Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	believe_v	church_n	err_v	1,967	5	9.6697	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A82313	The building and glory of the truely Christian and spiritual church. Represented in an exposition on Isai. 54, from vers. 11. to the 17. Preached to His Excellency Sir Tho. Fairfax and the general officers of the army, with divers other officers, and souldiers, and people, at Marston, being the head-quarter at the leaguer before Oxford, June. 7. 1646. / By William Dell, minister of the Gospel, attending on His Excellencie Sir Thomas Fairfax in the Army. Together with a faithful testimony touching that valiant and victorious army, in the epistle to the reader. Published by authority.	Dell, William, d. 1664.	1646 (1646)	Wing D918; Thomason E343_5; ESTC R200942	30,138	43

of Aggates it is all Gods worke from the beginning to the end For who can build unto God a living temple to dwell in but himselfe This the Prophet speaks plainly where he saith the man whose name is the branch he shall build the temple of the Lord even he shall build it It lies in the power of no man to make such a building as this is what wild and wofull work do men make when they will undertake to be building the Chu●ch by their owne humane wisedome and prudence and counsell when they think we will have the Church of God thus and thus and we will make it up of such and such men and we w●ll govern it by such and such Lawes and we will get the power of the Magistrate to back ours then what we cannot do by the power of the Word Spirit we will do by the power of fl●sh and blood Poore men that think that these new heavens where in the Lord will dwell must be the work of their own fingers or that the new Ierusalem must of necessity come out of the Assembly which is to come down from God out of heaven or that they can build the house of God all of pretious stones whereas this must be Gods own work and his own doing and no State or Councel in the world can bring this about and after much tryall and paines and wearinesse the Lord will at last teach his own that the gathering and laying these pretious stones together must be the Lords owne doing even his own doing When the building of the Church is left to men how wofully is it mannaged why saith one we must needs admit such an one he is the chiefe man in the Parish or he is a man of good esteem in the world or he is a Nobleman or he is my neere kinsman or is thus and thus related to mee or he is a good civill faire dealing man and we must needs admit him and thus will flesh and blood bee ever making a carnall temple for God to dwell in but Gods true habitation can never be framed but by the Spirit And therefore for the building of the Church let us look higher then the highest instruments for it must be the Lords own work by the Word and Spirit and though every man be against it and oppose it yet the Lord will doe it when there are no hands to build it up he will build it up without hands I will lay thy stones with c. It followes Vers 13. And thy children shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be the peace of thy children See here how the Prophet by the Spirit carries up the Saints above all visible and sensible things even as high as God himselfe God saith he to the Church shall build thee and God shall teach thee all thy children shall be taught of the Lord The note is this That all the true and genuine children of the Church have Gods own teaching in all the things of God they have the Father and the Sonne to teach them by the Spirit This truth Christ himselfe confirmes where he saith It is written that they shall be all taught of God he therefore that heard and learned of my father commeth to me And againe the spirit when he is come he shall lead you into all truth Which doctrine John after preached thus 1 Ioh. 2. 27. The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any man should teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you all things Hereby now we perceive how few true children of the Church there be among those who are commonly called Christians for among all these how few are there who have the teaching of God but most have their teaching only from men and no higher Consider therefore I pray whether the knowledge you have be from the teaching of God or the teaching of man you all pretend to know that Christ is the Son of the living God and that redemption and salvation is by him alone but how came ye by this knowledge did you read it in the letter or did some body tell you so or hath God himselfe taught you this For no man knowes the Sonne but the Father and he to whom the Father will reveale him and therefore when Peter said thou art Christ the Son of the living God Christ answered flesh and blood hath not taught thee this but my Father which is in heaven And so though all of you professe your selves Christians yet none of you know Christ truly but only such as are taught of the Father And this holds in all other points as touching calling and faith and union and justification and sanctification and the gift and sealing of the Spirit touching the spirituall Kingdome of Christ and the Government of it oh consider whether you have the teaching of God in these things or no and if you have not the teaching of God you are none of the children of the Church what ever truth thou knowest from the letter if thou hast not the teaching of the Spirit it will doe thee no good thou knowest not any thing spiritually and savingly wherein thou hast not the teaching of God All thy children shall bee taught of the Lord And therefore what a sad thing is it when men look for their teaching no farther then men they only look to the Minister or to such an able learned Orthodox man as they phrase it or at the highest to the Assembly and what they shall teach them they are resolved to stand by it and build upon it for their foundation in the meane time never regarding in truth the teaching of God but say what can so many grave learned godly men erre and shall not wee believe what they determine why now these are none of the children of the spirituall Church for they neither have Gods teaching nor care for it but the spirituall Church is all taught of God Object But you will say doth God teach without meanes Answ. I Answer no God teacheth but it is by the Word and that chiefly in the Ministry of it and he that pretends to bee taught of God without the Word is not taught of God but of the Devill And therefore no man is to despise the Ministry of the Word which is Gods own Ordinance and to depend upon I know not what revelations and inspeakings without the word seeing God teacheth all his children by the word and none without it And therefore it is not the Prophets meaning when he saith all thy children shall be taught of the Lord that they should neglect and despise the Word and the Ministry of it but that we ought so use the Word and the meanes as not to look for our teaching from them but from God himselfe in and through them and when you come to heare not to think I will heare what Mr such an one or Mr such one will say but with the Psalmist