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	scripture_n	true_a	11,026	5	5.6788	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A70099	An exact enqviry after ancient truths, both in scripture and fathers touching the subsistence of the Church of God, digested into three parts : viz. I. True worship. II. Dominion, or divine jurisdiction. III. Discipline, reduced from our father Adams time, through all ages, to these present times ... / by W. Fenwick ...	Fenwick, William, 1616 or 17-ca. 1682.	1643 (1643)	Wing F724; ESTC R21240	51,760	74

An Exact ENQVIRY AFTER Ancient Truths Both in Scripture and Fathers Touching The subsistence of the Church of God Digested into Three Parts VIZ. I. True Worship II. Dominion or Divine Jurisdiction III. Discipline reduced from our Father Adams time through all Ages to these present Times Very usefull for these Times By W Fenwick Utter-Barrester of Grays-Inne London Printed for Edw Husbands and Lawrence Blaiklock and are to be sold at their shops in the Middle Temple Temple-Bar To the Right Honorable Algernon Earl of Northumberland Lord Percy Lucy Poynings Fitzpain Brian and Latimer Lord high Admirall of ENGLAND Knight of the most Noble order of the Garter and one of His Majesties most Honorable Privy-councell Right Honorable THe unworthy oppressed Author hath not long since groaned under the severe censure of the late high Commission for the insuing speculations which now he adventures to present unto your Honour hoping for a candid acceptance and interpretation of his poor indeavours for the good of Zion Had not the rising Sun of an auspicious Parliament dispelled those clouds of oppresion and tyranny that menaced a drowning both to me and them they had been choked in their embrio and never injoyed the happinesse they have now attained in your Honorable aspect Pardon most noble Lord the inforced presumption of the distressed Author which implores and hopes for your honorable Patronage and humbly praying for the daily increase of your Honours health and eternall happinesse remains Your Honours most humble most devoted Servant William Fenwick The Errata PAge 1. line 27 for more read most l. 28. for right r. light Pag. 2. l. 29. for 2 r. of Line 34. for posterity r. prosperity Pag. 4. l. 24. for endeavours r. endnes The second Treatise p. 2. l. 33. for the r. thy for of r. unto Pag. 18. l. 3. for he r. the Pag. 10 l. 21 for in r. from Pag. 11. l. 28. for what r. with Pag. 15. l. 1. for Angelicall r. Euangelicall P. 20. l. 9. for penitent r. impenitent Pag. 23. lin 6. for A r. As. for of r. to Pag. 25. l. 9. read are first Pag. 54. l. 14. read omitted Pag. 55. l. 9. read it is that l. 29. reade All And thus ZIONS REQVEST To her Honourable and welbeloved Sonnes now happily assembled in the long and much-desired Parliament of England RIght deare and well-beloved of God your Father in my Lord by whom you are begotten and borne and welbeloved of me not begot of mortall or carnall seed but of the immortall seed of the Word neither borne nor brought forth of the mandane wombe of Rome nor sprong from the native bowels of my humanitie but I bore you and brought you forth of my celestiall wombe the eternall councell of God and I have nourished and brought you up in the royall City of divine Salomon my Lord and your God and Saviour My sonnes heare your Fathers instruction and forsake not your mothers teaching for they shall be a comely ornament unto your head and as chalnes to your necke You have seene with your eyes and heard with your eares how the strumpet of Babell hath boasted her selfe against me and with her impudent face affirmed her selfe to be Queene of heaven and earth deluding the world with outward apparantes whereby many are mistaken by her outward glory supposing her to be my selfe But I desire you my most honourable and deare children to conceive of me aright and be not deceived with vaine and glorious showes and worldly pompe For my glory is internall and heavenly more splendent then the pure gold of more curious embroderers which no eye can see but that Divine eye of right which is given you of your Father For I testifie unto you that I am not to be considered by the pompe and glory of the world nor yet by the wisedome of the wise man or by the nature of flesh and blood for those are not heavenly but earthly sensuall and divelish and doe not cannot nor will not please God but conceive you me to be heavenly spirituall and divine such as your Father hath described me to be A mountaine even Mount Zion a City the City of the living God the celestiall Jerusalem filled with the societie of innumerable Angels and the assembly of the first borne which are written in heaven and with the presence of God in Trinitie sitting upon the Throne Judge of all and with the unity and communion of the spirits of just and perfect men made perfect with that individuall union which they have with Jesus the Mediatour of the New Testament and with the blood of sprinkling which speaketh better things then that of Abel even the remission of sinnes to the imputation of righteousnesse for justification of sinners for he came to save sinners by drawing sinners to repentance And I pray you shake of all carnall apprehensions of mee and conceive me to be really such in nature and condition as my Lord hath revealed me by the mouth of his blessed servant Peter 1 Pet. 2. affirming mee to bee a spirituall house or temple 1 Pet. 2. 5. built and compact of living stones made a spirituall house a holy priesthood to offer up spirituall sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ who is my foundation that living stone on whom I am built though hee be disallowed of men yet chosen of God and precious Neither suppose me to bee a politique body composed of a temporall head or soveraigne Monarchy or a Nationall and positive lawes and customes which though they bee ordained of God yet in substance they are humane inventions and traditions of men nor consisting of civill and humane Magistrates endewed with morall gifts and vertues for the externall government power and posteritie of humane societies politiquely and wisely providing for the defects of depraved nature and preventing the dammage danger and ruine which the malice of Satan and the corrupt nature of man would draw upon the societies of men in their terrestriall abode Though I bee sometimes called a Kingdome in respect of my eternall King the Lord of Lords and King of Kings and of his divine spirituall power and heavenly dominion which never shall have end Yet am I never anywhere in Scripture described to bee a temporall or earthly Kingdome But on the contrary my Lord did plainly affirme and teach that his kingdome was not of this world and prohibited the subjects of his kingdome to take dominion and government upon them one over another nor set up a Hierarchie among them as the Princes and Lords of the world did whose manner is to thirst after preheminence and dominion but that in his divine kingdome hee that would be the greatest should be the least and hee that should be found to take most diligent labour and paines in ministration of his divine Word and food of life should bee esteemed a faithfull servant to his Lord and Master But consider me as I am the minister and dispensator

* arinke with the drunken that servants Master will come in a day when he looketh not for him and in an houre that hee is not aware of and will cut him off and give him his portion with hypocrites there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth The office of Deacons of their ordination I have spoken before upon the sixth of the Acts is that they stand in place of the Levites to attend on the hand of the Pastors aswell to helpe to catechise to teach administer the Sacraments as to care for the poore and to take the charge of the goods and revenues of the Church but for their conversation and qualitie it is set forth by Paul in the first of Timothy the third chapter the 8 9 10 11 12 13. verses A Deacon must be grave not double tongued not given to strong drinke not given to filthy lucre holding the mystery of faith in a pure conscience Let him first be proved then let him use the office of a Deacon being found blamelesse Even so must their wives bee grave no slanderers sober faithfull in all things Let a Deacon be the husband of one wife ruling their children and their owne houses well For they that have used the office of a Deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree and great boldnesse in the faith which is in Christ Jesus And if Pastors and teachers would have the like zeale and consideration with themselves which the Apostles had Acts the sixth and the second and would have judged every thing an obstacle whatsoever might withdraw and hinder them in the preaching of Gods word and their care of soules and would make it their delight and labour to give themselves continually to prayer and ministration they would discerne that they can no more be without Deacons one or two in a Congregation then their bodies can be well without hands neither would they nourish that indigne opinion that ignorant Nay often improbous Church-wardens can serve in their place and office as some alledge Now touching the particular dutie and office of Elders which in this our age is taken in a corrupt and improper sence calling them lay Elders which in Scripture from the antient originall are tearmed Elders of Israel or of the Tabernacle as to say Elders of the Church of God or of the people of God to distinguish them from civill Elders and Governours and they are either such as by natures ordination are Fathers of Christian families or such as are publickely chosen by the severall Congregations of the Church and approved by their Pastors and Teachers Their office and duties were such as Ambrose said without whose counsell nothing was done in the Church and that both the Synagogue and the Christian Church had Elders They were to be chosen men such as Jethro advised Moyses Exod. 18. chosen out of the people men of courage such as feare God men of truth hating covetousnesse and place such over the people to rule thousands hundreds fifties and tens But these Elders are here rather to be for civill affaires then Church cares But thus we must conceive that Church Elders might as well be exercised in ministration of Justice for the Common-wealth as in the ministration of Discipline for the Church For this is the proper duty even of Kings Princes and their Magistrates as also of fathers of Families because the Common-weale of Israel is involved in the Church of God and the Church of God in a Christian Common-weale For so ought our Christian Kingdomes to bee composed as Magistrates may be chosen Church Elders in the Church of God For blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord * And in such a Kingdome Christ raigneth as a King in excelsis and his Vice-roy by him and for him and the flourishing propagation of the ministery of the Word is the soule of such a Common-wealth But there is an evident difference betwixt the Elders that governe the Common-wealth and the Elders that governe the Church Distinct they are in their ordination and in their endowments and in the manner of exercise and execution of their office For Magistrates and Elders in a Kingdome are those who are appointed of the King or chiefe Governour as in the first of Peter 2. 13 14. Submit your selves unto all ordinances of man for the Lords sake whether to Kings as superiours or to Governours as sent of them and their office is for punishment of evill doers and for the praise of them that doe well And these are such as Moyses ordained by the counsell of Jethro before exprest But Moyses by Gods expresse appointment did afterward ordaine other Elders chosen out of those Elders whom God indued with the speciall gifts of his Spirit for helping of Moyses in governing of the Congregation of the Tabernacle as it is set downe Numb. 11. 16. 17. 25. 26. Then the Lord sayd unto Moyses Gather unto me seventy men of the Elders of Israel whom thou knowest that they are Elders of the people and Governours over them and bring them unto the Tabernacle and let them stand there with thee And I will come downe and talke there with thee and take of the spirit which is upon thee and put upon them and they shall beare the burthen of the people with thee so thou shalt not beare it alone So these were another sort of Elders Then the Elders that governed over the people as in the 24 25. and 26 verses So Moyses went out and told the people the words of the Lord and gathered seventy men of the Elders of the people and set them round about the Tabernacle There the Lord came downe in a cloud and spake unto him and tooke of the spirit that was upon Moyses and put upon the seventy antient men and when the spirit rested upon them then they prophesied and did not cease Here their ordination is of God their indowment is of the Spirit and their office and duty is to prophecie and not to cease and the end why they were to prophecie is to beare the burden of the people with Moyses for the people murmured and often tempted and provoked the Lord to wrath And though they received daily instruction and publicke ministration of the word of God from Moyses and Aaron yet the seed of truth fell sometimes among stony ground and sometime upon thorny ground sometime in the high way and either took no deepe root or it was choaked or otherwise picked up and carryed away by the sowles of the ayre so that their murmurings grudgings and rebellions were such a burthen to Moyses and an insupportable griefe that Moyses wished rather to die than to live Therefore God ordained these kind of Elders to be an assistance in his publicke ministration that as Moyses among the Jewes and Paul in the Church of God planted the Word in publicke So these might be as Apollo's to water it in private and that by their vigilancie and