Selected quad for the lemma: life_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
life_n	believe_v	everlasting_a	only_a	4,227	5	6.5529	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A49439	An answer to Mr. Hobbs his Leviathan with observations, censures, and confutations of divers errours, beginning at the seventeenth chapter of that book / by William Lucy ...	Lucy, William, 1594-1677.	1673 (1673)	Wing L3452; ESTC R4448	190,791	291

established by the supreme vvhich he instituted But I do not finde this expressed there in that latitude he novv formes it but rather I thought that he vvould have supposed that the supreme should be obeyed in such things cross not the Lavv of God vvhatsoever either natural or positive but it seems novv he must be obeyed in all vvhich is not against the Lavv of Nature onely he vvould have the Scriptures and positive Lavvs laid aside By this if a King shall command us not to be baptized not to receive the Communion or like Darius not to pray to God for a certain time not to repent c. vvhich are not acts of the Lavv of Nature but positive Lavvs vve should not doe them vvhich must needs be most odious to any Christian man But indeed had not Mr. Hobbs distinguished these tvvo the positive and natural Lavvs of God before in the former page and raised these doubts to disgrace the positive laws of God I could have answered that there is no Law more Natural than that we should obey the positive Laws of God for he being the supreme power must needs have that authority to make Laws for the government of men and this is universally received All Nations in the World pretend to have divine Laws for their direction I mean positive divine Laws onely Mr. Hobbs denyeth it clearly in this place Let us examine what follows CHAP. XXII SECT XIII Obedience founded upon the belief or acknowledgment of his power that commands Mr. Hobbs his complacency in quarrelling with Religion The want of reason in his proofs discovered and censured Faith commanded by God urged by promissory and penal Laws The dreadful punishment of such as believe not or disturb other mens belief with frivolous arguments God the searcher of hearts and punisher of evil thoughts contrary to Mr. Hobbs his Doctrine HE is bound saith he to obey it but not bound to believe it A strange proposition for take his particle i how you please for obedience to divine or humane Laws he can be bound to obey none when he hath no belief for he cannot have an obligation to divine Laws unless he believe they are given by God nor can he perform obedience to humane Laws unless he have a belief that they are made by the supreme power So that obedience in all kinds supposeth a belief of that authority which commands But again consider what he means by this word belief He is bound to obey but not to believe Certainly as I said he must believe the authority that commands and 't is as true that he must believe that that a●thority commands this Act or else he can have no ground for his obedience This man had a mind to be quarrelling at Religion but could not find expressions to do it But he proves his conclusion for saith he Mens belief and interiour cogitations are not subject to the commands but only to the operation of God ordinary or extraordinary The vainest and weakest Argument that ever was urged First in Logick it cannot follow because they are subject to the operations of God they therefore are not subject to commands as Charity and all the restraint of exorbitant lusts are subject to his operations are they not therefore subject to commands This is a pitiful inference but then consider further that faith and the cogitations of men are commanded by God that faith is commanded first Heb. 11. 6. Without faith it is impossible to please God for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them who diligently seek him Now it is necessary that he who requires us to come must in that exaction require such things as are necessary to obtain it and therefore faith without which Heaven cannot be attained And God hath given a blessed promissory Law that he will bless such as do believe and penal also that he will punish such as do not believe For the first John 3. 15 16. Whosoever believeth in him that is in Christ should not perish but have eternal life The same is added in the 16 verse God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life Here is a Law made concerning happiness an eternal Law concerning an eternal life all terms indefinite The same is repeated in the 18 verse of the same Chap. but with the addition of the penal Law He that believeth not is condemned already As likewse our Saviour Mark 16. 16. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned and this is no more but a pr●mise performed by God which was made Deut. 18. 15. urged by St. Peter Acts 3. 22. A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your Brethren like unto me him s●all you hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you v 23. And it shall co●e to pass that every Soul which will not hear that Prophet shall be d●stroyed from among the People Let Mr. Hobbs and his Followers read these thr●e words and tremble Condemned Damned Destroyed who believes not c. What shall such be who have not only this privative infidelity but a positive which opposeth and disturbs the faith of such as do believe with foolish and unnecessary Arguments Faith is commanded and exacted by God upon a dreadful penalty So likewise John 3 23. This is his commandement that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ. There in express terms this belief is commanded and as I have shewed obedience could not be given to other Laws if faith did not preceed which is the first step towards Heaven I need not speak of other cogitations of the Heart as Pride Self-conceitedness Covetous desiring others goods c. are all prohibited by God and he will punish them Mr. Hobbs was therefore to blame very much in saying that faith and the interiour cogitations are not subject to Gods commands had they been humane Laws of which he spoke it had been somewhat to the purpose men cannot know and therefore cannot punish the interiour cogitations and so not make Laws for them but God knows and searcheth the heart and reins and will punish them and therefore it is fit for him to give commands concerning them CHAP. XXII SECT X●V External and inferiour Acts subject to divine regulation Faith the fu●filling of that Law which commanded it Vain-glory and fear equally impeding practical Faith BUt it seems there is more in this argument of his where he saith but only to the operation of God ordinary or extraordinary I have spoken somewhat to this a little before where I shewed that other vertues which cannot be denyed to be commanded are subject to the operations of God who worketh both to will and to doe who creates and preserves and although he gives the will yet if he goe not on in the operation it will