Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
ground_n	divine_a	faith_n	infallible_a	2,243	5	9.9055	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41202	A brief refutation of the errors tolleration, erastianism, independency and separation delivered in some sermons from I Job. 4. I, preach'd in the year 1652 : to which are added four sermons preach'd on several occasions / by Mr. James Fergusson ...	Fergusson, James, 1621-1667.	1692 (1692)	Wing F777; ESTC R21916	200,444	386

trust Act 17. 11. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures dayly whither those things were so They would not take the Apostles Doctrine on trust and this is a command given by Paul writing to the Thess 1 Epistle ch 5. v. 21. Prove all things after he had said despise not Prophecyings So that Doctrines should be brought to a Tryal whatever be their fair pretences Reas The Reasons are first because foulest Errors may be coloured over with fairest pretences And Secondly the Scripture sayes all men are Lyars that is to say all men may Err and therefore words cannot be the Ground of Divine Faith for Faith must have an infallible ground as Ephes 2. 20. And are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets c. i. e. the word Preached by them and dictated by the Spirit of God Vse This Doctrine reproves first the Papists that will have nothing Tryed that comes from the Church but all taken upon trust hence is it that many swallow such Monsters of Absurdities as the Errors of Transubstantiation Purgatory Merite Mals and such like for which they have no other ground but because their Church sayes so But this Doctrine holdeth out another duty that who ever heareth any Doctrine proponed by one or other they are bound to pass their Judgment on it Try the Spirits Now that we may walk betwixt extreams the Papists on the one hand who set up Tyranny and these Sectaries on the other hand who set up Confusion we would know there is a twofold Judgement to be passed on Doctrine Publick Judgement and Private Judgement Publick Judgement again is either peremptorily absolute or limited A publick peremptory Judgement is That which binds the Conscience to obey simply that which is spoken and none have this Judgement but God himself Secondly There is a publick Judgement which is limited and this is a publick declaring and holding out that which is found to be God's mind in his word which does not bind absolutely but in so far as it agrees with the Word and this Judgement belongs to publick Church Judicatories met together in Christs Name They are like the Lyon-Herauld set forth to proclaim the Royal Acts if he proclaim that which is contained in the principal Acts it binds but if he add any thing of his own it binds not Next there is a private Judgement of Discretion and this belongs to every Christian every man in relation to his own practice is bound to pass Sentence on what is held out to him by others that if it be right he may embrace it but if wrong he may reject it but his private Judgement is not binding to others Now this private Judgement or this Judgement of Discretion is necessary because all men may Err Councils may Err Synods c. And Secondly Their Error will not excuse private Christians to follow them in their Error sayes Christ When the Blind leads the Blind both falls into the Ditch And therefore there must be a Judgement of Discretion in private persons to try what they hear And this much for guarding against the Popish Tyranny but least this Doctrine be abused to cast at all publick Church Judicatories we shall next speak somewhat to guard against Sectarian Confusion First Although publick Church Judicatories have not Power to bind Consciences yet when men are in a doubt concerning a point of Truth their Judgement ought to have more weight than the Judgement of private Men And that not only because there are more Gifts exercised together but mainly because there is a promise annexed to the Commission given by Christ to publick Church Judicatories Matth. 18. 20. Where two or three are gathered together in my Name there am I in the midst of them And Secondly From this it followes that there would be a kind of loathness to differ from publick Church Judicatories a man's grounds would be well examined l●st if differing from these Judicatories they also differ from Truth And Thirdly when they differ they are to bear them at Reverence although in such a point they should Err yet for their Authority they are to be Reverenced This much is granted by us to Church Judicatories but no further They are not to be made the Rule of our Faith Vse 2. It reproves those who are Lazie and cannot endure the trouble of trying what they hear but take things on trust and have no more but such a mans Authority he is of that Way and Opinion and therefore they are Fire and Flint Tooth and Nail for it as much as if they had the Word of God for it We have seen much of this in the unhappy Differences that have fallen out in our time which I have no pleasure to speak much of and therefore we proceed to another Doctrine Doct. X. The next thing then that we observe is from what he sayes Try c. whether they be of God that is the Tryal The Doctrine is this That the right tryal of Doctrine is To try whether they be of God or not and this point puts us to give Marks whereby it shall be known what Doctrine is of God and what Doctrine is not of God and here we shall speak to two things First We shall show what are the marks that necessarly infer a Doctrine to be of God And secondly we shall speak of other things that do not infer necessarly a Doctrine to be of God but for the most part follow upon such a Doctrine For the First That which makes Doctrine necessarily to be of God is if it be according to the rule of the Word So when the Bereans are commended Acts 17. The rule they went by in the tryal of Paul's Doctrine is the Scripture And this is Isa●a's rule chap. 8. ver 20. To the Law and to the Testimony c. He would have all Doctrines tryed by the Word of God So the Word is the rule and that Doctrine which has the Word for it is of God and whatever Doctrine has not the Word for it is not of God All Spirits even the Spirit of God himself must be tryed that way And that because the Word is a perfect rule I give only two places of Scripture to clear the perfection of this rule First The heavy Plagues pronounced against those who add to this rule The Word is so perfect that if an Angel should come and pretend a purer Rule Let him be sayes Paul Anathema Gal. 1. 8. There is another place which proves the perfection of this rule according to this point in hand 2 Timoth. 3. 16 17. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for Doctrine for reproof for correction for Instruction in righteousness That the Man of God may be perfect c. So there is as much in the word of God as may make the man of God perfect And this in relation

not absurd for in our Parliament Commissioners from Shires are Judges to the whole Kingdom But how It is as they are joyned in Parliament not by themselves alone It is in matters common to the Shire not in other petty particular Affairs And so it is here They are Elders to all the Congregations indeed as they are joyned together in the Presbytery But not by themselves alone In things of common concernment to the whole particular Congregation not in these Duties belonging to every Congregation in particular Object 4. If this Subordination and Judicatory above Judicatory were of Divine Institution It s like Scripture would have spoken more plainly of it not leaving it to be drawn out by so many far fetch'd Consequences Answer We have already given sufficient Warrand for this Government by clear Consequences from Scripture And Consequences from Scripture are Scripture else we must cast at many points of Divine Truth which have no other ground but Scripture Consequence As the Trinity and Change of the Sabbath yea we see Christ himself grounding a material point to wit The Resurrection upon Scripture Consequence Mark 12. 26. 2. We must not teach God how to set down his mind in Scripture We perchance think It had been a plainer way to have cast matters of Religion to so many Heads By which means many Controversies should have been shunned But He hath thought otherwise The Lord in Wisdom hath scattered the parcels of every Truth through his Book intermixing it with other Subjects as the Gold is in the Mine and this to exercise his people in searching out his mind from Scripture IV. In the last place We come to make some Vse of what is said And the first Vse is this If it be so that this Government by Presbytery is grounded on the word of God Then ye would know it is not a thing of nought we are contesting for It 's a part of that Truth once delivered to the Saints and a Truth of no small concernment What would become think ye of Particular Congregations If they had none above them to call them to an account What Divisions Strifes Heresies Schisms would ensue if people were informed of these Contests that have fallen out among our Opposits themselves where this way of Independency was followed The one half renting from the other Excommunicating one another It might make moderate Men scar at it But we need se●k no other evidence of this than by looking on Scotland and England these years by past In the Church of England Presbytery could not be set up Independency was pleaded for and practised And what is become of it Sathan hath vomited out a floud of Errors that there were never more nor more gross in any time of the Christian World Yea all the rotten Graves of old Heresie are digged up and now avowed Socinianism In denying Christs Righteousness in the matter of Justification Anabaptism In denying the Baptizing of Infants Arianism In denying the Trinity And many other such like Yea there are some Errors there that were never before heard of Some affirming There is no Church they can joyn with And therefore They turn Seekers Some are above all Preaching Prayer and all Ordinances And all these are the Fruits of Independency Again look on the Fruits of the Presbyterial Government in Scotland where it hath been in Vigour God hath made it an Hammer for battering down the beginnings of Error So that these twelve years bypast not any one Error hath come to any Strength And this all under God from Presbyterial Government being His Institution Our Judicatories were indeed terrible as an Army with Banners though indeed we are now like to turn contemptible God himself heal our Breaches Secondly Guard against the Errors that would draw you from this Truth If ye cannot carry the grounds we have been speaking of with you yet ye may remember ye once heard this Truth confirmed from Scripture and Reason That so when ye meet with temptations to quite it ye may advise well before ye yeild I would press this so much the more As that this Doctrine of Presbyterial Government is the Butt of Sathan's Envy the thing he would have most gladly overthrown As that which stands most in his way For so long as it stood in its integrity We might in the Lords strength have defied the Devil to have brought Error into Scotland And indeed it is the thing he sets himself to brangle To get the hedge once plukt up that so the wild Boar of the wilderness may come in And believe me there is nothing makes me more affraid than that through Gods permission the Devil shall get a deludge of Error brought in on Scotland Because those who have been intrusted with this Government have weakned the power of it by Divisions among our selves A copy is casten How that Erronious Spirits need not stand much on the Authority of Assemblies when they would cross their Designs We are affraid yea we may be past ●ear and conclude That Presbyteries Synods c. have lost much of the weight They had lately in mens consciences Only let me intreat you in the bowels of Christ That ye would put a difference betwixt the Government it self and the Persons who are intrusted with it Doe not charge the faults of the one upon the other The best things that are may be abused And it is Peoples Tryal to put difference between the good of a thing and the Abuse of it The Government is good and of God and the abuse of it is evil and of men What is of God cleave to it and stick fast by it what is from mens corruptions mourn for it Pray themselves may get a sight of it And thus ye shall walk in an eaven way Ye had need to deal with God to ground you in the knowledge of these things For we know not how soon we may be put to it to quite them Only remember They are Truths ye have sworn to maintain with your hands lifted up on high SECT V. A SHORT REFUTATION OF THE ERROR OF Separation Head I. Shewing what is required for making one a Member of the Visible Church WE have gone through these Controversies which are about the Government of the Church We are now to refute some dangerous Errors of Doctrine And first We shall begin with the Error of Separation The Errors of Separatists are many but we shall only engage with two Heads of them which are the main The first is That which they teach concerning the Constitution of the Visible Church Or who it is that should be received Members of Christs visible Body The second is That which they hold to be the duty of every sincere Christian viz. That when they spy any corruption in a Church wherein they are Members as if Persons Scandalous be admitted to the Lords Supper seeing they ought all to be Gracious who come there Then say they It is their duty to keep back from