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	know_v	scripture_n	6,716	5	6.3200	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A12160	Corona charitatis, = The crovvne of charitie a sermon preacht in Mercers Chappell, May 10. 1625. at the solemne funerals of his euer-renowmed friend, of precious memory, the mirroir of charitie, Mr. Richard Fishburne, merchant, and now consecrated as an anniuersary to his fame; by Nat: Shute, rector of the parish of Saint Mildred in the Poultry, London.	Shute, Nathaniel, d. 1638.	1626 (1626)	STC 22466; ESTC S117282	35,817	55

worke to doe good to Gods house Blessed be the Lord God of our Fathers Ezra 7 27. which hath put such a thing as this in the Kings heart to beautifie the house of the Lord which is in Hierusalem They that built only the walls of Hierusalem yet are curiously registred in the Scripture by the places which they repaired by their names Neh. 3.5 8 9 17 22 32. yea by their conditions for some were Noblemen some Gouernours some Leuits some Priests some Apothecaries some Gold-smiths some Merchants Sulpit. Seuerus hist sac l. 2. Darius had three Hebrew young men the Squires of his body one among the rest by his wisdome drew both the Kings affection and admiration vpon himselfe whervpon Darius bade him one day Aske of him what hee would and he should haue it He answered that he desired nothing but that Hierusalem might bee rebuilt againe Egnat exempl l. 1. c. 1. Baron ann 324. num 62. exactis Siluestri And Fame reports of Constantine that in the erecting of a Church at Rome he himselfe carried out twelue baskets of earth vpon his owne shoulders as appeareth by the foundation of the Church What strangers then are they to this Charitie of Nehemiah who either demolish holy places or through sloth and couetousnesse suffer them to fall Sure this is no Christian Psal 79.1 but a right heathenish tricke O God the Heathen are come into thine inheritance thy holy Temple haue they defiled they haue laid Hierusalem on heapes nay the Heathen would neuer doe that to the Temples of the false Gods Plut. in Timoleonte that wee Christians doe to the houses of the true God for they hated and fled from all sacrilegious persons Were the Church leprous wee could doe no more then plucke out the stones as they did in the old Law Leu. 14.40 in a Leprous house nay they would not euen in such a house plucke out all the stones as they doe in Churches Conueniat me Ianus iratus qua velit fronte Tertull. Apollog c. 28. but only such as were Leprous Well let Ianus in his anger looke vpon me with either of his faces to borrow Tertullians words yet I will euer proclaime that Next to the iniurie done against the temple of mans body there can be no greater iniury then that which is done against the bodie of the Temple And I wish that all sacrilegious persons might feele the whip vpon their conscience which sometime Celsus felt who after the robbing of many Churches hearing one day that place of Esay read Woe vnto them that ioyne house to house Es 5.8 Gregor Turon lib. 4. cap. 24. that lay field to field till there be no place that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth cried out immediately Vae mihi filits meis woe be to mee and my children Secondly Neither can they find in their hearts to bee on Nehemiahs side who in their hearts regard no Temple nor any publicke place consigned to Gods seruice 1 Reg. 14.23 but build them as it were groues on euery high hill and vnder euery greene tree Or if they bee in the Temple behaue themselues there as reuerently as in a Stable 1 Reg. 7.25 worse than euer Hirams brazen Oxen whose hinder parts were not to be seene in the Temple for modestie but these mens Religion is rudenesse as if Religion were best clad in a fooles coate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys in 1 Cor. 14. hom 36. Exurge veritas quasi de patientia crumpe Ipsa Scripturas tuas interpretare quas non nouit consuetudo Tertull. develand virginibus cap. 3. Psal 102.14 And the offices thereof Neh. 7.1 13.10 Iustly may wee complaine with Saint Chrysostome In the Primitiue Church houses were Churches but now Churches are as houses nay worse then houses But manum de tabula I will put vp my pensill and conclude this point with that of Tertullian Rise vp O Truth and breake from thy patience and interpret thy selfe thy Scriptures which custome knowes not Neuer can that mans hand bee liberall to the Temple that doth not first in his heart fauour the dust of the Temple But now as the fairest house without a light is worth little nay hath no roome in our estimation so the fairest Church without a Minister Therefore Nehemiah was not onely liberall to besprinkle the house of God but the Offices thereof with his mercie Hee appointed the Porters the Singers and the Leuites yea a maintenance for them without which the Priest-hood can no more stand then a plant without iuyce And here wee haue found another fresh spring of his bountie It is one of his good deeds and our president to let part of our mercie fall vpon the Ministers of God were not this work a welcome and an acceptable worke to God hee would neuer haue set so strong a guard vpon the contrarie Take heede to thy selfe Deut. 12.19 Mat. 10.41 that thou forsake not the Leuite as long as thou liuest vpon the earth Christ saith Hee that receiues a Prophet in the name of a Prophet that is as the Father expounds it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jsidor Pelus l. 4. ep 135 2. Chr. 31.4 not for indirect ends but with a naked heart looking to religion and goodnesse shall receiue a Prophets reward Thus Hezekiah commanded to giue the portion of the Priests the schedule or reason is annexed That they might be encouraged in the Law of the Lord. It is a laudable Charitie and such as deserues the siluer pen to still the crying bowels of the poore yet if wee will lend credence to Aquinas Quae sunt ad finem quanto ei propinquiora tanto meliora Aqu. 22. qu. 81. a. 6. That of those workes which are ordained to one end as the glorie of God those are best which draw neerest to the end then must it needes follow and weigh downe this consequence that the workes whereby Gods worship is maintained because they do more directly and immediately tend to Gods glorie doe deserue a larger table of commendation then ordinarie charitie to the poore They that annoint the skirts of Aarons Garments and they that annoint Aarons head doe both repose their charitie in Gods hand only those repose it in Gods left hand these in his right pardon my zeale I pray you if I seeme to scortch one side more then an other Num. 17.8 that Aarons rod may if not flourish aboue the rest of the rods of Israell yet flourish together with the rest I speake not to take away the least threed from the poore but as it happens sometime that euen the fairest coats of Armes may haue some barre or defect so may charitie to the poore if it bee with a contempt of the maintenance of Gods seruice loose if not the Principall yet some part of the Interest of her commendation Neither doe I here serue our owne cause to

if I touch it 2. Reg. 4.39 I will not gather my lap full or if I gather it I will not shread it into the pot of the Sonnes of the Prophets I wish from the center of my heart that the Church of England may not haue a wrinkle in her garment not the least contention for there is a feare beates vpon my heart that when we haue stretched all the sinewes we haue in these difficulties we shall make but a Flemmish reckoning of them L. 8. c. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Sozomen saith that alwayes in the dissention of the Church the Common-wealth was also troubled Therefore for my part in my poore way I shall bee readie to offer still to Gods people the staffe of bread I meane the weightier things of the Law and to keepe their braines from burning with such subtill lightning as this is My good deeds Now in this phrase wipe not out my good deeds there doth further rise vp before our consideration what deeds these are Neh. 13.10.12 First he speakes of one in particular Remember me concerning this which was the sustentation of the Leuits by the tithes of Corne Wine and Oyle a worke of that grace and fauour with God that Nehemiah dares begge a reward for it alone in particular Cum decimas dando terrena coelestia possis munera promereri quare per auaritiam duplici benedictione te fraudas Aug. de temp ser 215. Remember me concerning this Seeing by giuing of Tithes thou maist obtaine both earthly and heauenly rewards why doest thou by couetousnesse defraude thy selfe of a double blessing saith Saint Augustine But because this particular is drowned in the generall clause of his mercy To the offices of the house of God I only thus farre salute it and next inuite you to his good workes in generall And first I bespeake your attention to the name of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 70. miserationes meas Vulgata misericordias meas Pagnin pietates meas Munster in loc The word in the Hebrew signifies as much as my mercies and so doth the Greeke and Latine render it with others because he did it with a free heart as Caietan saith and not for humane fauour but for Gods glory as Lyra hath it Euery mercie is a good worke but euery good worke is not a worke of mercy Two things make a good worke a worke of mercie The first is in subiecto or him that worketh when hee doth it freely without respect of glorie or carnall profit to himselfe or others and this is properly Grace Gratia The seccond in the obiect or the matter vpon which we transfer our Charity whether it be on men or things belonging to God or men Misericordia when they are in the iawes of Necessitie and this is called Mercy Both which conditions were in Nehemiah's workes for he did them freely sine rimula Ostentationis without tha least chinke of Ostentation and he did them mercifully in case of necessitie therefore his workes are not euery sort of workes but workes dyed in a deeper graine they are mercies but I cannot stand to view euery seuerall roome in my Text Time is my Master I must subiect my selfe to him And so I giue out from the name of these deeds in the Originall and come vpon the second thing which is their Attribute They are Good deeds The workes of good men are good indeed first Gal. 5.22 Nihil à Deo non bonum quia diuinum Tertull. de fuga in persecut cap. 4. in regard of their efficient God who not only commands them but produceth them The fruit of the Spirit is Loue Ioy Peace Now God neither commands nor produceth any thing that is faulty Nothing from God but it is good because it is from God saith Tertullian Secondly they are good in regard of the obiect and matter Iac. 2.19 Thou beleeuest that there is one God thou doest well Thirdly in regard of the forme whence they proceed Mat. 7.18 2. Sam. 18.27 from a good heart purified by true faith A good tree cannot bring forth euill fruit as Dauid said of Ahimaaz He is a good man and commeth with good tidings so a good man hath good workes Fourthly in regard of the end because by them men intend Gods glory their brethrens good Mat. 6.22 and their own saluation If thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light Euen as a good eye is the glory of the face so a good intention is the glory of the action Ipsa iustitia nostra vera est propter veri boni finē ad quem refertur Aug. de Ciu. Dei l. 19 cap. 27. Bell. de iustific l. 4. cap. 10. Stapl. de iustif l. 6. c. 7. alii Our righteousnesse saith Saint Augustine is a true righteousnesse because of that end of true goodnesse to which it is referred Our Aduersaries then of the Chruch of Rome shew but the Canker in their mouthes and pens to say and write that wee hold good workes to bee sinnes nay mortall sinnes For that we say may be put vp into these three conclusions First that Good workes done according to the conditions forenamed are in the truth and substance of their nature and of themselues good yet by accident they are though not sinnes yet mingled with sinne in that they passe through this channell of our corruption these graues of our concupiscence euen as water of it selfe cleere contracts corruption by running thorow a foule pipe Secondly They are truly good but they are not perfectly absolutely or meritoriously good whereby a man may fulfill the law or deserue heauen as our aduersaries would blazon it for for meritorious workes in the stiffe sense of condignitie it was neuer embraced of old Pueri meritorij Cic. in Philip. 2. nor yet can be except it bee in one sense that wee call workes meritorious as boyes or harlots are called meritorious which deserue rather shame or death than a reward Thirdly yet doth not this accidentall mingling of our workes with sinne nor want of this absolute perfection take away the kind or essence of our good workes For the first Though that Concupiscence which blisters our good workes bee by the law morall and in it owne nature yet vnder Christ a mortall sinne for Christ destroyed no part of the morall law quoad obligationem obedientiae reatus in regard of the obligation of obedience and guilt yet quoad obligationem poenae in regard of the obligation of punishment That which is mortall in it owne nature is now not mortall by effect through Christs death Rom. 8.1 There is now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Iesus Gal. 3.13 who walke not after the flesh but after the Spirit And Christ hath redeemed vs from the Curse of the law being made a curse for vs a part of which curse was Gal. 3.10 D. Iohn