Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	according_a	holy_a	spirit_n	4,198	5	4.9999	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45354	A defence of revealed religion in six sermons upon Rom. I, 16 : wherein it is clearly and plainly shown that no man can possibly have any real ground or reason to be ashamed of Christianity / by Henry Hallywell.	Hallywell, Henry, d. 1703?	1694 (1694)	Wing H459; ESTC R26653	55,183	216

before he entred into his Glory Nor is it any more unbecoming or unworthy the Majesty of God to unite himself with a Humane Body which his own hands have fashioned and which is fearfully and wonderfully made than it was for the Divine Presence to take up its Residence in the Jewish Temple and dwell in a House of Stone Lastly That Jesus Christ should be made the visible Judge of Men and Angels is no less congruous and rational 1. In respect of himself this Honour and Triumph of the Divine Life being a just Reward of his voluntary Sufferings and Humiliation which is the Account our Saviour Christ gives himself John 5.27 And hath given him Authority to execute Judgment also because he is the Son of Man That is because he humbled himself to so high a degree as not only to take upon him our Flesh and Blood with all its harmless Infirmities and Imperfections but endured with wonderful Patience the Contradictions of Sinners the opprobrious Tauntings and Revilings of a Rude Generation and submitted himself at last to a Death full of Pain Ignominy and Disgrace 2. In regard of wicked Men and Devils For this visible Appearance of Jesus Christ in so solemn a manner attended with innumerable Legions of mighty Angels descending into these lower Regions near the Earth the Glory of whose Presence will be conspicuous to all the World must needs be a very sensible Conviction to all Wicked Persons of the Folly of their Doings when they shall see the same Jesus that delivered the Will of God to them now come to call them to an account for not obeying it And since there may be and doubtless are many Scoffing Atheistical Spirits in the Aerial Regions as well as here on Earth who ascribe all great Mutations in the World to Chance and Fortune or the necessary Combinations of Matter this appearance of our Lord and Saviour in such a visible manner according to the sure Predictions of the Holy Scriptures will effectually confute their vain Philosophy and force them even against their Wills to acknowledge the Interposition of a Divine Power and Providence Neither will it be a less afflicting Abasement of the insulting Pride of that Old Serpent and his Rebellious Associates who so long Tyrannized over Mankind with such Contempt and Scorn to feel themselves cast down into everlasting Destruction by that Nature which they had so much vilified and abused 3. In respect of those who have been faithful Adherents of Christ Jesus and firmly persisted in Goodness notwithstanding the many discouragements they met withal his Appearance in such a sensible manner will be exceeding comfortable and joyful for they beholding him coming down from Heaven with such transcendent Power and Glory must needs overflow with transports of Joy to find that now their Redemption will be fully compleated For what may not they hope for at his hands who is both their merciful Redeemer and their Judge And this very sight of their long-expected Saviour will invigorate their Souls with such a high degree of Life as shall through the inward Operation of the Divine Spirit transform their vile Bodies into the similitude of the glorious Body of the Son of God and in these fiery Chariots like Elijah they shall ascend from these mortal Regions to augment the Train of this great and Almighty Judge So every way agreeable are the Articles of our Christian Faith 2. We come now to the second Part of the Doctrines of Christianity which consists of such things as are commanded as Duties and matters of our Practice Which are only a reviving the natural Inscriptions and Laws of Righteousness Engraven upon our Souls at their first Creation For it cannot be thought but that that long Degeneracy we lay under and the powerful and vigorous growth of our Animal Faculties must exceedingly impair if not wholly obliterate the fair Impresses of the Divine Nature upon us so that we have need to have all those eternal Rules of Righteousness and Holiness to be laid down to us afresh And the manifestation of the Duties and Obligations that Christianity lays upon us is the exsuscitating and raising up that decaying and almost dying spark of Divine Life yet left in us and which may gain such strength by the powerful energy of the Spirit of Christ as to consume or convert into its Nature all that Rubbish which hindred and obstructed it And according to these Measures the Commands and Laws of Christianity are framed so that they are a part of the ancient Intellectual Furniture of our own Souls For furely there can be nothing more natural and consistent with our rational Frame than to Love and Honour God from whose infinite Fulness we and all things received their Being with all our Hearts and with all our Strength To depend upon him for all our Supplies and to acknowledge our own Nothingness that all that we have proceeds and flows from his inexhausted Bounty To sit quiet and contented under the various Dispensations of his Providence and to bring our Minds into a Subordination and perfect Conformity to his Holy Will in all things And as Christianity enjoyns us to pay all Duty and Service and Obedience to God so it strictly Commands all manner of Justice and Righteousness to others forbidding all harm and wrong to any thing living and instead of that requiring every Man in his several Station and Capacity to do all that Good that at any time lies in his Power To be kind and compassionate forgetting and forgiving all manner of Injuries done unto us and returning Good for the Evil that we have received Furthermore Christianity commands us to avoid all Lying and Hypocrisie as things beneath the excellency and dignity of our Nature and to speak the Truth in sincerity and singleness of Heart To banish out of our Minds all Malignity Rancour Malice and Envy as being the most contrary to the Nature of God who delights in the Prosperity and Happiness of his Creatures and therefore the Soul of a Christian above all others is enlarged and widened with an universal Love and Charity readily undertaking the help and relief of the Necessitous and Indigent looking upon all Mankind as Brethren and thereby joying and delighting in the Felicity of the whole World Now as to our selves we are engaged by the Precepts of our Holy Religion to exercise great Temperance and Moderation Sobriety and Chastity in reference to all Corporeal Satisfactions and Delights Not to defile and pollute our selves with debauched and sensual Pleasures but to remember that our Souls once came from the pure and incorruptible Mansions of Heaven and therefore that it is very unbecoming to suffer them to wallow and tumble in the Dirt and Mire of the Earth And since we are of a Divine Extraction Religion puts us in Mind to behave our selves as Citizens of that Heavenly Country and to release and withdraw our Affections from this World and to think of our return thither

as are concealed from wicked and careless Persons 4. And lastly It seems reasonable that there should be some choice Pieces of Wisdom and Knowledge reserved to exercise Mens Minds upon even in the very conclusion and last Age of the World As Nature has hid many curious Secrets and great Treasures in the Bowels of the Earth whereby she might have something to imploy Mens Diligence upon even to the end of the World so GOD has covered many Pieces of excellent Wisdom in the Body of the Scriptures that he might still have some new thing to offer some Treasures not yet known to discover to all the Generations of Men till the Time come that they shall know as they are know You see now in what Sence Religion may be said to be somewhat dark and obscure and that there are great Reasons for it And yet notwithstanding it is very plain and easie to the most ordinary Capacity in all things absolutely necessary to Salvation So that he that believes the Apostles Creed and leads a good Life according to the plain Commands of GOD in the Holy Scriptures he does all that which is required as absolutely necessary to Salvation and if it be not his own Fault shall undoubtedly be saved For whatever relates to the true and right honouring of GOD and his only begotten Son Jesus Christ and to the Duties of Righteousness and Justice to one another is very clearly laid down in the sacred Scriptures so that there can be no mistake about it And for those things that are difficult and transcend common Apprehensions it is enough for a Man to believe them to be the Revelations of GOD though he do not understand the sence and meaning of them provided that he be faithful in the discharge of all those Duties which are suited and fitted to the Capacity of every Christian and which none can be ignorant of But though this be enough to save a Man yet there is no Person that has means and opportunities of encreasing in Wisdom and Knowledge but if he neglect them he shall be accountable to GOD for this his neglect For to whom much is given of him shall much be required Therefore if we may grow wiser in Heavenly Wisdom and Understanding and shall waste those precious Opportunities upon any thing else of lesser Moment and Concernment this Carelesness will highly be charged upon us No Man is to stand at a stay but to improve himself in the Knowledge of Christ according to the Opportunities and Ability that GOD has given him so that no Man has any Time or Pains to Spare though GOD have made every private Christian's Duty so clear Object 2. To this that hath been said of the Plainness and Perspicuity of Religion it may further be objected after this manner That if it be so plain and clear in all those things that are requisite and necessary to bring a Christian to Heaven then what need have we of Preaching Answ To this Objection we may reply that since this hath been made use of by our Adversaries as an Artifice to draw off and dissettle unstable Minds from the true Religion yet if there be any validity in it it makes as much against them as it doth against us there being no Sect or Party or Religious Society whatever but hath some Persons set apart to preside over and Minister in Religious Offices to those of the same Bond and Communion But we shall not content our selves with this but more fully show That though all things necessary for the Salvation of every private Christian be fully and plainly laid down so that there can be no mistake yet a settled Ministry as the case of things stands is not only needful but cannot be laid aside And that for these Reasons 1. There are many weak and doubting Consciences amongst Christians which will want Resolution many that are troubled and cast down that will stand in need of Advice and Comfort Now this makes one great part of the work of him that is appointed for the Conduct of Souls to comfort the feeble minded and to support the weak And though this may be in some measure the duty of all Christians to one another yet more especially of him who is designed and set apart to minister to the needs and necessities of Souls Moreover we see how vigilant and industrious the grand Enemy of Mankind is in striving by his Agents and Instruments to subvert the Faith of such as are not well grounded by drawing them into Schisms Factions and Heresies which would be in a great measure prevented if Men would consult their spiritual Guides whose Office it is to Teach and to Instruct them Therefore so long as these Needs and Necessities of Men continue that is of such as are weak who will want Counsel and Advice of such as are doubtful who will need Resolution so long there will be a necessity of an established Ministry For to whom can Men better repair than to those that are set over them whose conscientious Faithfulness may render them fit to be trusted and whose skill and ability in Learning and Knowledge may make them able both to instruct the Ignorant and convince Gainsayers 2. We cannot but see how easily Men are drawn into Sin and how prone they are naturally to Vice notwithstanding the constant Admonitions and frequent Instructions given them and that great care that is taken to keep them out of the Snares of the Devil and we cannot but take notice how little all this prevails upon them and that yet Sin and Evil is too apt to get ground and make advances What then can we imagine would be the event and consequence if all these things were laid aside If they are hardly now kept in the due fear and reverence of GOD by the most faithful and strong Exhortations to Piety and Vertue there can nothing else be expected but that a Deluge of Wickedness should overflow the World when these Banks that stopped it are broken down and all restraints removed and Men left only to the guidance of their unruly Lusts and Passions This must necessarily be the State of Things if there were no settled Ministry among us and therefore the continuance of it is not only highly beneficial but there seems a pressing necessity for it though our Duty be so plain and all things absolutely required to particular Mens Salvation be so clear and manifest Object 3. It may yet further be objected If the necessary things of Religion be so plain how come Men to walk so contrary to it And why has it so little effect in the World One would think that those stupendious Promises of the Forgiveness of our Sins of the assistance of GOD's Spirit and of everlasting Joys in the Kingdom of Heaven should be enough to quicken Mens Diligence to enliven their dull and heavy Minds and put them upon earnest Resolutions and Endeavours to walk constantly in those Paths that lead to so desirable