Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	according_a	believe_v	holy_a	2,473	5	4.6085	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61076	Reason against rage being some animadversions upon a late scurrilous libel, prefix'd to a sermon preach'd nine and thirty years ago; and dedicated in these words, (viz.) to Mr. Serj. Powlett, recorder of the City of Bristol, and Mr. Robert Yate, mercht. Together with an occasional discussion of some particulars relating to persecution, and liberty of conscience. To which is subjoyn'd, a brief application, made by way of advice, humbly offered to all the inhabitants of the City aforesaid. By Thomas Speed.	Speed, Thomas, b. 1622 or 3.	1691 (1691)	Wing S4906; ESTC R220758	23,658	33

The Nation doth too much abound with such Pollutions already and it would be the joy of all good men to see them more severely curb'd by Authority Not a liberty to do my Neighbour any Civil injury by no means No man may pretend Conscience to dampnifie his Neighbour either in his Person his Estate or good Name The Civil Law is set as a guard to preserve these and he that will presume to violate it justly suffers by the hand of Authority And if the Government I am under shall deny me the liberty of my Worship and shall cause me to suffer on that score Although this be an evil in the Government yet I am not therefore to plot and contrive its disturbance or subversion to obtain my ease and relief I did some years past suffer both by imprisonment and otherwise for no other cause but the Quiet exercise of my Conscience to God But I did not therefore betake my self to Plotting against the Government for the procuring my liberty No no I bless God I always stood firm in the practice of that Christian Doctrin of Passive Obedience and Non-resistance and hope so to continue to the end of my days Nor am I fond of the Government by a Common-wealth as you would maliciously suggest to your Reader For in truth so little am I knowing in the Politicks of Government that if I were ask'd I could not give account of the particular methods of Administration used in that form of Government But since I came to any measure of maturity of understanding I have with my self often admired the Prudence of our Ancestors who contrived the Frame of our ancient English Government For where there is a Pious Prince a Noble Counsel of Peers Noble as well by the inward endowments of Vertue as by Birth A grave Senate of prudent Patriots of their Country lovers of God and Good Men I say where these three meet in one steering their Conduct with a steady aim at the glory of God and the Peoples welfare what Form of Government can be found more conducing to the outward happiness of a Nation than this You would farther bug-bear your Readers and beget them into a belief that I am now an enemy to the publick way of Worship by reason of one Expression drop'd in the Sermon Touching which I shall give a plain and candid Account of my self by informing you and your Confederates and all men else that I hate no Man's way of Worship nor any sincere Worshiper of God who doth with an upright heart according to the utmost of his Knowledge offer up to him that Sacrifice which he doth believe is most acceptable to him such his worshiping being accompanied with a holy Life and Conversation I my self was educated in the national way of Worship from my Childhood And was a zealous Worshiper in that way and do believe that God accepted my Sacrifice because according to my then-understanding I offered it up with a sincere heart And although I am not now in the practice thereof being convinc'd of a way more agreeable in my judgment to the practice of the Primitive Christians mentioned in the holy Scriptures yet I neither judge nor condemn those that are who being conscientiously concern'd therein do in Sincerity and Uprightness worship God according to what is made manifest to them and do bring forth the Fruits of Love and good Works in their Conversations in the World It 's not the Worship but the Hypocrisie of those Worshipers that I do condemn who contradict their Prayers by their Practices who do in words often pray they may be delivered from the Sin of Pride and yet live in it from vain Glory and yet abound in it from Hypocrisie and yet openly manifest themselves guilty of it Are not you my nameless Adversaries frequenters of the Publick Service If you are I blame you not for it But consider do you not there pray in these words From Envy Hatred and Malice good Lord deliver Vs The Prayer is good But how far your Practice is remote from your Prayer let your Works speak Can you think that any understanding and unbyass'd Reader will believe that your Hearts were not fill'd with Envy when you contrived and framed that spightful Epistle Could the most malicious among Mortals I had almost said among Devils express greater Hatred and Malice than you have done against me in reprinting a Sermon which had lain buried in Oblivion for almost forty Years past hoping thereby to murther me in my Reputation and I doubt not but in my Life also had it lain in your Power And as a Demonstration that it was pure Malice in the very Abstract that prompted you thereunto ye did it without the least shadow of any just provocation given you on my part Is this less than a mocking of Almighty God to pray with your Lips that he would deliver you from Malice Hatred and Envy when as at the same time ye were studiously contriving with Hearts full fraited with them all how to express them against your Neighbours It 's far from me to condemn any sincere Worshiper in the national way of Worship I condemn only that which God condemns Viz. Deceit and Hypocrisie when Men draw † Isa 29.13 Matt. 15.8 near unto God with their mouths and honour him with their lips while their hearts are far from him And cry out the Church the Church as they did of old ‖ Jer. 7.4 The Temple of the Lord The Temple of the Lord and at the same time live vicious Lives and are found in the Practice of Ungodliness and Prophaness in their Conversations and so make their Prayers and outward performances a Cloak to cover over their Iniquities This is that which the Spirit of God in the Scriptures of Truth doth condemn and 't is that only which I do at this day judge and condemn also True Religion consists not in the Exercise of any outward form of Worship but in an entire resignation of the heart † Prov. 23.26 to God attended with a holy life An unclean heart under a specious sorm of outward worship is no other than as a painted Sepulchre which appears glorious and splendid without whilst rottenness and corruption possesseth the inside I am not so narrow spirited as to confine acceptance from Heaven to any one outward way of worship in the world but do believe with the Apostle Peter ‖ Acts 10.35 that in every Nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted with him And for a close of what I have to say on this Subject I declare this as my Faith that it 's not outward Service but inward Sincerity of heart that God the searcher of all hearts hath regard unto And whoever hath that for the companion of his Life will not miss of Peace with his Maker which is a Jewel of a greater Value than all the Treasures of the whole Universe Happy will that man be who when

Murther and Adultery in the matter of Vriah and Bath-Sheba ‖ 2 Sam. 12.13 'T was this that kept Joseph chast by which he withstood the Temptation of his unchast Mistress And although he might probably have committed folly with her with much security from punishment by his Master and with worldly Advantage from his Mistress yet hearkening to the Counsel of this his inward Guide he gave a repulse to the Tempter saying * Gen. 39.9 How shall I do this great Wickedness and sin against God Some of the Ancient and Pious Philosophers knew this though by another Name calling it their ‡ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Synteresis which filled their Souls with a continual aversation to that which was evil and a proclivity to that which is good Let this Synteresis which according to the Scriptures we call the Measure of * Rom. 4.7 God's Grace his Holy † 1 Cor. 12.7 Spirit the ‖ Joh. 1.9 Light of Christ Jesus in Man's Conscience Let this I say be your daily Monitor Let it be in your Hearts as a flaming Sword to stop you in the way to that which is evil and as a continual prompter of you to all acts of Holiness Be diligent in searching the holy Scriptures Bestow your vacant hours rather upon them than upon Plays and prophane Interludes And particularly let me recommend to you the frequent and serious reading of the second third and fourth Chapters of the Proverbs of Solomon That which beautified Timothy's Childhood will no less grace your Youthful Years And that knowledge which was able to make him * 2 Tim. 3.15 16. wise unto salvation can if with honest and humble hearts ye wait for Divine Instruction do the same for you Be constantly upon your watch knowing that the Enemy of your Soul's peace is continually near you Live so as that Death may not surprize you at unawares But that if summoned in the flower of your Age you may be able cheerfully to give up and say Lord we are ready And if you are spared until gray Hairs become your covering ye may reflecting upon your by-past Lives lay down your hoary heads in peace Remember O remember that the end of the just man's Race only is Peace † Isal 37.37 Isa 26.7 which is not to be obtained but by walking in the just man's path that leads to it which is Vprightness Let no man deceive you nor deceive your own precious Souls I intreat you ‖ Gal. 6.7 Such as you sow such you shall certainly reap If you sow to the flesh to worldly pleasures and vanity ye shall reap to your selves sorrow and anguish But if ye sow to the Spirit to Righteousness and Holiness ye shall reap the Fruits of Peace and Joy unspeakable The worst of men which hates a good man's life will yet covet the * Numb 23.10 good man's end But let me close my friendly Counsel to you with this great Truth That if you would die the righteous man's death you must indispensably live the righteous man's life or you will assuredly deceive your own Souls Finally When all Ranks and Orders of Men Old and Young High and Low Magistrates and People shall live in the faithful discharge of their Duty of Fear and Service towards God and of true Love and Forgiveness one towards another Then shall the City of Bristol justly be stiled as Jerusalem of old once was the † Neh. 11.1 holy City the ‖ Psal 48.8 City of our God the * Isa 1.26 City of righteousness the faithful City And now that Holiness to the Lord may be written upon her Gates that Mercy and Truth may ever be found within her Walls and Righteousness and Peace within her Borders † Amos 5.24 That Judgment may run down in her Streets as Waters and Righteousness as a Mighty Stream That that doleful Lamentation which Christ with Tears once took over languishing Jerusalem may never be justly taken up over the City of Bristol saying ‖ Mat. 23.37 38. If thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy Peace But now they are hid from thine eyes That the bright Sun-shine of Heaven's Bounty and Blessings both Spiritual and Temporal may never be eclips'd over her That all her Inhabitants from the least to the greatest may know the Lord their Redeemer And that they may fully understand those things which do concern their Happiness in this World and their Eternal Happiness in that Kingdom which shall never have an end is the hearty and fervent Prayer of Your Faithful Friend and Fellow-Citizen Thomas Speed FINIS

whether imposition or attempts to impose upon Conscience in things religious be not a high and manifest contradiction to the Spirit of Truth speaking by the mouth of the holy Apostle who debating of things pertaining to Conscience saith * Rom. 14.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let every man be fully perswaded or as in the Margent of the Bible fully assured in his own mind A full inward perswasion removes so much as the least doubt of the truth of what a man doth embrace or practise in the Worship of God He that made man neither requires or expects from him blind obedience that he should serve him with his lips or with bodily service until he be fully perswaded in his mind that his obedience is such with which he will be well-pleased And what a vast difference there is betwixt forc'd Conformity obtained by the imperious mandates of men and full inward assurance of the truth of what they conform to I leave to all the wise in heart to determine 4. And above all it 's seriously to be minded whether every man as a Creature standing obliged to render an account of himself to God his Creatour it be not agreeable to right reason as well as to the Scriptures that he should manage the concerns of his own Soul which relate unto salvation according to what he himself doth understand and believe Upon this consideration it was that the Apostle Paul allows no man to impose upon his Brother's conscience no not in those low concerns of meats and observation of days for saith he † Rom. 4.4 To his own Master he standeth or falleth and presently subjoyns Every one of us including himself among the rest shall give account of himself to God When Death the King of Terrours shall summon any man from off the Stage of this World nothing is more certain than that he must then die for himself No man can at that hour die in his brother's stead much less can he make up his Soul's account for him with Almighty God If poor Mortals when they come to lye upon their dying Beds should then call to those who had before forc'd or endeavour'd to force them to conform to what they did not believe to be true crying out in the anguish of their hearts and saying Oh! now come and help us we have no inward peace in our bosoms Now shoot the bottomless gulf of Eternity for us in our steads We are shortly to appear before the great Tribunal of the ever-living God to give an account of all our deeds done in these bodies Now therefore stand by us and for the eternal safety of our immortal Souls make up a satisfactory account to him for us What other returns could they then receive to their mournful cries but this heart-breaking answer viz. We can neither die for you nor give an account to God for you we now leave you to do both for your selves What can be more unreasonable than that men should by Pains and Penalties be violently driven to renounce their own Faith and way of Worship and conform to another's whilest they live and be bid to shift for themselves when they come to die Having for the reason before-mentioned made this digression I come now to reckon with my nameless Adversaries touching the Contents of their scoffing Libel And in the first place I cannot forbear telling you that you make too bold with many Expressions used in the holy Scriptures by an arrogant loading them with your unsavoury Scoffs Doubtless ye thought your selves very witty in so doing But you must know * Jocare in Seriis Judere cum Sanctis that to mingle Iests with things of a serious nature and to sport with things Sacred hath ever been exploded by men truly religious as becoming none but prophane lips You charge the Serjeant and his fellow Candidate with appearing for the cause of God at the head of his People Animad Well and what then if you would have men believe your own words to be true that they were as you say the People of God in the head of whom they did appear how can you fix this upon them as a crime or make it to redound in the least to their dishonour I find through the New Testament those comprehended under the denomination of the People of God * Tit. 2.14 1 Pet. 2.9 10. who have obtained mercy from him found favour in his sight and are beloved by him and therefore Emphatically styled his peculiar People And if you exclude your selves from the number of God's People as by your mentioning them with scorn ye seem to do one may without breach of Charity doubt if not conclude to what herd of Evil-doers you do belong You add further that their appearing administers comfort and satisfaction to all who are the well-wishers of the peace of Zion Animad The Scriptures make frequent mention of mount Zion with great veneration as being the place of God's worship where he is said by the Prophet Isaiah † Isa 8.18 Isa 24 2● both to dwell and to reign and therefore not to be made the subject of derision by the tongues of Scorners Pray Sirs observe you are both Categorical and Universal in your Position then let me ask you Are you well-wishers or enemies to the peace of Zion If well-wishers then their appearing as before doth administer comfort and satisfaction among the rest to you also for under the word all you must needs comprehend your selves And why then do you quarrel at their appearing If you answer me and say that you are enemies to the peace of Zion which I am most inclin'd to believe you do thereby at once proclaim both your sin and your shame by professing your selves enemies to that which God loves and all good men pray for You proceed on in your Epistle to belch out your unsavoury Scoffs against other Expressions of the holy Scriptures which speak the great Love of God to poor Mortals viz. The Chosen Ones The Houshold of Faith and the Holy Ones Animad To be chosen by an earthly Prince to stand in his presence and to be admitted a Member of his Secret Council is a favour highly estimable among the Sons of Men but how infinitely doth the happiness of those Souls exceed that ‖ 2 Thess 2.13 who are chosen of God as the Apostle words it to salvation to live lives of holiness to his praise here upon earth and to live with him in the Kingdom of Glory when Time shall be no more And believe it Sirs if you that are now scorners of them be not found at the last day among the number of God's Chosen Ones you will find no admission into Eternal Happiness And is it matter of derision to you that a man should be one * Gal. 6.10 of the Houshold of Faith or as the same Apostle hath it † Eph. 2.19 of the Houshold God Consider it well if your selves are not of