Selected quad for the lemma: judgement_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
judgement_n	according_a	judge_v	rule_n	1,710	5	7.0740	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34789	Life & death offered to the choice of the sons and daughters of Adam, or, A doctrinal essay towards the discovery of the broad way that leadeth to destruction, and also the narrow path that leadeth unto life being the substance of several sermons preach'd on Matth. 7, 13, 14 : in the entrance of which discourse you have something spoken occasionally touching judging of others, and also touching the giving of holy things to dogs, and casting pearls before swine.	Carter, R., 17th cent.	1662 (1662)	Wing C663; ESTC R5924	50,195	64

condemned sinner which obedience being imputed to the soul as it is to every true believer the soul comes to have as legal a right to glory as if he had fulfilled it in his own person 3dly To fulfil it that is to enable his people by his Grace and Spirit to obey God acceptably doing that which is well-pleasing in his sight yea to fulfil the Law in desire and affection for love is the fulfilling of the Law though they cannot do it in an absolute perfection in this life A true Christian so far as he is sanctified in desire and will doth keep the whole Law Nay further our Lord Christ is so far from giving them a discharge as to their obedience that he telleth them if their righteousness did not exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees Matth. 5. 2● they could in no wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven * could not be Members of the true Gospel-Church here on earth or ever enter into the fellowship of the Saints in that eternal glory above Now by this more exceeding righteousness I humbly conceive in this place is meant none other then the inherent righteousness of the Saints that every one who will be the Disciple must in his obedience to God exceed the Scribes and Pharisees And accordingly the obedience of every true Christian doth exceed theirs and that in these two things viz. Sincerity and universality their 's being first hypocritical minding the outside onely and not regarding the heart and then partial being zealous for some small matters and neglecting the more weighty matters of the Law The Lord Christ having spoken thus in general descends into particulars and doth in the first place make a spiritual Exposition of the several Precepts of the Moral Law worthy of every Christians serious consideration Chap. 5. 21. to the end In the 6th Chapter he proceedeth to lay down several rules in several cases as first about giving of Alms 2dly About Prayer under which head he condemns the practice of the Pharisees We should not make private prayers in a place of publike Worship who did love to pray standing in the Synagogues and in the corners of the streets that they might be seen of men And notwithanding Christ doth here condemn this practice require his people not to be like unto them but contrariwise to make their private prayers in a private secret place Yet how do persons superstitiously and wickedly follow their example making their private peayers in the places of publike Worship Persons that it may be are wholly strangers to private prayers at home yet when they come to the place of publike Worship after they have bowed towards the East where usually the Altar stood then down upon their knees to their private devotion yea though it be in the time of publike Worship when the Minister is either speaking to God or from God I have often told you that this praying for a blessing upon the Word preacht should be done at home in your Families and Closets before you come to the publike And then under this head our Lord Christ doth also forbid vain repetitions as if we thought that God would hear us for our much speaking and often repeating the same thing 3dly He giveth rules about fasting And 4thly about laying up of Treasure in Heaven 5thly About keeping the Understanding that leading faculty of the soul clear and single And 6thly About the management of our affections as to the world and all the concernments thereof All this is contained in the sixth Chapter In the 7th Chap our Lord Christ doth first forbid rash and unscriptural judgement wherewith we are apt to judge others Against rash judgement Such a judging of others as hath nothing of love and compassion in it but proceedeth from pride malice suspition c. Not but that there is a scripture-Scripture-judgement to be made of How we may judge others mens persons and actions We may judge such as profess the Name of Christ and walk according to the rule of his Word in the general course of their conversation to be in a state of grace And though many of these prove hypocrites yet we sin not in our judgement since we are to judge persons by that which visibly doth appear It 's true God judgeth the life and actions by the heart and inward principle but we must judge the heart and inward principle by the life and outward action Thus Simon was judged Acts 8. 13. to the 25. to have believed and thereupon was baptized and yet soon discovered himself after such a manner as that Peter doth positively declare him for the present to be in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity According to this rule doth the Apostle Paul make his judgement of those to whom he writes to be Saints and sanctified in Christ Jesus c. Rom 1. 7. 1 Cor. 1. 2. with many other parallel Scriptures whereby the Apostle doth not pass an absolute and final judgement of the blessedness of their everlasting state but it is onely a judgement proceeding from charity regulated by the Scripture And then on the other hand we may judge such persons as do live in a continual omission of known and confessed duties such as hearing the Word preach't prayer reading the Scriptures c. that have nothing of God or his fear in their Families neither mind it we may judge such to be in as wretched an estate as any Heathen in the World such Families being recko●ed among the Families of the Heathen in that Prophetical prayer of Jeremiah chap. 10. 25. Pour out thy fury upon the Heathen and upon the Families that call not upon thy Name How many such Families are there in this poor Island notwithstanding that preaching and light that hath been of late years People that do live like Heathens and Atheists that eat their food like the Beasts not minding that God that spreads their Tables and filleth their Cups for them that in their lyings down and risings up goings forth and comings in regard not the Lord whose love and mercy it is that gave them a being and that loadeth them with daily mercy And yet how enraged even are such persons as these if you deny unto them the Name of Christians Are not many of these ready to pull out the throat of their Minister to suck his blood or at least to manifest a spirit of irreconcilable hatred and enmity against him in case he shall deny to give forth the blood of Christ in the Supper unto them and deal by them as if they were the best Saints under Heaven We may also judge persons of a debauched life and conversation that live wallowing in the very Cinques of sin as Swearing Drunkenness Uncleanness Idolatry c. to be in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity to be in a state of wrath and condemnation John 3. ult He that believeth not the wrath of God abideth on

him Question Quest But how can we judge whether a man hath faith or no Answer Ans Jam. 2. A man is to shew his faith by his works Mind this as I have often told you though there may be good works as to visible appearance where there is no true Faith yet where true Faith is there the souls works I speak as to the general course of the conversation wil visibly appear to be good they cannot do otherwise for if the tree be good the fruit wil be good so that though a hearing praying person may be a hypocrite yet a swearing drunken prophane idolatrous person cannot be a Christian the one may be a hypocrite but the other can't be Christian Though I cannot say positively of a visibly holy person That he shall go to Heaven yet I may certainly say of a prophane man That he shall go to Hell if he dieth in that estate without repentance Question Quest But doth it not savour of pride for persons to judge themselves to be holy persons and good Christians and judge others to be outcasts and wicked persons Answer Ans It 's possible persons may judge themselves so when Prov. 13. 12. they are not so judge themselves to be pure and yet not washed from their filthiness Now for any notwithstanding their delight in secret sin and the indulging cursed lusts to judge themselves more holy then others this proceeds from pride and self-love and great blindness But now for persons that are sincere and upright towards God to judge themselves to be in the love and favour of God looking upon God as their Father and themselves as his sons and Daughters and also judging others to be wicked this is according to holy Scripture 1 Joh. 5. 19 20. And we know that We are of God and the whole world lieth in wickedness And we know that the Son of God is come and hath given Us an Understanding that we may know him that is true and We are in him that is true even in his Son Jesus Christ c. Objection Object This was the judgement of an Apostle Answer Answ 1. None knoweth the heart but God The Apostles themselves were not infallibile in their Judgements if they had Simon the Sorcerer had not been baptized They judged onely by what appeared to them those that appeared truly godly they judged so and those that appeared otherwise they judged otherwise But 2dly John speaks here in the plural number Us and We whereby is clearly intimated that others as well as Apostles may judge themselves to be of God Nay he saith in the 13th ver These things have I written unto you that ye may know that ye have eternal life that ye may be able to try and examine your own state and make a judgement of your selves whether you are the persons that have a title to eternal glory yea or no and accordingly you shall find that he doth for the furtherance of this work of self-examination in this Epistle characterize the Christian by his doing of righteousness and loving the Brethren But further this judgement is not onely lawful but there is Great reason for the passing of a Scriptu●● judgement 1. Reas great ground and reason for it As 1. If God's people should not judge themselves to be so they would be guilty of very great ingratitude We ought to be thankful for all mercies but especially for spiritual mercies When God shal by a mighty hand have brought a soul out of the Devils Kingdom into the Kingdom of his dear Son and manifest his love and mercy to it what greater sin can such a soul be guilty of then the not taking notice of the exceeding riches of Grace so as to own it and acknowledge it to the glory and praise of God Col. 1. 12 13. Giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be ma●e partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the Kingdom of his dear Son 2dly From this springs all a Christians comfort Alas what 2. Reas comfort can a Christian have in this wicked miserable reproachful hateful world were it not for this God is mine Psal 48. ult For this God is our God for ever and ever c. Isa 25. 9. Lo this is our God we have waited for him c. Isa 41. 10. Be not dismayed for I am thy God c. Isa 63. 16. Doubtless thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of us and Israel acknowledge us not Thou Lord art our Father our Redeemer thy Name is from everlasting 3dly Wicked prophane men they do judge themselves to be 3. Reas the people of God and good Christians and thereupon do lay claim to the seals of the Covenant Baptism and the Lords Supper and do judge holy and religious persons to be a company of hypocrites which are the worst sort of wicked persons in the world and shall undergo the greatest torments in Hell Then surely the true sincere Christian may judge God to be its Father and Christ its Saviour and on the contrary judge prophane wicked men to be as the Scripture declareth them to be in a state of wrath without God in the world and strangers to the Covenant of promise Eph 2. 12. 4thly There are a several duties to be performed upon this 4. Reas Judgement as thus We are to do good to all but especially to them of the Houshold of Faith Now this cannot be done except Gal. 6. 10. we may judge some to be of the Houshold of Faith The wicked Prov. 29. 27. is an abomination to the just It follows thence that the just doth know him and judge him to be wicked The wicked are to be withdrawn from 2 Tim. 3. 5. then they must be first discovered known and judged to be so else we break the rule of Charity by withdrawing from them especially if they are persons with whom we have formerly had communion in spiritual matters for from such we ought not to withdraw without cause By all which it appears that notwithstanding Christ doth here forbid rash Judgement yet it hinders not that a Stripture Judgement may be made Nay our Lord Christ in this 7th ch doth plainly declare his Will to be that according to the scripture-Scripture-Judgement should all his people walk According to this Rule should Hearers walk with respect to Hearers may pass a Scripture judgment on their Teachers yea ought to do it their Teachers and also Teachers and Ministers with respect to their people First People with respect to their Teachers ver 15. Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheeps clothing but inwardly are ravening Wolves But Lord might the Disciples have said How may we know them Know them saith Christ you may know them by their fruits ver 16. This generation of ravening Wolves and false prophets God doth generally suffer them for