I desire to be a man according to Christs owne heart I will be a freind to Christ though I seeme to be an enemy to my selfe I professe my selfe a freind to all the freinds and an enemy to all the enemyes of Jesus Christ Oh I feele I blesse God I feele my selfe transported even beyond my selfe with raptures and extasies of love I am sensible of Gods eternall love to me and I cannot be content with any lesse then an eternity to expresse my love to him I will subscribe my selfe the eternall freind of Jesus Christ Sixthly Abraham was a Covenanter a perfect Covenanter Walke before me and be thou perfect or upright and I will make a Covenant with thee saith God to Abraham Gen. 17. 1 2. Walke perfectly in the perfect way of Jehovah as in the presence of Jehovah You must walke by fayth 2 Cor. 5. 7. and by sincere obedience Ephes. 2. 10. Let your heart be perfectly engaged to God and when that is done all is as good as done in respect of Gods acceptance and your comfort Our Saviour concludes his spirituall Exposition of the Law with this Exhortation Be you therefore perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect Matth. 5. 48. to shew that our sincere obedience is called perfect because our obedience in respect of our desire must be as large as the perfection of Gods holy will revealed in his Word nay he must endeavour and not onely desire to come up to the rule in the most nice points in every Iota and Title of the spirituall Law and glorious Gospel they who do ordinarily commit known sins and neglect known duties will not be esteemed Honest Covenanters they who study excuses or frame objections to elude plain Commandments the Wise man saith are prating fools men of great lips and no brains a fool of lips void of heart or brains Prov. 10. 8. 13. Tell these men such a thing is a breach of Covenant such a thing is a dutie such a thing is a sin they say they care not it is a clear case that they despise their wayes and Gods precepts and if they do not repent of their contempt they shall die for it He that keeps the Commandments keeps his own soul but he that despiseth his wayes shall die Prov. 19. 16. 7. Abraham was a good House-keeper he took care of his family and so I passe from Personal Holinesse to Household-godlinesse We must command our children and Houshold to walk in the way of Jehovah The whole family should be perfumed with the graces of the Governor for though all the pious actions which are performed by every member of the family proceed elicitive from that habituall godlinesse which is in that member yet they should proceed Imperative from the godlinesse of the Governor He should command Give me leave to enquire into the state of your families are they Nurseries of Piety do you look upon your heirs as Gods heritage and labour to make them sons of God and heirs of Heaven Do you desire to be spirituall as well as naturall Fathers to all your Children I am as it were born again in my childe oh that my childe might be born again in Christ and Christ in him I see too much of my own image in him oh that the image of Christ might be stamped upon him these are the heavenly ejaculations of holy parents We must say of our children as Jacob did of his These are the children which God hath graciously given oh let them be graciously educated Have a speciall care of your sons they are the support of the family O teach them to support Religion also that they may bear up Christs Name as well as yours Have a tender care of your daughters for by them other Families are linked to yours therfore season them with Religion and you may by them propagate Religion to many Families Would you have your Heirs good Statesmen teach them how to whet their tools at the Sanctuary to oyl their wheels with prayer and steel their Engines with Religion that they may seek the kingdom of God and his righteousnes in the first and highest place and secular advantages in a subservient way But when and how soon should we begin to teach our children why truly when they are able to learn any thing that 's bad it is high time to teach them something that is good when they can stammer out an oath or lisp near a blasphemy it is high time to teach them their Catechisme and instruct them in Principles of Christianity Teach them their Catechisme in A. B. C. The holy Spirit hath composed some Abcedarian Psalms in Achrosticall verses according to the order of the Hebrew Alphabet that children might learn an Alphabet