Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	inward_a	spirit_n	worship_v	1,944	5	9.2934	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A74993	Certain select discourses on those most important subjects, requisite to be well understood by a catechist in laying the foundation of Christian knowledge in the minds of novitiates viz., First discourses on I. The doctrine of the two covenants both legal and evangelical, II. On faith and justification / by William Allen. Secondly, Discourses on I. The covenant of grace, or baptismal covenant, being chatechetical lectures on the preliminary questions and answers of the Church-Catechism : II. Three catechetical lectures on faith and justification / by Thomas Bray, D.D.	Allen, William, d. 1686.; Bray, Thomas, 1658-1730.	1699 (1699)	Wing A1055A; ESTC R172154	614,412	564

our Saviour does therefore direct us And thus he does usually Gild over his Errors Thus especially he Gilds his Errors where the Light of the Gospel does most clearly shine as here with the Resemblance of Divine Truth especially in those Churches and Countries where the Light of the Gospel does most clearly shine And I think I cannot do you better Service than to Instance in some of those pernicious Errors both in Faith and Practice of this Kind which do at present Infest this Church and Nation that so you may be Caution'd against the Entertainment of them And First It is usual with Satan here amongst us I. When under the plausible Appearance of Advanceing God's Honour in some of his Attributes he renders him Odious and Despis'd in Others Vnder the plausible Appearance and Colour of Advancing God's Honour in some of his Attributes to render him Odious and Despised in other Thus for Instance By infusing into Men's Hearts a Belief that God has Created the far greatest Part of the World on purpose to manifest his Dominion and Power and Justice in Damning them afterwards for their Sins he Robs him of the Honour of being a Gracious Merciful and Good God to the utter abolishing of all Veneration towards him and Love of him Insomuch that the very Atheist who denies there is a God does not so much Affront him as even a sober Heathen thought as those who think so Dishonourably of him II. When under the Colour of Advancing Gospel truths he propagates Heresies which do undermine Religion and the Necessity of a holy Life Secondly Vnder the Colour of Setting up as the most precious Gospel Truths some Opinions that seem to have a great Resemblance of Truth he brings in such Heresies into the Church as do utterly undermine Religion and the necessity of a good Life Thus by his Teaching that Christ has so Paid the whole Debt for our Sins that the vilest Wretch that Lives need no more but be perswaded that he is an Elected Person and that the Promises belong to him on the Assurance of his particular Election and that such a Faith as this will save him But by Vertue of such an Opinion of Satan's infusing no doubt you shall too often find an Envious Malicious Viper a Covetous Worldling a Rebel and an Adulterer even before his Sins are Repented of talk of Recumbing and Leaning upon Christ and Roling upon the Promises as they are pleas'd to express it with more Assurance than the best and holiest Livers and the faithfullest Servants of Christ III. When he teaches to prefer some eminent Christian Duty or some Part of a Duty or one Way of performing a Duty to the disparagement of another Thirdly A most fatal and mischievous Delusion of Satan rise amongst us in this Nation at this Day is his Teaching Men to prefer some Eminent Christian Duty or One Part of a Duty or One way and manner of performing a Duty to the Disparagement of another Thus you shall often see some careless whether they come to Prayers or not so they can be but at the Sermon and others on the contrary say they care not whether they shall hear a Sermon in their Lives so they can have but Prayers But the most notorious Cheat he puts upon Men is his infusing into their Hearts to Prefer One Part of a Duty to the utter Contempt of the other Thus because in the Worship of God in Prayers and Praises to perform this with an Hearty inward Devotion is principally required and we are commanded that since God is a Spirit Christians must Worship him in Spirit and in Truth As to prefer Prayer to the neglect of Preaching or Sermons to the Contempt of Prayer Hence vast Numbers of Men do conclude that Outward Reverence by Kneeling lifting up the Eyes and the like is a meer Outward Ceremony not at all necessary under the Gospel insomuch that God is now most highly Dishonour'd even in our Publick Assemblies where we come to do him Honour by the shameful want of Reverence appearing in most People by sitting at their very Prayers So true it is what One said That such a rude and slovenly Kind of Religion As also praying in Spirit to the regard of Bodily Worship hath made its way into the World by this Policy of Satan and such a shameful Carelessness in Divine Worship that should a Stranger to our Religion come into our Assemblies he could not by the Carriage of the Generality of People imagine what they were doing and that they were Worshiping of the glorious Majesty of Heaven would perhaps be one of the last Things he could Conjecture And Extemporary Prayer to the utter Contempt of Forms of Prayer But the most fatal Error of this Kind the most mischievous to the Church and Nation and to Men's Souls therein Is the Preferring a way of performing a Duty that is Vnpracticable by the Generality of Christians to the utter Disparagement of another more easy and no less acceptable way of discharging it This is eminently seen in Advancing Extemporary Prayer as the only Spiritual way of Worshiping and in raising Prejudices in the Minds of Christians against Forms of Prayer as not Spiritual enough if at all Lawful It is very certain that the far greatest Part of Christians are utterly unable to Conceive for themselves much less before others such Prayers or Praises as are proper for their Occasions and fit to be Offer'd in Decency and Honour to so Great and Wise a Majesty as God is And this consider'd if Prayers of other Godly Men's nay of a whole Church's composing must not be Us'd does it not necessarily follow that this Principal of all Christian of all Natural Duties must suffer if not a total Neglect at least-wise that it must be very indecently and rudely Perform'd and in too familiar a manner with God as is too usual Why woful Experience does plainly shew us that for this very Reason it does And therefore By this latter Means Satan has utterly Defeated those excellent Helps we have in our Church and brought in a great Neglect of Publick Family and private Devotion tho' no Church through the Care of its Pious Bishops and Pastors did ever Abound with more excellent Forms and Helps and those better fitted for Publick Family and Private Devotion than our Church does at this Day yet upon the account of Men's Prejudices which they have been taught to Entertain against Forms of Prayer as not Lawful or not Expedient or not Spiritual enough never did Persons so sadly Profane the Worship and Service of God so heartlesly join in the Common-Prayer so scandalously throw aside Family Religion and so universally I fear neglect Private Devotion as now they do I fear that those who so zealously decry Forms of Prayer and that on purpose to Advance in its stead a more Spiritual way of Worship as they think will take it ill that

perswading themselves that a meer Assent of their minds to the Truth of these and other Evangelical Verities is the Faith to which the promised Justification and Salvation is made though it hath no such powerful operation upon their Wills as to make them new Creatures to make any thorow change in the temper of their Hearts and tenor of their Lives And many doubtless have been greatly strengthened in this delusive confidence by having been taught that Faith justifies without any VVorks at all And these again perswade themselves that they believe in Christ to the saving of their Souls because they rely on him alone for Salvation and upon what he hath done and suffered for them though they love their sins and live in them still Just like some Jews of old who though they were very bad in their Lives yet leaned upon the Lord and said is not the Lord among us None evil can come upon us Mich. 3.11 Isa 48.1 2 They leaned upon God's Promise of being their God as those do upon Christ's undertaking to be a Saviour although they overlooked the Condition to be performed by them in being a People unto him in loving and serving him as those Christians I speak of also do Though Christ alone is to be relyed on for Salvation as touching all that is proper to the Mediatory Office and VVork yet no Man is to rely on him so as to think he should excuse him if he do not Repent or be not Regenerate or as if he did Repent or were Regenerate for him If they do they promise themselves from him that which he never promised or undertook but hath told them plainly That except they themselves Repent they shall Perish and that except they themselves be Born again they cannot see the Kingdom of God 2 They deceive their own Hearts also in the nature of Repentance their Notion of it being one thing and the Scripture-Notion of it quite another So that tney perswade themselves they have Repented when indeed they have not They know and believe perhaps Repentance to be necessary to Salvation because Christ hath said that except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish But then they mistake in perswading themselves that they do repent because they are frequently sorry for what they have done tho' they cease not to do the same again Indeed when the pleasure of Sin is over and rebukes of Conscience come in the room of them these trouble their minds for what they have done which was the Repentance of Judas and there is no peace to the wicked who are like the troubled Sea Now this they count Repentance though it work no effectual and thorow change in Heart and Life but when that sad fit is over they appear to be the same Men they were before by returning to the same sins And herein the Romish Church hath most unhappily laid a Snare which as is to be feared catcheth multitudes of Souls to their Destruction in asserting Contrition yea Attrition with Confession to be Repentance sufficient to Salvation VVhereas sorrow alone though it be godly sorrow is not Repentance but as St. Paul saith Godly sorrow worketh Repentance 2 Cor. 7.10 But Repentance it self which is Saving consisteth chiefly in a real change in Mens apprehensions of and affections to both Sin and Duty and in ceasing to do evil and learning to do well Others again deceive themselves in taking a partial Reformation for true Repentance Because they have left some sins which they could best spare as blemishing their Reputation or impairing their Estates or their Health And because they have done many things which yet Herod also did Mar. 6. they think they have Repented and are Converted though they retain others which are more gainful or yield them more pleasure VVhereas the sincerity of Repentance can be nothing less then a hatred of and turning from sin as sin and so from all sin by diligent and careful endeavours 3. They deceive themselves by a false Notion of that Obedience which is necessary to Salvation They believe in the gross indeed that Obedience to the Commands of God to the Rules and Precepts of the Gospel is necessary to Salvation because the Scripture so plainly declareth it to be so But then they deceive their own Hearts in thinking and perswading themselves that they have performed this part of the Condition of the Promise when as they have not performed one half of it They have been it may be somewhat careful to be found in acts of External Worship and Devotion both publick and private and to keep themselves from Idolatry Swearing Cursing Sabbath-breaking Murder Adultery Stealing False-witness-bearing and the like in the outward and gross acts of them But all the while have made no conscience of governing their Thoughts Affections and Passions nor their Tongues neither as to many things And in all this wherein do they exceed the Pharisees whom if we exceed not in Righteousness Christ hath told us who best knows that we shall never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Matth. 5.20 They were strict and zealous in the observation of the Laws for Circumcision Sacrifices Sabbaths Tythes and other positive Precepts and that to a tittle And Fasted often and made long Prayers and gave Alms and made Ostentation also that they were not as others were Extortioners Unjust Adutlerers nor as the Publicans And why would not all this bring them to Heaven Because all this notwithstanding as they had not Faith in Christ so they were Covetous Proud and Ambitious seeking Honour one of another contemning and despising others they were Envious and Malicious Cruel and Ill-natured Unmerciful and Persecuting such as faithfully reproved them They made clean the outside of the Cup and Platter and so far as they did so they did well But that for which Christ denounced Woe to them was that their inward part was full of ravening and wickedness and for want of love to God and of Judgment Mercy and Fidelity God is a Spirit and the Service that is acceptable to him as being most agreeable to his Nature is that which is done in Spirit and Truth And therefore his Precepts are given to govern the inward Man as well as the outward He that said Thou shalt not kill hath said also Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thy heart nor be Angry with him without a cause or bear a grudge against him He that said Thou shalt not commit Adultery hath said also Thou shalt not lust after a Woman in thy heart And he that said Thou shalt not steal hath said also Thou shalt not covet and the like And therefore they that think themselves to be Obedient Children to God upon account of their abstaining from outward gross Sins and of being outwardly Righteous and do not truly endeavour and make a business of it to mortifie and subdue their Pride Covetousness love of the World Envy Hatred Malice thoughts of Revenge the unruliness of Passions and all