Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	new_a	old_a	testament_n	3,965	5	8.0680	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A91526	Jewish hypocrisie, a caveat to the present generation. Wherein is shewn both the false and the true way to a nations or persons compleat happiness, from the sickness and recovery of the Jewish state. Unto which is added a discourse upon Micah 6.8. belonging to the same matter. / By Symon Patrick B.D. minister of the word of God at Batersea in Surrey.	Patrick, Simon, 1626-1707.	1660 (1660)	Wing P817; Thomason E1751_1; Thomason E1751_2; ESTC R203168	156,691	423

and meaning another but a present profession of love to God and Religion without a cordial renouncing of every thing that is contrary to him and it or a great heat and forwardness to some things that God commands which are easie and more suitable to a mans gust and humor with a coldness to other things that are more difficult and contrary to his nature and interest There is an extraordinary measure of Zeal for some matters required to its constitution else they in whom it is would not be so confident as they are that they are good Christians but then this zeal is not equally destributed through the whole man and doth not animate and quicken him to all his duty and that is it which makes it to be Hypocrisie and not true Religion As for example if a man have this partial zeal in hearing of Gods word and diligent attending upon Sermons this may make him take himself for a Saint whereas his frozenness to meditation and secret converse with God and diligent examination of all his actions renders him a meer hypocrite So if he be partially zealous for the purging of himself from superstitious conceits and Popish tenents but yet remain a Mammonist a Lucifer a murtherer of his Brethren by hatred and uncharitable censuring of others that differ from him this is the same disease though he take himself for a man excellently pious And on the contrary if a man be just in his dealing and carefull not to cheat but yet be all bedaubed with the world and laden with thick clay stick fast in covetousness or neglect many religious duties to Godward he is but an hypocritical Religionist though he keep his Church and pay the Mininister his dues as well as others 7. And if you should ask me why this good conceit that men have of their Piety may not be easily beaten down when it is so visible that they live in great sins and have not denyed abundance of their earthly affections I answer that their first resolutions to undertake some duties of Religion are commonly very warm if not hot and fiery which inspires them presently with a perswasion that they are dearly beloved of God because they feel such a difference in themselves from what they were before in their total coldness Now though they continue to live in many sins yet this perswasion doth not abate 1. Because this zeal doth continue and hold on afterwards through the concurrence of their particular Temper with it which inclines them to that sort of actions or doth not make them averse from them And 2 Then they may think it to be a Temptation of the Devil to doubt of their good estate after they have had such great assurance as they imagine from God And 3 They find a desire to do those things that they do not which they take to be a great sign of grace Especially seeing 4 That they are troubled for the not doing of them and they have now and then some sad thoughts about it Yea 5 Their Conscience perhaps is much against it when they do it and they commit such sins not without great reluctance and difficulty Which indeed renders their condition the worse because they can sin even against conscience but they take it to be a sign of their tenderness not of their sins strength And 6 Perhaps they have learnt to call such sins their Infirmities and hearing that all have their failings these they think are theirs And 7 By their Confessions and Prayers and outward humiliations they hope to gain pardon for all or 8 Perhaps they think there is no need but by a device beyond all these they imagine Jesus Christ hath done all for them long ago And so the less they do the more they shall be beholden to him and the more honour they do him by putting more upon his account then others dare do who will be doing more themselves 8. Thus I say do they ratifie that Decree which they have passed for themselves in heaven They having so certainly fore-ordained that they shall inherit eternal joyes none of those foul blemishes that are in their actions can blot out their names which they have written in the Book of life But though they think that nothing can hinder their admission to that blessed place which they have designed for themselves yet God I am sure hath chosen no such persons to salvation If the holy Apostle be not less infallible then they you had better believe him 2 Thes 2.13 when he saith that God hath chosen us to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth and when he prayes that the whole Spirit 1 Thes 5.23 Soul and Body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus These men may mount up while they are in some holy exercise as high as the third heavens and think verily that they are in Gods embraces But they will find shortly that all their hopes will fall to the ground as that Turk did from the top of the Mosque who perswaded the people that he could fly And therefore let us be sure to lay the foundations of a solid and entire Religion in our souls and take heed we do not deceive our selves with some flashy devotions and a lame halting obedience To mortifie all our carnal affections to put off the body of sin is the work of a Christian and because of the multitude of our enemies and the infirmities of our flesh we shall find it a matter hard and difficult How insuperable then will this work be if our Religion it self do conspire with the Flesh and if that which should serve for the destroying of sin do by a great many false Principles exceedingly promote it That it may not do so but that our Religion may be in us a Divine nature I shall now proceed to shew you what the counterfeits of it are and how small a matter if we be not serious will tickle us with a belief that we are good Christians without a total change of our hearts and lives CAP. XVIII 1. The story of the Jews in the New Testament to be minded as well as in the Old and we find them great Professors 2. But their Religion was only talk 3. And with such windy Religion still men deceive themselves Good words may move a mans affections and so cozen him 4. Others delight only in high-flown and obscure language 5. An high proficiency they take themselves to have made if they dare leap into a Pulpit 6. The sins of such men A short description of True Religion in reference to this matter 1. NOW for the more full discovery of the several kinds of this Hypocrisie I think it will be best to examine the New Testament story as I have done the Old and see what the temper of the Jews was in our Saviours and the Apostles time who will give us as perfect a character of this false spirit as their fore-fathers

of this in our age of the world but pass to the fourth thing observable which shall be quickly dispatched because I have staid so long upon the two former 7. From hence you may perceive the reason why they did so casily upon any occasion revolt from God and fall to Idolatry again They were but half reformed and retained the very root of Idolatry in their hearts and therefore rather then suffer any thing from the displeasure of a new King they would set up the false worship again and become of his Religion For so you may see that after Hezekiahs time who had made a great change among them Manasseh and the people with him returned to their Idols and after Josiah it is the complaint of Ieremiah that they went a whoring from God Now what reason can be assigned for this but that their hearts were rotten and though they prided themselves in a Religion yet it was that which they did not understand or love upon any other account but as it did maintain them in their present covetousness and violence Whence it came to pass that the same covetous affections made them change their Religion when there was no other way to serve them And as their reformation in Religion was sometimes a cloak for their covetousness so in process of time their covetousness made them think any religion to be good enough and to debauch the worship of God without any alteration of their confidence And this run them also upon another mischief which was that when they had forgotten God and principles of Conscience though they were confident yet it was in the power and strength of men rather then in God who used to defend them marvelously Is Israel a servant saith Ieremy chap. 2 14. is he an home-born slave i. e. doth not God care how he uses him or what misery he exposes him unto as men do with their slaves that they have full possession of Is he not Gods son yea his first born but how then comes it to pass that he is spoiled The Prophet answers that indeed both Assyria and Aegypt had devoured him ver 15 16. but it was his own fault who forsook his God and sought to those for help who rather did him harm ver 17 18. And so it will be with every one as it was with him ver 19. who betakes himself to evil courses to defend what he hath as unjustly gotten His own wickedness shall correct him and his back-slidings shall reprove him he shall know that it is an evil thing and a bitter that he hath forsaken the Lord and that his fear is not in him CAP. XII 1. The second General truth discoursed of that after their return from Babylon they had not left these sins 2. God had taken care to prevent their falling-into them but Zachary tells us to how small effect 3. And so doth Haggai 4. And Malachi in whose Prophesie a difficult place is explained Mal. 2.13 14 15. 5. Zachary tells us what would be in after times 6. Which was too fully verified in their base usage of the Lord of life 7. Christians not free from the same sins to this day 1. AND now leaving these observations to every mans private consideration I shall pass to the Second General truth which I promised to illustrate and that is this That these were the sins which the Prophets note this people to have been guilty of after they were returned out of their captivity and when an amendment might justly have been expected Ezekiel who had seen the Glory of the Lord depart from the Temple and so his protection from the Nation as you read before ch 9. doth prophesie likewise of its return again and in a vision he beheld it coming in at that gate where it went out and seating it self in the new house of God which he describes Ezek. 43.3 4 5. Justice and gratitude would make us now think that they would never offend God in such manner as their Fathers had done especially after they had felt so long darkness by the departure of the divine glory from their land But yet as if these sins had been transfused into them with their parents seed they would not cross the old Proverb Like Father like Son treading in their steps and leaving the like example to their posterity Very devout they were for ought that we can read in their Religious worship no complaints are brought in against them for not keeping the Sabbath not praying fasting and offering Sacrifice But they knew themselves so punctual in these things that they slided into the same deceit wherein their Fathers were caught and perished They imagined that those things were all the reverence that was to be performed to the divine glory which dwelt among them and that it would not be offended with their unjust and unmercifull dealings For in the very beginning of this Prophesie of Zachary where we begun this discourse he crys out chap. 1. v. 2 3 4 c. Thus saith the Lord of hosts Turn you turn you unto me Be not ye as your Fathers unto whom the former Prophets cryed the very same words who though they would not hearken then yet afterwards were forced to acknowledge when Gods words took hold of them that they were punished according to their doings And this was when the captivity was expired that he made this proclamation unto them whereby we may judge that they were not converted when God had turned their captivity 2. And indeed God foresaw what would be their practice and wherein they would bestow their greatest ceremony And therefore many years before this deliverance he labours to secure the observance of these neglected duties when it should be vouchsafed to them For before he warns them a word about their sacrifices by the Prophet Ezekiel he gives the Princes a great charge about matters of justice equity and kind dealing as you may read Ezek. 45.8 9 10 11 c. And then there immediately follows a large direction about their offerings and feasts that they should observe in the latter end of that chapter and part of the next But as he begun so he concludes that discourse with a business that concerns justice Ezek. 46.18 The Prince shall not take the peoples inheritance by oppression to thrust them out of their possession c. And yet we cannot but take notice that they were horribly faulty in these things though the Laws of sacrifice which they carefully kept were invironed with cautions about them For Zachary plainly tells us that robbery and perjury two most gross sins did still reign among them and to make them more provoking they said notwithstanding that they were innocent So Iunius reads those words ver 3. This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth for every one that steals of this people saith as it i. e. as the rest of the earth I am innocent and whosoever sweareth of this people saith as it that

of others and for their own Traditions more then Gods commands 2. They loved acts of Piety better then acts of Mercy and Justice and those acts of Piety that were outward more then the inward 3. That which agreed with their humour better then that which was against it 4. More scrupulous of a little sin then a great 5. Just in one case that they might be unjust in many and sometimes charitable that they might be constant extortioners 6. They would do more then was commanded in one thing rather then what was commanded in all things 7. Great need therefore we should examine our selves Observe well what moves you when extraordinary zealous for one thing 8. Observe what your zeal in one case is apt to make you neglect in others 1. AND this will lead me to the great mark of the Pharasaick spirit which comprehends all the rest and that is a fierce zeal for some things with a plain neglect of all the rest As it is easier to talk then to do so some things are easier to be done then others And if you read the Gospel you will see that they pickt out those things that were of easie digestion and would nourish their diseases but rejected every thing that might make them sick and vomit up all their filthiness To make this more apparent I will instance in some particulars which clearly discover their partial and unequall zeal in performance of their duty And First you may observe that they loved their own Traditions better then they did Gods express commands There are many learned men and St. Hierom among the rest that think God did not command them to make Phylacteries but only carefully to remember the Law Deut. 6.8 9. And yet they were more carefull to have these scripts of parchment about them then to have the Law of God written on their hearts which was contained in them But though that be not certain yet it is most indubitable that God commanded them to honour their Father and Mother but no where bids them offer and consecrate all their estates to him And yet notwithstanding they took themselves to be excused from all obligations to relieve their poor Parents So Theophylact interprets it if they could but say that they had devoted all that as a gift to God whereby they might do them any good Mat. 15.5 which was a most lensless thing and as if what was given to the poor especially to our parents were not given to Gods uses And yet now at this day men are wont to swagger more in a new fashion and late invention in Religion of their own contriving then to contend earnestly for the manifest precepts of our Lord Iesus They are all on a fire for a doubtfull opinion for a mode of Government which relies on no clear Scripture but have scarce any sensible heat for that love and charity which Christ hath undeniably commended over and over again to his disciples 2. A Second thing which you may observe in the Pharisees is this that they loved actions of Devotion to God better then actions of Mercy and Equity to men That you may see by their long prayers Mat. 23.14 and their Corbans or gifts they offered to God just now mentioned There was more of Pomp and fame but less of Self-denyall in the one then in the other and they would alwayes chuse that which was most easie especially if it conduced to their credit and glory And therefore thirdly you may observe that of all actions of Piety they chose those that were most outward and done with least trouble As to praying they were much addicted but with meditation inward admirations of God adorations of his excellencies we may be sure they were little acquainted And just so now it is men think that actions of piety merit more of God then others do and that he is so pleased with them that he can be content if they overlook others while they are so very kind to him and therefore Mercy and Kindness to others are meer strangers to them And you may observe that men had rather pray with others then alone by themselves and they account it a greater attainment to be a speaker in a congregation then to be humble and lowly-hearted They are strangers to inward and deep thoughts of God for if they were acquainted with his holiness and goodness they would mind nothing more then to purge themselves from all their filthy passions and affections and to do good to all as he doth 3. And indeed fourthly it was generally true of them that they loved that which was outward more then that which was inward Mat. 23.25 28. And they loved that which agreed with their own humour better then that which was against it v. 15. They scoured the out-side that it might shine and glister and dazzle all mens eyes with its brightness but they cared not how black or cankered they were within and how vile they appeared in Gods eyes so that all their neighbours would suspect no foulness And they endeavoured the conversion of others to their Religion which did but feed their own vain humor and popular desire of being accounted great and glorious Saints while they took no care to turn their own hearts to God and true righteousness from which they had so monstrously degenerated Of this sort are all they who are highly zealous against all carnal sins but live in those that are spiritual They hate all riot and drunkenness as we all ought to do but are drunken themselves with rage anger and pride They reprove others sharply but cannot indure a fair reproof from others They cry out perhaps against injustice but think it no robbery to take away a mans good name They detest unclean embraces but yet have an unchaste complacency in themselves and their own Opinions They would have no wicked men govern us but they think themselves fit for their places and are desirous of preheminence 4. A fifth token of their hypocrisie was that they were more scrupulous in committing of a little sin then of a great They would take false witness against Christ though they would not enter in the Governours hall for fear of being defiled Which was as if one should strain his liquor if there were a gnat in it but make nothing of swallowing a Camel Mat. 23.24 The heat and sap of their souls spent themselves in such broad leavs and fruitless suckers as you see in a Vine undressed and he that should but pluck off one leaf strike off one ceremony or uncommanded duty that they imposed was a greater enemy to God in their account then he that broke most of Gods Laws He that knows the world cannot but see that this leaven is not yet cast out of mens hearts We have many that are Christians just as Domitian was a Souldier that are enemies to flies and flies to their enemies Very braving and daring they are against that which is called Superstition but easily