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	hold_v	pillar_n	2,991	5	10.6628	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41067	A touch-stone, or, A perfect tryal by the Scriptures, of all the priests, bishops, and ministers, who have called themselves, the ministers of the Gospel whose time and day hath been in the last ages past, or rather in the night of apostacy : they are tried and weighed by the Scriptures of truth, and are found out of the life and power of the scriptures, and out of the spirit and doctrine of them that gave them forth, and quite contrary to their principle and practice, both Papists and Protestants : unto which is annexed, Womens speaking justified, &c.	Fox, Margaret Askew Fell, 1614-1702.	1667 (1667)	Wing F639; ESTC R7178	82,431	96

burdens grievous to be born But this is contrary to Christ and his Apostles Doctrine and Example as hath been shewed already Moreover the Apostle Paul when he writeth his second Epistle to the Corinthins chap. 1. and relateth the sufferings and hardships that they had passed through how that they had the sentence of death in themselves he saith Now he which establisheth us with you in Christ and hath anointed us in God who hath also sealed us and given us the earnest of his Spirit in our hearts not that we have dominion over your Faith but are helpers of your joy for by Faith ye stand Here the Apostle did not bind them and limit them nor called them to Courts to keep them under oppression and penalty in those things that were contary to their Faith and Principles this was contrary to Pauls practice for when he called the Elders of the Church of Ephesus unto him he said unto them Ye know that from the first day that I came unto you after what manner I have been with you at all seasons serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations which befel me and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you but have shewed you and have taught you publickly and from house to house testifying both to Jews and Greeks Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ And when he goes on mentioning his sufferings he saith None of these things move me neither count I my self dear unto my self so that I may finish my course with joy and the Ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the Gospel of the Grace of God for I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God Take heed therefore unto your selves and to the whole Flock of God whereof the Holy Ghost hath made you Overseers and feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood Acts 20. Here the Apostle gives them no Commission to oppress or bondage those that they were Overseers over but to feed them and to watch over them For saith he after my departure shall grievous Wolves enter among you not sparing the Flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things therefore watch and remember c. This hath been fulfilled and largly manifested Wolves and Devourers have had a large time since that day Also the Apostle Peter saith thus The Elders which are among you I exhort who am also an Elder and a Witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed Feed the Flock of God which is among you taking the oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind neither as being Lords over Gods heritage but being examples to the Flock and when the chief Shepherd shall appear ye shall receive a Crown of glory that fadeth not away 1 Pet. 5. Here is a perfect Example and Rule for all the Overseers of the Church of God Moreover when the Apostle writes unto his Son Timothy he saith That the end of the Commandment is Charity out of a Pure Heart and a good Conscience and Faith unfeigned Also he exhorts him First of all that supplications prayers and intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men for Kings and for all that are in Authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty and so he goes on exhorting this Bishop but never biddeth him set up Courts nor be a Lord over Gods Heritage for he saith This is a true saying If any man desireth the Office of a Bishop he desireth a good work a Bishop must be blameless the Husband of one Wife vigilant sober of good behaviour given to hospitality apt to teach I believe our Bishops are wanting here because they Hire and Imploy so many petty Teachers under them but he goes on Not given to wine no striker not greedy of filthy lucre but patient not a brawler not covetons now our Laws and Courts signifie the contrary of this not a Novice lest being lifted up with Pride he fall into reproach and the snare of the Devil Moreover he must have a good report of those that are without holding the mystery of Faith in a pure Conscience So the Apostle goeth on exhorting the Bishops and Deacons that they may know how to behave themselves in the House of God which is the Church of the Living God the Ground and Pillar of Truth 1 Tim. 2 3 chap. So he goes on exhorting them what to Teach and Preach and how to order the Church in the 4th and 5th chapters concerning the Elders Elder-men and Elder-women Younger-men and Younger-women as also Servants he directeth him how to go by way of Exhortation to them all and saith If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholsom words even the Words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the Doctrine which is according to Godliness he is proud knowing nothing doting about Questions So he goeth on dehorting them from those things But thou O man of God saith he flee these things and follow after righteousness godliness faith love and patience meekness fight the good fight of Faith lay hold on Eternal Life whereunto thou art called and hast professed a good profession before many Witnesses I give thee charge in the sight of God who quickneth all things and before Christ Jesus who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession that thou keep this Commandment without spot unrebukeable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ O Timothy keep that which is committed unto thy Trust chap. 6. Here is a weighty and a hard Charge laid upon Timothy the then Bishop and Overseer of the Church but here is nothing of making of Laws and setting up Courts and oppressing people and keeping them in Bondage and Slavery for when he writeth his Second Epistle to Timothy he saith My dearly beloved Son Grace Mercy and Peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice and I am perswaded that in thee also Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the Gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands for God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound minde That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us This thou knowest that all they which were in Asia be turned away from me yet he doth not bid him Arraign them nor call them up to Courts nor Cite them nor Excommunicate them nor cast them into Prison but he exhorts him to be strong in the Grace that is in Christ Jesus and he layeth down how he should teach the people and commit

see that the blessed Apostle foresaw the state and condition the Church was falling into and the time that hath been since hath manifested the truth of it And thus we see the good and wholesome Doctrine that the holy Apostle left with them that were Overseers in those dayes that had the Spirit of the Lord Jesus living and dwelling in their hearts but this Gospel hath been hid from them that have been lost And this may serve for the Sixth Head which is their Maintenance The seventh and last is their Garbe and Habit which they seem to place much in in matter of their Worship and they being Gospel-Ministers we know no ground nor Example they have from Christ or any of his Apostles to wear such Garments It is true Aaron when he was to minister in the Priests Office there were holy Garments to be made for him for beauty and for glory And these were the Garments which they were to make a Brest-plate an Ephod and a Robe a broidered Coat a Mitre and a Girdle and they were to take two Stones two Onix stones and grave on them the names of the Children of Israel and set them in four rows and Aaron shall bear the names of the Children of Israel in the Brest-plate of Judgment upon his heart when he goeth in into the holy place for a memorial before the Lord continually and thou shalt put in the Brest-plate of Judgment the Urim and the Thummim which is Lights and Perfections and they shall be upon Aarons heart when he goeth in before the Lord and Aaron shall bear the Judgment of the Children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually Exod. 28. Here was more than the long Gown and the Surplice the Tippet and the hood here was the Urim and the Thummim and the Judgement of the Children of Israel upon his heart Also Aaron had a Brest-plate of pure Gold and graven upon it like the engraving of a Signet Holiness to the Lord Vers 36. This is far beyond the long Robes of our dayes for there is little holiness graven upon them neither Lights nor Perfections and if they do take the long Robes and Surplices Hoods and Tippets from Aaron they miss the Garbe and Fashion of this for upon the Hemme of Aarons Garment there was Bells and Pomgranets of gold A golden Bell and a Pomegranet a golden Bell and a Pomegranet round about the hem and this was to be upon Aaron when he went to minister that his sound might be heard when he was to go in the Holy Place before the Lord. But they set Bells upon the top of their Steepls in stead of these to make People hear the sound when they go to their Worship And so in this as in all other things that have been shewed they differ far from Scripture-Rule Moreover the Lord said unto Moses Thus shall Aaron go into the holy place with a young Bullock for a sin-offering and a Ram for a burnt-offering and he shall put on the holy linnen Coat and he shall have the linnen Breeches upon his flesh and shall be girded with a linnen Girdle and with the linnen Mitre shall he be attired these are the holy Garments therefore shall he wash his flesh in water and so put them on Levit. 16. So here we see Aaron was to bring a Bullock and a Ram for a burnt-offering and a sin-offering and to wash his flesh before he put those Garments on It is to be feared that our Long-Robed and Surplice-Men miss it in this too except they offer a sin-offering and a burnt-offering and wash their flesh We do not hear they use this they calling themselves Ministers of Christ and of the Gospel but certainly they have not taken up the imitation of these things from hence from Aarons Garments but from the Scribes and Pharisees for from Christ and his Apostle they had none at all but the quite contrary For Christ Jesus when he spake to the Multitude and his Disciples said The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses Seat and that which they bid you observe and do observe but do not ye after their works for they say and do not and all their works they do to be seen of men They make broad their Philactaries or Fringes and enlarge the borders of their Garments and love the upermost rooms at Feasts and the chiefest seats in the Synagogues But he saith Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites for ye shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men for ye neither go in your selves nor suffer them that would Woe unto you for ye devour Widows houses and for a pretence make long prayers therefore ye shall receive the greater condemnation Matth. 23. And he saith unto them in Mark 12. in his Doctrine Beware of the Scribes which love to go in long cloathing and love salutations in the Market-places and the chief seats in the Synagogues and uppermost rooms at Feasts which devour Widows houses and for a pretence make long Prayers these shall receive greater damnation And Luke saith Chap. 20. That then in the audience of all the People he said unto his Disciples Beware of the Scribes which desire to walk in long Robes and love greetings in the Markets and the highest seats in the Synagogues and the chiefest rooms at Feasts which devour Widows houses and for a shew make long Prayers the same shall receive greater condemnation Surely the Disciples and Apostles after they had heard Christ thus often to testify against them that went after this manner certainly they would keep themselves clear for ever going in this garb Besides it is clearly manifested by their practices that they never went after this manner in long Robes and Surplices for that would have been a great charge to them that wrought with their hands and were not chargable to any except those that were raised up by the power of Almighty God by their preaching of the Gospel of Christ unto them the Lord might move their hearts to give them what they should stand in need of which they could not want if those had it that were one with them in the Spirit for so the Apostle holdeth forth to the Philippians where he saith But I rejoyce in the Lord greatly that now at last your care of me hath flourished again wherein ye were also careful but ye lacked opportunity not that I speak in respect of want for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content I know how to be abased and how to abound every where in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need notwithstanding ye have done well that ye did communicate with mine affliction for even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again to my necessity not because I desire a gift but I desire fruit that that may abound to your account But I have all and abound and am full Phil. 4. But surely