Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	love_n	receive_v	unrighteousness_n	1,627	5	10.8118	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93781	Spiritual infatuation, the principal cause of our past and present distempers. Or a serious caveate to the many seducers and seduced who under the specious pretences of reformation and conscience endeavour the subversion of Church and State. In several sermons on Isa. 9,10,11,12. By W. Stamp D.D. late minister of the Word at Stepn[e]y near London.	Stampe, William, 1611-1653?	1662 (1662)	Wing S5195; ESTC R229850	116,158	268

the same senselesnesse and stupidity they have all e●s alike and see not ears and Ps 115. 8. hear not feet and walk not They that make Idols are like unto them and so are all such us put their trust in them Had not this charm of Infatuation a strange power upon the m●nds of the English Nation when that notorious cheat of King and Parliament began to commens●… and walk the world with such gen●ral reception and entertainment a●d did not the juglers of this age belie●e as much when men did not blush to ●reach and print That the opposing the Kings power was the justest way of ●efending it That the fyring ofCano● at his Royal person was to be underst●… sor his defence and preservation ●hat an Army was necessary t● bring h●m to his Parliament when ●e was there before as was pretended in his ●est capacity and that an Army was as necessary to keep him from his Parlia●ent when he would have been there personally for the just satisfaction of hi● people And now that men have seen how well his power and his person h●th been defended now that they have seen the r●ine of Religion and goo● laws in the murther of their Soveraign and the Liberty of the subject resolved into the arbytrarie pleasure of the Souldier is not the delusion as strong at this day as ever Is not our Infatuation together with our miseries encreased almost into a miracle Is there any man almost that for fear of himself dares thus expostulate with himself what have I been doing now these 7. or 8. yeers what contributions have I given to the present miseries and confu●…on of my Nation Gods Truth is still the same but is not my understanding strangely changed from what it was Is there not a ly in my right hand To say there are none in this hopeful way of recovery were durus sermo an hard saying which I dare not own But yet let me tell ye the paucity of those who own their errors as they ●…ould be owned that is with repentance and satissaction is enough to proclaim to all the world that the blindnesse o● these times is not much unlike to that of Sodom all old and young all Gen. 18. 4 from ev●ry quarter almost involved and for ought I know may be as nigh destruction too though not by a judgement sent immediately from heaven And now I am speaking of Insatuation it may fall under a question whether the most violent and virulent part of the English Rebels do at this day discern the error of their way or not I know much may be said on the affirmative and most men believe that how ever they pretend Gods cause and the like yet they have many a secret check within themselves for what they do But I am clearly for the Negative and I think I have Scripture grounds for my opin●on I shall easily grant there was a time when they did see their error though now I believe they do not For men are no longer masters of their own eyes when once the hand of God hath closed them such as rebel against the light of Gods word knowing it to be so it is most just with God to obstruct the way of his truth and to close up their senses for ever lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and be convert c. And that this is not a private guesse of my own vouched with as little warrant as charity you shall hear S. Paul speak to it Now the spirit speak●th expresly that in the latter times 1 Tim 4. 1 2. some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrine of divels speaking lies in hypocrisie having their Consciences seared with an hot iron Where 't is easie to observe the method and progresse of Gods justice upon such as do see and will not First they shall depart from the faith which they have once professed Secondly they shall give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of divels Thirdly they shall speak lyes in hypocrisie speak sor truth what they know to be lyes there 's the wilfulness of their sin and then sollows as a just reward their consciences shall be seared and there 's the irrecoverablenesse of the judgement And from the strength of this delusion it comes to passe that men shall think they do God good service when they shall murther his own Ambassadours Ioh. 16. 2● according to our Saviours own predictio● So that as we read in the hystory of Henry 7. of that famous impostor Perkin Warbeck that he cosened the world so long by personating a King that from his accustomed Majestick garb and deportment he began at length to believe himself to be so indeed till his high thoughts of himself were confuted by the base service of the Kings kitchin And as it fares with some melancholy constitutions who by dwelling over long upon their own thoughts and Phantasmes have believed themselves to be beasts and behaved themselves accordingly so the inuring of a mans self to speak lies meerly in hypocrisie to promote imposture is the high way at long running to believe in earnest that to be a truth which at first w●s known to be but a lie For it is not enough that the intellect be acquainted with Divine Truth but that the heart be warmed also with love of that truth the want of which is the cause of the grossest error and deception This is cleared also by an express assertion of the same Apostle Because they received not the love of the truth that they might be s●ved sor this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believealy 2 Thes 2. 10 11 12. that they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure i● unrighteousness So that if these men of whom I speak have adventured upon so bold a sin as to hold the truth of God in unrighteousness that is by their own phari●aical malice and perversness have manacled and chained up Gods truth from having any dominion over themselves or acti●ns if their eys have bee● fixed more upon the spoyl and advantage that m●ght be gain'd by a war then upon any true Evangelical grounds in commencing a war if their hearts have been pre●resolved to exp●nge or abuse any Text of Scripture that might stand in their way and to imprison any prophet that shall seasonably admonish them of the error of it al which I speak by way of suppositiō leaving the world to determine of the truth of my suggestions I say it is no wonder at all if these men having sorfeited the benefit of al the fair warnings convincements they have had by their wilfulnesse and obstinacy at this time of day mistake darkness for light Belial for Christ and their own whimseys delusions sor the secret inspiration of the holy Ghost But leaving these men with the Sodomites to grope at noon day and to reflect a

the hearts are already prepossed There is mammon a covetous worldly divel and there is B●cchus●a sw●…ish drunken divel and there is Venus a lalcivi●u● uncle●n divel there is revenge a raging foming divel These and many more have taken possession of the soul insomuch that there is no room for any Evangelical guest so that would you know the reason why our sermons are duri sermones hard sayings i● is from dura corda because your hearts are hard heart● Totum durum est qui●quid imperatur invitis Every thing is hard and severe to a man that hath no inclination to obey Quot genera preceptorum tot adversariorium So many precepts as we find in the Decalogue so many enemies hath the carnal and licentious liver Such is the power and predominancy of deliberate and resolved wickedness that men had rather deny the Gospel it self th●n themselves and their own dest●uctive lusts Malunt execrari legem quam emendari mentem they had rather the Law it self were abolish●… accursed then their own ungodly minds reformed bear a greater hatred to the clear commands of God then to their own vilenesse so that Cui ani●…us perversus est nec Moses nec Prophetae●nec unus e mortuis prodest Nor is this all the damage or miscariage That our p●eaching is in vain to such men and the good seed lost because the stony ground will not suffer it to take root no the mischief of all mischiefs is the good seed is lost and the stony ground becoms more stony not hearing a●d no und●rstan●ing as in the text but here is hearing turned into hardning not stones chang'd in●o bread as was once expected from our Saviour but here is bread changed into stones the bread of life and the food of the soul changed into putrefaction and obdur●tenesse of spirit And now if any man shal ask me Sir I pray resolve me what do you think is the reason why my heart is so refractory and impenetrable after the hearing of so many good sermons after so many solemn applications to the means of grace c. Truly Sir my answer must be because you have heard so much to so little purpose Every sermon you have heard every convincement you have checkt repulsed is one blow more upon the Anvil of your heart and the oftner or the longer you have been in the furnace of affliction without refining and reforming the error of your mind the the more you are hardned to your own destruction And that I do not speak this of my self I shall give you authority for it I shall make my instance in those Gentils S Paul speaks of Rom. 1. who certainly were not without the knowledge of God sor it is said v. 21. Because when they knew God they glorified him not as God but held the truth of God in unrighteousness v. 18. therefore God gave them up unto uncleanes● v. 24. and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge so God gave them over to a reprobate mind v. 28. how far their mind was reprobate we learn v. ult Who knowing the judgement of God that they which commit such th●ngs are worthy of death not only do the same but have pleasure in them that do them The Scribes Pharisees had so great a prejudice against our Saviours doctrine and such a malicious hatred against his person the growth of his Gospel that they resolved beforehand if any man should confesse him to be the Christ he should Iohn 12. 11. be put out of the Synagogue And this they execute upon a poor man who being born blind was guilty of no other crime but of having the eys of his body and of his mind both opened together by a miracle And so far were they from being converted by his gracious words and miracles that t●ey resolve to put Lazarus to death who had been an instance of his power and mercy for no other reason but that because of him many of the Iews went away believed on Iesus I cannot imagine what should be the reason that men are grown so liberal of their excommunications executions both in England Scotland unlesse it be upon some Ie●…ish principle because they either will not or cannot see their own blindnesse and seduction Of such as these doubtless our Saviour speaks Ioh 2. 39. for judgement am I come i●to this world 〈◊〉 they which see no● might see and they which see might be made blind The●e is a strange s●irit of slumber fallen upon this age a deep sle●p from the Lord I fear hath seized those who brag of nothing more then of strange visions and revelations from God And most justly for when men are resolved afo●chand to re●el against the light as Iob speaks Iob 24. 13. with the Pharisees and Lawyers to reject the counsel of God against themselves Luk. 7● 30. It is just with God to seal up their eys that they shall never receive the benefit of another convincement to bow down their backs alway that they shall never look up to heaven more with any comfortable assurance of mercy to make that word of his which is a piercing word dividing asunder between the joynts marrow to be a hardning word making the heart of flesh as hard impene●rable as the Ad●mant it self So that a twofold design there is in the Gospel of Christ one whereof is proper and natural that is to propound the way of life and salvation the other is unnatural and accidental which is to be the occas●on of greater blindnesse condemnation by the wilfulnesse obstinacy of unbelievers Thus ye see what the god of this world cannot effect by the baits and snares of abused prosperity what the tempter canno● bring about by his secret instigations and illusions nor Simon Magus and his prophets by their spells and sorceries is at last completed by the profani●g of an holy ordinance This drives the nail to the head and without a miracle of mercy fastens the obstinate and obdurate hearer to his eternal lost condition And therefore some short counsel and caution in a businesse of so much concernment cannot be thought super fluous or unnecessary I do not know any admonition so of en insisted on by our Saviour as this He that hath ears to hear let him hear But beside this general two cautions we have from him in particular concerning hearing The one Mat. 4 24. Take heed what ye hear The o●her Luk. 8. 18. Take heed how ye hear Take heed what for the matter Take heed how for the manner The first concerns my self as well as you and all those of our function For if ye must take heed what ye hear we must also take heed what we preach But this being beside my Text I shall no● insi●t upon it only I shall say thus much That he that shall s●a●t●r from the Pulpir chaf and tar●s and wild gourds insteed of wheat may