Selected quad for the lemma: kingdom_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
kingdom_n	heaven_n	righteousness_n	scribe_n	3,417	5	11.3432	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A23649	The way of the Spirit in bringing souls to Christ set forth in X sermons on John 16:7, 8, 9, 10 and chap 7:37 / by Mr. Thomas Allen, late pastor of a church in ... Norwich.	Allen, Thomas, 1608-1673.; Finch, Martin, 1628?-1698.	1676 (1676)	Wing A1047; ESTC R23572	153,393	274

trusting and leaning upon its own righteousness from looking to be accepted of God to salvation upon the account of its own righteousness This the Spirit of God doth take a soul from in order to convincing it of righteousness Truly Brethren this is the rock that we are all of us naturally prone to dash upon and to split upon we are all of us naturally prone to seek after acceptance with God upon the account of our own righteousness to run on in the way of the Covenant of Works to seek for salvation in that way that Adam should have been saved in if he had stood Doe and Live be obedient to the Will of God be exactly righteous and you shall have life this is the way that Adam should have had life in if he had continued in his obedience but now this way of the Covenant of Works is null'd and we cannot look for salvation in that way but we are all of us naturally prone to run on in that way to look for the life of our souls meerly by our own righteousness This was the stumbling stone that the Jews stumbled at this was the great rock of offence Rom. 9.31 32 33. saith he The Gentiles which followed not after righteousness have attained righteousness but the Jews which followed after righteousness have not attained righteousness why so because the Jews stumbled at that stumbling stone they sought after righteousness by the works of the law they sought to be righteous with their own righteousness and therefore mark what he saith Chap. 10.3 They being ignorant of Gods righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God This is natural to us to look to be accepted of God for our own righteousness and truly it is a very hard thing for a soul to be taken off from that and therefore hence it is that the people that are morally righteous and not so notoriously wicked and prophane as others are are ordinarily harder to be convinced and converted than others are so that as Christ saith Mat. 21. Publicans and Harlots shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven before you speaking to the Scribes and Pharisees that were exact to the letter of the law I say we are all apt naturally to stick there to run upon the rock of our own righteousness just as the Apostle speaks of himself when he was a Pharisee Philip. 3. I was saith he concerning the Righteousness of the Law blameless but afterwards when the Spirit of the Lord had convinced him of his own unrighteousness and the righteousness of Christ at the 8 and 9 Verses Now saith he I would be found in him not having on my own righteousness which is of the Law that righteousness that I had when I was a Pharisee I would not be found saith he having on my own righteousness but that righteousness which is by faith in Christ Jesus Now I say we are very hardly brought off from our own righteousness to close with this righteousness of Jesus Christ but now it is the work of the Spirit in convincing a soul of righteousness to take the soul off from its own righteousness and therefore the Spirit is fain to take pains with the Soul to shew it that all its own righteousness will come to nothing And therefore do but observe the way and method of the Spirit of God what the Spirit of God doth ordinarily when it taketh a Soul off from its own righteousness The Spirit of God comes therefore and causeth the Soul to see not only its own sinfulness by notorious open wickedness and prophaness that it hath lived in it doth not only convince the Soul of its profaning of Sabbaths and its disobedience to Parents and lying and stealing and pilfering and dishonesty when a Soul sees that then it cannot be accepted of God for its own righteousness And not only so but the Spirit of the Lord doth discover to the Soul the secret evils of his heart inward sins that never saw the light of the Sun that the World never knew of The Spirit of the Lord comes and convinces of those wickedness●s that there is such and such wickedness in the heart secret pride and secret malice and secret envy and secret hypocrisy and secret unbelief and the like and now how can the Soul expect to be saved of God for its own righteousness What is this the righteousness saith the Soul that I look to be accepted for And not only so but the Spirit also doth d●scover to the Soul the unrighteousness of its best duties and services those things that men are apt to think that God should accept them for now the Spirit comes and opens the understanding and makes the Soul to see the imperfection and weakness of the best duties and services as the Church saith All our very righteousnesses are as filthy rags and O! can I expect to be accepted for these prayers and these duties and services that are so filthy and so defective and so impure When the soul comes to be made sensible of these things how can it expect to be accepted for its own righteousness Nay Brethren the holy Spirit doth usually discover to a Soul not only the sinful fa●●ings that are in his best duties and services but also the sinful frame of the heart and spirit that there is a sinful frame of wickedness within a law of rebellion and enmity against the will of God within though possibly it hath never broken out but there is a sinful frame of heart within that every thought and imagination of the heart is only evil continually and out of the heart proceeds all manner of abominations evil thoughts murder and theft and blasphemy and all manner of wickedness Now Brethren when the Spirit of the Lord comes and opens a mans heart to himself that he sees the very frame and disposition of his heart is set against God and the will of God in every thing then the Soul must needs be convinced that it can never be accepted of God for its own righteousness the Soul sees that it hath no righteousness at all in it self to rest upon And not only so but the Spirit of the Lord in this convincing a Soul of righteousness discovers to a Soul that this is not the way where by it can look for acceptance with God by all that ever he can do it is true indeed this was the way that Adam in his innocency should have found life and salvation in but since the Fall that Covenant is broken and null'd and now God hath no where promised to give life and salvation in the way of that Covenant no God hath nulled that way of Salvation by our own works and doings that if so be now it were possible a man or a woman to be perfectly obedient to the whole law yet he may go to hell and be damned for all that because now God is not bound nor engaged to