Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	enter_v	righteousness_n	scribe_n	2,630	5	11.0710	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62128	XXXVI sermons viz. XVI ad aulam, VI ad clerum, VI ad magistratum, VIII ad populum : with a large preface / by the right reverend father in God, Robert Sanderson, late lord bishop of Lincoln ; whereunto is now added the life of the reverend and learned author, written by Isaac Walton.	Sanderson, Robert, 1587-1663.; Walton, Izaak, 1593-1683.	1686 (1686)	Wing S638; ESTC R31805	1,064,866	813

Judgment of Infallibility either pro or con what sinful man dareth challenge that unto himself unless it be that man of sin who hath nestled himself higher than into Peter's Chair into the Throne of God sitting in the Temple of God and there determining as God and with his breath Damning and Sainting whom he listeth But let him go and let this be our direction in this point Think we comfortably where we see no reason to the contrary hope we charitably even where we do see some reason to the contrary but judge we neither way peremptorily and definitively whatsoever Probabilities we see either way sith we know not how far a sanctified believer may fall into the snares of sin nor how far a graceless Hypocrite may go in the shew of Godliness That is the third Use. The last and main Inference is for Self-trial For if a man may go thus far and yet be an Hypocrite be a Cast-away it will concern every one of us as we desire to have comfortable both assurance of present Grace that we are not Hypocrites and hope of future Glory that we are not Cast-aways so to be district in making Trial whether those Graces that seem to be in us be true or but counterfeit and whether the Acts thereof be fruits of sincerity or but of Hypocrisie Let us not therefore flatter our selves or be too jolly upon it if we find in our selves some shews of Godliness but let us rather labour to find out whether there be in us the power and life of godliness or no. For there is a kind of righteousness such as it is outward formal righteousness in Scribes and Pharisees and Hypocrites but that will not servè the turn unless our Righteousness exceed theirs we shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Beloved Hypocrisie is spun of a fine thread and is not easily discernable without very diligent examination And things are not to be measured by the outward shew or by the lump and bulk but by an exacter rule whether they be true or no. Dost thou hear the Word of God with Ioy dost thou bewail thy sins with tears dost thou avoid gross sins with care dost thou oppose against common corruptions with zeal These are indeed comfortable signs but no infallible Evidences of Grace for what is there in all this which Ahab and Saul and Herod and Iudas and other Hypocrites either have not or might not have done But if not by these fruits by what other means then may a man come to know the sanctification of his heart and the sincerity of these affections Divines in their Treatises and Writings have set down sundry notes and marks whereby to make this trial but I would especially commend to your observation two only out of all that variety which two are indeed as good as a thousand namely Integrity and Constancy for these two are never in the Hypocrite First for Integrity The Hypocrite we heard might go far in hearing in believing in sorrowing in reforming in suffering but his affections herein for so much as they spring not from true Faith and the Conscience of that Obedience he oweth to God but from other respects are partial in all those Duties and carry him so far only as those false grounds which first gave motion to those affections lead him and no farther He receiveth the Word with joy so far as it tickleth the ear with choiceness of Phrase and variety of Elocution so far as it fitteth with his humour and keepeth fair and far off from medling with his bosom sin but he is not equally delighted with every part and with every point of God's Word and truth If the right string be touched if his sweet darling Sin be stirred that is harsh to him he findeth no musick in that rub him where he is galled and he kicketh at it Herod heard Iohn Baptist gladly and did many things willingly but when his incestuous marriage was meddled withal then the Fox was uncased and the Hyppocrite appeared in his own colours and the Baptist lost first his liberty and then after his head for his labour And the young man when Christ told him what he must do to inherit eternal life in the generāl Keep the Commandments c. was no doubt a jolly jocund man All these have I kept from my youth up but when Christ hitteth him home and presseth upon his particular Corruption one thing is wanting c. this nipped him in the head and struck cold to his heart and the Text saith he went away sorrowful And ever mark it in some thing or other the Hypocrite bewrayeth himself what he is if not to the observation of others yet at least sufficiently for the conviction of his own heart if he would not be wanting to himself in the due search and trial of his heart A man's blood riseth when he heareth a stranger swear an Oath but if the same man can hear his Prentice lye equivocate and cozen and never move at it let him not be too brag of his zeal his coldness here discovereth the other to have been but a false fire and a fruit not of true zeal but of Hypocrisie A Iesuit maketh scruple of disclosing an intended treason revealed to him in Confession but he maketh no bones of laying a Powder-plot or contriving the Murther of an anointed King A Pharisee is very precise in tything Mint and Cummin but balketh Iustice and Mercy One straineth at a Gnat and swalloweth a Camel making conscience of some petty sins neglecting greater Another casteth out a beam but feeleth not a mote maketh conscience of some greater sins neglecteth smaller Shame of the world and the cry of people maketh him forbear some sins an eye had to his own private and secret ends other some fear of temporal punishment or it may be eternal other some hope of some advantage another way as in his credit profit c. other some the terrors of an affrighted Conscience other some but if in the mean time there be no care nor scruple nor forbearance of other sins where there appeareth no hindrance from these or the like respects all is naught all is but counterfeit and damnable Hypocrisie The rule never faileth Quicquid propter Deum fit aequaliter fit True obedience as it disputeth not the command but obeyeth cheerfully so neither doth it divide the command but obeyeth equally David had wanted one main assurance of the uprightness of his heart if he had not had an equal and universal respect to all God's Commandments That is the first note of Sincerity Integrity The other is Constancy continuance or lasting The seeming Graces of Hypocrites may be as forward and impetuous for the time as the true Graces of the sincere Believer nay more forward oftentimes as in the stony ground the seed sprang up so much the sooner by how much it had

There be enormous sins of this rank which a modest man would be ashamed so much as to name especially in publick Now of these only the generalities would be touched in the publick the specialities not unfolded but in the private exercise of our ministry nor yet that promiscuously to every one that should out of curiosity desire satisfaction in them but only to such men and that but only so far as they may concern in point of Conscience and of practice Besides these there are other Cases many in which it may be more convenient to conceal than to teach some divine truths at some times and in some places But yet in the Case here proposed if it be a truth questioned about which God's people are much distracted in their opinions much mistaken by some through error in judgment much abused by sinful especially publick practice occasioning Scandals and offences among brethren likely to be overwhelmed with custom or multitude of those that think or do against it and be otherwise of material importance I take it the Omission of it upon seasonable opportunity is a grievous sin and not colourable by any pretence Beloved the Minister is not to come into the Pulpit as a Fencer upon the Stage to play his prize and to make a fair flourish against sin Here he could have it and there he could have it but hath it no where but rather as a Captain into the Field to bend his forces specially against the strongest Troops of the Enemy and to squander and break thorow the thickest ranks and to drive at the fairest It is not enough for a Prophet to cry aloud and to lift up his voice like a trumpet and to tell Iudah and Israel of sins and of transgressions at large but if he would whet them up to the battle he must give a more certain sound he must tell Iudah of her sins and Israel of her transgressions If there be in Damascus or Moab or Ammon or Tyrus or Iudah or Israel three transgressions or four more eminent than the rest it is fit they that are sent to Damascus and Moab and Ammon and Tyrus and Iudah and Israel should make them hear of three or four more than all the rest Sins and Errors when they begin to get head and heart must be handled roughly Silence in such a case is a kind of flattery and it is almost all one when sin grows outragious to hold our peace at them and to cry Peace Peace unto them Our Apostle in Act. 20. would not have held himself sufficiently discharged from the guilt of other mens blood if he had shunned as occasion was offered to have declared unto them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 even the whole counsel of God In my Application of this Instance and Case blame me not if I do it with some reference to my self Being heretofore by appointment as now again I was to provide my self for this place against such a meeting as this is as in my conscience I then thought it needful for me I delivered my mind and I dare say the Truth too for substance something freely touching the Ceremonies and Constitutions of our Church And I have now also with like freedom shewed the unlawfulness of the late disorderly attempts in this Town and that from the ground of my present Text. I was then blamed for that I think unjustly for I do not yet see what I should retract of that I then delivered and it is not unlikely I shall be blamed again for this unless I prevent it You have heard now already both heretofore that to judge any man's heart and at this time that to slander any Truth are without repentance sins justly damnable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they that offend either in the one or the other their damnation is just To preserve therefore both you from the sin and my self from the blame consider I pray you with reason and charity what I shall say You that are our hearers know not with what hearts we speak unto you that is only known to our own hearts and to God who is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things That which you are to look at and to regard is with what truth we speak unto you So long as what we preach is true and agreeable to God's Word and right reason you are not upon I know not what light surmises or suspicions to judge with what spirits or with what dispositions of heart we preach Whether we preach Christ of envy and strife or of good will whether sincerely or of Contention whether in pretence or in truth it is our own good or hurt we must answer for that and at our peril be it if we do not look to that But what is that to you Notwithstanding every way so long as it is Christ and his truth which are preached it is your part therein to rejoice If an Angel from Heaven should preach any untruth unto you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let him be accursed but if the very Devil of Hell should preach the truth he must be heard and believed and obeyed So long as Scribes and Pharisees hold them to Moses's Text and Doctrine let them be as damned Hypocrites as Scribes and Pharisees can be yet all whatsoever they bid you observe that you are to observe and do Let me then demand Did I deliver any untruth It had been well done then to have shewn it that I might have acknowledged and retracted it Did I speak nothing but the truth with what conscience then could any that heard me say as yet I heard some did that I preached factiously That I came to cast bones among them That I might have chosen a fitter Text That I might have had as much thanks to have kept away For Faction I hate it my desire and aim next after the good of your souls was above all the Peace of the Church and the Unity of Brethren For casting bones if that must needs be the phrase they were cast in these parts long before my coming by that great enemy to peace and unity and busie sower of discord the Devil otherwise I should not have found at my first coming such snarling about them and such biting and devouring one another as I did My endeavour was rather to have gathered up the bones and to have taken away the matter of difference I mean the errour in judgment about and inconformity in practice unto the lawful ceremonies of the Church that so if it had been possible all might have been quiet without despising or judging one another for these things For thanks I hold not that worth the answering alas it is a poor aim for God's Minister to preach for thanks For the choice of my Text and Argument both then and now how is it not unequal that men who plead so as none more for liberty and plainness