Selected quad for the lemma: grace_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
grace_n	guidance_n	multitude_n	sort_v	36	3	16.8625	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A95609	A Scripture-map of the wildernesse of sin, and vvay to Canaan. Or The sinners way to the saints rest. Wherein the close bewildring sleights of sin, wiles of the Devill, and windings of the heart, as also the various bewildrings of lost sinners, yea, even of saints, before, in, and after conversion; the necessity of leaning upon Christ alone for salvation, with directions therein: as also, the evident and eminent danger of false guides, false wayes, false leaning-stocks, are plainly, and practically discovered. Being the summe of LXIV lecture sermons preached at Sudbury in Suffolk, on Cantic. 8.5. / By Faithful Teate, M.A. minister of the Gospel.	Teate, Faithful, b. 1621.	1655 (1655)	Wing T615; Thomason E839_1; ESTC R203761	372,945	489

thee but thou wouldst say as Ahab 1 King 21.19 Hast thou found me O mine Enemy But now saith he thou canst bee humbled at a Sermon and mourne and weepe and truly friends so did Ahab afterward ver 27. Wher he heard those words he rent his Clothes and put on sack-cloath and humbled himselfe in so much that God cryes to the Prophet see'st thou how Ahad humblet● himselfe before me verse 29. And yet you know tha● Ahab was a lost wretch for ever for all his humbling There are two desperate turnings in the way of being humbled But with this snare either that Satan useth to bewilder soules in 1. 1. To make the soule restlesse Humblings either make the soule through Satans temptations altogether restlesse so that it is put beyond comfort must needs perish in the wilderness of black despaire so Judas was humbled Mat. 27.3 He b●ings again the money and vomits up his sinne by sad confession ver 4. and repents but instead of casting himselfe now upon a Crucified Christ he crucifies himselfe he goes and hangs himself upon a Tree So Cain as soone as being thus humbled hee should have come to God by faith he cryes My punishment is insupportable and so goes out from Gods presence and becomes a Vagabond in the Earth and never comes near God more Gen. 4.13 14 16. Or 2ly Or 2. To make it rest there Humblings through Satans cunning make the soule to rest there and the soule may be lost in this as in the other way and thus it was with those in Isai 58.2 3. They saith God seeke me daily and delight to know my wayes And say they ver 2. Wherefore have we fasted and thou see'st not and afflicted our soules and thou takest no knowledge Marke They had afflicted their soules and they thinke they are before hand with God now they wonder God doth not give them more respect now Oh! as good never to be at all humbled as to be so proudly humbled to rest in being humbled to thinke that God is beholding to thee for being humbled yet such is Satans policy and our Propensity and this is as ready a way to bee lost in as any 6ly The way of making up a righteousnesse betwixt Christs and our own 6ly It may be Convictions grow so much higher yet that God sheweth thee as he did them how little worth is in thy very humblings and then it may bee thy way is to looke out for a Saviour for anothers performances and worth to leane upon Now this is Satans last remove if hee can but make thee to mingle thy worth with Christs and thy workes with Christs workes and so to walke in a middle way for such a way there is betwixt Faith and Workes Satan will not so much disturbe himselfe for thou art in a lost condition still for this is the High-way of Gospel-salvation to set thy feet in the way but not to rest thy soul upon the way of doing but to set downe thine Hope as thy staffe softly and singly upon the way of believing I will not deny but that in performing as David speaks thou maist expect reward but if thou lookest for thy reward for thy performances thou losest it and thy selfe for ever You read Rev. 10.2 of an Angell that set his right foot upon the Sea and his left foot upon the Earth And so truly doe many men the best and yet the worst in some some sort of the unregenerate they set one foot and it may be the right foot I do but allude to the place upon the Red Sea of Christs blood but then they will have one foot the left at least upon the Earth of their owne Righteousnesse but these things ought not so to be Thus the Papists doe Our Workes say they merit dipt in Christs blood And oh what naturall Doctrine is this to flesh and blood How easily are we made Papists Whence is it to give you one hint that a poore soule when enlarged in prayer though perhaps it have acted little faith in such a prayer can please and pride it selfe so much when at another time it hath looked as much and more at Christ and lesse a great deale at selfe and yet because it hath been straightned hath it thought it should not be so well accepted at the Throne of Grace Doe wee not thank our selves as well as Christ for our acceptance as he that thanked his Tumbrel as much as God for his Harvest Now this though it be the last and trimmest way of all the rest yet is it extreamely dangerous for there is no comming out of the Wildernesse but onely by leaning and by leaning only upon Jesus Christ as our Text it selfe and farther Discourse may give you to know 'T is not the way of Carnall pleasures or security 't is not the way of Civilities or Duties either 't is not the way of being humbled 't is not a mixt way betweene working and believing that is betwixt thy Workes and Christs though thy workings must be but the way of pure believing that can lead thee out of sinnes Wildernesse The other may be trim wayes but this is the onely true way CHAP. XIV Second sort of bewildring meanes false Guides 3. False Guidances Multitude evill Magistrates evill Ministers THe second sort of meanes of our bewildrings 2d Sort of meanes viz. false guides are false Guidances I shall Note but these particulars The false Guidance of the transgressing multitude Of bewildred great ones of bewildring Ministers of professing Hypocrites of miscarrying and misguided Saints of unseasonable Duties and of mistaken Graces and lastly of wrested Scriptures In such variety of seducing Guidances it may well be easie for us to be led aside 1. 1. The guidance of the transgressing Multitude The great guidance that Satan improves unto the bewilding of single and particular soules is the erring Multitudes Thus much that holy Caveat plainly imports Exod. 23.2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evill neither shalt thou speake in a Cause to decline after many to wrest judgement He seemes to speake of the Corruption of Juries particelarly if eleven be agreed the twelth accords though many times perhaps against his judgement Now this he calls declining that is at turning out of the right way In this particular hee exemplifies that generall counsell Thou shalt shalt not follow a multitude to doe evill 'T is very hard for a single soule to goe on in a way of right when a multitude goes wrong or to see the right way for the multitude of them that goe wrong Now 't is the Multitudes unhappinesse that that ever walke in the wayes of the Wildernesse The way that leads to destruction is the way that MANY find Mat. 7.13 And their guidance gives this three-fold advantage to those wayes it renders them facile fashionable and secure 1. That makes the way facile 1. That way the Multitude goes in becomes thereby a

Grace wrested Scripture 7th Guidance Seeming grace to turne us aside from true grace Instance SEventhly The next meanes of this sort that I shall name is Satans plotting to lead us out of the way of true and reall grace by the false guidance of seeming Grace I shall give you one instance There is not any Grace in the world that doth better accord with and more strengthen another then Faith and Humility doe mutually Yet is there not any thing whereby Satan turnes poore afflicted spirits more aside from the way of believing then the false guidance of pretensive humility As now when the soule lyeth convicted under the sence of its being in it selfe poore and wretched and miserable and blind and naked the soule hath nothing to doe next but to buy of Christ Gold tryed in the fire and white Rayment and Eyesalve c. that is whatsoever a lost sinner needs in order to salvation Rev. 3 17. And Christ tearms are without monie and without price Isai 55.1 So then such a soule is immediately enjoyned upon its allegiance to God whose Commandment it is That we should believe and upon righteous principles of Selfe-preservation freely to take as the waters of life are freely tendred and by acting faith upon a promise and with a bare hand to take hold and to leane upon Christ and so to come up from the Wildernesse Wilt thou then or wilt thou not speake thou that needest a Christ wilt thou have one Oh! saith the soule I would faine have a Christ I need him I see I am undone without him but I am naked ragged and ashamed to come to him in this dresse I am leprous and filthy my hands are not clean and I dare not with such hands take hold upon him Humility forbids me stay but till I have got better Clothes as some will say of their comming to Church and have washed my selfe and then I 'le com I am affraid and ashamed to come before And wilt thou stay from Christ till thou canst fit thy selfe for him even stay an eternity I le warrant thee thou'lt ne're be fit And is this humility thou lyest Satan 't is Pride and the height of it too even of Gospel-pride to thinke that without Christs Sumpter thou shalt be ever able to give Christ fit entertainment Soules call it humility to get something for a present for the Lord Christ as Jacob for his Lord Esau but this in thee is Pride as in him it was Policy Thou call'st it Humility but God calls it Pride Rom. 10.3 They have not submitted to the righteousnesse of God a sad word It s meere pride and stoutnesse and high-spiritednesse the wretched remainders of unbroken-heartednesse what ever Satan tells thee that onely is humility that makes thee intirely close with the Righteousness of faith with Christs Righteousnesse upon Christs own tearms 8th Guidance mistaken or wrested Scripture The eighth and last that I shall speake to is Satans bewildring us by the false guidance of mist●ken Scripture and this is now much in fashion and prevailing in the world Time was when ignorance was in fashion and for men to walke in blind pursuance of anothers supposed light So in Popish times many cared not for nor at all enquired into the Scripture Then for the Priest to doe as the Prelate did and the people as the Priest did was enough But our times have seene the Scriptures brought more into use and almost every one at least in profession will say as David and as it 's fit they should Psal 119.105 Thy word is a light unto my feet and a lanthorn to my paths Men will not now take things to bee so because the Minister said it but they will as the Bereans did search the Scripture and truly 't is not onely the use but the fashion now Now marke when Satan seeth that wee are so much for Scripture and that the way to bewilder us is by pressing Scripture truly as formerly hee laboured to suppresse it now he will presse it and oppresse it too Note as a Tyrant by plain torture to make the guiltlesse Scriptures to speake against themselves say you so saith Satan are you for light I 'le fit your turne by dressing my selfe as an Angell of light Satan will quote Scripture 2 Cor. 11.13 14. And thus by false glimmerings of the true but misrepresented light Satan turneth soules aside into the shady Thickets of the Wilderness even into Workes of darknesse When Satan had once observed that our Saviour kept so close to the guidance of scripture Mat. 4.4 It is written saith Christ that man lives not by bread onely Truly now Satan himselfe in the very next temptation will quote scripture too but curtelized and abused cast thy selfe downe for it is written he hath given his Angells charge to bear thee up c. abuse unsufferable ● for hee leaves out that clause that would have mar'd the logick of the temptation viz. he shall keep thee in all thy waies which casting himself down from the Pinacle could not be You have mention of some that wrest the Scriptures to their own perdition 2. Pet. 3.16 They turne the Scriptures out of the way that they themselves may with more security and freedom turn aside and this trade they take up as you see from their father the Devill I shall give you amongst many 1. An instance in two sorts of persons but a double instance the one of persons the other as to times For the first There are two sorts of persons both of which are bewildred First Such as either endeavour not at all or Secondly Such as if they doe endeavour trust to their endeavours Now Satan do usually pervert Scripture unto the seducing of them both First For such as labour not at all 1. Such as indeavour not at all Usuall i● is for such though they will not stand to the guidance of other places of the Scripture yet close to follow those which they mistake and carelesly to runne on in the waies of sin still There are some that never frequent Ordinances or take any paines either in publick or private with their own soules and ask them why they are so negligent in the weighty things of God and their own soules Why say they doe not the Scriptures themselves teach as Ioh. 6.44 that we cannot come to God except he draw us we do but stay for his drawing If we should take never so much paines all would do no good Without him we can do nothing as Joh. 15.5 and would you not have us stay for his coming If the spirit moveth us we shall pray and if God turn us we shall be turned and when God wills we shall believe and repent and till God please we by our endeavours can do nothing This is the language of many hearts and upon this their practice is to sit still and what is this other then to be quietly kept in the Lyons Den