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	holy_a	prophet_n	1,854	5	6.2449	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51914	Th' encænia of St. Ann's Chappel in Sandgate, or, A sermon preached May 3, 1682 before the right worshipful, the mayor, aldermen, sheriff &c. of the town and county of Newcastle Upon Tyne upon their erecting a school and a catechetical lecture for the instruction of poor children and such as are ignorant / by John March.	March, John, 1640-1692.	1682 (1682)	Wing M579; ESTC R27548	16,204	38

Piety and Godliness taught them I shall add further in commendation of this Psalm what the Learned Mollerus observes concerning it It is a Psalm of that excellency saith he that the more we 〈…〉 the more we shall like it and the oftner we meditate on it the more honey and sweetness will it afford to us I know not any Psalm saith he that has been cited so often by the Fathers that has been held in greater esteem amongst Christians or out of which the Church of God has in all Ages received more Comfort or more Instructions The great worth and excellency of this Psalm will I hope be sufficient to raise your Attention to those words I have chosen out of it for this solemn occasion They contain in them a serious and passionate Invitation made by Da●… one of the best and greatest of men unto s●ch 〈◊〉 are ignorant Come ye Children hearken ●nto m● I will teach you the fear of the Lord. For the fuller opening and handling of these words I will endeavour to shew you 1. The great necessity of teaching and instructing Children 2. The Persons that are to be taught and they are Children Come ye Children 3. What they are to be taught namely the ●●ar of the Lord. 4. The persons that should take care Children be taught the fear of the Lord. Ye see 〈◊〉 a Magi●… a King thought it his duty to look after th●se maters Come ye Children hearken unto me I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 5. The duties of such as are to be taught they must come and they must hearken Come ye Children hearken unto me I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Of these parts in their order I. Let us consider the great necessity of teaching and instructing Children These words as I have told you already import a solemn serious and passionate invitation of exhortation made by King David and we should be very injurious both to the Prudence and Piety of that Holy man if we did not conclude from hence the great necessity of teaching and instructing Children a larger prospect of which necessity I shall give you in these following particulars 1. The great necessity of teaching and instructing Children may easily he concluded from those very significant and emphatical metaphors by which this duty is set forth in Scripture you 'll find it set forth by the metaphors of Milk of Principles and of a Foundation Will any say it is not necessary to give Milk to Children for the preservation of their Natural Life and will it not then be more necessary to feed them with the sincere Milk of the Word that they may grow in Grace till they come to the Perfect Man Is it necessary that Children should learn the first rudiments and principles of knowledge before they can attain any perfection in it And will it not be necessary they should learn their Catechism some form of sound words which shall contain the principles of Religion that so a● length they may arrive at the saying knowledge of the truth Is a foundation necessary to the building of an house no less necessary is it in the judgement of the Holy Ghost that Christians be I built upon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles and on Jesus Christ who is the chief corner-stone These are the illustrations of this duty we find in Scripture and they sufficiently imply the necessity of it But 2. This necessity of teaching and instructing Children will further appear from the consideration of origina● sin and mans natural avers●●●ss unto all that is good Since the fall of Adam we are such wild Trees as require due manuring and good husbandry to make us fruitful In Zophar's comparison man by nature is like a wild Asses Colt an Asses Colt for rudeness and the Colt of a Wild Ass for unruliness Aristotle though a Great Philosopher spoke but like a Heathen when he compared the Soul of man to a Rasa Tabula a pair of clean Tables or a perfect blank for the Soul is sadly blotted and blurr'd by original sin it is all stained and polluted by natural corruption As the Psalmist speaks we are shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin and therefore let us begin as soon as we can to instruct and Catechize children we shall find sin and Satan have got the start of us and that they stand in need of Instruction long before they are capable of it Great necessity therefore there is of timely and early instructions if it be only to root out these weeds of corrupt Nature But 3. These early instructions of Children will be found necessary if we consider that delays will make the work more difficult and dangerous Sin has its several ages as well as man At first it has only the weakness of an Infant and may easily be master'd by Religious Education but in a short time it will arrive at the strength of manhood and by custome take a firmer possession of the Soul To this purpose is that sad observation of St. Austin Dum servitur libidini facta est consuetudo dum confuetudini non resistitur facta est necessitas c. Whilest men indulge themselves in the ways of wickedness they easily contract an evil custome and this if neglected ends at last in a fatal necessity Youth is much more capable of instruction than the inveterate sinner Train up a Child saith Solomon in the way he should go and he will not depart from it when he is old But such as are harden'd in wickedness will receive very small benefit from instruction The Ethiopian as the Prophet speaks may as soon change his skin and the Leopard his spots as those that are accustomed to do evil learn to do well 4. The necessity of teaching and instructing Children will yet further appear if we consider how necessary it is to fit and prepare the younger sort for the other ordinances of God Milk is useful for Babes that they may grow up unto men and be able to digest strong●r meat Such as are not well grounded in the rudiments of Religion will not be much profited or edified by Preaching St. Paul does more than hint this in his Epistle to the Hebrews leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ saith he let us go on to perfection Christians must first be well Catechized and instructed in the principles of Religion and then they will more easily advance to higher degrees of saving knowledge Nor is Catechizing only necessary to fit and prepare Christians for the hearing of the word but it will also prepare them for the due celebration of both the Sacraments In the Primitive Church when any Heathens were so far converted to the Faith of Christ as to desire Baptism they were for some time publickly Catechized And because Easter was a solemn time appointed for the Baptizing of such Proselytes Lent was a time in which Catechizing was more solemnly