Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A41424
|
A cry of the just against oppression
|
Goodaire, Thomas, d. 1693.
|
1660
(1660)
|
Wing G1087; ESTC R28246
|
9,147
|
10
|
A CRY of the just against OPPRESSION I the prisoner of the Lord who am now in outward bonds for conscience sake in the common goal at Oxford and another was put in with me for the same thing now it lieth upon me to acquaint and publish to the whole Nation the reason and cause of our imprisonment and why we suffer these hardships and all this cruel usage that now we do and I shall leave it to that pure principle of God in every sober minded man to judge whether we be not cruelly used and unjustly dealt withal contrary to the righteous law of God which is that every one should do unto all men as they would be done unto themselves IT hath pleased God of his infinite Love Mercy and Goodnesse to my poor soul to visit me in his tender love when I was an enemie and a stranger to him by wicked works And now the Lord Jesus hath appeared in me by his Light and Spirit and hath shewed and discovered unto me the deceit which lodged in my heart and the evil of my wayes which I lived in and he hath called me to repentance and amendment of life and I have owned the Call of God and by believing obeying and following the Light and Spirit of Christ I have received Power from him who is the Light and Life of men and by his light I am led out of darknesse and out of my evil wayes words and actions which once I lived in before I knew the Pure appearance of the Lord Jesus by his Spirit in me and by his own Power he hath brought me out of uncleannesse into holinesse and out of the broad way wherein I was walking going headlong to destruction into the strait and narrow way that leads to Life and Peace which few finds And by his own free grace which hath appeared in me which is his free gift and hath appeared unto all men which was and is the Saints Teacher am I taught to deny my self and all ungodlinesse and worldly lusts and to live soberly justly and righteously in this present evil world and to do unto all men as I would be done by and Christ by his own Spirit working in me hath destroyed the works of the Devil which was in my heart and hath taken away my sins and purified my heart and reconciled me to himself and I have true peace joy and comfort in God and enjoyes his pure love and presence now in my outward suffering and cruel usage which carries me above it and makes it easie unto me and this I do acknowledge in the fear of the Lord and to his praise that it is the onely work of God which he hath wrought in my heart and in many more of his dear servants and chidren by his own spirit for which I do in all humility return and give unto the Lord all honour and glory praise thanks and obedience for his everlasting love mercy and goodnesse both to me and many others and to him onely it doth belong now and for evermore And now the same light which shewed unto me the evil of my wayes lets me see that the whole World now lyeth in wickedness from the highest to the lowest and is out of the fear and Council of God and in the broad way that leads to destruction and is not yet come to true Repentance but rather goes further from God and groweth worse and worse and more wicked and dark then they have been formerly and the reason is because they hare and despise the light within them which Christ hath enlightned them withal and cals it a natural light and so counts it a thing of nought and this is the condemnation of all the wicked and ungodly that light is come into the world and shines in their hearts and lets them see the evil of their wayes and doings and smites and reproves them in their hearts and consciences but they do not believe in it neither do they obey nor follow it but lives in disobedience and unbelief and loves darknesse and their evil deeds better then the Light of Christ which shews them their evil deeds for every one that doth evil hates the light and because people receives not the Truth in the love of it but hates and rejects it for these causes God hath given them over to strong delusions to believe lyes that they all may be damned who believe not the Truth but takes pleasure in unrighteousnesse 2 Thes 2. 10 11 12. Now the Lord of his infinite love hath redeemed me to himself out of the World and the vain conversation of it to serve him and do his will and not my own and he hath required me to leave my native country house land and other things and Relations whatsoever as to the outward who am a York-shire man and to go abroad into his work and service where he shall lead and direct me by his Spirit and in obedience to the Lord whom I love above all other things I have left all and am come into his work and service and he hath sent me forth as he did many of his servants in the dayes of old as he hath done many of his servants now at this day to turn people from darknesse unto light and from the power of Satan to the Power of God that they may receive forgivenesse of their sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith which is in Christ and by the foolishness of preaching which is counted so by the wise and learned of the world it hath pleased God to convert many thousands which the wise and learned by their preaching hath not done but on the contrary both they that are preachers and they that are their hearers sins daily and hourly and brings Scriptures to plead for sin so long as they live upon the earth but blessed be the Name of our God for ever who hath turned many thousands from darknesse to his light within and from the power of Satan unto his power since he hath sent forth many of his Servants called Quakers and by believing obeying and following the light within they have received power from God and by the power of God are they led out of their ungodly wayes and out of the vain conversation of the world and from under the dominion of Satan and are brought into the life and power of Truth and can witness their sins forgiven by the Lord and hath assurance of an Inheritance which is incorruptible and shall never fade away which all the Children of darknesse who hates the light of Christ within and sayes it is a naturall light and do not believe obey nor follow it shall never witnesse their sins forgiven by the Lord neither can they have any assurance of their eternall Inheritance so long as they continue in their sins and in disobedience hating and disobeying the light of Christ within and not believing in it and in obedience to the Lord and according to his
direction I have passed through Warwick-shire Worcester-shire Hereford shire Glocester shire and part of Northampton-shire and so into Oxford-shire to visit the people of God and to confirm and build them up in the most holy faith which all the world that lieth in wickednesse is enemies to at present and to turn people from their evill wayes to the light of Christ which shines in their hearts which whosoever believes in it and obeys it it will give them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ And in all my passing through these Counties before-mentioned I was not staid nor questioned before I came to Chadlinton in Oxford-shire to one Benjamin Staples house who is now prisoner with me and the same night that I lodged at his house the Constable of the Town with some others came about the middle of the night to search his house having a Warrant from those called Justices to apprehend all Rogues Vagabonds and sturdy Beggars and especially one Ludlow and the Constable finding me in Bed charged the man of the house to see me forth coming in the morning which he did and in the morning the Constable had me to Chippin-Norton before the Commissioners and I came before one which is called Sir William Walter and another which is called Sir Thomas Feniston and the man of the house went along with me and they asked my name and what businesse I had in that Country I told them my name and what my businesse was that I was directed by the Lord to come into those parts to turn people from darknesse to light and from the power of Satan to God but that answer did not satisfie them and so they tendred the Oath of Allegiance both to me and the man of the house that was with me I told them I could not swear for Conscience sake and the other friend said the same and I shewed the reason why we could not because Christ and the Apostle hath forbid it and saith swear not at all but in all your Communication let your yea be yea and your nay nay for whatsoever is more is evil and the Apostle saith My Brethren above all things swear not at all neither by heaven nor by the earth nor by any other oath but let your yea be yea and nay nay lest you fall into condemnation and I told them further that I loved the King and his friends and all mens persons and should never plot nor make insurrections nor take up a carnal weapon against any man nor against any government and this I promised in the presence of the Lord and before them and many others but nothing would satisfie them that could be spoken except we would swear which the aforesaid William Walter pressed often for us to do or else we must go to prison and so we could not neither can we swear for or against any for Conscience sake it being contrary to Christs command but shall chuse rather to suffer then disobey Christ and so they caused each of us a Mittemus to be made and sent us forth-with to Oxford goal where we now are and this is the onely cause for which we are imprisoned and so cruelly dealt withall by the Jaylor his Wife and Son which is as followeth Upon the 15. day of the 7. Month called by the world September we was brought to the common goal at Oxford and delivered up to Henry Tharpe which is now Jaylor and presently after we came in he commanded his Son to put Irons upon me which he did upon both my legs as they do upon Thieves and Murderers and one of the Irons was so strait that it hurt my leg and put me to much pain and one friend desired the Jaylor to let them be taken off and wider put on if he would put on any he answered if I would give money for taking them off and putting on others I might have it done but I could not for Conscience sake give money for so doing because I have done nothing whereby I deserve to have any lions put upon me for it was done in wrath and envy and not for any just cause and so I chuse rather to suffer then satisfie that covetous mind and shortly after the Irons was put on they put me and the other friend into a stinking room where was nothing neither to sit down nor lie upon but the cold floor and one friend asked the Jaylor if he would suffer a little straw to be brought into the room for us to lye down upon but he would not suffer it and except we would give four shillings eight pence every week for our lodging onely we could have no other place and so we chose rather to suffer this hard ship then to uphold such great oppression and when they could not prevail with us to give them so much money as is before mentioned for our lodging then the Jaylors wise was full of wrath and envy and pushed me to and fro and abused me both by words and actions and there are some other friends which are prisoners now and hath been above two years for Conscience sake because they cannot pay Tythes which Christ came to end and the Jaylors Son is so very wicked and cruel that he strikes them with his hands and kicked one of them with his foot and abuseth both them and us very much with his evil tongue calling us Dogs and Devils and many more wicked words which we bear and suffer patiently for Christs sake and we shall not render evill for evill but take all things patiently which is done unto us knowing of a Truth that they that are thus cruell against us without a cause are led and guided by the same Spirit that murdered Christ Jesus the Lord of Glory because he testified and declared against the world that their deeds was evill therefore they hated him and sought false witnesse against him and mocked and abused him and afterward put him to death and the servants of the Lord are not greater then their Master for if they called the Master of the house Belzebub and many other wicked names what will they not do to them of his houshold and all that follows Christ for their example and comes to live a holy godly and harmlesse life must expect to suffer persecution by this wicked and perverse generation for they that walked after the flesh in all ages ever hated and persecuted them that walked after the Spirit even so it is with this generation as it was formerly but blessed be the Name of our God that gives us patience and counts us worthy to suffer for his Names sake for he hath not called us onely to believe but also to suffer with him and he that denyes to suffer with him and for his sake shall never reign with him Now hearken O ye Rulers of the earth what the Spirit of Truth saith unto you through his Servant King Parliament and Counsel if