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
A61596	Scripture and tradition compared in a sermon preached at Guild-Hall Chapel, Novemb. 27, 1687 / by Edward Stillingfleet ...	Stillingfleet, Edward, 1635-1699.	1688 (1688)	Wing S5632; ESTC R14282	19,664	34

he that thinks himself never so Infallible in the Grounds of it That is a true Divine Faith which purifies the Heart and thereby enlightens the mind which works by Love and not by cavilling and wrangling about the Grounds of it which overcomes the World and not that which overcomes the Temptations of it And such a Faith and only such a one will carry us to Heaven when if it were possible for us to have the utmost Infallibility in the Act of believing yet if it did not work effectually on our Hearts and Lives we might go infallibly to Hell. And so I shall conclude this Discourse with the second sense of the Obligation which lies on those who have received Christ Iesus the Lord so to walk in him i. e. to improve their sound Faith into the Practice of a good Life For alas What advantage will it be to us to have the most Primitive and Apostolical Faith if our Works be not answerable to it Why call ye me Lord Lord saith Christ and do not the thing which I say Why do we pretend to receive Christ Iesus the Lord if we do not observe his Commands It is good saith S. Paul to be zealously affected always in a good thing And no doubt our Faith is such but then let us be zealous of good Works too that we may shew our selves to be that peculiar people who are redeemed by Iesus Christ. So that our Obligation arises every way from Christ Iesus the Lord to walk in him if we consider him as our Lord so we are to obey him if as Christ Iesus so he died for us to redeem us from all iniquity We can have no pretence to live in our sins if we have received him who commands us to forsake them for then we receive and reject him at the same time Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity saith St. Paul what should those then do that profess to receive him as their Lord who are thereby bound to yield obedience to his Laws one of the great causes of the Degeneracy of the Heathen World was the separating Religion and Morality when this was left to the Schools of Philosophers to instruct men in whereas their Religion consisted only of some Solemn Rites and Sacrifices Let us have a care of as dangerous a Separation between Faith and Works or which is all one between receiving Christ and doing his Will. For those are the proper Works of the Gospel wherein we own Christ as our Lord and do them because he commands us And the Apostle hath summ'd up the whole Duty of Christians in those comprehensive words Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present World looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Iesus Christ. To whom c. FINIS ERRATA PAge 8. line 18. for Days read Places p. 25. l. 15. r. Matim●● p. 28. l. 18. for were ● are 2 Cor. 1. 12. Col. 2. 3. Col. 1. 14. John 6. 66. Rom. 1. 8. 16. 17. 1 Cor. 15. 12. 14. Gal. 4. 14. 16. Ch. 1. v. 7. ●● 12. v. 3. Russia in Symbol Joh 16. 13. Acts 9. 13 21. Gal. 1. 17. 2. 9. Euseb. Hist. l. 3. c. 25. Iren. l. 3. c. 3. 4. Tertul. de Praescript Haer. 1 John 1 2 3. Euseb. Hist l. 3. c. 39. Luk. 1. 4. I●●n l. 3. c. 1. Aug. de Con. ●ers Evang. l. 1. c. 54. l. 2. c. 53. Euseb Hist. l. 3. c. 2. 〈…〉 〈…〉 in Mat. in Pr●●ogo Euseb. l. 2. c. 15. Euseb. l. 6. c. 25. Epiphan Haer. 51. Athanas. in Synopsi p. 155. T●t●l c. Marc. l. 4. c. 5. Hieron de Script Eccles Ambros. in Luc. Luke 1. 1. Epiph. Haer. 51. Theophyl in Luc. Maldonat Com. in Evang prol Joh. 20. 31. Hierom. Proem in Matth. De Script Eccles. Epiph. H● 51. Chrys. hom 1. in Matth. Euseb. l. 3. c. 24. Act. 15. 23. 1 Cor. 15. 2. Gal. 3. 1. 1. 6. 1 Cor. 15. 10. Eph. 4. 14. 6. 17. Phil. 3. 2. 1. 27. 2 Thess. 2. 3. 10. 1 Tim. 4. 2 3. 2 Tim. 3. 1. 5. 2 Tim. 3. 16 17. 2 Thess. 2. 15. Bell. de verbo l. 4. c. 5. Aug. de Peccat Meritis l. 1. c. 4. a In Symbolo Fidei Sp●i nostrae quod ad Apostolis traditum non scribitur in Charta Atramento sid in tabulis cordis carnalibus Hieron ad Pammaclu advers Errores Joh. Hierosol b Nec ut eadem verba Symboli teneatis ullo modo debetis scribere sed audiendo perdisctre nec cum didic●ritis scribere sed memoria semper tenere recolere August de Diversis Serm. 75. c Iacirco denique haec non scribi Chartulis membronis sid requiri credentium cordibus tradiderunt ut certum esset haec neminem ex lectione quae interdum 〈…〉 ad infideles solet sed ex Apostolorum traditione didicisse Ruffinus in Symbol d Tetul de Prascrip c. 12 13 14 21. De Virgin. V●l. c. 1. Adv●s Pra●●am c. 2. August Som. 59. 186. 213. 215. Retract l. 2. c. 3. En●i●i● de Fide n. 15. De Symbol ad Ca●●c● R●ffin in ●●oem c Theod. l. 5. c. 9. d Cyrill 〈◊〉 11. e Theodo l. 1. c. 12. f Cassian de 〈◊〉 l. 6. c. 3 4. g Hi●●on ad Pammach h Ruffin in Symbol p. 191. V. Vsser de Symb. p. 8 9. i Epiph. 〈◊〉 Haeres 72. k Cyrill Catech. 18. l August de Symb. l. 1. Petr. Chrysol Serm. 57 c. m Epiph Ancor at n Augustin● de Fide Symbolo Et de Symbolo Serm. 243. o De Symbolo ad Catech. c. 1. Deut. 9. 10. 10. 4. 2 Kings 22. 8. 23. 2 3. John 5. 39. 46. 47. Matt. 15. 3. 9. Heb. 11. 1. Act. 15. 9. Gal. 5. 6. 1 Joh. 5. 4. Luk. 6. 46. Gal. 4. 18. Tit. 2. 14. 2 Tim. 2. 19. Tit. 2. 12. 13.

the Book of the Law which was found in the House of the Lord. This was the Rule by which Hilkiah the High Priest thought it necessary for Iosiah to go by and not by any Tradition left among them concerning the Law which God had given by Moses 3. This was that which our Saviour appealed to in all his Disputes search the Scriptures saith he to the Iews not run to your Traditions for those were then very corrupt especially about the Messias as that he was to be a Temporal Prince c. which was then a dangerous and fundamental mistake and therefore Christ appeals from them to the Scriptures And they are they which testifie of me Had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me for he wrote of me but if ye believe not his Writings how shall ye believe my words And our Saviour severely checks the Pharisees for regarding their own Traditions more than the Written Law. And yet they pretended to an Oral Tradition down from Moses as the Jews do to this day and none are more grosly deceived than they 4. The general Sense and Experience of Mankind agrees herein that all matters of consequence are more certainly preserved by Writings than by meer words There is no Invention hath been more valued by the Wiser part of Mankind than that of Letters because it is of such excellent use for conveying the sense of our minds at a distance to others All men have so great a mistrust either of the capacity or memory or fidelity of others that what they would have done with security they commit to Writing And whatever we truly understand of the Ages before us we are beholden to Writing for it all those memorable Actions and Institutions either of Philosophy or Religion which were not written are long since buried in Oblivion without possibility of a Resurrection But where they have been committed to Writing they are preserved after so many Ages and by it we certainly know the History of the Patriarchs and the strange Revolutions that happened from the beginning of the World. By it we converse with the Wisest persons of former times and were able to justifie the Scriptures by the concurrent Testimonies of other Writers By it we are enabled to interpret Prophecies and to make plain their accomplishments which without it we could never make out Yea by it the Wisdom of those is preserved for the benefit of mankind who thought fit to write nothing themselves as Socrates and Pythagoras but their Disciples took care in time to Write their Doctrines So that we have the general Consent of the wisest part of mankind that writing is a far more certain way of conveyance than meer Tradition 2. And especially in our case where there are so many particular advantages as to the Holy Scriptures above any other Writings 1. From the special Providence of God with respect to them for since it is agreed by all Christians that these were written by Divine Inspiration it is most reasonable to believe that a more than ordinary care would be taken to preserve them And therefore to suppose any Books of Scripture to be lost which contained any necessary points of Faith is a great Reflexion on Divine Providence For if God watches over his Church he cannot be supposed to let such Books be lost which were designed for the universal and lasting Benefit of his Church 2. From the mighty esteem which the Church of God had always for them for they built their Hopes of Heaven upon the promises contained in them The Book of Scripture was their Evidence for their future Inheritance the Foundation of their Hope and Rule of their Faith their Defence against Assaults and Temptations their Counseller in cases of Difficulty their Support under Troubles and their surest Guide to a happy Eternity and therefore the Primitive Christians chose rather to endure any Torments than basely to betray it and give it up to their Enemies 3. From the early disputes that were about them Which shews that they were no Invention of after times nor were brought into the World by Stealth and Art for they endured the greatest shock of Opposition at first while the matters of Fact concerning them were the most easily proved And having passed the severe Scrutiny of the first Ages when so many counterfeit Writings were sent abroad the following Ages could have no Reason to call their Authority in question 4. From the general consent of divided Churches about them It might have pleased God to have kept his Church from those unhappy Breaches which have been in all parts of the Christian World but the East and the West the North and the South can all bear Testimony to the sad Divisions of Christendom and those of many Ages standing But yet we have this considerable Advantage by them that we can have no Reason to mistrust a conspiracy where the several Bodies are so much divided 5. From the great internal satisfaction which the minds of good Men have concerning them and which no other writing can pretend to give For here we read of the Promise of Divine Assistance to sincere and humble minds And that Assistance carries a Lumen Fidei into the mind as Aquinas calls it 2. 2. a 3 ad 2. and by that he saith the mind is united to Truth that its assent is only fixed upon it and therefore there is no danger of Damnation to those who are in Christ Iesus and are thus illuminated by Faith in him Not that this is an Argument to convince others who have not that inward sense which they have but the same Holy Spirit which did at first indite them may give such an inward and effectual Testimony as to the Truth of the matter contained in them that from thence they may firmly conclude these Books to contain the word of God. And that Assurance which the minds of good Men have from the Influence of Divine Grace may be more effectual and powerful in them than all the pretended Infallibility or Demonstration in the World. It is certain those cannot be deceived whom the Holy Spirit teacheth and the best and wisest of the Antient Schoolmen did make the great firmness and certainty of Faith not to depend on outward Motives but on inward Grace which so inlightned the Mind and fixed the Inclinations of the Soul that nothing is able to remove it This sort of Faith is no blind Assent but after all the Evidence which it hath to make its Assent Reasonable it takes so fast a hold of Divine Truths by discerning the excellency and value of them that he that hath it is willing to let go any thing rather than that and although the Apprehension of Faith be not so clear as that of Science yet the Hypostasis as the Apostle calls it may be so firm that no Temptations may be able to shake it And he that can die for his Religion hath a stronger and better Faith than