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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sense_n	church_n	doctrine_n	scripture_n	6,830	5	6.3395	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29125	A compendious answer to a book called A brief survay of the judgement of Mr. John Goodvvin, and the Church of God walking with him, touching their reasons of dissenting from many of their brethren, in these imprtant heads of doctrine; 1. Election and reprobation. 2. The death of Christ. 3. The grace of God in and about conversion. 4. The liberty or power of the will, or of the creature man. 5. The perseverance of the saints. VVherein the absurdities of all their dissenting doctrines are clearly exhibited, by a loving friend to the truth it self, Ellis Bradshaw.	Bradshaw, Ellis.	1652 (1652)	Wing B4139A; ESTC R212996	33,087	46

reject himself when he casteth forth his most noisome dung and therefore I might well retort it upon you that you knowing these things and that some are rejected and eternally damned should produce such an argument as if it did hold true might induce the ignorant to blaspeme the name of the lord our God to their own destruction 7. To the seventh I answer that God doth not say unto all and every person of mankind If thou believest thou shalt be saved But as purposely revealing his decree so far as he hath thought fit to let us know his expressions are thus He that repenteth and believeth shall be saved and he that believeth not shall be condemned So that your commission is for both and you ought to preach both and not the one single for then you hide some part of the counsel of God And so your Major being gone your Minor fails and is not worth answering 8. This eighth argument is the same in effect with the other and no better grounded It seems you are much offended that the Gospel must be preached unto all the world and yet none but the Elect take hold of it by a lively faith for their salvation Now you it may be would be so wise as to cull them forth and tell them all plainly you I have chosen and you the rest are Reprobates Thus you reprove and reproach even the Wisdome of God himself and yet therin shew but your own folly for if the Gospel should be preached peculiarly to the Elect and they pointed out and distinguished c. how should the rest be hardened they would presently despair and how should the Gospel be preached unto all nations for a witness against them and to be unto them as so God hath appointed it the savor of death unto death and a means to restrain them c 9. You judge our doctrine not to be a doctrine according to godlyness and that it is most perniciously destructive to the interest and advancement of Godliness in the world for first as you say it presents the Gospel unto men like a Lottery wherin are many blanks but few prizes To which I answer that if you be so sober and considerate as not to meddle with it nor adventure upon it till you make it good That all that hear it are Gods Elect and shall certainly be saved It is very doubtfull you will reject salvation and come short of heaven but if you can make it out it is a comfortable doctrine they deserve to give you treble honour to our best Doctors And as for answer to your second case we do not use to perswade men they are Reprobates upon every declining or miscarriage for then we should teach it in this case to you who in these respects have declined the truth but we apply unto them such precious promises wherby we our selves have been comforted of God when Satan hath suggested such like doctrines into our minds to destroy our faith as these of yours to wit that notwithstanding our Election yet we may possibly perish And the truth is that these and such like arguments if it were possible they might deceive even the very elect but they are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation blessed be his name and can never perish neither can any pluck them out of his hands 10. You judge also that such a decree of Reprobation is diametrally repugnant to all those blessed Manifestoes or Declarations made by God himself of the riches of his Grace Mercy Love Kindness Goodness Compassion Patience Long-Suffering Bounty unto the world See Exod. 34.6 7. Psalm 8.15.111.4 Job 3.16 Tit. 3.4 Psal 145.8 9. to omit other places without number Answ I have searched these Scriptures but find no repugnancie in them against our doctrine but I find in the first Exodus 34.6 7. That as God is merciful and gratious long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquitie and transgression and sin So also that he will by no means clear the guilty but visiteth the iniquities of the Fathers upon the children and upon the childrens children unto the third and fourth generation See also for this Jer. 32.18 19. see Isa 14.20 21 22. though you will storm and fret at this as unjust in God who is able to answer you and will one day yea and clear it to be just notwithstanding all your Logick and that to your own consciences though now for the present you are dark in the business how it can be just to visit c. of which more hereafter in its due place 11. You say in your eleventh reason That you cannot find any mention nor the least intimation of any such decree of Reprobation in the Scriptures To which I answer I am sorry to hear that a whole Church should be so ignorant of the Scriptures and so well vers'd in humane doctrines injuriously wrested from some particular places which were never intended for such a sense you are not herein like the noble Bereans However I shall speak unto you in Scripture language but I will not cite the places to you I hope you know it is contained in Scripture That he worketh all things according to the counsell of his will and that his counsell shall stand and he will do all his pleasure yea He hath mercy on whom he will and whom he will he hardeneth yea some are said to be of old ordained unto condemnation and as brute beasts are made to be taken and to be destroyed And he made all things for himself yea even the wicked for the day of evil for he hath power and justly too as the Potter of his clay to make one vessel unto honour and another unto dishonour and that of the same clay such whom he maketh as vessels of wrath unto dishonour he maketh on purpose that he may shew his wrath and he is able to answer it upon what accompt he maketh such vessels and to convince the consciences of all men whomsoever that it is but just and will one day do it against all their cavils so as every mouth shall be stopped for shall we think it possible but he that is the Judge of all the world should do right it were absurd to think it You say you Gather by many things comming from them occasionally That your brethren would willingly enough let go their doctrine of Reprobation if they knew how to retain their doctrine of Election without it Answ It may well be that your brethren would not much strive with you about this doctrine if they could help it though they know it is true But if you cannot teach them how it is possible that this Doctrine of Election which is very clear from express Scriptures can possibly chuse but must necessarily draw after it this premised Doctrine of Reprobation they will acknowledge you to be far more rational than any of them 12. We clearly and very frequently find you say