Selected quad for the lemma: reason_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
reason_n	baptism_n	baptize_v	infant_n	2,779	5	9.3007	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A48828	Seasonable advice to all Protestant people of England heartily recommended by a lover of his countrey.; Seasonable discourse shewing the necessity of maintaining the established religion in opposition to popery.	Lloyd, William, 1627-1717.; Fell, John, 1625-1686.	1681 (1681)	Wing L2692A; ESTC R13209	23,584	39

all others And if we should ever fall under Independency or a Liberty of Conscience can we think the change worth any little part of our pains we are or may be at Can we think of being contented in that condition which of late years was the anguish of our souls Can we make that our choice which not long since was our burden Some men indeed are apt to reach after any thing but what they have and hope to gather Grapes of Thorns and Figs of Thistles till they try and prick their fingers 2. Suppose the Presbyterian should be uppermost this is no more than he had before but could not keep it For truly they are for Government they talk't and preach'd and wrote all they could against Liberty they decryed the forsaking their Church as an unwarrantable Schism and would severely have bound up all to their own methods for which cause the Independent spoke him worse than the Pope For Mr. Sterry in a Sermon at White-Hall Nov. 5. 1651. tells us that our deliverance from Popery is not so great a mercy as our deliverance from the black plots and bloody powers of the Northern Presbyterie For the same cause the Anabaptist disputed against and the Quaker disturbed him in the Pulpit and every Party declared more against them than against the Church of England and never rested till they had worried and run them down And if it should be in the power of the Presbyterian to give Laws to others however as a means thereto they may yield to Indulgence Comprehension Liberty or any thing they will then lay a sufficient restraint upon the tongues of all Sectaries and stop the mouths of error and folly else they lose the end and fruit of all their care pains dangers prayers tears and whatsoever they have done for the service of truth and the Gospel They cannot suffer that woman Jezabel which calls her self a Prophetess to teach and to seduce which was the great sin of the Church of Thyatira and for which Christ said he had a few things against her Revel 2.20 And if ever they come to establish a Rule and oblige all others to it every Sectary will cry persecution and never cease till they have undermined the Church and the Truth and thrown all again into utter confusions Should any man flatter himself into expectation of better fruit if it ever come to tryal the issue will confute and fool him to his face What a crop then must we expect from the seed of Sedition and disturbance What an harvest when so many hands are sowing Tares among the Wheat Surely whatever men do hope this will be the end of all that they that sow the wind shall reap the whirl-wind 2. Another cause or reason of mens being disposed to a resistance of the Powers is this that they think it is their bounden duty as it seems to make for the glory of God and propagation of the Gospel of Christ This indeed hath been the mistake and fall of many honest and well meaning men and my self formerly have much stumbled at it But I took the course which the ingenious Cartesius advises in order to the finding out any truth which is this to strip our selves of all former Notions and Sentiments or rather of all Opinions and Perswasions formerly imbibed and so as far as is possible to bring our selves to doubt of every thing and then without prejudice or prepossession to apply our selves to the consideration of the point we would understand In this way I came to be fully satisfied that this point of resisting lawful Governours let them be what they will is a grand and most dangerous mistake and hath no foundation or any the least colour of encouragement from the Gospel or any Epistles or part of the New Testament And as every man is bound upon his Salvation to come to the light and use the best means he can to come to the knowledge of the truth so I doubt not but if any man will lay aside his prejudices and set himself to the impartial consideration of these following heads he will subscribe to this as an undoubted truth That a resistance of lawful Governours let the reasons or inducements be what they will is no way our duty nor by any means lawful For 1. There is no Precept of resistance in all the New Testament I never heard the man that was so hardy as to plead there is and if any think there is such a Text let him find and produce it that we may consider it For Mat. 10.34 I came not to send peace but a sword speaks only an accidental consequence an evil proceeding not from the nature of Religion which breathes nothing but on earth peace and good will towards men but only from the wickedness of the world And therefore shews us not what ought to be but what will be viz. differences upon the account of Religion as in V. 15. a man at variance against his Father and the daughter against her Mother And Luke 22.36 he that hath no sword let him sell his garment and buy one Only gave the Disciples an hint of the dangers and evils that were now ready to overtake them and did not in the least authorize them to make the weapons of their warfare carnal This appears undeniably from our Saviours reproof of Peter who could best expound his own meaning when he cut off Malchus's ear of which under the next head which 2. Shews that we have no example of resistance in all the New Testament For when Peter Matth. 26.51 took the Sword and cut off the ear of the High Priests servant Jesus heals the wound and saith V. 52. Put up thy sword for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword Where the Margin points us to Gen. 9.6 Whoso sheds mans blood by man shall his blood be shed Thereby asserting that to kill any man that comes from a lawful authority to apprehend even the Person of Christ is murder Therefore to kill any sent from Authority though as they think in defence of the Gospel is murder too Unless they make Christ's Gospel more worthy of defence than his person which certainly they will not do that talk so much of Imputative righteousness of the personal excellencies of Christ and the pretiousness of Christ But if any do so yet still there is no example of resisting the Powers for defence of the Gospel Therefore this instance is an instance only of Peter's weakness and error and gave an happy occasion to let the World understand that no Plea from the defence of Christ the propagation of the Gospel or the glory of God can justifie a resistance or excuse them from murder who kill any that are in or come from Authority in any manner or to any end whatever For if Peter's case was not justifiable I am sure none is Now some men reject Infant Baptism for no other reason but this viz. that there is expressed in the Gospel no precept or example of any one Infant baptized And certainly a precept or example is at least as necessary in this case as in the other Therefore since there is none by parity of reason a

resistance upon the same grounds ought to be rejected too For the matter comes to this point viz. either Infants must be received to Baptism though the Gospel affords no precept nor example that way or else such resistance must be rejected because the Gospel gives no precept nor example this way Else men are humorsome and do not square their opinions and judgements by Scripture but bend that sacred Rule to the obliquities of their own humours or at least use or not use it according as it may serve or not serve their own perswasions or resolves 3. The Gospel abounds in precepts of obedience to Governours simply as Governours and not as such and therefore to all Governours whether good or bad And whatever distinctions are made use of to restrain obedience only to such or to some Governours are 1. Groundless and unwarrantable for God saith Let every soul be subject to the higher powers and that there be no powers but what are ordained of God What warrant then have any to gainsay the Spirit and plead that some are not ordained of God and that some you ought not to be subject to God saith Whosoever resists shall receive to himself damnation what reason then have any to affirm that some resisters shall not receive damnation We ought not to bring restrictions and limitations unless truth or the nature of the thing so require and if it doth so in this case where have you that truth where is it written produce your warrant that we may see and be instructed by it 2. Such distinctions or limitations are as serviceable to the Papist as the Protestant For because there is no Text that saith we may resist much less any that set forth for what causes or reasons men may do it and that consequently this Doctrine is gathered only from illogical inferences sound of words and misapplication of Phrases therefore there is no Text that ever was or may be pleaded for such resistance by one party and for one reason but it may as well be so pleaded by any other party and for any other reason For instance why may not a Curse ye Meroz because they help not the Lord against the mighty be pleaded by a Papist as well as any other Since each may as indeed each do speak themselves the people of God and their cause the cause of the Lord and those they oppose the mighty and then full cry Curse all that do not help them against ' em The very reason indeed of such distinctions and limitations must be fetched from humor interest or ambition which make every party willing to be a Rebel it self but denyes that freedom to any other 4. All the behaviour of Christ and his Apostles toward Governours are but fair lessons of obedience for us to learn and practise Christ taught us to give unto Caesar the things that are Caesars he paid Tribute and Customes himself he was obedient before the Consistory of the Jews before an Heathen Herod and Pilate and that even unto death The Apostles taught obedience not only by precept but example too Paul appealed to Caesar whereby he owned that power though Heathen and persecuting too they were persecuted almost in all places scourged imprisoned and killed and yet never medled with Civil Governours or Government never spoke evil of Authority nor did any thing that tended to the working in men low and cheap thoughts of them But contrariwise taught us to honour the King and to be subject not only for wrath or fear but even for Conscience sake Therefore all the arguments for resistance drawn from the Glory of God and propagation of the Gospel are false and unchristian For 1. Practices contrary to the commands of God and example of Christ and his Apostles cannot be for the glory of God Nor can sins against the Gospel tend to the propagation of the Gospel But they that teach such things are like those in Rom. 2.23 who make their boast of the Law but through breaking the Law dishonour God 2. Such things are against the very nature of Christian Religion which is peaceable and quiet therefore the Prophet Esa 7.6 7 8 9. tells us that under the Gospel the Wolf shall dwell with the Lamb and the Leopard lye down with the Kid the Cow and the Bear shall feed and the Lyon eat straw like an Ox they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain By which is meant all the bestial qualities of men whereby they devour and destroy one another should be changed into meek and gentle tempers Therefore those that are not thus transformed from evil to good from rough and cruel to kind and gentle are no true subjects of Christ Kingdom here they are nominal but no real Christians Therefore Lactantius observed that while all the precepts of Philosophy had but little influence on the minds of men wherever the Gospel was really received by any it made such visible alterations as of lustful it made them chast and continent of covetous kind and liberal c. that they were hardly known to be the same persons This is to become indeed a new Creature and where men are not so but remain quarrelsome ungovernable and upon distaste and cross Providences fly to the Pike and Musquet it is plain that the Gospel of peace hath not had its work and effect upon them And we find our Saviour taught us rather to suffer wrong than to right our selves by much noise and disturbance Matt. 5.39 40 41. Resist not evil but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek turn to him the other also If any man sue thee at the Law and take away thy coat let him have thy cloak also And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile go with him twain And John 13.35 By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another These were the ancient marks of Christianity and not Drums and weapons of War Christians then gave one another a kiss of charity and not reproofs on the point of the Sword It was said by the Gentiles in the time of Tertullian See how the Christians love one another Not as in these dayes Behold how they slaughter and destroy Therefore though our Saviour's rules and precepts are so admirably suited to the prophecies of the Gospel State yet the Jews seeing so much of division enmity evil speaking censoriousness unruliness oppositions wars and murders among them that are called Christians are mightily prejudiced and hardned in their unbelief looking for a Messias who shall bring into the World such times of peace and love that Swords shall be beaten into Plow-shares and Spears into pruning hooks Nor will considerate Christians believe that the spirit of meekness