Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	world_n	worship_n	zeal_n	152	3	7.5881	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A94071	XXXI. select sermons, preached on special occasions; the titles and several texts, on which they were preached, follow. / By William Strong, that godly, able and faithful minister of Christ, lately of the Abby at Westminster. None of them being before made publique.	Strong, William, d. 1654.	1656 (1656)	Wing S6007_pt2; Thomason E875_1; ESTC R203660	179,143	303

Canons a mixture partly out of the Word of God and partly from their own traditions and to shew that they love the mid-way in all these their Purgatory a middle place between Heaven and Hell Since that in the Reformed Churches there be many that though they have not been fully Popish yet have greatly desired and much laboured for a reconciliation as if a middle way between us were the way to peace who perswade themselves and seek to their power to perswade us that if we yield unto them in Ceremonies it may be a means to bring them over in Doctrines and to tell us were it not for the Iesuites on the one side and the Puritans on the other two hot spirits ●…derate men would soon agree we read of some Rev. 13.16 that do receive the mark of the Beast a mark I conceive to be an expression taken either from a servant or a souldier who by some badge or cognizance are known to what Master or Captain they belong for as Christ will have his Church sealed Rev. 7.3 so will Antichrist have his servants marked And this mark the text tels us is double in the right hand and in the forehead the one notes an open profession and the other an earnest contention to promote the cause First in the fore-head it is an open profession either in words or practise when men either practise it or praise it when men praise their feasts keep their fasts honour their Saints set up their images commend their Crucifixes love their Ornaments their Copes their Tapers choose their names of Priests and Altars c. it is as plain hereby as if it were written in their foreheads to whom they do belong and it appears plainly that a mixture a middle way they desire Secondly A mark in the right hand sets forth an earnest contention in the cause of the beast the right hand being the Instrument of action and that wherein a mans main strength lyeth and so Antichrist hath his Merchants his Factors and Agents in most parts of the world that strive to the utmost of their parts and power in many things if not in all to advance the worship of the beast and to engage men in their quarrel So that in all ages there hath been a mixture for Satan would have a Religion like unto Nebuchadnezars Image he cares not though the head be of Gold and the breast of Silver so long as the other parts be either of brass or else partly of Iron and partly clay Now what hath been the cause of these mixtures in all ages they are two First the Ministery and Secondly the people First an unclean spirit working in the Prophets that is given as one reason when the Lord will cleanse his people and take away the causes of their pollution he saith Zach. 13.2 he will cause the Prophet and the unclean spirit to pass out of the Land that is the unclean spirit that works in the Prophets for the truth is there is a spirit of uncleanness and prophaness is gone forth into the world Secondly horrible pride in all those in whom this spirit of uncleanness doth take place for vain man would be wise Iob 11.12 and he affects a shew of wisdom in nothing so much as in matters of Religion either in the Doctrine or the worship of God and this is made a special cause of all humane mixtures Col. 2.18 being vainly puft up by their fleshly minds Thirdly a vehement desire that some men have arising from this pride to win Proselytes unto themselves that all men may be of their mind after their garb in all things they would have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh ut multitudine sequacium sese efferant that they may please themselves in this how many they have brought about and how many Disciples they have drawn after them that become their admirers c. Fourthly horrible hypocrisie when men are Sepulchres within yet they desire outwardly to appear painted who having no power of godliness within yet by new inventions would fain bear the world in hand that surely they are men of a higher strain for matters of Religion then ordinary whereof their zeal for a little bodily exercise and outward complement must be the great witness to the world and this Christ chargeth upon the Pharisees as a special cause of all that corruption and composition that was in the Church of God amongst them as we see Mat. 23.13,14 Fifthly worldly wisdom politick respects and fleshly ends what moved Ieroeobam to set up the Calves or Iehu to retain them but because it suited better with their policy and earthly aims and purposes then the purity of Gods worship would ever have done for when men come to this to count gain godliness then that will be the best Religion or the best way of worship and those the most decent ceremonies that will but further their worldly ends So sometimes a correspondency with forraign powers of another Religion So Ahaz that he might keep his correspondency with forraign powers with Tiglah Pelezer King of Assyria he must have the fashion abroad also 2 King 16.11,12 outward references have many times a great influence into the matters of Religion Sixthly and lastly there are four sins which are in a especial manner incident unto the Prophets and the great causes thereof are Ignorance Idleness Covetousness and Cowardize First ignorance that is given as a special cause of many humane inventions amongst the Pharisees thou blind Pharisee Mat. 23.26 And the Church of Thyatira many well-meaning men were deluded because they knew not the depth of Satan Rev. 2.24 many men are deluded because they see not the evil that is intended the Apostle tels us of Popery that it is a mysterie of iniquity 2 Thes 2.7 Iniquitas sed mystica pietatis fidelitatis nomine palliata represented unto men under the names both of piety and loyalty Secondly Idleness and carelesness in matters of this nature so that if men can enjoy their liberty live quietly and richly for the purity of Gods worship it matters not so much that is given as the cause Mat. 13.24,25 While men slept the enemy came and sowed tares In most ages there have been some secure and quiet times of the Church when the Prophets have taken their ease and a spirit of slumber hath come upon them and then is the time to vent and set forth the inventions of men and so by little and little pedetentim usu ipso tacita Doctorum approbatione coepit esse in precio hac aestimatione sensim sine sensu crescente As a Jesuite speaks of some things in Popery Thirdly Covetousness a desire of raising themselves in the world and to set themselves in a way of preferment and when men see there is no other way to rise then they resolve to yield unto this so it was with them of the Concision who brought such a Mixture and caused such a rent in

this wisdom is the principal thing which hath more excellency in it then all things else in the world there is in it a superlative and a transcendent excellency above all excellencies in the world And that grace only is the true wisdom this I shall clear to you these two wayes First the Lord who is only wise he counts nothing wisdom but goldiness and this he doth every-where stile wisdom there is a great enquiry and search amongst all the creatures where wisdom is to be found men know not the price of it neither is it to be found in the Land of the living Iob 28. ult that is amongst all the creatures and in all the studies of them the depth saith it is not in me c. it cannot be gotten for gold it cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir with the precious Onyx or the Saphyre c. and yet the fear of the Lord that is wisdom unto men and to depart from evil that is understanding Psal 90.12 teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom c. that is in Consideration of the shortness of them we may get grace to our selves which will be immortal and stand by us when all the creatures both in heaven and earth shall fail and forsake us Luke 7.37 where grace expressed in the holy conversation of Christ and John is called wisdom wisdom is justified of all her children and Luk. 1.17 souls are said to be converted to the wisdom of the just c and therefore a godly man only is called the man of wisdom Micha 6.9 therefore in Gods account grace only is wisdom Secondly in Gods account all things is folly without grace and therefore Solomon throughout this Book and so David Psal 14.1 the wicked men are the foolish men the fool hath said in his heart there is no God the wicked man and the fool are Synonoma's and express the same thing an unholy man is a marvellous unwise man Take a view of that which hath the greatest shew of wisdom and the greatest name of wisdom in the world First all humane knowledge without grace it is but folly the He athen most of them were the greatest Artists and Philosophers in the world those that most enquired into the secrets of nature and had brought all humane learning unto the greatest height as in Athens and Corinth which were Universities and places far more famous then any other for knowledge tongues and all abilities 1 Cor. 1.20 God hath made foolish the wisdom of the wise that is made it manifest so to be and whilest they profest themselves wise they became fools Rom. 1.22 but they had not the knowledge of the Scriptures and therefore their knowledge might well be folly but for the Jews and their Rabbies they had great knowledge in the Scripture and in divine mysteries surely their knowledge was wisdom Christ speaks it to the Pharisees the most learned amongst them all Mat. 23.17 ye fools and blind c. so that if a man had all natural abilities to the highest pitch that ever was attained a sharp wit a piercing apprehension a solid judgement a firm and a tenacious memory and these acted and hightened by industry and Art the help of tongues and the greatest improvement of reading and exercise c. without a principle of grace put into the heart to enlighten and enliven a man all this would be but folly and never be counted wisdom in the sight of God Secondly take the greatest Statist and Polititian the world which hath also a great shew and name for wisdom let a man be acquainted with the Laws of all States let him be able by experience and observation to judge of the managing of all affairs let him sit at the stern of the State and let him with never so great dexterity manage all the affairs of it and let his counsel be as that of Achitophel as an Angel of God and as an Oracle of God yet without a principle of grace in the soul the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God and he takes the wise in their own craftiness 1 Cor. 3.19 and their own policies prove their own snares they are taken in their own nets Thirdly take the greatest men in the world and they are wise in their own conceits Prov. 28.11 that they can so manage their affairs as to get an estate and set themselves in the face and glory of the times raise their Bayes and mount up all the stairs of authority and honour and make hast to be great but yet without the power of godliness Lu. 12.20 it is but Thou fool this night shall thy soul be taken away Fourthly come to the civil men of the world and they are the worlds Saints that can so order themselves in the profession of Religion that they can keep themselves unspotted of the world and be esteemed Saints in their generation and yet can with wisdom avoid those dangerous waies of extremity that godly men do walk in as savouring of too much niceness and preciseness and they can be counted honest men and Saints yet without the power of grace in their hearts they are but foolish Virgins Mat. 25.1 and all the former blaze that they made with the oyl in their lamps it was but their folly and no wisdom in Gods account So that in the Judgement of the great God only the fear of the Lord that is wisdom and the knowledge of the holy that is understanding there is nothing wisdom but godliness And this will appear by these rules of wisdom First wisdom acts by the highest principles that is the first thing wherein a mans folly in a state of sin is seen Eph. 4.18 having their understanding darkned which is the seat of principles and according to a mans principles which are the rules of his actions such they are for Eccl. 10.10 Wisdom is profitable to direct it gives a man a right rule to vvalk by every man is according to the principles by vvhich he vvalks lay but these two principles in a mans heart First that the Church of Rome is the only true Church Secondly that this Church cannot err and he is immediately a Papist though he act not many of their fooleries c. So lay but these principles First that sin is no such great evil as men are told it is Secondly if it be a great evil yet men think God is merciful he is not so strict and severe as men speak of Thirdly if God be so strict yet it is long before the day of Judgement and therefore it will be long before a man comes to an account and this will make a man a prophane man immediately and to pour out himself unto all evil with greediness So lay but these two principles First that every man is to love himself best Secondly I am not my brothers keeper it is nothing to me what other men do or what they suffer and

deliverance and that was as an answer unto prayer Thirdly the fruit of it and to be unfruitful under mercies is the greatest barrenness for they drop fatness and not only the fruit of the lips words in labris nata but it must be from inward and hearty affections e sulco pectoris God expects special fruit under mercies or under crosses and if he comes to find fruit upon a figg-tree dunged he will be much displeased if he find none Now the fruit of the mercy is threefold First the love of God is enlarged and inflamed the more mercy a gracious heart receives the more abundant he is in love to God for our love to God is but by reflexion we love God because he loved us first and the more the soul tasts of Gods love in a mercy the more it doth draw forth in him love to God again much was forgiven her therefore she loved much so much is given to a Saint by God therefore he loves God much Secondly his confidence in God is enlarged the Lord is my rock and my fortress my deliverer and when I call upon him I shall be saved from mine enemies the Lord is the God of salvations and to him belong the issues from death and this God I have an interest in he is mine by Covenant and he is by my experience all this to me Thirdly he is by this quickned and encouraged unto prayer therefore I will call upon the Lord and I will pray to him in all dangers and my cry shall come before him it shall enter into his ears c. The proper fruit of mercy indeed is the inflaming of a mans love to God and the strengthening of a mans faith and his encouragement and the inlarging of a mans heart in prayer Fourthly he sets down the grounds of all these mercies First Gods free-grace 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it was Gods good pleasure and from this fountain do issue all Gods mercies to the Saints as Christ resolves it Mat. 11.25 Even so Father for so was thy good pleasure nay the greatest blessings that ever were bestowed upon a creature and the highest advancement that the creature was capable of the union of the humane nature with the God-head to be ex nullo merito sed gratis Secondly in the person to whom the mercy is bestowed for as God stands in a peculiar Covenant-relation to his people so he hath a peculiar providence over them Job 29.4 The secret of the Lord is upon their Tabernacle and according to their integrity the Lord will appear for them and own them in trouble God is with his people at all times but he is nearest to them in the worst times And here there was first Justitia causae the Lord hath undertaken the cause of the oppressed and the relief of the innocent Now they charged me with treacherie with a design to kill the King and to take the Kingdom as a man that raised sedition and civil wars in the Nation the Lord knows in this my integrity according to the uprightness of my heart and the cleanness of my hands hath he recompenced me Secondly Justitia personae a legal righteousness there cannot be so there is none righteous no not one but there is that which in Gods account goes for righteousness evangelical and that is sincerity and truth in the inward parts God delights in the works of his own spirit and in rewarding the graces that he himself hath wrought in a man Qui tribuit ut benefacerem secundum puritatem factorum retribuit mihi August Aust in loc Now he shews wherein this sincerity doth appear in these three things First I have not departed from God wickedly that is with a purpose and resolution of heart to continue in a way of sinning and that is the property of sincerity a man indeed may be over-taken and surprized by a temptation but it is not with a resolution to forsake God and to cleave unto the sin or rest in it he will not sleep in it spare it or favour it that is to do wickedly against God to have a double heart and a double eye to look upon two objects partly at God and partly at sin so to keep God as to keep some sin also as it is with all false hearted men in the world they look not upon god alone let them pretend to Religion never so much yet they look not unto God alone but upon something else together with God as Herod he regarded John but regarded his Herodias more and the young man in the Gospel comes to Christ yet he looks after his estate and Iudas followed Christ yet looks after the bag this is to depart wickedly from the Lord. Secondly all his Iudgements were before me a sincere and an upright heart hath a respect to all the Commandments as it s said of David Acts 13.22 A man after Gods own heart he must fulfil all his wills not only easie duty but difficult duty not only those that are in fashion but those that are out of fashion and are discountenanced amongst men in the least as well as in the greatest for the whole Law is written in the heart and his obedience thereunto is universal Rom. 6.17 And the more of Gods authority there is in the Law the deeper impression it hath upon the spirit Thirdly I was also upright before him and I kept me from mine iniquity A sincere heart hath the most serious resolutions the most unfeigned detestations and therefore the greatest and the most diligent watchings against his own iniquity that sin to which his nature is most prone and wherein he is most apt and hath commonly been to be ensnared In the words are two things First Davids profession of his sincerity Secondly his testification of it First I was upright 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 perfect there is a two-fold perfection First a legal perfection which is a perfect conformity in nature and in life to the Law of God such as was in Adam in the state of his innocency and this the Papists contend to be attainable even in this life but here Who can say my heart is clean or I am purged from my sin therefore surely this was not the perfection David here speaks of for his failings were known and confessed by himself and remain upon record known and read of all men Secondly there is an evangelical perfection a perfection according to the tenour of the second Covenant and this is two-fold First in a mans Justification and so a man is perfefectly justified that is in Christ for we are made the righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5.22 So we are said to be compleat in Christ and by his blood to have no more conscience of sin So the Church is said to be all fair and to have no spot in her and so by one offering the Lord hath for ever perfected them that be sanctified Heb. 10.14 Secondly a perfection of Sanctification and this