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world_n	deny_v	live_v	ungodliness_n	2,303	5	11.2667	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A28280	The sufficiency of a standing revelation in general, and of the Scripture revelation in particular both as to the matter of it and as to the proof of it : and that new revelations cannot reasonably be desired and would probably be unsuccessful in eight sermons preach'd in the Cathedral-Church of St. Paul, London, at the lecture founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle, Esq., in the year MDCC / by Ofspring Blackall ...	Blackall, Offspring, 1654-1716.	1700 (1700)	Wing B3055; ESTC R6615	150,254	268

Tit. 2.12 who made Heaven and Earth and by teaching them to deny Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts and to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World Now the Devil is certainly as subtle as he is powerful and therefore if he has indeed any power to alter the course of Nature and to do a real Miracle he would not however we may be sure make use of this Power against himself he would not thereby assist another to destroy his own Kingdom And by this Argument our Saviour himself clearly confuted this Calumny in Mat. xii 25. When the Pharisees had said that he cast out Devils by Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils he answer'd Every Kingdom divided against it self is brought to Desolation and if Satan cast out Satan he is divided against himself how then shall his Kingdom stand And 3. Lastly As it is not credible that the Devil has such power or if he has and was let alone to himself that he would make use of this power to destroy his own Kingdom so neither is it credible that Almighty God who has all power in his Hands and can controul and limit the workings of the Devil and all created Beings as he pleases would ever permit the Devil to out-do himself in such wonderful Operations so that more and greater Miracles should be done by an Impostor than ever had been done before by any true Prophet which yet is manifestly the Case if indeed our Saviour was an Impostor 2 Tim. 3.8 He suffer'd indeed Jannes and Jambres to withstand his Servants Moses and Aaron for some time and to do or seem to do some wonderful Works like to theirs Ex. 7.10 12. for Aaron cast his Rod upon the Ground and it became a Serpent and so did they And Aaron stretched out his Hand over the Waters Ex. 8.6 7. and the Frogs came up and covered the Land and the Magicians did so with their Inchantments and brought up Frogs upon the Land of Egypt But tho' he suffer'd the Magicians thus to contend with his Prophets the Victory was clearly on his Prophet's side Ex. 7.12.8.18 for Aaron's Rod swallowed up their Rods and when the Magicians endeavour'd by their Inchantments to bring forth Lice as Aaron had done they could not but were forced to own before Pharaoh that it was the Finger of God and from that time forward strove no more for Victory And thus it may be consistent with the Wisdom and Goodness of God Deut 13.1 c. at any time in order prove his People and to know whether they love the Lord with all their Heart Mat. 24.24 to suffer the Sign or Wonder foretold by an Inticer to Idolatry to come to pass and to distinguish his Elect from Reprobates to permit false Christs and false Prophets 2 Thes 2.8 9 10. to shew great Signs and Wonders and in just Judgment upon such as will not receive the love of the Truth that they may be saved to let them alone to be deceived by that wicked one whose Coming is after the working of Satan with all Power and Signs and Lying Wonders and with all Deceiveableness of Unrighteousness in them that perish But it cannot I think be reconciled to these Attributes of God that he should permit greater Wonders and more clear and undoubted Miracles to be done by a false Prophet than ever were done by any true Prophet because this would be too great a Trial for Humane Nature such Signs and Wonders would be sufficient to deceive even those that enquire after Truth with the greatest sincerity of Heart And I cannot conceive it consistent with the Goodness of God to permit that such as are of honest Minds and sincere Lovers of Truth should after a fair Examination of the Proofs on both sides have greater reason to embrace Error than Truth which yet they plainly have in case the Miracles done by false Prophets be more and greater than have been done by any true Prophet unless the Falseness of the Doctrines which they would thereby establish be more evident than the Truth of their Miracles So that upon the whole I think we may well conclude this Head with those Words of Nicodemus to our Saviour Joh. iii. 2. We know we are assured of it we have no Reason to doubt of it that thou art a Teacher come from God for no Man can do these Miracles that thou doest except God be with him 6. Another way by which God himself bare Witness to the Truth of our Saviour's Testimony was by Raising him from the dead Joh. 2.19 Mat. 12.40.16 4. To this great Miracle he himself often referred those that had any doubt of the Truth of his other Miracles as what could not but be satisfactory to all that were capable of receiving Satisfaction And this was the chief Subject of the Apostle's Sermons Acts 2.24.32.3.15.4.10.10.40.13.30 the main Proof that they insisted upon to convince Men that Jesus was the Christ And they seem to have no doubt upon them that if they could but persuade Men of the Truth of his Resurrection they would readily own that he was the Christ and without further scruple receive every thing that he had taught them in the name of God as a divine Truth Acts 17.30 By this say they God has given Assurance unto all Men that he has ordained him to be the Judge of the World By this say they he was declared to be the Son of God with Power because it was a thing evident to all Rom. 1.4 that no Power less than God's could raise the dead When therefore this was done and it was done if the Gospel-History be true this was a plain Seal set by God himself to our Saviour's Testimony a Seal not possible to be Counterfeited and wherein the Divine Power is so clearly and deeply engraven that whoever looks attently upon it must be satisfied whose Seal it is So that to grant the Resurrection of our Saviour and yet to doubt whether he was the Person he gave out himself to be is to doubt of the Truth of God himself for granting our Saviour's Resurrection it can't be suppos'd that he was an Impostor without supposing that God himself did consent to the Imposture and work the most evident Miracle that ever w●s done on purpose to perswade Men to believe a Lye I shall mention at present but one way more whereby God was pleas'd to confirm our Saviour's Testimony of himself And that was 7. By the Witness of the Holy-Ghost which witness was given to him at his Baptism Joh. 1.32 c. when the Holy-Ghost descended in a visible manner as a Dove and rested on him It was also given to him during the whole Course of his Ministry for the Holy-Ghost not only descended but abode upon him and therefore St. Peter speaking of him Act. 10.38 c. says that God anointed him with the Holy-Ghost and with Power But that

thing credible which in it self is incredible And such it may be pretended some of the Christian Doctrines are which are taught in the New Testament and especially the Doctrine of the Trinity And that this Doctrine is clearly taught in the New Testament we freely grant But why should it be deem'd incredible Does it imply a Contradiction Can they that except against it or against the Gospel-Revelation upon the Account of it shew that it is impossible it should be true Can they demonstrate that 't is impossible for an Infinite and Eternal Being to beget a Son in his own Likeness Heb. 1.3 the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person Or can they shew it to be impossible that there should be a third Person proceeding from both these No perhaps they 'll say But that these three should be one as the Scripture teaches that they think exceeds all the Measures of Belief that they can't but think a manifest Contradiction But why so Do the Christians hold or does the Scripture say that they are three and one in the same respect does it say that the one God is three Gods or that those three whom it speaks of as three distinct Persons ascribing personal Acts to each of them are nevertheless but one single Person No it only tells us in general that these three are One But how they are Three or how they are One wherein consists their Distinction and wherein their Unity it says not at least not very plainly And I think it the safest Course in such high Matters Psal 131.1 in Matters so much too high for us not to exercise our selves nor to pretend to be Wise above what is written If therefore there be no Contradiction in the Doctrine of a Trinity in Unity as there is not unless we say that God is One and Three in the same Respect that 's enough that 's all that needs to be said upon this Occasion For tho' we may as indeed we must allow it to be an incomprehensible Mystery there is no Reason to Cavil at the Gospel-Revelation or to deny it to be a true divine Revelation upon this Account For we live in a World of Mysteries we must believe Mysteries in abundance whether we will or no I mean there are some Truths so very plain even to our Reason that we can't doubt of them and yet so very high and Mysterious that we can no more fathom them than we can the Doctrine of the Trinity For thus that Matter is not Eternal we are as sure almost as we are of any thing for Matter could not exist of it self and yet how Matter should be made out of nothing is as incomprehensible by us as 't is how the One undivided Godhead does personally subsist in the Father Son and Holy-Ghost And thus again that God is Eternal we are certain by Reason for by God we mean the first Cause of all and he who was first could have none before him and yet that any thing should exist without a Cause of its Existence is unaccountable and if we were not sure that it must be so we should be ready to say that it was impossible and a manifest Contradiction that it should be so Thus I say we are led by the Light of Reason only to a firm belief of some Truths which yet we can give no Account of by our Reason and I think 't is very hard that we will not receive an incomprehensible Doctrine upon the Credit of a very plain and well attested Divine Revelation as well as we do and must do the same upon the Evidence of Natural Reason Especially considering the Subject of this incomprehensible Doctrine which is the Essence or Substance of God who is an Infinite Being and so must needs be incomprehensible by our finite Understandings by our Understandings I say which are so very shallow that I believe I may truly say we understand not the Essence or Substance of any thing For we understand not what is the Essence or Substance of Matter or Body tho' it be a thing that all our Senses are continually exercised about all that we know of it is some Properties or Accidents thereof that it is something but what we know not that has Figure and Dimensions that is hard soft fix'd fluid or the like And we understand no more but rather less what the Essence or Substance of our Soul is all that we know of it is that 't is something that thinks and because it thinks we know it must be something and because none of those Properties which we observe in Matter have any Relation at all to Thought we conclude that the thinking Soul is an immaterial Something tho' what is immaterial cannot be explain'd by us unless we could say what is material Seeing therefore as the Wise Hebrew speaks we do hardly guess aright at things that are upon Earth Wisd 9.16 and with Labour do find out the things that are before us is it any wonder that we cannot search out and fully know and comprehend the things that are in Heaven If we are not able to understand even our own Essence and how by an ineffable Union of Spirit with Matter the whole together becomes one Man is it any Wonder Job 11.7 that by all our Searching we cannot find out God that we cannot find out the Almighty unto Perfection And what hath been thus briefly said is I hope sufficient to shew that a Divine Revelation cannot reasonably be excepted against or refused only upon the Account of some Mysterious and Incomprehensible Doctrines that are therein contain'd And if not then I hope what was said before is enough to satisfie any considering Man that the Gospel is a true Divine Revelation To Conclude all therefore having Christ and his Apostles continually Preaching to us in the Books of the New Testament Jam. 1.21 22. Let us as the Text says hear them Let us Reverence these Sacred Writings as the Oracles of God and receive with Meekness the engrafted Word which is able to save our Souls But let us be Doers of the Word and not Hearers only deceiving our own selves For as the Apostle argues Heb. 11.3 c. If the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every Transgression and Disobedience receiv'd a just Recompence of Reward How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him God also bearing them witness both with Signs and Wonders and with divers Miracles and Gifts of the Holy-Ghost according to his own Will FINIS ERRATA IN Sermon IV. and V. page 14. line 23. for more read most p. 47. l. 12. for they r. be l. 27. for there r. them In Sermon VI. p. 5. l. 3. for him r. ber No Reason to desire NEW REVELATIONS A SERMON Preach'd at the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul October 7th

he thought he himself had written enough in his Gospel to persuade Men to believe in Christ and to direct them in the Way to eternal Life There being therefore in those Books of the New Testament which we now have several Abridgments of the whole Christian Doctrine it cannot with any Reason be pretended that all these Books together are not sufficient fully to instruct us therein Besides The Gospel of Christ that was preached suppose by St. Thomas in India or by St. Simon in Africa or by any other of the Apostles in Countries remote from Judea or without the Bounds of the Roman Empire was undoubtedly the very same Gospel that was preached by St. Peter and St. Paul or those other of the Apostles whose Books are now extant and received by the Catholick Church for they were all taught by the same Master Christ and were all enlightned by the same Holy Ghost so that if any of them did as 't is reported they did write any Gospels for the present Use of those particular Churches which they had planted tho' they might be somewhat different from any of the four Gospels which we now have in the Expression or perhaps in the Relation of some particular Passages of our Saviour's Life which our Evangelists have omitted just as the four Gospels which we now have do differ from one another yet for Substance they must needs have been the same with these and with one another if indeed they were all true Relations of the Matters of which the Authors thereof had been Witnesses so that if we had them all now they could all together teach us no other Doctrines than are taught in the Books of the New Testament Nevertheless I do not deny but that if we had more Books of this Kind than we have that if we had all the Books that were written by the Apostles or their immediate Successors who had been taught by them they might be of very good Use to us to help us to understand more readily and easily those Books which we have as now we receive from some Portions of Holy Scripture great Light to help us to understand and to put a right Interpretation upon others But perhaps it was for this very Reason that the Providence of God did order no more to be written than were written or has suffered those to be lost that are supposed to be lost that it might cost us some Pains and Study to understand our Religion that so our Knowledge as well as our Practice being in some Measure the Fruit of our own Industry might be a proper Subject of Reward In short That there were more Books in the first Age of Christianity written by Apostles or other inspired Men than are now extant or than if extant can be well proved to be of their Writing is a Point which I believe cannot be now upon any certain Evidence either affirmed or denied But if it be granted I say however there is no Reason to inferr from thence that those which we now have are not sufficient For if there be a God and a Providence and if there be any Truth in the Scripture Declarations of the Love of God to Mankind and that he would have all Men to be saved and to come to the Knowledge of the Truth most certainly the necessary Means of Mens Salvation is a proper Subject of the divine Care And if so it can't be thought but that the same good Providence which as is now supposed took Care for the writing of more Books when more might be necessary has likewise taken Care for the Preservation of so many of these Books as are now sufficient Or if the Men we are now arguing with will not grant that there is such a particular Providence of God yet if they will but allow that God is just that he is not a hard Master expecting to reap where he has not sown I think they must allow that all things necessary to our Salvation not knowable by Reason are taught in the Books of Holy Scripture which we now have because there are no other Books extant which we have reason to receive and accept as divine Revelation Or if they deny this it will lie upon them to produce those other Books which we ought to receive besides these and to give good Evidence to the World of their divine Authority Which when they have done or if they shall but only shew that there is as good Reason to receive them as these We must own our selves to blame if we shall not then take them also into the Canon of Scripture But till that shall be done what hath been already said is enough to shew that the Holy Scripture is a compleat Rule both of Faith and Manners Especially considering as was noted before that when-ever the Insufficiency of Scripture in this Respect is urged by those who do not believe the Scripture which are the Persons I have now to deal with it can be only for Cavilling sake the true Reason of their Backwardness to receive it as a divine Revelation being not because it teaches not enough but because it teaches more than they are willing to believe and commands more than they are disposed to practise For I cannot imagine that these Men do truly desire more Duty than is laid upon them in the Books of Scripture now received by the Christian Church But what they may most reasonably be thought to desire is either some better Encouragement to undertake that difficult Task which the Scripture lays upon them or some better Evidence that the Scripture is a divine Revelation I proceed now therefore to the second thing propounded which was 2. To shew that the Motives which the Scripture proposes are sufficient to persuade Men to do what it requires Now Hopes and Fears are the great Springs of Action and the greater the Good is we hope for or the Evil we fear the stronglier do they move and incline us to Action And therefore how difficult soever the Undertaking be so it be but possible if the Motives are proportioned to the Difficulty they must be granted to be sufficient Inducements to undertake it But that the Task or Business required of us is possible to be done needs not to be proved now because it must be granted by those who say they believe they should be persuaded to do what is required if they had better Encouragement for no Arguments or Motives whatsoever can reasonably persuade a Man to undertake a thing that he believes impossible Supposing it therefore possible I say that whatsoever Difficulty there really is or we may apprehend there is in a Christian Life if any Motives that could possibly be proposed to us can be thought sufficient to induce us to undertake it most evidently those Motives which the Gospel proposes are so because better or greater cannot be so much as conceived or imagined seeing both the good things which it promises to persuade us to Virtue and