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	prove_v	2,236	5	6.1879	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A66415	Scripture the rule of faith a sermon preached at St. Martins in the Fields, Febr. 3, 1695/6, being the second of the lecture for this present year, founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle, Esquire / by John Williams ...	Williams, John, 1636?-1709.	1696 (1696)	Wing W2722; ESTC R38942	12,524	32

Saviour and the Apostles for preventing any such Inconvenience though they foresaw and foretold there would be Deceivers and Impostors but all Future-Ages were left in the very same Circumstances with the Jews in that Period of 450 years before spoken of The Divine Writers supposing that there was in the Scriptures such a plain and full Revelation of all things necessary to be known in order to Salvation and there would be so much Reason and Sense in Mankind where so great an Interest as their Salvation was concerned that with Ordinary and Common Helps such as Prayer and Consideration and Advice and appointed Teachers are that they would be able to find out the Truth or as much of it as was necessary to their Salvation if they came to it with sincere and well-disposed minds And that God would never suffer such to want Ability Opportunities and Means for it or be wanting in mercy to them in forgiving and passing by such defects as were unavoidable to them in their Circumstances But that belongs to the next Head and that is 3. The Direction what to do in this Case which is to Search that is with Diligence and Impartiality Supposing this that every Man is to judge for himself then persons will judge differently and there will be Eternal and Endless Disputes To this our Saviour fits an Answer not only in the Direction given in the Text but also in the subsequent part of his Discourse which amounts to thus much that we are to Search with Diligence and Impartiality The former is implied in the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Search and which is very requisite in matters of such Importance as those were which our Saviour is here Discoursing upon and that is no less than his being the Messias the Son of God A Subject that from the quality of it and the various passages in Scripture relating to it requir'd due Consideration For though the Scriptures are so plain in most necessary points that in the Prophet's Phrase the wayfaring men though fools shall not err therein and what are as soon understood as they are read Yet there are even some of those that in the nature of the thing require a strict and careful attendance Of which kind are such as contain the Characters of the Messiah and therefore lye not so open to a superficial Eye but that they may be misunderstood and he that would then know and understand the force of the Argument referring to it must Search Our Saviour doth not therefore say only That the Scriptures Testify of him but requires them to Search if they would be satisfied in it For though proofs of this nature often are like Mines that lie deep yet upon Searching they are to be found And if so then our Ignorance is not to be imputed to their Obscurity but to our own Negligence that we take not that course which is proper thereunto and may very justly be requir'd But there is a further Qualification requisite and that is Sincerity and Impartiality Our Saviour here resolves the Infidelity of the Jews into Obstinacy and Insincerity They had another Interest to mind a Reputation to maintain Ver. 40. Ye will not come to me Ver. 42. Ye have not the love of God in you Ver. 44. How can ye believe which receive honour one of another and seek not the honour which cometh from God only These and the like Vicious Inclinations hinder from Searching or from finding the truth if they Search or from receiving it though they find it Persons thus disposed will then handle the word of God deceitfully and like artificial Orators put what Colour they please upon it They will pervert and wrest distort and writhe the Text till they force it to serve the Cause they espouse and are resolved beforehand to maintain And so it would be if there were an Infallible Judge and so it was when there were Inspired Persons in the Church when our Saviour himself was in the Chair and the Apostles were helpers of their Faith So that there is no Fence in the World against Perverseness and Obtinacy against Pride and Self conceit against Interest and Self-seeking These things indeed will make the Scripture difficult and Truth unintelligible though ne'er so plain in it self or never so evidently proved When in the Phrase of Scripture Their heart is waxed gross and their ears are dull of hearing and they have closed their eyes lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart For then it is with such as with a sickly Stomach that will nauseate the most wholsome and delightful Diet In which Case it is not the fault of the Diet but of the Stomach which wants an Appetite or of the Palate that wants the savour which is the occasion of the disorder and for remedy of which the Body is to be Cured and the Stomach to be restored to its natural Tone and Temper and then the same Diet will be nourishing and grateful as before So it is in the Case before us where it is not the Understanding but the Will that is in the fault or some pre-occupations and Sinister Inclinations that do Cloud the mind and keep it from judging or dispose it by such fatal Biasses to judge amiss But now if the contrary Temper prevail that Men lay aside all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness all Prejudices and Interests and receive with meekness the ingrafted word If they are candid and ingenuous free and impartial and come with an hearty desire to know the truth and with a stedfast resolution to be guided by it whether it be for or against their Worldly Interest and to do according to what they know they shall not finally and fundamentally mistake according to our Saviour's resolution of this Case Joh. 7. 17. If any man will do his will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or saith he whether I speak of my self So again If ye continue in my word then are ye my Disciples indeed and ye shall know the truth John 8. 31 32. For God will not leave an honest mind without such means as shall be sufficient for the understanding of all things necessary to Salvation He that sent a Philip to an Eunuch and an Angel to Cornelius and called to a Saul out of Heaven will present such occasions give such assistance or direct to such Instructors that shall as Aquila to Apollos expound unto them the way of God more perfectly And if we put the Case that a Person sincerely disposed to know and receive the Truth should fall into error for man is a fallible Creature yet the Error shall not be Damnable but what may be as consistent with his being a Christian and Orthodox as Infirmities are with a good Man and Sincerity For as in the present State which is a State of Infirmity there is no arriving

to such an established temper of Virtue and Goodness but that Elijah and Paul and Barnabas and the best of Men were subject to like passions with others So neither is it possible by the utmost Diligence and the most laborious Searching to find out the Truth so as ne'er to mistake nor embrace Error for it for that would as much be above the state of Nature thus to be infallible as impeccable nor is it necessary when a person may be saved with all tolerable Errors as with natural and unavoidable Infirmities And this then neither the Providence of God nor the Promise of our Saviour are concerned to prevent For these are like Diseases that belong to the quality of the State we are in and are no more to be prevented than our Nature and our State are to be alter'd and of imperfect to be made perfect But so far both the Promise and the Providence of God in confirmation of that promise are concerned that a person of a truly sincere mind continuing such shall no more fall into a damnable error without his own fault and choice than be guilty of a Damnable Sin for that would be to leave Him in a damnable condition who upon the terms of the Gospel otherwise most certainly should be saved For no Sin under that Dispensation damns but what is wilful according to that known Saying of St. Austin Nihil ardet in Inferno nisi propria voluntas Or however if he should fall into such an error as is against a fundamental Article and for the quality of it is damnable Yet it shall not be damnable to him It is a Case special and what though it falls not within the ordinary Rules of the Gospel shall however taste of the mercy of it The Apostle speaks of Damnable Heresies and we have those Truths which we call Fundamental and both are rightly so termed because those Truths are so essential to the Christian Faith that it cannot be the Christian Faith without them And those Heresies are so destructive to the Christian Faith that it cannot be the Christian Faith with them But yet because it is an error of invincible Ignorance and what proceeds from a mere defect in the Understanding and not in the Will we may charitably conceive that it being not that sort of Heresy which is a Work of the Flesh God will not impute it to such to their Condemnation and that their Piety towards God and Charity towards Men shall through Christ's Merits and Intercession do more to save them than their involuntary mistakes how great soever shall do to damn them Since God requires according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not But because for the most part the Error is rather in the Will than in the Understanding or at least is then the more pernicious of the two therefore as we should enquire after the truth and be careful to receive it when it is proposed so it is as necessary that we should receive the truth in the love of it and then it will have an influence upon us proportionable to the Consequence and Importance of it And as they are the best most useful and necessary Principles that most of all tend to make Men Good and Religious so that is the best Testimony of our being in the right and that our Principles are true that we are thereby made more holy and pure more just and charitable I look upon this as an undoubted Evidence of the Truth of the Christian Revelation that it most of all conduces to such an Excellent end and it will appear that he best understands it that makes it the Rule of his Life as well as of his Faith which if he doth as he cannot likely mistake in his enquiry after Truth so it 's certain in the Issue he shall not miscarry For then he that comes thus prepared to Search the Scriptures will both find what they testify unto and obtain that Eternal Life which is therein revealed and promised There it is then that the matters of greatest Consequence are to be found and all Points relating to them are resolved such as do most nearly concern our Eternal Happiness And if Scriptures do require our utmost Diligence and Care to find out their meaning yet in the issue when found out it will reward all our pains though it be as great as the Affairs of this present Life are not managed nor accomplished without I do acknowledge the Church of Rome hath put this mattet into a far more compendious course if it were as true as it is short by an Infallible Judge who by an Ipse dixit without giving any reason stamps upon all he saith an uncontroulable Authority but that must be if a person is so near the Papal Chair as to have the Infallible Ear to apply himself to and immediately receives the dictates from the Infallible Oracle For if he be remote from him and receives all by Written Decrees or the Oral Tradition of others it issues then into a kind of Infallible Rule and fails to be the Sentence of the Infallible Judge For Words and Writings if they once fall into Fallible hands according to them cease to be Infallible and are as much subject to difficulties and about the sense of which have often happen'd as endless Contentions and Misunderstandings as ever they can pretend have happened to an Infallible Rule Therefore they are no safer nor less subject to err by the having an Infallible Judge than we by an Infallible Rule Nay so much the worse is it with them as we cannot suppose that an Infallible Judge if we go to their Fountain-head can more clearly interpret the Divine Rule than God himself could and did direct and dictate to those who wrote it So that at last they are left with all their Pretences to Infallibility in a condition worse than those that have an Infallible Rule for their Director and that with their own Diligence and Searching and the blessing of God concurring therewith like Apollos become mighty in the Scriptures Act. 18. 24. For to such is that spoken which never was said to any Infallible Judge If any man will do his will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God FINIS ERRATA SErm 1st Page 21. Line 17. Read needs p. 26. l. 4. r. Enthusiastical p. 29. l. 8. r. of one among them p. 31. Margin add V. Dr. Gedis Of the Ecclesiastical State of Ethiopia Appendix Serm. 2d p. 6. l. 7. r. and things p. 9. l. 18. r. 16. Bas l. 2. Bapt. c. 4. Athan Tom. 2. p. 295. Par. 1627. Isai 8. 20. Mat. 15. 2 3 9. Mar. 7. 8 c. Mark 10. 17. Mat. 22. 29 31. Luk. 24. 26. Act. 17. 2 3. Act. 18. 28. 2 Tim. 3. 15 16. Serm. 6. Joseph Antiq. l. 12. c. 1. 3. L. 13. c. 6. 18. l. 20. c. 5 Acts 23. 8. Matt. 22. 29. Luk. 24. 37 39. V. Light-foot Tal. Exercit. on Acts. Joseph Antiq. l. 13. c. 18. Acts 23. 6. 1 Thes 5. 21. 2 Cor. 11. 13. Tit. 1. 10. 2 Ep. John 7. ver Rom. 14 12. Acts 17. 11 c. Mat. 24 24. 2 Tim 4. 3. 2 Pet. 2. 1. Isa 35. 8. 2 Cor. 2. 17. 4. 2. Eph. 4. 14. 2 Pet. 3. 16. M●tth 13. 15. Jam. 1. 21. Acts 8. 26. 10. 5. 9. 4. Act. 18. 26. Jam. 5. 17. Acts 14. 2 Pet. 2. 1. Gal. 5. 20. 2 Cor. 8. 12. 2 Thess 2. 10.