Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	accept_v	according_a	action_n	18	3	5.7690	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A50489	The good of early obedience, or, The advantage of bearing the yoke of Christ betimes discovered in part, in two anniversary sermons, one whereof was preached on May-day, 1681, and the other on the same day in the year 1682, and afterwards inlarged, and now published for common benefit / by Matthew Mead.	Mead, Matthew, 1630?-1699.	1683 (1683)	Wing M1555; ESTC R19143	252,739	482

up and walk and immediately his feet and ankle-bones received strength Acts 3.2 6 7. There is a power conveyed by the Precept So it is here and therefore we should do as the lame man did How is that the eighth verse tells you He stood and walked and entred into the Temple walking and leaping and praising God Secondly The Law required a righteousness vested in the person It must not be anothers doing but our own The Law admitted of no days-man no Mediator no helper Anothers doing could no way be reckoned as ours nor anothers righteousness be any benefit to us Every man must stand upon his own bottom But the Gospel-Covenant admits of a Mediator one to come in between God and man therefore he is called The Mediator of the new Testament Heb. 9.15 and Heb. 12.24 Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant It admits of anothers righteousness instead of our own and allows us as real benefit by it as if it had been done in our own persons He was made sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5.21 As by one mans disobedience many were made sinners that is Law so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous Rom. 5.19 this is pure Gospel And hence Jesus Christ is stiled The Lord our righteousness Jer. 23.6 And hence we are said to be accepted in the Beloved Eph. 1.6 and to be compleat in him Col. 2.10 And how pleasant doth this make the Yoke of Christ to be Thirdly Under the Law it was not enough that obedience was personal unless it was also perfect and perpetual Any one sin done at any time marr'd all All his righteousness shall be forgotten Ezek. 18.24 Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the Law to do them Gal. 3.10 A man perished as really by the guilt of one sin as of ten thousand The judgment was by one to condemnation Rom. 5.16 that is by one sin for so the next words explain it but the free gift is of many offences to justification The Apostle here commends the grace of the Gospel by comparing it with the Laws rigour The Gospel justifies from many offences when the Law condemns for any one He that fails in any one thing is gone for ever Nothing is accepted but what is perfect The best affections will not excuse failure in actions nor desires to do eke out the weakness of doing But under the Gospel where there is a willing mind it is accepted according to what a man hath where the arm is short it is made up by uprightness of heart Where the will is beyond the power God accepts the will and passes by the weakness If a man sincerely desires and endeavours to do what he cannot do the truth of affection is accepted for action and God counts the desire of a man to be his kindness Prov. 19.22 Though that plea of the Apostle Rom. 7.18 To will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not finds no room under the Law yet it is a good plea under the Gospel O how sweet is this Fourthly Under the Law there was no room for repentance One transgression disannulled that Covenant and no repentance no sorrow no tears could ever make it up again Where personal perfect obedience is the condition of life there can be no room for repentance But this is one of the great priviledges of the Gospel-Covenant that failures in obedience may be made up by repentance And hence it is that we are so often called to return with a promise of healing our backslidings Jer. 3.22 Did God ever call Adam under the first Covenant to return when he ran away from God no never but drove him out of Paradise Gen. 3.24 So he drove out the man and he placed at the East of the garden Cherubims and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life But under the Gospel how frequently are we called to return and repent Though the first Covenant was dissolved by one sin yet many sins cannot dissolve the Gospel-Covenant For the free gift is of many offences to justification Rom. 5 16. This makes the Yoke of Christ pleasant that their failures and neglects may be repented of and find forgiveness For God hath exalted Christ to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance and remission of sins Acts 5.31 Fifthly The cords that bound on the Yoke of the first Covenant were threats and terrours The Law requires obedience upon pain of a Curse Cursed be he that makes a graven image which is an abomination to the Lord Deut. 27.15 Cursed be he that setteth light by father or mother v. 16. Cursed is every one that continues not in all things written in the Law to do them Gal. 3.10 and this Curse is eternal death But the cords that bind on the Yoke of Christ are not terrors but love and mercy I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God that you present your selves a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is your reasonable service Rom. 12.1 And this makes the Yoke of Christ far more sweet and pleasant than the Yoke of the Law 2. Let 's compare the Yoke of Christ with the Yoke of Sin and it will appear infinitely more pleasant than that can be The pleasures of sin hold no comparison with the pleasure of Religion and godliness First The pleasures of sin are sensual pleasures such as gratifie only the flesh and please the brutish part and the more any man gives himself up to them the more he puts off man and sinks down into the nature of beast and therefore many Heathens have upon meer principles of reason abandoned sensual pleasures as inferior to them and have judged him unworthy the name of a man that could spend one day in pursuit of them But the pleasures of Religion are rational pleasures they are such as are suited to the rules of right reason pleasures that gratifie the inward man and feed the love and delight of an immortal Soul Secondly The pleasures of sin are debasing pleasures and this follows from the former The more sensual any man is the more doth he debase his nature Luke 1● 16 He is like the Prodigal feeding upon husks with the Swine and hence it is that the Lord by Amos calls those Rulers in Samaria Kine of Bashan Amos 4.1 Hear this word ye kine of Bashan that are in the mountain of Samaria Because they forgot the Lord and gave themselves up to their lusts and sensual pleasures therefore he reckons them among the beasts Kine of Bashan more like beasts than men The pleasures of sin are a very debasing thing Hence the same word in the Hebrew which the Scripture uses for a sensual Glutton is used for a vile person This our son is a glutton Deut. 21.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉

them in the Lord and they shall walk up and down in his name What or who can be too hard for such as walk in the ways and worship of Christ with the strength of Christ Now the Lord Christ helps two ways 1. By his powerful intercession he is ever praying and pleading for you Heb. 7.25 2. By his Almighty Spirit for how are your sins mortified but by the Spirit Rom. 8.13 And how are your hearts quickened in duty but by the Spirit Joh. 6.63 And how are you guided in the ways of God but by the Spirit Joh. 16.13 And how are you taught but by the Spirit 1 Joh. 2.27 And who upholds you in your course but the Spirit Psal 51.12 Besides the grace the Spirit works in you at first you have spiritual incomes and supplies of the Spirit daily Phil. 1.19 And is not the Believers help then greater than his work now it was not so under the Law there was great service but little assistance but now the Christians help is greater then his work Phil. 2.13 for it is God that works in you to will and to do The works of Gospel Obedience are more sublime more spiritual and therefore more difficult than any of the works of the Law but so far as we have Communion with the power and strength of the Spirit to actuate and inable us they are all easy and pleasant Gospel duties may be difficult in respect of divine imposition but they are easy in regard of divine cooperation The Father sets the Child a Copy and bids it write the Child knows not how but yet takes the Pen and then the Father guides the hand and the Child writes after the Copy Lord sayes Austin give what thou commandest and then command what thou wilt 4. The wisdom of taking up Christs yoke appears in this that under this yoke though the weakness of your obedience is great yet the truth of your obedience is accepted God looks at truth in the inward parts Psal 51.6 O the many weaknesses that God passes by in his people where he finds the heart and affection true to him though there be much commanded yet the least you do is accepted Were it not for this there could be no serving him If thou Lord shouldst mark iniquities who could stand But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared Psal 130.3 4. God will not take advantage of your fallings and infirmities I will spare them as a man spares his son that serves him Mal. 3.17 O what a sweetness must this put into service how easie must it needs make the yoke of Christ when the least we do is accepted as a handful of goats hair was for the Temple when it came from a willing heart What reason therefore have we to bless the Lord that ever inclined our hearts to stoop to the yoke of Christ The wisdom of taking up Christs yoke is evident in this that herein true liberty consists This may seem a Paradox for sinners do therefore indulge themselves in their lusts because there is liberty and they therefore refuse Christs yoke because it abridges their liberty they cannot live as they list Now you must know there is a twofold liberty 1. A carnal liberty wherein a corrupt base heart takes a latitude to it self to live and act according to its own vitious inclinations without any restraint or controul Indeed the yoke of Christ is an enemy to this liberty and it were not worth the taking up if it should not for this liberty is only the licentiousness of lust and no man such a slave as he that is thus at liberty He is a servant to corruption 2 Pet. 2.19 Under the devils rule led captive by him at his will 1 Tim. 2.26 He is held in the chains of Hell and will you call this liberty are not the Saints at liberty in Heaven and yet there is none of this liberty there will ye call this liberty to be loaded with the guilt of sin to be bound over to damnation to be vexed daily with an accusing Conscience to have all the threats of the word lye against thee to have wrath hanging over thy head every moment and God ready to throw thee into Hell is this liberty when thou art in such a dreadful case that thou darest not think of dying for fear of hell and damnation better be the veryest gally slave in the world then thus at liberty But then 2. There is a Spiritual liberty which is wrought out for us by Christ the purchase of his blood John 8.36 If the son make you free then are ye free indeed And he that partakes of this liberty may well be said to be free indeed for he is freed from the curse of the Law Gal. 3.10 He is freed from the condemning power of sin Rom. 8.1 He is freed from the Spirit of Bondage Rom. 8.15 And he is freed from the dominion of sin Rom. 6.14 And a man never enjoyes this liberty till he comes under the yoke of Christ and is there not reason to bless God for drawing the heart to Christ 6. The wisdom of taking up Christs yoke appears in this that the longer you are under it the easier you will find it I will make it out in three things 1. The longer you wear it the lighter it will be it is not so in other matters A little burden in tract of time is heavy and the longer it lyes the heavyer it is because of a wast of strength by long bearing but Christs burden the longer it is born the lighter it is because though the burden is not diminished yet your strength is increased Psal 84.7 Job 17.9 They go from strength to strength He that hath clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger And as spiritual strength increases so spiritual difficulties must needs abate 2. The more progress you make in obedience the greater testimony you shall have from conscience of the uprightness of your hearts with God and you can't imagine unless you ever felt it what peace this brings in 2 Cor. 1.12 Nothing gives conscience that advantage to witness aloud to our case as godly sincerity in our obedience to Christ 3. Much obedience brings in much comfort The more seed the more sheaves that Christian is likest to injoy most comfort that walks most close with God in the way of obedience He hath comfort in the most difficult duties even in his sufferings for Christ and they are the most pinching part of his Yoke And yet as the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ 2 Cor. 1.5 And therefore Christ bids us rejoyce even in persecution Matth. 5.11 12. He hath comfort in the worst of times To the upright there ariseth light in darkness Psal 112.4 When the figtree doth not blossom Hab. 3.18 yet then he can joy in the God of his salvation CHAP. XVI Directs our obedience as to principles matter