Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	holy_a	tradition_n	unwritten_a	2,627	5	12.0852	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93062	The sinfulnesse of evil thoughts: or, a discourse, wherein, the chambers of imagery are unlocked: the cabinet of the heart opened. The secrets of the inner-man disclosed. In the particular discovery of the numerous evil thoughts, to be found in the most of men, with their various, and severall kinds, sinful causes, sad effects, and proper remedies or cures. Together with directions how to observe and keep the heart; the highest, hardest, nad most necessary work of him that would be a real Christian. / By Jo. Sheffeild Pastor of Swithins London.	Sheffeild, John, d. 1680.	1650 (1650)	Wing S3064A; Thomason E1863_1	165,696	337

for us How slightly do they speak of God Who is the Lord And what can he do for us So in Zephany The Lord will neither do good nor evill These men Zeph. 1. 11. are settled on their lees and dregs of impiety and irreligion whereas it is the language of the Godly Who is like unto thee O Lord Who is like the God of Israel And Ex. 15. 11. Psal 89. 8. Deut. 33. 26. hereby do the Godly know they have been spirituall in their duties if they rise up in the duty to or depart from the duty with higher more raised admiring and exalting thoughts of God in their hearts and more low and self abasing thoughts of themselves CHAP. VIII Of Atheisticall thoughts HAving before spoke of severall kindes of Atheists I shall here speak of the Atheisticall thought A thought so black Irrationall Bruitish and horrid as can be thought A thought which may be darted and haply glance at a gracious heart but can onely find footing and stick with a heart altogether gracelesse To shew the heinousnesse and hatefullnesse whereof I may boldly say five things 1. That it cannot possibly be received but where the man hath first worne out his conscience and all principles of religion It doth ipso facto unsaint a Saint upon its first admission Some other Errors possibly may stand with grace this entertained cannot 2. Nor doth it ever stick but where the man hath lost his reason and his braines too as well as his conscience It is not onely against the light of Scripture but nature even corrupted nature and doth consequently not onely un-saint the Christian but un-man the man Some other Errors have some seeming reason on their side This utterly none It is the fool onely who saith that is imagineth in his heart There is no God And have they no knowledge saith he afterwardes No indeed none Psal 14. 1. and 4. at all either spirituall or so much as naturall The whole Host of heaven and earth and all the creatures animate and inanimate combine together to bear witnesse against this folly and impiety They are all Gods witnesses and say to man if thou denyest a God thou art a lyar or if thou doubtest thou art a fool and we will prove it For who could make these visible heavens but the invisible Deity Who could make the eye but he who is all eye and give the understanding but he who is all understanding Though many of the creatures are mute and cant speak another word they all plainly pronounce this one word A God a God This is the sound of the harmony of the heavens and the note of the whole universe there is no speech nor language where this voice is not heard So much Divinity at least is received for Orthodox among all Nations established not by particular nationall or general Counsells convened as some other points but by the Oecumenicall counsell of mankind though never convened together and subscribed to man by man all the world over and hath gained universall consent in all ages and places as the first if not onely principle of naturall beliefe and our mother natures Creed Some Nations have one Creed some another some have altered their present Creeds this was never altered but received by all without dispute or contradiction There be some people that admit of some books of holy Scripture onely as the Samaritans of old and the Turk at this day of the five books of Moses Some receive the Old Testament entirely as the Jowes Some receive the old and New Testament both as the sound Christian Churches Some admit the Apocrypha and unwritten Traditions too as the Papists Some reject all the whole Bible and have no written Scripture But all have this Scripture written in their hearts the most ancient Scripture in the world before there were any penman of holy Writ And this is universally received and read in all nations in their mother Tongue and expounded in their several and different the most corrupt exercises of religion and worship There have been several Sorts of Philosophers in the world one opposing and thwarting anothers Axiomes there have been several sects of Hereticks in the Church all opposing other truthes and rejecting the soundest Creeds There have been oppositions in all sciences disputes against every thing said or practised in all arts trades professions But all sorts of Philosophers hereticks of all arts trades professions and sciences have unanimously concurred in this when nothing else There is a God However People are divided by Lands and Seas dissonant in their Language and complections more different in their lawes customes manners apparell yet in this all Nations by a divine instinct harmoniously agree there is and of force must be acknowledged There is a God And a little reason will serve to prove it for as when I see a son I must needs yeeld this child had a Father so when I see the creatures I must needs grant a Creator who is the Lord. Therefore hold this fast 3. This is the most Destructive thought and error in the world Some errors are about the Superstructure this a fundamentall error some fundamentall errors impugne some one article of faith or principall doctrine This is destructive of all Religion destroyes all divinity and humanity too it leaves us never an article of faith never a command in the Decalogue and never a point of doctrine It leaves not a stone upon a stone but pulls down all This smites the glorious Statute of Body of Religion upon his feet and breaks all to pieces and brings it down to the ground destroying piety civility humanity curtesy and the improvements of common reason as that stone which smote that Image in Daniel so that Gold Dan. 2. 24. silver brasse iron and clay all crumbled in pieces and became like the chaffe in the summer threshing-flore 4. This Atheism in the thought is a Mother sin a big-bellied monstrous sin having in its womb all manner of impiety and like Babylons Cup is full of all manner of abominations Atheism never goes alone Therefore it is added Psal 14. 1 2. The fool said there was no God Corrupt are they and have done abominable works c. 5. The fifth and last thing I shall observe is that there is so much Irrationallity in this thought that it is banished the world and excluded the society of man and so much of Impiety in it that it is not onely excluded heaven but this of all other sins is excluded out of hell too There is no Atheism to be found in hell there is blasphemy malice envy c. no Atheisme The Atheist goes to hell Atheisme doth not Nullus in Inferno est Atheos ante fuit And is not this a mad and monstrous impiety which can be harboured in the heart when neither heaven earth or hell it self will own it The devils and damned are herein sounder then thou art they believe and tremble And

truth faithfullnesse yea this foule unbeliefe calls in question every thing the very Deity of God the Trinity of persons the Divinity of Christ the verity of holy Scripture the very fundamentalls of salvation and stumbles at every high point and mysterious revelation much more at the application of particular promises whether Christ can and God will save such an one as he is whether he may ever expect an end of temptation and trouble or whether he can possibly reap any good by them Oh this mischievous unbeliefe this murderous unbeliefe what doth more dishonor God what more damage the soule Abraham by faith gave glory to God But Moses and Aaron by Ro. 4. 20. Num. 20. 12. their unbeliefe gave not glory to God it is said and were for no other cause shut out of Canaan This unbeliefe take heed of it be humbled for it hadst thou no other sin this might shut thee out of Canaan and heaven too Strip thee of all present and stop thee from all expected mercies Except you beleeve you shall never be established All Satans Es 7. 9. darts are thrown in the face of faith our great work is to maintain the fight of faith The strongest and sharpest assaults of 1. Tim. 6. 12. Mat. 4. Satan are against faith If thou be the son of God comes in at every turn He knowes if thou beginnest to doubt thou beginnest to yee●d Happy is he who is not troubled with such thoughts as these sometimes few but are But more happy he who is most troubled with them and humbled for them These tentations often by Gods over ruling providence tending as much to the deeper rooting of faith as the shaking windes to the rooting of the younger trees 3. Fearfull thoughts are like both the forementioned full of sin and full of trouble keeping the soule in continuall torment the life in suspence and the spirit in bondage from the too sad expectation of evil and too little expectation of good and they have commonly these three ingredients a deep apprehension of danger a quick apprehension and remembrance of guilt and a very little faith Hence in any difficulty when the stormes arise windes are boisterous waves are high they cry out as if all were desperate Lord save Mat. 8. 28. us wee perish For these the Lord doth often check and chide his servants Why are ye fearefull Oh ye of little faith feare not Believe onely who art thou that fearest a man that shall dye and forgettest the Lord thy maker and hast feared continually Es 51. 12 13. because of the fury of the oppressor as if he were ready to destroy and where is the fury of the oppressor Thus are we apt to torment our selves with sundry unnecessary feares feares of this and feares of that feares of want and poverty feares of afflictions and crosses fear of losse of children or state fear of losse of Gods favour feares of Satan feares of wicked men feares of life feares of death feares of hell feares of judgment nothing in the world but feares and all sinfull feares CHAP. XX. Of reasonings and Irrationall thoughts VVEE shall joyne together some more kinds of thoughts in this chapter whereof the first are a company of objecting and disputing thoughts and Reasonings as they are called 2 Cor. 10. 5. Which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seem to have much to say for themselves to make a man wise above or against what is written These are strong holds hardly thrown down Do all things without murmuring Phil. 2. 14. and disputing especially with God Christ Jesus loves the Currista better then the quarista or quaerista as Luther said wittily he loves such as can go and run rather then such as ask why and wherefore Where is the wise and scribe and disputer of this world Saith the Apostle he may have Philosophi haereticorum Patriarchae Quid Athenis Hierosolimis Quid Academiae Ecclesiae Tert. Cedat curiositas fidei cedat gloria saluti Nihil ultra regulam scire est ●mnia scire Idem the highest place in the Schooles and the lowest in the Church Too much learning and carnall reason makes ●●ad Christians Nothing endangers Divinity more then Philosophy where reason Ends there Religion begins and where sense sees least faith sees most We may dispute away all our faith all our hopes all our comforts and all our obedience too It is not reason by which we stand but faith 2 Cor. 1. 24. Had Abraham begun to reason he had renounced his faith had he consulted with flesh and bloud he had renounced his obedience His Logick was God hath promised therefore it must be true And his Ethickes were God hath commanded therefore it must be good And before this faith mountaines became plains impossibilities became easy God is able to performe what he promised and before this obedience the hardest command is as easy as the least An Implicit faith and blind obedience in this case is the highest perfection of a Christian Who is blind as he that is perfect Es 42. 19. But on the other side when we will exalt Num. 11. reason and put out our questions How shall this be As Moses when the Lord said he would give a months provision of flesh to so numerous an host in the wildernesse thought it was too much for omnipotency to undertake Sarah how shall a child be Gen 18. 13. Lu. 1. 18. borne of one that is so old Zachary the like when a child was promised him by the Angell Gabriell their reason nonplust their faith they dishonoured and displeased God and shew us how destructive to beleeving these reasonings are This the grand Anti-Christ in the soul that opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or Gods revealed will This the enemy of faith obedience security and confidence This reason the mother of all the evils that pester both the soules of men and the Church of God mother of unbelief Scepticisme Irresolution and sinfull toleration mother of pride dissensions disobedience and violent impositions and persecutions mother of heresies schisme seperations mother of Atheisme Arrianisme Antiscripturism Arminianism and Socinianism Certainly I should never beleeve and worship the Trinity beleeve the incarnation of the son of God Justification by faith without Melius est Idiotas parum scientes existere quam putare multum scire multa expertos in Deum suum blasphemos inveniri Irenae ad Her the works of the Law nor the resurrection of the dead if I should consult with flesh and bloud and not hold that in divine mysteries Ipse dixit is above all arguments and authorities and Scriptum est above Probatum est The highest point in all Christianity is self denyal and the highest point of self denyal is to deny our own reason in the things of God and in plain English to learn to be fooles that we may be wise 1 Cor. 3. 18. The great

garment seamlesse woven throughout and all one piece Or like Solomons Temple whose outside was stone inside gold especially the Sanctum sanctorum 1 Kings 6. 30. whos 's very floor as well as roof was gold within and without or like his Chariot the pillars whereof were of silver but the bottom was of gold Cant. 3. 10. The sincere soul must not onely see he be the same within that without like Noahs or Moses Arke the one pitched within as well as without with pitch for water-service Gen 6. 14. the other overlaid with gold within and without for Divine-service and be like the twelve Exod. 37. 2. Gates of the New Jerusalem each of which where one solid entire pearl Rev. 21. 21. But he should rather strive to be more within then he seems without herein differing from other men as much as the building and framing of Gods City doth from all other buildings in the world We lay our foundations of course and rougher stone but build up with fairer But the holy Cities streets was paved with gold the wall was Jasper but the foundations exceeded all The foundations of the wall were garnished with all manner of precious stones Rev. 21. 18 19. What a rare speech was that of an Heathen We should alwaies so act and live as if we were Sic certe vivendum est tanquam in conspectu vivamus Sic cogitandum tanquam aliquis in pectus intimum inspicere possit quid enim prodest ab homine aliquid esse secretum nihil Deo clausum Interest animis nostris mediis cogitationibus intervenit Seneca in open view and so think as if there were some one looking into our heart For what doth it profit to be hid from man when nothing is to God He steps into our mindes and walkes in the midst of our thoughts 5. It informs us of another most sad and weighty point how far a hypocrite may go and how high he may fly yet at last fall low and perish in some unsuspected sin There be many die of Occult and unknown diseases who are opened when they are dead then it is seen what they died of but then too late but there be more die of unknown sins who would not have their hearts opened here as Lydias was that they might have lived But then it is too late when they are dead and gone themselves to come to the knowled of it Magus next to Judas is an example of an arch hypocrite as any in all the Bible he came on apace of a late Sorcerer a new Professor and all the talk and news of Samaria was of Simons conversion and extraordinary forwardnesse and piety He outstrips them all he hears believes is baptized continueth with the godly contributeth wondereth Omnia facit quae reliquos videt proestare imo his majora Aret. in loc more then all the rest and sits more close to the Preacher Who dips his hand usually so soon in the dish as the Traitor Here if any were in Scripture you may lively behold a falling star a washed swine a painted sepulchre sepulchre the unclean spirit going out and returning in his hopefull stepping forward and mounting upward and in his shamefull retreat and dolefull declination 1. How many steps are here of his ascent and hopefull exaltation which shew him to be a star washed painted and the unclean spirit going out 1. He heard 2. Believed 3. Was Baptized 4. Joyned with the Church and continued 5. Wondered Or was in a more than ordinary 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 extacy or rapture he was at least seemed to be extraordinarily taken and affected with his new knowledge of the Gospel truths and his own state 6. He received the holy Ghost in some then common yet now extraordinary never sanctifying gifts As may appear 1. By that of Heb. 6. 4. where many are said to be partakers of the holy Ghost who do yet eternally miscarry partaking of the common gifts of the holy Spirit whereof some were peculiar to those times as to speak with tongues to prophesie 1. By interpreting Scripture written 2. By foretelling things to come as Agabus yea Balaam did who is said to have the spirit come upon him Num. 24. 3. and some gifts that are common to all ages as illumination conviction elocution utterance and acquaintance with the mysteries of Godlinesse 2. Many others have had the holy Ghost as appears by that plea which will be made by many Mat. 7. 22. 3. It is said they laid their hands on them v. 17. and they all received the holy Ghost of which number Simon was one 4. He offered them money it is said v. 18. not to have the holy Ghost which other believers had but to have power to give or sell the holy Ghost to others which power was peculiar onely to the Apostles 7. He was desirous of more gifts more eminent and Church-edifying gifts then he had already as it seems 8. He would not be sparing of his Purse but would let money go so he might have spirituall gifts He offered them money 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the singular number as Acts 4. 37. but store of money This word is rendered riches Mar. 10. 23. 9. He seemed somwhat affected with his sad condition so plainly layd before him Trepidum fuisse non est dubium O●atio pctri ad cor penetravit sauciavit conscientiam Arct. in locum and so smartly set home by Peter He trembled saith Aretius no question was pricked in his heart and wounded and galled in Conscience 10. He is to be commended too that he did not storm and stomack at Peters reproof as many a one would have done but seems to take it in good part 11. He desires the prayers of others on his behalf which is very commendable so Paul often and the best of men have done 12 He desires they would pray for his soul that none of those evils might pursue and overtake him but that he might be out of the state of perdition and out of this gall of bitternesse Hitherto he runs well But Secondly Observe him further and you shall see the star falling that he was a swine still though washed a Sepulchre though painted and the unclean spirit returning 1. You may see here a change without a change a seeming but no reall change 2. An outward change before an inward in true godlinesse the inward goes first then the outward the hypocrite washeth the outside onely 3. Here was a change in profession none in disposition In principles not affections 4. He was changed in company not alone when by himself 5. He was changed in head not in heart Vulpes pilos mutavit non mo●es 6. His change was in gifts not in grace He had more of common gifts of Knowledge Utterance Illumination then of Conscience and Sanctification 7. He had more of unsound grace then true more Faith then Repentance more Historicall Faith