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	holy_a	scripture_n	9,894	5	6.0621	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A19413	A very soueraigne oyle to restore debtors; being rightly and seasonably vsed Extracted out of that most tried and quintessensed oyle, by the prophet Elisha. By vertue whereof the vviddovv indebted, (mentioned in the second booke of the Kings) was restored out of debt, and her children released of the bondage whereof they were in danger. Written by Samuel Cotesford, late minister at Stepney: and now newly published by W. Crashavve ...	Cottesford, Samuel.; Crashaw, William, 1572-1626.	1622 (1622)	STC 5841; ESTC S108836	64,803	115

and within the Land doe oppose themselues to it to extinguish it let it not O Lord be euer put out vntill that perfect and euerlasting Sonne of righteousnesse Christ Iesus himselfe doe come triumphantly in the cloudes to make a full end of all for the accomplishment whereof let euery one that waites for and loues his appearing say with mee Come Lord Iesu come quickly Amen Euen so be it Lord so be it But now to returne to our Widdow againe Had not the Prophets Counsaile wrought in her as the commaund of God himselfe and that by his speciall instinct through faith and animating or incouraging of her to the vsing of her neighbours she might haue beene dishartened at his Counsaile in willing her to goe to her neighbours and to borrow of them Alas she might haue said to her selfe No neighbour will lend me ought they will be jealous of me that I should make it away and because my debt is so great already I may perish before I get ought Nay this is the course of the World they will answer negatiuely and by way of preuention they will discourage me from asking before euer I aske But if I doe aske they haue their Answere ready Nay truely I cannot lend I haue sworne to the contrary I haue bound my selfe in bonds I haue promised all my friends not to lend So farre are men from the true knowledge of walking in that golden meane betweene two extreames Or else they will not with the Prophets minde but for their owne gaine aske of me what I haue if I haue a faire pawne a pledge or a suretie perhaps somewhat may be had or if I haue any thing to sell out-right they will then try their friend to buy it if they may haue a penniworth or if I will vse reason Now this reason vpon extremity you must vnderstand is as much as little or nothing For it is commonly held that those goods of the decayed though as good as the Rich mans euery way for value and price yet being in a ruinated decayed and a poore broken mans hands is worth some fourth part or lesse perhaps This is the fashion of the World whereunto euery man fashioneth himselfe that is rather to keepe him downe that is downe or if not downe but going in the way to beat him downe altogether rather then to helpe to raise him vp againe This is one discouragement that might haue staied this Widdow especially had she liued in this Iron or steely age of ours from following the good Prophets Counsaile Another stay arising also from the frailty of an vnbeleeuing heart had not God wrought faith in her might haue stopped her course of being contented to be directed by the Prophet as thus Alas might she haue said what should I doe thus troubling so many of my neighbours in borrowing so many empty vessels Why what good will emptie vessels doe mee mine owne poore pitcher of Oyle is not able to fill it selfe how then shall it be able to fill any one other much lesse so many as may amount to the price or value of my debt Vnfaithfulnes or distrust in God is able to discourage flesh bloud from vsing meanes seeming vnlikely to mans conceit yea it hath bred great doubtfulnesse in the very deare children of God yea so far it hath preuailed as that they haue expostulated the matter with Gods messengers as in a thing not possibly to be effected as that of Zachary about the birth of Iohn Baptist where he reasons with the Angel thus Then said Zacharias to the Angell Whereby shall I know this for I am an olde man and my wife is of great age Likewise the blessed Virgin Marie vpon the salutation of the Angel Verse 28 where the Angel certifies her that she shall conceiue and beare a sonne in the 34. Verse shee enquires of him about the point How shall this be saith shee seeing I know not man This troubled the blessed Virgin greatly as is set downe in the 29. Verse so as after shee had heard the saluation of the Angel as is written she said thus And when shee saw him she was troubled at his saying and thought what manner of Salutation this should be So that wee see where faith in God is not fully setled as in a continuall groath it must be in vs during life by many turbulent distractions vnbeliefe wil breake out and cause many times a yeelding to doe that which may be very ill for vs and a leauing off to doe what otherwise may be and is warrantable for vs to doe the doing whereof may turne to our great good the not doing to our greater hurt Indeed this increase of Oyle as out of it selfe without further meanes by the power of God in the ministry of Elizha was miraculous and may seeme incredible wherein if I should take occasion to speake of miracles how they were then and afterwards vnder the dayes of the Gospel and to what end they tended and vnto what time they were limited If also I should speake of the abuse of the Church of Rome in that poynt of miraculous working a meere illusion to deceiue the people by I should not take my selfe vp in any good time yet thus farre to say because they onely are the miracle-mongers we seeke not to take the credit of working miracles out of their hands If counterfaited signes and lying wonders by the working of Sathan with all power to deceiue by which they arrogate to themselues and that among them that perish spoken off by the Apostle Paul as purposely to set forth in some of his colours their Antichrist be miracles I yeeld it to them For wee of the Gospels profession doe not require any iuggling or apish trickes to bleare our peoples eyes withall we hold them close to the holy and onely Word of truth for the working of faith in them and that by the preaching of the same as the Apostle Paul saith Receiued you the Spirit by the workes of the Law or by the hearing of Faith preached A time there was when before the whole truth of Gods Word in the holy Scriptures was come in and digested into those two Testaments the Old and the New as they now are and so haue beene miraculously preserued through the dangers of many ages and reserued to the Churches perpetuall vse as also propounded to the view of the whole World to the end that the preachings of the Prophets as also the Doctrine of our Sauiour Christ himselfe and of his Apostles might be the more beleeued and rested vpon as the very truth of God himselfe they had power to worke miramircales as this Prophet three times in this Chapter did besides this in hand thereby to testifie to the people that he was the true Prophet of God Concerning the which point the Prophet Eliah vpon the triall of the true worship of God and the idolatrous worship of Baal betweene him and those foure hundred

speeding whereunto one generall point is to be obserued vpon the Prophets counselling of her as in part hath beene laide downe before and it doth concerne principally all Ministers and as from them all other Christians the Ministers to stand vp as in Gods behalfe to minister words of diuine and holy comfort to all Gods afflicted people and that in due season To the which purpose the Prophet Esay doth in the person of Christ Iesus himselfe the true comforter represent them who are called to the Ministery of Gods Word The Lord Gods hath giuen me saith he a tongue of the learned that I should know to minister a word in time to him that is weary that is to him who is any way distressed in conscience or oppressed by affliction and miserie and that so wearyed comes to me and of this mercy of God in Christ the Ministers should be able as from not onely knowledge out of the Word of God but vpon experience also to speake comfortably to the soules of the people The Apostle Paul speaketh to that purpose when he saith Which comforteth vs in all our tribulation that wee may be able to comfort them who are in any affliction by the comfort wherewith we our selues are comforted of God for as the sufferings of Christ abound in vs so our consolation aboundeth through Christ The like is said of Christ For in that hee suffered and was tempted hee is able to succour them that are tempted What comfort also the people doe reape from the Ministers they are mutually as neede requires each to comfort other which are vnder any heauinesse or affliction and this is the generall point to be obserued vpon the Prophets counsell-giuing to the Widdow Now let vs see the counsell it selfe And he said goe borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy Neighbours empty vessels and spare not 4. And when thou art come in thou shalt shut the doore vpon thee and vpon thy sonnes and poure out into all those vessels and set aside those that are full The generall obseruation in this counsell of the Prophet and the putting it in practise by the Widdow is this All persons in all cases of extreamity are mutually to aide and assist each other in the restoring of any decayed amongst them as here first the Prophet in his counsel-giuing then Neighbours in their lending the Widdow in her working together by her sonnes vpon the emptie vessels of Oyle her sonnes in going vp and downe fetching carrying pouring out of the full vessell sorting and setting aside the empty from the full to their right ends And this is taught by way of similitude in the Epistle to the Romans where the Apostle speaking of the Church in Christ as of the members in one body saith For as we haue many members in one body and all members haue not one office so we being many are one body in Christ and euery one anothers members and as one member in the naturall body according as it is in want and weakenesse is to be respected with care by that other which is aboue it in power and ability so it ought to be much more in the mysticall body of Christ Iesus who are mutually to serue one another in loue But that the members should haue the same care one for another saith the Apostle 26. Therefore if one member suffer all suffer with it if one member be had in honour all the members reioyce with it and to this purpose each person and thing in Gods prouidence are ordayned for the succour and reliefe of his Children vnder the Crosse Thus God wrought for Dauid by Ionathan by Ionathans boy and by the arrowes that Ionathan shot beyond the marke for the informing of Dauid how Saul stood affected towards him each person and thing working together for Dauids safe deliuery out of the malicious hands of Saul who sought his vtter ouerthrow If this were duely obserued by all that none no not the mightiest can stand alone by themselues without helpe in case of extreamity it would make them more carefull and ready to relieue each other in their miseries The vse then that is to be made of this point is vpon the knowledge thereof to remember our selues how dead spirited and dull we haue been in former times to discharge this duty and thereupon to goe to God by and in prayer for the gracious assistance of his holy Spirit thereby to quicken vs vp vnto a further and more compassionate care in all Christian loue to and for the good of others for the time to come Now where he saith Goe and borrow thee vessels abroade of all thy Neighbours empty vessels and spare not or not a few but as many as thou mayest get that there be no want of vessels to worke into The Prophets counsell as a command from God doth animate and encourage the Widdow to vse all her Neighbours as helpers with her vnto this her restoring againe Wherein giue mee leaue by the way to set downe from the Prophets counselling of the Widdow and the Widdow her acceptance of his counsell and putting it in practise with the happy successe of the same this vndoubted truth that is who so heares the Prophets Apostles and Ministers of God teaching them the way to euerlasting life by Iesus Christ alone the onely doore thereunto and that by the written Word of God the holy Scriptures so called must so heare them receiue them and beleeue them and their doctrine as in full perswasion of their hearts that what they haue heard and doe heare is the very speech of God himselfe as our Sauiour Christ Iesus assureth his Disciples when he saith He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me The want then of such hearers and thus hearing is it that causes so little practise in doing the will of God for many if not the most doe heare but doe not This is the cause why Papisme Athiesme Turkisme Heathenisme yea Sathanisme the fulnesse of all sinne O woe is me to say it doth so fast and speedily creepe into and grow vp in the Land threatning from day to day as we grow worse and worse the remouall of the glorious light of the Gospel which God forbid out of this our most glorious glittering and golden Candlesticke of the Church of God in this our happy England Oh happy long to his good pleasure may it be yea so happy as that the glorious light of the Gospell that maketh it to shine so gloriously may be so farre from euer being extinguished as that it may be rather like to the light of the righteous whereof Salomon speaketh when he saith The way of the righteous shineth as the light that shineth more and more vnto the perfect day so oh Lord if it seeme good in thine eyes let not this light of ours how outragiously soeuer the wicked enemies both without