Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	work_v	world_n	write_v	64	3	4.6951	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A31037	The Christian temper, or, A discourse concerning the nature and properties of the graces of sanctification written for help in self-examination and holy living / by John Barret ...	Barret, John, 1631-1713.	1678 (1678)	Wing B907; ESTC R20482	253,096	440

such conditions but his Grace worketh by means and a conditional Promise is his stablished means to draw Mans Heart to the performance of the Condition which well considered is a sufficient answer to the Arguments that are commonly urged against the conditionality of the Promises As the Spirit worketh powerfully within so he useth that word from without Direct to sound Convers p. 289 290. as his Instrument which worketh sapientially and powerfully to the same work And the like observation we may take concerning the Threatnings in the Word Therein ordinarily some such evil as we naturally abhor and dread is threatned either to excite us to our duty which our corrupt hearts and natures are exceeding backward to or to deter us from Sin to which we are naturally prone and strongly inclined Now to apply these things to the point in hand The Believer is made sensible what a Sinner he has been and what woe and wrath is due to Sin and Sinners that indeed he has deserved Hell for his Portion yet withal he believes according to the Word that God is in Christ reconciling Sinners unto himself that he so loved the World as to give his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have Everlasting Life that Jesus Christ is the only and an all-sufficient Saviour that he is willing as well as able to save those that come to God by him But withal that there is no coming to him only as a Saviour so as to find welcome but he must come to him also as a Leader and Commander resolving sincerely to obey and follow him that without taking his Yoak upon us we cannot find rest for our Souls To these things a Believer cannot but subscribe These things are set home and kept close to his Heart and such Truths as these being mixed with Faith firmly assented to they work effectually Thus he deliberately makes choice of Christ as the only meet help for his Soul in all the World Now go to Hypocrites and Unbelievers and it appears they have but some faint and weak Assent to the foresaid Truths Did they really believe Heaven and Hell and that without an interest in Christ there is no hope of Heaven but to Hell they must go all the World cannot save them how is it possible they should make so light of Christ as they do preferring a momentary pleasure or a little worldly pelf before him which a true Believer accounts but dung and trash If you tell a Man there is a Lyon in the way behind him with open mouth ready to devour him and he flees not as for his Life does it not plainly shew that he believes not what you say So that Sinners do not flee to Christ it shews they do not believe their misery and danger out of Christ Or if sometimes they have strong Convictions that startle and terrify them they have Arts and Devices to put them off They will not suffer them to stay Their corrupt Wills and Affections call off their thoughts from such things as most nearly concern them As we read Mat. 13.15 Their Eyes they have closed lest at any time they should see with their Eyes and hear with their Ears and should understand with their Heart and should be converted and I should heal them Their Eyes they have closed Thus poor Sinners wink hard shut the Windows to keep out the Light that they may still sleep on in Sin Or when they can be no longer quiet as they are then they bribe their Consciences and deceive themselves with a seeming Faith a seeming Conversion a seeming Reformation which they take up with as sufficient as poor Laodicea thought her self rich Thus by one means or other they are kept off from a serious and deliberate closing with the Lord Jesus But then come to a sound Believer and he is as sure that the Word of God will prove true as that there is a God which is as sure as that there are any Creatures in the World and so that Heaven and Hell are not Fancies which have a being only in Mens imaginations but unquestionable realities that all Miseries and Sufferings in this life are case and pleasure compared with the Torments of Hell and Miseries of the Damned and all the Pleasures and enjoyments of this Life but pain and loss compared with the Joys of Heaven that if ever he be saved he must be saved by Christ and that he cannot hope to be saved by Christ but in his own way Thus he sees it unquestionably his grand concern to accept of Christ as he is offered And such Truths being set home by the Spirit with Power and Evidence they have a mighty force to pull down strong-holds and carnal reasonings in the Heart against them to bring into Captivity every Thought to the Obedience of Christ And thus the Will and Affections are wrought upon And what sorrow then See Dr. Preston of Effectual Faith p. 204. to think of ones former natural and sinful State and what Fear O what will become of me if I get not a Part and Interest in Christ If I fall short of Heaven at last then where am I how miserable shall I be to Eternity And what vehement desire after Christ Give me Christ or I die And what resolution in the Will I will go to Christ and give up my self to him and cast my self upon him If I perish I perish Lord whither should I go Thou hast the words of Eternal Life Thus a Believer consents and closeth with Christ deliberately upon clear conviction that he has no other way to take 3. A true Believer consents unfeignedly and heartily True Faith is Faith unfeigned 1 Tim. 1.5 A Sound Believer does not take up with a profession of Faith in Christ and of subjection to him does not think it enough to say Lord Lord to speak honourably of him but hath his heart opened to receive the King of Glory The Lord Jesus Christ is his desire and choice indeed And as he had rather have Christ alone for his Portion than the whole World without him so he had rather be subject to the Laws of Christ than freed from them Though the Flesh is still lusting in him against the Spirit and the Law in his Members rebelling against the Law of his Mind yet he can truly say his Will is more to Christ and to his Service than to please and gratify the Flesh and to serve Sin And he repents not of any thing he does for Christ but is grieved and ashamed that he does no more and that what he hath done has been done in no better manner but he heartily repents of his serving Sin heretofore and of what he hath done displeasing unto Christ And in the ordinary habitual and prevailing bent of his will he is for taking part with Christ and his Laws against the lustings of the Flesh against the motions and workings of remaining corruption in him He is so

the Christian Society As Colledges have their Statutes and other Companies and Societies their particular Orders This is an Order for all that are of Christ's School And without renouncing Self we cannot rightly depend on Christ without forsaking Self we cannot follow Christ without crossing Self we cannot comply with the Will of Christ without denying self we cannot be ready to confess Christ we cannot be willing and prepared to die to suffer for Christ How easily are Men brought to deny the Faith and Truth to deny God and Jesus Christ that have not learnt to deny themselves Will Lovers of themselves will Self-seekers stick to Christ and his Truth when put upon trial whether indeed they are content to sell all for the Pearl of price Whether they can forsake all for Christ When the Cross shall follow those that follow Christ will not such flinch from him then Yea before any such Trials come all that have not learnt to deny themselves have denied God and Christ already in their Hearts and are daily denying him in their Works and Lives Though Men have a form of Godliness yet while they deny the power thereof so far they deny God And to deny the power of Godliness is a sad preparation and introduction to the grossest and most shameful denial of God and Christ when a Temptation thereunto shall come No wonder therefore that Christ says here Whosoever will come after me let him deny himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let him utterly deny himself The simple Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as much as to deny that with this Preposition added it seems to signifie more to deny with an Emphasis to deny with contempt and abhorrence of ones self Quest But what is it to deny our selves Answ 1. In the Negative 1. We must not deny our selves to be what indeed we are as we must not feign our selves to be what we are not As the Prophet Ahijah said to the disguised Wife of Jeroboam Why feignest thou thy self to be another It is one thing to disguise and another to deny our selves The Hypocrite that seems to be what he is not and would not appear to be what he is is yet far from that Self-denial Christ calls us to he deceives himself and others while he does not deny himself So likewise many a sensless Sinner when admonished of his Faults will not acknowledg that he is the Man whom such a repoof concerns He will justifie himself though his Lips prove him perverse and though it may further provoke the Lord to plead with him as Jer. 2.35 To deny the Truth here is quite opposite to Self-denial Again Some there are in another Extream For whom God hath done much yet being clouded with Melancholy c. they cannot see so clear as otherwise they might and thereupon soon question yea deny any good wrought in them The condition of these is far better than the others spoken of before Yet they are to be pittied and such an Humour not to be fed or encouraged It is one thing to deny our selves and another to deny God's goodness to us It is no way contrary to Self-denial for a Christian to say with the Apostle 1 Cor. 15.10 By the Grace of God I am what I am Some go further yet and charge themselves more deeply than there is just cause As some poor troubled Spirits will not down with it but that they have sinned the unpardonable Sin c. But though we are not to deny our selves we are not falsly to accuse our selves 2. We are not to deny our selves in that sense wherein it is said that God cannot deny himself 2 Tim. 2.13 He abideth faithful he cannot deny himself He is ever as good as his Promise constant to his Word We may not in this sense deny our selves may not go back from lawful promises made either to God or Men. We should not use lightness yea and nay 3. We are not to renounce the use of our Reason That is no piece of Self-denial intended or required here That would be to make the Christian Religion unreasonable And how great a reproach would that cast upon Religion What is Man but Animal rationale or Ens ratione praeditum a Creature endued with Reason That it is as natural to him as congruous to that form and kind of being which his Creator has given him that he should use his Reason as that the Sun Moon and Stars should shine and give forth their light And it is certainly the highest and noblest use our Reason serves for to help us in the discovery of Truth and to direct us in the choice of Good Therefore no doubt we may be the Servants of Christ upon more Honourable terms than Nahash would have put upon the Men of Jabesh-Gilead Christ never required his Followers in this sense to put out their right Eyes though we must part with our dearest Lusts which have been as our right Eyes yet when these are pluckt out we should see never the worse But it is the way of Antichrist to perswade Man to an implicit Faith and to blind Obedience It is the drift and design of the Synagogue of Satan to get Men hood-winkt that they may be content to see with the Eyes of their Rulers and Leaders and follow them which way they please But we should be ready always to give an answer to every Man that asketh us a Reason of our Faith 1 Pet. 3.15 And can we give a Reason of our Faith without using our Reason And how oft doth the Lord reason with Men about Matters of Religion See Isa 46. from ver 5. to ver 9. Then would he not have Men use their Reason here Yea how does he upbraid Men that they used their Reason no better that they did not shew themselves Men See Isa 44.19 Chap. 27.11 It is a People of no understanding And it is plain the Scriptures that are a Rule for our Faith and Practice could not be rightly applied and made use of without putting forth our Reason Mat. 22.29 31 32. Where Christ telleth the Sadducees that denied the Resurrection Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures No Man could discover the Resurrection of the Dead in that Scripture brought for it without the use and exercise of Reason And farther We must have Reason to convince those who as yet believe not the Divine Original and Authority of the Scriptures How else should Heathens Infidels be convinced and converted Would we have them change their Way and Opinions without seeing any Reason for it And while Hereticks and Men of unsound Minds abuse their Reason setting it against the Truth should not we use and improve our Reason in defence of the Truth Can we 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 confute Gain-sayers without using our Reason And the Apostle would have Christians not as Children but Men in understanding 1 Cor. 14.20 And that is a weighty passage which some have laid down who have written to good