Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heart_n	depart_v	evil_a	unbelief_n	2,143	5	10.6595	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A79832	Seventeen sermons preach'd upon several occasions By William Clagett, D.D. late preacher to the Honourable Society of Grays Inn, and one of His Majesty's chaplains in ordinary. With the summ of a conference, on February 21, 1686. between Dr. Clagett and Father Gooden, about the point of transubstantiation. The third edition. Vol. I.	Clagett, William, 1646-1688.; Gooden, Peter, d. 1695. aut; Sharp, John, 1645-1714.	1699 (1699)	Wing C4398; ESTC R230511	209,157	515

himself as much pleased with our Faith as he was with Abraham's and will reward it as effectually To sum up all The Testimony of God to Abraham's Faith was not given meerly for his own sake but for the Instruction and Encouragement of all true Believers to the World's end who when they deny themselves and do the hardest Duties and are never offended with the Will of God have I say a Title to the Testimony God gave to Abraham Now I know that thou fearest God Certainly it would be no mean encouragement to us it would raise up our minds to very great degrees of Joy and Triumph to have God say that to us that he did to Abraham but we are to remember that it was said to him once for all in behalf of all his Children that should tread in the steps of his faith This was not an Honour given to Abraham only though to him principally and in the first place it was done him also for the Credit of Religion in all Ages of the World and for the comfort and joy of all Religious and Holy Men and Women to the end of the World Wherefore my Brethren that we may come in for some share in the Praise and Reward of Abraham's Faith let there be in none of us an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God The evil heart of unbelief is the evil heart that causeth unbelief i. e. some corrupt inclination some unmortified Lust some carnal interest or other Do thou therefore in the first place when thou hast an eye upon the example of Abraham conceive how much thou art obliged to take thy sin thy dearly beloved sin whatever it be and slay it that is the first Sacrifice thou canst offer to God to wit a broken and contrite heart an heart clean from worldly and sinful Lusts Do this and thou wilt find nothing too dear for God thy Faith will then make thee to be entirely at the disposal of his Will and Pleasure it will justify and support thee in so doing and the God of Abraham will be thine exceeding great reward The Seventh Sermon MATTH XV. 1 2 3. Then came to Jesus Scribes and Pharisees which were of Jerusalem saying Why do thy Disciples transgress the Tradition of the Elders for they wash not their hands when they eat bread But he answered and said unto them Why do ye also transgress the Commandment of God by your Tradition THough never Man was so unreproveable in his Doctrine and Example as our Lord Jesus yet never was Man more opposed or cavilled at as the Evangelists do abundantly testify in that History of him which they have written for us being upon the matter made up of the Holy Doctrines which he delivered the Good Works in which he was always employed and the Contradictions which he continually met with And it was very necessary that some instances of the last should be recorded for our sakes that they who profess the Truth as it is in Jesus should not think it strange if they happened to meet with such opposition as their Master did and likewise that by his Answers to the Cavils of his Adversaries they might be instructed how they should defend themselves afterwards against the like Objections One instance whereof we have in the Text I have now chosen to speak to Then came to Jesus Scribes and Pharisees which were of Jerusalem c. As to which words I shall not need to say much concerning the Persons that our Saviour had to deal withal because their Character is so well known to all that diligently read the Gospels The Scribes were the Men that professed to Teach the Law and expected to have all their Interpretations received as Oracles The Pharisees were the most subtle and prevailing Sect amongst the Scribes for though as things were in that Age and for some time before the Scribes generally agreed in corrupting the Law and deceiving the People yet they had their Parties and Factions among themselves the Pharisees in our Saviour's time being a Sect of the greatest Power in the Council and of the greatest Reputation with the People and whereas it is said that they were the Scribes and Pharisees or the Scribes of the Pharisaical Party which were of Jerusalem that came to Jesus the meaning is that they were such as kept their Schools in the City of Jerusalem and were therefore of the first rank amongst the Pharisees And now I shall discourse to you of these two things First Of the Objection which these Men made against Jesus and his Disciples Secondly Of the Answer which our Saviour made to the Charge that was laid against them I. Of the Objection which these Men made against Jesus and his Disciples Why do thy Disciples transgress the tradition of the elders for they wash not their hands when they eat bread A Charge laid with as much confidence as anger and therefore they scorned to put any of his Disciples to answer it and thought fit to challenge the Master himself about it Now the first thing that is proper to be considered here is 1. The nature of the Charge which seems to be a general one illustrated by one particular instance The general Charge was That the Disciples of Jesus transgressed the tradition of the elders The particular instance was That they transgressed such Tradition in not washing their hands before meat As to the general Charge they had transgressed the tradition of the elders But what was the Tradition of the Elders The Tradition of the Elders was the Doctrine that had been delivered and the Rules that had been laid down by Wise and Great men and universally received in former Ages One would think therefore that the Laws of Moses and the Rules of the Prophets and whatsoever was commanded in the Scriptures had been the tradition of the elders for all these things had been delivered down by an uncontroulable Tradition from hand to hand for near Two thousand Years But there was no such meaning under these words as they used them By the tradition of the elders or by the ancient Tradition of Wise and Great men they meant no Doctrines or Rules for Faith or Practice that were expressed in the Writings of Moses and the Prophets but such Doctrines as not being written in the Law were delivered down by word of Mouth and by constant usage from Father to Son and so from one Age to another And thus Josephus tells us Antiq. 13.13 That the first and main Principle of the Pharisees was that they denied all those things to be written which concerned Religion The Fundamental Rule of their Sect was this that there was a double Law an Oral Law and a Written Law A Law delivered from Age to Age by word of mouth as well as a Law delivered in such Books as had Authority from Moses and the Prophets To gain reverence to these Traditions they persuaded the People that though they were not written in the

the Temptation Men of Probity and Lovers of Truth should upon diligent examination hold it faster than otherwise they would have done This is one of the great advantages to which that opposition tends which Truth has met with in the World And therefore the more lofty those Pretences are by which the other Church would bring us to an intire submission to her Authority in every point of Religion so much greater reason there is to examine every one of her particulars and if I find that she is mistaken in any of them I am very sure that she is not infallible in all And if she will not allow me to make a Judgment of the Particulars 't is just as if a Man should try to hinder me from casting up my own Accounts by going about to prove that he cannot possibly mistake in doing it he might indeed shew some Wit in working his Demonstration but I should shew a great deal more folly in trusting him To conclude We have a Rule whereby to try the Doctrine I will not only say of a Church or a Pope or a Council but even of an Angel from Heaven if an Angel should come and preach to us and that Rule is the Holy Scripture especially the Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles These are by all Christians acknowledged to be the undoubted and the most ancient Records of our Holy Religion and they have had a Tradition so uncontroulable as no Books in the World ever had the like Whoever therefore is our Guide it is very reasonable that this should be our Rule And of all Churches in the World I will never trust my self to her discretion that will not trust me with the Knowledge and Study of this Rule Here we may if we please make our selves very sure that we are of those whom God will justifie for here we may discern what kind of Persons St. Paul and the Christians of whom he speaks in this place and what all the Apostles and Primitive Disciples of our Lord were For those Books which acquaint us with their Names and which were written by some of themselves do also discover to us what Faith they professed what Doctrine they taught and what Lives they led Now if we profess that very Faith and teach no other Doctrine and frame our practice by their Rules and good Examples then without all question we are such kind of Christians as they were and then altho' we should be used by the World as they were too yet the encouragement and comfort which they had will also belong to us and we too may say Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect it is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again Having therefore the infallible Rule of God's Word whereby to guide our selves We beseech you Brethren and exhort you by the Lord Jesus that as ye have received of us how you ought to walk and to please God so you would abound more and more that while evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived ye may continue in the things which ye have learned knowing of whom ye have learned them even from the Sayings of our Lord Jesus and his holy Apostles delivered to us in the Scriptures which are able to make us wise unto Salvation through Faith which is in Christ Jesus Let us remember that it had been better for us not to have known the way of righteousness than after we have known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered to us not forgetting by any means that 't is a way of righteousness we have been made to know and an holy Commandment that hath been delivered to us from which therefore we may depart as damnably by an impure Conversation as by leting go our pure Profession in which case we are so far from being justified that we shall be the more condemned by our Faith We have no false Principles to save our Hearts from condemning us if we allow our selves in any way of wickedness and God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things Whoever else condemns us that is more than recompence enough if God justifieth But who is he that shall justifie us if God condemns FINIS THE SUMM OF A CONFERENCE On Feb. 21. 1686. BETWEEN Dr. Clagett and Father Gooden About the Point of TRANSUBSTANTIATION The Third Edition LONDON Printed for William Rogers at the Sun over-against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet 1698. The SUM of a CONFERENCE On Feb. 21. 1686. BETWEEN Dr. Clagett and Father Gooden About the POINT of TRANSUBSTANTIATION Introduction IT will perhaps appear to some a little strange that I do not say almost Incredible that there should have pass'd a Conference above two years since in which Mr. Gooden was concern'd and the World yet to learn the Substance of it The Vanity of that Gentleman to thrust himself upon all Occasions into Disputes with the most Learned Men of our Church first and then to boast of his own Performances in them was so great that there is scarce a Coffee-house in the Town that has not been filled with the Noise of his impertinent Vapours And if those of the other Communion have been always remarkable for an Assurance becoming the pretended Infallibility of their Church I may venture to say that next to Father P the Jesuit and his Friend Mr. M I scarce know any among them that have ever talk'd so loud or made such Heroical Defiances of the Champions and Armies of our Israel in all Places and upon all Occasions as Mr. Gooden these late Years has done among us But thus shallow Waters always run with the greatest Noise and Violence and little Sophisters who either want Capacity to see into their own Fallacies or think they have forehead enough to carry that off with Clamour and Confidence which they cannot do by Reason and Argument delight to expose themselves and their Religion to the most dangerous Tryals whilst Men of Learning and Judgment are modest and ingenuous and know it to be neither for the Honour of their Church nor their own Reputation to challenge all Mankind to answer Paradoxes and to shew that not to be Demonstration which when brought to the tryal is hardly sense See Mr. G's Pap. I hope this will not be thought too severe a Reflection on the late Pretenders of this kind among us which I speak out of a just respect to the more learned and charitable Persons of the Church of Rome who have been no less scandalized at these forward Zealots than our selves and to whom I ought to give this Testimony That during a long acquaintance with many of them I never met with any thing of the Vanity of those I have before-mentioned Our Differences in matters of Religion made no Disturbance either in our Friendship or Conversation with one another If the discourse at anytime led to a Controversie of