Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	abundant_a	goodness_n	lord_n	1,757	5	4.1358	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A75470	An Antidote against some principal errors of the predestinarians a work designed for the information of the common people.		1696 (1696)	Wing A3494A; ESTC R42462	23,735	50

he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting Life Joh. 3.16 and therefore 't is said that to every one is given Grace according to the Measure of the Gift of Christ Eph. 4.7 and that the Grace of God that brings Salvation hath appeared unto all Men Tit. 2.11 that he is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance 2 Pet. 3.9 that he would have all Men to be saved and come to the Knowledg of the Truth 1 Tim. 2.4 Besides all this we find the Angel thus speaking to the Shepherds Fear not saith he for behold I bring you good Tidings of great Joy which shall be unto all People for unto you is born this Day in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord Luke 2.10 11. And the Psalmist tells us that the Lord is good to all and his tender Mercies are over all his Works psal 145.9 For which Reason he proclaims himself to be the Lord God merciful and gracious long suffering and abundant in Goodness and Truth Exod. 34.6 Which universal Declarations of his Goodness do make it most evident that the saving Intentions of God in Jesus Christ were extended to the whole World God having thereby put all Men into a Capacity of being made Happy if they will but do on their Part what he has commanded and what he for the Sake of Christ has made them able to perform and none can miss of Salvation but by their own wilful Neglect If they will not come to Christ that they may have Life the Fault is their own How shall we escape saith the Apostle if we neglect so great Salvation Heb. 2.3 Some I know are so sensless as to imagin that their Notion of particular Grace does magnify and more exalt the Glory of God's free Grace than it would be exalted were the free Grace of God universally extended to all Men. But the Reason of every common Man will serve to confute this for every one knows that he who contributes towards the making a thousand Persons happy is much more good and gracious than he who is kind only to two or three the Grace of God is never a whit the less free for its being extended unto all but as for the Riches of the free Grace of God there 's no Comparison to be made between that which is general and which is particular for the more universally the Grace is extended the more rich in all Respects it is which shews that the Predestinarian Notion of God's intending to be gracious through Jesus Christ but to a few Men to the utter Exclusion of all the rest does but tend to eclipse the Glory of the free and undeserved Grace of God and that which does so must needs be an Error 'T is evident likewise that this Doctrine is an Error from the Practice of those Preachers that profess it for they often declare that God hath committed unto them the Word of Reconciliation and therefore as Ambassadors for Christ they pray the People in Christ's stead to be reconciled unto God that so their former Trespasses may not be imputed unto them 2 Cor. 5.18 19 20. For say they as God has commanded all Men every where to repent Acts 17.30 so we have a Commission to preach Repentance and Remission of Sins to all Nations in the Name of Christ Luke 24.47 but at the same time you never hear them say Beloved don't think that by this we preach that cursed Doctrine of Universal Redemption by Christ as if by what he has done for Mankind all were put into a new Capacity of obtaining Life eternal no we declare the contrary that tho by us God does command all Men every where to repent yet by his eternal Decree he has made it impossible for all those to repent which are not first elected we may exhort you all to repent indeed because we don't know who are elected and who are not but if there be none of the Elect among you our Exhortations will all be in vain for the Non-elect cannot come to Christ that they may have Life tho he bids all come that are weary and heavy-laden that they may find Rest to their Souls Mat. 11.29 No Man I say ever heard a Predestinarian Preacher speak thus but thus they ought to speak were their Practice answerable to the Principles which they hold but their not doing so evidently shews that this Doctrine is repugnant to the true Office and Duty of a Minister and for that very Reason ought by all Men to be rejected as an Error Of FREE-WILL The Predestinarians teach that God has not given unto Man such a Freedom and Power of Will as does enable him either to do or not to do what he requires of him for they say that as one part of Men are reprobated and the other are elected so he will unavoidably make them righteous whom he decrees to save and as unavoidably make them wicked whom he decrees to damn for as God has decreed the End of Men whether it be Salvation or Damnation so he has decreed the Means that shall bring them thereunto these things say they are not left to their own Choice neither is it in their own Power to be that which God has not absolutely determined them to But this Notion is contrary also to Scripture and Reason and is therefore an Error The general Importance of the Scriptures does make it evident that Man is a Being to whom God has given such Powers as do sufficiently enable him either to do the Will of God or else to disobey it and therefore we are exhorted to give all Diligence to make our Calling and Election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 and to work out our Salvation with fear and trembling Phil. 2.12 and to labour to enter into that Rest Heb. 4.11 and to cleanse our selves from all Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit 2 Cor. 7.1 and to cast away from us all our Transgressions and make us new Hearts and new Spirits Ezek. 18.31 And to the same purpose St. James presses those to whom he wrote saying Cleanse your Hands ye Sinners and purify your Hearts ye double-minded Jam. 4.8 All which do clearly imply that God has given Men a Power to do his Will else he would not exhort them to do it as we see he has done and if he exhorts all Men to do this and yet they all do not do it as we see they do not this is a plain Proof on the other hand that they have a Power to disobey And indeed the Divine Law of God is a clear and demonstrative Proof that the Will of Man is free for it would be in vain to oblige Men by a Law to do one thing and not to do another if there were a natural Necessity that Men must do these things As there is no place then so neither is there any need of an Obligation where there is

AN ANTIDOTE AGAINST Some Principal Errors OF THE Predestinarians A Work designed for the Information of the Common People Beloved believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they are of God for many false Prophets are gone out into the World 1 Joh. 4.1 LONDON Printed for Richard Cumberland at the Angel in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1696. An ANTIDOTE against some Principal Errors c. TO convince those of their Mistake who err in Matters of Religion is an Act of the greatest Kindness and Friendship that one Man can do unto another being therefore fully satisfied in my self that some of the Predestinarian Principles are contrary to Truth I thought it my Duty to endeavour all that in me lies to convince them thereof who so believe by shewing that they do not srightly understand the true Intent and Meaning of the Word of God or that they err not knowing the Scriptures Mat. 22.29 that is to say not knowing them rightly for they rely only upon here and there a Place that seems to make for them and in the mean time overlook a far greater Number of Scriptures that very plainly and clearly do testify against them Now 't is evident that where one Part of Scripture seems to declare one thing and another part seems to declare quite the contrary 't is evident I say that there the true sense of one Part is not that which the literal Import of the Words does express for 't is certain that two Senses which do oppose each other cannot both be true in such Cases then it must be that the literal Sense of one part is the true Sense and then the literal Sense of the other part must be mystical figurative or allusive or such as does seem to speak one thing but does really mean and intend another Now 't is not possible for any Opinion to be true that is built on the literal Sense of such Scriptures as these whose right meaning is not that which the Words do at first sight seem to express Wherefore before we presume to make any Text the Foundation of our Faith we must be sure that the Sense which we take that Text of Scripture in is its true and right Sense And the way to know this is to consider first whether it be agreeable to that Sense which is found to be the Common Drift and Scope of the Bible for we must not understand any one Scripture in such a Sense as is contrary to a far greater Number of Places The general Sense of the Scriptures is rather to be relied on than a particular Sense of only three or four Places Again we must consider whether the Sense a Scripture is taken in be agreeable to Reason for no Sense of Scripture can be true that is contrary to the common and natural Notions of our Minds for the Law of Nature is as much from God as the Laws of Revelation are and 't is absurd to think that one part of God's Law can contradict another Again no Sense of Scripture can be the true Sense if it any ways naturally tend to take Men off from the Care of holy Living by nourishing in them foolish Presumption or else driving of them into miserable and deep Despair Now if these few Particulars be well considered they cannot but direct us to the Knowledg of the true and right Sense of the Scripture for if any Sense be the true Sense it must be that which is agreeable to the greatest Number Seripture-Testimonies which we have no reason to disbelieve and which has no Tendency in it to favour Wickedness but is every way proper to urge and press Mankind to a Life of Piety and Vertue Now 't is evident that the Predestinarians do build many of their Notions on Scriptures taken in that Sense which is opposite to the Sense of a far greater Number of Testimonies which declare the contrary and they are also taken in such a Sense as is contrary to all other Evidences of Truth deducible from humane Understanding and which makes many Men falsely conceit themselves to be the Beloved of God and his Elect even in the midst of their Wickedness and that has driven others into Despair upon a Supposition that they are of that Number whom God as they think has eternally reprobated All which clearly prove that the Sense they take these Scriptures in is a Sense that is not the right and true Sense and therefore that Faith is an erroneous Faith which they do build upon it And this by the Divine Assistance I will make evident in several Particulars And first Of REPROBATION The true Substance of the Calvinist Notion concerning Reprobation is that God has decreed from Eternity to reprobate or torment some Men in Hell for ever that thereby he may make manifest the Glory of his Justice in punishing some as well as his Goodness in making others happy and they say that the Number of those who are thus fore-ordained to everlasting death is so certain and their Fate is so unchangeable upon the Account of this his unalterable Decree that they can neither be increased nor diminished But this Notion is contrary both to Scripture and Reason and is therefore both a false and an impious Opinion First 'T is contrary to Scripture I mean such Scriptures as are much more numerous and more plain and easy to be understood than those are upon which this fictionary Faith is founded God is Love 1 Joh. 4.8 And in this was his Love manifested in that he sent his only begotten Son into the World that we might live through him ver 9. Say unto them As I live saith the Lord God I have no Pleasure in the Death of the Wicked but that the Wicked turn from his Way and live turn ye turn ye for why will ye die O House of Israel Ezek. 33.11 Have I any Pleasure at all that the Wicked should die saith the Lord God and not that he should turn from his Ways and live Ezek. 18.23 I have no Pleasure in the Death of him that dieth saith the Lord God wherefore turn your selves and live ye Ezek. 18.32 Now what can be more absurd and contrary to Scripture than to assert that he who takes no Pleasure in the Death of Sinners should for his own meer Will and Pleasure only to shew his Power decree to torment and damn the greatest part of Mankind If he swears that he delights not in their Death we may depend upon his Word notwithstanding all the Arguments which the Predestinarians can urge to the contrary 'T is likewise recorded for a Truth that the Lord is good to all and that his tender Mercies are over all his Works Psal 145.9 That he is long-suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance 2 Pet. 3.9 That his Will is that Supplications Prayers Intercessions and giving of Thanks be made for all Men for this is good and acceptable in the Sight of