Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	apostle_n	believe_v	speak_v	1,664	5	4.3193	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A08772	The prentises practise in Godlinesse, and his true freedome Diuided into ten chapters. Written by B.P.	B. P., fl. 1608.; T. R., fl. 1608.	1608 (1608)	STC 19057; ESTC S120852	65,287	210

temptation be slackt Vndertake no waighty busines of thine owne or thy masters but with praier before that God would guide and speed thee in it Thinke not that thy praying will lose thee thy opportunity For time is neuer lost in praying vnto him that doth command the time Whatsoeuer hath beene vnto thee an occasion of sinne shun it as thou wouldest shun a most mortal danger Thinke no place to be without a witnesse of thy doings for a great part of wickednesse is left vndone if some body be by when one is about to cōmit it Frequent the company of the godly and auoid the conuersation of the wicked and prophane for continuall conuersation is of great force not only to make vs embrace the vertues but oftentimes also euen against our willes to imitate the vices of our companions Hence it commeth that we are alwayes taken for such as those are with whom wee doe ordinarily conuerse according to the prouerb His nature in his mate is showen Who cannot by himselfe be knowen Meditate often of death of the miseries of this life of the resurrection the iudgement and the ioyes of the life to come rather suffer euill then doe euill to any but neither speake euill nor listen to euill speakers Fall not easily at ods with any but continue at ods with none Follow thy God and Sauiours example in doing well vnto all men and endeuour to be like him in louing thine enemies Finally whatsoeuer things bee of good report or honest example those things thinke on and doe and the God of peace shall be with thee for euer These things howsoeuer they seeme vnpleasant and abhorring from our nature especially in our yong yeares yet if the Lord once infuse his grace into our hearts and renue our affections by the working of his spirit they will seeme sweet and easie and delightfull and we shal take more pleasure in doing of them then in any worldly or bodily exercise whatsoeuer All the matter is at first after a little vse all difficulty vanisheth At the first leaping into the water middle high one feeles intollerable cold ready to take away the breath but by that time he hath waded in further vp to the necke it seemes to be of a milder temper So religion and Gods seruice seemes harsh and tedious at the first entry into it but by that time we haue beene a while inured to the practise of it all other things are vnsauorie to vs and onely in this there is heauenly delectation To conclude this chapter remember that our feeling of the want of grace is a good step to the obtaining of grace Our desire to repent is the seed or kernell of repentance and being cherished will at length beare ripe fruites of a sanctified conuersation That howsoeuer the diuell and our owne flesh mooue vs to doubting yet God willeth not the death of a sinner that doth from the bottome of his heart turne vnto him nor shall our repentance be in vaine so it be true though our sinnes were as many for number as the drops of raine and as bloudie for their quality as skarlet is red Gods mercy is a rich mercy and his pardon is absolute without limitation or exception Finally that hearty and continuall prayer and such simple rules directions as I haue set down out of mine owne obseruation experience will prooue good helpes to the new Proselytes for the beginning and perfiting of their repentance CHAP. 9. IF any aske how hee shall know whether his repentance be true or no I answer by the change which eft-soones hee shall feele wrought in his whole man which is in a word the forsaking his former sinnes wherein he delighted and delighting in those good things which before hee despised Without this change there is no repentance Well we may flatter our selues and talke of repentance but we are yet in our sins and the Lords decree is still in force against vs. Well then wilt thou be not almost a Christian as King Agrippa but a true Israelite indeede like Nathaniel in whom was no guile renounce all thy olde sinnes and receiue in their places the vertues opposite to them and this shall seale vp to thy conscience that thy sinnes are forgiuen for his names sake Hast thou beene a swearer from henceforth feare the glorious and fearefull name of the Lord thinke not of it but with singular reuerence because his owne mouth hath said it He wil not hold him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vaine Answere me not as one did not long since being reproued for this sinne I am no such great swearer as you would make me It is but seldome that I sweare by GOD and by such such great othes for commonly the greatest othes that I sweare is but by my faith or troth and that I make account to be no such great matter and I pray GOD you neuer do worse and then you shall do well enough But make thou conscience of an oth aswell little as great for the Apostle alloweth of no oth at al Swear not all saith he neither by heauen nor by earth nor any oth lest you fall into condemnation But as our Sauiour saith let your yea be yea your nay nay for whatsoeuer is more is of the Diuell O but saith one the world is so full of vnbeleefe that except I sweare men will not beleeue me yea nay is nothing now a daies to sell my commodities by if I sweare not I shal not sell Why is that but because thou hast neuer made conscience of a lie but added an oth two or three sometimes to make a lie goe currant and peraduenture thy customers sometimes knowing that thou swearest falsly cannot beleeue thee another time though thou sweare truely But if thou wouldest sell thy wares take the counsell of the Apostle who willeth vs to cast off lying and euery one of vs to speake truth to his neigbour forasmuch as we are members one of another and so by vsing thy tongue to speake truth thou shalt be beleeued sooner vpon thy bare word then vpon thy many protestations and othes Carnall men wil sooner suspect thy swearing then thy plaine saying because they though they be such as cary a forme of ciuil honesty wil notwithstanding not stick to sweare a lie themselues to win some aduantage by and by their own fashion they iudge of thine So then swearing is a sin clothed neither with pleasure nor profit for what pleasure is there in a prophane frothy word spewed out of the wicked abundance of the heart or what profit when the thundring out of six or seuen othes one after another will not sell a yeard of stuffe or a pound waight of thy commodities so little account is made of them Besides in much swearing is oft forswearing as it is seen too often in our shops euery day For let a man come into some shops to cheapen a cōmodity they will sweare that they

Goliah so that the cause then of both being not much vnlike the answere that followeth shall not vnfitly be applied though not in the same measure of grace wisedome and modesty yet in the same nature of zeale truth and sincerity answer with him in the 29. verse Graue Fathers masters and superiors what haue I done is there not cause But if this Apology seeme vnsufficient obserue with me breefly the benefit that commeth hereby and the fault considered will easily be wiped away In the first place then it bringeth a comfort to the Church of God when they shall see the prophesies fulfilled and those promises performed which long since was declared to fall out in the latter age of the world Esay 11.9 that the earth shall bee filled with the knowledge of the Lord Ioel. 8. as the sea is couered with with waters Againe Your daughters shall prophesie your old mē shal dreame dreames your yong men shal see visiōs Psalm 8. And also vpon the seruants will I powre out my spirit Againe Out of the mouth of Babes hast thou ordained strength because of their enemies Notwithstanding these prophesies I grant chiefly fulfilled at the comming of Christ yet in respect of the perpetuity of it it is to remaine vntill the number of the elect be accomplished yea and wee that are now liuing haue seene the extraordinary power and operation of it if wee consider since the time of Luther how the Angell flying from the middest of heauen Reuel 14.6 hauing an euerlasting Gospell in his mouth to preach to the nations that dwell vpon the earth saying with a loud voice Feare GOD giue glory to him an vnspeakeable and peculiar fauour of GOD as our Sauiour Christ sayeth Blessed are the eies that see those things which you see and the eares that heare those things which you heare being the onely meanes to bring vs into the fauour of God and men that it may bee sayed of vs Cant. 6.9 as it was of his owne spouse Who is this that loeketh forth as the morning faire as the Moone pure as the Sunne terrible as an armie with banners Yea then we shall bee pretious to the Lord who so toucheth vs toucheth the apple of his eie and hee will say to our enemies Cant. 3.5 I charge you O you daughters of Ierusalem by the Roe by the Hindes of the field that you stirre not vp nor waken my beloued vntill shee please Yea then shall wee be set as a seale vpon his heart and as a signet vpon his arme for loue is stronger then death Ielosie is cruell as the graue the coales thereof are fiery coles and a vehement flame much water cannot quen●r loue neither can the flouds drowne it If a man would giue al the substāce of his house for loue the world would greatly contemne it Cant. 8.1 Secondly it much aduanceth declareth and setteth forth the power of the Gospell when men are made of Lions Lambs their natures being changed that they come willingly in the day of assembly the loue of God constraining them and the blessing of God vpon them causing their sonnes to bee as the plants growing vp in their youthes their daughters as the corner stones grauen aft r the manner of Apelles c. So that other nations being our Iudges are forced to say of vs Psal 144.7 Happy are the people that are in such a case yea blessed are the people whose God is the Lord Iehoua Thirdly it is exceeding comfortable and no lesse honorable to the graue fathers and faithfull learned preachers of our age when they shall see the blessing of God vpon their labours their children which they haue begotten into the faith by the word of truth Psalm 127 like arrowes in the hand of the strong man and are not ashamed to speake before their enemies in the gate So that they haue no neede of the approbation of men or letters of recommendations their Epistles being written not with inke paper but in the hearts of their children and shineth in the world to the praise and glory of God Lastly a notable motiue prouocation to incite and stir vp the minds of those that are too slacke and negligent in this kinde and may also be vsed as a whetstone to sharpen and set an edge vpon finer wits that so all the members of Christ both learned and vnlearned may meet and ioine foot to foot and shoulder to shoulder opposing themselues against their great common aduersary and being directed by one spirit may vtter their voices both by praier by preaching that we may cause the kingdome of Antichrist to fall downe like the walles of Iericho that so if it be the Lords will we that are now liuing may see that with the eies of our bodies which Saint Iohn saw so long since with the eies of his spirit and so with holy reioycing and gladnesse of heart we may say with blessed Saint Iohn It is fallen it is fallen great Babylon and is become a cage of vncleane birds Now if any shall aske of me who are you and what is your name whose iudgement the reader should so much reuerence In this behalfe I answere If I were one of learning and estimation perhaps I might cary thee away not vsing any great reason or demonstration On the contrary if of no note and quality thou wouldest hardly be brought to embrace it though I bring strong and forceable arguments and reasons I refer thee therefore to the booke it selfe which is able to commend it selfe to the conscience of any indifferent reader whose eares being sanctified trieth words as the mouth tasteth meat Onely this I will say with the Aapostle Iames Iob. 34.3 Haue not the faith in respect of persons and then I dare assure my selfe the Lord shall haue glory and his chīldren comfort The which vpon the knees of my soule I craue of his goodnes and that he will increase in the hearts of his Saints sauing faith and with faith vertue and with vertue knowledge and with knowledge temperance and with temperance patience and with patience godlinesse and with godlinesse brotherlie kindnesse and with brotherlie kindnesse loue that you may make your calling and election sure so that you may neuer fall By him that praieth daily for the peace of Sion and longeth to see Ierusalem in her pefect beautie T. R. The contents of the Chapters following in this Booke CHAP. 1. Of Gods graces and benefits in free mercy bestowed vpon man that thereby hee may be moued to serue his diuine maiesty fol. 1. 2. 3. CHAP. 2. Of the infinit and vnspeakable benefit of Christs death m●ns great ingratitude notwithstanding which all things whatsoeuer in their kinde condemne fol. 4.5.6 CHAP. 3. Of the most miserable estate of the Reprobate both in this world and in the world to come as also of the most blessed happy condition heere and hence of those