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	spirit_n	true_a	2,352	5	4.6188	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A70887	The Quakers vindicated from the calumnies of those that falsly accuse them as if they denyed magistrates, and disowned government; and as if both in principle and practice they were inconsistant with either. In which is shewed, that the true and sincere Quakers (so called, for of them I write) are in the spirit and principle in which the justice of magistrates is obeyed, and in which magistrates are to administer their government, and that by their practice in good works they fulfill all just and good government. And that they have God's authority for their meeting together to worship Him, ... And that people in matters of religion and the worship of God, should rather be instructed and led by the Spirit of the Lord in Gods authority, ... Also, several objections answered, as to the exercise of secular force and compulsion over the conscience in matters of faith, religion, and the worship of God. By Edward Pyot.	Pyot, Edward, d. 1670.	1667 (1667)	Wing P4316A; ESTC R25210	46,417	48

who indeed are but as Lambs among Wolves and a prey to the beasts of the field and do not resist the evil and the wrong that is done unto them nor retalliate like for like not being overcome of evil but overcoming evil with good Nor is it their principle to plot and contrive Insurrections but patiently to bear their false Calumnies and chearfully to suffer their cruel Oppressions and are not ashamed of the Commandments of God to do his will nor of the Testimony of Christ for which they suffer but by the Power of God are made willing to partake of the Affl●ctions of the Gospel and do glory in their Tribulations not loving their lives to the death And loving their Enemies and praying for their Persecuters they commit the keeping of their Souls unto him who in his Faith and Patience is able to keep them throughout unto Himself in this their day of tryal and hour of temptation that by the fierce and sore wrath of man is come upon them And is it not as dangerous and more disloyalty to God for any to defame and judge Gods true Worshippers as seditious Sectaries who in the Spirit and in the Truth do worship God and God's spiritual and holy Worship into which by the Spirit of God they are led to be seditious Conventicles who is a Spirit and the Truth and therefore must be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth and such spiritual and true Worshippers the Father seeks to worship him John 4. 23 24. For is not this to defame and to judge the holy Spirit of God by which God's true Worshipers are led and in which they holily and spiritually do worship God to be seditious and his holy and spiritual Worship to be Sedition for is it not written He that speaketh evil of his Brother and judgeth his Brother speaketh evil of the Law and judgeth the Law but if thou judge the Law thou art not a doer of the Law but 〈…〉 Are Christians to be each others Judges in the matters of Faith and Religion or are they to be Masters over the Consciences one of another concerning the Worship of God Is not the Lord himself alone both the Lawgiver and Judge as to his own Spiritual Worship and Service for is it not written There is one Lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy Who art thou that judgest another Jam. 4. 12. And if God only be the Lawgiver and Judge as to his own Worship and Service is it then in the power of any living upon the face of the Earth to prescribe to God his Worship or for the Worship of God with man's judgement to judge his true Worshippers And do not they prescribe who by their Laws and Penalties do bind and limit to a form of Worship not prescribed or limited unto by God nor in the practice of the Apostles and primitive Christians And do not they judge who arraign and sentence even to Prisons and Banishment them that for Conscience-sake cannot submit to what by men is prescribed for the Worship of God And are not their Meetings of the Lord and sealed in them to be well-pleasing in his sight by his Presence with them and his Appearance in them and among them for are not the manifestations of his Spirit and the operations of his Power in their holy Assemblies a sure Testimony from God of his acceptance of them in his Service and Worship And have they not then God's Authority for their meeting together in his Name the only Lord of their Consciences and the only Lawgiver for his own Worship and Service And must Magistrates in the things of the outward man by Christians be obeyed for Conscience-sake in things not against Conscience And must not the Lord himself by his People be obeyed for Conscience-sake in the things of the inward man And must every Ordinance of man be submitted unto for the Lord's sake that is not against the Lord and must not the Lord himself be submitted unto for his own sake by his true Worshippers in his own worship and Service And is not this to domineer and rule over and over-rule the Faith and Consciences of God's true Worshippers which by both Papists and Protestants in words is disclaimed which condemns their deeds to impose upon them in the Worship of God not only contrary to what in the sight of God is made manifest in their Consciences for the VVorship of God and which is according to the VVord of Truth and as by the Spirit of Christ in their hearts is prescribed to them but also in other manner than by the Apostles and primitive Christians God was worshipped before either the Common-Prayer Book or the Mass-Book was whose manner of VVorship was then said to be contrary to Law and by them called Heresie who reputed their own according to Law as it fares at this day with the Quakers who after the manner which is now called Heresie by them who are themselves in the Heresie they as the Apostles did do worship God even their Father in the Spirit and in the Truth And if the Apostles and primitive Christians did meet together above the number of Four besides the houshold and in their Meeting did worship God in other manner than is allowed by the Liturgy or practice of the Church of England before the Liturgy was why should it be made an unlawful meeting now and so capital as to be so severely punished as with Banishment for the Quakers to meet together before the Lord above the number of Four besides the houshold and in their meeting to worship God in that manner in which God may be worshipped otherwise than is allowed by the Liturgy or practice of the Church of England and as by the Apostles and primitive Christians God was worshipped before the Liturgy was to wit in the Spirit and in the Truth as they did seeing they are of the same Faith and in the same Spirit and Truth and under the same obligation as to their Consciences as they were And by Christ are purchased into the same Liberty for the free exercise of their Faith and Consciences towards God in his own Worship and one towards another in the Truth and Service of God and one another in the Lord which Liberty freely to exercise their Faith and Consciences in the Worship of God they may no more part with in vassalage to man than with their Lives for in the Liberty and Freedom of their Faith and Consciences in which Christ hath made them free are they not to stand fast to God alone whose Servants they are and the only Lord and Master of their Faith and Consciences and not again to be entangled with the Yokes of Bondage lest by captivating the Faith and defiling their Consciences they so become the servants of men as not becoming the Servants of Christ And if any notwi●hstanding what hath been said do yet assert That the Worship prescribed in the Liturgy is the only and true

Worship of God and that God can no otherwise be truly and spiritually worshipped but as is prescribed and allowed by the Liturgy or practice of the Church of England do they not consequently conclude the Worship of the Apostles and primitive Christians to be false who worshipped not by the prescript of the Liturgy but in Spirit before the Liturgy was And did not Christ to the Woman of Samaria say The hour cometh and now is 4. this was before the Liturgy when the true Worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth and that the Father seeketh such to worship him May it not therefore rather be asserted That God may be otherwise worshipped than by the prescript of the Liturgy or then is allowed by the practice of the Church of England to wit in Spirit and in Truth which by Christ is prescribed for the Worship of God and by the Apostles and primitive Christians was practised before the Liturgie was which Worship in the Spirit and in the Truth not only ended the Temple-worship at Jerusalem but also is repugnant to all the invented worships of every Nation And if it be said by any as in effect it hath been said by some esteemed wise and learned to justifie the use of the Common-Prayer-Book or Liturgie as they call it That there is no Form of Worship pre●isely declared and prescribed by God for his Worship I answer If there be no Form of Worship declared and prescribed by God should not men then tremble to prescribe where God hath not prescribed and must that therefore be the Worship of God which is prescribed by men And if they find not precisely declared and prescribed the Form of God's Worship in the Scripture doth it therefore follow that the Form of God's Worship is not precisely declared and prescribed by God or that which may be thought to be omitted by God that it must therefore be supplyed by man Doth God precisely require his Worship and doth he not as precisely prescribe the Form how he will be worshipped to them of whom he requires it Was Moses faithful in all his house as a Servant and is not Christ as a Son over his own house for is not Christ the King and Prophet of his Church and is this only titular or an idle dignity without fruit or effectual operation and vertue for as their King and Prophet is not Christ ever present with his by his Spirit that dwelleth in them and that abideth with them for ever to teach them and to lead them and to guide and govern them for did not Christ before he was crucified tell his Disciples that he would not leave them as Orphans but that he would come to them again and manifest himself unto them and with the Father make his abode with them And is not Christ also in the bosom of the Father to make known his will concerning his own Worship and Service And do not his Sheep hear and know his Voice and learn of him and doth he not shew them plainly of the Father as it is written The time cometh when I shall no more speak unto you in Parables but I shall shew you plainly of the Father Again Is not the manner and form of God's Worship precisely declared and prescribed by God in the Scriptures to be in Spirit and in Truth and if that be doubtful or hidden and unknown to them which are esteemed wise and learned which in the Scripture is written But the hour cometh and now is when the true Worshippers shall worship ●n 4. the Father in Spirit and in Truth And if these be enigmatical sayings viz To them that have eyes and see but perceive not and have ears and hear but understand not God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in Truth Yet herein is there not a ●hn 4. ● plain description by Christ of the Worship of God to them that are taught of God and have the mind of Christ and by the Spirit of Truth are led and guided into all Truth And wherein any thing which Christ spake to his Disciples whilst he was present with them in the body was at all obscure and ambiguous to them because of their weakness did not Christ direct them to the Teachings of the holy Spirit as to all things and for the bringing all things to their remembrance and opening their understandings in all whatsoever he had said unto them And what then in the Worship of God is there more precise which hath not been prescribed and declared at first by Christ and which since hath not been or may not in all the parts of God's Worship be plainly described by the holy Ghost in the hearts and consciences of God's faithful and true Worshippers whom the Father seeketh to worship him although perhaps it may be hidden from them who reject the Counsel of God within themselves and despise the most sure Conduct of his Spirit who leads into all Truth and who chuse to themselves the Worship which is after the Inventions and Commandments of men And forasmuch as God may be worshipped in other manner than is allowed by the Liturgy or practice of the Church of England as by the Apostles and primitive Christians he was before the Liturgy was and as by Christ is prescribed for the Worship of God to wit in Spirit and in Truth why should endeavours be used with such extremity against a People that fear the Lord whose consciences are tender and sensible and in the feeling of that which offends the Lord not only to obstruct them in their just-Liberty purchased to them as Christians by Christ and the free exercise of their Faith and Consciences to worship God in that manner in which God may be worshipped otherwise than is allowed by the Liturgy c. but also by their Laws to limit them to another manner of Worship than that in which God may be worshipped and otherwise than that into which they by the Spirit of Christ are led to worship God and other than that which by the primitive Christians was practised for the Worship of God and which they no where find in the Scriptures either limited unto or prescribed and which the Witness of God in their Consciences is against Do not the stronger herein by their strength rule over the weak in the things of God which by Christ are distinguished from the things that are Caesars Is not this by might and by power to over-rule the Heritage of God against their knowledge of the will of God and what God requires of them and against the divine wisdom and their spiritual understanding which God hath given them for his Service and Worship and against their faith and what they really believe to be the true and spiritual Worship of God and against the discerning and judgment which by the gift of God is seated in their hearts and souls by which they distinguish in themselves and do judge

their Brothers way and an occasion for him to fall who impose upon their Brother in spiritual things contrary to his faith and conscience for whatsoever is not of faith is ●●m 14. sin and if his own conscience condemn him God is greater And forasmuch as every one must account for himself to God is it ●ohn 3. ● not therefore also reasonable that in the things of God every man's conscience should be thorowly satisfied and their minds by the Lord Jesus Christ fully perswaded as it is written Let every man be fully ●●m 14 perswaded in his own mind rather than that any should be forced contrary to their minds and against their consciences by the laws of men for is not every one that doubteth in what he doth condemned in himself as it is written He that doubteth is damned if he eat Doth ●●r 23. it not therefore concern every one that believeth to keep the Faith by which he stands even as he hath received and his conscience void of offence as it is written Hast thou Faith have it to thy self before ●er 22. God Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing he alloweth And is not every mans conscience to be perswaded by the Lord Jesus Christ as saith the Apostle I know and am perswaded by the Lord Jesus ●er 14. c. and rather by the terrour of the Lord than by the terrour of men as it is written Knowing therefore the terrour of the Lord we Cor. 5 perswade men c. And in order therefore to their being fully satisfied in their consciences by the Lord Jesus are they not in the Light of Christ to try things that differ and in all are they not to prove what that good and perfect Will of God is And when in the true discerning of that which is right in the sight of God they are fully perswaded and their consciences thorowly satisfied by the Lord Jesus Christ are they not stedfastly to hold fast the Good whatsoever Laws by men may be made against it as it is written Prove all things hold fast that which is 1 T●● 5. 21 good for otherwise if the matters of Faith and the manner of Gods Worship should depend upon the Laws of men may not then our Faith and Religion and the manner of God's Worship as oft be changed as the minds of Magistrates may change And is it not possible that Magistrates may err in matters of Religion and Worship for therein are they not of different minds in Europe and for the People to be seduced even by their Magistrates for of Manasseh is it not said that he seduced the People to do more evil 2 K●● 21. 9 2 Ki● 17. ● Isa ● 12. than did the Nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel And did not Jeroboam drive Israel from following the Lord and make them sin a great sin And doth not the Lord by the Prophet Isaiah as grieved therewith say O my People they which lead thee cause thee to err and destroy the way of thy paths And did not Judah quote to the Prophet Jeremiah as examples the Antiquity of their Ancestors and the Authority and Practice of her Rulers for the abominable Idolatrous Jer. ● 17. Worship in the exercise of which she promised to her self both peace and plenty And were not the Idolatrous Priests ordained by the Kings of Judah 2 Ki 23. 5 to burn Incense in the High-Places in the Cities of Judah and in the Places round about Jerusalem And in the true and Spiritual Worship of God is there not the exercise and operation of the true and living Faith which worketh by Love for was it not by Faith that Abel offered a more acceptable Sacrifice than Cain and without Faith it is impossible to please God for he that approacheth to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder Heb. 4 6. of them that diligently seek him And is this Faith either in the gift of Magistrates or doth it operate by the force of their Laws And in order that the Lord may be truly spiritually and acceptably worshipped must there not be of necessity an understanding in some measure of the Will of God in his Worshippers and so mixt with Faith as that their minds may be fully perswaded and their consciences thorowly satisfied both as to the matter and manner of his Worship or else will not their Sacrifice be as of the blind and the halt and maimed And is this understanding of the Will of God given to them by the exercise of Secular-Force or are their consciences to be satisfied by the executions of the Laws of men and their Renalties Or rather are they not to look into the perfect Law of Liberty the Iam. 25. Royal Law on which hangs all the Law and the Prophets and according to which the Laws of men ought to be regulated which in their hearts is written and not in litteral or outward Commands nor by the Prescriptions of men but with the Spirit of the living God and therein to learn of Christ the will of God concerning his own Worship and Service And must not the Lord be worshipped by his own spiritual and immortal Birth and with the returns of the breathings of his own Life in the unity of his own Spirit and of the Truth as it is in Jesus and rather according to the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus than either with the Inventions or by the Precepts of men Or can the Lord be truly and spiritually worshipped on earth but by his own Spirit and in the Truth and of them that are of his Spirit And is the Spirit of the Lord either to be limited or directed by men for doth not the Prophet of the Lord say Who hath directed the Spirit of the ●● 40. Lord or being his Counsellor hath taught him Or do themselves truly discern the Spiritual Worship of God in the inward feeling of that which is Immortal of God in them in which only God is to be worshipped and in the sensible motion and operation of the Spirit of God speaking in them and making Intercession for them according to the will of God and not after the will of man in which flesh is to be silent and the man passive who prescribes to others By Laws or Canons for the Worship of God for doth not the Apostle say We ●● 8. know not what to pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh request for us with sighs which cannot be expressed And doth not Christ say It is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh ●att ● 20. in you And if the Apostles knew not beforehand what to pray for as they ought is the Lord then truly and spiritually worshipped by the reading of stinted Forms of Prayer imposed for the publick Worship of God and which are not only

●●g ●4 ● 43. is it not recorded as their remisness that they were not by them demolished Howbeit they forc'd none no not to sacrifice to the true God in the high-places but suffered it in those that did And although Jehoash Amaziah Azariah and Jotham did many things that were right in the sight of the Lord yet did not they all leave standing the high-places and under their Reigns and Government did not the people still sacrifice and burn Incense in the high-places which by the Law of God was not lawful for them to do but in the Temple only And as to the courage and fidelity of Hezekiah and the zeal and piety of Josiah and their more thorow Reformation so much spoken of to wit their throwing down the high-places as well those which by the former Reformers were left standing as those which after were built and their breaking down the Altars and casting out the Images and their countenancing the true Worshippers and encouraging the Worship of God according to the Law and Covenant of God all which as aforesaid is objected by some as examples for Christian Magistrates to follow and for them therefore to exercise their Authority as to matters of Religion To which I answer If the Lord put it into the hearts of Christian Magistrates so far to tread in the steps of the good Kings of Judah as to encourage the true Worship of God which is in Spirit and in Truth and not after the inventions of men and to protect God's true Worshippers in their Worship of God and to exercise their Authority for the removing the heaps of high-places in Christendom which neither were built either by pattern or Command from God and for the demolishing of their eminent places with their Altars within them and Popish Images about them who of the Lord's People would be grieved therewith for which reade 2 Chron. 34. 3 4. 2 Kings 23. 18. 4. 2 Chron. 30. 14. Numb 33. 52. Deut. 7. 5. 12. 2 3. And as before it is observed Was it not recorded as the remisness of the former good Kings of Judah That the High-places were not removed though in them the people sacrificed to the true God only But did those good Magistrates and Reformers in the Church and Commonwealth of Judah at all prescribe to God his Worship or did they administer their Power for the execution of their own wills concerning the Worship of God Was not their Authority by them exercised for the establishment of the Law of God and his Ordinances for his Wolship and Service according as by Moses was declared and written before them and for the keeping of God's Testimonies which by God was testified in his Spirit by his Prophets and in their own consciences For did not Iosiah make a Covenant before the Lord To walk after the Lord and to keep his Commandments and his Testimonies 2 Ch●● 34. ●● and his Statutes with all his heart and with all his soul and to perform the words of the Covenant which were written in the Book that was found in the House of the Lord And of Hezekiah is it not said That 2 Ki●● 18. ●● he clave to the Lord and departed not from following him but kept his Commandments which the Lord commanded Moses And of Iehosaphat is it 2 C●●●7 4● not said That he sought to the Lord God of his Father and walked in his Commandments and not after the doings of Israel And when Asa had taken away the Altars of the strange gods and the High-places c. did not he command Iudah or rather as it is in some Translation he 2 Ch● 14. 4● said unto Iudah that they should seek the Lord God of their Fathers and do after the Law and Commandments And was not the uprightness of their hearts such as to the Lord his Law and Commands to them in what they did as that their Commands by the people were obeyed as the words and Commandments of God as it is written 2 Chr. 29. 15. And they gathered their Brethren and sanctified themselves and came according to the Commandment of the Kings by the words of the Lord c. for they in their Commands obeying the Word of the Lord the Hand of the Lord was so upon the people as that they obeyed their Commands as the Word of the Lord as it is written 2 Chr. 30. 12. Also in Judah the Hand of God was to give them one heart to do the Commandment of the King and of the Princes by the Word of the Lord. But to conclude both as to Christian Magistrates and also as to Heathen Magistrates If Heathen Magistrates command Christians even in the matters of Religion the Commandments of the Lord only and not their own against their Lords are they not even by Christians to be submitted unto for the Lords sake And if Christian Magistrates command Christians even as to the Worship of God the Commandments of Christ answering to the Witness of Christ in their consciences that are to obey and not by carnal compulsion or the force of man against their Fai●h and Consciences are they not by Christians to be obeyed yea and even for Conscience sake But if the Commands of Magistrates whet●er as to their profession they be either Heathens of C●ristians be contrary to the Commands of God and our Lord Jesus Christ and against the Faith and Consciences of Gods faithful and true Worshippers in this case is not the Lord rather to be obeyed than Men