Selected quad for the lemma: sin_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sin_n	believe_v	faith_n	unbelief_n	3,235	5	10.7449	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09450	The reformation of couetousnesse Written vpon the 6. chapter of Mathew, from the 19. verse to the ende of the said chapter. By William Perkins.; Reformation of covetousnesse.	Perkins, William, 1558-1602.; Clapham, Henoch.	1603 (1603)	STC 19735.6; ESTC S106356	66,232	268

their grace Answer Faith doth not saue any because it is perfect but because it resteth on Gods mercie and though a mans vnbeliefe be greater then his faith yet it will not condemne him if hee do bewaile it and vse meanes diligently that it may encrease This first point of doctrine is to be remembred because euery childe of God cannot attaine to Abrahams faith and to a full perswasion And therfore all such as haue but the beginning of faith must not be discouraged for thou maist be the childe of God with thy little faith if thou bewaile it and be diligent to attain to strōg faith Endlesse vnspeakable is the mercy of God in this behalfe he pardoneth manifolde doubtings distrust and vnbeleefe to them that bewaile it and desire to increase in faith Secōdly the cause why Christ reproues his own disciples thus sharply is because they did not beleeue in God for raiment As if he had said Because you beleeue not this therefore you are to be blamed as hauing litle faith and therefore he calles them thus because they did not belieue in God for meat drink and cloth Here a second point of doctrine is to be obserued that true sauing faith doth not only apprehend Gods mercy for life eternall but 〈◊〉 for the temporall blessings of this life The very same faith whereby remission of sinnes and life eternal is apprehended layes holde on temporall blessings This must not seeme strange for to make it plaine there be two kinds of blessings promised in the scriptures viz. principall and lesse principall The principall is Christ God and man the redeemer of mankind with righteousnesse and life eternall in him This is the maine principall blessing Now vpon this there followe blessings lesse principall which are also promised as well as the principall and these are meate drinke cloathing health c. and these are promised vs so farre forth as they are for our good In Christ and by Christ all these are promised To this purpose Paul saith All the premises in him are yea and Amen Not onely remission of sinnes is yea and Amen that is a thing graunted and accomplished but all other temporall blessings This being so now marke what followes When true faith layes holde on the maine and principall blessing then withall it apprehends all other temporall blessings necessarie They are all apprehended in and with the principall It is said of Abraham that by his very iustifying faith he did beleeue that God would giue him a sonne when hee was an hundreth yeares olde It was not a diuerse faith Noah by the same faith wherby hee was saued beleeued that he should be preserued and his houshold in the floud In like manner by one and the same faith we beleeue our reconciliation with God in Christ remission of sinnes and that God will giue vs necessaries meate drinke cloth one and the same faith layes holde first on the maine and principall promise and then on the lesse principal This point must bee marked and this point remembred first mercie then prouidence first the principal blessing and then the temporall Euery man saith he lookes to be saued by faith when he dies and it is well But we must adde this we must liue by faith too we must leade our liues by the same faith by which wee looke to be saued after this life and we must depend on Gods prouidēce as certainly for these necessaries as we doo vpon his mercy for our saluation we must not liue by sence or reason but by faith How this is to be done you shal see afterward It is impossible for vs to be saued by faith when we die if we do not liue by faith Hee that cannot cast himself vpon Gods prouidence for the necessaries of this life can much lesse cast himselfe on Gods mercy for the saluation of his soule So much for the second point Thirdly Christ giues vs here a note and marke whereby we may trie our faith whether it bee a sauing faith or no true or faigned great or litle For he giues vs to vnderstand that the more men are distracted with worldly cares the lesse is their faith And the reason is plaine The more mens care is the lesse their trust is in Gods prouidence And the lesse their trust is in Gods prouidence the lesse faith in his mercie for their saluation So that where worldly care beares rule there is no faith in Gods prouidence As long as men bee in prosperitie they thinke they haue great faith but in pouertie and affliction their faith is tried for then commonly the hart is swallowed vp with griefe and feare He that cannot rest on Gods prouidence for the things of this life how shall hee rest on Gods mercie in the paines of death And thus much of the reproofe 31. Therefore take no thought saying What shall we eate or what shal we drinke or wherwith shall wee bee cloathed These words are a repetition of the commandement deliuered in the 25. verse and heere the commaundement is the second time repeated Once before it was repeated The causes of this repetition are diuers One I haue declared before and that was that hee might set an edge vppon the commaundement and make it take place in theyr hearts Secondly that they might learne theyr duties how they ought to confirme their faith for as Christ vrgeth it by a repetition so men must by meditating vpon it the oftner encrease their faith Faith is wrought in the heart as the print of a seale in the waxe or as a vision or reuelation in the night where the man dooth nothing but faith is wrought by these meanes ordinarie viz. the worde read heard preached or meditated Further that these meanes may bee effectuall there must be a motion in vs wherby wee must striue against doubting distrust and vnbeliefe therefore wee are often to vrge the commaundement to our selues and exercise our selues in it and apply it striue struggle wrestle labour for this ende that wee may more constantly and heartily apply the promises of mercie and prouidence to our selues This is the second cause of the repetition that wee may maister our vnbeliefe by striuing and labouring You must do that which you can do by nature and grace that is come to the assemblies and endeuour to put away vnbeliefe and by this meanes you shall encrease in faith So much for the repetition of the commaundement Now to the words Therefore take no thought c. These words tend to this ende not to breed idlenesse or carelesnesse in any but as I declared in the 25. verse Therfore I will shewe you how far forth wee may care for the things of this life and where it must end First it goeth thus farre Euerie man must haue a care to doo the good and profitable duties of his calling with diligence and painfulnesse from that care Christ frees no man therfore euery man must consider what

word in the creation so they should doo to the ende of the world So in the matter of prouidence trust in God and walke in the compasse of thy calling and doubt not the issue If there were no more reasons to perswade vs to a moderate care for necessaries this one sensible reason borrowed from the Lillies were sufficient When he saith They labour not c. his meaning is not by their example to maintaine idlenesse or to neglect our calling but to teach vs that when all helpes faile vs walking in our calling and hauing done what wee can without our default Gods blessing shal not be wanting wee shal haue meats drinke and cloth though all means faile vs And for this end these words are set downe 29. Yet I say vnto you that euen Salomon in all his royaltie was not araied like one of these Herein one speciall amplification is to be marked They are cloathed by God and that more gloriously then Salomon himselfe was yet Salomon had promises of great honour and glory without his seeking for hee desired but wisedome yet with wisedome God promised him honour For all this Christ saith of the Lillies that Salomō was not cloathed like them and he speakes not of some one but of euery one and of the Lillies of the field too not of the garden And euery one of them is cloathed more gloriously thē Salomon was when hee was in his chiefest glory First this serues to check and controll vs for our pride in apparell and to teach vs that wee ought not to bee so curious in attiring our selues for when wee haue done all we can wee cannot match one of these flowers but they will goe beyond vs. Why then should we puffe vp our selues in regard of our apparel whē as the least hearbe in the field is more gay What cloth in whitenes comes neare the Lilly What purple like the Violet And what crimson or scarlet is like diuers other flowers Art may doo much but it cannot match nature Doo what wee can the hearbes will goe beyond vs. And if it be so why are we so proud of our apparel The hearbe which thou treadest vnder thy feete and puttest into the furnace is finer then thou art I nunc effer te quòd pulchro incedis amictu Te longè superat fertile gra●um agri The second vse is to teach vs that all our pompe is but vaine for what is more fraile then the hearbe which is to day in the field and to morrow is cut downe So the whole nature of man is fraile and brittle as Paul saith All the glory and pompe of this worlde is vaine and passeth away subiect to chaunge and alteration And yet when Christ speaks this of Salomons glorie and makes it inferior to the hearbe preferring this before that hee cōdemnes not Salomons glory for it was promised him giuē him by God And the word though it condemne curiositie and superfluitie of apparell yet it condemnes not gorgeous apparell in Princes and great personages The pompe in apparell is not simply condemned in the word for Ioseph refused not the ring and fine garment And whereas Luke saith of Agrippa and Bernice that they came with much pompe the words may be taken as well in good part as ill 30. Wherefore if God so cloathe the grasse of the field which is to day to morrowe is cast into the Ouen shal hee not do much more vnto you O yee of little faith In these words Christ abaseth the creatures in regard of man the difference between man and the hearbes is in these things First they serue for mans vse Therefore they are inferiour to him they serue for the making of his fire and the heating of his furnace Secondly the hearbe is to day and hath a being to morrow it hath no being but ceaseth to be an hearbe so fraile and vaine is the creature that excelles man in glory But man hath a being to day and his being continueth The trees and hearbes haue a kinde of life and soule as men haue but there is a great difference for their soules are mortall and arise from the matter whereof the plant is made but the soule of man is immortall bee it of the righteous or the vnrighteous The difference is plaine in Genesis where God commands the earth to bring forth hearbs and trees with life and substance But when hee made man the earth brought not foorth his soule but God breathed into him a liuing soule As for the soules of beasts plants whether they be quallities or substances it is not knowne but they perish are corruptible and they cease to be that they were But it is not so with man for whē he dies he ceaseth not to be a man a dead man is a man still though not a liuing man and his soule shall be reunited to his body yea the body that is dead and lyeth in the graue is vnited to Christ as well as the soule and by vertue thereof it shall rise againe I speake now of the righteous especially and therefore dead Abraham is Abraham still Now it is not so with the other creatures The hearbe or tree being burnt ceaseth to bee an hearbe or tree But man when he dies because he is in the couenant he is still a man for he that is once in the couenant is in it for euer and the vertue of the couenant shall be as effectuall to raise the seruant of God to glory as the word of creation is effectuall to bring the creature out of the earth Therfore the diuersitie difference is to aduaunce man aboue the creature Shall he not do much more vnto you O ye of litle faith These wordes were spoken to all the Disciples and other hearers wherein for our further edification these two circumstances are to be considered First the persons rebuked Secondly the causes why they are rebuked The persōs are the Disciples when Christ speakes thus to his Disciples ô yee of litle faith he dooth not rebuke them simply for want of faith but because their wicked vnbeliefe was more and the distrust of Gods mercie and prouidence greater then their faith and beliefe so that not the want of faith but the smallnesse of it is here rebuked Heere obserue that besides the full perswasion which is the highest degree of faith there is a lower degree and a lesser measure which is here called the lesser faith And this litle faith is not here condemned but the vnbeliefe that goes with it for this little faith in them was a true faith and Christ confessed before that God was their father And it is a true faith that brings a man to the little adoption it brought them into that state that they had God for their father and they were his children Obiection Cōsidering that in the Disciples others that their vnbeliefe was more than their faith their faith cannot saue them the sinne beeing greater then