Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	ghost_n	holy_a	inspire_v	2,844	5	10.2489	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B21327	A sermon preached at the anniversary meeting of the sons of clergy-men in the church of S. Mary le Bow on Thursday, Decemb. 2, 1686 by Henry Dove.	Dove, Henry, 1640-1695.	1686 (1686)	Wing D2051	15,981	40

Father he delivered unto the Apostles that which the Apostles received of Christ they delivered to the Saints who were called so to be being converted by their preaching And thus the Faith was planted and the Church of Christ was founded That Primitive Holy and Uniform Church which began at Jerusalem and was the Mother of all true Churches in after Ages which consisted of a company of faithful and obedient and devout People professing the same Doctrine communicating in the same Sacraments and presenting the same Prayers As ye find them describ'd Act. 2. 41 42. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day there were added unto them about 3000 Souls and they continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship and in breaking of Bread and in Prayers I beseech you consult the place and ponder the words well because they contain all the necessary Notes and essential Ingredients of a true Church They were all baptized there 's the entrance by Baptism they stedfastly retained the Apostles Doctrine there 's the unity of the Faith they continued in the Apostles Fellowship there 's their union and adherence to their Governours they received the blessed Eucharist expressed by breaking of bread and consented in the use of the common Prayers there 's the Uniformity of their Worship These were the Saints of the first Church built upon the Faith which the Apostles then preached made capable of a continual increase and an uninterrupted succession for the Lord added daily then such as should be saved and Acts 2. 47. hath ever since added more and will still persevere to adde even unto the end of the World till he shall have compleated the number of his Elect and presented unto himself a glorious Church without spot or wrinkle in Eph. 5. 27. Heaven So much for the manner of its first conveyance and the Persons that first received it But here ariseth a material question that concerns all the succeeding Ages and is of great moment to us now living for that the Faith was at first revealed by Christ and published by his Apostles is confessed by all Christians however they be otherwise divided in their opinions or judgments but where this Faith is now to be found and how it is derived downwards unto us who live at the distance of 1600 years and upwards is a controversie that at this very hour disturbs Christendom That 't is preserved in the Scriptures as a perfect Rule of Gods revealed Will is the Doctrine of ours and all reformed Churches That the Scriptures are not a sufficient Rule of Faith but want a supply from Tradition is the known Doctrine of the Church of Rome By the meer mention of which you cannot but see the necessity of a Resolution for setling our Judgments for guiding our Consciences and building us up in our most holy Faith In order to which I crave leave to premise some few preliminaries that may at once give us light and prevent cavils in this Enquiry 1. It is confessed that as our Saviour writ Mat. 28. 19. Mark 16. 15. nothing himself so the commission he gave his Apostles was not to write but to teach and preach 2. But then it is no less certain that the Apostles taught the Churches by writing as well 2 Thess 2. 2. 5. 1 Cor. 11. 2. as by preaching and that the Faith was propagated by both by preaching to the Saints present by writing to those absent 3. Whatever the Apostles delivered by word of mouth or committed to writing is of equal authority because in both they were inspired by the Holy Ghost If therefore it appear that what is delivered be the Word and Will of God whether it be written or unwritten 't is sufficient ground of a Christians Faith. 4. But then fourthly since it is impossible to make it appear that after the Scriptures were written and the Canon was compleat there remained some Articles of Faith preserved onely by Tradition and not delivered in the Scriptures it will naturally follow that the written Word of God is a sufficient Rule of divine Faith. I confess at the first when Christianity was confin'd to a narrow compass and the number of Believers was but small their zeal and concern for the Faith was such that there was no danger of letting any thing slip which they had received as a necessary Doctrine and then Oral Tradition was a proper conveyance of the divine Will especially considering that then the gifts of the Spirit were plentifully shed not onely on the Apostles but on every true Believer also But when the Word of God grew and multiplied and the Religion of Jesus gained ground in the World when it spread it self far and near and passed through many hands into divers remote Countries the same Spirit that moved the Apostles to teach and preach moved some of them to write what they had preached and other holy men to write what they had seen and heard lest in process of time their Doctrine might be forgotten by the carelesness of luke-warm Professours or corrupted by the contrivance of crafty Hereticks or destroyed by the malice of the Devil And truly though the Writings of any one Apostle appointed for this purpose had been sufficient to preserve the Faith entire particularly had we onely the Gospel of St. John affirming of himself that though he had omitted many things that Jesus did yet he had written all things necessary to salvation Joh. 20. 30 31. And many other signes truly did Jesus in the presence of his Disciples which are not written in this Book But these are written why that ye might believe written that ye might believe what that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and what of that and that believing this as the great foundation of all the rest which the belief of this is apt to produce in your hearts and lives ye might have life through his Name I say though the Testimony of one in this manner had been sufficient yet such is the Providence of God and his abundant care of his Church which must continue to the end of the World that he ratifies his Will by a joynt testimony and consignes the Rule of our Faith by the hands of several Witnesses differing perhaps in stile and method and other circumstances but agreeing in the substance of all things necessary as the water is the same though it be conveyed through sundry pipes and channels From what hath been premised we may thus argue If to preserve a thing from oblivion or corruption be the main end of writing it then all that is necessary to salvation was also written because 't is most requisite to preserve what is most necessary Or if you please thus If it was necessary for the Apostles to write at all lest what they had delivered might be lost it was requisite they should write all that was necessary lest the designe of the whole might be frustrated