Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
lord_n	believe_v	faith_n	jesus_n	17,223	5	6.3565	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A31806	A discourse about a scrupulous conscience preached at the parish-church of St. Mary Aldermanbury, London / by Benjamin Calamy ...	Calamy, Benjamin, 1642-1686.	1683 (1683)	Wing C212; ESTC R16631	28,500	49

uncharitable to say That it is not dread of displeasing God but some other bye end or interest that acts and moves such a Person and in pleading the Tenderness of his Conscience he is no other than a downright Hypocrite On the other side Let a Man be never so punctual and critical in his Conformity to all the appointed Ceremonies and Usages in our Church let him constantly attend Gods solemn Worship and behave himself most reverently and decently at the Publick Prayers yet if this Man be prophane and intemperate a Derider of true Piety and Godliness if he lives loosly and at Random all his regular Devotions all his bowing and kneeling to the Honour of our Saviour all his niceness about his Worship to perform it in the most orderly manner all his Zeal for the Church shall avail him nothing He is no better than the Pharisee washing the out-side whilst he is within full of all Wickedness and Uncleanness To be so concerned about little things whilst we make no Conscience of the greater is the most evident sign that can be given of a false Christian And hath it not often hapned in the World that such a mighty Scrupulosity about our Duty hath proved a very successful way of growing great or raising an Estate by giving Men so fair an opportunity of imposing upon the credulous and unwary So that I have known it advised as an useful caution to those that would live in the World always to stand upon your Guard and look to your Pockets when you deal with those who pretend to greater Tenderness and Exactness than other undoubtedly sober and honest Christians generally do 3. Where Persons are truly honest and mean well there is nothing more troublesom and vexatious than such unreasonable Scruples about things lawful This must needs be an intolerable disturbance to a Man's Mind and breed great Anxiety and Inquietude when Persons are continually shivering and trembling lest by every thing they do they incur the Divine Displeasure and it certainly disables a man from performing his necessary Duty He is likely to make but a slow Progress in his Journey who instead of going on cheerfully in his way is frequently at a stand doubting which Foot he should set forward or what particular Path he should choose This robs men in a great measure of that Peace and Satisfaction which they might otherwise find in Religion whilst they are daily perplexing themselves with untying Knots which themselves only have fastned Scruples about things indifferent when once we attend to and entertain them like the Plague of Flies amongst the Egyptians will be constantly buzzing in our Ears and tormenting us with their Impertinency till at length we come to distrust every thing and there is nothing that belongs to ordinary civility no recreation we can use no cloaths we can wear no discourse we can hold with others no conversation we can maintain or business which we transact in the World but we shall raise some trifling Objections or Scruples about it which will make our Condition continually uneasie and restless For 4. These Scruples are infinite and endless for being grounded upon some very little and inconsiderable Reason there is hardly any thing to be done but some small Exceptions may be started against it which may soon puzzle and confound the more ignorant sort of Christians Thus he that scruples a Minister's officiating in a white Garment may easily be brought to doubt of the fitness of his doing it in black and then he proceeds against any solemn distinct Habit and at last against the Office of Ministers it self and tells you all Gods People are holy and that all Christians are a Royal Priest-hood and we have no need of Teachers for we are all taught of God From scrupling the Sign of the Cross after Baptism Men have soon come to question Infant Baptism it self they have at first perchance disliked only some significant Ceremonies in God's Worship of Humane appointment but thence they have gone on to deny all outward bodily Reverence and thought it not expedient to pull off their Hats in Church then not to do it before Magistrates at last not at all and thus by giving place to such little Scruples they become afraid of speaking looking or doing any thing like other Men. This is notorious amongst us Those who have taken Offence at some things in our Church and have thereupon separated from us and associated themselves with a purer Congregation have soon disliked something amongst them also and then they would reform themselves farther and after that refine themselves more still till at last they have sunk down either into Quakerism Popery or Atheism This doth not only now and then happen in the World but is the probable effect of embracing and cherishing such Scruples that men go on scrupling one thing after another till at length they doubt of every thing 5. Lastly This needless scrupling of lawful things hath done unspeakable Mischief to the Church of Christ especially to the Reformed Church of England a Church reformed according to the most Primitive and Apostolical Pattern by the best and wisest Rules in which even by the confession of the soberest and most considerable of our Dissenters nothing is required as a condition of Communion that is sinful yet how is she rent and torn mangled and divided how hath she been assaulted undermined and in danger to be the second time overthrown upon the account only of Habits and Gestures and particular Forms Rites and Modes of Discipline and Worship with which some Men are not well satisfied or pleased which they judge might be better done and ordered another way or which they rather would have left at liberty that every Man may do therein according to his own Discretion or Opinion In the great and necessary Truths of Religion we all profess to be agreed We all worship the same God believe in the same Lord and Saviour have the same Baptism the same Faith the same Hope the same common Interest our Sacraments as to the main are rightly administred according to our Saviours Institution our Churches are acknowledged to be true Churches of Jesus Christ but there are some Constitutions which respect chiefly outward Order and the decent performance of Divine Worship against which men have received strange Prejudices on the account of them have raised a mighty noise and clamour against the Church and have openly separated from its Communion as if by renouncing of Popery we had only exchanged one idolatrous Service for another About these skirts and borders the dress and circumstances of Religion hath been all our quarrelling and contention and these Differences have proceeded to such an height as to beget immortal Feuds and Animosities to break and crumble us into little Parties and Fractions whereby mutual Edification his hindred our common Religion suffers Reproach the Enemies of it are strengthned and encouraged publick Peace endangered and brotherly Love the Badge of

Separation from them necessary and so consequently justifiable whereas the things objected against in our Church are at worst only doubtful and suspicious or rather not so good and expedient as might be devised and this surely makes a wide difference in the case But doth not St. Paul say Rom. 14. 19. I know and am perswaded by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of it self but to him that esteemeth any thing unclean it is unclean Doth not he expresly tell us That whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin that is Whatever we do without a full Persuasion of the lawfulness of it tho it be not so in it self yet is a Sin in him that doth it against his Conscience And doth not the Apostle say He that doubteth is damned if he eat before he is convinced that it may be done I desire here therefore only to be rightly understood and then these things are soon reconciled 1. When I speak of a Scrupulous Conscience I suppose the Person tolerably well perswaded of the lawfulness of what is to be done but yet he doth not like or approve of it he hath some little Reasons and Exceptions against it it is not the best and fittest all things considered This is properly a Scruple and is certainly the case of all those who do sometimes to save themselves from the severity of the Laws joyn in our Worship and communicate with us which we presume they would never do did they judge it absolutely sinful and forbidden by God So that though it should be granted that a man cannot innocently do that of which his Conscience doubts whether it be lawfull or not yet a Man may and in some cases is bound to do that which is not unlawful though upon some other Accounts he scruples the doing of it 2. If the Question be about things wherein we are left wholly to our selves and at liberty having no very weighty Reason for the doing of them then it may be the safest way to forbear all such things we scruple at Of such cases the Apostle speaks in the fore-mentioned Places of eating or not eating some Meats neither of them was required by any law Eating was no instance of Duty or was it any ways forbid where to do or not to do is perfectly at our own choice it is best for a Man to forbear doing that of which he hath some suspicion tho he be not sure that it is sinful As suppose a man have Scruples in his Mind about playing at Cards and Dice or going to see Stage-Plays or puting out his Money to Usury because there is no great Reason or Necessity for any of these things and to be sure they may be innocently forborn without any Detriment to our selves or others though we do not judge them absolutely sinful yet it is safest for him who cannot satisfie himielf concerning the Goodness and Fitness of them wholly to deny himself the use of them But in these two cases it is most for the quiet of our Consciences to act against or notwithstanding our Fears and Scruples when either our Superiours to whom we owe Obedience have interposed their Commands or when by it we prevent some great Evil or Mischief 1. When our Superiours other Civil or Ecclesiastical whom by the Will of God we are bound to obey in all lawful things have interposed their Commands our Scruples will not excuse or justifie our Disobedience If indeed we judge what is commanded to be absolutely unlawful tho it be a false erroneous Judgment yet whilst we are under such persuasion we are by no means to do it upon any Inducement whatever If I only doubt of the lawfulness of any particular Action and it be an instance wherein I am at liberty I am still bound not to do it For Whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin I am certainly innocent when I forbear I may commit a Sin if I do it Wisdom would therefore that the safer part be chosen But now if I am by the command of my Superiours obliged to it my choice is then determined it then becomes my Duty and it can never be safe or advisable to neglect a plain Duty for an uncertain Offence Thus most and best Casuists do determine about a doubtful Conscience particularly the forenamed reverend Bishop in the same Sermon Whatsoever is commanded us by those whom God hath set over us either in Church Commonwealth or Family quod tamen non sit certum displicere Deo saith St. Bernard which is not evidently contrary to the Law and Will of God ought to be of us received and obeyed no otherwise than as if God himself had commanded it because God himself hath commanded us to obey the Higher Powers and to submit our selves to their Ordinances But now this is more plain concerning Fears and Scruples only about the conveniency and expediency of things these ought all to be despised when they come in Competition with the Duty of Obedience Would men but think themselves in Conscience bound to pay the same Duty and respect to the Judgment and Authority of Magistrates and Governours whether in Church or State as they do expect their Servants and Children should to themselves they would soon see the reasonableness of such submission For all Government and Subjection would be very precarious and arbitrary if every one that did not approve of a Law or was not fully satisfied about the reasonableness of it was thereby exempted from all Obligations to obey it This is to give the Supreme Authority to the most humoursom or perverse sort of Christians for according to this principle no publick Laws and Constitutions can be valid and binding unless every scrupulous tho a very ignorant Conscience consent to them 2. We are not to mind or stand upon our Scruples when they probably occasion a great evil a general mischief They are not fit to be put in the balance with the Peace of the Church and Unity of Christians Suppose for once that our publick way of Worship is not the best that can be divised that many things might be amended in our Liturgy that we could invent a more agreeable Establishment than this present is which yet no man in the World can ever tell for we cannot know all the inconveniences of any Alteration till it comes to be tryed yet granting all this it cannot be thought so intolerable an Evil as contempt of Gods Solemn Worship dividing into Sects and Parties living in Debate Contention and Separation from one another If there be some Rites and Customs amongst us not wisely chosen or determined some Ceremonies against which just Exceptions may be made yet to forsake the Communion of such a true Church of Jesus Christ and set up a distinct Altar in opposition to it to combine and associate into separate Congregations is as it is somewhere expressed like knocking a man on the head because his Teeth are rotten or his Nails too long How much more