Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	article_n	believe_v	creed_n	2,820	5	10.5298	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A70253	A sermon preached before the honourable judges of assize, at the cathedral in Lincoln, July 21. 1673 Sir William Humble Baronet, being high sheriff of the county. By Richard Hollingworth, minister of God's Word at West-ham near London.	Hollingworth, Richard, 1639?-1701.	1673 (1673)	Wing H2504A; ESTC R38793	13,623	37

apparent evil that was in the matter of those Commands and he that is not as certain of the wickedness of the thing imposed as he is of the goodness of Obedience to Authority does not deal justly and with integrity with his Conscience if he disobeys And truly I wish with all mine heart that this thing was but well weighed and thereby better understood I am certain it is a Principle which would very much heal the Breaches and break down those walls of Separation that are too many and too high amongst us it would very much preserve and keep up the honour and veneration of Authority and Dignities would be more in esteem then now they are The reputation of all good Laws would be in heart and civil Sanctions would lead a better and more quiet life then now they do things very desirable by every man who understands the interest of all united and incorporated Bodies whatsoever for when men once by vertue of their Principles and religious pretences hang loose to Authority and entertain mean and despicable thoughts of what is prudently thought convenient to be enacted into a Law they alwayes grow unless prevented by an excellent natural disposition tumultuous and seditious and stand ready upon every slender alarum to besiege and attempt the honour and the quietness of that Government under which they live and so they continue if the natural influence and tendency of these Principles be not prevented plo●ting and conspiring till they have either by the hands of violence forced the enjoyment of their own Fancies or else by the destruction of their proper Masters usurped the Throne themselves And now by what hath been discoursed under this first Head you have a direct answer to the second thing propounded to wit wherein we are not to obey Magistrates If we are verily assured that the thing commanded is a real Evil we are then with all modesty to with-draw our selves from the Command and with patience to suffer the Penalties that are laid upon us and he that does so is a good Christian and a good subject and does nothing that can in the least impeach his Principles or discredit his Profession For thus did the Primitive Christians of old and all other good men truly influenced by the Divine Spirit ever since But on the contrary if men either from a bare jealousie that the thing commanded is unlawful or out of revenge because their own Fancies and Opinions do not take place and have not a publick countenance and encouragement do speak evil of Dignities and whisper against the Government and by sly and subtile remote and dark expressions either in Prayer or Preaching convey into the minds of people suspicious thoughts of the Powers that are above them If in praying for a Princes Reformation they make such a particular description of his faults as render him odious to his people why these men are so far from being good Subjects or good Christians that they deserve to be marked out for Firebrands and kept within bounds as Persons whose design is nothing else but Sword and Battel as men who like the Disciples know not what spirit they are of or else if they do are resolved to ruine themselves provided they can but work the destruction of others at the same time A Principle so far from having any thing that is masculine and generous that is Evangelical and Divine in it that it is raked out of the bottomless Pit and never knew what it was to have a being till by a voluntary lapse and fall from God Angels were turned into Devils And now if any man by what hath been discoursed is convinced of his Duty of Obedience to God's publick Ministers and Instruments of Justice and is desirous to understand how he may know this Duty and distinguish between Commands Lawful and those that are Unlawful by reason of their being morally evil I must then in his inquiry desire him to take these things along with him by way of caution which is the third thing propounded to be discoursed of 1. That he never judge of any thing commanded by his Rulers by those odious and scandalous titles men of perverse and refractory spirits fix upon it but let him bring the thing to a setled and appointed Rule and according to its agreement or disagreement with that either close with it or else shun it for they are Rules prescribed by God the great Law-Maker by which we must be judged at the last day and therefore they are the same Rules by which our Actions must be regulated It hath been a common way you know to revile some things that have been enjoyned amongst us under the name of Popish and Superstitious a charge considered in it self and where 't is truly laid very weighty and worthy of every mans thoughts and care For to call and assert a thing Popish and Superstitious is to àssert it as a thing having no foundation in Scripture and yet thrust and obtruded upon the minds of men as a necessary Article of Faith a thing to be believed and entertained with as true and divine a Faith as any of those Articles which are contained in that which we call the Apostles Creed and under this notion do the Papists assert Transubstantiation Invocation of Saints Prayer for the Dead Purgatory c. And he that will not swallow these down he is proscribed and cut off as a Person to whom Satan hath the greatest right Now I must confess that if any Magistrate impose any thing that is not either plainly raid down or easily deduced and drawn from the holy Scripture and under such a severe Notion as this we stand no wayes obliged to an active Obedience to his Laws for therein that so often used and so very much abused Text takes place Whether it be better to serve God or man judge ye But on the contrary if things commanded by the Authority and Wisdom of our Governors have no such necessity fixt upon them and are declared to be alterable and enjoyned onely as they are thought to minister to the purposes of Order Decency and Edification and are declared to lay no further Obligation upon the Conscience then was derived from those Texts of Scripture whereby we are commanded to obey our Governors I think no wise man can justly and upon serious thoughts brand them with the name of Popish and Superstitious For in a word the true proper and formal notion of Popery is to force men with the same necessity to believe and practise such things as have no foundation in Scripture but have been brought into the Church to serve the corrupt Humors the proud Minds and covetous Designs and Interests of the Court of Rome as they do believe and practise Those things which are plain and obvious in holy-Writ which is certainly an inpairing and dividing the Kingly Office of Jesus Christ 2. If you would know whether a matter commanded be good or evil and so fit for your