Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
ground_n	believe_v	faith_n	salvation_n	2,229	5	7.5228	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A81131	The arraignment of unbelief, as the grand cause of our nationall non-establishment: cleared in a sermon to the Honourable House of Commons in Parliament, at Margarets Westminster, upon the 28th. of May, 1645. being the day of their publike fast. / By Joseph Caryl, late preacher to the Honourable Society of Lincolnes-Inne, now pastor at Magnus neer the bridge, London.	Caryl, Joseph, 1602-1673.; England and Wales. Parliament.	1645 (1645)	Wing C749; Thomason E286_5; ESTC R200075	31,767	54

This Kingdom shall be holden up for God is able to make it stand How so God hath received it Do yee perceive no breakings forth of the love of God to his people in this Kingdom Hath he done nothing which intimates he hath received this people Surely he hath therefore we may argue God is able to make us stand therefore we shall be holden up for God hath received us A third objection is thus raised You will have us beleeve that we shall be established but I pray shew us a word for our faith Can you give us any promise Isaiah here brought a promise immediatly from Heaven he told the people from the mouth of God that they should be established can you do so too Faith is a wise grace Faith loves not to build upon the sand much lesse to build castles in the ayr Faith must have a sure foundation and nothing will serve faiths turne but the word of God It will not build upon the bare word of all the Preachers in the world As the great Mathematician said Shew me a place where I shall set mine engine and I will shake all the earth so saith faith Give me but a sure word whereupon I may fix my foot I will carry any thing but where is that word to be found what 's the text chapter and verse that England shall be established or have you any extraordinary revelation that it shall 'T is granted We have no such revelations as Isaiah brought to Ahaz and his people but we have that which serves faiths turn sufficiently and so much as amounts to a particular promise I may say There is as much ground in Scripture for faith to build on for the present temporall salvation of this distressed Kingdom as any man at first hath or had in Scripture to beleeve his eternall salvation I clear it thus Suppose we comming to a man lying in the state of nature and under trouble of conscience for his sinne should offer him Christ and pardon and he should say Shew a promise which belongs to me What promise could we tender him could we bring one with his name literally in it doth any promise speak explicitely Thomas or John do thou beleeve and thou shalt be saved There is no such word for the salvation of any man There are promises of three sorts in Scripture First Promises of free grace that God will justifie the ungodly and pardon sinne for his own Names sake Secondly Promises of grace that God will give faith repentance love and a new heart c. Thirdly Promises unto grace that if we beleeve and repent we shall be saved Promises of these three sorts are all we have to build our faith upon for eternall salvation and these we or any other Nation that is under the same condition hath to build assurance upon for temporall salvation There are promises of free grace to Nations that God will deliver and save them for his own Names sake such a promise we have though the Name of England be not expressed in it Again there are promises of grace to Nations that God will poure out a spirit of repentance and humiliation upon them and cause them to return Lastly we have promises unto grace that if a people call upon God repent and turn from their evil waies they shall be delivered If my people which are called by my Name do humble themselves and seek my face and pray and turn unto me I will hear in Heaven and deliver c. 2 Chro. 7. 14. These promises were made not only to the people of Israel but to all people who are the Israel of God Say not then this stops your faith ye cannot beleeve establishment because ye want a promise of establishment these promises are ours as well as this was Jerusalems These objections and stumbling-blocks being thus I hope answered and removed out of the way of faith let your faith gird up her loynes and rejoyce like a giant to run her race Act faith for the Kingdom as you would for your own souls Is it not a duty to beleeve when you pray and seek God about temporals in their degree and kinde as well as when about spirituals and eternals in theirs Hath not God given his people sometimes as clear evidences as strong assurances that their prayers have been heard about temporals as about eternals What if we should not be under the influences of those promises which are made unto grace to a repenting reforming people yet faith hath footing enough in those which are made of grace to give give repentance and reformation to a people and in those of free-grace that God will save for his Name sake though a people are generally impenitent and unreformed A probability of prevailing is a sufficient ground both for praying and beleeving The Prophet Joel chap. 2. 14 perswades that afflicted people to fast and pray in that he perswaded them to beleeve upon this offer only Who knoweth if he will return and repent Nineve is carried up to beleeve by the same argument Jon. 3. 9. Who can tell if God will return A peradventure from God is better then an absolute promise from any creature So long as God hath not said hee will not though hee hath not said hee will let us venture God hath not yet forbidden prayer but rather bespoken it in the hearts of his people God hath not yet declared by any work of providence against England as he did against Judah by his word Jer. 15. 1 2. Though Moses and Samuel stood before me yet my minde could not be towards this people cast them out of my sight and let them go forth such as for death to death c. No he hath rather declared his willingnesse if not his resolvednesse to deliver to save to settle to establish us His heart seems to work toward us let our faith work toward him yea let our faith have a perfect work and then I doubt not but God will perfect all our works If we beleeve surely we shall be established Lastly If a shaking Kingdom be established by beleeving then how precious are beleevers Are they not the bases and pillars of a state Job puts the question concerning wisedom chap. 28. 12. Where shall wisedom be found and where is the place of understanding The depth saith It is not in me and the sea saith It is not with me ver 14. Should I put such a quaerie about the point in hand Where shall the stability of the Nation be found and what is the place of its strength Your sea would say It is not in me and your ships would say It is not in us your Garisons in fortified Cities and your Armies in the open field your correspondencies abroad and your counsels at home would or must all bring in their disclaimers and say Strength is not in us in us establishment is not to be found Where is it then the text answers Faith is our strength establishing is