Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	world_n	worship_n	worship_v	1,037	4	8.6505	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33212	Eleven sermons preached upon several occasions and a paraphrase and notes upon the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth chapters of St. John : with a discourse of church-unity ... / by William Clagett.	Clagett, William, 1646-1688.	1699 (1699)	Wing C4386; ESTC R24832	142,011	306

according to the Gospel for their common Prayers and Worship for celebrating the Holy Communion and for doing all those things in which the outward profession of true Christianity stands that they laid down their lives and have been tormented many of them not accepting deliverance and therefore our Saviour who here says Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter c. hath also said Whosoever shall confess me before men him shall the son of man also confess before the angels of God But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God Luke 12.8 9. So that although confessing Christ be not of it self enough for salvation yet it is always necessary to it and sometimes it is of that force that one may conclude nothing else is wanting and that is when we confess with great hazard to our selves in this World But one reason why 't is sometimes so exceedingly praise-worthy and signifies all other necessary qualities is because it is always a duty for if it were in it self but indifferent and might be omitted without breach of our duty to God it were a foolish thing not to omit it when our own safety and welfare in this World required us to forbear In a word Confession with the mouth assembling our selves together for Prayer Baptism and the celebration of the Holy Communion and every other part of outward Religion in which the profession of Christianity stands are all of them required in the Scriptures which we are not to wonder at since it is evident that the Honour of God that Charity to men and the Interest and maintenance of Christianity do require it also 1. The Honour of God doth plainly require it for if it be fit and necessary that God should be honoured by us i. e. confessed praised and prayed unto who doth not see that all this ought to be done not only in private singly but in publick jointly unless one should think that we have Reason and Speech given to us for transacting common Affairs of the least moment and not of the greatest viz. those which concern our dependance upon God and our subjection to him Hence it is that David in the Psalms called his Tongue his glory because he did therewith praise and confess and glorify God amongst men And in the New Testament we are not only exhorted to glorify God with our Mind but with our Mouth too Nor can any thing be more plain at first fight than that without this it is impossible that God should be honoured as it is most fit he should be in the Societies of Mankind And 2. The outward profession of Religion is no less requisite to the good of the World to which we in charity are to contribute what we can For there is nothing more necessary for the common welfare of Mankind than a sense of God and Religion which although it has its foundation in our very Natures yet as many other natural Inclinations may be strangely weakned and in danger to be lost if it be not supported by use and exercise and what is there more necessary for the maintaining of a common sense of Religion than a common profession of it And therefore in a matter of so great moment as this is every man ought to be an Example to his Neighbour and all men should encourage and animate one another Nor can any one single person withdraw from the profession of Religion but in so doing he grows an enemy to Mankind and as much as in him lies he teaches others to be so too But then 3. Above all The interest and maintenance of Christianity requires a publick profession of it For Christianity doth not only consist in the belief of such and such Doctrines but in meeting together also for the Worship of God according to them which is the most comprehensive instance of outward profession for when our Lord instituted a Church and his Apostles did afterward gather men to it nothing could be more plain than that he made a profession of his Doctrine and the outward Service of God according to his Gospel a part of Christianity for without this it is impossible that Believers should be a Body or a Society as they are And therefore that man that lives without Christian Communion or which is all one without Christian Profession cannot rightly be called a Christian but hath rather renounced his Baptism by declaring in effect that although he was admitted by Baptism into the Body of Christ's Church yet now he will have nothing to do with it But if the secret belief of the Doctrine of Christ without any appearance of Profession of it were enough to make a man a Christian as I think it is not yet such a person would deserve very ill of Christianity to conceal his belief for it is by our profession of it that it must be upheld in the World and propagated amongst those that do not yet receive it and he that dissembles his Faith doth therefore his part and gives his consent that the True Religion should fail from among the Children of men And there is no doubt but that amongst other Reasons the Gospel requires that Believers should profess their Faith and be a visible Communion of Worshippers that so the Doctrine and worship of the Gospel might be upheld and maintained in the World The truth is there is that wickedness amongst men that so holy a Doctrine as that of our Saviour's will not be readily entertained and there is that folly and superstition every-where that so reasonable and excellent a Worship as that which the Gospel prescribes is not apt to take with most people and for this reason Error and Superstition are things that men will run into of themselves When therefore our Lord brought into the World the knowledge of Divine Truth and of the way how God would be worshipped and served he did therefore make his Disciples a Society of men professing the way of Truth and Purity that his Doctrine might spread in the World and keep all the ground it should gain by every man's making profession of the common Faith For which reason Origen thought that when Our Saviour said Vpon this rock will I build my Church he meant by the rock every Christian that should do as St. Peter had done i. e. who should make open confession of that Truth which St. Peter confessed because the Profession of every Christian did something to support the Interest of the Gospel in the World A great many more things might be said to this purpose to shew that what is meant here by saying unto Christ Lord Lord i. e. an outward profession of true Christianity is so far from being an indifferent thing that it is a most necessary duty standing upon plain Commands and plain Reasons nay so necessary that without it we cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven no though it should bring never so much trouble upon us in this World

untoward accidents of Life as any of them ever were For here is the same Reason Encouragement and Assistance to do what God requires and to be happy therein as there ever was And why should not the same causes still produce the same effects For on the one side those holy Men and Women that are now with God had the same Appetites and Passions to govern that we have they endured the same Temptations and overcome them they had the same natural sence of good and evil that we have and were encompassed with infirmities and yet they walked by Faith and performed their Duty to God not to be admired and courted by men but to be seen and rewarded of God On the other side we have the same God to trust that they had the same holy Word of God to direct us the same Promises to inflame us the same holy Spirit to assist us the same Everlasting Reward to encourage us which they had So that God hath made no difference between them and us And let not us I beseech you make so great a difference between our selves and them as to miss of that peace and satisfaction which they once enjoyed in this World and of that infinite Reward which they have in part attained to in a better A Reward so vast that 't is all one within a trifle whether with or without Tribulation whether with ease or difficulty with pleasure or pain we enter into the Kingdom of Heaven For which God of his Infinite Mercy prepare us by his his holy Word by his gracious Spirit by his wise Providence through our Lord Jesus Christ And now to God Almighty the Father Son and Holy Ghost be ascribed all Thanks and Praise for ever and ever Amen The Eight Sermon AN Assize Sermon MATTH V. 38 39 40. Ye have heard that it hath been said An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth But I say unto you That ye resist not evil but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek turn to him the other also And if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat let him have thy cloak also And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile go with him twain I Am very sensible that the Duty here prescribed is so contrary to the Lusts and Passions of men and to some Principles of Honour and Wisdom which are currant in the World that it will be no very easy matter to persuade most men to practice it We are beholding to them if they will allow it to be a speculation fit for the Pulpit but if we pretend to offer it as a Rule for daily use we must pardon them there for it does not seem by any means to be accommodated to the state of Mankind and 't is pursued without any respect to or regard of the daily Occurrences of life What living would there be for us in the World if we should forgive Injuries and Wrongs as fast as they are done and put up Affronts as often as they are put upon us This would incourage the insolent man that hath done us one injury to offer a greater and by our tameness in bearing the injustice of one man we invite another to deal as ill by us or worse than the former which is the way to be affronted by every Scoundrel and trampled upon at every man's pleasure No but let us make men afraid of presuming to do us any harm by letting them see what others have gotten by it we must make them Examples that dare put any contempt upon us if we would live quietly and maintain our Honour and when others sees how dangerous a thing it is to provoke us we shall be respected and courted by them they will be afraid to offend us and think themselves happy in our friendship But to sit down quietly under Abuses is the way to be scorned and insulted over by every body Tell them of forgiving Injuries that want a Spirit to resent them and have not Courage enough to revenge them this is a Principle fit for none but Cowards or Fools either for those that are so dull as not to understand an Affront or so fearful that they dare not return it but it comes too late for men of Honour and Mettle that know what is their Interest and are able to defend it And there is no reason in the world why they should expose themselves to Injuries and Abuses when they have Strength and Courage enough to guard themselves from them Thus in truth they say in their hearts as they plainly shew by their Actions revenging every little Disrespect or Affront or Injury of any kind by returning an equal or very often a vastly greater mischief upon the wrong-doer and this to secure themselves as they pretend from further wrongs by making all that observe it careful to forbear offending them in like manner as they would be encouraged to do if the present Injury were tamely past by and nothing done to revenge it But in the first place This Objection was well foreseen by our Saviour he knew it would be pretended against the Duty of forgiving Injuries that this would be to pull great inconveniencies upon our selves and invite every body that had any thing to get by it to multiply Injuries against us And therefore he prescribed the Rules of Forgiveness in those very terms that imply he considered the Objection well enough But I say unto you resist not evil resist not the evil or the injurious man but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek turn to him the other also The latter words are not to be taken in a literal sense as if I were to offer my self to a second stroke after I had been struck once But in a moral sense i. e. venture a second injury rather than go about to be revenged of the first though it should be never so probable that the wrong-doer would take heart by thy meekness to add another abuse to the former thou shalt not secure thy self by revenge for all that And so if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat let him have thy cloak also Not that I am presently to part with more to him than he has unjustly gotten by a wrong Verdict but that I am to venture another loss rather than be reveng'd for the first And so is the other instance to be understood From whence it is plain that our Blessed Saviour was not unmindful of the Objection that one would be apt to make against his Rule though if this matter had not been so plainly implied one would think a little modesty would serve to acknowledge that God is wiser than man and it is better for us to be governed by his Will than by our own foolish Reasonings at least if we would be thought to be Christians we should not think much to take the Authority of Our Lord and Master for a sufficient Reason to do as he

that saith unto me Lord Lord c. Nay 2. Notwithstanding this and the like forewarnings yet men have and do in this manner delude themselves inasmuch as our Saviour upon this occasion told his Disciples before hand Many shall say unto me in that day Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works which certainly was spoken of those Workers of Iniquity that lived in the early days of the Church whilst Mirales were yet continued in it And this was a terrible instance of the proneness of men to fall into this kind of presumption That some of them who did not only hear but preach the Gospel of Christ who did not only see but do Miracles in the name of Christ should yet be workers of iniquity that they who had faith to cast out devils out of others should not have faith enough to dispossess themselves of their vile Lusts and to cleanse their own hearts and ways But when Honour and Power and Wealth became the Rewards of professing Christianity the instances of this folly and madness grew still more numerous and more open and men more easily passed for Christians than in former times though they were as lustful and revengeful as vain and insolent and altogether as worldly and vicious as other men they then came into the Church with more ease and were turned out of it with more difficulty and they continued in it under a Discipline less severe than in former times and no wonder then that upon the encrease of Bad Examples there were still more and more who looked for Salvation by the Name of Christ that had little or nothing of his Spirit and were themselves Christians in nothing else but in name and profession And now let us consider 2dly How it comes to pass that men can thus deceive themselves as to rest upon so false a foundation of hope and comfort as a mere profession of the Name and Religion of Christ without being such persons in life and soul as their profession requires Now 1. The first and most general cause is this That men are willing to be thus deceived and no man is in greater danger of falling into a mistake how pernicious soever it be than he that has a mind to believe it no mistake Our Saviour in this Sermon whereof the Text is a part speaks against causeless Anger and an adulterous Eye and a revengeful Spirit and Vain-glory and Worldly sollicitude and a great many other things which are often as hard to reform as it would be to cut off a right hand and to pull out a right eye especially where a corrupt Inclination is confirmed by custom in sin This is indeed the principal cause why men will conceit any thing though it be never so foolish rather than they will feel an indispensible obligation to repent and reform their wicked ways 'T is true when a man has had some experience of it the practice of Religion in all his conversation becomes the joy of his life and he finds more pleasure in a constant course of piety towards God of justice and mercy towards men of a sober and temperate use of the good things of this life than can possibly be had in the ways of sin but whilst one is under the power and lust of Passion his indulgence to his own Appetite is like drink to a man in a Feaver who till he recovers his health knows no other pleasure nor is there a greater torment to him than to be denied it Now they are those Rules of Christianity which concern the government of our Affections and Passions our Manners and Practices in the general course of our conversation that are directly contrary to those corrupt Inclinations of Mankind whereas the obligation to profess a Religion and to worship God amongst those that do so doth not of it self thwart them otherways than it brings the other part of Religion to mind which is to act accordingly in all our conversation And therefore men would fain believe that their care in one part shall supply the defects in the other that is That saying Lord Lord shall stand them in good stead although they do not the will of our heavenly Father To this we may add 2. That there is as great a difficulty on the other side to throw off all fear of God and all concern for a Life to come as there is to come up throughly to that which Religion requires And we have infinite reason to bless God for this difficulty i. e. that he hath made it I will not only say as difficult but more difficult for us to become mere Atheists and Infidels than even bad men have made it to become true and sincere Christians For he hath left those natural impressions of his own Being upon our hearts and hath given such evidence to the World of the truth of the Gospel of his Son that it must needs be an hard thing for us to grow downright Atheists or even Unbelievers and for the most part do what we can we are held under the sense and awe of Religion and if we will make an evil course of life easy to our selves it must not be done by throwing off all pretence to Religion for then we should be self-condemned without any relief and have nothing at all to trust to but it must be done by putting some cheat upon our selves consistent with the profession of Religion that is by flattering our selves that a diligent profession of it will serve the turn and they are these two things taken together viz. the unwillingness of men to leave their sins on the one side and the unavoidable apprehensions of God and a Life to come and a general conviction of the truth of Christianity on the other that have not only made many Persons take up this false way of comforting themselves but have also made them easy to receive divers Errors which help to support this to expect spiritual relief from things blest by man without any appointment from God and to place Religion in things which have neither reason of their own nor Divine Authority to make them valuable Certainly if it were either easy for Mankind to throw off all pretence to Religion on the one hand or if they could easily be persuaded to break off their sins by repentance on the other it had been a much harder thing to corrupt Religion than Experience has shewn it to be But so long as there will be Conscience and a sense of God and an apprehension of a life to come as there will be while the World endures and so long as there will be lust and passion vice and wickedness more or less amongst men so long also they will be very desirous to believe those Doctrines that promise security without an effectual reformation And in the company of more mistakes tending to the same comfort it will be a very hard matter