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	live_a	pillar_n	2,128	5	10.1651	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54224	The spirit of truth vindicated, against that of error & envy unseasonably manifested : in a late malicious libel, intituled, The spirit of the Quakers tryed, &c. / by a friend to righteousness and peace, W.P.	Penn, William, 1644-1718.	1672 (1672)	Wing P1375; ESTC R21576	102,800	151

Difference I mean Doctrinal in this place I don't see It becomes a Man of his Wit and larger Conscience to perceive it who can make and fling dixt for the Alteration or Omission of a word not absolutely necessary for how can we suppose he meant those good Gentiles that became a Law unto themselves to have thoughts different from their Conscience so far as concerned Evil or Good and the Peace or Trouble that followed the Doing of the one or the committing of the other For to what did their Conscience bear them Witness if not to their Doing Well or Ill and consequently to acquit or accuse Therefore their Conscience did bear Witness to the Accusing or Excusing as well as their Thoughts for that their Thoughts and Opinion of one anothers Innocency or Guilt are squared by the Witness that their Conscience did give the place strongly implies In short they could not make that Judgment of one another without a certain Knowledge of the same thing in themselves and they must have received that only by the Testimony of their own Conscience which is no more but this the Judgment of a man concerning his own good or ill State by the In-shining and Discoveries of God's Holy Light and this the Gentiles had in measure and our Adversary granteth it as well as his Eminent Preacher pag. 40. Eighthly G. F. sayes in answer to the Priest that denyed him to be perfect who bridled his Tongue which is contrary to the Apostle James who saith he is which our Adversary calls belying the Apostle who sayes If any man offend not in word the same is perfect And what Difference is there now one sayes He that bridles or rules the Tongue and the other saith He that offends not in Word is the perfect man unless a mans Tongue can be said to be bridled or ruled when it offends which cannot be supposed by any but Persons of this mans Ignorance In short Not to offend in word or bridle that which would utter it is one and the same thing for that which bridles the Tongue bridles the Body which is the perfect man that offends not in word Ninthly G. F. sayes That God works all in us and for us for which he reflects upon him as at other times saying he knows no such place but it is strange that he never heard or read And there are diversities of Operations but it is the same God which worketh all in all according to the Power that worketh in us for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do Now unless when God works all in all c. we are to exempt his working in us and so give the Scripture the Lye or if workt in us yet not for us which is to give our own Understanding the Lye it will follow and doth follow That God who worketh all in all according to his Power in us both to Will and to Do does work it both in us and for us But Oh the Vanity of this poor man that thinks by these Paper Pellets his Malice casts at us either to Wound us in our selves or in the minds of Sober People Tenthly But he thinks he has done G. F's business for him now where bringing him in saying through the Power of God the Gospel again the Gospel is the Power of God he thus adventures to correct him The Apostle saith I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the Power of God unto Salvation c. Now where to find out that Difference which this Quick-sighted Man abuses G. F. for saying it proceeds from the same bitter Root in him that perverts the sence of Scripture is past my skill for if the Gospel be God's Power then God's Power is the Gospel In one of the Passages it is as he would have it which may show that G. F. meant by the other Transposition of the word No new Sence or Doctrine Gross Folly Incharity and Carping Eleaventhly But he stiffly charges him with miscitation in this Passage G. F. And so deny Christ the Lord that bought them Peter saith only Denying the Lord that bought them Which sayes he may as well agree to God the Father as Christ the Son We may guess at his Meaning without an Interpretation But must Christ be Lord and not Lord at every turn when this presumptious Person will If the fore-going Chapter be considered it will appear That Christ is that Lord that some should deny after they had made Profession of Him In short If a man's believing Christ to be that Lord must conclude him an Impostor c. who is true let all the World read and observe of what Ungodly Stuff and very Trash his Libel doth consist Twelfthly The Scripture saith our Adversary and his own runs thus He that believeth on Christ out of his Belly shall flow Rivers of Living Water where His Belly is plainly spoken of Him that believeth But G. F. applies it to the Light Christ out of whose Belly slowed Rivers of Living Water the Light the Light must be Magnified by G. F. To which I shall only say That it is no improper sence at all for no man's Belly can be filled but from His therefore He is the Fountain of Living Water Himself from whose Belly ours come to be filled Besides If a Scripture will admit of two distinct sences without Contradiction they may be used in both those sences upon occasion So Christ the Light whom we will Magnifie above our Adversary's Darkness is that Belly and Fountain and such as believe in Him shall have their Bellies filled with the Rivers of Living Water that come from Him He is the Fountain that is set open for Judah and Jerusalem and the River that makes glad the City of God Thirteenth G. F. The Church is the Pillar and Ground of Truth without Spot or Wrinkle or Blemish or any such thing Our Adversary thus And the Apostle saith That He might present it unto Himself a glorious Church not having Spot or Wrinkle or any such thing He saith that might and should not that it is but this is the old Devilish Distinction of Sin-Pleasers that would never have the Church Compient Two things follow hence First A Disbelief of the Perfection of the present Mystical Church by which Christ is rendred the Head of a spotted Body Secondly That he is himself in a spotted and wrinckled Condition and every such thing and therefore an unfit Person to maintain the Faith of the true unspotted Church of Christ Fourteenth G. F. True Christians are Flesh of His Flesh and Bone of His Bone But the Apostle sayes our Adversary has it thus For we are Members of his Body of his Flesh and of his Bones The Fault is this that he left out For we are Members hoping that it sufficiently proves Christ to be in Heaven absent from his Church not considering that a Body can be no more without its

he made a fit Tabernacle for the Glorious God to live in Thus is he King of Saints and will he be King of Nations who is God over all Heaven and Earth blessed forever Amen There be two Objections which I fore-see may be made by some to the way I have taken to prove That a Christians Judge Rule and Guide is the Unerring Spirit of God whom I shall endeavour to answer Obj. 1. Though you have said a great deal to prove that Christians should have an Infallible Spirit in general yet you prove nothing distinctly but confound a Judge Rule and Guide together To which I answer Answ 1. That to me there is no more difference then essentially there can be in the Wisdom Justice and Holiness of God which are but so many words that agree to express the Perfection of one and the same Beeing and so that as the one cannot be without the other but the same Eternal Godhead is all and that in all for he is truly Wise in being Just and both in being Holy and back again they are so interwoven that the one goes not without the other thus it is in being a Judge Rule and Guide for that which gives me a right Sense or Judgment of Truth from Error is as well to me a Rule what I should believe or dis-believe and a Guide what I should practice or not practice as at first it was my Judge of what was Truth from what was Error So that the same Informing Convincing Spirit is that Ruling and Guiding Spirit and not a dristinct Spirit or medium by which such as are convinced through the Illumination and Reproof of it are to be ruled and guided in all they believe and practice about Matters relating to God and his Worship Obj. 2. But at this rate you utterly contemn and seclude the Scriptures as having no Part nor Portion in being a Judge Rule or Guide to Christians Answ 2. By no means for though we acknowledge it to be our Principle That the Eternal Spirit who in several Generations hath revealed a great part of the things contained in the Scriptures to be superior to these Writings yet far be it from us forever to deny the absolute necessity of our Conformity to such weighty Christian Truths and Principles as are therein expressed and urged upon the Churches as what are indispensable to eternal Salvation So that we plead not that the Spirit of God should be a Judge Rule and Guide contrary to the Truth declared in Scripture nor yet exclusive of the Scripture but as the holy men of old time were ordered ruled and guided by that Eternal Spirit in reference to those weighty things which the Prophets and Apostles were moved to exhort those of that time to press after so that it is impossible for men now to come into a right Christian-frame and keep therein but by the Spirit 's being their Judge Rule and Guide as he was to the Ancients who trusted in God and obtained a good Report In short The Scripture is much like the shaddow of the true Rule which may give us some ground to guess what the Rule it self is as a Card or Map of a Country how it lies yet not be the very Place it self and in this respect it may be a kind of secondary Rule carrying with it a Testimonial Confirmation that what we are led by is the TRUE SPIRIT because the People of God in old time enjoyed the same as the Eternal Spirit first of all confirms the Divine Authority of the Scriptures unquestionably to us That they are a Declaration of the Will and Pleasure of Almighty God to the Sons of Men in several Ages of the World He that is so inward with a Prince as to know viva voce what his mind is heeds not so much the same when he meets it in Print because in Print as because he has received a more living Touch and sensible Impression from the Prince himself to whose Secrets he is privy And this the Scriptures teach us to believe is a right Christian's State and Priviledge for said the Apostle We have the Mind of Christ and the Secrets of God are with them that fear Him and guide me by thy Counsel and bring me to thy Glory To Conclude The Scriptures we own and the Divine Truths therein contained we reverence and esteem as the Mind and Will of God to men and we believe that they ought to be conformed to according to the true intent of the Holy Spirit therein and we know that all good People will respect them read them believe and endeavour to fulfil or obey them And those who trade neither Ministerially or Controversally with them and are out of that Cleansed Holy and Self-denying State they testifie of and believe it not attainable the Plagues therein declared of shall be their Portion forever I Know that AUTHORI●I●● are of no great force with him but since I writer more one of an expectation of benefit to others on whom this Libel has taken any hold perhaps it may not be unseasonable to subjoyn a few and the rather since we have not only the suffrage of some who are called Socinians whom he pretends to follow but thereby we may justly take occasion to detect him of contradiction to their Sentements whilst one of them 1. Then first Upon that remarkable Place in John where Christ promised to send his holy Spirit Howbeit when the Spirit of Truth is come he will guide you into all Truth c. Those two famous Commentators I mean so accounted by the Romanists Tolletus and Maldonatus and the last very frequently and with great Respect commemorated and quoted by Crellius one of the most redoubted of the Scoinian Party Tollet thus He shall when he is come manifest all those things which ye are not able to bear and to discover to you all that Doctrine that is fit for my Church to believe and practice He shall teach you the compleat Truth and to this end God gives it to the Faithful and to his Church that in Doctrine Life and Government she may inerrably be guided Maldonat Shall lead you into all Truth that is sayes he Discover unto them and to the Church of God all that Truth which is convenient or fit for them to know concerning Salvation Thus says Cyrill Theophil August and Beda too Beza tells us That Protestants believe God to have given his Spirit not only to his Apostles but to his Church that by her Testimony the World may be convinced of Sin that many Consciences may be compelled to confess that they have sinned in not believing on him c. Dr Hammond thus But when the Holy Ghost comes whose Title is the Spirit of Truth he shall instruct you what is to be done which he shall reveal to you And I will ask my Father and he shall send you the Holy Ghost to Interceed Exhort and Comfort and when he is come

They were Brethren as being of the same Blood and Fathers as Elders of the Tribes under that particular Constitution Besides both his own and if Married his Wifes Fathers and Grand-Fathers might be then living and either of the Council or concurring with it In short We therefore refuse the style of Master and are very cautious of being in the least lavish in Titles of Worldly Honour because We with Lamentation behold through the Illumination of God's blessed Light the Spoil Cruelty and manifold Evils that Proud Flattering Honour-seeking and Honour-giving Spirit has made amongst the Sons of men who to compass unjust Dominion hath sacrific'd the Blood Wealth and Peace of Nations to its ambitious aims and esteem'd it no small accession to the Magnific●nce of its exploits that almost in all Ages she hath led the Rights Properties and Persons too of Millions as Captives in Triumph after her and through the Gulf of Rapine and Blood lane●t into the vast Ocean of unlimited Power What Impiety is there in the World that may not in some sence be resolved into that of Pride or Covetousness after Honour as its proper Center Mens over-value of themselves and their Displeasure against such as have not the like thoughts of them beget Revenge which taking its opportunity breaks forth into Blood and Murder O! let men learn to dread the Living God and fear all their dayes before him and that will sweep the mind of these vain thoughts and bring it from such exalted conceits and its insatiable Thirst after Honour and will establish it in the Humility and Lovely Plainness of a Meek and Quiet Spirit which is of great Price in the Sight of the Almighty God which because the World is not adorned with but doth both seek and give wordly Honour and Personal Respect whilst perhaps such entertain deadly Hatred against each other and resolve one anothers Ruin for outward Ends we are constrained by the Meek and Lowly Spirit of Christ Jesus our Lord to testifie against the World's Vain Honours and to hold forth an Example to them what they must all expect to come to before they can receive that Honour which is from God And this is that Honest Reason why We of this Age do with Elihu say We know not how to give flattering Titles for in so doing our Maker would soon take us away Thus much in Answer to his Cavills whose Emptiness might have been enough to sound out their own indesert of any but for the sake of the Honest-Hearted I have said some thing enough for the place and occasion If any desire further Satisfaction they may please to peruse a Book entituled No Cross No Crown and the Serious Apology for the Principles and Practices of the People called Quakers pag. 139 140 141 142. which with several others sufficiently vindicate both our Principle and Practice in this particular as also others of the same Nature and tendency His fourth Fling at us is about Womens S●aking in the Church in which point he would seem to Triumph not a little over G. F. Let your Women keep Silence in the Churches for it is not permitted unto them to speak bnt they are commanded to be under Obedience as also saith the Law And if they will learn any thing let them ask their Husbands at home for it is a shame for Women to speak in the Church 1 Cor. 14. 34 35. Here if the Apostle sayes he doth not command Silence to Women by Sex in those cases wherein he allows men by Sex to speak I understand nothing that is written But G. F. pag. 380. sayes Now the Woman here hath an Husband to ask and not usurp Authority over the Man but Christ in the Male as in the Female who redeems from under the Law and makes free from the Law that man may speak c. Now if we may take Liberty to expound the Scripture thus it will be a Nose of wax that may be turned which way we please Besides it seems to be built upon a misreading of Husband for Husbands because Christ who is but One is made the Husbands that must be asked at home So one of your Authors saith But what Husbands have Widdows to learn of but Christ And was not Christ the Husband of Philip's four Daughters and may not they that learn of their Husbands speak then But before I go any further it may be observed how very slight his return is to G. F's Sense of the place and especially that though he quotes another Friends Query on the matter he never offers to give it any Answer and I am really perswaded he was confounded by it However why is it so abusive of the Scripture to say that which the Scripture saith it self Are not the Spirits of Believers properly the Lambs Bride as being the ●●ue Church to which he is a Bridegroom and ●f which he is the Head Methinks he must never have read or at least have forgot what he read in the Scriptures of Truth who denies this If so then why is it Improper or Abusive as he calls it to say that when Mens Spirits of themselves especially in the unlearned State speak it is that Woman which is forbidden to speak of her self since the Context saith that though they may all speak one by one yet it is if any thing be revealed to them which because that cannot be without Christ reveal it whom the Father hath ordained to be his eternal Word by which to declare to man the invisible things of his Kingdom it follows that it is Christ the Bridegroom and Husband of his People who by his Power speaks through his People to the Edification of his Body And as the Woman is the Weaker Vessel so is Man in comparison of Christ and therefore may not unfitly be accounted a Woman from his comparative imbecillity So that as Christ Presides or Governs in the Assemblies of his People it may be rather said the Man th●● is the Bridegroom and Husband of his People speaks in them and by them then they themselves who without him are but as the Strength of a Woman and it being her place to yield to the Soveraignity of her Lord and Husband to whom is ordained the Rule she ought to receive the Law from his mouth who is the everlasting High-Priest and Prophet of his People But now suppose I should yield it to him that the Apostle chiefly intended the Words in a Literal Sense and not so mystically as we have already discours'd will it therefore be untrue mystically by no means it is frequent to find both a mystical and literal Sense in the same passage as when the Evangelist alludes to Isaiah's Prophecy Chap. 5. 3. proving it to be fulfilled by Christ's bodily Cures which is true in that Sense yet hath one more inward and mystical But to be short I utterly deny from the Literal Text that Women are prohibited to preach singly as Women or of that Sex