Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	according_a	church_n	true_a	2,752	5	4.8734	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A97068	Petitions against bishops and their votes in Parliament, subscrib'd unto after a clandestine, deliver'd after a tumultuous manner, and falsly going under the name of a whole county or towne, proved to be both contrary to our late taken protestation, as also utterly unlawfull by many other cleere and evident reasons. First written for satisfaction of some private men, and now published for the good of others. By J.W.	J. W.	1642 (1642)	Wing W62; Thomason E133_10; ESTC R19922	5,821	20

this doth not agree with that light of Reason and Vnderstanding which God hath given me to walk by nor that Christian experience which I have gained under the Crosse First That for the vice or abuse of any thing the right and lawfull use thereof or execution of the office should be abolished and taken away or that for the present particular offences of some the innocent posterity shall suffer For I am not convinced in my conscience of the unlawfulnesse of the Office of a Bishop and am perswaded that there have beene many of them godly and zealous Martyrs for the Truth and many of them remayne still godly and religious protestants Secondly Though time of prosperity hath made some of them guilty of foule offences and it may be with the children of Israel they have not worshipped the true God as they ought and have inclined to Idolatry and thereby justly provoked the Almighty to wrath and indignation against them Yet I am perswaded that for the very execution of their Office and the Ecclesiasticall laws for the unitie and peace of the Church they suffer instrumentally by divers ill affected to Government or by such as have been punished by them for doing contrary thereunto And if the like proceedings may be suffered against all Iudges and other Executioners of the laws of the Kingdome there shall bee no secure execution of the law against offenders and so wee shall live lawlesse and let in all manner of Disorder and Vice Murther Rapine and the like Those Bishops rather under correction that have done contrary to the law are to be punished by the law on due true proofs and not according to your wils Thirdly Because that which is or seems to be a prejudice now may in Gods good time prove a great benefit We many times earnestly pray for those things which afterwards we heartily give God thanks for not granting our requests And this hath many times been for the removall of our present afflictions I am confident if there were good care taken as there may be that good men may be made Bishops wee shall never repent of their lawfull office or place for greatnesse with goodnesse will much advance the cause and welfare of the Church and Common-wealth and farther I know it is possible for some inferiours to execute the Law and the Gospell likewise in a farre more imperious and Tyrannicall way then some Superiours have done Fourthly That though there be Obstacles and Mountains in the way and the supposed enemies of Gods Church and Children yet as I am a Christian I dare not judge them or curse them as many doe or use any unlawfull means to remove them or under the pretence of pulling down one Babell to set up another What David did by way of prediction as hee was a King and Prophet against the inveterate and incurable enemies of the Church of God I as an ordinary Christian ought not to doe I may live peradventure to see my enemies desert upon them which I may not desire to see I am to judge charitably of the actions and intentions of my Governours what I think peradventure is for my hurt may be intended or at leastwise turned to my good I must walke by the Rule of Gods Word and follow the examples and precepts of my Saviour To pray for them that hate mee and to doe good to them that persecute me And not forget to pray for all that are in authority that I may live a godly life under them in all peace and quietnesse Why may I not suspect that this long enjoyment of the Gospel in peace and plenty hath produced evill effects in mee aswell as in my Governours But be my Governours what they will I have learned to obey all their lawfull commands and thank God that I may live under so happy a command If they command me to do no otherwise the what is just and right I must and will willingly doe it Neither dare I neglect my duty to them though they forget theirs to me For their offences and neglects to mee shall not excuse mee to God nor them for my offences and not performances of mine to either of them Fifthly I dare not but look at the hand of God not at the instrument only of my afflictions I know nothing can come to passe but by his permission I am assured that sinne is the prime cause of all my sufferings and I feare that ingratiude in not being thankfull and walking worthy of those great mercies received hath been a principall cause why God hath shut up the hearts of some of our Governours at this present as is much feared Sixthly I know God will correct his children for their sins and in the execution of his judgments on the World he will begin at his owne house either to worke out sin or to worke in grace or to make that Grace more manifest which is already wrought I know that the end of Gods correction is Reformation till then if smaller afflictions will not prevaile greater shall if not one kind then an other if the sword of our enemies doe not the swords peradventure of our own amongst our selves shal if not they peradventure the Pestilence or the Famine or some other shall Sundry of which sometimes come together to let the World know that our afflictions come not immediate from any one secondary instrumentall cause but that it is from the wil and pleasure of the Almighty so to order and to dispose it who will not take off his judgements as the effects till our sins as the causes be removed Seventhly I dare not use any unlawfull means to ease my affliction I know no better way then by Humiliation and Prayer to God for a sight of those sinnes whereby I have provoked him to wrath and for grace and true repentance for the same and Remission by the merits of my Saviour Iesus Christ And then to apply my selfe with all diligence to all lawfull meanes to remove them yet I am not to put too much confidence in them I could never yet finde any benefit by impatience under the hand of the Almighty I have found more afflictions procured thereby and I am assured that the Church and Children of God never lost by patient suffering Eighthly As I know that Gods Decree in his determination of judgments shall be fulfilled so I am confidently assured that when the time of his deliverance is come all the power and subtilty of the Devill and his instruments as they shall go no further then he hath limited them so they shall not hinder him from taking off his Rod when hee pleaseth For he is able to bring his will to passe by means without means and contrary to means Rather then his children shall not have their due reliefe The Sea shall part the Earth shall open and swallow up their adversaries or fire shall come downe from Heaven and destroy them And this may comfort Christians that God reignes and rules as King in Heaven the cause of his Church and Children is his and he beholds and governes the inhabitants of the earth he hath the hearts of all in his hand hee can turn them or overturn them when hee pleaseth for the good of his When our ways please him Hee can make our enemies be at peace with us and the same hand to heale us that hath wounded us It is he only that can make men to be of one heart and one minde and to make all things to work together for the best of them that love him To conclude I hope by this time you have received full satisfaction why I have refused to subscribe yet let mee assure you that if the Parliament shall think fit to alter that Government I dare not in conscience and duty to the Protestation refuse to be governed by it Be confident that not only my Prayers but my true endevours have been and by Gods Grace shall continue for Reformation I know God hath suffered many of his deare Saints and Children to fall into great and hainous sinnes and offences yet when he hath duly chastised them after true repentance hee hath made them greater instruments of his Glory and the good of his Church then in former times they were I must expect for this aswell as the rest of my endevours for Truth and Peace your usuall jeeres scoffs and censures of reprobation and the like but my comfort is that God knoweth who are his and who are the true Friends and Enemies of the Church and State and that I have syncerely discharged my conscience according to that weake talent I have received in obedience to the Protestation for the good of both I therefore you shall remayne still my adversaries for so doing peradventure I may for a while longer suffer yet it shall comfort me that it is for wel-doing Whereas when you shall suffer as evill doers you may without timely repentance everlastingly perish in the gain-sayings of Core For though hand joyne hand in hand God will not suffer the wicked to goe unpunished If you find any Materiall errour herein informe and convince mee thereof and I doe assure you on the Faith of a true Protestant I will endevour Reformation the like I commend unto you hereby and expect the same from you as a triall of your profession which I shall plainly discover if wilfully you continue and persist in a known errour and so I bid you Farewell Remayning a constant Friend to Truth and Peace the only support under God of the welfare of the Church and State And Yours I. W. Ianuarii primo 1641. FINIS