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	heart_n	word_n	1,814	5	3.8480	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30159	Instruction for the ignorant being a salve to cure that great want of knowledg which so much reigns both in young and old / prepared and presented to them in a plain and easie dialogue, fitted to the capacity of the weakest, by John Bunyan.	Bunyan, John, 1628-1688.	1675 (1675)	Wing B5544; ESTC R36061	26,724	65

best begin to serve God A. Just now Remember now thy Creator now thou hast the Gospel before thee now thy heart is tender and will be soonest broken Q. But if I follow my play and sports a little longer may I not come time enough A. I cannot promise thee that for there be little Graves in the Church-yard and who can tell but that thy young life is short or if thou dost live perhaps thy day of Grace may be as short as was Ishmael's of old read also Prov. 1.24 25 26. Q. But if I stay a little longer before I turn I may have more wit to serve God than now I have 〈…〉 A. If thou stayest longer thou wilt have more sin and perhaps less wit for the bigger sinner the bigger fool Prov. 1.22 Q. If I serve God sometimes and my sins sometimes how then A. No Man can serve two Masters Thou canst not serve God and thy Sins God saith My Son give me thy heart Also thy Soul and Body are his but the double minded Man is forbidden to think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord Mat. 6.24 Prov. 23.26 1 Cor. 6.20 Jam. 1.7 8. Q. Do you find many such little Children as I am serve God A. Not many yet some I do Samuel served him being a Child when Josias was young he began to seek after the God of his Father David And how kindly did our Lord Jesus take it to see the little Children run tripping before him and crying Hosannah to the Son of David 1 Sam. 3.1 2 Chron. 34.3 Mat. 21.15 16. Q. Then I am not like to have many Companions if I thus young begin to serve God am I A. Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life and few there be that find it Yet some Companions thou wilt have David counted himself a Companion of all them that love God's Testimonies all the Godly though Gray-headed will be thy Companions yea and thou shalt have either one or more of the Angels of God in Heaven to attend on and minister for thee Mat. 7.13 14. Psal 119.63 Mat. 18.10 Q. But I am like to be slighted and despised by other little Children if I begin already to serve God am I not A. If Children be so rude as to mock the Prophets and Ministers of God no marvel if they also mock thee but it is a poor Heaven that is not worth enduring worse things than to be mocked for the seeking and obtaining of 2 Kings 2.23 24. Q. But how should I serve God I do not know how to worship him A. The true Worshippers worship God in Spirit and Truth Joh. 4.24 Phil. 3.3 Q. What is meant by worshipping him in the Spirit A. To worship him in God's Spirit and in mine own that is to worship him being wrought over in my very heart by the good Spirit of God to an hearty Compliance with his will Rom. 1.9 Chap. 6.17 Psal 101.3 Q. What is it to worship him in truth A. To do all that we do in his Worship according to his Word for his Word is truth and to do it without dissimulation Heb. 8.5 Joh. 17.17 Psal 26.6 Psal 118.19 20. You may take the whole thus Then do you worship God a-right when in heart and life 〈…〉 Q. How must I do to worship him with my spirit and heart A. Thou must first get the good knowledg of him And thou Solomon my Son said David Know thou the God of thy Fathers and serve him with a perfect heart Mind you he first bids know him and then serve him with a perfect heart 1 Chron. 28.9 Q. Is it easie to get a true knowledg of God A. No Thou must cry after Knowledg and lift up thy voice for Understanding If thou seekest for her as Silver and searchest for her as for hid treasure then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledg of God Pro. 2.1 2 3 4 5. Q. How comes it to be so difficult a thing to attain the true Knowledg of God A. By reason of the pride and ignorance that is in us as also by reason of our wicked ways Psal 10.4 Eph. 4 18 19. Tit. 1.16 Q. But do not every one profess they know God A. Yes But their supposed knowledg of him varieth as much as doth their faces or complexions some thinking he is this and some that Q. Will you shew me a little how they vary in their thoughts about him A. Yes Some count him a kind of an heartless God that will neither do evil nor good some count him a kind of an ignorant and blind God that can neither know nor see through the Clouds some again count him an inconsiderable God not worth the injoying if it must not be but with the loss of this World and their Lusts Moreover some think him to be altogether such an one as themselves one that hath as little hatred to sin as themselves and as little love to holiness as themselves Zeph. 1.12 Job 22.12 13. chap. 21.9 10 11 12 13 14 15. Psal 50.21 Q. Are there any more false Opinions of God A. Yes There are three other false opinions of God 1. Some think he is all Mercy and no Justice and that therefore they may live as they list 2. Others think he is all Justice and no Mercy and that therefore they had as good go on in their sins and be damned as turn and be never the better 3. Others think he is both Justice and Mercy but yet think also that his Justice is such as they can pacifie with their own good works and save themselves with their own right hand Rom. 3.8 Jer. 2.25 Job 40.14 contrary to these Scriptures Hab. 1.13 Isa 45.21 Q. How then shall I know when I have the true Knowledg of God A. When thy Knowledg of him and the holy Scriptures agree Q. The Scriptures do not all false Opinions of him flow from the Scriptures A. No in no wise 't is true Men father their errors upon the Scriptures when indeed they flow from the ignorance of their hearts Ephes 4.18 Q. But how if I do not understand the holy Bible must I then go without the true knowledg of God A. His Name is manifested by his World the Scriptures are they that testifie of him and they are able to make the Man of God perfect in all things and wise unto Salvation through Faith in Jesus Christ John 17.6 7 8. John 5.39 2 Tim. 3.15 16. Q. But what must one that knoweth not God do to get the knowledg of God A. Let him apply his heart unto the Scriptures as unto a light that shineth in a dark place even this World until the day dawn and the day-Star arise in his heart E●● 22.7 chap. 23.12 2 Pet. 1.19 20. Q But how shall I know when I have found by the Scriptures the true knowledg of God A. When thou hast also found the true knowledg of thy self Isa 6.5 Job

so happy as is that man who lieth fast asleep in his house while that is on fire about his ears Can a man be happy that is ignorant that he is without God and Christ and Hope Can a man be happy that is ignorant that he is hanging over Hell by the poor weak thread of an uncertain Life for this is the state of such an one Q. But may not Faith come to a man without he see himself to be first in this Condition A. It is Gods ordinary way to convince men of this their sad Condition before he revealeth to them the righteousness of Faith or work Faith in them to lay hold of that Righteousness Joh. 16.9 10 11. Gal. 3.23 25. Q. How then do you conclude of them that never saw themselves shut up by unbelief under sin and the curse of God A. I will not judg them for the future God may convert them before they die but at present their state is miserable for because they are shut up and held prisoners by the Law by their lusts and by the Devil and unbelief therefore they cannot so much as with their heart desire that God would have mercy upon them and bring them out of their Snares and Chains Q. Then do you count it better for a man to see his Condition by nature than to be ignorant thereof A. Better a thousand times to see it in the World than to see it in Hell-fire for he must see it there or here now if he sees it here this is the place of Prayer here is the preaching of the Word which is God's Ordinance to beget Faith Besides here God applyeth Promises of Mercy to the desolate and Christ also hath protested that he that cometh to him he will in no wi●● cast out Joh. 6.37 Q. I am convinced that I was once without Faith and also that I cannot fetch it but pray te●● me the way of its coming A. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God Rom. 10.17 Q. How by hearing A. God mixeth it with the Word when he absolutely intendeth the Salvation of the sinner Heb. 4.2 3. Act. 13.48 Q. And how do Men hear when Faith is mixed with the Word A. They hear the Word not as the word of Man but as it is in truth the Word of God which worketh effectually in them that believe Thes 2.13 Q. Pray tell me now the manner of its coming A. It comes through difficulty it comes gradually Q. What are the difficulties which oppose it 〈◊〉 its coming A. Sense of unworthiness guilt of Conscience natural Reason Unbelief and arguments forged in Hell and thence suggested by the Devil into the heart against it Luk. 5.8 Mar. 9.24 Isa 6.5 Rom. 4.18 19 20. Q. How doth Faith come gradually A. Perhaps at first it is but like a grain of Mustard-seed small and weak Mat. 17.20 Q. Will you explain it further A. Faith at first perhaps may have its excellency lie in view only that is in seeing where ●ustification and Salvation is after that it may ●●ep a degree higher and be able to say it may be or who can tell but I may obtain this Sa●vation again it may perhaps go yet a ste● higher and arrive to some short and transier assurance Heb. 11.13 Joel 2.13 14. Zeph. 2.3 Psal 30.7 Q. But doth Faith come only by hearing A. It is usually begotten by the Word preached but after it is begotten it is increased several ways It is increased by Prayer it is increa●ed by Christian Conference it is increased b● Reading it is increased by Meditation it increased by the remembrance of former Experiences Luk. 17.5 Mar. 9.24 Rom. 1.12 chap. 1● 25 26. 1 Tim. 4.12 13 14 15. Mat. 16.8 9. Q. What do these things teach us A. They teach us that the Men of this Worl● are very ignorant of and as much without desi●● after Faith they neither Hear nor Pray Confer nor Read nor Meditate for the sake of Faith Q. But you said even now that this Faith w●● distinguished from that which profiteth not to Salvation as by the manner of its coming so by i● operation pray what is its operation A. It causeth the Soul to see in the ligh● thereof that there is no Righteousness in th● World that can save the sinner Isa 64.6 Q. How doth it give the Soul this Sight A. By giving him to understand the Law and his own inability to do it Gal. 2.15.16 Q. And doth it also show the Soul where Just● A. Yes It shews it that Justifying Righteousness is only to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ in what he hath done and suffered in the Flesh Isa 45.24 25. Phil. 3.3 4 5 6 7 8. Q. How doth Faith find this Righteousness in Christ A. By the Word which is therefore called the Word of Faith because Faith by that findeth sufficient Righteousness in him Rom. 10.6 7 8 9. Q. How else doth it operate in the Soul A. It applieth this Righteousness to the sinner and also helps him to embrace it Rom. 3.21 22. 1 Cor. 1.30 Gal. 2.20 Q. How else doth it operate A. By this application of Christ the Soul is quickned to Life Spiritualized and made Heavenly For right Faith quickneth to Spiritual Life Purifies and Sanctifies the Heart and worketh up the Man that hath it into the Image of Jesus Christ Col. 2.12 13. Act. 15.9 chap. 26.18 2 Cor. 3.18 Q. How else doth it operate A. It giveth the Soul peace with God through Jesus Christ Rom. 5.1 Q. Surely Christ is of great esteem with them that have this Faith in him is he not A. Yes Yes Unto them therefore which believe he is precious precious in his Person precious in his Undertakings precious in his Word 1 Pet. 2.7 chap 1.18 19. 2 Pet. 1.3 4. Q. Can these people then that have this Faith indure to have this Christ spoken against A. O! No! This is a sword in their bones and a burden that they cannot bear Psal 42.10 Zeph. 3.18 19. Q. Doth it not go near them when they see his ways and people discountenanced A. Yes And they also chuse rather to be despised and persecuted with them than to enjoy the pleasures of Sin for a season Heb. 11.24 25. Q. Do they not pray much for his second Coming A. Yes yes They would fain see him on this side the Clouds of Heaven their Conversation is in Heaven from whence they look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ Phil. 3.20 Q. And do they live in this World as if he was to come presently A. Yes For his coming will be glorious and dreadful full of Mercy and Judgment The day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the night in which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with servent heat the earth also and the works therein shall be burnt up seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought we