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	way_n	word_n	1,912	5	3.9834	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A87123	The harmonious consent of the ministers of the province within the county palatine of Lancaster, with their reverend brethren the ministers of the province of London, in their late testimonie to the trueth of Jesus Christ, and to our Solemn League and Covenant : as also against the errours, heresies, and blasphemies of these times, and the toleration of them.	Heyrick, Richard, 1600-1667.	1648 (1648)	Wing H800A; Thomason E434_7; ESTC R7597	26,660	31

the same Heresies and Blasphemies when they published their Ordinance ' to that purpose As also for to seek Gods assidance for the suppressing and preventing the same and which put us in hopes that there would have been long before now an application of some effectual means of remedy And although we cannot but from the bottom of our hearts lament and pity all those that are intangled in the dangerous and deadly snares fo the Errours of these times yet considering that unsound and heretical doctrine Wil eat as doth a canker b 2. Tim 2.7 or gangrene and therefore doth manifestly tend to the razing down to the ground the true Christian Faith the extirpating of all true Religion and the power of godliness the poysoning and undoing of precions souls is the pest of a Church the weed that wil over-grow Gods garden and so choak the plants of the Lords own planting doth highly provoke God to anger and that the fuligmous vapors thereof which have of late risen up out of the bottomless pit as they have greatly eclipsed so are they in danger to grow into thick clouds to the utter datkening of the heavens over our heads that we should not behold any more the light of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ we do therefore hereby testifie with our brethren c Teslimony to the Touth of Jesus Christ page 33. to all our flocks to all the reformed Churches as our great dislike of Prelacy Erastianism ' Brownism and Independency so our utter abhorrency of Antiscripturism Popery Arianism Socinianism Arminianism Antinomianism Anabaptism Libertinism and Familism with all such like now toorife amongst us and more particularly all those Errours witnesses against by our brethren and recited by them in their Catalogue of infamous and pernicious Errours in their late Testimony And we do hereby as the Watchmen of God and Ministers of Jesus Christ give warning to our several flocks d Mat 7 5. That they take heed of the wolves in sheeps clothing of all e 2 Pet 2 1. false Teachers that do privily bring in dumnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction and that therefore they follow not their pernicious ways that the way of truth may not be evil spoken of that f 2 Ioh. v 10 11 if any man come unto them and bring not the doctrine of Christ they receive him not into their house neither hid him God speed that so they be not partakers of their evil deeds that g Rom. 16 17 they mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which the they have learned and avoyd them And do earnestly exhort them in the bowels of Jesus Christ That they labour to get sound knowledg and to be wel grounded in the principles of the oracles of h Heb. 5.12 God the want whereof is the cause why so many are seduced and turned aside and being i Eph. 4.14 but children in understanding are tossed to and fro and carryed about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cuning craftiness of those that lie in wait to deceive k Acts 17.11 That they search the Scriptures with those good Bereans whether those things they hear be so or no l 1 Iohn 4.1 that they beleeve not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God because many false Prophets are gone out into the world m I Thes 5.20 21 that they dispise not prophecying but yet prove all things and hold fast that which is good n Eph 4.15 and that speaking the trueth in love they grow up into Christ in all things which is the head Most humbly beseeching o Eph. 1.17 the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of glory that he would give unto all his people the Spirit of wisdoms and revelation in the knowledg of him p Eph. 3.16 That he Would grant unto them according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man that they may be kept from every evil way of errour and sin and may always have something to say for the trueth and nothing against it that all those that go astray may be brought into the Way of trueth and that we our selves our several flocks and the whole Church of God every where may be found blameless at the day of Christ And however we cannot but for the present deplore the sad condition of the Church of God in this Kingdom in respect of the poysonful Errours it is infected with yet we hope that that God which often works by contraries making scandals the tryal and triumph of his chosen is for the present doing his people good by the means of Errours growth thereby ●tying their sincerity and love to trueth stiring them up to prize it the more and more to search after it There must be Heresies saith the Apostle that they that are appoved may be made manifest q C●s 11 19 Open enemies and false brethren by the wise ordering of God who can make soveraign mithridate of the flesh of vipers do always advantage the r Non 〈◊〉 do ●●slo q●od nes●unt s●d ad ●●●un qu●●readum ca●●●les ad 〈◊〉 ap●●●idu● scin●●tua●●●●●●●●cos exci●a●do An●u●●● de vera ●●li●● 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cap. 8. Church And we do further trust that when God by his thus suffering the growth of abominable and pernicious Errours for a time hath thereby fully accomplished the work he hath to do upon the hearts of his people he that knows how to bring light out of darkness order out of confusion good out of evil as he made the pride and tyranny of the Prelates the means to cast them forth so also in much mercy to England wil at length by this most unlikely and contraty means in it self make the Reformation of these Kingdoms much more thorough and glorious III. But before we pass on any further we are here led to express with what astonishment and horrour we are struck when we seriously weigh what endeavours are used for the establishing of an universal Toleration of all the pernicious Errours blasphemous and heretical doctrines broached in these times as if men would not sin fast enough they were biden or as if God were not already enough dishonored except the throne of iniquity were set up framing mischief by a Law ſ Psa 94.20 or as if men were afraid that Errour a goodly plant to be cherished would not grow fast enough except it were made much of or as if it might as justly lay claim to the priviledg of being defended as truth it self or as if there were danger that Satan would not destroy souls enough except he might do the same without all restraint For our own parts as we can never sufficiently admire and wonder that any that have taken the Sole●● League and Covenant should either have so quickly forgo●●nit or else

this sick and languishing Church is so much distempered And as we are fully perswaded with the reverend and learned Assembly of Divines from clear Scripture grounds t Isa 9 6 7 1 Tim 5.17 Act 20 87 28. Heb. 1 7 17 24. 1 Cor 12. 28 Mat 28. 18 19 30. That the Lord fesus as King and head of his Church hath therein appointed a Government in the hand of Church Officers distinit from the civil Magistrate u See the humble Adivice of the Assembly of Divines concerning a Confestion of Faith ch 30. sect 1. page 52. and that it is hi upon Whose shoulders the government is who sits upon the throne of David and upon his Kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth even for ever having all power given to him in heaven and in earth by the Father Who raised him from the dead and set him in his own right hand and put all things under his feet w See the humbly Advice of the Aflembly concerning Church Government page 3 So also with our reverend brethren the Ministers of the Province of London x See a Testimony to the Trueth of lesus Christ page 24. we are well assured that Jesus Christ hath siufficiently revealed in his Word how he wil have his Church governed now under the New Teclament and that the Presbyterial Government truly so called by Presbyteries and Synods in a due line of subordination of the lesser to the greater with procperous success exercised in the best reformed Churches is that Government which is most agreable to the mind of jesus Christ revealed in Seripture And if this Government were but fully established and settled a throughout this Kingdom we do not doubt but through the bles●ing of God in the sincere and faithsul exercise thereof the mists that do at present overshadow and obscure this Church would be soon dispelled the Errours that do boldy walk up and down without controul would not dare to peep forth or if they did would be soon suppressed looseness and profaness would be more restrained the power of godliness more advanced many scandals prevented and removed sundry stumbling blocks would be taken out of the way of the weak to the healing of our divisions and so the Spouse of Christ that at present is black over would look with another manner of face then now she doth The experience of the reformed Churches and especially of Scotland confirms the successfulness of this Government abundantly for the weeding up of Errours and keeping the Church of Chirst chaste from being drawn aside to commit spiritual fornication with the idols of the brain We also our selves in the exercise of this Government according to those cautions and considerations premised by us z See the deliberate Resolntion of the Minislers of the Gospel within the County Palatine of Lancaster with their grounds cautions according to which they put into execution the Presbyterial Government upon the present Ordinances of Parliament Pieston Novemb. 17. 1646. have to the praise and glory of God cause to acknowledg it in some measure successful amongst us in the exercise of that part thereof that is alrealy settled for the stirring up of the ignorant to endeavour after more knowledg and the restraining of the scandalous but much more fruit we apprehend would be reaped from it if in all the parts thereof it were in its ful force established But in the mean time we cannot but bewail that there are so many that are prejudiced against it do asperse it speaking evil of what they understand not and that sundry do not only refuse to submit to it themselves but do with tooth and nail oppose and hinder the establishing of it in the Kingdom Here also we do further signifie that we cannot only our selves submit to what the reverend and learned Assembly of Divines have presented to the Honorable Houses of Parliament as their humble advice concerning this Government judging it to be very consonant to the Word of God and wel agreeing with the Government and Discipline of other reformed Churches but do also unfeignedly and heartily desire in pursuance of our Covenant that the three Kingdoms may be brought to that uniformity for Discipline and Govenment that is advised to there not without much regreet disapproving of the new-coined titles of distinction of a Scottish and English Presbytery V. As for our Solemn League and Covenant for the defence of our Religion and to endeavour Reformation we cannot but here cal to mind the manifold encouragements given us to take it it being when it was by authority pressed upon us thought a fit and excellent means to acquire the favor of almighty God towards the three Kingdoms a See the Ordinance of Parliament Feb. 2.16.41 for the ta●●● the Covenant and for the better encouraging of all sorts of person to take it was by the Parliament in the tenth instruction for the taking of the Covenant recommended to the Assembly of Divines to make a brief Declaration by way of Exhortation to all sorts of persons to take it as that Which they judged no only lawful but all things considered exceeding expedient and necessary for all that wish wel to religion the King and Kingdom to joyn in and to be a singular pledg of Gods gracious goodness to all the three Kingdoms and was accordingly urged by the Assembly as the soveraign and only means to recover an embroiled bleeding remnant b See the Exhortation for the taking the Covenant ordered by the House of Commons to be p●●ated Feb. 9.1643 and yet further that in the Declaration of both Kingdoms joyned in Arms ordered to be printed Jan. 30. 1643. such as would not take the Covenant are declared to be publick enemies to their Religion Country and that they are to be censured punished as professed adversaries and Malignants all which as they did lay strong engagements on us to take it so to see it so urged and pressed made our hearts within us to leap for joy We remembred our servitude and bondage under the Prelatical Task-masters how the Doctrine Discipline and Worship had been corrupted and this Covenant for Extirpation of Popery Prelacy Superstition Heresie Schism and Profaness and for Reformation of Religion in Doctrine Discipline Government and Worship not only recommended but also commanded and so strongly pressed by the higher powers to be taken throughout these three Kingdoms did in the midst of our troubles at that time lying on us mightily revive and cheer our drooping spirits and was as life from the dead c Rom. 11 15. We also shal never forget how the taking of this Covenant was by our selves pressed and urged on our several Congregations how lolemnly it was sworn and what rejoycing there was at the Oath sundry at the taking of it weeping for joy And when the Covenant was thus taken we thought within our selves that surely now the Crown is set