Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	aaron_n	book_n	religion_n	12	3	7.3236	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A32784	The true subiect to the rebell, or, The hurt of sedition, how greivous it is to a common-wealth written by Sir Iohn Cheeke ... ; whereunto is newly added by way of preface a briefe discourse of those times, as they may relate to the present, with the authors life.	Cheke, John, Sir, 1514-1557.; Langbaine, Gerard, 1609-1658.	1641 (1641)	Wing C3778; ESTC R18562	48,490	89

beholding their beastlinesse they might avoid the like vice even so hath God like a mercifull father staid us from your wickednesse that by beholding the filth of your fault wee might justly for offence abhorre you like Rebels whom else by nature we love like Englishmen And so for our selues wee have great cause to thank God by whose religion and holy word daily taught us we learne not only to feare him truly but also to obey our King faithfully and to serve in our own vocation like subjects honestly And as for you we have surely just cause to lament you as brethren and yet juster cause to rise against you as enimies most just cause to overthrowe you as Rebels For what hurt could bee done either to us privatly or to the whole commonwealth generally that is now with mischiefe so brought in by you that even as we see now the flame of your rage so shall we necessarily be consumed hereafter with the misery of the same Wherefore consider your selves with some light of understanding and marke this grievous horrible fault which yee have thus vildly committed how hay nous it must needs appeare to you if yee will reasonably consider that which for my duties sake and my whole Countries cause I will at this present declare unto you Yee which be bound by Gods word not to obey for feare like men pleasers but for conscience sake like Christians have contrary to Gods holy will whose offence is everlasting death and contrary to the godly order of quietnesse set out to us in the Kings Majesties laws the breach whereof is not unknown to you taken in hand uncalled of God unsent by men unfit by reason to cast away your bounden duties of obedience and to put on you against the Magistrates Gods office committed to the Magistrates for the reformation of your pretensed injuries In the which doing yee have first faulted grievously against God next offended unnaturally our Soveraigne Lord thirdly troubled miserably the whole common-wealth undone cruelly many an honest man and brought in an utter misery both to us the Kings subjects and to your selves being false Rebells and yet yee pretend that partly for Gods cause and partly for the commonwealths sake yee doe rise when as your selves cannot denie but yee that seeke in word Gods cause doe break indeed Gods commandement and yee that seek the commonwealth have destroyed the commonwealth and so yee marre that yee would make and break that yee would amend because yee nether seek any thing rightly nor would amend any thing orderly He that faulteth faulteth against Gods ordinance who hath forbidden all faults and therefore ought againe to be punished by Gods ordinance who is the reformer of faults For he saith leave the punishment to me and I will revenge them But the Magistrate is the ordinance of God appointed by him with the sword of punishment to looke straitly to all evill doers And therefore that that is done by the Magistrate is done by the ordinance of God whō the Scripture oftentimes doth call God because he hath the execution of Gods office How then doe you take in hand to reforme Be yee Kings By what authority or by what succession Be yee the Kings officers By what commission Be yee called of God By what tokens declare yee that Gods word teacheth us that no man should take in hand any office but he that is called of God like Aaron What Moses I pray you called you What Gods minister bade you rise Yee rise for religion What religion taught you that If yee were offered persecution for religion yee ought to flie so Christ teacheth you and yet you intend to fight If yee would stand in the truth yee ought to suffer like Martyrs you would slay like Tyrants Thus for religion yee keep no religion and neither will follow the counsell of Christ nor the constancy of Martyrs Why rise yee for religion Have yee any thing contrary to Gods book Yea have yee not all things agreable to Gods word But the new is different from the old and therefore yee will have the old If yee measure the old by truth yee have the oldest if yee measure the old by fancie then it is hard because mens fancies change to give that is old Yee will have the old still Will yee have any older then that which Christ left his Apostles taught and the first Church after Christ did use Yee will have that the Canons doe establish Why that is a great deale younger then that yee have of later time and newlier invented Yet that is it that yee desire Why then yee desire not the oldest And doe you preferre the Bishops of Rome afore Christ mens inventiō afore Gods law the newer sort of worship before the older Yee seek no religion yee be deceived yee seeke traditions They that teach you blinde you that so instruct you deceiue you If yee seek what the old Doctors say yet look what Christ the oldest of all saith For he saith before Abraham was made I am If yee seek the truest way he is the very truth if yee seek the readiest way hee is the very way if yee seek everlasting life he is the very life What religion would you have other now then his religion You would have the Bibles in againe It is no marvell your blind guides would lead you blinde still Why be yee Howlets and Bats that yee cannot look on the light Christ saith to every one search yee the Scriptures for they beare witnesse of Christ You say pull in the Scriptures for we will haue no knowledge of Christ The Apostles of Christ will us to be so ready that we may be able to give every man an account of our faith Yee will us not once to read the Scriptures for feare of knowing of our faith Saint Paul prayeth that every man may increase in knowledge yee desire that our knowledge might decay againe A true religion yee ieek belike and worthy to be fought for For without the sword indeed nothing can help it neither Christ nor truth nor age can maintaine it But why should yee not like that which Gods word establisheth the primitiue Church hath authorised the greatest learned men of this Realme haue drawne the whole consent of the Parliament hath confirmed the Kings Majestie hath set forth Is it not truly set out Can yee devise any truer then Christs Apostles used Yee think it is not learnedly done Dare yee Commons take upon you more learning then the chosen Bishops and Clearks of this Realme have Think yee folly in it Yee were wont to judge your Parliament wisest and now will yee suddainly excell them in wisdome Or can you think it lacketh authority which the King the Parliament the learned the wise have justly approved Learne learne to know this one point of Religion that God will be worshipped as he hath prescribed and not as we have devised and that his will is wholy

hope for a child as we may look for gifts in a man either for his age to be little set by or for lack of qualities not to be regarded or for default of love to be resisted and no notable grace of God in him considered nor the worthinesse of his office looked upon nor naturall obedience due to him remembred Shall they not next suppose small estimation to be given to the rulers to whom under the King we owe due obedience that cannot in just lawfull matters be heard nor men to have that right judgment of their wisedome ' as their justice in rule and foresight in counsell requireth but rather prefer their owne fancies before others experience and deeme their owne reason to be common-wealth and other mens wisedome to be but dreaming Shall they not truely say the Subjects to be more unfaithfull in disobedience then other Subjects worse ordered be and licence of liberty to make wild heads without order and that they neither haue reason that vnderstand not the mischiefe of sedition nor duty which follow their beastlynesse nor love in them which so little remember the common wealth nor naturall affection which will dayly seeke their owne destruction Thus the whole Country lacking the good opinion of other nations is cast into great shame by your vnrulinesse and the proceedings of the Country be they never so godly shall be ill spoken of as vnfit to be brought into vse and good things hereby that deserveth praise shall bide the rebuke of them that list to speake ill and ill things untouched shall be boldlyer maintayned Nothing may with praise be redressed where things be measured by chanceable disorder rather then by necessary vse and that is thought most politike that men will be best contented to doe and not that which men should be brought vnto by duty And with what duty or vertue in ye can ye quench out of mens memories this foule enterprise or gather a good report againe to this Realme who have so vilely with reproach slaundered the same and diversly discredited it among others and abated the good opinion which was had of the iust goverment and ruled order vsed heretofore in this noble Realme which is now most grievous because it is now most without cause If this outward opinion without further inconvenience were all yet it might well be borne would with ease decay that it grew but it hath not onely hurt us with voyce but endangered us in deed and cast us a great deale behinde the hand where else we might have had a jolly foredeale For that opportunitie of time which seldome chanceth and is alwaies to be taken hath been by your froward meanes lost this yeare and so vainely spent at home for bringing downe of you which should else profitably have been otherwise bestowed that it hath been almost as great a losse to us abroad to lack that which wee might have obtained as it was combrance at home to goe about the overthrowe of you whose sedition is to be abhorred And we might both conveniently have invaded some if they would not reasonably have growne to some kinde of friendship and also defended other which would beside promise for times sake unjustly set upon us and easily have made this stormy time a faire yeare unto us if our men had been so happy at home as our likelihood abroad was fortunate But what is it I pray you either to let slip such an occasion by negligence or to stop it by stubbornesse which once past away can be by no meanes recovered no not though with diligence yee goe about to re-enforce the same againe If yee would with wickednesse have forsaken your faith to your naturall Country ' have sought crafty meanes to have utterly betrayed it to our common enimies could yee have had any other speedier way then this is both to make our strength weak and their weaknesse strong If yee would have sought to have spighted your countrey and to have pleased your enimie and follow their counsell for our hinderance could yee have had devised of them any thing more shamefull for us joyfull to them If they which lie like Spyals and harken after likelihoods of things to come because they declare opportunitie of times to the enimie are to bee judged common enimies of the Countrie what shall wee reasonably think of you who doe not secretly bewray the counsels of others but openly betray the Commonwealth with your own deeds and have as much as lyeth in you sought the overthrowe of it at home which if yee had obtained at Gods hand as he never alloweth so horrible an enterprise how could yee have defended it from the overthrow of other abroad For is your understanding of things so small that although you see your selves not unfit to get the upperhand of a few Gentlemen that yee be able to beat downe afore you the Kings power yea and by chance yee were able to doe that would yee judge your selves by strength mighty enough to resist the power of outward nations that for praise sake would invade yee Nay think truly with your selves that if yee doe overcome yee be unsure both by strength abroad and displeasure of honest men at home and by the punishment of the God above And now yee have not yet gotten indeed that your vaine hope looketh for by fancie think how certainly yee have wounded the Commonwealth with a fore stroke in procuring our enimies by our weaknesse to seek victory and by our outward miserie to seek outward glory with inward dishonour which howsoever they get think it to be long of you who have offered them victory afore they began warre because yee would declare to men hereafter belike how dangerous it is to make stirres at home when they doe not onely make our selves weake but also our enimies strong Besides these there is another sort of men desirous of advantage and disdainfull of our wealth whose griefe is most our greatest hap and be offended with religion because they be drowned in superstition men zealed toward God but not fit to judge meaning better without knowledge then they judge by their meaning worthier whose ignorance should be taken away then their will should be followed whom we should more rebuke for their stubbornnesse then despise for their ignorance These seeing superstition beaten downe and religion set up Gods word taking place traditions kept in their kinde difference made betweene Gods Commandements mans learning the truth of things sought out according to Christs institution examples taken of the Primitive Churches use not at the Bishop of Romes ordinance and true worship taught and wil-worship refused doe by blindnes rebuke that which by truth they should follow by affectiō follow that which by knowledge they should abhorre thinking usage to be truth and Scripture to be errour not waying by the word but misconstruing by custome And now things be changed to the better and Religion trulier appointed they