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	doctrine_n	gospel_n	2,184	5	6.1231	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A90497	A sermon of Mr. Benjamin Perkins, at the funeral of Mrs. Martha Robient, who deceased September the 15th, at Colchester, 1700 enlarged into a discourse on the excellent life and glorious death of a Christian, from 2 Tim. 4. 7,8 : with an enquiry into the reasons of the grand prohibition on the servants of God to continue here in his service, signify'd to them by death, from Heb. 7. 23 / by T. Beverley.	Perkins, Benjamin.; Beverley, Thomas.	1700 (1700)	Wing P1542aA; ESTC R43716	24,091	54

against all Adversaries the Calumnies of Malicious Devils and enraged Spiof wicked Men 2 Thes 1.5 c. Hung out we translate a manifest token in that Day a Day of Adjudging the Prizes That Day of the Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God Rom. 2.5 And therefore the Crown is call'd as in some places a Crown of Glory 1 Pet. 5.4 And a Crown of Life So here a Crown of Righteousness as due to Christ in his though to us as in our selves It is a Crown given the Gift of Free Grace as Eternal Life oppos'd to Death the wages due demerit or desert of Sin It is Free Gift in Jesus Christ upholding the Glory of Justice and Righteousness in that Gift 3. The Crown says the Apostle shall be given at that Day There are two Times eminently Styled in Scripture that Day 1. The Day of the first opening of the Glory of the Gospel and after a time of Eclipse by the Anti-christian Apostacy shining out again in Glory In which first and last the great Prophecies of Scripture are Fulfilled we find therefore often in the Prophet In those Days and In that Day as all Compriz'd under that great Point of time the Fulness of time the appearance of Christ in the Flesh Gal. 4.4 And the time from thence running to his appearance 2. The that Day of the Appearance of Jesus Christ and of his Kingdom as they are joyn'd a little before the Text that Fulness of All I imas when all shall be placed that is Happy and Blessed under their Head Eph. 1.10 And so that Day is often used in the Epistles of the Now Testament as here and continually that Great Day that Day wherein shall be so Glorious an Unveiling a Revelation of the things that have now been kept secret but shall then be sett out in the truest and most Glorious Light The Beauty of every thing in its own proper season to which God hath referr'd in that General Table of time God hath drawn and that Solomon gives in short the Heads off in that so wise Book the Book of Ecclesiastes or of the Preacher At the End of the several events there recorded saying God hath made every thing Beautiful in its season But because it does not or may not without wise References to that Eternal World be understood to be so He says God hath sett Eternity or the Eternal World in their Hearts Eccl. 3.1 c. Then also are all the Great Misteries of the Gospel shall be clearly unfolded and laid open All the various dealings of God with his own and with the Men of his present Hand and might the Men of this World shall be unriddled and disengaged from all their Darks and Intricacies and the Crown sett with Glory and the Glory of Righteousness on all his Saints And this because it is the Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God And then as the wicked shall be all in Horror Tribulation Anguish and Amazement So Christ will be Glorified in the Saints and Admired in all them who believe who have Fought the Good Fight so as not to beat the Air They have run not as Incertainly and as in Naval Contests have not Shipwrack'd but held fast the Faith And so the Crown Adjudg'd to them by the Righteous Judge of the Combatants and their Activities in and through their great Agonothetes Jesus Christ and the supreme Agonistes Master of All and cheif Combatant 4. The Apostle joyns with himself all those who Love the appearing of Jesus Christ as those whom the Righteous Judge will give the Crown of Righteousness unto And this expression offers two considerations to us 1. That seeing the Apostle gives this short Character of Saints in General and not so particularly as Fighting the good Fight Finishing all their course and keeping the Faith but Loving the appearance of Jesus Christ It shews there may be and there is a different eminency of Saints But as they all meet in the Head Root Corner Stone So whatever their different measures are in making up the full stature in Christ yet they are all alike in the Glory the Crown of Righteousness Because it is all given by grace in Christ and so the Least as well as the greatest are Crown'd in Him He gives the same Crown to the Last as to the First even as in the Parable Mat. 20. 2. In that all Saints Love the Appearance of Christ it is made certain They are those that have Fought Run held fast the great Depositum Committed to them so as to obtain and not to be rejected the Faith which gives them the assurance and lifting up of the Head at the appearance of the great Judge and Arbitrator of the Prize and so they desire long for and Love his Appearance And thus I have given a breif View and Examination of the words of this Great Text. Applic. That which I would now infer from the whole discourse by way of Doctrinal conclusion by way of Practical enforcement by way of Consolation relating to the particular occasion shall be First That we would look to it To hold the Faith of Jesus Christ in its own Purity For the Gospel is so pure separate from all mixtures as Silver Purified in a Furnace of Earth Purified seven Times that we must not pervert it any way Every Word of God Prov. 30.5 6. Much more the Great Gospel-Points Whoever add to it or diminish from it will be found Lyars unto it Blessed are they that trust in i● It will be to them a Sheild of Salvation As to that Great Point Righteousness by Faith in Christ without works How suddenly do Men slide down to Another Gospel under the Apostles Anathema and yet It is not another but the clear pure streams of gospel-Gospel-Truth and Grace are hereby troubled and the satisfaction and comfort of Believers disturb'd and the Invitingness of it to strangers much obscur'd and defiled Now here in the subtility of the Enemies of the pure Doctrine of the Gospel is seen That they being afraid to take up the Insolent Anti-christian Word Merit or as the Apostle calls it Debt They would yet Privily bring in such a supposed presence of works after Grace as sincere obedience though not perfect into Justification as the condition of that Covenant upon which it justifies even as perfect obedience was the condition of the Covenant of Works and yet merit not once Named nor Allowed Because Adams strength to work by if he had rightly applyed it was indeed from the Bounty and Goodness of the Creator yet as in a way of Condecency of such a Creator to such a Creation as the Humane Nature that came pure and perfect out of His Hand But what Believers do is from Grace in Christ by and from His Spirit Vouchsafed to Sinners and so cannot Merit Now this hath indeed very great Truth in it Yet it doth not Answer the High Expression of the Gospel excluding all Created or Creature

of a Christian State in its own Motion Action Conversation from the Time of Conversion unto the very Hour of Death This was one thing the Apostle understood by his course for God having drawn out the Line of Life as he hath seen fit for every one of his Servants Their course of Christian Action is by him drawn out proportionable So that there is no part to be unadorn'd Something of Publick Private Secret ●nholy Action is to be applyed to every part of it There must be a Running to obtain It is called therefore Running the Race that is set before us Looking to Jesus to shew in whose strength the whole Race is run So It is expressed concerning David by his serving his Generation according to the will of God and of Johns fulfilling his course as a Servant of God in a Holy Conversation besides his Ministerial service How many great concernments hath every Christian to look to His Implantation into Christ Renovation New Creation The In-dwelling of the Spirit the Graces and Fruits of it His Living walking in the Spirit The work of Faith with Power Sorrow after God working Repentance to Salvation never to be Repented of The constraining Love of Christ the living to him the dying Dayly Converse with the Word of God Hearing Reading Meditation Holy Discourse Prayer Thanksgiving Self-denyal Sufferings being made meet to be Partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light All these with much more set before us in Scripture shew us what the Race of a Christan is what his course is Now to find our Heart engag'd herein with all earnestness Pressing forward to reach the mark by the utmost stretch and extending our selves to it is what the Apostle speaks of himself He had run on in this Christian course on this Line to very near the End of his Line of Life and it is a Glorious Review of a sincere much more of an Eminent Christian while he can behold Christ the Alpha and Omega the Beginning and End of All All the Haltings the Falls False-steps the many Lingerings made up Answered and Attoned for by the Author and Finisher of our Faith who for the Joy sett before Him ran the whole course the Father Lin'd out to Him Doing always the things pleasing in his sight Who set every step according to his Obediential Love to the Father and thefore went forth to his Death with highest Resolution Let us Arise saith he and John 14.31 Go hence He endured the Cross despised the shame and is set down on the right hand of the Majesty on High And thus his servants follow his steps and so we have reason to hope of this his Servant that she was swift she Finished her course she Finished the course she was sett in though a more private and retired one before she was Prohibited as the true sense of that word we Translate Not suffered signifies Heb. 7.21 To continue any longer therein 2. There is yet a higher and more exalted sense of the Apostle Finishing his course not a more substantial or Fundamental sense For that is indeed the Fundamental All the redeemed of Christ in and by him running their course and so entring into their Masters Joy but there was also in all times a more Publick and high sphere of Action Into which God hath been pleased to raise some of his servants and there hath not been a higher then the Ministry of the Gospel and most particularly the Apostolick and t● this undoubtedly the Apostle had regard when he here saith I have Finished my course For herein the Apostle had a Line given to him and a measure the measure of the Line which he would not stretch himself nor into other Mens Labours but according the Rule or Line prescribed him by God 2 Cor. 10.13 c. And this was so abundant that he Laboured more abundantly then any other 1 Cor. 15.10 He was the Apostle of the Gentiles Ministring the Gospel of God so to them that the offering up of the Gentiles might be a Sacrifice Acceptable to God by Jesus Christ being sanctified by the Holy Spirit which was indeed a high sphere of Christian Gospel-Activity and whereof he saith He might Glory And the Line was so every way enlarged that he Preached the Gospel round about from Jerusalem to Wyricum Rom. 15.16 c. He did fully or Fulfil to Preach the Gospel of Christ and He strived to Preach where Christ had not been Named And all this was made efficacious by Mighty Signs and Wonders by the Power of the Spirit of God So that it was best for the Churches and more needful he should continue though to his loss Phil. 1.21 In all this Notwithstanding He was most mindful to ascribe all to Grace 1 Cor. 15.10 By the Grace of God he was All that He was and after all his Discourse of his Line and measure He concludes He that Glorieth Let him Glory in the Lord 2 Cor. 10.17 The Apostle Finished this course under and by the High Priest and Apostle of our Profession whose the fupreme Glory in all is Inasmuch as He who Built the House hath more Honour then the House whose House with all Prophets Apostles and Saints Heb. 3.1 The Apostle was For He who Built All Things in his Church is God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Head 3. I come now to the third Head or Character the Apostle gives of himself I have kept the Faith This Completes the whole Herein the Apostle speaks again as a mighty Champion that retain'd the Riches of Faith Much more precious then of Gold that Perisheth The Faith he retain'd with such a Might and would by no means suffer it to be forced out of his Hand 1. That Great Principal and most essential Faith the Apostle kept or held fast is Jesus Christ Himself and his Righteousness who is pleased because he himself is indeed the All of Faith ●o be styled Faith it self Gal. 3.23 2. It is the whole Truth of the Gospel as the Apostle Jude gives it the Honourable Title of the Faith once at once once for All Delivered to the Saints Jude 3. Comprizing the Righteousness of Faith by which the Just Live and receive even full assurance of understanding The Righteousness of God revealed from Faith to Faith The Faith embracing the truth that is after Godliness which whoever walks contrary to denies the Faith The Faith that looks to the Eternal State and Condition which Hymeneus and Philetus denying by saying The Resurrection was past already overthrew the Faith of some This the Apostle held fast in all the senses of it now given and would by no means part with or betray to any Seducers or Adversaries of one sort or other as was before asserted under the first Character of Fighting a good Fight 3. The inward Grace of Faith in the Heart and Holy confession of which the Apostle saith Rom. 10. With the Heart Man believes unto Righteousness and with the Mouth confession