Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heart_n	worthy_a	write_v	year_n	37	3	4.5040	3	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

it must not be impossible it must not be trivial and in affirming it must be some Fact proveable by our own Testimony that we may swear in Judgment All which implies That we are not to swear indeliberately passionately or commonly The Discharge of an Oath must be answerable to the Obligation which is to Sincerity of Intention Fidelity of Performance and the giving of Testimony exactly according to Knowledge and then we swear in Truth All which Conditions of using an Oath religiously are put together by the Prophet Jeremiah c. 4. v. 2. And thou shalt swear The Lord liveth in truth in judgment and in righteousness In righteousness not profaning an Oath by making it the Bond of Iniquity in Judgment not exposing it to Contempt by using it rashly and improperly and in Truth not violating the bond of an Oath by breaking Promise or giving Testimony to a Falshood Swearing in Truth is that part of the Religion of an Oath which I shall at this time press upon you omitting the Consideration of what things an Oath may be conversant about and that the rather because I shall apply what I have to say upon the former point either to such Oaths as fasten any Duty upon us required by the Laws or to Swearing in Courts of Judicature where the end of Swearing viz. the Judicial deciding of Controversies does always make the Matter enquired into worthy of so high a Testimony Therefore have I chosen these Words of God for my Subject Ye shall not swear by my name falsly A Law which if any is written upon the very Hearts of Men and yet it pleased God that it should be written in our Bibles too I would to God there were no occasion given by the present Age to urge it in our Sermons at least in the way of Complaint and Reproof But since Perjury Perjury I say that monstrous Sin which strikes even at the Majesty of God and betrays the Throne of the King which undermines the very Foundations of Religion and Justice which does most sensibly grieve the Hearts of all good Christians and threatens the safety of every good Subject which does not only work mischief to the Innocent but also damns the Guilty almost without remedy If Perjury as 't is commonly said be grown the crying Sin of our Land and it appears that the Penalties of the Law are not terrible enough to prevail against it we are then bound in Allegiance to God in Loyalty to the King in Love to our Country in Charity to the Souls of Men to bring in all the assistance we can from Religion to expel this fatal Mischief and to remove this foul Scandal from among us by instructing plainly by reproving impartially by exhorting and perswading most vehemently In contribution to which good end I beg your Patience while I endeavour to shew First of all Wherein lies the peculiar Obligation of an Oath Secondly What are the several ways of violating this Obligation or incurring the Crime of Perjury Thirdly What are the usual Temptations and Inducements thereunto Lastly Some of the fearful Aggravations that belong to the sin That an Oath induces the utmost Obligation to speak the Truth is confessed by general Practice which has made or rather received it to be the end of Controversie For if a Man could be obliged yet more deeply than by swearing surely the final resort would not be had to an Oath if any thing could confirm a Testimony more assuredly which is in our Power this should not be the last Confirmation Therefore let it be considered that the very end of an Oath implies a peculiar obligation to discharge it truly for the greater that trust is which I cause another to repose in me the greater treachery I am guilty of if I then deceive him But if the end of an Oath obliges Men not to swear falsly much more does the nature of it With very good reason may an Oath be rested in as the highest security that Men can offer for their Honesty and Truth For the nature of an Oath consists in this That it is an appeal to God as to the Witness of Truth and the Avenger of Falshood for the confirmation of our own Testimony 1. God is appealed to as a Witness he who is the God of Truth and Knowledge the faithful and infallible Witness of every Thought and Action he whose Testimony alone needs not to be confirmed by any other since for him only it is naturally and eternally impossible to deceive or to be deceived I ought never to lye or dissemble or break my Word because I know my self always to be in the presence of God This ought to restrain me from being guilty of Falshood at any time that I am within the sight and hearing of the God of Truth But most of all am I bound to be sincere when I have appealed to him as present for the confirmation of what I say It is a grief to a good Man to hear a Lye told to his Face but if the Lyar should call him to witness his Falshood this he would take in foul scorn and with greatest indignation And what an height of impudence must it needs be to put the like affront upon God himself by appealing to his Knowledge for our Unrighteousness in Matters wherein we deal falsly What is this but to impute our own Baseness and Falshood to his most Holy Majesty and to do what is in us to make him a Lyar like unto our selves 2. God is not only called upon as the Witness of Truth when we swear but also as the Avenger of Falshood And indeed 't is the adding of this which makes an Appeal to God's Testimony by Invocation a most forcible Obligation to Truth and the utmost Security which we can offer for the same When we pretend that there is a Man present who knows that to be true which we affirm it would be superfluous to wish that he were revenged of us if it be not true because he may be called forth openly to attest the Truth or discover the Falshood of what we say Where the Witness is visible and the Testimony credible it is sufficient to appeal to his Knowledge only But when God is taken to Witness by us there is no voice or sensible Appearance by which he does either confirm or disown the Matter What is it then which makes an Appeal to God the silent and invisible Witness to be of greater force to oblige our selves and confirm others that we speak the Truth what is it but this that we do appeal to his Justice as well as his Knowledge and call the Vengeance of the Almighty down upon our Heads if he discerns any Falsehood and Deceit in our Testimony And 't is impossible that any obligation to speak the Truth or to discharge a Trust should be greater than this that if we are now guilty of lying or unfaithfulness we do not only consent but desire that the Indignation

Prayers and Sacraments and submitting to the Authority of our lawful Guides in all things of Indifference and Prudence and then we may be sure that whatever others do we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of of peace And though after all the Church is not that One Body which it would be if all Men did their Duty yet that we our selves are such Members of that One Body as we ought to be and as all others ought to be likewise The Eleventh Sermon GEN. XV. xvi But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full ABraham was now in the Land of Canaan and this was the third time God had appeared to him and promised him That his Seed should possess that Land In which repetition of the Promise there is this remarkable Circumstance That God told him how long it would be before they should possess it and likewise mentioned one reason why they should possess it no sooner it should be Four hundred years before his Seed should come hither and not sooner because the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full This was the case That the Seed of Abraham could not possess the Land of Canaan otherwise than by dispossessing the Canaanites So that the Bounty of God to the Israelites was likely to prove a terrible Judgment upon the Canaanites But these were not grown to that height of Ungodliness and Vice which God usually punishes by Destruction in this World but God foreseeing that in four hundred Years more their Sins would be ripe for Vengeance determined to reprieve them so long and in the mean time to dispose of the Seed of Abraham otherwise That which I intend to discourse upon is the long sufferance of God in bearing with Mankind till their Wickedness grows intolerable of which this is a most remarkable instance That altho' he might justly have destroyed the Amorites four hundred Years before they were destroyed yet he gave them so long time and bore with them all the while Before I proceed to this I shall premise two Enquiries 1. What the Iniquity of the Amorites was 2. Whether the only Reason why God would not yet put them out of possession was That their iniquity was not yet full 1. What was the Iniquity of the Amorites I answer That they were guilty of Idolatry of Violence and abominable Uncleanness for they were for these Sins cut off by the Children of Israel when they were grown to that height to which they came in four hundred Years time And it is not improbable that the Amorites were at that time when God appeared to Abraham the worst of all the Canaanites in all these respects and therefore that God mentioned them rather than any of the rest as they were afterwards one of the first Nations that were destroyed as we read in Numb 21. and that with this particular Remark That their Spirits were hardned and their Heart obstinate as you may find Deut. 2.30 2. We must not say that the only Reason why God deferred the Punishment of the Amorites four hundred Years was because their iniquity was not yet full and that because there were other Ends of Providence to be brought about in the time some of which are mentioned in this place viz. That the Seed of Abraham might in the mean while be proved and tried by many Hardships they were to undergo and thereby instructed in their Duty and prepared for the Land of Promise For thus we find God said to Abraham v. 13. Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a Land that is not theirs and shall serve them and they shall afflict them four hundred years i.e. before the Four hundred Years are expired and also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge and afterwards they shall come out with great substance and in the fourth generation they shall come hither again for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full Where you see there are more ends than one for which God would not put the Seed of Abraham into a present possession of the promised Land nor do it in haste neither partly because God would still bear with the Canaanites partly because the Israelites yet to be born were to be instructed by the variety of Conditions through which they were to go and be prepared by the Discipline of Divine Providence for the obtaining of that Promise which was made to Abraham and his Seed And this is the admirable way of God's Providence in governing and disposing all things that by the same means he brings about several ends fitting and accommodating things to one another in that manner that every event seemed to be his particular and only care while all the rest were as particularly aimed at and the means directed to it as certainly as to any one of them These things seemed needful to be premised for the better understanding of this place And now I proceed to the main points of Instruction which are suggested in the Text and they are these two 1. The Patience of God in bearing so long as he doth with the Provocations of his Justice from wicked Men. And 2. His untaxable Justice in bringing upon them that Punishment at last which their incurable obstinacy deserves For both these Observations are clearly suggested by the Text The Seed of Abraham should not come four hundred Years because the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full but then they should come the former being as I said a great Demonstration 1. Of the Patience of God for the Amorites were already faln into the Sins for which they were at last cut off only they were not come to that intollerable heighth of wickedness to which they were grown in process of time now all the while they were Examples of God's Patience because he might justly have appeared against them to destroy them even at that very time when he determined to give them yet Four hundred Years to repent and escape No sooner is Sin committed but Punishment is presently due and therefore it is Goodness to forbear the inflicting of it the very next moment but to forbear so long a time is properly Patience and Long-sufferance and it is such Patience as is proper only to him who is God and not Man For the Illustration of which I have two things to commend to your Consideration which will I doubt not be useful to assist us in framing worthy and honourable Apprehensions of God with respect to this matter The first is 1. That God never wants Power and Means and Opportunities to be avenged of wicked Men. 2. That he hath always the same displeasure against and hatred of sin for these things put together do clearly shew That the Patience of God is indeed a Divine Perfection and infinitely to be praised above all that we can imagine of the like quality amongst Men. For 1. God never wants Power and