Selected quad for the lemma: reason_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
reason_n	church_n	faith_n	infallible_a	3,610	5	9.7555	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A43697	A sermon preach'd before the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen, June 27, 1680 by Charles Hickman ...	Hickman, Charles, 1648-1713.	1680 (1680)	Wing H1895; ESTC R18596	14,790	42

judgment in the search and only requires them to make a return according as they find the proof Not like the practices of the Church of Rome which requires an implicit faith to their unconceivable devices and ties us up to all the dictates of their infallible Judge that confines all knowledge to the mouth of the Priest and allows not so much as the evidence of opinion to the people Surely the light was made to shine and the Gospel was given us to profit withal but their concealments are an argument of their guilt and if Rome must still be under-ground it is not now to avoid the persecutions of tyranny but the convictions of truth it self This is the first argument of the truth of a Religion from the Reasonableness of it the second shall be taken from its Success It was this issue upon which Elijah put the grand debate between him and the Priests of Baal he pray'd and God heard his voice he believ'd and therefore it happened unto him according to his faith and the fire came down from Heaven to consume his Sacrifice God has in all ages shew'd an especial regard to his Church and with the watchful eye of providence has directed all its motions How miraculous were the advances of Christianity in the Primitive times when all the powers of the world set themselves with fire and sword to oppose its progress How wonderfully have those uncorrupted streams of truth been deriv'd to us through all the seas of violence and falshood with which it has continually encountred and 't is no less a miracle that we still continue in the true worship of God though compass'd about with our Adversaries on every side that our Church still retains the purity of its doctrine notwithstanding the perpetual assaults of Superstition and Idolatry and the secret underminings of Heresie and Schism which is a great proof that God has espous'd the cause of our Church since no weapon has prosper'd that was lifted up against it 'T is true that an evil cause also may be supported for a season by the force of evil arms and therefore I should not insist upon this argument in our defence but that there are still amongst us those who formerly design'd it to our destruction men of so politick a faith that they could measure the goodness of their cause by the number of their adherents and thought a Victory did sufficiently justifie a Rebellion they had no plea for breaking down all the fences of human society and violating the Ordinances of both God and man but the dictates of their private spirit and secret correspondence with God and they had no proof of this their Almighty commission and correspondence but from the success of their arms then they boasted themselves of their Victory and were exalted in their strength and as they made God the Author of their sins so in frequent thanksgivings they gave him the praise of its success But blessed be God our Religion as it was founded upon no blood but that of our Saviour so it was restor'd to us from the usurpation of these men in peace has hitherto flourish'd in the truth and I hope will be supported by Godliness But thirdly Supposing the Lord to be God yet we may make some use of the Prophets words that if Baal be God we must follow him From these worshippers of Baal we may in some sort learn how to follow the living God 'T is a shame to our Religion that we should go to the Heathens for examples of vertue and learn piety of an Idolater and yet if we observe the devotion of these Priests of Baal and other Enemies of our profession we shall find such strains of zeal amongst them as may serve though not for our imitation yet for our reproach How did they cry aloud from morning even until noon and cut themselves after their manner with Knives and Lancets till the blood gushed out upon them How do others also make it a piece of their Religion to rise up at mid-night to their Prayers and awaken their devotion with cords and thongs How did those Idolaters make their Children pass through the fire to Moloch How do these also sacrifice not only their Children but their Parents also their Kings and Princes to their devotion If their zeal could force them voluntarily to do violence to their natures cannot we at the command of God himself use such necessary self-denyal such moderate abstinence and fasting as may fit and prepare us for his reasonable service if they to serve their Idols could force their way through all the bounds of humanity and follow their God as the Jews follow'd our Saviour with Swords and Staves Cannot we submit to the just and easie commands of the Almighty for what does he require of thee O Man but to do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God The sum of all is this Let us no longer halt between two opinions but if God has set up his Standard in Rome for an Ensign of the People to which all the Gentiles should seek let us no longer conceal our duty nor delay our holy Pilgrimage but make our way with Fire and Sword let us give the reins to our lusts and commit all iniquity with greediness that the vehemence of our passions and the greatness of our sins may add strength to our faith and sincerity to our repentance as if they loved most who had most need to be forgiven Or if God had withdrawn his presence from our solemn Congregations and shrouded his glory in the private retir'd Assemblies if the beauty of holiness consists in an unseemly disrespectful service and the liberty of the Gospel leaves us to our own devices If dissimulation and familiarity with our God be a virtue and Rebellion against our Prince be the great commandment then let us be zealous in this work of the Lord and drive on furiously towards confusion let us once more bind our Kings in chains and our Nobles in fetters of iron But if these things are an abomination and there can be no communion betwixt God and Baal then my beloved Brethren be ye steadfast and unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as ye know tha your labour is not in vain If the Lord be God follow him in the worship of his Name with boldness and resolution follow him in your lives with zeal and affection and be ye constant unto death Let neither Tribulation nor Anguish Principalities nor Powers things present nor things to come separate us from the love of God or shake our resolutions Let neither the temptations of the flesh nor the evil customs of the wicked world induce us to take part with the destroyer but let our good works shine like lights before men to the glory of God and the confirmation of his Church Let our ways be upright as amongst the Gentiles and our conversation unblamable to stop the mouths of of gain-sayers and let our faith overcome the world and tread down Satan under our feet for this is a Christians triumph these are the badges of our profession and must be our Crowns and Diadems when dignities and distinctions shall be no more Without these it is but vanity to expect and injustice to demand the honour due to the Servants of the Lord when our Vices shal level us with the worshippers of Baal FINIS

that make Virtue utterly unnecessary to the life of a Christian and confine all Religion to a bare relying upon the merits and mercies of our Saviour and because God has predestinated some to be saved they resolve to put themselves in the number and register themselves Saints in spight of all their sins they work not out their salvation with fear and trembling but with impudence and presumption make God the Author of their sins and give him the whole trouble of their salvation And there are many such that make great profession of Zeal and a noise about Religion yet never trouble themselves with the duties that Religion lays upon them 'T is this that profanes the worship of God and brings his Gospel into contempt Not all the Blasphemies of the Heathens not all the Usurpations of Antichrist no nor all the powers of the gates of Hell can so far offend God or prejudice his Church as the scandalous practices of his false pretended Servants The back-slidings of Israel were notorious and she plaid the Harlot upon every high Mountain and under every green Tree and yet for all this the Lord said The back-sliding Israel hath justifi'd her self more than her treacherous Sister Judah who turn'd not unto me with her whole heart but feignedly We must therefore first advance the Kingdom of God in our hearts and seek his righteousness and then all these outward things the beauty of holiness and the flourishing estate of a visible Church shall be added unto us II. If we be truly zealous for the worship of God we should also be zealous for the honour of his holy Name we should not with a sordid compliance bear the reproaches which are daily cast upon him nor see his honour laid in the dust by the prophaneness of every hypocritical pretended Saint and every lewd Atheistical unbeliever we should not with patience hear his Name traduc'd to authorize the sacrilegious rebellions of the one and the impious exsecrations of the other but if our presence cannot suppress nor our exhortations reclaim their vice we should flie from the tents of wickedness and avoid their company like an infected place III. We must be zealous also for the honour of Gods holy Temple When we come into his House we must so behave our selves as shall befit the Majesty before whom we appear and the place where his Honour dwells We must here put off all Pharisaical greatness and all dissembled humiliation all sinful desires and all wandring idle thoughts otherwise we profane that place which God has sanctifi'd and make his Service an unhallowed thing The very laws of nature enforce a reverence from us to the places of devotion and the Angels which here attend the prayers of the just will certainly avenge the contempt of the profane There is a reverence due even to misguided piety and Histories relate unto us the Judgments which the just and true God has inflicted upon those that defil'd the Temples of their own invented Deities Whatsoever therefore our Religion is let us adorn it by an ingenuous profession thereof let our practice be according to the tenour of our faith yea and if Baal be God let us follow him which is the last part of my Text and affords us these three considerations 1. How the Jews came to doubt whether the Lord were God or whether it were Baal 2. Since they did doubt how shall we be assur'd hereof And 3. Supposing the Lord to be God yet what use may we make of the Prophets words that if Baal be God then follow him And 1. 'T is strange that the Jews should so soon forget the Lord after he had brought them out of Egypt with a strong hand and led them through the Wilderness with a stretched-out arm that they could blot out the remembrance of his loving kindness who cloath'd them by a miracle and fed them with food from Heaven 't is strange that this People unto whom God had so often manifested both his goodness and his power should yet fall away from his worship to follow a sensless Idol yet this they did not out of any real belief of its divinity but only to gratifie their lusts according to the examples of the Nations that were round about them 'T was the Religion of Baal to eat and drink and rise up to play Whoredoms and Fornications are always the attendants of Idolatry and the worship proper to the Idol for this cause it was that the People bow'd down unto them and threreout they suck no small advantage Whilst men of vitious inclinations and impotent reasons indulge themselves in their sensual Lusts there will not be wanting those that shall bow the knee to Baal How far the Roman Catholicks have made use of this policy to establish their Church is notorious to all the world how they comply with every ones inclinations and allow the worst of men in their sins for their interest they can indulge and incourage too the highest enormities and live upon the sins of the People 'T is this that brings such crowds of Nations to their Temples and makes their Altars smoke 't is not the probability of their faith nor the antientness of their traditions that has advanc'd their cause but the looseness of their doctrines and the liberty of their practices the easie penances enjoyn'd to sinners in their lives and the ample indulgences allow'd them at their deaths Thus they egregiously promote a Christian Church by destroying Christianity it self and set up a faith of their own that makes void both the Law and the Prophets and frustrates the design of all Religion And now they may take to themselves their boasted Universality and glory that their doctrine is not only Preach'd but Practis'd too throughout the world for whilst sin is the universal distemper of mankind 't is to be fear'd that Rome will be the Catholick Church 2. How shall we know whether the Lord be God or whether it be Baal We do not now expect the spirit of Elijah to reprove us nor fire from Heaven to convince our unbelief and yet God has not left himself without testimonies even in these our days sufficient to assert the truth of his Religion I shall mention only two which are grounded upon the authority of my Text. 1. We have our Reason for our judge examine and try whether the Lord be not God indeed and whether there be any deceitfulness in him search the records of time and see if there be any that can perform those wondrous works which he hath done his truth will indure the severest tryal and he needs not the ignorance of his Servants to advance their devotions but delights in the understanding of his Saints and requires a reasonable service If Baal be God then in Gods name follow Baal The Prophet does not impose his own sense upon them nor magisterially dictate his own opinion but gives them commission to make use of their reason and the freedom of their