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tradition_n faith_n receive_v scripture_n 3,204 5 6.0081 4 true
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A51159 Sermons preached upon several occasions (most of them) before the magistrates and judges in the Northeast-auditory of S. Giles's Church Edinburgh / by Al. Monro ... Monro, Alexander, d. 1715? 1693 (1693) Wing M2444; ESTC R32106 186,506 532

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Well of Living Waters Dilherus renders it Puteus aquae viventis a deep Well non collectitiae clausae atque stagnantis sed ultrò scaturientis that by its copious frequent and uninterrupted ebullitions waters all the neighbouring Regions they are the only Waters can quench the Thirst of reasonable Souls this is the Well after which they pant and breath As the Hart panteth after the Water-brooks Psal 42. HERE Interpreters take care to distinguish betwixt a Fountain and a Well Every Well is a Fountain but every Fountain is not a Well So the Well implies great depth and profundity and this Phrase added to the former does insinuate that the Waters of the Sanctuary are not only pure clear and serene but very deep they are not a puddle nor a standing Lake not like the Waters of Gomorrha where Fishes cannot live but the smooth and deep Rivers of Paradise THIS Metaphor then duly considered does imply the Purity Profundity and free Communication of these Oracles First I SAY the Purity of these Waters The Church of Christ is not to be fed with Dreams and Fancies and corrupt Doctrines not with noise ostentation and popular tricks but with Words of Eternal Life 2 Tim. 1.13 Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus We are to take heed 1 Tim. 4.16 to our selves and to our doctrine for this is the way to save our selves and them which hear us THE Hereticks of all Ages have been proud and subtile and indefatigable and there is no Antidote against their Poyson but to adhere to the Simplicity of the Gospel the pure Canon of the Scriptures the antient Creeds and Liturgies of the Church the faith which was delivered to the Saints the Doctrines that have been received uno ore apud omnes Christianos the Golden Rule of Vincentius Lirenensis quod apud omnes quod ubique quod semper This is certainly the Rule of Faith and by this Standard were the antient Heresies examined baffled and confounded Reason Scripture and Universal Tradition were the Weapons by which they defended the Truth For the Apostle foretells 2 Cor. 4.2 3. That the time would quickly come when men could not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts they should heap teachers to themselves and turn their ears from the truth and follow after fables They did so in a little time and the offspring of Simon Magus covered the Church as the Frogs did Egypt This occasioned the Heresiologies of Irenaeus Epiphanius S. Augustine Many forsook the Simplicity of Faith and mixt the Waters of Life with the putrid Streams that they drew from their own Cisterns THE Credenda of our Religion are but very few and the Constitution of Human Nature did require that they should be few For since our Saviour did calculate his Religion not for any particular Sect or Party but for the whole Body of Mankind it cannot be thought that he design'd that it should be spun out into Nice Decisions Metaphysical Distinctions odd and Barbarous Words When the School Divinity began to be the Learning of the Western Church and Aristotle's Philosophy gave Laws to their Theology how miserably was the Christian Religion mangled and broken into airy Questions uncertain Conclusions and idle Problems that eat out the Life of true Learning and Devotion And Articles imposed on the Belief of the Church neither necessary in their Nature nor revealed by Christ nor taught by the Apostles nor founded in Reason nor consisting with the Analogy of Faith The Christian Religion thus ratified unto nothing became feeble and dry lost its force and primitive vigour And the truth is since the Thirteenth Century in which that kind of Learning domineered in all Schools Colleges and Monasteries all Discourses even the Homilies that exhort the People to Repentance and a Holy Life were all blended with that bombast Jargon But our Religion was first plainly delivered and loves perspicuity and fixes its residence in the most ingenuous Souls and if it be covered and mantled in darkness who can distinguish it from Nonsense and Vanity AND therefore since Christ by us conveys these Waters to his Church let us not sully them with Chimerical Guesses and Uncertainties but let us pour them out in their original Purity and Simplicity without alteration corruption or addition How often doth the Apostle exhort to this 2 Tim. 7.8 In doctrine shewing uncorruptedness gravity sincerity sound speech that cannot be condemned And Titus 1.9 holding fast the faithful word as thou hast been taught that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convince gainsavers AND this is not done by Passion or reviling Language for where did you ever hear that a man was recovered from Heresie or Schism by heaping reproaches upon him Our Arguments may be intrinsecally strong but if they are set off with venom rancour and personal aspersions they may well irritate the Disease but they shall never reclaim the Erroneous and therefore when we deal with any such either on the right or left hand let us state the Controversies fairly else we but beat the Air neither must we multiply them needlesly nor are we to toss and bandy those Questions to serve the designs of Fame Ostentation of Learning or Popularity but with a sincere resolution to edifie the Church to fight under the Royal Standard of Christ to preserve his Church his chast and dearly beloved Spouse Secondly THIS Metaphor implies the profound Nature of Gospel Mysteries 't is puteus profundus aquae viventis The Woman of Samaria said to our Saviour of Jacobs Well that it was very deep 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how much more profound are the Wells of Salvation The Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven the deep things of God the Mysteries kept hid from Ages and Generations Great is the Mysterie of Godliness God manifested in the Flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels believed on in the the World received up into Glory We are taught by the Gospel to speak the Wisdom of God in a Mysterie The illuminated Apostle of the Gentiles in contemplation of these Mysteries fell in a transport of admiration O the depth of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God how unsearchable are his Judgments and his Ways past finding out THOUGH there be nothing in the Gospel that overthrows Reason or subverts its Principles yet its Mysteries and Revelations are beyond it The whole Contrivance of our Redemption is a Mysterie and then certainly we ought to approach the administrations of his House with pure hearts and clean hands Let us wash our hands in innocence when we compass his Altar They were to look to their feet that came to the Temple of Jerusalem much more should the Sons of Aaron the immedidiate Servants of the Sanctuary prove the keenest enemies to all prophanation of holy things I am no friend to Superstition and as little to Giddiness and