Selected quad for the lemma: sin_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sin_n	believe_v	jesus_n	remission_n	4,257	5	9.2662	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A90691	The tempestuous soul calmed by Jesus Christ; being an extract of several sermons, / preached by Anthony Palmer, pastor of the church at Bourton on the Water in Gloucester-shire.	Palmer, Anthony, 1618?-1679.	1653 (1653)	Wing P219; Thomason E1496_3; ESTC R208632	45,978	112

sin as horrible as ever he argued it pleasant and commodious yea his chief darts lie at the faith of a beleever to be reasoning against the grounds of beleeving questioning their election severing the promises out of their sight mudding and darkening their sight of Christ accusing them for unsound and hypocrites tempting them from means which make for strengthening of faith Peter saith Christ Satan hath desired to winnow thee but I have prayed that thy faith fail not implying Satans design lay most against his faith through the malice and subtlety of Satan faith is put hard to it till the Lord rebuke him 5. Faith is wrought forth gradually in the soul by degrees at first sown as a grain of mustard-seed a small seed corruptions and reasonings like overspreading tares ready to choak it therefore being sown as I may so speak in weaknesse at first 't is thus put to it for comfort therefore Paul tels the Thessalonians 1 Thes 3.10,13 that there was something lacking in their faith and the establishment of their faith is much praied for by him 6. The Lord suffers it to be so that his power in the supporting of a weak soul may the more appear Faith is called the operation of the Son of God 1 Thess 2. and that your faith might stand in the power of God when a soul is full of fears and mis-givings and ready to sink under them theu the hand of the Lord is more visible in sustaining then we see by his power alone we stand Had we a strong setled faith presently we should rather be lifted up in our selves or rest upon grace received and so not glorifie the Lord Jesus and live upon him for strength as he requires Therefore the Lord suffers these fightings and reasonings within that we might have continuall recourse to him for support and that we might see that the beginnings life and growth of faith it is all in and from Jesus Christ as the Authour and Finisher of it For these Reasons viz. the wisedom and pride of flesh and bloud the natural power of Unbelief not being wholly subdued sense of unworthinesse the depth of guilt accusations of conscience and the disputings of Satan faith sown in weaknesse at first and all this suffered to ends of glory to the Lord Jesus Christ that his power and grace may be the more magnified therefore true faith is mixt with many reasonings doubtings misgivings disputings fears which do annoy it I will first endeavour to apply this before I prove further that such a faith may engage Christ to succour 1. If true faith be thus mixt with fears and reasonings It meets first with the easie faith that the most of people please themselves in as I thank God I alwaies beleeved God forbid but I should beleeve in Jesus Christ 'T is easie very easie indeed to presume away a precious soul 't is easie to flatter a mans self with an opinion of beleeving and indeed 't is nothing else but a customary opinion of Christ But to beleeve in Christ Jesus and savingly and effectually to apply his bloud by his Spirit enabling this is hard ah hard indeed to a poor convinced soul that hath deep thoughts of heart about the pardon of sins Lord help my unbelief and Lord if thou wilt and the like This easie beleeving is the dead sleep of sin upon the conscience and a generall opinion in the brain that Christ died for sinners even for all sinners to whom he is preached heightned by the strong delusion of the devil whose work it is to perswade souls that have nothing but a dead generall faith that they beleeve well and on the contrary to dispute against the faith of true beleevers that they do not truly believe And this among others may be a discovery of true faith unbelief is still mixing and Satan disputing against it as in the reasons shew'd If so much faith against beleeving pardon of sinne in the Lord Jesus how can it choose but be so but it must be a hard thing to a poor soul to fasten upon Christ in a promise for remission of sins when so much opposition to it Therefore this is an infallible note true beleevers deeply feel and are humbled for unbelief Oh 't is the deep evil of their hearts and that they most tremble at but take a carnall formall dead-hearted Protestant and no such matter with him He could beleeve a thousand years together and if he have any scruples they be as nothing a little praier or the like will quickly hekl it And herein also is another great snare Naturall conscience that is a conscience not savingly enlightned and sanctified may give some checks before in or after the commission of a sin and then unregenerate persons do most usually gather that they have truth of grace because they have some little conflicts within which they fasten upon from Rom. 7. the thing that I would not that do I but that former I is meant of the regenerate nature distinct to and warring against the fleshly part and not a little conflicting of the naturall conscience from common enlightenings of the word So also as to doubting and some small mis-givings these argue not a truth of saith unlesse these are only allayed by the going out of the soul to Jesus Christ and the evidence of the work of saith with power wrought forth in us If thy doubtings be such that do not settle again till thou hast made a true entire close with Jesus Christ in self-renouncing then they are of the spirit subduing sin and unbelief in thee Therefore look narrowly to unbelief as true faith interests the soul in Christ and all his grace and promises so unbelief excludes while unsubdued from all of Christ It sins against totum dei every attribute of God So then they could not enter in because of unbelief An utter impossibility upon it And this may reign through deluded mis-perswasion of true faith though the conversation in the eye of men civil and regular I desire to acknowledge to the praise of the rich grace of God that the opening of the power of unbelief by a holy Preacher of the Gospel was the first time of the Lords speaking to me in powerfull convincement that I was in the state of unbelief though before full of confidence of the safety of my condition Oh therefore Soul whoever thou art be jealous of thy own heart in this particular unbelief is a close spirituall undiscerned evil till the Lord come in and shew thee what the strength of it is by casting in a grain of faith to grapple with it which without the continuall supply of his Spirit will be overwhelmed by it Therefore let me presse thee with a serious triall of thy self this way that this is a dangerous snare easinesse to beleeve pardon of sin and peace with God So that unlesse thou canst make out a work of faith with power by the word and spirit Question all and so

far as a Pharisee in all the duties they boasted in And yet observe and do it with deep thoughts of heart that in Mat. 23. when the Lord Jesus preacht his last Sermon to them after he hath seven times pronounced woes unto them he puts this confounding question to them Ye Generation of Vipers how shall you escape the damnation of hell ver 33. Most indeed perish within the pale of the Church upon this account That in Rom. 10.3 among many others is very remarkable They being ignorant of Gods righteousnesse go about to establish their own righteousnesse and have not submitted to the righteousnesse of God 1. Ignorant how holy and perfect that righteousnesse is in which God will accept of and justifie a creature Ignorant of the righteousnesse of the Law considering not that the holy and spirituall Law of God reacheth to the heart and spirit and that one motion awry if we stand to that damns a soul for ever or that the worth of his repentance and duties can make God amends for what he fails as shew'd and ignorant of the full and acceptable righteousnesse of Christ though perhaps some generall notion of it in the brain and able to discourse of it yet as to sound and spirituall discerning of it and closing with it ignorant of it and so goeth about to establish his own righteousnesse And so is establishing that which the Lord will destroy establishing that which he should be perishing in and so doth not submit to the righteousnesse of Jesus Christ through ignorance and pride and self-conceit doth not submit unto it never beaten out of and perished in their own that they might submit unto Christ to be accepted for Christs obedience and not for their own And yet having thus submitted to delight in all the holy will of God also 3. A soul must perish as to any support in its priviledges of being baptized a protestant of the true Church and the like being no Papist no Heretick nor Schismatick as people are wont to boast themselves Though these are priviledges yet to build a safe condition upon them without Christ and regeneration is a most dangerous sin 4. A soul must perish in all its outward comforts as to be a refuge for him something hath been said as to this already The spirit of a man being an active mover must fasten and feed upon something and having lost God and communion with him it turns to the creatures and would satisfie it self upon them which bearing no proportion to it cannot afford him fulnesse Therefore convinced of this it is resolved to throw them off and seeing them altogether insufficient to cover him from the wrath of God to appease the conscience to give one dram of blessing to his soul he comes to Christ as having rested such a rest as it was in perishing things and sees if he staies upon them he must perish in them In a word Consider all those lying Refuges which a soul findes out to hide himself and pacifie conscience with there doth the searching God finde him our and drive him out of them and unfastens his hold of them then doth God as it were throw him at the feet of Christ then Christs bowels yern after him and laies hold upon him Then will that soul tell the Lord Jesus that he is come to perish in his view under his eye if he do perish but resolved to look after no other helper if his good pleasure be not towards him I will yet step aside to speak to a soul that hath not yet thus perished in all but Christ Why then sinner Consider here 's that will take down thy plumes thy imbred self-conceit and self-flatteries that will undoe thee if thou any longer hearkenest to them and yet walks up and down as self-conceitedly as if all thou trustest in were as safe as heaven 1. As to thy sin I have pleaded with thee before but a word more Darest thou pretend to be safe in thy sin an hour more Darest thou walk upon the brink of hell and smile upon it Tell me Dost thou beleeve sinne as certainly damnable while thou art in it unpardoned not fled to Jesus Christ as God reigneth in the heaven and is just Dost thou beleeve it sure thou dost not else thou dost not give rest unto thy spirit till thou hast found a Saviour to take thy sin away and his Spirit witnessing the same effectually unto thee Oh then come and be as thou art and be not too proud to own it a perishing sinner at Christs feet How poor and trembling will a perishing man be that lies wholly at the mercy of another So is it with thee thou hast not so much as bread for thy soul till thou comest perishing and hungring after Jesus Christ 2. As to thy own strength a word more If it be so that thou art strengthlesse helplesse in thy self not able to move one step towards God savingly of thy self thy heart as dead and weak as water how poor a creature may this make thee in thy own eyes Is it likely that what thou hast done hitherto and performed toward God hath been in thy own naturall strength and so not accepted oh then go and pleade with God to give thee a heart even upon his own free promise Jer. 31. I will give them a heart to know me Helplesse sinner what wouldst thou have more Hast thou not a spiritual heart I will give it saith God and give it for humble asking Oh art thou willing to turn at Gods reproof then Behold I will powr out my spirit upon you Behold take notice of it as the most encouraging promise thou canst fly unto Turn thy face to Christ and hear what he will speak even upon those unanswerable arguments he laies down in his Gospel yea beseech him but to turn thee to him and himself to thee and he will do it O then go presently to him while thou seest the way open and earnestly beg his Spirit and pleade Christs own promise And that spirit shall be an humbling subduing praying renewing quickning mortifying guiding comforting Spirit in thee And so thou shalt learn to perform all in the Spirit of Jesus Christ 3. As to thy own righteousnesse let me have one word more with thee Know that though thou maist make a good estimate of thy self and that others do so also in the things thou dost towards God and man yet Consider that what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to the Lord saith Christ Luk. 15. To be round with thee Darest thou imagine to stand and appear before the infinitely righteous holy heart-searching God in such a patcht up defiled covering as thy own doings and performances make Wilt thou lie down wrapt in a cobweb such is thy hope in this Job 8.13 to cover thee from the piercing storms of God or to hide a heart full of iniquity and hypoerisie from the eye of God or dost thou think that Jesus Christ