Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	apostle_n	church_n	pillar_n	3,742	5	10.1590	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61301	The love of God to all mankind in the glorious work of their redemption by Jesus Christ, asserted and vindicated. With a plain and sober discussion of those controversies which are the constant concomitants of it, viz. election and reprobation, God's foreknowledg, his nature, attributes, and decrees; the sufficiency of means vouchsafed to all men to believe; the use of the law to believers under the gospel. Also concerning original sin, freewill, and falling from grace. All fitted to the meanest capacity, in a way of dialogue, by Zachary Stanton.	Stanton, Zachary.	1700 (1700)	Wing S5251A; ESTC R219675	159,700	342

and asserted for a Truth by Men of singular Learning piercing Judgments Gifts Piety Zeal for the Truth and greatest Pillars and Lights of the Christian Church next after the Apostles it being never scarce brought into question till near St. Austin's time which was about 400 years after Christ If you look into Mr. Goodwin he sheweth at large the Testimony of those called Fathers for General Redemption Those Fathers before St. Austin's time are Ireneus Justin Martyr Clemens of Alexandria Cyprian Tertullian Epiphanius Gregory Nazianzen Gregory Nyssen Basil the Great Arnobius Eusebius Cyril of Jerusalem Hilary Athanasius Jerom Ambrose Chrysostom these he cites and proves by words at length out of their Works that they held General Redemption Surely the Primitive Christians for between three and four hundred Years after the Apostles may fully ballance both for Number and Holiness all those in the Reformed Churches since Calvin's Days Philet I spake of our Days and Time which we live in Philad Well compare those Lands and Provinces where some hold to the one and the other and what are those Lands that own the Genevah Principles or the Doctrine taught by Mr. Calvin then those called Lutherans nay compare the People in the Vnited Provinces those that stuck to the Synod of Dort with those called Remonstrants or Arminians and how will you make it out that those Predestinarians that maintain unconditional Election and Reprobation are men of a more pious heavenly frame of Spirit making it more truly visible in the integrity of their Lives and Actions than the other called Arminians what Spirit the Calvinists are of has been seen these forty Years past not only in other places but in England also Philet I meddled not with any Foreign Lands Philad Well if you look home upon England I challenge you to shew me any particular Church or Person this day of your Opinion that is a Phenix whom none of the Universalists may compare with in Grace and Divine Life as far as the Eyes of Man are able to pierce the latter live as godly religiously and soberly in this present World and act as zealously for God and are as fruitful in good Works as any you can produce of your Judgment but I find 't is easy for any that fancy themselves the only Saints upon Earth to despise others In Gen. 38. 24. Judah when he heard that Thamar was brought in for an Adulteress presently sentenced her to the fire but when the Pledges of his own Folly were brought forth then he cried out she is more righteous than I. Consider the proud Pharisee tho he was ready to cry to the Publican Stand off I am more holy than thou yet the other was more justified You only bring Accusation without Proof I shall only say in the words of Seneca If it be sufficient to be accused who can be innocent for our Lord Jesus even Innocency it self was accused Remember he that is wise in his own conceit is but a fool and till you shew me in some Particular wherein you exceed all others in Divine Virtue I shall look upon your Speech to be nothing but the impulse of a giddy Zeal and desire you to be more considerate lest you thereby come to condemn the Innocent and justify the Wicked which are both abominable to the Lord Pro. 17. 15. so that neither the good nor the bad the godly nor the ungodly deportment of Persons professing such or such particular Principles is any proof of the goodness or badness of the Principles unless their Principle doth naturally tend to either nay should the foundness or rottenness of Opinions be esteemed by the goodness or badness of the Lives of many professing them the Opinion then of Atheism may be as sound as any other Christians seeing that many Heathens have acquited themselves upon far better terms of honour and approbation in their Lives than many Christians But come what if I should yield to what you say that many that hold this Opinion of yours are godly Men and walk in a pious and religious course of Life beyond all others yet we may say 't is no thanks to their Opinion that they are so your Opinion naturally tends to beget sloth disengageth from the strictest Rules of Piety Uprightness and Integrity of Life and countenances Men in carnal liberty seeing those that are elected can never fall out of his Love and Favour but he loves them as well while great Sinners as the most faithful humble mortified Christians May not this incourage any Man to take liberty to commit the most enormous crimes go on in sin and cry peace and safety and seeing the greatest part of Mankind are shut up in a state of unbelief without a Christ to believe in or power to believe but are left to die and perish may not such conclude their labour in Religion will be unprofitable and so will rather sit still than labour at all Moderat Come neighbour Martha and Philetus I would have you yield to this that Christ died for all for the Scripture fully testifieth that he died for all and every Man and we may safely conclude that the Lamb of God offered up himself a Sacrifice for the Sins of the whole World for tho Man by his Apostacy fell from God and by reason of Sin our whole Nature came to be at the utmost moral distance from the Lord which was and is the depth of all Misery yet did not God wholly leave Man in this state tho fallen into Misery but was he capable of recovery which was done by Christ's taking our Nature upon him and laying down his Life for all for he took upon him the Nature of Man not of Angels he pitied not the Angels that fell because their Nature was not to be received by Christ but he taking upon him the common Nature of Mankind made it saveable brought it nearer to Salvation than the lapsed Angels and what Christ hath done in the Flesh he must needs have done for all and the direct and immediate Fruit thereof belongs to all for he took upon him our Flesh not the Flesh of the Elect but of Mankind c. so that the Work of Redemption being by his Blood wrought for us thro his Flesh in which all Mankind have union it must needs be therefore universal Philet Surely Christ took upon him the Nature of Men because the Elect Seed was found in that Nature not in the Nature of Angels the Apostle saith Heb. 2. 14 15. that because the Children were partakers of Flesh and Blood therefore he took part of the same and herein there is a Union the Children have a Union with the Flesh of Christ above all others in the World Ephes 5. 30 31. And the reason Christ took part of Flesh and Blood was for the Elect and none shall nor can have any saving benefit by it but only such for to what purpose was it for Christ to be at the expence of his

the manner of Men yet it is not necessary that all those things which are attributed to God should have something in his Nature correspondent to them according to that ancient Saying Similitudes are not wont to run on all-fours Metaphors are not to be strain'd to express things in themselves quite opposite nor make the parallel run till it grows lame but great care must be taken that no mean base or unworthy thing be attributed to the most high And therefore from the Potter's Power over his Clay to make thereof a Vessel of Honour or Dishonour as he pleaseth to infer positively from thence that God hath purposely made some to be Vessels of Wrath is an unjustifiable Inference from that Similitude Surely the Holy Ghost compares not our most wise Creator to a foolish Potter who because he might make what he would of his Clay did therefore make the greatest number of his Pots to be broken again to shew that he had as well a Power to break them as to make them which none but a mad Man would do but rather to a wise Potter that designs his Work for some good end and use Doubtless God so made all things that not one of his Creatures hath so much cause of dislike as to say why hast thou made me thus No Vessel of Wrath came so made out of his Hands So that if any be Vessels of Wrath the fault is not in him but in themselves by reason of their Infidelity and Contempt of the Lord and his long Sufferance I know this place is usually made use of as a Fortress for such as you are to flee to and is misunderstood to imply what you say but if you will but mind what the Apostle was upon and let this place be expounded by the Context and other places of holy Scripture so that the whole and every part of God's Word may agree in one Truth then we shall never take it in this sense of yours for then this dark and obscure part of Paul's Epistle which the Apostle Peter saith many wrest to their own Destruction 2 Pet. 3. 16. must be taken openly to oppose and contradict the whole Course and Tenour of God's Word Is there no way to understand the 9th of the Romans than by making those places which sound severely to clash against those that sound compassionately Is it not far the best way to interpret hard and doubtful Texts by those many Texts that are clear and easy than to interpret the many clear Texts by one that is dark and difficult or if one Scripture may have a double sense must we needs take it in the worst must I needs say that the Father of Mercy and God of Consolation which doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the Children of Men did absolutely damn him before he had done either good or evil is it not the best so to understand it that his Mercy and Justice his Love and Power may imbrace and kiss each other Now the Scripture speaks in some places darkly and dubiously in other places it expresses the same thing more clearly and certainly the doubtful are to be expounded by the certain and dark places by those that are clear and all Exposition answerably to the Current of Scripture not contrary to it Now it doth seem as if the Apostle in these Words had an Eye to Jeremiah 18. 3 4 c. where he speaks of the Clay in the Potter's Hands not as it was in Creation but in Vocation being marr'd in the Hands of the Potter and so finding it would not be for that use he designed it for made thereof a Vessel as pleaseth him So God sometimes whilst he is at work to fashion a Soul for his own Work by the preaching of the Gospel by the sweet motion of his Spirit by Mercy and long Sufferance yet the Vessel is marr'd the Clav yields not nor is pliable to the Will of God and so finding it will not be a fit Vessel for Honour he makes a Vessel of Dishonour Read the 7 8 9 Verses and compare them with 2 Tim. 2. 20 21. so that it is plain God made of one Lump all Innocent and Upright Gen. 5. ult Eccles 7. ult at the first See what Mr. Loveday saith upon this in his Personal Reprobation Reprobated Page 243 God saith he like a Potter makes of low vile Man honourable Vessels Hath not the Potter any ordinary Potter power over the Clay to make it what Vessel he pleaseth and when a piece thereof runs coarse and is marr'd upon the Wheel hath he not power to make it a less honourable Vessel and hath not God the same and much more power over you that have imbas'd your selves by slighting and abusing all those Mercies he hath designed to bestow upon you and thereby make you honourable To be plain saith the Apostle why may not God for your Disobedience and Rebellion to his Son as zealous as you are for the Law of Moses of a glorious People and invested with all those extraordinary Privileges make you a base and contemptible People and besides your continuing still in Unbelief make your Condition far worse in the World to come Such a Paraphrase as this seems to bear a sweet Harmony with Jeremiah 18. also with the Scope of the whole Context and with the Apostle's conclusive Result Verse 32. that they did not attain to it because they sought it not by Faith but as it were by the Works of the Law So that when Persons do Evil against God and will not obey his Voice but obey Unrighteousness and harden their Hearts against him then he will make them Vessels of Dishonour prepared for Destruction These are they that Jude speaks of Verse 4. that were of old ordained to this Condemnation not simply as they were Men but ungodly Men turning the Grace of God into Wantonness c. By what is or might farther be said we may see that those absolute Decrees of Mers inevitable Damnation is no part of God's revealed Will for if this 9th of the Romans faileth to prove what you bring it for as it is evident it doth then there is not the least shew in the Scripture for it Nay this Opinion of yours seems rather to be taken out of the Turkish Alcoran or Heathen Authors than the Bible for the Holy Scriptures are so far from containing or asserting any such Exercise in God over his Creatures which consists in a most severe and dreadful dooming them from Eternity to endless Misery that on the other hand they frequently exalt him as very gracious loving merciful and bountiful towards all and that there must be a great Breach on the Creatures part in point of Degeneration before the Lord gives him up to ruin Isa 27. 11. yea the Love and Pity of God to his Creature Man exceeds the Affections of a Father to his Son or of the tenderest Mother to her sucking Child Mat. 7. 11. Isa 49. 15. Martha I cannot

decreed that very few should have any benefit thereby when they had done their utmost they could do to obtain it Is it possible that Men should truly love God while they apprehend him as an Enemy bent in an unappeasable manner to destroy them and that to Eternity can any thus be induced to love him or live to him Thus your Doctrine cuts asunder the very Sinews of Religion discourageth Holiness and encourageth Profaneness for by your Opinion Heaven shall unavoidably be obtained by those that are elected and Hell must be as certainly endured by those that are reprobated and a Man may as well stop the Sun in its course and mete out the Heaven with a Span as force the Lord to revoke his Decree Truly if poor Man lies under such a rigid Fate all that he can do for the obtaining Heaven or avoiding Hell is but a piece of industrious Folly Why should we take upon us a strict course of Life why should we submit to Divine Precepts or address our selves to God by Prayer and like good Jacob wrestle with him for a Blessing to what purpose should we maintain a warfare against Satan Sin and all Vice when the greatest industry in the use of means to obtain them signifies nothing if not decreed to it May not this cause Persons to be swelled up with sorrow and destroy the chiefest inducements to Holiness when they shall seriously reflect upon all they had done to be purely in vain And again if Persons be absolutely appointed by the immutable and irreversible Decree of the Almighty to destruction 't is not all their hearing reading praying Works of Charity nor all mourning for Sin nor believing neither that can possibly procure their Salvation damned they must be And on the other side if Persons be absolutely ordained to Salvation their open contempt and neglect of all Holy Duties their living in pleasure and walking in ungodly courses cannot bring Damnation upon them they must be saved See God's Love to Mankind What Man rightly master of his own Reason will ever trouble himself about such impossible or unavoidable things 't is in vain to repent fruitless to weep yea madness to add to my own Infelicities by denying my self of any Pleasure or Profit which I might enjoy by closing with the World and in gratifying the sensitive Part Or why should we take upon us a strict course of Life endeavouring to keep God's Commandments and fighting with the Temptations of the Devil and keep them under our Bodies and bring under subjection when all we effect by it is an honourable Nothing What compass we by striving therewithal Why spend we time in rising up to fall Why linger we to act so many Crimes To suffer over Grief so many times And live so many several Deaths to taste To be no worse nor better at the last Or wherefore have we prayed since we know What must be must be tho we pray not so Wither's Britain's Rememb p. 54. So that your Doctrine makes all Endeavours and Undertakings of Persons in order to the attaining Heaven and Eternal Felicities fruitless and highly gratifies the Devil's Interest such an Opinion frames and fits a Soul for the Suggestions of Satan by which he draws Souls with more ease into Eternal Misery for will not Persons be ready to say I am one of those that are absolutely elected to Grace and Glory one of those that Christ died for or I am ablolutely cast away and left in the Fall to die and perish without a power to believe or a Christ to believe in If I lie under a necessity of either why should I trouble my self about Means or Ends since if I perish by my Sins I did but what was natural for me to do and which I was compelled to by an overpowring necessity and therefore I 'll take my ease and swim down the Stream of all Delights so that your Opinion overthrows the very Foundation of all true Piety and gives Persons the greatest discouragement to Duties and quite breaks the Anchor of the Soul that it cannot fix it self upon any Offers of Grace and Invitation nor stay it self upon any Promise of Heaven upon their repenting believing or obeying the Lord. Hope stirs up Men to begin and to continue in well-doing Hope is a patient and well-grounded Expectation of the fulfilling of whatsoever God hath promised But how is the Anchor well-grounded when notwithstanding the Promises of Heaven to all those that by patient continuance in well-doing seek for it Men by the most vigorous undertaking for Heaven shall be rewarded with the Wages of Death and crowned with eternal Shame for all they have done in their Christian Progress Is not this enough to shipwrack the Soul upon despair Yea I dare say This is the nearest and the straitest way To all Profaneness if the Bridle gives To Carnal Liberties and makes the Lives And Hearts of many Men so void of care From hence Distractions hence Despairings are Hence Mischiefs hence Self-murders do arise Hence is it that such multitudes despise Good Discipline yea this contemned makes The Life of Faith if once it rooting takes Disableth pious Practices out-right And where it roots destroys Religion quite Britain's Remembrancer p. 56. Which I could prove by many Instances from the Writings of others and the known Experiences of our Age one in my knowledg when reprov'd for his wicked loose Life would answer God might have made him better And in God's Love to Mankind pag. 204. we have it recorded concerning the Landgrave of Thuring who being reproved for his debauched Life and warned of the dangerous consequence thereof that so it might move upon him to consider his miserable condition and return gave this Answer If I am absolutely predestinated to Heaven the committing of the vilest Crimes will never exclude me And if I be reprobated let me manage my Life never so carefully let me steer my course never so prudently and piously I shall never arrive at Heaven and Happiness Philet But our Doctrine is not as you say a hinderance to Piety and a godly Life for those that hold it are Men of singular Piety indued with a Spirit of Prayer and live according to the strictest Rules of Holiness far beyond any that hold the contrary who are a company of loose livers Philad I know there are many of your opinion of late flown very high in their own conceit and condemn others we are apt on all hands according to the old Proverb to count our own Geese for Swans and every Fowl thinks its own Bird the fairest yet I doubt not if Persons of the one Judgment and the other were but truly compared together and an estimation made of the religious worth and holiness of each those that own General Redemption need not count it robbery to make themselves every way equal with their Opposers General Redemption having been not only avouched by our Blessed Saviour and his Apostles but also owned