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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
work_n	apostle_n	grace_n	justification_n	6,159	5	8.9380	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A44093	A short examination of A Discourse concerning edification, by Dr. Hascard where it is inquired, how well the author of the said discourse hath proved that it is not lawful for a man to go from his parish church to meetings, that he might be better edifie [sic] / in a letter to a friend.	Hody, Humphrey, 1659-1707.	1700 (1700)	Wing H2345; ESTC R29483	16,353	30

Or because she is fully constituted for Devotion c. There is nothing less true Do they Separate so as they will have no Communion with any of the Ministers of the Church of England in Praying or Hearing c Neither is any thing of that true as to Multitudes of 〈◊〉 But the Communion required Is a Communion with the Parish Minister in all Ordinances if they will not they are counted Schismaticks and Fanaticks So that admit all he saith to be true as to the sirst Head yet if every Parish Minister doth not Pray Preach administer Sacraments manage his Pastoral Charge c. to the best Edification his Argument holds no more than if one should argue that because a Carpenter lives in a Parish hath admirable Timber laid by him therefore I am bound to use him and no other to build my House whether he knows how to use it yea or no yea though I plainly see he doth not 2. Again Sir they that know any thing of Souls know that though they be equal as to their Faculties yet they are not so as to their improved Capacities and Abilities one Minister may be the fittest to improve me in Knowledge Faith Love c. that is the most unfit Man in the World to improve another the Apostle hath taught us that some need Milk others strong Meat A Learned Man may be the fittest to improve another Mans Soul in Knowledge which by the way is the Foundation of Faith Love Obedience orderly Zeal who is as Learned as himself that may be the most unfit to improve a poor Countrey Mans Soul that cannot apprehend his Depth of Reasoning nor his Latinized Stile ●or his Concealed Method nor is able to carry away Three Lines of his Discourse So as this Author hath a very hard Task to prove viz. That every Parish Minister obeyeth the commands of the Church and doeth a● things in Prayer Preaching c. to the Edification of all the Parishioners But Sir I shall not prejud●●e him this is only to tell you what we must expect from the Author 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to prove his great Undertaking this being Premise● let me now go back to his Third and Fourth Page 1. I said Sir before that we own all the Doctrines of Faith contained in our Creed and Thirty Nine Articles we grant them Short and Plain but that they are so fully explained that nothing can be done further to make them intelligible to the meanest Souls I cannot say if you look Sir into the Systeme of Confessions you will scarce find any so short as ours is The People had need have a very able and painful Minister that shall improve sufficiently in Knowledge by them 2. We like very well Sir of what our Church determineth as to Good Works in the Eleventh and Twelfth and Thirteenth of Her Articles of the Thirty Nine in these Words ART 11. We are accounted Righteous before God only for the Merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith and not for our own Works and Deservings Wherefore that we are justified by Faith only is a most wholesome Doctrine and very full of Comfort as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification ART 12. Albeit good Works which are the Fruits of Faith cannot put away our Sins and indure the Severity of Gods Judgments yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ and do spring out necessarily of a true lively Faith insomuch that by them a lively Faith may be as evidently known as a Tree discerned by the Fruit. ART 13. Works done before the Grace of Christ and the Inspiration of his Spirit are not pleasant to God for as much as they spring not of Faith in Jesus Christ neither do they make Men meet to receive Grace or as the School-Authors say deserve Grace of Congruity Yea rather for that they are not done as God willed and commanded them to be done we doubt not but they have the Nature of Sin Sir I think it not worth my Time to examine how well what the Author saith p. 4 5 6. agrees with this here is not a word of Vertue but the Grace of Christ and the Inspiration of the Spirit and what makes some Men so fond to change the old Term of Grace into the newer Term of Vertue hardly Four Times mention'd by the Apostles I cannot tell unless it be to let us know they mean no other Things by good Works but such Things as may be done by common Graces In the Articles is not a Word of Good Works being the Soul of our Faith the Articles say they are only the Daughters and inseparable Fruit of our Faith and calls none Good done before the Grace of Christ and Inspiration of the Spirit But Sir we do agree that our Articles speak our Hearts as to good Works and we hope we may withdraw from such as teach otherwise than these Articles and yet hold Communion with the Church of England because such Sons have themselves no Communion with Her in that Matter 3. Neither do we say but that our Church is constituted fitly enough to excite Devotion Nor shall I say here any Thing about Her Order and Discipline because all that is said under this Head signifies nothing if the Second Thing be not made Good viz. That this Constitution is used and managed in the best way by the Pastors of our Church to edifie the Souls of Men. For Sir you will easily understand that the building of a Soul in Knowledge Faith Love Zeal doth not so much depend upon the Articles of a Church its Rubricks or Rules for Worship and Canons as the Gifts which God hath given his Ministers by which they press the Doctrines of Faith and Rules of Holy Life contained in the Scripture and pour out Prayers for People suited to all their Necessities their diligent and constant Practice in instructing People and their putting in Execution such Rules as are given for the ordering of People in their Church S●●●eties neither will what the Author saith p 11. make good his Proposition That there are strict Commands under great Penalties laid upon the Pastors of our Church to do this What of all this So that all lies upon his Second Particular p. 11. That all these Commands are obeyed by the Pastors of our Church and they do all Things to such Edification he should have added what was in his Proposition p. 2. That there is no better in the Separate Meetings than in the Communion of the Church of England So that Sir if you observe he must prove 1. That every Parish Minister preacheth as diligently and profitably for the generality of his Hearers Improvement in the Knowledge of God in Faith Love Holiness Zeal c. as the Ministers do in their Meetings Or else Sir he concludes no more than this That it is not lawful for meer Edification-sake for any Parishioners to Separate from the Communion with his Parish Minister if he

doth Preach as soundly intelligibly and profitably for Peoples remembrance in Order to their Knowledge Faith Love Holiness Zeal as Ministers do in Private Meetings Indeed Sir I am of his Mind for I am for a nearness of Members of the same Church in Cohabitation where it can be without a Prejudice to Edification but if Christians cannot ordinarily communicate in all Ordinances with their Parish Ministers and be equally instructed in the Truths of God or Hear what they understand or in such Methods as they can remember or so confirm'd in Scripture that they can search the Scriptures and find that Truth which they say or cannot hear the whole Counsel of God or be warmly pressed by Arguments to a truly holy Life in all Conversation as they can at another Meeting I think it is worth their while and no Sin against God to go where they may The saving and edifying Souls is of more Consequence than keeping the Limits of Parishes Now as to this Sir It is matter of Demonstration that every one must judge for himself for who preacheth most profitably for one must be determined of by him who knows the Capacity of the Hearer which I am sure none doth but himself we need not judge of the Learning and Abilities of any Person For he that preacheth most learnedly usually preacheth least to the Capacity of three Parts of his Hearers and to a Learned Auditory the plain Preacher preacheth most unprofitably as to his Improvement in Knowledge I remember Sir a Story out of Chrysostome who tells us that he heard a Christian and an Heathen disputing ridiculously The Matter in debate was whether Paul or Plato was the best Schollar The Christian maintain'd Paul was the Heathen maintained Plato was Thus saith Chrysostom The Christian stood to prove what was the Pagans Part and the Pagan undertook to prove the Christians Part For the Christian might have said if Plato were the best Schollar it is no wonder he had more Disciples then Paul and the Heathen might have said if Paul were so much the best Schollar it is no wonder he made the Gospel abound so far The Excellency of a Preacher or his fitness to edifie Souls is not to be determined from his Learning but from his Pains and Diligence and Eye to the End of his Work as to those People or the generality of them to whom he preacheth and his wise accommodating Means fit for his End This requireth the Knowledge of the Circumstances of the generality of his Auditory and none but the particular Person can judge of him who preacheth most to his particular Edification plain Scriptural practical Preaching is undoubtedly for most general Edification because Nine Parts of Ten of the most Auditories are unlearned and understand not rational Deductions unless made easie nor Scholastical Niceties or Criticisms and for those few that can they are more edified by them in their Head than in their Heart but he that preacheth solidly plainly scripturally and practically may edifie the best Hearers in their Faith Love and Obedience and Zeal which is the best Edification for Men may have a great deal of Notion and yet perish eternally Sir That there is generally in our Parish-Churches more solid plain scriptural and practical Preaching fitted for the Capacity and Remembrance of the generality of Men and Women that come to hear than there is in the Nonconformists Meetings will not easily be allowed by any that commonly heareth both Let Sir Men be never so learned if in popular Discourses where they are speaking to Five hundred Men will speak to Five that is to the Understanding of a very few I do not believe but the rest may go away and hear such as they understand better and remember what they say But there need no more words in this Case it is most apparent that he must know another very well that can know what Discourse will edifie him best and that no Body can possibly understand or judge that but himself so as this Argument is at its length Sir he cometh p. 13. to what he calls his Second Argument to prove this Proposition p. 2. That it is unlawsul for any Men to forsake the Communion of the Church of England and go to the separate Meetings because he can better edifie there Because that those who usually make this pretence for Separation do commonly mistake better Edification This is Sir a way of Reasoning which I cannot understand I cannot imagine how any Person should ever be able to prove that a Man may not go to another Church that he may better edifie Because some or many mistake the nature of Edification doth it follow Sir that because some mistake it therefore none knoweth it or none can know it or none that truly know the Nature of it may pursue it But really Sir the Author of that Discourse seemeth to know it so well that I think we may all take his own Notion of it and agree with him p. 2. That it is an improvement of our spiritual Condition in its full latitude Let us build a little Sir upon so good a Foundation The Edification of a Soul Sir is as a noble so a very large Building and comprehends an increase in Faith Love Obedience to the Will of God with an increase in holy Affections c. The Foundation of this large Building must be Knowledge a knowledge of the Will of God revealed in Scripture both as to things to be believed and to be done Hence the wise Man Prov. 19. 2. tells us That the Soul should be without knowledge is not good The Apostle saith Rom. 20. 14. How shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard And Col. 3. 10. he tells us The new Man is renewed in knowledge And 1 Col. 9. the Apostle prayeth That Men may be filled with the knowledge of the Will of God in all Wisdom and spiritual Understanding And this to that end that they may walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God And we are commanded in 2 Pet. 3. 18. to grow in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. How Sir Men should mistake an increase in knowledge which is the first Stone in this Spiritual Building for an healing of Fancy and a stirring of Humours I leave to you Sir to judge It is as bad a Mistake as that of an Apple for an Oyster In his thirteenth Page he seemeth to think that the Duty of keeping an ordinary Communion with the Parish-Minister for that or nothing he must mean by his Phrase of our Church-Communion is a plainer and greater Duty than attending our Edification because he thinks that is disputable doubtful c. Of this Sir I hope he shall never perswade me nor you until he hath perswaded us that it is better for