Linguistic DNA - Concept Modelling Demonstrator

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
soul_n	heart_n	lord_n	word_n	14,837	5	4.3216	3	true

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33454	Methodus Evangelica, or, The gospel method of Gods saving sinners by Jesus Christ practically explained in XII propositions / by Abraham Clifford ; to which is prefixed a preface by Dr. Manton, and Rich. Baxter.	Clifford, Abraham.; Manton, Thomas, 1620-1677.; Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.	1676 (1676)	Wing C4701; ESTC R23890	95,942	214

repent and believe and be holy And that in order to our being happy And hath he not finally excluded from life and happiness all such that are impenitent unbelieving and impure Can there be any doubt concerning this to him that reads the Gospel and believes it to be of Divine authority And is he not do you think serious in all this What shall the unchangeable God that cannot lie be deemed like degenerate Man to speak one thing and mean another Or is he serious only in his promises and not so also in his commands and threatnings Why Are not both equally founded upon the same immutable nature and veracity of God And if you can perswade your selves to hope that God will revoke his threatnings and commands Why should you not also doubt whether he will make good his promises We have no other foundation whereon to build our faith and hopes but the declared will of God and if that be changeable our faith 's no better than opinion and our hopes presumption We can then neither be sure that the wicked shall be turned into Hell nor yet that the righteous shall be saved If this then be the fixed and unchangeable order and method of Salvation by the Covenant of Grace that either we must repent or perish return or die believe or be damned be holy or not see God be obedient or suffer the vengeance of eternal fire as hath been shewn how can we hope to be saved otherways than in repenting and turning and believing and obeying of the Gospel Otherways than in the actual performance of these duties 2. Have we not more than once by our own voluntary act solemnly engaged our selves to the actual performance of all these conditions When we were baptized when we after this approached to the Lords Table when we have at any time professedly humbled our Souls before the Lord in any solemn ordinance yea when we first entertained the tenders of Grace and Salvation did we not then promise and engage to amend our evil wayes and doings and turn to God and believe in Jesus Christ and receive him in all his offices and keep his Commands and walk in all holiness and obedience well pleasing in his sight Now either we were serious and in good earnest or not when we thus engaged If serious 't is morally impossible that we should indulge our selves in the wilfull neglect of these duties since an intentional and approved violation of our promise is inconsistent with sincerity And therefore the conscience of our own obligation will necessarily put us upon all possible endeavours to act conformable to our own engagements And since the thing to which we obliged our selves was not meerly the profession and acknowledgment but actual performance of these duties we shall accordingly study to perform them But if we say we were not serious in these solemn engagements we then plainly confess that our design therein was only to play the Hypocrites with God and to impose upon his omnisciency But is it possible that any reasonable creature should ever become so prodigious a Monster Or that ever it should enter into the heart of Man to imagine that the all wise and holy God He that requires truth in the inward parts Psal 51.6 He that hath curst the deceiver Mal. 1.14 He that hath denounced so many woes against the Hypocrite Matth. 23. and hath sentenced them to the lowest place in Hell Matth. 24.51 That he I say should bind himself by Covenant to such Miscreants to pardon them and bless them and admit them to the best and choisest priviledges of his Kingdom What such as design to mock God and play the Hypocrite with him and to be treacherous and unfaithful to him Be not deceived saith the Apostle God is not mocked Gal. 6.7 Besides if our stipulating with God in the Covenant or as the Prophet expresseth it our subscribing with the hand to the Lord be necessary as hath been demonstrated in order to our recâ—iving the blessings of it then our actual performance of what we stipulated and subscribed to must needs be much more necessary since our solemn engagement to the Covenant is râ—quired not meerly for it self but only as a means to this end that is to bind us to a more punctual performance of the conditions of it 3. How else shall we distinguish betwixt the righteous and the wicked the Heirs of Glory and the Sons of perdition They may all be baptized They may all subscribe with the hand to the Lord. They may all eat and drink at his table They may all be professors in Religion and make a fair shew in the flesh as the Apostle speaks Gal. 6.12 These things are common to both and therefore can be no mark of distinction betwixt them No but herein lies the difference The one break off their sins by repentance and turn to God the other not The one come to the foot of Christ take his yoak and bear his burden and sincerely believe in him the others not The one keep his Commandments and obey from the heart his Laws and Doctrine the others not The one love the Lord with all their Souls and thoughts and strength the others have not the same love of the Father in them but love the world and the things of the world as John speaks 1 John 2.15 In a word the one perform the Oath of the Lord and act conformably to their Covenant engagements but the other they draw back and are unfaithful Like the Pharisees they say and do not But the others they say and do And thus they are mutually described and distinguished by the Apostle 1 Joh. 3 7 10. Little children let no man deceive you he that doeth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous ver 7. But whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God ver 10. And herein he tells us the Children of God are manifest and the Children of the Devil Herein they are differenced and hereby they manifestly may be distinguished And the same Character and mark of distinction we have from Jesus Christ himself Job 8.31 15.8 But if the actual performance of these conditions be not unchangeably necessary all distinction betwixt good and bad Holy and Prophane is taken away and we cannot say of any â—owever visibly different in their lives and conversations this Man is wicked or that Man is righteous since one is not this in observing nor the other that in neglecting the observance of them if not neceâ—sary to be observed and so we have no Standard left whereby to judge of either The obedient and disobedient are alike if obedience and disobedience be the same For whatever elective love God may have for any particular person more than for others amongst the degenerate Sons of Men yet since that is only an immanent act in God and that which had an existence from all eternity before we had any thing and wholly lies hid in the secret counsel of Gods

and the doctrine of free Grace THis method of Gods saving sinners by way of Covenant as is before explained is very well consistent with and no way derogatory to either the sufficiency of Christs satisfaction and righteousness or to the doctrine of free Grace in Christ I add this because 't is the common fortress to which Men of more loose and debauched lives and principles in Religion are wont to retire when by the evidence of Scripture and reason they are driven from all their other holds Tell them that they must repent and turn to God and amend their evil wayes and doings and bring forth fruits meet for repentance Tell them that they must come to Christ and believe in him and take his yoak and bear his burden and deny themselves and be obedient to his Laws and love him in sincerity Tell them that they must mortifie the deeds of the flesh and deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts and live godly and righteously and soberly in this present world and be pure in heart and holy in all manner of conversation as he that hath called them is holy Tell them that there is an indispensable necessity of all this or else their sins cannot be pardoned or their persons accepted or their Souls saved in the day of the Lord Jesus And give them undeniable reason and plain and express Scripture for the proof of all these commands and promises and threatnings all speaking the same language And what is their answer to all this Why The righteousness of Christ is sufficient and the Grace of God in Christ is free and therefore they hope in his mercy and doubt not of their Salvation though they still indulge themselves in sin and continue in a manifest neglect of God and the great duties of Christianity And all that is said to the contrary that might take them off from sin and vanity and perswade them to any greater diligence and exactness in Religion that is immediately condemned and decried for legal doctrine that disthrones Christ and takes the Crown from his head and destroyes the free Grace of God and tends to bring us again in bondage to the Law And that which makes it the more difficult to take Men off from these mistaken notions they have entertained concerning the righteousness of Christ and free Grace is this that they are the only foundation and hold that these Men have for their hopes of pardon and Salvation So that if you beat them off from these you take away all their hopes and confidence yea their Heaven and happiness from them They have nothing then left whereby to stop the mouths of their own awakened consciences or warrant their expectations of Heaven or to keep their Souls from sinking immediately into despair Their hearts they condemn them for their daily neglect of duty and indulgencies to the flesh and disobedience to the Gospel and alas they have nothing within or from the word to witness for them No broken and contrite spirit no mournings in secret for their sins no acts of self-denyal no change of heart or life no spirit of faith or fear or love or adoption to intitle them to the promise and blessings of the Covenant No neither Sun nor Star appears that might encourage them in their way but as it was with Paul in his voyage to Rome all hopes that they should be saved is taken away and therefore 't is that they do with so much constancy and resolution adhere to and contend for these mistaken notions as their only refuge security And thus though they are not able to conquer or encounter those thundering Legions that are brought against them yet whilest they have this strong hold and fortress to retire to they are little moved by the terrors of the Lord but still apprehend themselves safe and well secured against all that thunder and lightning that is from Heaven poured out against them All is but like the shooting of pointed Arrows against the walls of a Castle which are presently beat back again without making any great impression upon the walls And therefore there is little hopes of ever prevaling with these Men to surrender themselves to the powers either of Scripture or reason though on every hand besieged by them unless this Fortress of theirs be demolished and its Towers broken down and consequently their refuge and defence taken away That is in more plain English unless it be discovered that their notions about the sufficiency of Christ's righteousness and the doctrine of Free Grace are false and vain and that neither the conditionality of the New Covenant nor the necessity of our personal performance of the conditions of it in order to eternal life are any way inconsistent with or prejudicial unto either Grace notwithstanding is still free And the satisfaction and righteousness of Jesus Christ is nevertheless sâ—fficient These are the two things that I am now particularly to speak to and to demonstrate The sufficiency of Christs satisfaction and â—ighteousness is no way either contradicted or prejudiced by asserting the Covenant of Grace to be made not with Jesus Christ but with â—elievers themselves upon certain terms and conditions to the actual performance of which they are personally obliged in order to their receiving and enjoying the benefits â—f it That Jesus Christ hath fully satisfied the demands of the first Covenant and fulâ—â—lled all righteousness and finished his work â—s Mediator and perfected our Redemption â—y his death and suffering And that his saâ—â—sfaction and merit is of infinite value and â—â—erefore abundantly sufficient for the ends â—r which it was intended hath been acâ—nowledged and proved in the foregoing â—â—opositions Propos. 2. and 4. And thereâ—ore I shall need to say nothing here for the â—â—claring my assent to or for the vindicatiâ—â— of these particulars That which I have â—ow to do is only to shew in what sense â—â—operly it may be said to be sufficient and ã€ˆâ—Šã€‰ remove those mistaken apprehensions that â—â—e concerning it For which purpose it is ã€ˆâ—Šã€‰ the first place to be observed that by sufâ—iciency here we are not to understand the â—â—â—rinsick worth and value of Christs saâ—â—â—faction and righteousness upon which account it may not untruly be said if rightly construed that 't is sufficient for the Salvatioâ— of many worlds And in this very particular mainly lies the mistake The satisfaction oâ— Christ say they is infinite and his righteousness infinite therefore sufficient for the redemption of this and many worlds if they had been made which as to its absolute valuâ— and dignity is acknowledged But whatâ— then Why Therefore they hope and believe that they shall be saved by it And ã€ˆâ—Šã€‰ they build their faith and hopes immediately upon the absolute worth and merit ã€ˆâ—Šã€‰ Christs satisfaction But will this foundatioâ— stand or this argument hold good wheâ— it comes to tryal In this sense 't is sufficienâ— to save the Infidels Jews and Turks Tâ— save the spirits now in

not upon me but him He 's the only Offender in Law not I for where there is no obligation to obedience by Law there can be no sin or offence against it And thus by affirming the New Covenant to be made with Jesus Christ and not with Believers they do not only acquit themselves from all sin and possibility of sinning which is flatly contrary to the express testimony of Scripture but they also in effect charge Jesus Christ with their sins and make him legally guilty of all the violations of the Covenant which are Consequences of so foul and black a nature as that no sober mind can entertain a thought of them or of the Principles whence they spring without abhorrence I have been the more large upon this argument since this opinion of the Covenants being made with Christ and not with Believers as it is of dangerous consequence and evidently destructive to the power of Godliness so it hath gained much upon the minds of men partly from the corruption of Mans nature that readily entertains what ever makes for liberty and promiseth indulgence to the flesh and gives a dispensation from the more strict observances in Religion And partly from the Nature of the Doctrine that tends to take Men off from the trouble of duty and obedience and to gratifie them in their desires of ease and pleasure And partly from the worth and credit of some Seers in Israel that have unwarily preacht and pubâ—isht this to the World either by inadvertency taking it up as a traditional Doctrine without due examination or by mistake not rightly distinguishing betwixt the Covenant of Redemption which 't is evident was made with Christ and the Covenant of Grace which is made with Believers But if Jesus Christ be the Author Mediator and Confirmer of this New Covenant by his death and intercession in the behalf of sinners And if Believers themselves and not Christ are still mentioned in Scripture as the party with whom God Covenants as from the instances of Abraham and Israel and Gospel Saints 't is evident And if it be made their act to stipulate with God therein they enter into Covenant with the Lord and they join themselves to him by Covenant and they cut a Covenant with him and they avouch the Lord to be their God and they subscribe with the hand to the Lord and they pass under the Rod and come into the Bond of the Covenant and give themselves to the Lord And if they be the persons only that seal with God in this Covenant and that this be the proper use and design of those two great Gospel Institutions Baptism and the Lords Supper And lastly if they become guilty of sin in their non performance of the terms of it and are punishâ—ble for their defaults Then 't is no more to be doubted but that Believers and not Christ are the sole parties with whom God transacts in the New Covenant which was the thing to be demonstrated PROPOS X. Of the terms of the New Covenant THIS New Covenant made with Believers in Jesus Christ for life and glory it is not only consistent with but doth necessarily as such imply certain terms and conditions annexed to it which we are indispensably obliged to accept and perform The Covenant is made up of Promises and Commands Priviledges and Conditions the former contain our happiness the latter our duty and these two they must not be separated What a Condition is every one I suppose understands that hath but seen any ordinary Lease or Indenture By that we know there â—s somewhat demised and granted as the â—ree and peaceable enjoyment of the Premiâ—es with all Emoluments and Appurtenanâ—es belonging to it And there is also somewhat therein required and enjoined as the payment of the Rent reserved and keeping the Premises in repair c. which if done and performed accordingly the Tenant is continued in possession But if it so happen that the said Rent be unpaid or the Premises suffered to go to decay then the Lease is forfeited and the party may by Law be ejected So that a Condition you see is that which on our part is required upon the performance of which some good or emolument is to be received and enjoyed by us but in case of non-performance the whole is lost either by forfeiting our right or by having at first no rightful claim to it And thus we say that Faith and Repentance c. are Conditions of the New Covenant God therein indeed gives and grants pardon of sin and eternal life to sinners but with this proviso that they repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ c. which if they do accordingly the Blessings promised become theirs and they are continued in the possâ—ssion of them but if they fail in the sincere performance of these duties their sins shall not be pardoned noâ— their souls eternally saved as is afterwards to be shewn This is that which I call the condition oâ— the Covenant Nor can I see any just reason why any should be offended with the word For do we not in all contracts call that a condition to the performance of which we arâ— by Covenant obliged upon penalty of forfeiture in case of nonâ—performance As if you shall pay such a Fee or Homage to the Court you shall enjoy such an estate otherwise you shall lose the possession of it And in all Agreements those are the conditions which are the terms upon which the disagreeing parties mutually accord As Luke 14.32 it 's said of the King that was not able to war with him that came against him that he sent his Embassadours an desired conditions of Peace And those in Logick conditional propositions upon which the consequent hath an evident dependance upon its antecedent As if you forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you but if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses Math. 6.14 15. If we would judge our selves we should not be judged of the Lord 1 Corinth 11.31 If ye keep my Commandments ye shall abide in my love Joh. 15.10 If thou seekest for wisdom as silver and searchest for her as for hid treasures then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God Prov. 2.4 5. If ye live after the flesh ye shall die but if ye through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the flesh ye shall live Rom. 8.13 If thou dost well shalt thou not be accepted Gen. 2.7 If we confess our sins he is faithful to forgive 1 Joh. 1.9 Are not all these conditional propositions Doth not reason and common language teach us to speak thus And who ever yet called them by any other name I have therefore the rather instanced in these Scriptures that you might see how confessing our sins and forgiving others are made conditions of Gods forgiving us And judging our selves is made the condition of our not

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