Selected quad for the lemma: faith_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
faith_n	rule_n	scripture_n	tradition_n	12,255	5	9.8749	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51916	Sermons preach'd on several occasions by John March ..., the last of which was preach'd the twenty seventh of November, 1692, being the Sunday before he died ; with a preface by Dr. John Scot ; to which is added, A sermon preach'd at the assizes, in New-Castle upon Tine, in the reign of the late King James.	March, John, 1640-1692.; Scott, John, 1639-1695.	1699 (1699)	Wing M583; ESTC R18158	123,796	330

but of the Devils themselves For it is the known saying of our Saviour that Satan's kingdom if it were divided against it self it could not stand Unity indeed is such a blessing as the Church of God will earnestly desire and pray for but yet the Church of Corinth did not cease to be a true Church when it wanted this blessing and was torn in peices by divisions In vain also do some Men make Universality or largeness of extent a mark of the Church for we are told plainly in the Holy Scriptures that Christ's flock is but a little flock and it is at this day so far exceeded in Amplitude both by Mahometans and Pagans that if the whole World were divided into thirty Parts as Breerwood calculates in his Inquiries five only would be found Christians six Mahometans and nineteen Pagans As for Antiquity which some pretend is the mark of the Church tho' we may well allow it to be a great Ornament when attended with truth yet when this is wanting it is but vetustas erronis as St. Cyprian calls it not Age but dotage nothing but error of a longer standing and so harder to be rooted out Some also are fond of a long Series or uninterrupted Succession of Bishops in the Church but as St. Ambrose speaks those who have not St. Peters faith cannot succeed to St. Peters Inheritance and since the Pontificate of Aaron may sometime descend upon a wretched Caiaphas such an antient Pedigree as this may be more honourable in Heraldry than it can be in Religion But of all the marks which some make of the true Church that of Holiness best deserves the name for the Church of Christ should be holy like its Head but when we say the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is the true mark of the Church we do not exclude but include Sanctity for since the Doctrine of the Apostles is as St. Paul defines it a Doctrine according unto Godliness where this Doctrine is preach'd in its greatest purity there substantial holiness free from from all Superstition and Hypocrisie is most likely to be found and if such holiness does not at all times flourish alike the fault is not in the Church but in the Professors of it These are reckoned by some the principle marks and Characters of the true Church but since they are so far from being true marks that without Apostolical Doctrine they signifie little I hope you will allow me to conclude according to the Sense of the holy Scriptures and the Ancient Fathers That the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is the only foundation on which the true Church is built I come now in the next place to shew you That this Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets upon which the true Church is built is sufficiently delivered to us in the holy Scriptures Whatever Doctrines are contained in these sacred Oracles are own'd by the Church of Rome as well as by us to be the Doctrines of the Apostles and Prophets but they are pleased to charge the holy Scriptures with imperfection pretending that they contain not all things necessary to Salvation but must be aided by their unwritten and uncertain Tradition but sure if there were any such Traditions handed down from the Apostles through the several Ages of the Church to this present Age these Traditions must needs pass thro' the hands of the Ancient Fathers before they could come to ours but the Ancient Fathers knew no such Traditions but every where assert the Perfection and Sufficiency of the holy Scriptures Ireneus calls the holy Scriptures such a Rule of Faith as none must vary from St. Chrysostome says that all things that are necessary are plain and manifest in the holy Scriptures Non credimus quia non legimus we believe no more than we read saith St Ierome I shall only add the Authority of St. Basil who saith it is contrary to Faith and a certain argument of Pride to reject any thing contained in the Scriptures or to impose any thing that is not written there Thus the Fathers knew nothing of any unwritten Traditions that were to cut out the holy Scriptures but they refer us to them as to a perfect Rule And well indeed they might since St. Paul tells us they are able to make us wise unto Salvation and he adds more fully yet if it be possible to do so when he tells us they are able to make the man of God perfect throughly furnished unto every good work Thus great is the perfection of these holy Oracles and thus plain it is that the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets on which the true Church is built is fully and sufficiently delivered to us in the holy Scripture I come in the Third place to shew you that the Church of England is built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets King Charles the First as he was not unwilling to dye a Martyr for the Church of England so at his death he left her the richest legacy he could even the most honourable Character that could possibly be bestowed on the best of Churches for this advice he gave to his Royal Sons The best profession of Religion I have ever esteemed that of the Church of England I tell you I have tried it and after much search and many disputes I have concluded it to be the best in the World as coming nearest to the word of God for Doctrine and the Primitive example for Government Whosoever does but look into the Articles of our Church will find how well she deserves this most honourable Character For she professes to believe the Holy Scriptures which as I shewed above contains the whole Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets She believes the same Faith and no other than that which is comprized in the Apostles Creed and explained more largely in those Creeds which are called the Nicene and the Athanasian And as for those Doctrines which are controverted between us and the Church of Rome a little examination will discover which Church is built upon the foundation of the Apostles and the Prophets And 1. Let us examine that Supremacy which the Church of Rome does challenge for St. Peter If we look into the Holy Scriptures we shall find nothing there that makes St. Peter the chief of the Apostles For if Christ had ever intended St. Peter any such Power over the rest he would doubtless have declared so much when the Apostles were at strife who should be the greatest But so far is our Saviour from declaring St. Peters Supremacy that he chides them for their vain strife and contention yea tells them in plain terms that it should not be among them as in secular Kingdoms and Monarchies where one is chief And if St. Peter had at any time afterwards been made a Prince we cannot imagin St. Paul could have been ignorant of it and yet he tells us 2. Cor. 11. 5. That he was not behind the very chiefest Apostles

our Psalmist had surely they frame to themselves such notions of a Deity as allow them with Iehu to drive on furiously in the ways of wickedness It will therefore be a piece of Charity to undeceive these deluded Wretches to shew them the weakness of those Principles they build upon and the vanity of those Reasons which so much emboldens them in their evil Practices and this was the Second General I proposed to speak to And First Atheism is one main Reason why many discover so little fear of God in their Lives and Conversations As the Belief of a Deity is the Foundation of all Religion and he that cometh unto God must first believe that he is as S. Paul speaks Heb. 11. 6. So on the contrary Atheism must needs be the spring and source of all Irreligion and Profaneness Hence is that of the Psalmist Psal. 14. 1 2. The Fool hath said in his Heart there is no God and then follows in the next words they are corrupt they have done abominable works there is none that doth good But how well doth he deserve the Title of a Fool who denies the Being of a God which the whole Creation is one great evident and undeniable demonstration of This vast and wonderful Fabrick of Heaven and Earth proclaims with a loud voice the infinite Power and Wisdom of that Glorious Being which did at first Create it For as the Roman Orator observed of old Should a Traveller come into a strange Country and find some vast magnificent Palace there tho' he should see nothing but Rats Weasels and such like Creatures in it yet he would easily conclude some Wise and Skilful Architect had been there even so the Heavens declare the Glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his Handy-work Hence is that of S. Paul Rom. 1. 20 The invisible things of God from the Creation are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his Eternal Power and Godhead so that they are without excuse The Atheist therefore must needs be in a very dangerous condition who denies that Almighty Being the whole Creation doth so loudly proclaim Secondly Infidelity of the Scripture is another great reason why Men discover so little fear of God in their Lives and Conversations Many there are that believe a God who do not yet believe those dreadful punishments which are threatned in the Scripture and therefore the hopes of impunity makes them run to all excess of riot For when there is an evil heart of unbelief there will be a departing from the Living God hence is that advice of the Apostle Heb. 3. 12. Take heed Brethren lest there be in any of you an Evil Heart of Vnbelief And what better remedy can there be of this Unbelief than a serious consideration of those Miracles which were wrought to confirm our Faith in the Gospel For as Miracles are the highest Evidence Heaven can give and the Truths of the Gospel have been confirmed by many prodigious Miracles so these Miracles have been attested both by Friends and Foes The Universal Tradition of the Church for more than 1600 years cannot but be a very substantial Evidence of these Miracles to all Christians and yet besides this we have the concurrent Testimonies both of Iews and Pagans Iosephus the Iew reports of our Saviour that he went about doing good and confirmed his Doctrin by Mighty Signs and Wonders Nay farther yet Pontius Pilate as Eusebius informs us sent a large Narrative of our Saviours Miracles to Tiberius Caesar who laid them up among the Records of the Empire and accordingly they are appealed to by the Ancient Fathers Let us not therefore be any longer faithless but believing We cannot have a surer Foundation for our Faith than the Evidence of Miracles and he must needs be a Miracle of Infidelity himself who doth not believe those Miracles which were wrought by our Saviour seeing they have been attested both by Friends and Foes and confirmed to us not only by Christians but also by Iews and Pagans Thirdly I shall name but one Reason more why many men discover so little fear of God in their Lives and Conversations and that is a dangerous opinion they have imbib'd of a state of Annihilation after death The Infamous Author of the Monstrous Leviathan has sadly debaucht this unhappy Age of ours by teaching That the Wicked after Death shall have no Resurrection no as he tells them they shall return to their Primitive Nothing and have no more sense of Pain than they had before they received their Being A Doctrin this most fatal to Piety and Vertue For if Wicked Men can once perswade themselves that they need not fear any severer punishment after Death than that of Annihilation then they will for certain run to all excess of Riot For this and no other was the use which was made of this pernicious Doctrin in the days of St. Paul this and no other was the language of Epicureans then as you may read in 1 Cor. 15. 32. If the Dead rise not say they let us Eat and Drink for to morrow we Die But what saith Solomon to such Sinners as these Eccles. 11. 9. Rejoyce O Young Man in thy Youth and let thy Heart chear thee in the days of thy Youth walk on in the ways of thy own Heart and in the sight of thine own Eyes yet know thou that for all these things God will bring thee unto Iudgment What a dismal day will the day of Judgment be to such deluded Sinners They will then at least find this Doctrin of Annihilation sadly confuted when they shall wish in vain that they had never been born and shall call upon the Rocks and Mountains to do them so much kindness as to crush them into nothing For certainly the gnawings of the Worm and the unquenchable burnings of Fire denote another state than that of Annihilation I hope by this time you will allow me to say with the Psamist in the Text Thou even thou O Lord art to be feared Believe it there is no contending with Almighty God Let the Potsherds strive with the Potsherds of the Earth but wo unto him that striveth with his Maker Cease therefore to do evil and learn to do well perfect Holiness in this fear of the Lord all the days of your lives and then that God who is able to destroy you will be found as able and much more willing to save you for the Merits of your dearest Saviour Jesus Christ to whom c. SERMON II. Revel ii 5. I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy Candlestick out of his place except thou repent ST Ierom says of this Book of Revelations that it hath as many Mysteries as Words and St. Austin gives a like Character of it when he tells us it will exercere mentes legentium that is set their Wits to work who set themselves to read it But notwithstanding all this what is said of the Scripture in

and conducted the Wise Men of the East to the Son of Righteousness At his Resurrection all the Graves were opened and those Patriarchs which had slept for many years had a Goal-delivery and graced the solemnity of our Saviours Resurrection The Holy Martyr Ignatius has left it upon Record that those very Saints who were with our Saviour at Easter had a share also in his Ascention upon Holy-Thursday What wonder then if we find one Penitent Thief converted in a miraculous manner to grace his Crucifixion Christ was now triumphing over Principalities and Powers he was now making a shew of them openly on the Cross That therefore he should bear off the Field the prey which he had taken out of the Jaws of the Enemy was no more than was due to the solemnity of his Triumphs Very pretty is St. Austin's Remark upon this passage Christ saith he in rescuing the poor Thief upon the Cross was but quits with the Devil for the Devil took Man from God out of the midst of Paradise Christ takes this poor Man from Satan when he was no less than in the very Jaws of Hell Satan ruin'd Man on the Forbidden Tree and Christ saves him on the Cursed Tree How proper for this occasion was such an Experiment of this Sovereign Balsom There is then no question to be made but this Conversion of the Thief was an extraordinary Act of Grace Novae insolitae quaedam Divinae Virtutis Efficacia it was saith Grotius an unusual Ray of Divinity which darting at this time into the Thiefs heart wrought such strange and wonderful Repentance in him And indeed the Conclusion will run thus high if we lay all the premised circumstances together that the Grace of God should work in this Thief such a deep sense of his sin such an open confession of it such wonderful Charity for his Neighbour such a miraculous Faith yea such a compleat change all on a sudden and that without means yea as you have heard against means and amidst the greatest Temptations to the contrary All these shew the Conversion of this Thief to have been perfectly extraordinary and such as was designed to Grace the Crucifixion of our Saviour And now I pray what comfort can this example afford to the Clinicks of the Age Do they think that God Almighty is obliged to work Miracles for their Conversion And yet it is a known Rule in Divinity that extraordinary Cases must not be made a Rule Because God did once translate Enoch into Heaven must any of us expect the same Honour and Dignity Because some Saints arose with Christ and ascended with him into Heaven is this any ground for our Faith that we shall rise before the General Resurrection So because God did once in a wonderful manner Convert a poor Thief at the hour of Death we must not presume upon such extraordinary Mercy It will better become us to be terrified at the example of the other Thief We read he was left unconverted and his Soul dropt into Hell sooner than his Carcase was taken from the Cross. If thou dost reject the ordinary means of Grace which God does plentifully afford thee thou canst not promise thy self extraordinary mercy at the hour of Death in all probability it will fare with thee as it did with the Unconverted Thief SERMON VII Luke xxiii 39 43. And one of the Malefactors which were hanged railed on him saying If thou be Christ save thy self and us But the other answering rebuked him saying Dost thou not fear God seeing thou art in the same condemnation And we indeed justly for we receive the due reward of our deeds but this man hath done nothing amiss And he said unto Iesus Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom And Iesus said unto him Verily I say unto thee to day thou shalt be with me in Paradise I Told you the last Lords Day that I did not design to examine all the parts of so large a Text but only take occasion from them to shew you two things First That there is no encouragement at all for a late Death-bed Repentance in the Example of the Penitent Thief And Secondly Take occasion from the Example of the Impenitent Thief to shew you that a late Death-bed Repentance is a thing most dangerous if not in some sort impossible First I shew'd you at large the last Lords day that there is no encouragement at all in the Example of the Penitent Theif for a late Death-bed Repentance For this example in many things is vastly different from the condition of presumptuous Sinners in our times This in all probability was the first Call that was ever given to this poor Thief the first opportunity that was ever offer'd him to be acquainted with Christ whereas the Clinicks of the Age have had the means of Grace plentifully afforded them they have had Line upon Line and Precept upon Precept publick and private Admonitions to Repent I shew'd you further how wonderful and extraordinary his Repentance was We find here in the Text his deep sense of his sins his humble and publick Confession of his Faults his great Charity and Compassion for the Soul of the other Thief a Faith also strange and Prodigious such as pronounc'd Christ a just and innocent Person when the great Sanhedrim had condemn'd him for a Malefactor such as own'd Christ to have a Kingdom and that a Kingdom of another World such as made him address to Christ for Mercy own him in his lowest degree of Humiliation when all the World revil'd him and his own Disciples forsook him Such a change as this so sudden and so perfect could not be wrought without a Miraculous Power and was design'd as I shew'd you to grace the Passion and Crucifixion of our Saviour but not to encourage presumptuous sinners to delay their Repentance As therefore we cannot think God obliged to work Miracles for the Conversion of bold daring Sinners so we cannot administer any solid comfort to them at the hour of Death from this example of the Penitent Theif All the kindness the Text will allow us to shew unto bold presumptuous sinners is only to awaken them in the time of their health to a serious and timely Repentance from the Dreadful example of the Impenitent Thief This wicked Malefactor as he had lived a most wicked Life so he dies a most miserable Death his Body was not sooner buried in Golgotha than his Soul was hurried to the place of Torments All the Charity of the Penitent Thief is lost upon him all his Admonitions prove ineffectual he dies Reviling and Blaspheming his Saviour and consequently could not be long from receiving the just but dreadful rewards of such final impenitency I come therefore in the next place to shew you from this Example Secondly That a late Repentance is a thing most dangerous if not in some sort impossible The generality of Mankind are ready enough to acknowledge the absolute Necessity of