Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	appear_v	true_a	zion_n	15	3	8.5222	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A37498	The tryal of spirits both in teachers & hearers wherein is held forth the clear discovery and certain downfal of the carnal and antichristian clergie of these nations / testified from the Word of God to the university-congregation in Cambridge by William Dell ; whereunto is added A plain and necessary confutation of divers gross errors delivered by Mr. Sydrach Simpson in a sermon preached to the same congregation at the commencement, Anno 1653 ; wherein (among other things) is declared, that the vniversities (according to their present statutes and practices) are not (as he affirmed) answerable to the schools of the prophets in the time of the law, but rather to the idolatrous high places ...	Dell, William, d. 1664.; Simpson, Sidrach, 1600?-1655. A plain and necessary confutation of divers gross and antichristian errors.	1660 (1660)	Wing D933; ESTC R219079	121,760	168

of Men at his Pleasure and in great Readiness and with much Ease shall gain it to Himself And Antichrist by such Men saith I. Hus doth make his Body or Church strong against the Saints of God and Welfavoured and Glorious that it may appear very taking to the World and may win in all Men to it that are not taught of God and renewed by his Spirit And thus Antichrist serves himself of all Learning and Learned men whereas Divine Learning and the Teaching of God He could never in any measure subject to Himself but is alwaies discovered resisted and overcome by it Martin Luther saith That whosoever it was whether Alexander of Hales or Thomas of Aquine who first instituted Universities he was a Star fallen from Heaven to Earth who received the Key of the bottomless Pit and opened it and brought forth into the Church Philosophy long ago dead and damned by the Doctrine of the Apostles and from the Smoak of the Bottomless Pit that is Philosophy came forth Locusts on the Earth that is saith he populus Universitatum è Philosophia natus the people of the Universities born and bred of Philosophy c. thus Luther Abbas Joachim Calaber who was long before these and flourished about the year 1230. in his Commentary on Jeremy the Prophet speaks to this purpose That the sixt Angel mentioned Rev. 9. opens the Bottomless Pit and brings out Philosophy into the Church and out of the Smoak of this Doctrine Lecusts proceeded and are spread over all the Church into every Fruitfull Place and these Locusts he saith are Scholastici Magistri qui nunc facie tenus blandiuntur ut decipiant nunc cauda tenus feriunt ut subvertant simplices incautos that is the Locusts are Scholars and Masters according to the Academical Degrees who sometimes flatter with their Countenances to deceive and sometimes strike with their Tails that they may subvert the Simple and Unadvised And to these Scholars and Masters the Ignorant and Common People resort and they open to them the old Cisterns of Heathenish Learning and Disciplines long ago stopt up by the Doctrine of the Apostles and these Cisterns they open by teaching Philosophy to the People But they shut up the Living Fountain of saving Water that is the Word of Faith But the Spirit of the Lord saith he in the following Prophets whom the Lord shall raise up idola studiorum carnalium visitabit shall visit the Idols of Carnal Studies maintained and kept up by Secular Stipends Further he saith that as Antichrist brings forth his Mark which is Philosophical Doctrine in the Church of Christ and by this Mark all his Teachers and People are known so there shall rise up against these such as have the Mark of Christ or the sign of Thau in their foreheads that is the Open and Manifest Doctrine of Christ Crucified And as the Signs of Moses destroyed the Signs of the Magicians so shall the Word or Preaching of the Cross destroy all Philosophical Doctrine and Humane and Secular Learning out of the Church And then the Children and Youth and men of all Ages Sorts and Conditions shall be taught no other Doctrine in the Church of Christ then that which is found in the Scriptures even in the Writings of the Prophets and Apostles and that not according to any Humane and Philosophical Understanding but according to the Teaching and Mind of the Spirit And God by all his true Servants shall destroy the Studies of carnal Doctors and Masters in Divinity and shall dissipate all Secular and Philosophical Learning by the Word of Truth in their mouths And so shall the Church be reformed aright when the Doctrine of Christ only shall be received and esteemed of and shall live and flourish among Christians And thus as Antichrist hath laid aside the Scriptures and all true Spiritual and Divine Learning out of his Schools and Universities and hath brought into them instead thereof Philosophy and Humane Learning and so these Schools are most unlike to the Schools of the Prophets so in due time when God shall undertake to reform his Church all this Sort of Learning shall be cast out again as dirt and dung and the plain Word of the Gospel only shall prevail and flourish among the Christian People Which Time the Lord hasten for his Elects sake 2. ERROR That they who have endeavoured to pull down Schools have always been Men who were found Enemies to Religion So Julian the Apostate shut up the doors of the Schools because he would have all Religion to go down Answer True it is that they who have sought the subversion of Christian Schools wherein the Doctrine of the Gospel is purely taught without the mixture of Philosophy and Heathenism They all have been and are very Enemies to the true Religion But they that seek to put down Heathenish Schools and to erect Christian or to reform the Schools of Heathen into Christian or to remove Heathenism out of Christian Schools They are not before God and Good Men Enemies to true Religion but the great Friends of it Nay they that call Heathenish Schools by the name of Christian that they may still remain with the better credit in their Heathenism without any true Reformation according to the Gospel I rather judge them to be Enemies to the true Religion and Friends only to their own Profit Preferment and Ends. Julian indeed did forbid that Christians should be instructed in the Disciplines of the Gentiles but saith Sozomen the Writer of the Ecclesiastical History he did this because he thought that by those Disciplines men might attain to a Great Faculty to perswade which Advantage he would not have the Christians to gain to the Help of their Religion Now certainly this was done as Socrates another Writer of the Ecclesiastical History doth acknowledge by the Singular Providence of God For seeing then Christians had begun to degenerate from the Gospel and to betake themselves to Heathenish Learning Julian attributed all the Glory and Excellency of Christianity to that Learning and so thought with Mr. Simpson that if Humane Learning were denied to Christians Christianity it Self would soon be at end Wherefore the Lord stirred up Julian to put down the Doctrine of the Heathen in the Schools of Christians that it might appear to all the World That as the true Christian Religion is not helped by Humane Learning so neither is it hindred by the Want of it And that there is more Light Knowledge Truth Wisdom Power Utterance given to Christians by the Unction of the Spirit alone which all receive who believe then through all Heathenish Disciplines And also that it might be manifest that true Christianity is founded on Faith in Christ and the Gift of his Spirit only and not at all on Humane Learning For what Humane Learning had Peter and John and yet in what Wisdom and Authority did they being Ignorant and Unlearned

this is that Spirit of Antichrist whereof you have heard that it should come and even now already it is in the world 4. Ye are of God little Children and have overcome them because Greater is he that is in You then he that is in the World 5. They are of the World therefore speak they of the World and the World hears Them 6. We are of God he that knoweth God heareth us he that is not of God heareth not us hereby know we the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error IN this Scripture we may take Notice of these Six things 1. The Apostle gives notice to the Beloved Congregation of Spirituall Christians of a Great Evil risen up in the world which if not carefully heeded might occasion some great Trouble and Danger to them Many false Prophets saith he are gone out into the world V. 1. 2. He prescribes them a sufficient Remedy against this Evil saying Believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they be of God 3. That the Faithfull might be able to make a right Judgement of Spirits he gives them one short Rule of Tryall which yet comprehends in its self all Rules vers 2. and 3. Hereby know we the Spirit of God every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God and every Spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God c. 4. He shews them with Whom these false Prophets who have the Spirit of Antichrist should not prevail to wit with none of the true Children of God vers 4. Ye are of God little Children and have overcome them because Greater is he that is in You than he that is in the World 5. He shews them with whom the false Prophets should prevail to wit with the World and Carnal People vers 5. They are of the World therefore speak they of the World and the World heareth them The World seeking its own Things receives Antichrist and his Prophets 6. He shews how the Spirit of Truth and Error may be known in the People as well as in the Teachers to wit by the Peoples cleaving either to the Teachers of Truth or to the Teachers of Error vers 6. We are of God he that knoweth God heareth us he that is not of God heareth not us hereby know we the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error These six things are held forth to us in this Scripture and they are all very Profitable and Necessary for the true Church to be acquainted withal especially in these last of the last Times I shall begin with the First which is 1. Point The Great and Dangerous Evil of which the Apostle gives notice to the Church of Believers and that is The going out of false Prophets into the World Many false Prophets are gone out into the world ANd here it is to be noted that from the very beginning of the world there have been two Seeds or Generations of Men very contrary the One to the Other as is evident in Gen. 3. 15. where God saith to the Serpent I will put enmity between Thee and the Woman and between thy Seed and her Seed so that the Serpent hath his Seed as well as the Woman her Seed and this was the Womans Curse to have her sorrows and Conceptions multiplyed and to bring forth the Serpents Seed as well as her Own that is the Children or Seed of the first Blessing and both these Contrary Seeds do partake of one and the same common Nature or Humanity And one of these Seeds are called the Sons of God the other the Sons of Man Gen. 6. 6. And Both these being the children of one Adam according to the Flesh are yet distinguished by several Spirits that dwell in them and inspire them For the Spirit of God that is the Spirit of Righteousness and Truth doth inspire the One and these are truly called the Children of God as Paul saith Rom. 8. as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God And the Spirit of Satan which is the Spirit of Wickedness and Error doth inspire the Other and these are truly called the sons of Men who all have sinned and are deprived of the Glory of God Now these two Different and Contrary Spirits which have dwelt in these two distinct Seeds have begun to act presently from the very beginning of the world each one according to his own Nature and to trade and traffick about Mankind and out of it to bring forth Children to Themselves like to Themselves in all things and so One hath endeavoured to beget and bring forth the Children of God and of Truth the Other the children of Men and of Error And to this end the One hath held forth the Truth of God by the true Spirit of God the Other hath held forth Error and Falshood yet as it were the Truth The One hath endeavoured to bring Man unto God through true Faith and Repentance the Other to turn Men from God through Sin The One hath sought to work Salvation in Men the Other Destruction Now the False Spirit hath been the most Common in the World and hath had the greatest Opportunities and Advantages to multiply it self seeing it finds the whole World already lying in Wickedness and fully prepared to receive it self But the true Spirit hath been found in very few and that from the beginning for there have been but few true Prophets who have had the true Spirit and have spoken the true Word as you may see all along in Scriptures especially in the times of Elijah and Micajah but Christ saith Many false Prophets shall arise and deceive Many and Peter saith in his second Epistle Chap. 2. vers 1 2. That as there were false Prophets among the People that is the Jews so there shall be false Doctors and Teachers among the Christians who should privily bring in damnable Heresies and that Many should follow their pernicious wayes So that as there have been many false Prophets from the beginning so especially in the daies of the New Testament for the more Christ hath appeared by his Spirit to lead men into Truth the more hath the Devill appeared by his Spirit to lead men into Error and this is properly called Antichrist For Flesh and Blood is not Antichrist but a Spirit contrary to Christs Spirit that dwells in Flesh and Blood and chiefly among those that profess the Christian Religion This is Antichrist No Spirit in the Jews or Gentiles is properly called Antichrist but the Spirit of Satan in false Christians appearing as an Angel of light this is Antichrist Before Christ came in the flesh the Devill was an evil Spirit and a Lyar and a Murderer and the Unclean Spirit and Prince of this world but he was not properly Antichrist because Christ was not then come in the flesh

If any say I my self relate to the University why then do I speak against it thus I answer that I neither do nor will relate to the University as it is polluted with any of the Abominations herein mentioned But as by the Providence of God alone I have been brought to that Relation in which I now stand and continue in it against the Wills and Workings of many so through his Good Pleasure I will remain till He shall otherwise dispose of Me and during my sojourning with them I will not fail to testifie against their evil and to endeavour to win all those whom God shall perswade to receive his Truth from Heathenism to the Gospel and from Antichrist to Christ. Wherefore let none be offended that I am made willing to hazard and part with my Worldly Accommodations for Christs Names sake but let them rather praise the Grace of God which hath enabled me to witness a good Confession what ever Worldly Disadvantage I might run into thereby Wherefore Welcom the Righteousness Power Wisdom Truth Word and whole Kingdom of Christ though they swallow up all my Earthly Accommodations For such Fear and Love of his Name hath the Lord graciously put into my Heart that I would not willingly conceal any thing of his most precious Truth either to gain or to preserve to my self the Whole World And so righteous Father not my will be done nor theirs but Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven THE CONFUTATION OF Mr. Sydrach Simpsons Errors Isaiah 62.1 For Sions sake I will not hold my peace and for Jerusalems sake I will not rest until the Righteousness thereof go forth as brightness and the Salvation thereof as a Lamp that burns MAster Sydrach Simpson at the Commencement An. 1653. preaching to the University Congregation in Cambridge and to many Others especially Ministers there gathered together at that time from several parts of the Nation among other things he let fall in that Discourse of his these gross and Antichristian Errors The Rehearsal of the Errors 1. He brought in that Scripture 2 Kin. 6. ver 1 2. which was his Text the words whereof are these And the Sons of the Prophets said unto Elisha Behold now the Place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us let us go we pray thee unto Jordan and take thence every man a beam and let us make us a Place where we may dwell and he answered Go ye This Scripture he used to prove the Lawfulness and Religiousness of the present Universities and the Usefulness and Necessity of Humane Learning to the Church and Ministery of the New Testament And what the Scripture speaks of those Schools he brought to countenance encourage and justifie These adding that if it were objected That that was the Old Testament He did answer That the Old and the New were not distinct Testaments but Administrations thereby holding forth that the Universities now are answerable to the Schools of the Prophets that were then and that the Universities are as agreeable to the New Testament as the Schools of the Prophets to the Old 2. That They who have endeavoured to pull down Schools have always been Men who were found Enemies to Religion So Julian the Apostate shut up the doors of the Schools because he would have all Religion to go down 3. That the knowledge of Heavenly things cannot come to us but by things on Earth and that all Divinity is swadled in Humane Learning 4. That Paul was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel and that God took him so fitted and made him an able Minister of his Church 5. That mens hatred to God doth as well appear in their hatred to Humane Learning as if they hated the Scriptures 6. That if the spirit teach without Means men may as well be without the Ordinances as without the Universities and Humane Learning 7. That men now are not to receive the Spirit in that immediate way to understand the Scriptures in which it was given to them who wrote the Scriptures 8. That men now are to get Knowledge by Studies and Humane Learning and not by Inspiration 9. That Humane Learning is as the Out-works to the Fort of the Gospel and as the outer Court to the Temple of the Gospel and so if you will keep the Fort well you must keep the Outworks strong and if you will preserve the Inward you must look to the Outward Court 10. But what is the bottom of all this saith he to wit of some mens appearing against Humane Learning as the Unction of the Ministery and against the Universities as the Fountain of the Ministery but this that some say They are One with Christ and as Christ hath the Divine Nature in him so every Believer hath and he that hath God in him need not go to any Man to learn whereas in John 17. Christ speaketh of Believers as at an infinite distance from Him And if Believers be so united to Christ as they say then will follow that Christ should not be the only begotten of God and that Christ and We should be Equal and He not our Lord c. 11. Arts and Tongues are the Cups in which God drinks to us 12. We shall never keep up Religion if we do not keep up Learning but when Learning goes down Religion goes down too 13. Seeing Religious Foundations are so Antient then keep them up Your Destruction will never be but from Your selves These Notes were taken from Mr. Simpsons mouth and delivered to me by an honest hand and affirmed to be true for the Substance of them and I also heard several others who were hearers of that Sermon relating the same things Now because I finde that this Doctrine hath not only grieved the hearts of the Faithful but also strengthened the hands of the Carnal and Evil People The things which he then delivered being usually the Thoughts of their hearts and Words of their mouths I thought it my duty being set in my place for the Defence of the Gospel to give a Publike Reply to such Gross Errors so publikely delivered to the danger of so many and which one would never have thought should have proceeded from such a Man especially after the day of the Gospel hath so far dawned and the Antichristian shadows are so far retreated and flown away And so I shall begin with the first of these Errors and proceed in the Order in which they are set down 1. ERROR He brought that Scripture 2 King 6. 1 2. Touching the Sons of the Prophets asking leave of Elisha to go and build at Jordan to prove the Lawfulness and Religiousness of the Universities in their present Use and Customs c. Answer To this I Reply that there is a vast Difference between those Schools and these Universities as in many Other things so chiefly in This That in those Schools of the Prophets named by Him the Holy Men of