Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	church_n	doctrine_n	error_n	4,723	5	7.2521	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A20820	Abjuration of poperie, by Thomas Abernethie: sometime Iesuite, but now penitent sinner, and an unworthie member of the true reformed Church of God in Scotland, at Edinburgh, in the Gray-frier church, the 24. of August, 1638	Abernethie, Thomas, fl. 1638-1641.	1638 (1638)	STC 72; ESTC S100404	27,560	50

life in publick of their ghostly Fathers and their odious licentious lives in their private cloisters and chambers I know my old fellowes the Jesuits will exime themselves from this my censure casting it upon the bellygod friers pretending puritie from such things in themselves but let a judicious man consider their dayly good entertainment weekly feasts in their houses of pleasure in the fields and their frequent banquets upon their saincts dayes thorow the year the goodnesse of their wines that they are young noble and gentle quick witted youths for the most part having thereafter great notice of sins by auricular confessions and almost hourely familiar conference with women of all conditions both publickly and privately and then judge what they are or what they may bee The third point which I proponed in the beginning was to crave pardon of these my rehearsed errours What then shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord I will pay my vowes unto the Lord now in presence of all his people My vowes are first to crave humble pardon at God almightie as I do from the bottome of my heart crying with the Prophet David Lord be mercifull unto me heal my soul for I have sinned against thee And with the forlorne childe Father I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am no more worthie to be called thy son make me as one of thy hired servants Againe O Lord truely I am thy servant I am thy servant and the son of thine handmaid thou hast loosed my bonds I will pay my vowes unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people Craving pardon at my Countreymen in Scotland in generall at You right Honourable Reverend and Welbeloved in Christ Jesus that be here present and all these wheresoever they be that professe the true reformed religion according to Gods word for the scandall which I have given you and them by living so long in poperie requesting you to pray my sweete Saviour for the remission of these my enorm sins and that as his divine Majestie hath begun this good work in me likewise he will be pleased to perfect it and I shall never cease to cry Lord be mercifull unto me heal my soul for I have sinned against thee And with the same Prophets saying I will conclude this point Blessed be the Lord who hath not given me as a prey to their teeth my soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers the snare is broken I am escaped my help is in the name of the Lord who made the heaven and earth Fourth and lastly against thus my sincere confession and cordiall resolution there bee three sorts of persons who oppose themselves some friends enemies some and some adiaphorists The first proceede out of love and zeale the second out of malice and rage the third out of policie and craftinesse to every one of these three classes must I answere before I closse this my abjuration The first sort then may say that it is heard to believe than I who was so fullie possessed with poperie can be truely converted in my heart having so many allurements and occasions of tentations to continue slave to the purpurat whoore and therefore it were good to try me before I be trusted My answere is first that I had many snares to hold me fast in poperie one was that I was obliged by their tyrannous Lawes to reject and cast away any doubt that came unto my minde against the Romish profession under no lesse paine than mortall sin and eternall condemnation no lesse than the thoughts of murther treason filthinesse leacherie c. Where it is to be remarked that the Turks do only forbid hearing or disputing of any other religion but their own under the paine of death which they and we thinke very heard but these Romanists are much worse condemning both body and soul to hell eternally for a thought only against their profession This snare is the strongest wall of Poperie Another snare is that which intangleth the Doctors and learned men who examining the doctrine of their church and finding their conscience touched with the evidencie and trueth of Gods word resolve that these tentations proceed of weaknesse of their understanding and therefore conclude seeing their church can not as they alleadge erre that the resolution of the church is only true and Gods true light inspired in them but only tentation of Sathan and so preoccupied with a prejudged minde continue in their errour This is the secondwall of that babylonish tower I speak nothing of riches and pleasure contentment of minde for worldly things for it is knowne that the Jesuits whereof I was one have the most contented life in this world of any men whosoever and therefore if I had looked to my particular commodities more than to the light of Gods word and my own conscience which did presse me I had never come out of poperie Secondlie I answere that it is no wonder if they do not give me full trust as yet because Paul after his conversion although he was a chosen vessell to beare Christs name before the Gentiles and Kings and the children of Israel was not trusted in the beginning yea neither did Ananias believe Christs own testimonie of him then Ananias answered Lord I have heard by many of this man how much evill he hath done to thy Saints at Jerusalem What reason then should they have to trust me poore sinner a stranger in a manner to them untill they try me In the meane time I request these my friends to suspend their judgements for a time seeing exitus acta probat the event prooves the deeds And take Christs way a tryall by their fruits yee shall know them And pray for me that as I was a persecuting Saul so I may bee a preaching Paul The second my deadlie enemies for rage and despight that I have left them will I know spew out all the venemous poyson that malicious hearts can invent especiallie that I have not left the Jesuits but that for my odious and detestable life I have beene cast out from among them To these I answere first that benifaciend● ne●lnem timeo doing well I am feared for no man Secondly their evill speeches and misreports are an evident token that Christ my loving master favoureth me giving me occasion although innocent to suffer calumnies as he did he was both God and Man and yet he was said to cast out Devils in Beelzebubs name And that he had a devill That he was a eater and drinker and keeper of companie with publicanes and sinners What then should I expect poor sinfull wretch from viperous tongues but all what hell can devise against me Thirdlie I answere that they wrong themselves much more than me objecting thus for either they must make me vitious

therein I finde two things to be remarked the time and the causes of this my restored health As for the first it is evidently known that the Lord hath his owne time in calling of soules Calling some about the third some about the sixt some about the ninth aud some about the eleventh houre Peter and some other of his Apostles he called when they were busied mending and dressing their nets Others as Matthew waiting upon their customes greedie gaine and drosse of the world Some as Paul when they were persecuting his flocke Others by reading of holy Scriptures as was Augustine Some by publicke preaching as the most part of all Christians and others by private discourses as the Queene of the Ethiopians Eunuch Neither can there be given any other reason of this but the good pleasure of GOD For it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of GOD that sheweth mercie Who in his owne time without any of my deservings did call upon me when I was plunged in idolatrie my self and drawing others dayly to that same precipice taking up the dueties and customes of Caithnes as Chamerlaine where it is to be remarked that this dissimulation of apparels offices c. is a common policie of the Jesuits to the end some of them may be intelligencers in Kings Courts as I know two One as a Noble man and another as a Knight in London the first lives in Clarkenwall the second in Drurie-laine the one is provinciall and superiour of some five hundreth Jesuits in England the other a prime Scholler and Courteour Others go thus for perverting of Kings and kingdomes as with Sigismund late King of Pole they went as Hyducks or infantrie into Sweden for the perversion of that people which being detected the King and they were thurst out of his own righteous Kingdome for ever or as Demetrius Emperours of Musco who taking them in after that same manner lost his life and his empire as his wifes brother in law Constantine Koribut Duke of Visniovits in Pole related to my self and that hee had suffered three yeeres imprisonment for it in Musco which maketh him detest the Jesuits ever since Some of them go for their own re-establishment as P. Peter Cotton to get themselves in again in France after they were banished for attempting to kill and for wounding King Henry the fourth This is no calumnie for one was execute in Paris and all banished out of France and a pyramide of ignominie erected against them where the treature was execute for this businesse Some go dayly thorow Venice dealing with ambassadours and making friends to get in there againe others to acquite by indirect wayes the favour of Kings for they seeke no more but presence and accesse to pervert Kings and Princes Or if they can not prevaile they cut them off and are worse then the devill for resist the Devill and he will flee from you but they will not quite their point till they worke the mischiefe Beware therfore Kings and Princes beware kingdomes and common-wealths Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheeps cloathing but inwardly are ravening woolves And thou Britaine especially Scotland my deare countrey the purest portion of Christs Church in the world this day assure thy self and I assure thee for I know it that thy good people are as sheepe in the mids of woolves be yee therefore heads and members thereof wise as serpents Casting out this bound woman and her Son by the execution of the Law of the kingdome ad amussim punctually not granting them a pecuniall libertie of conscience or any toleration whatsoever and GOD will help you yet notwithstanding yonr imminent dangers whereof I shall advertise you in the end of this discourse otherwise your liberties and kingdomes are lost and Antichrist hath prevailed Concerning the time likewise it is to bee considered that which an ancient remarks of Paul to wit that God did call him being a persecuter brought up among the learned at Gamaliels fleet knowing all their plots and conspiracies against Gods elect he might better being converted give antidots again their poyson for it he had done somuch out of blinde zeile for the defence of his Fathers traditions much more would he for the true service of GOD wish that he were an accursed from Christ for his brethren Even so thinke I truelie that my deare Saviour have dealt with me not calling me when I entred to their errours nor when I was drinking in their pernicious doctrine neither when I was imployed to worke the mysterie of iniquitie against the true Church of God but when I had learned all their tricks plots conspiracies devices and inventions for the extirpation of Gods true religion that being brought up at Vrbanus feet and knowing their malice I might the better with Gods grace provide remedics against their pernicious designes and as I had taken great paines for the atchieving of their malitious ends much more should I labour now in Christs vineyeard for the edification of Christs mysticall body the Church The Lord of his infinite mercie grant me his favourable assistance and powerfull grace thereto The second thing that I proposed was the causes of the health of my Soul and these are four materiall formall finall and efficient the first is the soul it self taken specificative the second is the same soul taken reduplicative ut sanata as healed the third or finall is that eternall joy and felicitie for the which before time God hath elected and in time created not only me but all these likewise who serve him with true sinceritie which felicitie the Apostle thus describeth the eye hath not scene nor eare heard neither hath entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him The fourth and last is threefold principall meritorious and instrumentall The principall efficient cause of the health of my soul was the blessed and holy Trinitie it being an action ad extra and all such are common to the three persons of the Trinitie as Divines teach The meritorious was the pretious blood of my sweet and loving Saviour Christ Jesus for it is through this only oblation that we are made holy and have eternall redemption By His will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all For by one offering hee hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified and their sins and iniquities will hee remember no more now where remission of these are there is no more offering for sin And the Apostle Peter sayeth Nei her is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved The whole new Testament proveth this trueth and yet the force of errour is so great that they who live in that Sodomitish Babylon do not perceave it but run headlong