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	scripture_n	word_n	3,674	5	5.0369	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26912	A defence of the principles of love, which are necessary to the unity and concord of Christians and are delivered in a book called The cure of church-divisions ... / by Richard Baxter ...	Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.	1671 (1671)	Wing B1239; ESTC R263	150,048	304

motion of God and as if this bringing it to their mind would warrant their exposition Whereupon I advise men to know the necessity of the spirits ordinary sanctifying work and not to despise mens pretences of revelation but yet to believe none against Scripture As to the ground of this passage it is such as is not disputable with me being matter of sense so impossible is it for me to escape all the heinous accusations of this brother It is not many years since I have had several persons with me two or three out of one County that brought me books written for the Press and urged me to procure them printed and shewed to the King in which were abundance of Scriptures abused to many daring predictions of things presently to come to pass and all upon pretence of Visions and Revelations and the setting of such an exposition on their hearts And the men were ignorant melancholy and craz●d persons and the Scriptures almost all fal●ly interpreted and the predictions fail And all of them had the fifth Monarchy notion without conference that I could learn with any about it When I lived in Coventrey Major Wilkies a Learned Scot lived in the house with me who professed to have lived many years in a Course of Visions and Revelations and had abundance of Texts set upon his heart and expounded to him by Vision most for the Millenary way and for Prophecies about our times and changes and some against preciseness many of his expositions were considerable some palpably false some of his predictions came to pass and some proved false He was of a hot melancholy temper and as I heard after distracted If this brother had known how many if not many score of deeply melancholy persons have been with me that have had some of them prophecies most of them almost in desperation and some of them comforted by such or such a Text brought to their mind which was of a quite different sense and impertinent to that which they fetcht from it and some of their Collections contrary to the rest he would take heed of doing Gods spirit so much wrong as to father poor crazed peoples deliratio●s on it And this is as common I think among the Papists themselves that meddle less with Scripture than we do What abundance of Books be there of the phantasmes of their Fryers and Nuns as Prophecies Visions and Revelations which the judicious Reader may perceive are but the effects of melancholy and hysterical passions improved by ignorant or deceitful Priests But what is the Charge against me here Why he saith He calls them poor fanciful women and melancholy persons that ordinarily receive comfort by suggested Texts of Scripture Answ. This is the 16th visible Untruth Indeed here are are two gross untruths together 1. He changeth the subject into the predicate and then affirmeth me so to have spoken I said It is ordinary for such fanciful and melancholy persons to take deep apprehensions for Revelations and if a Text come into their mind to think it is by an extraordinary motion of the spirit And he feigneth me to say that they that ordinarily receive comfort by suggested texts are melancholy Is it all one to say It is ordinary for melancholy persons to pray to fear to erre c. And They that ordinarily pray fear erre are melancholy Again Brother this is not well 2. He feigneth me to speak of them that ordinarily receive Comfort when I have no such word but speak of them that would draw others into error and separation by confident asserting false expositions of Scripture as set on their mind by revel●tion from the spirit This is not well neither He addeth If this be not to sit in the Chair of Scorners what is This needeth no answer For saith he is not this the very language of holy men Answ. Alas brother how impertinent is your question The question is Whether this be the language of no melancholy person or of none but holy men and that as holy Is it not the language of many ● Popish Nun and Fryer that pretend to Revelation Have not I heard it with these ears from multitudes in melancholy and other weakness that have perverted the Texts which they alledged Have I not read it many books of Experiences Is he a scorner that saith that a man may speak the same words mistakingly in melancholy which another speaketh truly Do you well brother to trouble the World at this rate of discourse For charges on me I pass them by And for his saying that the bare recital of their usual words is fitter for a Iester than a judicious Divine and when he hath done to be so angry that they be not all ascribed to Gods spirit I will not denominate such passages as they deserve lest I offend him Lest you deny belief to me I intreat you and the Reader to get and read a book published by Mr. Brown as is uncontrolledly affirmed who lately wrote against Mr. Tombes against the lawfulness of Communion in the Parish Churches concerning the experiences and strange work of God on a Gentlewoman in Worcester whom I will not name because yet living and God may recover her but is there well known This Gentlewoman having been long vain and a constant neglecter of publick worship was suddenly moved to go into the Church while I was there preaching on Rom. 6. 21. The very Text struck her to the heart but before the Sermon was done she could hardly forbear crying out in the Congregation She went home a changed person resolved for a holy life But her affection or passion being strong and her nature tender and her knowledge small she quickly thought that the Quakers lived strictlier than we and fell in among them At last perceiving them vilifie the Ministry and the Scripture her heart smote her and she forsook them as speaking against that which by experience she had found to do her good And desiring to speak with me who lived far off opened this much to me But all these deep workings and troubles between the several waies did so affect her that she fell into a very strong melancholy Insomuch that she imposed such an abstinence from meat upon her self that she was much consumed and so debilitated as to keep her bed and almost famished Mr. Brown and others were her instructers who were very zealous for the way called The Fifth Monarchy and having instructed her in those opinions published the whole story in print which else I would not have mentioned I shall say nothing of any thing which is otherwise known but desire the Reader that doth but understand what melancholy is better than the Writers did to read that book and observe with sorrow and pitty what a number of plain effects of Melancholy as to thoughts and Scriptures and actions are there ascribed to me●r Temptations on one side and to Gods unusual or notable operations on the other side In the end he saith And

11. Whether this kind of talk be not sport to the Papists to hear us call one another Idolaters as well as them and do not make them deride us and harden them in their bread-worship and image-worship as being called Idolatry on no better grounds than we so call one another Q. 12. Whether it be not a great dishonour to any man to suffer silencing because he cannot add to Gods worship the Ceremonies and Liturgie and at the same time to add to Gods word new and false doctrines of our own by saying that It is a species of Idolatry forbidden in the second Command because it is used in the worship of God without any command to make it lawful And if we should suffer such false doctrine and additions and Love-killing dividing principlesas this to go uncontradicted whether we do not betray the truth and our flocks and shew that we were too worthy of our sufferings But that this assertion or definition of Idolatry is false I need to prove no otherwise than 1. That it is unproved by him that is to prove it and 2. That it denieth Christ to have a Church on earth or to have any but Churches of Idolaters 3. That it turneth all sin in Gods worship into one species even Idolatry And so every false doctrine used in Gods worship is Idolatry Every Antimonian Anabaptist Separatist or of any other error be it never so small must be presently an Idolater if in prayer or preaching he speak his error And what man is infallible When your Companion promised in the Pulpit that there should be no more Tythes no more Taxes nor no more King in Worcestershire after Worcester-Fight this must be Idolatry For certainly no error is commanded of God 4. That it maketh the description of a thing indifferent to be the description of Idolatry For as a thing forbidden is the description of sin so to be not commanded speaketh no more but Indifferency Though the prohibition to do any thing not commanded speaketh more if it could be proved 5. It is contrary to the Scripture which never useth the word IDOLATRY in that sense Peruse the several texts and try 6. It equalleth almost all Churches with the Infidel and Pagan World 7. It heinously injureth God who is a hater of Idolaters and will visit their sins as God-haters on the third and fourth Generations to feign him to be thus a hater of his Churches and of them that use any thing in his worship not commanded 8. It tendeth to drive all Christians to despair as being Idolaters and so abhorred of God because they have all some uncommanded yea forbidden thing in worship For by this mans doctrine a sinful wandring thought a sinful disorder or tautologie or bad expression is Idolatry as being not commanded 9. It tendeth to drive men to give ever worshipping God because while they are certain to sin they are certain to be Idolaters when they have done their best 10. It hardeneth the Mahometans in their enmity to Christianity who being the great exclaimers against Idolatry do already falsely brand us with that crime But what ever else it do I am sure it is so pernicious an engine of Satan to kill Love and divide the Church to feign every Conformist how holy soever and every one that useth in worship any thing not commanded to be an Idolater that I may well advise all Christians as they love Christ and his Church and their own souls to keep themselves from such mistakes Were it not that it is unmeet to do great works ●●rily on such slight occasions in such a discourse as this is I would here stay to open the meaning of the second Commandement and shew 1. That there are abundance of lawful things in Gods worship as circumstances and outward modes that are not commanded in specie or individuo 2. That somethings forbidden in that Commandement indirectly are not Idolatry 3. Much less are they a sufficient cause of separation But this is fitter for another place And I again refer you to Mr. Lawson in his Theopolitica EXCEPT XX. Answered This Exception is but a bundle of mistakes and the fruit of your false interpretation of my design 1. That I prove not what I say is not true when the many instances fully prove it and you your self deny them not 2. When I explain my self frequently and fully who I do not mean by Dividers and what separation I allow you feign me to open my mind very unwillingly and to defend those whom I traduce that you may make men believe that I mean those whom I still profess that I mean not and that you know my mind better than I my self This is not true and righteous dealing EXCEPT XXI p. 12. Answered When I say Our presence at the prayers of the Church is no profession of Consent to all that is faulty in those prayers he saith The Apostle thought otherwise in a like ●ase of sitting at meat in an Idols Temple Answ. Brother of all the men that ever I had to do with scarce any hath dealt so superficially without saying any thing against the proofs which I lay down no● seeming to take any notice of them How can you choose but see your self that by denying my proposition 1. You make it unlawful to joyne with any Church or person in the World and so would dissolve all Church-Communion and Family-worship For do not all men sin in prayer And must any man consent to sin 2. How do you reflect on God that forbiddeth us to forsake the assembling of our selves together If consenting to sin be unavoidable 3. I told you we Consent not to the faults of our own prayers much less to anothers that are less in our power What work would this one opinion of yours make in the World If we are guilty of all that is faulty in all the prayers of the Church or Family we joyn with yea more do by our presence profess Consent to them and withal if all not commanded in worship be Idolatry what a World are we then in It 's time then to turn seekers and say that Church and Ministry are lost It is these principles brother that I purposely wrote my book against But you speak much besides the truth when you say The Apostle thought otherwise in a like Case For you never prove that he thought otherwise Dare you say I beseech you think on it that Paul and all the Apostles and all the Churches professed consent to all the faults in worship which they were present at How know you that they were never present at any such as Paul reproveth in the Corinthians Yea was Christ a professed Consenter to all that he was present at Or all that he commanded men to be present at when he went to the Synagogues and bade the cleansed go shew themselves to the Priests and offer c. And bade his Disciples hear the Scribes and Pharisees c. I do not charge the