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	church_n	place_n	2,286	5	4.5870	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A60211	The origine of atheism in the popish and Protestant churches shew'n by Dorotheus Sicurus, 1648 ; made into English, and a preface added by E.B., Esquire.; Origo atheismi in pontificia et evangelica ecclesia. English	Crenius, Thomas, 1648-1728.; E. B., Esquire.	1684 (1684)	Wing S3756; ESTC R6868	23,279	40

Spend-thrifts and Gamesters so many Citizens contaminated with all manner of Villany and Wickedness but from this one fountain of the ill and perverse Education and Government of Children for they that attribute the debauchery of the Age to the Reformation do without doubt need Physick That loose and impious Education and ill discipline which is now in use added to the negligence and dissoluteness of the Magistrates who are more intent upon their own private and domestick advantages than the publick good that I may make no complaints against the Princes of the World must certainly bear the blame of all this Wickedness Thus you have the first and principal cause of the present Atheism in my opinion XII And now I come to the next which is the contempt of the Clergy and Church-men I will not at large inquire into the Causes of this nor whether many of them have not brought this disesteem upon themselves by their own faults tho' it is not possible that our Clergy should not be vile in the eyes of men while they see how basely and poorly they seek Church Functions and Preferments how careless they are of their people and unconcern'd for the Glory of God Now I say when men see all this is it possible that they should not despise those who seek their own and not the things of Jesus Christ And the very Clergy too observe at time the small esteem the people have of them as appears by their frequent complaints in their Pulpits tho' they either know not or are pleased to dissemble their knowledge of the Cause as if they abhorred the remedy more than the disease I will only add this that the contempt of the Person for the most part brings with it a contempt of the Office Now how deep this is rooted in the minds of the men of this Age no man can be ignorant I remember I heard a person of no mean consideration at Amsterdam use these words That he valued his Cat as much as he did his Minister Thus did an Evangelical hearer speak of an Evangelical Pastor If any that were not of the Established Church had thought a little under valuingly of them it might have been born provided it had not been attended with publick scandal because they have nothing to do with them as S. Paul bore with the Athenian Philosophers who call'd him Babler and a setter forth of strange Gods but when the Auditors who are committed to his care despise his Admonitions and Doctrine as if they were too good and learned in the Scriptures to be instructed by such a man as it does not seldom happen that those who have wealth and power in the world will hardly submit themselves to the Church-discipline and instruction there I say the contempt is not to be indured because attended with the contempt of the Ministery and tending to the great damage of the hearers And to this purpose is that of the Apostle let no man despise thee For I cannot allow the Exposition of Chrysostom and others who think that Titus was admonished to behave himself so both as to his Doctrine and Life as not to deserve to be despised For altho' it is most certain that integrity of manners does add to the Authority of the Teacher and render his Doctrine more acceptable and that a good life as Primasius saith makes the Doctrine of more Authority yet the very sound and sense of the words shew that the Apostle here does not prescribe what Titus should do but what others should not do Joh. Crocius upon this place take it that the Apostle did not here speak to Titus but to the whole Church of Crete and ordains that seeing Titus was commanded to encounter with their vices and errors and to defend the Truth and Religion no man should be so prodigal of his Salvation as to despise either his Person or his Office or prefer himself before him as better or more worthy For the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here used as is observed by S. Hierom. Witteberg and Fr. Baldwin Comm. p. 1501. B. signifies thus much When any one being confident of himself that he is better than another despiseth him whom he thinks beneath him And as being above him in wisdom thinks the inferiour person worthy to be despised Therefore this is to be imprinted in the first place in the minds of all that belong to the Church of what Order or Dignity soever they are of that they ought to be subject to their Minister because all are sinners who stand in need of Instruction Exhortation reproof and Consolation all which are administred by the Ministers of the Church by the word of God commended to them therefore they are to be heard of all as the Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries of God But if there be any that will not hear as the greatest part of the men of this Age will not that they are not to be connived at but to be rebuked with all Authority As the Apostle directs in the last cited place out of Titus that they may understand saith the grave Balduinus the Authority of the Ministery excells all worthly Power We have already the heavy sentence revealed against these despisers Luk. X. 16. Matth. X. 40. Joh. XIII 20. But if there be any Drones and unworthy of the Ministery let them be driven out of the Hive But as to those who teach the true Doctrine and Religion and Catechise in publick and in private and serve Christ and their people faithfully without any vain hopes of lucre out of love these I say ought to have obedience liberality and reverence shewn towards them lest if we act otherwise by the just judgment of GOD we should be left so far to our selves as to maintain Seducers Hypocrites mercenary men those that are covetous of great Revenues carnal men who are totally unfit for that spiritual work idle bellies indeed of the Ministers of Christ and such as wallow in the very mire of Pleasures and Riches which hath already hapned not only to our forefathers but to some of the most flourishing Churches of these times as we see with sorrowful hearts XIII The ill tho' frequent way of Preaching gives us the third cause of Atheism The first duty of a Preacher is to set forth the Power and Nature of Religion and the second is to perswade men to Faith and good works as all agree who know what it is For it is in vain to exhort those men who are ignorant of the force and nature of true Positive Divinity and Religion But a great sort of our Preachers having only lightly touched or rather for the most part totally neglected their Text fall presently to the exhortation which whoever does prosecute without the knowledge of Faith and true Religion does but play the Philosopher instead of preaching Christ as Philip Melancthon has plainly pronounced in this affair I would not have the latter omitted