Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	according_a	know_v	word_n	2,143	5	3.8658	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51227	A sermon preach'd before the Lord Mayor, and the Court of Aldermen, at Guild-Hall Chappel, on the 28th of May, 1682 by John Moore ...	Moore, John, 1646-1714.	1682 (1682)	Wing M2552; ESTC R20127	21,938	53

to their Masters but because their Masters whose tempers were softned by the love which the Religion of Jesus does inspire would treat them tenderly and kindly and be glad of an opportunity of being beneficial to them and this is the Doctrine which is according to Godliness For if any man Teacheth otherwise and consent not to wholsom words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the Doctrine which is according to godlines he is proud knowing nothing but doting about questions and strifes of words whereof cometh envy strife railings evil surmisings perverse desputings of Men of Corrupt minds destitute of the Truth supposing that gain is godliness from such withdraw thy self So dangerous a thing it is for a Christian more to busy himself about Contentious disputes than the Rules of an holy Life for a doting upon Questions may betray him into that wrath and envy which shuts men out of the Kingdom of Heaven but it must be a continual exercise of himself according to Godliness that will carry him thither So true also is it that neither the Spiritual relation of Brotherhood between Christians has destroy'd the several Orders Ranks and Qualitys of men in civil Societys nor that Christian liberty has taken away the obligation which is upon Servants to be obedient to their Masters and the Duty that is upon the People to be Subject to their Governors this being part of the Doctrine which is according to Godliness But to come to a further improvement of our Text there are these five Propositions which seem very proper and natural to be insisted on from it and which accordingly I shall make it my business to treat of in this Discourse 1. That Godliness is a fixt and certain thing not variable according to places and times or the humors of men but the reasons of it are Eternal and Unchangeable 2 That the Scope and end of the Doctrines of the Gospel is to advance Godliness and recommend the practice of it to mankind 3. That it is an Argument both of the Truth and Excellency of the Christian Religion that all the Doctrines thereof are Conformable to Godliness 4. That they who teach or perswade men they may be saved by their true Opinions or sound Belief tho not accompanied with a Godly life do defeat the very design of the Gospel and obstruct that influence it should have on the minds of men 5. That whatsoever Doctrins are not according to Godliness are so far from being necessary that they cannot be true 1. That Godliness is a fixt and certain thing not variable according to places and times or the humors of men This is apparent both from the Text and the Reason of the thing first of all the Text plainly implys it St. Paul requires every man should give consent to the Doctrine which is according to Godliness What can we gather from hence but that according to him Godliness must be the standard and measure by which men are to Judge of Doctrines if a Doctrine be according to Godliness he is to assent to it if not according to Godliness he is to dissent from it All men therefore must have one certain unvariable notion of Godliness in their minds or else they can never know what Doctrines they are to embrace and what to reject But secondly this do's more evidently follow from the notion of Godliness it self for Godliness is nothing else but a being like God it is a Copying out in our minds and manners all the perfections of the Divine Nature so far as we are capable Now if those qualitys and perfections in God be Eternal and unalterable then certainly the notion of Godliness in us must be so also It is true if we go to the criticism of the word this term of Godliness is sometimes used in a stricter sense and imports no more then the worship of God properly so called which consists in our having just and worthy apprehensions of God and in rendring to him that Love Thanks-giving Honor and Adoration which is due to the Great Governor of the World and our best Benefactor But in the larger sense of the word and as it is here taken by the Apostle Godliness is a Comprehension of all the Moral Virtues and takes in not only acts of Religion towards God but those of Righteousness towards our Neighbour and of Sobriety with respect to our Selves In a word It is a walking sutably to that Nature and that Reason which God has given us and for Gods sake Which notion of Godliness being admitted it cannot possibly be thought an Arbitrary thing but must be eternal and immutable as the nature of mankind is or rather as God is who contrived that nature We may talk what we please of the indifference of Good and Evil but the more we think the more we shall be convinced that there is an Eternal goodness and evil in things as they fall under a Moral Consideration Now some actions have an agreeableness with Gods holy Nature and some an utter incongruity with it and if his holy Nature is always the same eternal and unchangeable then also will those things be eternally good which have an agreement with this blessed Nature and those eternally evil which do vary from it thus as to love and honour God are acts most agreeable to his perfect Nature so will it be eternally the duty of the Creature to pay them unto him and it is a repugnancy in terms to suppose God can command his Creatures to hate him or to do the least thing which is contrary to the rectitude of his Nature Besides there are such eternal respects and relations between things that some actions will be ever good and some evil We cannot suppose a Benefactor but we must acknowledg that gratitude and thanks are his due We cannot allow a person to be Innocent but we must grant too that no injury or hurt ought to be done unto him How unreasonable then is that Opinion which makes the Civil Law of the Magistrate the only measure of Good and Evil for should the Magistrate forbid me to put up Prayers to God would therefore the service of God be Evil or should he Command me to kill my Father would therefore Parricide be lawful If so then there are actions antecedently good to the Laws of the Magistrate and dutys not alterable by them in performance of which doth the Godly man exercise himself Day and Night They are saies Justin Martyr a very acceptable to God who do those things which are in their own Nature Vniversally and Eternally good 2. The Scope and end of the Doctrines of the Gospel is to advance Godliness and to recommend the practice of it to Mankind it being much truer of Christs Doctrines what was said of the Lacedaemonian Laws That it is the property of them all to inflame mens minds with the love of virtue and to create a contempt of empty and sensual pleasure To this

end all the Precepts of our Lord all his great actions and grievous sufferings were directed But for the further illustration and proof of this point give me leave to offer these three things to your Consideration 1. That not any of the Discourses or Sermons of our Saviour were made upon Subjects purely speculative The Sermons he Preacht were to teach men to be humble meek pure and peaceable to bear reviling language patiently and willingly to submit to Persecution for Righteousness sake to put hypocrisy out of Countenance and to reform such notions in Religion as were impediments to real Piety and upheld men in wicked life And in this Course he was carefully follow'd by his Apostles and those who were joyned with them in planting his Religion Concerning the Original of the Soul whether it be immediately Created or infused or deriv'd from the Parents and the manner of its Union with the body concerning the orders ranks and numbers of the Angels and how they converse and convey their thoughts to each other concerning the bounds figure and capacity of Heaven the Scholemen have written great Volums but the Inspired Writers have treated very sparingly because an accurate skill in these nice speculations and much acquaintance with them will not make us one jot the better men since we may have our heads ful of these curious notions without advancing one step nearer Heaven and being in the least degree more acceptable to God 2. The revelation God has made of himself in Scripture is such as most Conduceth to the promotion of Godliness and of his great design of putting us upon the attainment of these qualifications which can only fit us for the Kingdom of Heaven and are the necessary terms of our Salvation for there we constantly find God to be set forth as Just and Righteous in all his works as pure and holy in all his ways and as the rewarder only of them who love and fear him and keep his Commandments Nay God is there pleased to ascribe unto to himself the passions of men love hatred anger revenge hope grief and repentance not that these passions are properly in God who is wholy free from the imperfections which cause them in us but meerly in Condescension to the weakness of our Nature and to help the slowness of our understanding to the end that what is there declared to be the object of Gods Love and Hatred his Grief or Anger might be the object of ours likewise and more strongly affect us And as an Evidence of this we may Observe that these passions hardly ever are attributed to God in Scripture but to encourage Virtue or discourage Vice So true is it that the several descriptions the Bible giveth us of God are accommodated to the Doctrine of Godliness and do tend to the advancement of it Now as this seems to be the only Reason why God has made some discovery of the Perfections of his blessed Nature unto us that we should profoundly reverence him and sincerely love him and Religiously conform our selves unto his Will so if we neglect to answer the ends of this glorious manifestation God will declare at the day of Judgment that he knows us not as he has already declared we know not him he that saith he hath known him and keepeth not his Commandements is a liar and the truth is not in him Upon this Argument St. Basil speaks excellently taking his occasion from those words of our Lord. I know my sheep and am known of mine What do you mean by knowing do you understand what Gods Essence is or can you measure his greatness no my sheep know me that is they hear my Voice See then by what means you may Arrive at the knowledg of God it is by hearing his Commands and doing them when you have heard them The knowledg then of God consists in the observation of his Commandments not in a curious prying into the nature of his Essence and the things above the World not in the contemplations of Invisible Beings my Sheep know me and I know Mine It is enough for you to know you have a good Shepherd who hath layd down his life for the Sheep Let this then be the bounds of your knowledg of God But the questions that concern the immensity of the Divine Nature are dangerous to him who puts them and can never be penetrated into by him who undertakes to answer them the best cure for such is silence So that knowledg and practice how much soever they may differ in our notions of them are in Christian Religion but two terms importing the same matter And as they who keep not the Commandments cannot in a Scripture sense without a lie pretend that they know God so neither at the day of Judgment will Christ know them who lived in disobedience to the great laws of his Religion and neglected the chief instances of their Duty Insomuch that to those who have eaten and drank in his presence and heard him Preach in their Streets and upon that score only do claime a knowledg of him and an interest in his Death and Sufferings he will reply I tell ye I know not whence you are depart from me all ye Workers of iniquity Wherefore that man does but deceive himself and will in the end certainly miscarry who diligently Searches after Knowledg only that he may gratify a vain curiosity and qualify himself to become an able Disputant in Religion for all our knowledg will avail us nothing unless it have an influence upon our practice and prove serviceable to us in the reformation of our manners In this State then of Imperfection and tryal of our Obedience we need to enquire no further after the Essence of God and study the mysteries of his incomprehensible Nature then it may either serve to instruct us in such Instances and Cases as 't is our Duty to imitate him and be as conformable to him as we can or furnish us with Arguments that will give us courage to break through the difficulties and opposition that we may meet with in our Christian Race and minister Patience and Comfort to us under the bitterest Persecutions we shall suffer for the sake of our Master and because we would not do violence to our Consciences Indeed in the life that will follow this we shall see God as he is and all the glories of the Divinity will lie open to our eys Then in the Company of the whole Church Triumphant of all the Saints and Angels we shall stand round about the Throne and for ever behold search into admire and adore the infinite wisdom and goodness and Power of God and with the highest transport of Love and joy we shall bless and praise and magnify the Lamb with whose blood all our defilements are washt away and our Robes made white and by whose all-powerful mediation we are admitted into the glorious presence of God and shall continue to all Eternity as much as