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	faith_n	know_v	8,213	5	4.2899	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45113	The balm of Gilead, or, Comforts for the distressed, both morall and divine most fit for these woful times / by Jos. Hall.	Hall, Joseph, 1574-1656.	1650 (1650)	Wing H366; ESTC R14503	102,267	428

with the measure of that penitence which is accepted of thy God rather turn thine eies from thy sins and look up to heaven and fasten them there upon thine all-sufficient Mediator at the right hand of Majesty and see his face smiling upon thine humbled soul and perfectly reconciling thee to his eternall Father as being fully assured That being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ By whom also wee have accesse by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoyce in the hope of the glory of God §. 7. Complaint of the want of faith satisfied Yea there there thou sayest is the very core of all my complaint I want that faith that should give me an interest in my Saviour and afford true comfort to my soule and boldnesse and accesse with confidence to the throne of grace I can sorrow but I cannot beleeve My griefe is not so great as my infidelity I see others full of joy and peace in beleeving but my earthen heart cannot raise it selfe up to a comfortable apprehension of my Saviour so as me thinks I dwell in a kinde of disconsolate darknesse and a sad lumpishnesse of unbeleef wanting that lightsome assurance which others professe to finde in themselves Take heed my son lest whiles thou art too querulous thou prove unthankfull and lest whiles thine humblenesse disparages thy self thou make God a loser Many a man may have a rich mine lying deep in his ground which he knowes not of There are shels that are inwardly furnished with pearles of great price and are not sensible of their worth This is thy condition thou hast that grace which thou complainest to want It is no measuring of thy selfe by sense especially in the time of temptation Thou couldst not so feelingly bemoan the want of faith if thou hadst it not Deny it if thou canst thou assentest to the truth of all the gracious promises of God thou acknowledgest he could not be himselfe if he were not a true God yea truth it self Thou canst not doubt but that he hath made sweet promises of free grace and mercy to all penitent sinners thou canst not but grant that thou art sinfull enough to need mercy and sorrowfull enough to desire and receive mercy Canst thou but love thy selfe so well as that when thou seest a pardon reached forth to thee to save thy soule from death thou shouldst doe any other then stretch forth thy hand to take it Lo this hand stretched forth is thy faith which so takes spirituall hold of thy Saviour that it cals not thy sense to witnesse As for that assurance thou speakest of they are happy that can truly feel maintain it and it must be our holy ambition what we may to aspire unto it but that is such an height of perfection as every traveller in this wretched pilgrimage cannot whiles he is in this perplexed and heavy way hope to attain unto It is an unsafe and perillous path which those men have walked in who have been wont to define all faith by assurance Should I lead thee that way it might cost thee a fall so sure a certainty of our constant and reflected apprehension of eternall life is both hard to get and not easie to hold unmovably considering the many and strong temptations that we are subject unto in this vale of misery and death Should faith be reduced to this triall it would be yet more rare then our Saviour hath foretold it For as many a one boasts of such an assurance who is yet failing of a true faith hugging a vain presumption in stead of it so many a one also hath true faith in the Lord Iesus who yet complaines to want this assurance Canst thou in a sense of thine owne misery close with thy Saviour canst thou throw thy self into the arms of his mercy canst thou trust him with thy soul and repose thy self upon him for forgivenesse and salvation canst thou lay thy self before him as a miserable object of his grace and mercy and when it is held forth to thee canst thou lay some though weak hold upon it Labour what thou mayst for further degrees of strength daily set not up thy rest in this pitch of grace but chear up thy self my son even thus much faith shall save thy soul Thou believest and he hath said it that is Truth it self He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life § 8. Complaint of the weakness of faith satisfied I know thou sayest that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners And that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have eternal life Neither can I deny but that in a sense of my own sinful condition I do cast my self in some measure upon my Saviour and lay some hold upon his All-sufficient Redemption But alas my apprehensions of him are so feeble as that they can afford no sound comfort to my soul. Courage my son were it that thou lookedst to be justified and saved by the power of the very act of thy faith thou hadst reason to be disheartened with the conscience of the weakness thereof but now that the vertue and efficacie of this happie work is in the object apprehended by thee which is the infinite merits and mercy of thy God and Saviour which cannot be abated by thine infirmities thou hast cause to take heart to thy self and chearfully to expect his salvation Understand thy case aright Here is a double hand that helps us up towards heaven our hand of Faith lays hold upon our Saviour our Saviours hand of mercy and plenteous redemption lays hold on us our hold of him is feeble and easily loosed his hold of us is strong and irresistible Comfort thy self therefore in this with the blessed Apostle When thou art weak then thou art strong when weak in thy self strong in thy Redeemer Shouldst thou boast of thy strength and say Tush I shall never be moved I should suspect the truth and safety of thy condition now thou bewailest thy weakness I cannot but encourage and congratulate the happie estate of thy soul. If work were stood upon a strength of hand were necessary but now that onely taking and receiving of a precious gift is required why may not a weak hand do that as well as a strong as well though not as forcibly Be not therefore dejected with the want of thine own power but comfort thy self in the rich mercies of thy blessed Redeemer § 9. Complaint of incon●tancy and desertion answered Now thou saist Sometimes I confess I finde my heart at ease in a comfortable reliance on my Saviour and being well resolved of the safety of my estate promise good days to my self and after the banishment of my former fears dare bid defiance to temptations But alas how soon is this fair weather over how suddenly is this clear skie over-clouded and spread over with a sad darkness and I return to my former heartlesness

to take heed of making haste to be rich and the great Apostle tels us That he that would bee rich fals into many temptations Surely there is no small danger also in affecting to be too suddenly rich in the endowments of the soule this cannot but be accompanied with the temptation of an unthankfull distrust for on the one side he that beleeves makes not haste and on the other we cannot bee sufficiently thankfull for what we have whiles we doe over-eagerly reach after what wee have not Tell me thou querulous Soul dost thou not ackowledge what thou hast to be the gift of God And wilt thou not allow the great Benefactor of heaven to dispense his own favours as he pleaseth If he think fit rather to fill thy vessell with drops of grace art thou discontented because hee doth not pour out his Spirit upon thee in full v●als If thou have have any at all it is more then he owes thee more then thou canst repay him Take what thou hast as an earnest of more and wait thankfully upon his bounty for the rest Is it not mee● in a free gift to attend the leasure of the donor What sturdy and ill mannerd beggers are we if we will not ●●ay at the doore till we be served and grudge at our almes when it comes Look upon the Father of the faithfull thou shalt finde him fourscore and sixe yeares childlesse and at last after he had got an Ismael hee must wait fourteen yeers more for the promised seed and when hee had enjoyed him not much longer then he expected him he must then sacrifice him to the giver Thus thus my son must our faith bee exercised in attendance both for time and measure of mercy §. 3. Comfort from Gods acceptation of truth not quantity Thy graces are weak yet if true discomfort not thy selfe how many weak bodies have we knowne which with careful tendance have enjoyed better and longer health then those that have had bigger limbs and more brawny armes neither is it otherwise in the soul Soundnesse of grace is health increased degrees of grace make up the strength of that spirituall part if thou have but this health tenderly observed thou maist be happy in the enjoying of thy God although more happy in a comfortable sense of a stronger fruition We have to do with a God that stands not so much upon quantity as truth of grace he knowes we can have nothing but what hee gives us and inables us to improve and where he sees our wils and endeavours not wanting he is ready to accept and crown his owne gifts in us He will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoaking flax §. 4. Comfort from the variety of Gods gifts and the ages and statures of grace Thou art weak in grace Be not discouraged my son there are all ages all statures in Christ Shall the child repine that he is not suddenly grown a man Shall the Dwarf quarrell that he is not a Giant Were there a standerd of graces lesse then which would not be accepted thou hadst reason to bee troubled but it is so far from that as that our Saviour hath encharged Suffer little children to come to me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdome of heaven In some legall oblations it pleased God to regard time and age The Lamb for the Passeover and for the peace-offering the Bullock for the sin offering of Israel have their date assigned And in divers cases he hath called for two Turtle Doves or two young Pigeons Young Turtles and old Doves in the mean while according to our Jewish Doctors were unlawfull to bee offered but in our spirituall sacrifices all ages are equally accepted He that is eternall regards not time he that is infinite and almighty regards not statures Even the eleventh houre carried the peny as well as the first and Let the weak say I am strong §. 5. Comfort from the safety of our leasurely progresse in grace It troubles thee that thou hast made so slow progresse in graces thy desire is to heaven-ward thou checkest thy self for no more speed It is an happy ambition that carries thee on in that way to blessednesse Quicken thy selfe what thou mayst with all gracious incitations in that holy course But know my son that we may not alwaies hope to goe thitherward on the spurre in that passage there are waies that will not admit of h●ste how many have we known that by too much forwardness have been cast back in their journey whether through want of breath or mistaking their way or mis-placing their steps I praise thee that it is the desire of thy soul to run the way of Gods Commandments and do encourage thine holy zeal in speeding that holy race ever praying thou mayst so run as that thou mayst obtain But withal I must tell thee that Blessed is the man that doth but walk in the Law of the Lord Whiles thou passest on though but a foot-pace thou art every step neerer to thy glory so long as thou riddest way thou art safe Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee O God in whose heart are thy wayes who passing through the vale of misery goes on from strength to strength till he appear before thee his God in Sion §. 6. Comfort from our good desires and endevours Thy grace is little but thou wishest and labourest for more this is a good beginning of heavenly wealth Hee is in a good way to riches that desires to thrive Never any holy Soule lost her longing If thy wishes be hearty and serious thou hast that which thou cravest or at least bee sure thou shalt have If any man ●ick wisdome let him aske of God who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth no man and it shall bee given him Were this condition offered us for Worldly riches who would be poore If we imbrace it not in spirituall either wee distrust the promises or neglect our own mercies In these temporall things how many have so eagerly followed the chase of the world that they have over-runne it and whiles they have greedily swallowed gain have been choaked with it but in those better blessings earnestness● of desi●● ●nd fervour of prosecution was never but answered with a gracious impetration §. 7. Comfort from the happiness of an humble poverty Thou art poore in grace but in an humble self-dejection longest for more know that an humble poverty is better then a proud fulnesse Wert thou poore and proud there were no hope of thy proficiency thy false conceit lies in the way of thy thrift and many a one had been gracious if they had not so thought themselves but now that thou art meaner in thine opinion then in thine estate who can more justly challenge our Saviours blessing Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven Thou art weak