Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	believe_v	faith_n	revelation_n	2,202	5	9.5251	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A95857	A charge against the Jews, and the Christian world, for not coming to Christ, who would have freely given them eternall life. Delivered in a sermon, before the Right Honorable the House of Peers, in the Abbey Church at Westminster, on May 26. 1647. being the day of their publick fast. / By Thomas Valentine, one of the Assembly of Divines, and Minister of Chalfont in the County of Bucks.	Valentine, Thomas, 1585 or 6-1665?	1647 (1647)	Wing V24; Thomason E389_6; ESTC R201520	27,808	35

and the greatest sinners that are most sensible of their miserie wil come most humblie and in much poverty of spirit no creature so wilde as a sinner in his jollitie who is as the wilde Asse in the wildernesse that runs up and down at pleasure none so tame as the penitent sinner that is taken in his moneth God hath humbled him and taken down the pride of his spirit he stood in his way as the Angel in Balaams he threatned him he had his bowe in his hand and his arrow on the string Psal 7.12 and the sinner not giving back he shot at him and wounded him and left the arrow sticking in his heart Psal 38.2 and now this wounded man he mourns inwardly and makes his moane to God Thine arrowes stick fast in me is willing to come to Christ to be healed and to have the arrow pluckt out and the wound cured Necessitie at first brings us unto Christ afterward we apprehend goodnesse and his divine perfections and we come in love to him we cannot stay away a poore man at the doore that hath scarce a ragge to cover his nakednesse not a peece of bread to satisfie nature he comes to aske for the Master not to be acquainted with him that were boldnesse but to be releived in his necessities so Christ is sought unto as a Saviour to take away our guilt to give a pardon to supply our wants and when we are sensible of our miserie we are easily induced to come to Christ But when we are justified and accepted and find the sweetnesse of fellowship and communion with Christ then we are delighted in him and if there were no necessity compelling us if no weaknesse in our faith no want in our souls yet we should desire to come to him they that have seen God in any ordinance are restlesse till they see him again Psal 63.2 David could bear well enough his banishment from the Court yet he much desired to come to the place of Gods publick worship that he might see his power and glory as formerly he had seen them in the sanctuary 4. To come to Christ is to beleeve in him and when he complains of the Jews not coming he chargeth them with unbelief He that comes to God must beleeve that he is Credere est actus intellectus assertientis veritati divinae ex imperio voluntatis motae à Deo per gratiam Aqui. and that he is a rewarder of them that seek him The Jews beleeved no such thing of Christ they did not think him to be God nor that he would reward them that come to him they gave no assent to what he spake they did not credit him Faith hath a double act one more common and generall and that is to give a firm assent to all Divine truth revealed in the Scripture Faith gives God the honour of his truth as love and hope do give him the honour of his goodnesse and bountie And truth is equally spread over all the Scriptures I beleeve as verily that Isaac was the son of Abraham as that Christ is the Son of God because Scripture affirms both and one thing cannot be more or lesse true then another one is more usefull then another Fides ambiguum non habet si habet non est fides and conduceth more to my good and in this generall act of faith I am to consider of one more then another but both are equally true but there should be nay there is no doubtihg though some men have doubted whether this or that part of the Bible were Scripture yet a beleever must not doubt whether Scripture be true that were to doubt whether God be true The truth which faith beleeves comes by divine revelation if I can prove by reason that all things that are Haereticus dubitens de uno articulo fidei opinionem habet de reliquis Biel. Gen. 1. were made by him that hath an absolute being and is the first cause of all I do not beleeve it because I can prove it but because Scripture saith it for in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth The Scriptures of the Old Testament held out clearly the Messiah and by those prophesies and promises wherin the Jews were very well verst they might know that he was the Christ and yet they did beleeve neither those Scriptures nor any thing himself spake or did And then no wonder if they fail in the second act of faith which is to relye and rest with confidence on Christ the Saviour Mar. 15.31 they were so far from this that they upbraid him at his death saying He could not save himself and therefore it was in vain to expect salvation from him Notitia assensus fiducia are made parts of Faith but two of them being in the understanding the 3 in the Will it may be doubted how one such grace can be in two faculties Schoolmen generally to salve this doubt make gne faculty subordinate to the other saying Faith is Actus imperatus a voluntate elicitus ab intellectu It is in the will ut in primo motivo in intellectu ut in proximo subjecto But the doubt is when they say it is ex imperio voluntatis they seem to give the precedencie to the will to shun such disputes we may rather call them acts in the beleever then parts of Faith But we have in these dayes all the means necessarie to work in us all the particulars required to a saving faith we have knowledge of him we question not his Divinity we beleeve he came with a commission from heaven we give a full and firm assent to whatsoever he spake as being undoubtedly true we would cast our selves with confidence into his arms that is able to save us we beleeve that God is reconciliable that sin is pardonable and this we do upon the hearing of the glad tydings of the Gospel and afterward we grow up into a greater confidence and assurance of the pardon of our sins purchased by his blood But those that do not beleeve shall have this great sin charged upon them and that we may clear Gods justice in punishing men that live in the Christian world for their infidelity it will be needfull to inquire where the power of beleeving lyes for if they cannot beleeve how is God just to require that of them which they have not power to do I answer Adam in his innocencie had a kinde of legall faith whereby he was to depend upon God for the performance of his promise for God promised him life as a reward of his obedience and he was to look for it Now what ever he had being a publick person we may be said to have it and must be accountable for it so as in him we had power to beleeve and therefore may be punished for unbelief And this Answer is given by many Reverend Divines and let it go as far as it may to the

removing of the Objection But the question is whether Adam had power to beleeve in Christ crucified He did beleeve in God and his faith was joyned with his obedience for he obeying the voice of God was to beleeve that God would make good his promise to him but his power was to the things of the Law written in his heart it was within that compasse and latitude but not in the way of the Gospel which supposeth man to be fallen and quite over-turned and how faith in Christ which is the condition of the Covenant of grace should be commanded in the Law given to Adam in his innocencie I do not understand And though he did beleeve in God yet he might not have power to beleeve in Christ dying for sinners But suppose God had revealed to Adam while he stood the event of things and imagine he had said to him Adam I have made thee wise and righteous I have enstamped mine Image upon thee I have given thee a just Law and power to keep it and for thy reward I will give thee life I have put thee into a pleasant Paradise where thou hast all things for necessity and delight but thou wilt disobey my voice and loose thy self and forfeit all that I have given thee yet neither thou nor all thy posterity shall perish I will send my Son into the world to take mans nature and dye for sin and life and happinesse shall come by faith in him The question is whether Adam could have beleeved upon such a Revelation I answer That he could and would have credited God and beleeved the truth of this relation made unto him by his Creator but to beleeve in Christ and cast himself upon a Saviour must presuppose him to be cast away and lost But could not Adam have promised to beleeve in Christ upon the former Revelation I answer If he had it had not been available for it is all one as if a rich man worth many thousand pounds should promise and give his Bond to pay me an 100 li. when he is broken and not worth a groat But it is very true that men have more power then they put out for faith and obedience and it is as true that infidelity is in their power and they willingly remain in unbelief The Answer that men return to the invitations of Christ are the same which the Jews made unto him How often would I have gathered thee together as the hen her chickens Matth. 23. and ye would not 1. Further to clear the point in hand we may safely affirm that all men in Adam stand guiltie of disobedience and God may justly punish them for that sin I●h 3 36 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non dicit ira Dei veniet super eum sed ira Dei manet super cum quamvis naturaliter damnati jam sint reprobi sua tamen infidelitate novam sibi mortem accersunt 2. That Christ being offered to them to deliver them from curse and condemnation and they wilfully rejecting him they aggravate their sins and bring upon them the condemnation of the Gospel so that the Law and the Gospel both condemne them the wrath of God that formerly was upon them by the sentence of the Law abides upon them and new wrath is kindled against them because they beleeve not in Christ the Son of God and so comes the great condemnation oft mentioned Joh. 3.19 And to set out the cause of mans miserie take it in this comparison A man lyes sick of a feaver he is told by the Physitian unlesse he bleed or purge and take other Physick he will dye he is distempered and will not be ruled he dyes The question is what this man dyed of I answer He dyed of a Feaver that was originally the cause of his death And then in the second place he dyed of wilfulnesse because he would not follow advice In the great day of judgement men shall be condemned for their disobedience and next which is the great aggravation of their sin for infidelity because they beleeved not in Christ Vse Before we come to the next point let us make a breefe application of this and it shall be an Item to take heed of infidelity especially of willfull infidelity say not that ye will not come to Christ neglect it not for he will take it ill and that because Foure aggravations of the sin of infidelity 1. The last best words that ever God spake were by Jesus Christ and to contemne them were a greater sin he that despiseth Moses Law did sin in a high degree but what will betide him that despiseth the glorious truthes of the Gospel uttered by Christ to honour him and the truthes he revealed the sweetest expressions were made that ever we heard of Luk. 2.14 Glory to be to God on high Peace on earth and good will towards men the Jewes could not be ignorant of those glorious manifestations and might have bin convinced by them we all do beleive the doctrin of the Gospel and we receive them and are readie to come unto him in the use of his Ordinances But with our faith we must joyne all other graces and the practise of al duties we must do every thing answerable to the profession of the Faith or else we are in some measure guilty of the sin of the Jewes 2. There is no such impediments to hinder us as was to the Jewes they might have said the Priests lips must preserve knowledge and the people must seeke the Law at their mouthes and they say that Christ is a deceiver a Samaritan and hath a Devill these might stumble the Jewes and keepe them from comming to Christ but there is no such let to us the Gospel is countenanced Christ is received In the Primitive times they were faine to sell all in Q●een Maries daies they went through the flames or else they could not have Christ these were great tryalls they fall not upon us and therefore our sin is the greater if we do not imbrace him 3. We must give a reason why we did not come to Christ why we did not beleive in him why we did not accept of him when he was offered unto us with all his Excellencies he came to us and brought with him righteousnesse life pardon heaven and the glorie of it and would have freely given us them if we would willingly and freely have accepted him for our Saviour but those that have rejected him shall see with sorrow the fruites of their infidelity and cry out against themselves for loosing so great joyes and pulling so great torments upon themselves and as Malefactors in the day of their execution lament their folly and obstinacie in that they would not be ruled and that brought them to their miserable end so the unbeleever in the day of judgment shall have it charged upon him and he shall repeat these words in the dolour of his trembling heart I dye and am