Selected quad for the lemma: tradition_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
tradition_n	faith_n	reason_n	scripture_n	2,267	5	6.0519	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61378	Sober singularity, or, An antidote against infection by the example of a multitude being practical meditations on Exod. 23, vers. 2 : wherein is opened the influence of the practise of a multitude, to draw men to sin, the special cases, wherein it concerns us to be most cautious, reasons why we must not follow them, together with the application of the whole : and therein, besides the general improvement of the point, an instance given of nineteen practises of the multitude to be avoided, seven of their grand principles to be rejc̈ted [sic] : sundry particulars concerning peace and unity, and the sanctification of the Lords Day, useful for these times / by R. Stedman ...	Stedman, Rowland, 1630?-1673.	1660 (1660)	Wing S5376; ESTC R38303	146,089	254

conversations Deal faithfully with their Souls by meekness of reproof and admonition as there is occasion Often provoke and stir them up to follow after righteousness that so they may bear you company in the way to heaven Let me give you the counsel of the Lord to Jeremy in this case Jer. 15.19 Let them return unto thee but return not thou unto them But perhaps you will object and say this is the work of a Minister Yea my brethren and it is incumbent on every particular Christian also what in them is to render the wayes of God lovely and amiable in the sight of others and to endeavour to win them over by all means to an effectual closure with those wayes Prov. 11.30 He that winneth souls is wise Jam. 5.19 20. Brethren if any of you do erre from the truth and one convert him any one this is a work to be minded by every one of you without exception Let him know that he which converteth a sinner from the errour of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins So we are come to the close of the second head of enquiry concerning the influence which the practise of a multitude hath to encline a man or woman to do evil SECT IV. Qu. 3. IN what cases especially doth it concern us to be most cautious and circumspect upon this account that we be not drawn to evil by the practise of a multitude Ans For satisfaction to this enquiry you must well observe and remember that this caution is needful in every case and doth oblige us to be circumspect in every respect to keep a strict eye of jealousy upon our selves at every turn that we be not insnared or drawn aside into sin by following a multitude The counsel is delivered indefinitely without limitation to times persons or cases and is equipollent to an universal prohibition For as where the spirit of God hath not added we must not make additions so where he hath not limited we must not set bounds and limits by a narrowing interpretation Thou shalt not follow a multitude i. e. not any multitude of what sort soever wheresoever they are or in what ages or places soever they live in the doing of evil Nevertheless there are some peculiar cases in which this word of advice doth especially concern us wherein we are more than usually inclined to follow the multitude and therefore ought to be more than ordinarily watchful over our hearts that they do not turn us aside upon this temptation I will only mention six 1. In case of our Ancestors and progenitors that have gone before us When our forefathers have generally taken any corrupt way there is a great addictedness in their posterity to take the same course and there needs a great measure of caution that we be not followers of them What! will some say shall we condemn our forefathers and judg our selves wiser and better then all that have been before us they made no scruple of such and such actions they worshipped God in this or the other manner and shall we be more scrupulous then they were No we will be for the old way and cleave to that religion which our fathers were of This was the argument which the woman of Sychar produced in her discourse with Christ to countenance the schismatical temple on Mount Gerizim Joh. 4.20 Our father 's worshipped in this mountain and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship As if she had said whatever scriptures you may bring or reasons you may press to keep close to the institution of God and to worship him at Jerusalem yet I am sure Our fathers were of another mind They thought the punctilio's of institution and divine appointment were not so stiffly to be adhered unto and why should not we do as our fathers have done And how hot were the Scribes and Pharisees for maintaining and upholding their fathers traditions though some of them were down right contradictions against and others corrupt additions unto the word of the Lord See how they plead and quarrel with Christ and his disciples for their non-conformity therein Mar. 7.5 Then the Pharisees and Scribes asked him why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders but eat bread with unwashen hands q.d. This constitution we received from our fathers the elders of former generations and why should not you be concluded by it and give obedience thereunto If it had been a novel upstart opinion something might be said against it but it hath continued a long time in the Church even since the dayes of our forefathers To set you right in this matter and to discover the vanity and danger of this way of ratiocination Give me leave to put you in mind of these five things 1. It was one end of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ wherein all those are sharers that are saved by him that he might redeem his people from the vain conversation received by tradition from their fathers that he might bring them to embrace the commandments of God and to give up themselves entirely in subjection to the Law of the Lord. So that mark it Sirs Have you an interest in the blood of Jesus Christ would you make it appear that you are reconciled unto God by the sufferings of his Son Why this is one way to prove it By renouncing the vain traditions of your Fathers as far as they are dissentaneous to the word of God and have no footing in the word As Christ redeemed God's peculiar people from the curse of the Law that their persons might be accepted and their iniquities forgiven and as he redeemed them from their bondage unto Satan that their natures might be sanctified and themselves set apart unto communion with God So he redeemed them also from the vain practises of their Fathers that their lives might be ordered according to the Law of the Lord. What can be more perspicuous and evident 1 Pet. 1.18 19. Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers But with the precious bloud of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot 2. One special reason why the Lord was graciously pleased to give forth the Scriptures and to leave his will upon record in the Scriptures was this that we might not pin our faith upon our fathers sleeves nor think it enough to do as our ancestors have done Sirs If God had intended the traditions of our fathers as a rule of direction for us and that they should have been obligatory upon us on all occasions he would have left us unto them and not have signified his will by writing in the word So that take heed left you frustrate the grace of God in sending the holy Ghost to endite the Scriptures and stirring up the Prophets and holy men of God to

be the pen-men thereof that we might have a certain rule from which we must not recede For as the Apostle argueth in the case of justification If righteousness came by the moral Law then there was no need of the death of Christ the same will hold good in case of the rule of life If the traditions of our fathers were a sufficient guide then there was no need of the Scriptures And therefore you shall find that the Lord gave forth his statutes and testimonies as to supply the deficiency of the light of nature so to call men off from cleaving to the corruptions of their fathers Psal 78.5 6 7 8. For he established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a Law in Israel which he commanded our fathers that they should make them known to their children That the generation to come might know them even the children which should be born who should arise and declare them to their children That they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God but keep his commandments And might not be as their Fathers a stubborn and rebellious generation 3. Whereas people are apt to plead for the Religion of their forefathers and to be in love with it because of its antiquity that being the old way to which therefore they will adhaere You must observe That it is not every old way without limitation or exception that is to be approved but the old way of holiness and the fear of the Lord which ought to be regulated by the word of the Lord and which becometh vain and sinful when it is taught according to the traditions of men Jer. 6.16 Thus saith the Lord stand ye in the wayes and ask for the old paths where is the good way and walk therein and ye shall find rest for your souls Mark Sirs It is not every old way that will bring spiritual peace and lead you to everlasting rest but the good old way For most damnable corruptions may plead prescription of time and in some sort their antiquity There is the old way of sin and wickedness which leads directly to the chambers of death Job 22.15 16 17. Host thou not marked the old way which wicked men have trodden which were cut down out of time whose foundation was overflown with a flood Which said unto God Depart from us and what can the Almighty do for them There is the old way of ignorance and atheism and error and superstition and profaneness There is the old way of Popery with its palpable blindness blood-thirstiness and idolatry And indeed Sirs if you will hold to this principle To be of the Religion of your forefathers you must return to the vomit of Popery with all its abominations you must wallow in the mire of all their filthiness and blasphemies or else you must become Heathens and Infidels For as Joshua speaketh unto the Israelites Jos 24.2 Your father 's dwelt on the other side of the flood of old time even Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nachor and they served other gods The like may I say to you in this case Your fathers of old time were Idolaters they were drencht in the polluted waters of Popish darkness Idolatry and Superstition within the compass of two hundred years they worshipped God in a language they understood not they gave heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Daemons they gave adoration to Saints and Angels nay they worshipped bread and wine and dumb pictures and images Or if you will go some hundreds of years higher into old times then your fathers were downright Heathens without the knowledge of Christ or of God in Christ that worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator Which then is the good old way that we may walk therein Why It is the Scripture-way the high-way of holiness which God delivered unto his people in the writings of Moses and the Prophets those ancient records of the Church which are of greater antiquity than any profane Heathen writings whatsoever For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the holy Ghost 2 Pet. 1.21 The good old way is the way of the Saints in the primitive ages of the Church wherein they travailed towards the kingdom of heaven the way of Abel and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and other the servants of the most-High And therefore when Peter calls them to the old times it was to the times of Abraham the father of the faithful 1 Pet. 3.5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves being in subjection unto their own husbands Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham The good old way Sirs is the way of righteousness innocence and integrity obedience to the Law of the Lord and subjection to his will which can plead its antiquity beyond that of sin which is but a novel invention of the devil in comparison and proceedeth from the vain imagination of mans heart Eccl. 7.29 God made man upright but they have sought out many inventions 4. Are you resolved to be of the Religion of your fathers and to walk in their wayes whatever they have been Why Remember this was the very weapon with which the unbelieving Jews fought against the Gospel It was the very argument which they pressed against Christ and his disciples and the way to heaven which he preached So that if you had lived in the dayes of Christ you would have persecuted him as the Jews did and would have opposed the Apostles and sought to have rooted up the doctrines of life and salvation How was Paul principled when he was a persecutor Why he was zealous against any thing that opposed the traditions of his fathers And that blind zeal made him mad against the Church Gal. 1.14 Phil. 3.6 Act. 26.11 What had they to object against Stephen for which he was stoned Why the principal article of his charge was this that he had preached against their customs Act. 6.14 5. This doth mightily enhance and aggravate the sinfulness of a sin and tends to ripen the sinners for destruction when iniquity doth descend from one generation to another and persons continue to walk in those evil courses wherein their fathers have walked For we should take warning from them not to commit the like abominations Their evil actions should be our admonitions to keep free from the pollutions wherewith they were defiled As hereditary diseases which come in a blood and by descent from parents to their children are the most dangerous diseases so hereditary sins and transgressions are the most destructive Mark how Nehemiah pleads against Sabbath-breaking on this account Neh. 13.17 18. What evil thing is this that ye do and profane the Sabbath day Did not your fathers thus and did not our God bring all this evil upon us and upon this City yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by

in one way And helps to prevent manifold mischiefs and inconveniences which dissension and multiformity are apt to introduce into the Church of Christ For difference in worship is apt to breed distance and alienation in affection and from thence arise animosities and spiritual feuds and perverse disputings So that I have not a word to speak against a Religious uniformity in that which is excellent and so far as it goeth hand in hand with the divine Institutions and appointments of our Lord Jesus Christ and doth not intrench upon his royal prerogative Psal 133.1 Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity O the abundant benefit of the communion of Saints as the contents of the Psalm seem to explain that passage Psal 122.1 2 3 4. I was glad when they said unto me Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates O Jerusalem Jerusalem is builded as a City that is compact together Whither the tribes go up the tribes of the Lord unto the testimony of Israel to give thanks unto the name of the Lord. Psal 42.4 When I remember these things I pour out my soul in me for I had gone with the multitude I went with them to the house of God with the voice of joy and praise with a multitude of them that kept holy-day For such united societies and combinations of believers God hath in store a peculiar blessing and is wont to be amongst them with his especial favour and presence For the Lord loveth the gates of Sion more than all the dwellings of Jacob Psal 87.2 And therefore it is mentioned as one of the great evangelical mercies promised to make way for the conveyance of further grace and mercy Jer. 32.39 And I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me for ever for the good of them and of their children after them 3. But when a people unite and joyn together in what is sinful if their uniformity consist in the joynt and unanimous practise of superstition and will-worship or in any thing that is contradictious to the Law and commandment of the Lord In such case it becomes exceeding sinful and detestable and a very great provocation of the wrath of God This kind of uniformity is nothing els but a grand conspiracy against the God of heaven a closely compacted rebellion against the King of Kings Thus the Pharisees and all the Jews did uniformly practise their superstitious washings and other ceremonious observances received by tradition from the Elders There were no Schisms or divisions amongst them about such matters Mark 7.3 But what saith our Saviour in the case See Mat. 15.9 In vain do they worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men And again v. 13 14. Every plant which my heavenly father hath not planted shall be rooted up Let them alone they be blind leaders of the blind And if the blind lead the blind both shall fall into the ditch Such a kind of unity was that of the High Priest and the people in their martyring of Stephen They ran upon him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with one accord They were all linkt together in the same mind Act. 7.57 And that of the Kings of the earth and Rulers that set themselves and took counsel together against the Lord and against his Christ Psal 2.2 3. And in this case we must say as the Patriarch Jacob Gen. 49.6 O my soul come not thou into their secret unto their assembly mine honour be thou not united I must not do evil to bring about uniformity nor unite with any in that which is sinful 4. Lastly observe under this head That the only way to settle and compass such a kind of uniformity as is enjoyned of the Lord and pleasing unto him is to keep exactly close to the rule of Gods word to take heed of making additions thereunto and not to be wise above what is written Here is the ready way to prevent Schisms and divisions and the breaking a sunder into Sects and parties when we keep up to this one uniform and perfect rule of Worship My brethren If persons be guided by traditton and impose upon mens consciences humane inventions and traditions that 's a most soveraign way to perpetuate Schism to the end of the Chapter If persons will load the spirits of their brethren with their burdensom ceremonies under whatever pretext of decency or uniformity they are pressed If they will force mens consciences to stoop under the weight of their Canons here 's a sure way to cause separations and divisions without remedy But if you would indeed attain to such uniformity as is according to the mind of God To the Law and to the Testimony Isa 8.20 Traditions are multiform and Canons of Counsels are multiform vain customs urged under the specious pretences of order and decency are multiform and therefore will undoubtedly produce variance and strife and multiformity Besides coming into the worship of God without the stamp of divine authority they want a power and energy to settle the conscience there is no firm footing where a Christian may tread in fuch cases without danger or fear of pricking his feet among bryars and thorns But the word of God is uniform and at perfect peace with it self and layes a sure foundation whereon to bottom in all soul-concernments And hereupon must you build all your superstructures in order to the erecting and setting up of uniformity amongst Christians This is very plain from former and latter woful experiences Look into primitive times what a stir was there in the Church about the keeping of Easter What tumults bickerings and heart-burnings both here in Brittain and in many other parts Why Because they had recourse to tradition and rested thereupon and endeavoured to impose one upon another their own private sentiments and practises whereas the Scriptures would quickly have ended the controversie When divisions were risen up in the Church of Corinth particularly in the point of the Lord's Supper what means doth S. Paul make use of that the strife might cease He puts them in remembrance of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ and brings them close to the first institution For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you 1 Cor. 11.23 Mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learnt and avoid them Keep up Sirs to the doctrines of the old and new Testament and let them be the standard of peace and unity Obj. All sorts of persons are pretenders to Scripture even such as rest and pervert it to their own destruction The vilest hereticks will Father their erroneous doctrines upon the word and profess to deduce them from thence How then is it possible that we should rationally expect unity and concord in the Church by this means seeing the most notorious hereticks will have this pretext they will shelter their