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B02273 An additional word to The body of divinity, or Confession of faith; being the substance of Christianity. Added on special occasion, tending further to confirm some truths therein. With a further discourse about the doctrine of election, universal, and special grace, &c. All which were touched in the said Confession of faith, but in this more plainy and fully (though briefly) discoursed and designed for the good of all. Whereunto is annexed a seasonable word of advice, being an essay for peace and union among all the sons and daughters of peace. / Written by Thomas Collier. Collier, Thomas, fl. 1691.; Collier, Thomas, fl. 1691. Body of divinity. 1676 (1676) Wing C5267AB; ESTC R174082 85,720 108

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are a shadow of things to-come but the Body is of Christ that is He is the Substance of these Things and we are to have it in Him Here like-wise it will be said That the Apostle intends the other Jewish-Sabbaths not that of the Seventh-Day to which I say 1. That it seems strange for the Apostle to speak thus at large yet designe to keep up the Sabbath-Day 2. It clearly appears That all the other Sabbaths are included in that of an Holy-Day and the New-Moon For in these the Apostle gathers in all the Jewish-Observations both of Meat and Drink and Dayes and by Sabbath-Dayes or Sabbaths intends alone the Seventh-Day Sabbath and this appears 1. New-Moons were a distinct Service to be performed constantly Num. 28. 11. 10. 10. Holy-Dayes were other Feasts commonly called Holy-Convocations Lev. 23. 4. through-out and some of them were sometimes called Sabbaths like-wise But for the Seventh-Day Sabbaths they were commonly called Sabbaths and Sabbath-Dayes in the Old-Testament as they are in the Text Col. 2. 16. So Exod. 31. 13 14. Lev. 19. 3 30. and 23. 38. 1 Chron. 28. 1. with multitudes moe to the same Effect But in the last it distinguisheth as the Apostle in the Text Sabbaths New-Moons set Feasts The Apostle saith Holy-Daies New-Moons Sabbaths By all which it appears that by Sabbath-Dayes is intended the Seventh-Dayes Sabbaths and Heb. 4. 3. For we which have Believed do enter into Rest that is into Sabbath 7thly And after all this Having given so many Hints of Liberty about it and of its Cessation and so to leave it and not any further to open his Mind about it to let us know that notwithstanding he thus spake yet he intended that the Seventh-Day should be kept as a Sabbath still I say Can we imagine that both Christ and the Apostle should leave us thus in the Dark in this so weighty a Matter if still to be continued That which was so plainly Stated so often Repeated and Inculcated in the Old-Testament when in force and nothing at all in the New but so much to the contrary if it had been to be observed Surely I cannot I dare not think it 8thly and lastly From the Whole I conclude That we have no ground in the New-Testament to observe the Seventh Day Sabbath and therefore Men have no ground to separate from their Brethren that cannot follow them in this Matter And I hope this will be of use unto them at least to moderate them and to Repent of the Breaches made on this account that if their Faith continue herein they will have it to themselves And as for the Gospel Day of Publick-Worship for the Church I must own the first Day of the Week though not as a Sabbath by Virtue of the Fourth-Command which only requireth the seventh-Seventh-Day but as the gospel-Gospel-Day of Worship it being the Day of our Lord's Resurrection and so the first Visible-ground of Hope for the new restored-Restored-VVorld and from the Grounds ordinarily stated in this Matter and by my self in a small Tract about the Sabbath on which account I shall forbear to speak any further about this CHAP. IV. Treateth of Marriages and whether Church-Members may Marry with such as are not AS touching this matter viz. The Marrying of Church-Members with those that are not so this being made by some a ground of Separation I do acknowledg that it's a desirable thing to keep within the Bounds of the Churches in this matter Or for every Opinion and Profession to Marry with such as are of the same Societies it 's most likely to tend to Peace But to make the contrary a matter of Fact so as to separate Persons from their Societies who fail in this matter or to separate from Churches who see not the Way clear to do the like I see no Scripture-ground For Church-Censures being of high concernment may not be executed but for great and wilful Transgressions being the Breach of some known Law of Christ and willfully persisting therein And all that is or I suppose can be said in this matter seems not to amount to so much And it 's of weighty concernment to do a thing in the Lord's Name without His Authority Tender Consciences dare not do it 1. The Old-Testament-Scriptures stated in this matter seem to come short of a New-Testament-Law and that for these Reasons 1. Because the Church of the Old-Covenant was the Natural Seed Marriage being a matter of Natural and Worldly Concernment though God's Ordinance it was to preserve them from mixing with the Nations in the way of Generation they being accounted the Holy-Seed Ezra 9 2. 2dly and probably Because Christ was to come of the Seed of the Woman which Line was to be in the Church from the first Promise Luk. 3. 23. to 38. Though that Line did admit of mixture sometimes through infinite VVisdom for gracious ends as in the case of Ruth and probably some others yet without Rule though not without the Divine designe therein the Lord did not only herein preserve them from mixing with the Nations but from mixing with the same Tribes in Marriage for politick ends Num. 36. 6 7 8. which probably might be one end of forbidding them Marriage with the Nations But 3dly The special Reason rendred was The Danger of Inconvenience that might follow viz. They might be drawn a way to serve other Gods Deut. 7. 3 4. and so The Anger of the Lord be kindled against them Not simply for so Marrying but for being drawn away thereby to serve other Gods The Lord did bear with it where and when He pleased without Reproof when they were not drawn away thereby Num. 12. 1. 7 8. Act. 16. 1. True it is there is the same danger still of being turned away from the Truth and therefore Christians ought to be very careful herein 2dly Come we to the New-Testament and we have no positive Law stated in this matter The Scriptures urged reach not the case in hand as Luk. 17. 26 27. I verily think it 's a great mistake in those who think that Christ there speaks of unlawful Marriages or of the sins of the last Dayes but rather discovers the state of the World as not expecting His Coming that as a snare it will come upon them when they are not aware And 2. Cor. 6. 14. clearly relates to Fellowship on a Church-account and the Churches Concernment not to mix with Idolaters or false Worshippers in Religious-Worship and nothing at all of Marriages Neither does 1 Cor. 10. 8. Act. 15. 29. Rev. 2 14. at all reach the case in hand only that 1 Cor. 7. 39. seems to have something of this Matter in it The unmarryed Woman being a Widdow is at liberty to be Marryed to whom she will Only in the Lord Yet whether to understand the words Only in the Lord to intend only with a Church-Member is the great Question which some cannot so easily pass over but rather
intend the Baptism of Gifts as one which I dare be bold to say no men on Earth have So that if there be a Baptism among these beginning-Things which no man on Earth hath attained and the end of the Apostles Laying on of Hands was in order to this Baptism and no man can attain it without the Gift of God and yet there is a Church in present being without it So may there be as truly a Church without Laying on of Hands which was in order to it for the Form adds nothing without the Power especially in this case where the Formal Act was used only in way of Power And for Persons to lay on Hands to such an end who have not the Gifts themselves seems altogether Scriptureless and Reasonless And what is said in this Matter of the Judgment of Authors both Antient and Modern proves nothing it being known that the Apostacy was enter'd timely into the Church and hath made so great an alteration and change from the Primitive Rule and Power that although there is something like the Truth yet the true Form and Power of Truth is lost The Lord help His People that in their coming out they bring away none of Babylon's Devices with them which I greatly fear they are too much inclined unto But to conclude this Matter From all these Considerations I must say That I dare not meddle with this having no Authority from the Lord for it I cannot do it in His Name without His Authority lest my Act should be of the same kind as those Act. 19. 13 to 16. These Things have I minded in general not medling with particular Answers to any Man's Arguments for it Not doubting but if what I have said be seriously considered it may set a stop on the Spirits of those who have prosecuted this Practice to Separation from their Brethren and caution others that they be not over rash in rushing into this Extream So that it 's Issue may tend to and effect Peace which is all my Design in this Matter CHAP. III. Treateth on the Seaventh-Day Sabbath OThers make a Breach and Separation about the Seaventh-day Sabbath supposing that to be the Day and the only Day commanded of God for Gospel Rest and Worship and hence make a Breach and Separation from all that are not of their Opinion in this Matter And in what I shall offer to Consideration in this Case I shall not meddle to Answer any Man's particular Grounds for it because it 's not Controversie I design but Healing I shall to this end present some weighty Considerations about this Matter which if well weighed may if not Answer all moderate the spirits of those who are so high in prosecution thereof and caution others of being too forward in rushing thereinto which is my only Design in writeing This. First then I offer This that the Seventh-Day Sabbath was nor is no Moral Precept but an instituted Ordinance of God and so subject to be changed at the Will of the Institutor or have an end as all other meerly instituted Ordinances are I know there are varieties of Opinions about the meaning of the word Moral but that which I intend is in two Things which is enough for the Case in hand 1. If Moral it must be so as the Law of Nature viz. That which Man by Nature with the teaching of the Works of God without any other Revelation or Institution might attain unto Man by Nature with those Helps might and did come to know that there was a God Rom. 1. 19 20 21. And so by the same Light and Law might know that this God must be worshipped that there must be time for that Worship but that this time must be the seventh-Seventh-Day was not written in Nature's Book and therefore in this sense not Moral And that it did not teach the seventh-Seventh-Day Sabbath not only Reason tells us it could not but it 's evident it did not teach any the Knowledge of the Sabbath either good or bad in the World till it was instituted by God and commanded as I shall in its place demonstrate Or 2. It must be Moral as perpetual and that it cannot be For there will be no Keeping of Seventh-Day Sabbaths in Glory but it shall be all one perpetual Sabbath to the Lord Heb. 4. 9. 11. of which the Seventh-Day Sabbath was a Type vers 4 5 6. Col. 2. 16 17. but all the rest of the Precepts are perpetual and our being perfected therein will be our Perfection in Glory relative to Purity Quest If it be not Moral Whence is it that it 's set among the Moral Precepts Answ Because though the Day and Time in it self was not Moral in either of these Senses but Instituted yet there was something in and about it which was Moral and is Perpetual that is the Worship of God that is Moral though as to the manner thereof differing according to the Will of God but the Day and Time was an Institution As like-wise the Rest for Worship and the Rest in Glory prefigured by the Rest of the Sabbath was and is Moral and shall be Perpetual 2. It is very probable that the Seventh Day Sabbath was neither Instituted nor Observed nor known in the World before it was Given by Moses Exod. 16. 23. and 20. 8. The Reasons hereof are 1. Because we find it not mentioned till this time which would be 1. Improbable that such a thing as this if it had been known or practised should never be mentioned till this time in the space of two thousand and five hundred Years the Saints and their VVorshipping-God being so much spoken of during this time It is enough for us to deny where is neither Scripture nor Reason to the contrary 2dly It is uncertain whether it was the Seventh-Day from the Creation that God commanded For it 's plain in the Institution Exod. 16. 5. 22 23. that it was the Seventh-Day numbered from the First-Day that the Manna came down from Heaven VVhether that was the Seventh-Day from the Creation is yet to prove And most evident it is that it was not known to the Jewes before this time which was the first Institution thereof Exod. 16. v. 26. 29. 3dly The Sabbath was Given on no Moral but particular peculiar Grounds though to Moral ends viz. The VVorship of God and may be performed on any Day That the Grounds or Reasons of the Institution were particular and peculiar to that People viz. for Remembrance of what God had done for them and so peculiar to that People only Deut. 5. 15. in which is the Reason of this Institution which like-wise proves that it was not Instituted before It was for Remembrance that they were Servants in the Land of Aegypt and that God brought them forth and gave them Rest from their Bondage in that Land Therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to Keep the Sabbath-Day And Ezek. 20. 12. More-over I gave them my Sabbath to be a Signe
therefore God hath given no Law unto them and hence it is that they do not cannot sin and they who deny any power in man to will and to do the will of God according to his Ministries they render men to be but as Beasts and God as giving Laws to Brutes which would not only be dishonourable but unequal therefore let us be more prudent than to have so dishonourable thoughts of God who will let all men know in the end that in his Ministries he had to do with men capable to understand him and suitably will he judge them in Righteousness Act. 17. 31. Obj God made man upright and he had once a power and will to obey him and lost it by sin therefore he may justly require of him what once he gave him though he cannot perform it Answ 1. God doth not require under any of his Ministrations the exercise of the power that is lost but the power that is yet remaining here lyeth the great mistake in this matter It 's true We are to suppose that Adam had a power in his perfect and sinless Estate to have yielded perfect obedience to his Maker and that he lost and that is not now required But since the Fall that which God requires is sincere obedience under all his Ministries he knew there could be no perfect obedience by reason of debility through corruption of nature but he knew that man might yield sincere obedience in Faith and Love and in that hath promised both assistance and acceptance in his Son see this further cleared in the next Chapter viz. He requireth sincere obedience so that this objection falls and comes to nothing for he accepteth us according to what we have and not according to what we have not and he will judge men at the last day not for or by their lost power in Adam but for their own wilful wickedness and not improving the power they have 2. The design of God in the Gospel being the restauration of the World out of its faln state which design is founded in Grace by Jesus Christ Crucified and raised again And to suppose that God should make known a new design of Grace to men to the World to recover it out of its lost Estate and for that end to lay a new foundation and to send forth his Gospel to call men to partake of the grace and glory thereof on such terms as no man on Earth had power to perform with the common helps afforded is not only inconsistent with reason but must necessarily render his undertaking in this matter successeless and cloud the whole design to most of men 3. It s that which not only tends to frustrate the design of Gospel-grace to the world but it tends to render the design of God in the Gospel to the greatest part of the world to be rather a designed trap and snare than a design of grace to command men to Repent believe and obey the Gospel on peril of damnation the second death on their neglect or disobedience and knew that in no case they could not nor ever intended any such grace unto them in any sense is to have such thoughts of a Holy and Righteous God as are uncomely for sober spirited Christians CHAP. V. Some further Questions and Objections Answered that are or may be made about this matter 1. Object THe Scripture saith that men by Nature are dead in Trespasses and Sins What capacitie then can be in dead men to obey the Gospel Answ 1. Negatively What we are not to understand in this matter 1. We are not to understand that men by Nature are dead as a stock or a stone this is a great mistake in those who thus think and speak as if men were as dead and uncapable to believe and obey the Gospel as a stock or a stone or as men that are naturally dead this is a ridiculous and untrue imagination If you should see a man go to a stone and command him and threaten him and break him to pieces because he does not obey him Would you not think such a man to be besides himself Therefore let us not retain that which tends to reflect so much on the Holy and Infinite Wise and Righteous God 2. Nor are we to understand men to be as dead that is as uncapable to believe and obey the Gospel as the merely sensitive irrational and brutish Creatures For so to understand it tendeth to unman Man and to equal him with the unreasonable Creatures and little less than to un-god the infinitely wise and glorious Beeing Secondly Affirmatively What we are to understand thereby 1. That all men by sin are in a state of death and that natural spiritual and without help eternal 2. And as in that estate are under the sentence of death and must die Heb. 9. 27. Rom. 5. 12. 3. Were and are altogether uncapable to help themselves without a Mediator and at a distance from the helps by God afforded as I shewed in the last Chapter As suppose a man were born blind and deaf such a one being uncapable of any Ministry from without that might tend to reach his understanding will and affections would be without a miracle uncapable to understand believe and obey the Gospel but otherwise men considered as men are not so dead but that in the use of the means and Ministries of God they may possibly understand believe and live Act. 17. 24-27 Obj. There are many Scriptures that seem to speak the contrary viz. That there is no such power or capacity in man by Nature of willing and doing the will of God so as to obtain life thereby The first Scripture is Joh. 6. 44. No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him Answ It 's true that no man can come to Christ without Gospeldrawings which is the way in and by which the Father draweth as before I shewed and v. 45. Every one that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh to me and by the teachings of the Gospel it is we learn and come to Christ There are several Cannots in this matter and all reach not to the positive debility of man to believe and obey the Gospel in the true sence I speak of As 1. No man Can believe and obey the Gospel that never heard it Rom. 10. 14. This being the way of God's drawing and working souls to himself Mark 16. 15 16. Jam. 1. 18. This is his way of drawing Hos 11. 4. and without this drawing no man can come Joh. 30. 31. And it s no more than what I say that there is a capacity in man with the helps that God affords to believe and obey the Gospel and without it there is no capacity 2. No man can come to Christ that will not come and where the Gospel is published there is no Cannot without a Will-not Tha 's the Cannot that keeps people at a distance from Christ and Life it ariseth from the