Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	book_n	divine_a	scripture_n	2,963	5	6.0860	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A49398	Practical Christianity, or, An account of the holinesse which the Gospel enjoyns with the motives to it and the remedies it proposes against temptations, with a prayer concluding each distinct head.	Lucas, Richard, 1648-1715.	1677 (1677)	Wing L3408; ESTC R26162	116,693	322

his infinite wisedom thought it necessary to send his Son into the world and therefore it is necessary to eternal Life to believe in Jesus Christ whom he hath sent and about him we are inform'd in the Gospel that he is the Son of God that he was made Man and liv'd here upon Earth that he might teach us our Duty and leave us an Example of it that he was crucified for our sins that he rose again from the Dead and after forty dayes sojourning here he was received into glory and became the Head and Prince of his Church c. The Belief of all which illustrates the Justice and Mercy of the Most High God assures us of the truth of his promises i. e. The assistance of the Spirit of God and eternal Rewards and superadds most powerful Obligations to obedience and layes an unshaken foundation of Joy and Peace by shewing us on what account our sins are pardon'd and our services accepted So that now there will need but few words to prove 2. That this knowledge doth directly serve the End and Aims of Religion which must be Gods Glory and Mans Happiness the former is already prov'd for to Glorifie and to Worship God are equivalent terms the later easily appears thus in that this Belief doth 1. Rescue us from the power of sin by powerful motives and endearments to and by supernatural assistances of virtue and 2. From the guilt of it by the Blood of Christ and so it frees us from the misery of unruly passions and from the slavish Fears of Death and Hell 3. It composes our minds in all the various changes of the world by the firm perswasion of the wisedom power and goodness of the God who governs it And lastly it delights and satisfies our Souls by the discovery of Objects fit for their love and enjoyment which is no less essentially necessary to our present happiness than any of the former for Man being a weak and empty Creature cannot like God find his happiness in the fruition of himself but must seek it in something else which must be able to fill all his desires and appetites and satisfie all his Capacities of enjoyment O Happy Christian that conquers the World and himself that is freed from all fears and jealousies about a future State and enjoys the ravishing Objects of a glorious Faith well may the Holy Spirit make up the Description of this State of characters of Joy Peace and Hope 2. But now Secondly that this Happiness may be intire it is neessary to secure the peace of my own bosome as to the matters of Faith And this may be disturbed two wayes either by doubting of the Truth or else the Sence of Divine Revelation we are tempted to the former commonly by this Argument These things cannot be therefore the Book which contains the History of them is an imposture To the later by much the same Argument These things cannot be therefore since we cannot deny the authority of Scripture we must explain them in some other sense Both proceed upon this botome I cannot understand or conceive the possibility of this or that therefore it cannot be To secure my self from the first of these I consider the infinite Majesty of the God we worship and the trifling dwarfish Capacities of us Men and then I wonder not that some Articles should rather surprise and dazle my faculties than enlighten them To expect otherwise were to forget the nature of mysteries and of my self it is true to believe without a Reason for it is Credulity not Faith but then Revelation is the highest Reason for the belief of things supernatural there being no other mean left us to attain to their knowledge so that all that Reason can have to do here is not to discuss the probability of the Article revealed but the Authority of the revelation and this being once clear'd to surrender up our doubts and scruples which is weighing the shallowness of our understandings and the depths of mysteries no more than in a tedious long journey our eyes being dim and the way unknown and intricate to abandon our selves to the conduct of a kind skillful and faithful Guide The Sum of all is this Man is born like a wild Asses Colt and arrives into a rational Creature by painful institution and slow progressions the Soul being clouded by Passions imprison'd and limited by scanty Organs perverted by unhappy prejudices and therefore 't is a very wild and extravagant piece of folly to make ones own understanding the great standard and measure of all truth or to determine that the utmost of our Fancy is the utmost extent of Nature and of the Deity too for on the other hand God is a great and incomprehensible Being Great is the Lord and greatly to be prais'd and his greatness is unsearchable Psal 145.3 and therefore by a clear consequence our Faith is not the less reasonable because it is the more resign'd an awful distance and a modest Faith is as essential a part of Holiness as the conformity of our Wills to the Divine Law These very Considerations will serve to secure me 2. Against all doubts about the Sense of Revelation for the received and general sense appears to be the more natural and obvious and therefore no objection lies against it but what is already remov'd the seeming impossibility of it and if it be further consider'd that the Gospel was address'd to persons of very ordinary endowments and therefore to be understood in its most obvious sense that it is most conformable to that humble infant Spirit Christ requires in his Disciples to qualifie them for the reception of his Doctrine to Believe rather than Dispute That the receiv'd sense is the sense of the whole Catholick Church That an Errour of judgement which springs from Humility not Pride will be rather pitied than punish'd by a good God this all together will easily raise my Faith above all scruple and wavering Especially if I add to all this this one Observation That the Adversaries of any one Article of Faith have never made up one entire Body but several Sects divided by numerous and contradictory Tenents built up upon different Foundations that they have never been able to propagate any thing but wild and unaccountable fancies that they have set Scripture at a more irreconcileable distance from it self and instead of clearing its mysterious senses have made its plainest sense a Mystery From all this I am oblig'd to resolve not to gaze and stare upon Majesty lest I be blinded by the shine of it but worship and adore that I may be blest by it I 'le look upon my Creed like the Ark of God 2 Sam. 6. It must not be toucht by a bold hand though to support it all its Articles are like the Stones of the Altar Exod. 20. to lift up a tool of a Workman upon them tho with design to polish and adorn is nothing else but to profane and