Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	faith_n	religion_n	true_a	4,659	5	4.8297	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A60407	A sermon preached July 17, 1681, at the assizes in Huntingdon before the Right Honourable the Lord Chief Baron Mountague and Mr. Justice Windham, judges of the assize / by Benjamin Smith, Rector of Boxworth, in Cambridge-shire.	Smith, Benjamin, fl. 1681.	1682 (1682)	Wing S4021B; ESTC R37563	22,452	38

Christ is that which is by Divines called a saving and justifying Faith a Faith that works by love and is the fulfilling of the Gospel-condition a Faith that receives and submits to the Lord Jesus in all his Offices and as he is offered in the Gospel This is an usual and frequent meaning of the word Faith in the New-Testament and that which we should by all means Contend and endeavour to preserve entire That neither the pleasures of this life nor the inclinations of a Corrupt mind neither the sly insinuations of lewd Companions nor the interest and Grandeur of this present World divert us from it That neither to comply with the Lusts of the Flesh nor to form or promote an Intrigue or design we should violate the Rules of a good conscience or make bold with the Laws of Jesus Christ In short that neither Debauchery nor Dishonesty nor Knavery should make us forget our obedience to the Gospel or in any thing depart from the Principles of that Religion which we profess This is a Faith thus to be Contended for and preserved but this is not the Faith here meant in the Text. For besides this there is 2. Fides quam Credimus And by that is meant the Gospel And the Doctrines of Jesus Christ and his Apostles the Message they brought the Rules they gave the Means they prescribed in order to eternal Salvation are very frequently in Scripture called the Faith This Acts 6. 7. And the word of God increased or got ground and the number of the disciples multiplyed in Jerusalem greatly and a great company of the Priests were obedient to the Faith So Galat. 1. 23. He that persecuted us in times past now preacheth the Faith which once he destroyed And so again 1 Tim. 3. 9. Holding the Mystery of the Faith in a pure conscience And to name no more so it is in this place That ye should earnestly Contend for the Faith once delivered to the Saints Where it is not the Faith whereby they believe but the Faith which they believe the Faith delivered to the Saints to be believed received and kept that is meant Not an Assent to the Revelation but the Revelation it self to which we give Assent The Faith here then is the Truth the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ the Doctrines of Salvation and those Rules and Means that guide us to eternal life or in one word the True Religion And this is further set out 2. By a considerable distinguishing Circumstance once delivered to the Saints Every Doctrine is not to be Contended for and every Religion is not worth the keeping and every thing that hath by men been delivered to men is not too tenaciously to be adhered to The Faith the Religion which Saint Jude proposeth to our Care and endeavours to keep is described by this which distinguisheth it from all that are false and sets the true and currant stamp upon it it is the Faith the Doctrine the Religion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 once delivered to the Saints And this being the Mark and distinguishing Character of that Faith and Religion which we must Contend for it must the more carefully be enquired into that we may not miss our Mark and Contend for what we ought to avoid There are therefore two things to be explained in these words and we must enquire who are the Saints and what is to be understood by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Text. 1. Who are the Saints here to whom the Faith was delivered And here I think the Answer is plain and easy enough that by Saints he means no other than those to whom the Gospel was first preached and who did receive it and believe Sanctos says one usitato Scripturae modo vocat Credentes he calls the Believers Saints according to the usual Language of the Scriptures And thus Saint Paul calls the Believers and Embracers of the Gospel the Saints and faithful brethren which are at Colosse and Philip. 1. 1. To all the Saints in Christ Jesus that are at Philippi But then considering that it is Saint Jude the Apostle of our Lord that writes thus as is evident by the first verse of this Epistle where he styles himself Jude the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James and by the Inscription of the Epistle which though it be not Canonical Scripture yet is the sense of the Ancient Church which entituleth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Epistle of Jude the Apostle This Epistle then being written by him and calling the Doctrine of the Gospel the Faith delivered to the Saints that which in his time was delivered and received was preached and believed To us it sets the Mark and stamp of Antiquity upon that Faith and Doctrine which he calls upon us to Contend for And if we ask what is the Doctrine we ought to receive what the Faith we ought to Contend for the Answer is in Saint Jude the Doctrine the Apostles preached and the Faith the Ancient and Eldest Christians received This directly opposeth all Novel Doctrines and all Religions that are late and upstart Whatsoever is not derived from these Ancient and uncorrupt Fountains we are no ways obliged to maintain or Contend for as being none of the Faith delivered to the Saints And yet this is the quarrel between the Church of Rome and us She hath notoriously and visibly corrupted the Faith and departed in numerous instances from the true and old Religion We desire to adhere to it and to separate the Precious from the Vile and in Reforming our selves have done no more than returned to what was truely Ancient and have onely recovered out of the Rubbish of their Novel Superstitious and Idolatrous Doctrines the Faith that was once delivered to the Saints For this they Charge our Doctrines with Novelty and call our Faith a New Religion but to whom that Charge most justly belongs will be no hard matter to the impartial and unbiassed mind to discover Athanasius wittily derides the Arrians that when they produced their Confession of Faith in the Council of Rimini they set down in the stile of it the Day and the Month and the Consulls when it was made as from thence dating the Beginning of their Faith and fixing the first Original of their Heresy and shewing thereby that their Faith was Late and upstart But what would he have said to the Church of Rome had he lived now And how smartly would he have rebuked their Novel Encroachments the Body of whose Religion as it is now embraced bears date from the Counsel of Trent and there is not one Article in their Faith wherein they differ from us but we can shew and prove it to be of a late foundation Late I mean in comparison with the Truth and the Faith that was once delivered to the Saints What Christ and his Apostles preached and what the first and eldest Christians believed and received we own and adhere to but other things that

Government of the State the Preservation of the true Religion as well as the Peace is within the exercise of his Authority and ought to be part of his Care He Contends for it by a tenderness and Care over all its Concerns and by Restraints upon the Petulancy and Unruliness of men who would either Corrupt the Doctrine or disturb and interrupt the Peace of the Church And here is also Your Sphere to Act my most Honourable Lords to whose Wisdom and Skill the Execution of those Laws are Committed by which our Religion hath hitherto been defended and so happily flourished I Shall not presume to direct or advise or Exhort you the Knowledge we have of Your Love to Religion and of your Faithfulness in Your Trust will not suffer us to fear that You will be negligent in the Defence of that Religion which you Love so well or let those Laws which are so great a part of Your Trust be baffled or buried on which the Safety and Peace and Security of our Faith at this time so much depends The Minister must Act in his Sphere and he Contends for the Faith by declaring the mind of God in Truth and expounding sincerely the Oracles of GOD. By opposing and convincing Gain-sayers and defending the Truth from Heresy and Error and the Sophistical Tricks of those who lye in wait to deceive and as the Apostle says Lead Captive Silly women laden with 2 Tim. 3. 6. sins And All men as Christians must Contend in a way suitable to them as such by Knowledge and Practice by Love and Sufferings and all the Methods that are Proper and Lawfull and suit with Christians considered as such in their private Sphere and Capacity And to these in this Circumstance it is that Saint Jude directs his Exhortation and perswades them to Contend for the Faith That is exhorts them to an earnest and immutable Adherence to it so as not to forgo it for all that the Enemy can do Neither to be scared out of it by Dread ●r Danger by Violence or Death nor to be cheated and wheadled out of it by the Insinuations of those that lye in wait to deceive and Creep in unawares that deprave the Faith and corrupt the Doctrine of the Gospel and turn the grace of God into Lasciviousness or exchange the Truth of God for a Lye And thus to secure our standing in the Faith and to preserve that Religion and Purity of Doctrine that God hath blessed us with no Ways are more Suitable and Proper or likely to be more Successfull than these 1. To understand well and be throughly informed in the Principles and Fundamentals of that Religion which we profess For the greatest and most successfull Conquests that in any age the Enemy hath obtained have ever been upon those that are weak and Unstable in the Faith the Wavering mind hangs trembling in an equal Suspence between Truth and Falshood and these hardly escape the Assaults or stand the Shock of those who lye in wait to deceive And therefore the Methods of the Enemy have usually been to pick out those to subvert whom they see Ignorant and Unstable as knowing these to be the most liable and likely to be brought to their Lure And indeed how should it be otherwise for they that are not well informed in what they profess may easily enough be perswaded that their Profession is Erroneous and the Best Religion may Easily be disparaged to them that do not understand its Nature and have not enquired far enough into it to discern the Beauty and excellency of it And doubtless this hath given the Church of Rome a vast Advantage against us who know well enough how to improve it in that so many are strangers to the Principles of that Religion which they profess as having never been Instructed in them nor taken the pains to Examine what it is they pretend to believe Too many have satisfied themselves with being of that Profession in which they were born and brought up without taking the trouble to understand what that Profession is or to have any other Argument for it than their Education And therefore when I reflect upon that Ignorance in Religion that is growing up and that little Concern or Regard that men have to be well versed or informed in the Fundamentals of it instead of wondring that Rome hath gained so many from us I onely wonder that they have gained no more And I very much fear that if the time should ever come that men might with Safety or advantage change the Church of England for that of Rome there are too many that would need but little Perswasion and all because they so little Know the Truth the Beauty and Excellency of that Religion which now they profess 2. To Practise seriously and Conscientiously what we profess To hold the True Faith in Notion and to deny it in Practice is to pull down with One hand what we erect with the Other and to subvert and betray the Faith that we seem to Contend for And indeed it is not easy to suppose that a man should be resolute to Suffer for any Religion nor stand any ways Vigorously in the Defence of it who will not submit to the Power of it nor will let his Life be regulated nor his Lusts be mortified by it To the Profane person all Religions are alike and that which bids fairest for his Interest or is most suitable to his Inclinations Carries it with him It is the Practice of Religion that renders it Truely sweet and pleasant to the Professours of it and none but those can heartily love the Faith and be Zealously concerned for its Defence that have Experienced the Power and Influences of it in themselves To Practise therefore what we profess is a considerable means of Defence for the Religion we own for this engageth God on our side and lets the Enemy see it is in vain to Tamper or be meddling For to live up to the Principles of our Profession and to adorne our Religion with a suitable Conversation is to bring forth Fruit and to glorify GOD and where these are found the End is answered for which the Gospel is bestowed and so long the Candlestick shall not be removed while People rejoyce and walk in the Light And therefore it is observable that the Removal of the Means of Grace and an Eclipsing the Light of the Gospel hath ever in all places been preceded by a Decay of Piety and an Inundation of Profaness This pulls down the Wrath of GOD and that makes the Cunning and Malice of men effectual God will walk no more among them that walk contrary to him and they that will Practise no Religion may easily enough be perverted to Any how irrational or absurd soever it be God grant that that Coldness Looseness and Profaness that so universally over-spreads this Nation be not too sad a Prognostick and preparatory to the Departure of the Gospel from among us