Selected quad for the lemma: work_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
work_n	abraham_n	apostle_n	justify_v	8,240	5	8.5625	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30609	The saints treasury being sundry sermons preached in London / by the late reverend and painfull minister of the gospel, Jeremiah Burroughes.	Burroughs, Jeremiah, 1599-1646.	1654 (1654)	Wing B6114; ESTC R23885	118,308	158

as parly with them about any termes of peace and that God for one sin in Adam should condemne all mankinde you all grant this in the general yea further that God the Father should deal so with his own Son the Son of his love as to make him a curse for man and should lay the weight of his wrath upon him so as to make him sweat drops of bloud and to cry out My God my God why hast thou for saken me if you had never heard of such a thing this would seem as hard as any thing we have spoken of Now before we come to speak of the other let that which hath been said teach us that surely then all men in their natural condition are in a hard case as the Israelites when the bondage they were in under Pharoah encreased upon them the Text sayes they saw themselves in an evil case O that upon the hearing of these things you would learne to see what you are out of Christ that you would see your selves in an evil case in a sad and dangerous condition Secondly if this be the case that every soul naturally is under such a bondage to the law then the saving of a soul is a great and a mighty work yea such a work that God must make heaven and earth to move to save a soul and to deliver it from the bondage of sin the reason why people doe so slight this great work of salvation and mediation by Christ is because they know not their bondage Vnderstand but this bondage aright what it is to be under the law I have not told you all this while of the condemnation of the law or the curse of the law I have onely set out to you the bondage of the rigour of the law and by this you will see it is a great work to save a soul Thirdly you may see by this how that vaine plea of carnal hearts comes to nothing what will you trust now to your good meanings good desires and good intentions and you will mourne and grieve because you are no better and you will doe what you can for God t is true these are good things but are these the things you rest in for standing before God if they be certainly you know not the termes you stand in to God nor what your bondage is Fourthly if God reveales himself to a man only by the law it is impossible but the soul of that man must flye off from him and look upon God and his law as enemies to him unlesse it were revealed together with the Gospel Which is that I am now to tell you of even that liberty we have by the Gospel Therefore then for the liberty of the Gospel it is a precious liberty wherein the treasury of the mystery of grace is laid up it is the onely ground of support to our souls and Saint Paul that was the great instrument of God in opening the doctrine of the liberty of the Gospel sets it down in all his Epistles and in many places elegantly and in one Text wherein is some difficulty In Gal. 4. from verse 21 and so forward Tell me ye that desire to be under the law doe ye not heare the law for it is written that Abraham had two sons the one by a bond-maid the other by a free woman but he who was of the bond-woman was borne after the flesh but be of the free-woman was by promise which things are an allegory for these are the two covenants the one from the mount Sinai which gendereth to bondage which is Agar for this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia and answereth to Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children but Jerusalem which is above is free which is the mother of us all for it is written rejoyce thou barren that bearest not breake forth and cry thou that travellest not for the desolate hath many more children then she which hath an husband The Text seemes at the reading of it to be somewhat obscure and yet doth most excellently set out this doctrine I am now upon of bondage under the law and liberty under the Gospel the allegory you see is from the two sons Abraham had one Son by a bond-maid another by a free woman It is an allegory sayes the Apostle and it signifies the two covenants the covenant of workes and the covenant of grace the covenant of workes that was from mount Sinai there was the law revealed which is Agar for this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia I remember Luther sayes that Agar in the Arabian tongue is as much as mount Sinai they call it so in the Arabian tongue and so the Apostle alludes to it therefore the law that is of Agar that tends onely to bondage Agars posterity were Gentiles and in bondage and were not to have the priviledge of the Sons of the free woman therefore all those that have to deal with God in the covenant of workes are bond-men and are not to have the priviledge of the children of the free woman of the children of God Well This Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia and answereth to Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her childron he sets out the estate of the Church of the Jewes the Jerusalem that now is to be an estate of bondage in comparison of the Church of the Gospel because they had so little knowledge of the Gospel but were in bondage unto the law and knew little else but the law But Jerusalem which is above that is the state of the Church under the new Testament is above in regard of the Gospel which is free and is the mother of us all the Church of God under the Gospel is the Jerusalem which is above but now it is written rejoyce thou barren that bearest not break forth and cry thou that travellest not for the desolate hath many more children then she which hath an husband That is those that acknowledge the doctrine of the liberty of the Gospel at first are but as desolate as the barren woman before it be revealed as Sarah was barren for a while but afterward she had a childe so the doctrine of the liberty of the Gospel is but as a barren thing for a while till people are acquainted with it and we that are Ministers of the Gospel it is our worke to beget children to Christ If we should be legall and preach onely the law we should beget children to bondage to Agar but this is our chiefe work to beget children to the free woman to beget children to the free grace of God in Christ And O that I could beget one childe to this free woman I cannot think but that there may be many here that are children of Agar that it may be have had terrours and feares in their consciences and yet are but children of the bond-woman still Now it is the Gospell that proclaimes the Trumpet of Jubile to those that are under bondage therefore

Father his infinite merits to plead with him for supply of all grace and mercy to us and thus he comes to be an infinite way of conveyance of good to the souls of his people and so to be all and in all to them both here and eternally that is the third particular how Christ comes to be the way of conveyance But now the fourth and that is to instance in some speciall things we have from God and to manifest that Christ is all in all in those things As now first in the point of justification and the pardon of our sinnes the acceptation of us as righteous that is the great thing we stand in need of from God Christ is all in all to us here this is the tenour of the Gospell Rom. 3. 24. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ Luther hath this expression concerning justification sayes he in the point of justification there Christ and faith must be onely put together they must be alone and nothing else with them but in our conversation there indeed comes in good workes just as it is between the bridegroom and the bride the bridegroom and the bride are alone in the bride chamber but when they goe abroad there they have their traine and servants attending them so he compares justification to the bride chamber none but Christ and faith must be there but when they come abroad in their conversation then all other graces attend them and good workes come in but Christ is all in all here First It is not all we have done no nor all that we can possibly doe that can be our justification You will say true we have for the present done but little I but suppose any of you should doe your utmost in any particular that God requires you will say I hope if I doe what I can God will accept it of me no you mistake exceedingly if you thinke so people are very apt to look upon God as if the termes between God and them were no other then thus God he is a pittifull and a mercifull God and 't is true we are weak and can doe but little but yet doing what we are able God he will accept the will for the deed no God accepts not the will for the deed in point of justification It is true in those that are already justified God in the performance of duty accepts the will for the deed so as to take delight in them but in point of justification as to pardon of sinne and acceptation to righteousnesse there he must have perfect obedience and though we endeavour never so much yet unlesse we can bring God a perfect righteousnesse we are undone for ever yea woe to Abraham and woe to Isaac and woe to Jacob and woe to David and Daniel and to all the Prophets and Apostles notwithstanding all their righteousnesse if they had not had a righteousnesse beyond what was in themselves If they had not had a perfect righteousnesse to tender to their Father they had been utterly lost for ever therefore it is not for thee to rest upon this that thou doest what thou canst and hast good wishes and desires and the like for were all the righteousnesse of all the righteous men that ever were in the world in one man it would not be sufficient for his justification I but it may be you will say true I can doe but little of my self but if God enable me then he will accept of me Nay further it is not what God enables thee to doe that can be the formallity of thy justification such are the termes between God and thee that there is nothing thou canst doe of thy self or canst be enabled to doe that is accepted of him for thy righteousnesse to eternall life But it may be said it is true though God should enable me yet there may be imperfections but God is mercifull and will passe them by therefore I adde another consideration that it is not onely what thou canst do or canst be enabled to doe but 't is not Gods mercy added if barely considered as the mercy of God as a creator to his creature and not under this consideration through Christ and accepting a righteousnesse beyond thy own that can eke out thy justification This is a great mistake many think that that which they have in themselves and what they are able to doe is but little but when they have done something if God will come then and adde his mercy to it that they think will eke it out no it is not that and mercy together that is thy justification I say mercy out of this notion we are speaking of And that you may understand it yet more clearly consider it thus the work of Gods mercy in justification it is not of this use that it should be our justification or should eke out what we are wanting in for our justification but the work of Gods mercy in justifying a soul is to take him off from himselfe to unbottome him and to make him see and be sensible of his own unrighteousnesse and uncleanesse this is a great and mighty work of Gods mercy I remember Luther sayes of himselfe that while he was a Papist he was not obedient out of worldly respects for a livelyhood and the like but he did what he did out of conscience and yet sayes he afterward after he knew God in Christ That which I counted gain was losse unto me He did not think it enough to do what he did out of conscience and that Gods mercy should make up the rest no he was taken off of that way 'T is not the work of mercy to do this but to discover to the soul a righteousnesse of a higher nature even of the mediator God and man and to enable the soul by faith to tender up that righteousnesse to God the father for satisfaction this is the worke of Gods mercy in point of justification The mistake of the way of Gods mercy having an influence into our justification is a very dangerous mistake and we had need be very wary in this great point of justification for all depends upon it I remember Luther in this sayes he it is an easie matter to say we close with Gods grace and the righteousnesse of Christ alone in the point of justification till the soul be brought to a conflict and then 't is the hardest thing in the world to doe it and the people of God have found it so in the time of trouble of conscience that 's the first that Christ is all in all in point of justification Secondly he is all in all in point of adoption so sayes the Scripture Gal. 3. 26. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus and Chapter 4. v. 4. 5. But when the fulnesse of the time was come God sent forth his Son made of a woman made under the law to redeem them that were under the