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	jesus_n	word_n	1,712	5	3.7110	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30532	Many strong reasons confounded, which would hinder any reasonable man from being a Quaker and offences taken out of the way, but particularly foure and twenty arguments overturned and confuted, put forth and sent into the world by Richard Baxter, a professed minister, but a frequent contenter against the ways of God ... / ... by ... E.B.	Burrough, Edward, 1634-1662.	1657 (1657)	Wing B6011A; ESTC R14497	21,411	23

and fierce men and his shame and folly is made manifest and so his lyes and slanders are turned upon his own head And in his Conclusion he doth beseech Professors to consider impartially of these 24. Reasons to which I say The most of them are so reasonlesse that they will rather turn to his own confusion then to his praise to any man of understanding And he bids all bethink themselves first What a doleful thing it is that professors should be so loose and unstable c. Ans. Doleful it is indeed that after so much preaching of the Priests of England people should be so ignorant loose and unstable as indeed they are and this is a very shame to the Teachers and shews that they were not sent of God because that the people are not profited at all but continues ignorant loose and unstable and wicked according to their own confession and indeed people are to be pittyed that are under their Ministry who by it can never come to the knowledge of God but must be ever learning fifty or sixty years and ignorant loose and unstable at their very end and yet these are members of this Church of England so called which the very Pastors thereof confesseth to be loose and unstable and wicked and brands us to be denyers of this Church as indeed we have good reason to see the members thereof so wicked loose and unstable as is confessed by their own Teachers therefore we cannot be condemned for denying such a Church Secondly He bids consider what a heavy judgement it is to professors themselves to be self-condemned and self-divided from the Church c. To which I answer A heavy judgement indeed that such as are of the Church should be self-condemned and self-divided from it but yet it is a blessed thing that any that have been deceived with false likenesse now should come to see the error thereof be turned to the true Church which is in God and to be drawn away from all windy Doctrines of Englands Teachers and this many doth witnesse Then he exhorts Christians to be serious and be true to the light which they have received To which I say All that are true to the light which they have received from Christ Jesus will deny this man I now deal withall and all his lyes and slanders Then he bids stick close to the Word of God and I say All that do so will finde it as a Fire a Hammer and will be gathered from under the dead Doctrines of men in this Age And he exhorts them to stick close to a faithful Ministry To which I say Then must they deny all Hirelings and such as preacheth for hire for such are not of the faithful Ministry but deceivers of people And thus in few words return is sent in the pursute of a Sheet of Lyes and Slanders put forth into the world and all sober-minded people by this may come to a good understanding between Truth and error And though he hath taken a c●urse to spread his Books as Ballads and Fables by having them cryed up and down the streets which is not for his advantage altogether but doth shew his Work ridiculous to all wise men And so hereby it may be seen that all his Strong Reasons are confounded and overturned that would hinder a man from being a QUAKER THe main and chief things I have spoken of and by what is written in short men of understanding may understand what his whole matter can be But in the beginning of his Book he falls a complaining of the lamentable Ignorance and ungodliness of common People and of the pride and self-conceitedness of Professors of godliness and of the weaknes and giddiness and unstableness of others To this I Answer It is true abundance are ignorant and abundance are proud and self-conceited and abundance unstable and giddy in their minds and substract these from the whole Company of the Hearers of the Teachers of England and there is but a few left if any at all that are truly righteous in the sight of God and so to the shame of all the Teachers of England hath he confessed the truth in this particular and sheweth that indeed the People is not profited by them and this is a strong Argument that they were never sent of God but hath ran and were never sent But presently after that he cryes out of Hereticks and Deceivers even like as the Pope doth but what is he afraid of That they that are ignorant and ungodly and proud and self-conceited unstable and giddy should be deceived they that are in those iniquities are deceived already and cannot possibly fall into greater deceit or delusion But it appears That many of the Priests of England cares not how little their Hearers profits by them so if they can get their wages their Hire their great sums of money for one of them said I mean a supposed Minister of England in Cambr●dge-shire That he mattered not if all his Hearers went to the Devil so they would but give him his dues to wit Tythes and Maintenance So that by this instance you may judge what stock they are of and what their endeavours are and we desire that people may be undeceived of that wherein they are deceived and that they may turn from such a generation of covetous Teachers who care so little for their souls And whereas he saith The Quakers are but of a few years standing and that they arose from among the Papists but a few years ago c. To this I Answer The People of God received that name but a few years ago but the Saints were Quakers I am able to prove long before for Abraham and Isaac and Moses and Habakkuk Daniel and Paul and all the rest were Quakers though they were not called so and though our name is new yet our Religion is old for it is the good old way even the way the Apostles walked in though it hath been over-clouded for many years in the dark night or Apostasie which hath been over the whole world and the Beast hath reigned and made War against the Saints and killed them and this hath been for many ages as you may read Yet there was a Seed which God preserved for himself in the midst of darkness but now is the way of the Lord made manifest again and the same power and life of God which was in the Apostles dayes and Truth shall spring forth and Idolatry shall be rooted out by little and little and Antichrist and his kingdom shall fall and even Christ the Son of God the same as ever was for no other we own but him who was and is and is to come he shall rule and his people shall follow him And though he saith The Quakers be an upstart Sect using such scornful words not beseeming a Minister of Jesus Christ but we are willing to bear all his reproaches for Christs sake And he speaks most foolishly and saith as if

be free from sin while they are upon earth and they cry against heresie and error and thus doth Richard Baxter and his company and therefore by his own Arguments he may be judged that the Jesuites and Fryars are his Leaders and that he prepares people to be papists but I will not be so uncharitable to judge him 〈◊〉 by this rule as he hath falsly done us though I do know in the sight of God there is a greater concurrence in Doctrine and practice and conversation between many of our Accusers and the Papists then there is between the Papists and us and the light of Christ in all consciences shall answer me in the day of Gods righteous judgements and the papists and him we do deny and see them to be of one spirit though differing in appearances and what we are it is by grace and not of our selves and what we do it is through Christ and not by our selves and to God we appeal for judgement and tramples upon all mens vain conceivings false judgements lyes and slanders and turns them back to them again where they were hatched 11. His eleventh Reason He saith Our Doctrines are self-contradictory and therefore they cannot be of God c. Ans. To this I answer This is false our Doctrines do agree in one and are not self-contradictory though falsly he may judge of this as he may judge of other things if he had been in Christs time likely he would have judged his words self-contradictory who said Except you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no life in you and yet at the same instant of time said The flesh profiteth nothing with many other such instances as might be brought Why but Richard Baxter tells you We say all men have a sufficient light within them and goes up and down preaching it with great zeal This is no more than the Apostle Iohn did who told the Saints they needed no man to teach them but as the Anointing in them and yet preached unto them and wrote Epistles to them but did Iohn contradict himself let wise men judge And Iohn said Christ lighteth every man that comes into the world with the true light and no more then he did do we contradict our seves herein for we follow the same example we say the Saints have the Annointing in them and needs no man to teach them and yet we do exhort them as the Apostle Iohn did And he asks what do we preach If darknesse who would have such Teachers if light what needlesse labour is this when all men have sufficient light already c. To all this I answer We preach light that all should believe in it and thereby should be lead out of darknesse and the light is sufficient being believed in by the creature but all are not lead by it sufficiently neither doth receive Christ And we may ask him now and say If he preach darknesse as it is likely he doth rather then the light because he smites at preaching the light that hath lighted every man that cometh into the world and so in effect denies the Lord that bought him then who would have such a Preacher but if he preach the light and not that light which doth enlighten every one that cometh into the world which is Christ and is sufficient as it seems by his own words he doth not because he condemns us for it then is he a Minister of Antichrist according to his own confession But whatever he judge we are sent to turn people from darknesse to light and from the power of Satan to the power of God and herein we do as the Ministers of Christ did but that wee revile the Ministers of Christ as blind guides as saith he this is false again but such we bear witnesse against who preacheth for hire and oppresseth the Common-wealth and are in the steps of the proud Pharisees and all people that follows them are in darknesse as the Pharisees were and in the way of damnation because they are not in the truth who follows not Christ and yet such people are lightened with the light of Christ and that is their condemnation because they believe not in it and it is sufficient to the condemnation of all such 12. His twelfth Reason Saith he Consider also how sutable their Doctrine is to the interest and pleasure both of the Papist and the Devil why saith he they damn all the Ministers and Churches of CHRIST c. To this I answer A lying tongue is but for a moment though he makes lyes his refuge yet shall they be swept away Of the Ministers and Churches of Christ are we and such as are so they we own and are one with them though this man saith otherwise and it doth little appear that our Doctrine is sutable to the interest and pleasure of the papists for we finde them our enemies and Gods enemies and bears our witnesse against them as against the devil and do say that they are his off-spring and that the Priests of England are their off-spring such as are open lyars especially But if we should reckon we should find their Doctrine more agreeable to the papists in many things then ours are as I have instanced concerning sprinkling of Infants and other things but doth it follow that the papists and we agree because the papists declare against them out of cruelty and wickednesse and out of a murderous mind to divert people into idolatry and wicked superstition and we declare against them out of love to peoples souls that they should not alwayes be deceived and alwayes learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth and hath no other end to ourselves God is our witnesse but that people may be converted to the knowledge of God as I said before though the papists may hold some truth in words and cry against some sort of people out of a wicked end yet may not we therefore deny the truth as it is in Jesus neither must be silent in declaring against sin and wickednesse and let him say what he will concerning any advantage the Devil reaps by us it will but be the overthrow of his very kingdom Why but saith he If we do but unchurch all the reformed Churches the Papists will give us a fee I say it is a hard thing to unchurch them that never were truly churched and that we seeke to unchurch such as are the Churches of Christ this is utterly false and the papists fee and his reproach we trample upon them both together and let him take the papists fee as he pleads for it for it was they first that took tythes for a see and it is he now that strongly pleads for them to be maintained in his Ministry by them 13. His thirteenth Reason Saith he The Doctrine and practice of the Quakers is contrary to the experience and holy nature of the Saints why saith he they have found a renewed light and life by

in many things and what the Ministers of Christ did these do not And whereas he pleads for tythes never Minister of Christ did in the Gospel-administration claim the tenth of peoples labours nor none of the Ministers of Christ were maintained by tythes but lived of the Gospel which they preached which livelyhood was not great sums of money and compelling some of it too from the people by a Law but the Churches ministered to the Apostles necessities whom the Apostles had begotten to the faith and planted them as a Vinyard and kept them as a Flock But the maintenance of the Priests of England is another case they must have so much a yeer and people is bound to pay them and sometimes so much a Sermon and they maintain themselves in idlenesse and fulnesse and pride and spend the Creation more then upon their necessities But he saith concerning tythes That tythes are the Churches and not the peoples and by the Law of the Land too What the Law of the Land requires which is just we do own and do not resist it but obey it but what the Law of the Land commands which is contrary to the Law of God as the Law is which commands to pay tythes we cannot be obedient to it for we read in the Hebrews that Law which commanded to pay tythes take tythes in the old Covenant is put to an end and Christ the second Priesthood established and the priesthood being changed there was a necessity of change of the Law also which upheld the priesthood Then whence is that Law of the Land which commands tythes of God or ootherwise judge ye seeing the Scripture saith The Commandment going before viz. that gave tythes is disannulled 8. His eighth Reason The Quakers way is too cruel and uncharitable to be the way of God they damn saith he the most humble holy faithful servants of God to whom God hath promised life c. Answ. This is not the least of his lyes our way is Christ and is neither cruel nor uncharitable but pure and holy and zealous against all sin and cannot bear and suffer iniquity but reproves it neither do we damn any but warns all to repent to be humble and lowly that they may have the promise of life and we sharply reprove sin and deceivers and deceit and this makes the men of this generation mad and calls it cruel and uncharitable whenas we do but warn them of their sins shewing them if they live in sin they perish and if they repent and turn to God they shall be saved and God hath given us the spirit of discerning and by their fruits we do know a child of God from a child of the devil and herein do establish the Gospel and not repeal it though he falsly saith so neither do we condem any who fear the Lord in any thing they do or speake in his fear but with such we have unity who walks in uprightness in the midst of a malicious world and perverse generation as this is 9. His nineth Reason saith he After all their sins they most impudently 〈◊〉 a sinlesse perfection c. Ans. What such as are in darknesse doth conceive of us and so utters it matters not but many of us do witnesse that Christ hath done away our sins and in him we are compleat through faith in which we are perfect without sin and it is not of our selves and that perfection we exhort all to presse after that they may be perfect in Christ Jesus without sin And he saith They themselves desire a sinlesse perfection and 〈◊〉 it is their command and duty and yet saith it is an impudent 〈◊〉 in us to professe that which himself confesseth they desire and is their command and duty and this is great confusion and comes out of Babylons store And though he would falsly suppose that the Quakers suppose to have no need of Christ and saith he They dare it seems say they will not be beholding to God or to the blood of Christ for the pardon of sin but these are his foolish imaginations for we are beholding to Christ and to his blood onely which hath clensed us from all sin and by it our sins and trespasses are blotted out and forgiven And we do not think highly of our selves though he impudently chargeth it upon us and hath bent his tongue for lyes and made them his refuge and strong Reasons 10. His tenth Reason That we do in many Doctrines so openly comply with the Papist that people may see plainly that the Iesuits and Fryars are our Leaders and he saith this hath been proved by many Confessions c. Answ. The Papist we utterly deny their Doctrines their wayes and whatsoever savours of popery and are not lead by any other but by Jesus Christ as our lives and Doctrines doth make appear to all that have an eye to see it 's true we may be falsly slandered and accused by Richard Baxter and by the Priests and the wicked people of the world for it is enough for us to be as our Master Christ who was called a Devil and as was he so are we slandered and accused in this and many other things But that ever it was proved that we are led by Jesuits and Fryars this is one of our Adversaries slanders he hath once and again accused us but he never proved it though now he saith The Papists make the Scriptures a dead Letter and no Rule of faith and so do we The Papist cryes down our Church and Ministers saith he The Iesuites cryes up free-will and sufficient grace to all and a common sufficient light to all and so do we saith he The Papist extenuate imputed righteousnesse in setting up inherent righteousnesse and the Papist place most in external abstenances and observances and so do we saith he c. To all this I answer What is truth we hold and maintain in the power of God and may not deny it though the Papists may hold the same in words which seldom they do for we hold the truth for the truths sake and dare not deny the truth though the devil confesse it in words but he hath falsly compared us with the Papists and Jesuites for we do not hold free-will in the creature neither do we extenuate imputed righteousnesse neither do we place most in external abstenances and observances herein Richard Baxter hath belyed us But what if I should measure him by his own rule and should say that the Jesuites and Fryars are his Leaders Why because the papists say Christ was born of Mary and did many miracles dyed being crucified of the Jews was buryed and rose again and so doth Richard Baxter say and all the Presbyterians in England and therefore may we conjecture they do but prepare people to be papists or open Infidels as he saith concerning us But further the papists say that sprinkling Infants is baptizing into the faith of Christ and they say none must