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	religion_n	true_a	7,548	5	5.1593	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30514	A declaration from the people called Quakers, to the present distracted nation of England with mourning and lamentation over it, because of its breaches ...	Burrough, Edward, 1634-1662.	1659 (1659)	Wing B5989; ESTC R15613	12,844	18

A DECLARATION From the PEOPLE CALLED Quakers To the Present Distracted Nation of ENGLAND With Mourning and Lamentation over it because of its Breaches and the Cause thereof laid down with Advice and Councel how Peace Union and Happinesse may be restored and all the present troubles removed LONDON Printed in the Year 1659. To the Present Distracted and Broken Nation of ENGLAND and to all her Inhabitants A Presentation and Declaration from the Seed of God and from the People called Quakers with their Sense and Knowledge published concerning the present Divisions and Confusions come to passe in the Land with the Causes thereof laid down and discovered and also good Councel and Advice held forth how Peace and Unity may be restored and how the present tribulations may be removed OH poor distressed Nation and full of troubles how art thou broken and divided how hath divisions distractions compassed thee about and entred into thy bowells and how are thy inhabitants and thy people divided even into hatred one against another and how are they filled as with mischiefe one toward another even as it were thirsting for the blood one of another Oh! how are thy Rulers and thy Subjects thy great men and thy poor confounded amongst themselves and how is the wisedom of thy wise men turned into folly and their union into present contention and how do they seeke the overthrow one of another and how do they lye in waite to be avenged one against another and how are the hearts of many filled with envy contention and revenge and love peace and unitie are farre away meeknesse patience and long suffering which ought to be among thy people seemes to stand afar off And oh Nation this is the day of thy trouble and the begining of thy sorrows And for as much as it hath pleased the Lord God Almighty to bring and suffer things thus to be brought to passe as if he would make our Nation a heape and suffer destruction upon it and having suffered the Rulers and great men to overturne and break down one another and to rend and tear one another from off the Throne pulling down others and setting up themselves even thorough their ambition and vaine glory and for corrupted ends to themselves wherby this our Nation is brought into present confusion and many are begotten thorough these things into fury heart burnings and malitiousnesse as if men were ready to devoure each one his neighbour and their Brother about Government and Rule being greatly divided and distracted in this matter some crying up one way of Religion and Church and Civil Government and some crying up another way being each one sort of people seeking themselves and the prosperitie of their own interests and to have their own desires accomplished but few seeking the Lord and to advance him in truth and righteousnesse And because of this there is no establishment in the Earth but strife and contention and heart burnings in the bowells of the Nation and great want of true love true unitie and true peace and all the contrary doth abound among the people because of which the Nation is subject to present misery even to bloodshed and murthers and liable also to greater judgments which may also come upon it because of these things all which we have deeply considered with mourning and with breakings of heart on the behalfe of the Nation the Land of our Nativitie we have seen we have seen the cause of thy distractions to be the Sins of thy Rulers and People and we have seen the effect of them to be dolefull and miserable unto thee except the hand of the Lord turne it backward And oh how do we mourn and lament to behold the out goings of men and the present condition of the People and Rulers in this the day of their trouble alass they do not behave themselves towards the Lord that his judgments may be turned away they do not seeke him in truth and righteousnesse they do not turne unto him with all their hearts neither do they tremble at his Word But they the rather reject his Counsell and despiseth his visitation and they seek themselves and exalt their own horne and loves the honour of this world and their hearts are hardned and the great men seemes to be utterly insencible of what the Lord is a doing but seekes great things for themselves and each one rejoycing in anothers fall and glorying in their advantages one over another one sort being first down and another sort comes up boasting themselves over the fall of their Enemies and not knowing that their time also is but very short And thus is our poor Nation tossed to and fro thorough the ambition of men who even makes a prey upon the poor peoples Persons and Treasure for their own corrupted ends and thy Rulers hath not had respect unto the counsell of the Lord but seemes to refuse the way of peace and even adds fewell to the fire of Gods wrath by heaping up one trausgression upon another and they receive not the instructions of the Almighty Behold oh Nation great trouble is upon thee and the men that should rule thee and which have pretended to govern thee they do not walk in the way of thy peace neither do they bring healing to thee These things we have considered and thus we lament over thee and over thy present State Oh Nation how are thou like an ungirded vessell that is ready to fall one piece from another and how art thou like a body without a head and all thy joynts out of order and what confusion art thou fallen into which is thy present State and art even ●s a widdow without a husband and art left comfortlesse unto this day and ready to devoure thy self thorough the envy that lodgeth in thy owne bowells though thou hast had Kings over thee and chosen the Parliaments and set up Protectors and Committees and Councels have bin creaated in thee to have bin as a defence upon thee and to have borne the Scepter of thy Government but alass these have all left thee and thou art now as alone and left in trouble and confusion and none of all these that have sitten on thy Throne have brought salvation unto thee but thou art left comfortlesse even as a widdow unto this day and the Staffe of thy hand hath peirced thee and thy strength and considence hath betrayed thee and them whom thou hast chosen have wrought no deliverance at all in thee even the men that thou thoughtest should have healed thee they have made thy wound more incurable and they in whom thou hast reposed trust they have been deceiptfull and treacherous in thee for many have sought themselves and who should be the greatest and they have trifled away many precious houres in vaine contentions about Government what it should be and who should Govern while as no good thing hath been effected by them but in the meane time of their delaies and while they

this Nation then as a broken Reed to leane upon and no more then a shaddow which shall not save the people from the heat nor from the storme this we know and this we declare in the Name of the Lord and we are not for Names nor for Men nor for Titles of Government nor are we for this party nor against the other because of its name and presence but we are for Justice and Mercy and Truth and Peace and true freedom that these may be exalted in our Nation and that goodnesse righteousnesse meeknesse temperance peace and unity with God and one with another that these things may abound and be borught forth abundantly such a Government are wee seeking and waiting for wherein truth and righteousnesse mercy and justice unity and love and all the fruites of holynesse may abound and all the contrary be removed cast out and limmitted and we are not for such and such Names and Titles of Government that promises faire and performes nothing but if a Council if a Parliament if any one Man or a number of men whatsoever that shall have the Spirit of the Lord poured upon him or them and shall be annointed of the Lord for such an use and end to Govern this Nation under such only shall the Nation be happy and enjoy rest from such men fitted of the Lord and called by him and under such a Government of truth and righteousnesse shalt thou O Nation enjoy rest from all thy Travells and under such a Government shall the righteous rejoyces and the whole Land sing for joy of heart when Tyranny and oppression shall be cleane removed strife and contention and self seeking utterly abandoned and when peace and truth flowes forth as a streame and the Lord alone rules in thy Rulers and he the principall amongst them and under such men and such a Government only and not under any other shalt thou O Nation be happy and thy people a free people Wherefore O Nation when wilt thou begin to look to the Lord when wilt thou begin to set up him and not man when wilt thou minde his Power and Presence in and through men more then any men themselves when shall it once be O ye people of our Nation that you will seek after him to be the principal and chief power among you Oh let your eyes be turned to the Lord alone that he may deliver you and bring salvation and freedom and look no more at men but only as they are in him and guided by his Spirit and only expect good from men as men are guided by the Lord and then shall you not ever any more be deceived as long you have bin with Kings with Parliaments with Councels with Armies nor any others for in these have you trusted and not in the Lord from these have you expected great things without him whenas alass what shall men accomplish or what can they bring forth while they reject the Counsel of the Lord and his Word as hitherto they have done and therefore hath he broke them and confounded them yea and he will break them and crush them under his Rod even till they learn his judgments and know him the alone Power and give honour to him that doth whatsoever he will and he will overthrow yet once and againe even till he come whose right it is to Rule and he is at work in this his day and because of iniquities doth he visit with tribulation and through great tribulation and overturning of Men and Powers will he advance his own Kingdome and Government and the end of all these things shall bring forth his glory and men that will not honour him by dealing righteously in their day upon Earth they must honour him in their destruction at their latter end and let not men glory one over another while some are put down and others set up but let them all know they have but each sort their houre and their end will come even as others for an everlasting Kingdome and Government will God set up that must rule over all and this is the hope of a poor despised people though for present hated of all and sought to be destroyed by all yet our soules are anchored and stay'd even in the sure promises of our God in this the day of the Nations trouble and though we are very poor and rejected of all and have nothing to glory in amongst any party or sort of people but even in our reproaches and sufferings that we sustain from all yet have we perfect rest in God and satisfactions over all these distractions we know him in whom we have beleived and we trust in the shaddow of his wing and we are not of a doubting heart concerning what can come or whomsoever doth Rule for this we know though all seeks after our blood yet he can deliver us if he will we know him that can do all things and if he save none can destroy if he blesse none can curse him we know and in him we rest and we give our power in all things to him and not unto mortall man whose breath is in his nostrills who must perish as the dung we cannot be afraid of their horror nor can we be drawn by their love but we trust in his Name and under his defence shall we be saved we give our power to him to be defended and preserved by him alone and we are well contented with our sufferings and murmurs not our sufferings are our present Crown but yet woe unto that Authority which maketh us to suffer and woe unto the men upon whom God shall charg the guilt of our oppressions and woe unto that Spirit that is found acting against Gods annointed behold ye Mountaines of the Earth behold ye Rulers and ye People the Lord hath blessed his people and every tongue that riseth up in witnesse against them shall be condemned and every weapon that is formed against them shall be broken this is our hope in this gloomy day and the hope of a Kingdome of righteousnesse and peace which must be set up is our refreshment in this day of trouble and let not our Enemies glory over us for though we are poor yet shall we be made rich and though we have no carnal weapon yet shall we conquer and thus have we declared our selves in much plainnesse and 〈◊〉 to our Nation whom we love and whose present condition we pity and lament over and we are freonds to any Appearance of good that may come forth in truth and sinceritie and as righteousnesse doth appear in any we are ready to joyne with it in our prayers and desires yea and otherwise even that which hath the Image of our God upon it whenever it shall appear we shall rejoyce therin and adde our help thereunto that it may prosper for for the establishing of righteousnesse in the earth our all is not dear unto us though hitherto we have bin silent and not medling with this party or the other but by way of reproof of the evil in all and informing all to the good and it cannot be charged upon us that we have sided with one or another for we have beheld all hitherto out of the right way as we have said but we truly seek the general good of our Nation and though we are accounted so and so yet we have not lost true reason nor understanding but we well know what is wrong and what would be right even in way of Gover●●●nt but the time appears not to be yet when innocencie and simpli●●●●● of heart can be embraced for men are yet too wise in their own wisdom and cannot receive the Councel of the Lord that they may prosper and therefore are they and must they be confounded amongst themselves and dashed one against another till they learn the way of Righteousnesse and Truth The substance of this was given forth the twentieth day of this tenth moneth being moved of the Lord by his Spirit thereunto through E. Burrough and is now judged meet to be published to the Nation in the behalf of us and our friends under our hands Ge● Roberts Tho. Harte Gilbert Latye Iohn Anderdon Iohn Osgood Robert Benbrick Iohn Boulton Ellis Hookes William Crouch Gobert Sikes Iames Strutt Iohn Pennyman Iohn Crook Edward Billing Benjamin Furly THE END