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	gospel_n	true_a	2,072	5	5.0703	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A37077	A motion tending to the publick good of this age and of posteritie, or, The coppies of certain letters written by Mr. John Dury to a worthy Knight at his earnest desire shewing briefly vvhat a publik good is and how by the best means of reformation in learning and religion it may be advanced to some perfection / published by Samuel Hartlib ...	Dury, John, 1596-1680.; Hartlib, Samuel, d. 1662.	1642 (1642)	Wing D2874; ESTC R18081	34,674	40

Seventhly That this change is brought to passe by the Spirit of the Lord which worketh upon our spirits the manifestation of the life of God which is the only good thing and happinesse to be sought after and propagated unto posterity Thus having discovered the true aime of a publique good and the means by which we must attain thereunto let us proceed to the endeavours which may be used towards the propagating of this unto the men of this generation that by them it may be advanced unto posterity Of the third If we have tasted how gracious the Lord is and are truly come unto him as lively stones to be built up a spirituall house and a holy Priesthood to offer up spirituall Sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ then we shall be fit to propagate this life unto others and not else for the means by which it is propagated unto others is none other but to labour that the light which is made manifest unto our soules whereby we are become partakers of the life of God may shine also unto others that they by the grace of God may partake in like manner of the same This endeavour hath three chiefe parts The first is the care of avoyding offences The second of giving good example by going before others in godlinesse The third of making the Rule and doctrine by which we walke to avoyd the evill and do the good known to every one These three parts of this endeavour are expressed Phil. 2. 15 16. thus Be blamelesse and harmles as the Sons os God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse Nation amongst whom shine ye as lights in the world holding forth the Word of life Except we study to be in all things without scandall and offence as it becometh the Sons of God amongst the Sons of men the good which we do shall be evill spoken of and become unprofitable See Rom. 14. 13 14 15 16. And if we give no good example by our life in the profession of the Gospell all our Doctrine shall be blasted and we justly suspected and not worthy to be heard or taken notice of for teachers of Truth See Math. 7. 16. 21. Iohn 10. 3 4 5. Thus then the endeavour to be without offence is a preparative to make way for the good which is to be intended towards others in our practise and the good which is to bee intended towards others by our practise is a preparative towards the proposall of the Doctrine of Truth by which the knowledge of Christ is advanced unto the World that so many as God shall be pleased to enlighten and call out of the world by that knowledge may be joyned to him and made participant of his life These three endeavours comprehend all the objects which in the profession and preaching of the Gospel are to be studied by our selves and insisted upon towards others For in a word it is by the means of the Gospel that Christ is to be made known unto the world For the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that beleeveth Rom. 1. 16. And seeing that in the wisedome of God the world by wisedome knew not God it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that beleeve 1 Cor. 1. 21. Now in the Gospel there be two things First there is the doing of the Truth for ourselves and then the publishing of the same for others The doing of the Truth is the profession of the Gospel and the publishing of it unto others is the preaching of the Doctrine by which the profession is regulated As for the profession we see it hath two parts The first is a care to be blamelesse and harmlesse without offence and rebuke towards all men The second is the practise of Piety to do good to all and goe before others to lead them on towards the life of God Whence we must gather that all manner of endeavours and undertakings which tend directly to advance and perfect any of these three objects should be counted truly good endeavours and fit to be supported in this Age and transmitted to Posterity And the more neere any endeavour or undertaking doth come to reach any of these ends the more compleat and perfect it is to be esteemed in goodnesse as comming neerest unto the life of God Here then the endeavours tending to the advancement of the Gospel should be sought out and ranked according to the subordination and relation which these matters have one towards another and all towards the manifestation of the life of God in us by the knowledge of Jesus Christ in the Gospell Unto the matter of harmlesnesse and blamelesse conversation belongeth the endeavour of peaceablenesse and of becoming all things unto all men in that which is lawfull as the Apostle telleth us he did 1 Cor. 9. 19. 24. The endeavour of Peaceablenesse is a study whereby we are directed how to avoyd the occasions of strife in respect of our selves and to bring others who are at variance unto a peaceable and harmlesse disposition These endeavours are proper Characters of the Sons of God for in the place forementioned the Apostle maketh the in-offensivenesse of our conversation to be the property of the Sons of God And Christ saith that the Peacemakers are blessed because they shall be called the Sons of God Math. 5. 9. Thus then we must conclude that the endeavours tending to take away offences and scandalls from amongst Christians and tending to cause them avoyd strife and debates and tending to make peace amongst them and to bring them to the unity of the Spirit by a reconcilement of differences in the Truth are undertakings and endeavours immediately conducing to the furtherance of the Gospel and consequently to the setling forward of the life of God amongst men For God is the God of peace and hath no fellowship with evill but is harmlesse and good unto all for even unto those that are unworthy of his goodnesse he causeth his Sun to shine Therefore Christ exhorteth all his Disciples to be like his and their heavenly Father in this That they should be peaceable innocent and do good unto all even unto their enemies and persecutors Math 5. 38. till the end Unto the second part of the profession which is the practise of Piety belongeth the zeal of advancing the Kingdom of God and setting forth the image of Christ unto the world in Righteousnesse and holinesse This is somewhat more then to be unblameable by avoyding scandalls and strife for it doth imply moreover a care tending to the edification of many by way of example to lead others to perfection in the duties belonging to our christian calling for we are bound to shew others the life of the Spirit by our walking so that they may be able to discerne in us the powers of another life then that is whereby this world is upheld for this world being led by lust and selfe-conceited greatnesse and

of the Mystery of Spirituall Wisedome and how to discern this according to the rule of the Analogie of faith And how to make use of this rule to dive into the depth and riches of Gods wisedome and to know thereby what his working is towards our inward and Spirituall man and how the materiall truth is to be applyed and exalted with a reflection of the Spirit upon Christ unto a more heavenly use then the bare rationall consideration thereof doth afford unto a naturall man I say how to do all this for our owne instruction and the inlargement of the soule in communion with God is the third degree of Analyticall doctrine and meditation whereof a particular Treatise should bee elaborated for those that are to be counted Experienced and in some respect Fathers in Christianity For none should be initiated into this Doctrine but such as have experience of Gods dealing with themselves and others and are consequently able from their owne observations of Gods working to bear witnesse to the truth which the Scripture doth mention in a Mystery and which cannot be understood by any but by such as can discerne the worke of the Spirit in themselves and perceive the degrees of the worke thereof in others and consequently can judge betwixt the true and false motions of the Spirit and begun clearly to learne and understand the intention of God in particular proceedings as they are subordinate unto the main intention of God towards Mankinde in the worke of salvation through Christ as he is the Head of his Church Such I say as in the study of Christianity are come this farre may be called Fathers and none but they are capable of this third degree of Analyticall Doctrine And therefore this Treatise is not to be made common but only should be imparted unto them alone and that also by some degrees according to the measure of their capacity in this because here doth lie the danger of Spirituall pride and selfe-conceitednesse which draweth most men of knowledge headlong into errors and extravagancies whereby they confound themselves and others and draw many sometimes into endlesse perdition when they are stubbornly bent to flatter themselves in the deceitfull apprehension of Spirituall Mysteries Thus far all common Christians should be led and taught to attaine unto divine wisedome by way of Scripturall Meditation And besides these directions to be given by way of Treaties certaine Exercises of the minde as well in private solitarily as in company with others and publickly should be made use of and might be described if there were any appearance of hope that in these troublesome and unsetled times a foundation could be laid for the practise and training up of Christian soules in such away of Learning For if a Lecture were founded in some convenient place wherein the Doctrinall part of this Science might be delivered in publicke Lectures and further beaten out in private conferences then also such as would addict themselves unto this kinde of study and give up their Children to be instructed by those degrees of Humane and Divine Learning might be not only taught but actually exercised inured by some practicall wayes into the Method of knowledge for without some exercise fitted to the capacity of him that is taught wherein he may be brought to apply the rule which he hath beene taught to the use wherefore it is given all instruction in Divine matters is either unusefull or hurtfull For unlesse divine instruction end in the fruit of the Spirit which is righteousnesse holinesse which without some reall exercise cannot be received or entertained when God hath given them in any measure all instructions and theoreticall directions are but to none effect and rather hurtfull then profitable because they tend to a greater judgement over him that knoweth the way of truth and doth not follow it Therefore it is expedient to make many discourses and treatises of those things and to publish the doctrine thereof at adventures before tryall be made of the practise and before it may be knowne that those to whom the Doctrine is to be imparted are not doggs and swine that is to say carnall beastly minded men that will teare the truth by selfe conceited contradictions into peeces or if they are led not to contradict so much as to assent that then they will not drowne it in the mire of sensuall lust and swinish worldly mindednesse Therefore these pearles must not be cast before the world but ought to be dispensed unto the children of the Kingdome and that with a great deale of discretion and spirituall prudency because we have experience that even the true children of God are not capeable of al things but that if matters be not suggested to them by degrees they either get a spirituall surfet thereof so that their stomack is spoyled and unable to digest necessary foode when it is proposed to them or else become drunken with them and so in the heate of their braine they are as it were foolish and mad in using them without sobriety and disorderly neither to their owne nor other mens edification As for the Doctrine and exercises belonging to teachers to bring them to a demonstrative way of interpreting of Scriptures they are of two sorts The first is for the inlarging of knowledge for the discovery of the Mystery of Gods Kingdome in a Doctrinall or Hortatorie or consolatorie way to infuse knowledge into others The second is for deciding of doubts either arising from the words or from the matter of the Text Of each of these waies as they are to be fitted to higher or meaner capacities some Treatises should bee compiled to shew Ministers both how to divide the words aright unto their hearers according to the difference of their Auditories disposition how to deale one with another in matters of doubts and disputes to come to a full and satisfactorie decision of their controversies These two Treaties are of great concernement and not to be put forth till mens eares be opened by affliction the pride of learning be put down in the conceit of the worldly wise and of the disputers of this age which God will bring to passe partly by outward afflictions partly by the great variety or opinions and the 〈…〉 of received principles which will be shaken on all sides The men that are ingenuous and call upon God for light and direction will finde deeper principles of truth to rest their soules upon then hitherto they have received And by these God will abolish the wisedome of the wise and the learning and the disputer of this age and bring those that seeke wisedome in the simplicity of the word to understand the depths of Gods counsell which are hid from the great Rabbies of the world and men rather addicted to bookish learning to tell us what this or that Author saith then to search after the wisedome demonstration of the spirit of power by which the Apostles in