Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A54060
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Some queries concerning the order and government of the church of Christ
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Penington, Isaac, 1616-1679.
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1663
(1663)
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Wing P1199; ESTC R23175
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10,737
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17
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Some QUERIES concerning the Order and Government of the Church of CHRIST Query 1. WHether CHRIST who is the Head Lord King c. hath not appointed a Spiritual Order and Government to be in his Church and Congregation Qu. 2. Whether a Spiritual Order and Government is not useful profitable and necessary for the well-being and right-managing of this Spiritual Body and Holy Society in the Faith and Life of our Lord Jesus Christ In Natural Societies Natural Government and Order is profitable and necessary and is not Spiritual Government as profitable and necessary in Spiritual Societies Qu. 3. Did not Christ give power of Government to his Apostles and Ministers at the first publication of his everlasting Gospel All Power was given him in Heaven and in Earth and did not he who had all Power given him give Power to his Apostles and Ministers to preach his everlasting Gospel to the World to gather his Sheep out of the World and to watch over them oversee them repreve exhort admonish build up in the holy Faith and out off and cast out that which was unholy and would dispute against but not submit unto the Spirit Life and Power of Truth Qu. 4. Did not Christ give them Gifts also answerable Spirits of Discerning that they might be Eyes to the Body and quick Ears that they might hear for the Body For though the Lord hath given every one an Eye and an Ear as to themselves yet every one is not made by the Lord an Eye or Ear unto the Body but this is appointed for and given to those to whom the Lord pleases who hath ordered all things wisely carefully and tenderly for the good of all Qu. 5. Were there not Titles given them suitable to their Offices and Services in this kind as Pastors or Shepherds after God's heart according to the Promise of the New-Covenant Overseers or Bishops such as watch for the Soul such as were not only to lay the Foundation but also carry on the Building even to perfection even till they were able to present the Gathered and quickned Souls a chast Virgin to Christ and were they not to watch against testifie against and in the Power and Authority of the Lord to strike at all that was contrary and would endeavour to interrupt overturn and destroy their work which was of in and from the Lord Qu. 6. Whether the Body and common Members of the Churches were not to hearken to these He that knoweth God heareth us 1 Joh. 4. 6. to obey them in the Lord to submit to this Ministry and their work in it in the Lord to receive the Word of Truth and holy Exhortations and Admonitions milked out by these to them from the Breast of Life And were not they that did hearken and obey commended and were not the other that were not subjected but slighted them and their Ministry and Authority testified against as disorderly and unruly Qu. 7. Were there not some reliques of this Order and Government all along the Apostacy in the true Church and Ministry thereof for there hath been a Church and a Ministry all along the Apostacy blessed be the Name of the Lord though not so visible and outwardly glorious as many who have erred from the Spirit and way of Truth and are out of the holy Understanding would make it It is true the Church hath been as in a Wilderness desolate as a woman forsaken as a Widow bereft of her Husband stripped of her Children her Visage marred her Witnesses mourning nothing of her beauty former estate or glory to be discerned or found out yet all hath been preserved in the root and there have been some shootings and sproutings of it forth which have been inwardly felt by that which is of God in the heart though not outwardly seen by mans eye Thus the Witnesses have had a Ministry have had the Testimony of Jesus even the Spirit of Prophecy all this dark night of Apostacy and in it have spoken mourningly to the World and to the captivated Souls which that which was of God in his hath hearkned to and there hath been a bowing and subjection of spirit in the Lord. O reade this and praise the Name of the Lord for his mercy to his in former generations ye who are now gathered into his pure Light and living Power from whom the Night is past and on whom the Day the everlasting Day-spring from on high is risen Qu. 8. After the Apostacy doth not God renew his Commission and send forth his Angel for they are all but one to preach his everlasting Gospel and doth not he give them power to preach to the World and to gather those that hear the everlasting Voice through them into Holy Assemblies separated in spirit nature and appearance from the World and have they not authority and gifts as well to build up as to plant and ought not those that are gathered by them as well to be subject to the Light Spirit Power and Authority of the Lord in them as the former to the former Ministers of the Lord O that the World knew them O that the World knew the appearance of God in them surely then they would bow to the Word of Truth and the glorious appearance thereof and happiness both inward and outward would break forth upon the Earth There would be no more misery sorrow nor distress in Nations if the Dispensations of Life from God had but their course in the Earth yea Nations and Persons that are now deadly sick would soon be healed did they but eat of the Leaves of the Tree of Life which are appointed by God for their healing and can easily heal those wounds and repair those breaches which the wisdom or counsels of man cannot heal or repair And O that they that are gathered might keep and be preserved in that sense and subjection which they had and received from the Lord in the day of their Convincement O how beautifull how precious how glorious was the Ministry and Ministers of God in their eye then And to those that are still there they are still precious and to those that grow there they are yet more precious But those that enter into or are ensnared in another thing which leadeth from the true Spirit lose the sight and sence which they then had and instead thereof are filled with prejudices and wise reasonings which to them may seem very strong and undeniable though Truth and the true spiritual eye sense and understanding easily pierces through them and preserveth those who abide single in it to the Lord. Now against this holy Order and Government appointed by God there may arise in some hearts some such Objections as these following Object 1. But is not this a turning away from the measure of Life in a mans own vessel to another mans measure Answ Waiting on God in his Ordinances and Appointments and upon the Ministry which he hath set up the measure of Life in him teacheth
another word may come from them proper to our state then to warn us not to despise Prophesying or the Gifts Power and Authority of Life in others Now both these are proper usefull and weighty in their seasons when given forth by the Spirit of the Lord. Nor are they contradictory one to the other but subservient in their seasons and places which that which is of God feels but that which is erred from God and joyned to another under a false representation and belief of things feels not but finds a seeming difference and sets them at variance one with another as if they could not stand together And this is the false nature the false spirit the false appearance of life which appears as if it were the Measure of the pure true Life but is not This is the false Woman the false Wisdom whose heart is as snares and nets and her hands bands who so pleaseth God abiding in the Measure of his Truth shall escape her but the sinner that departs therefrom shall be taken by her Therefore fear the Lord come to that which first convinced to the first Truth to the first Sense to the first Love c. and all these Imaginations of the mind and subtile devices of the Enemy will fly away and thy poor entangled Soul be delivered as a Bird out of the snare of the Fowler If the Enemy should directly cry out against God or his Christ or his Grace or the Measure of his Truth he would easily be espied and turned from Therefore he teacheth to cry up these in a wrong spirit and judgment and after a wrong manner to undermine betray and lead the heart from that secretly which openly it would never hear any thing against Now those that are thus deceived are exceedingly to be pittied and their deliverance from their entanglements and captivities to be breathed after and waited for For I may say in truth and upright sence of heart There are many that look towards Sion who yet are ignorant of the devices and slights of Satan to entangle them in their way and some are caught in his snares like foolish Birds catching at the chaff which makes the bigger shew instead of the Wheat losing the Substance for a shadow the Life and Power in the heart for a Notion and Conceit in the brain And these are wise in their own eyes so that indeed it is very hard to reach or recover them yea much harder than it was at first because they are become more rooted and setled in the wrong ground yea in a worse earth than they were when they were first reached to by the Power of Truth Yet over these there is a deep Lamentation and for these a sore Travel which the Lord God bless and prosper for their recovery unto that from which through mistake they have erred Object 4. If any man hath received a gift of Ministry he hath received it of the Lord and its end being to gather to the Lord they that by it are gathered are to be delivered up to the Lord that he as King Priest and Prophet may govern c. Answ The end of the Ministry is not only to gather but also to preserve and build up what is gathered even to perfection And the Soul being especially at first if not for a long time weak and babish not so fully acquainted with the measure of Life having had but some touches and demonstrations of it but not being gathered fully into it nor rooted and setled in it I say the Soul in this state hath as much need of the Ministry to preserve direct and watch over it in the Truth as to gather it out of the World Therefore the Father in his tender mercy and love hath appointed those who are grown in his Life and in the power and authority of his Spirit to oversee watch over instruct and take care of the Flock so as they may give to him an account of their Souls and in their care diligence and faithfulness they are owned and blessed of the Lord and the other in their holy fear reverence and subjection Now this is right Order from God wherein the safety of the Flock consists but out of this is danger and confusion which the Measure of Life teacheth to avoid Object 5. But in a Case of doubt or difference which shall be the Judge the Measure of Life within or the Testimony of others without Shall I judge as I feel the thing in the measure of my own Life or shall I submit to others against my own sense and judgment because I have an esteem of them as being much above me in the growth sense and understanding of truth Answ It is a great matter to judge aright and to discern and know the Measure of Truth the voice motion and judgment thereof from all the Enemies false appearances and from all the deceits of the heart This is most certain Jerusalem the Heavenly-Building the Church of the First-born is at unity with it self Truth is pure eternal unchangable alwayes the same the same in every Member in every Vessel throughout the whole Body And this I may say concerning its appearance in this our Age Was ever the like Unity known and brought forth since the dayes of the Apostles how hath the Spirit been One the Demonstration and Testimony of Truth One the Doctrine One the Conversation and Practices One in us all Why or how so Because we have had our begetting birth and teaching from the same Life the same Spitit the same Fountain springing up and opening in us all that have been gathered into its Nature and Power Now from this Fountain from this Spring of Life never issueth any thing that is contrary to the Life in any Therefore if there appear a contrariety there must be a waiting to feel who is erred from or at least not yet fully gathered into the Measure of Life And such as are of an inferiour stature and growth in the Body are in an especial manner to watch and wait in sobriety and fear till the Lord clear up and make things manifest likewise in the mean time to take heed of an hasty concluding according to what riseth up in the understanding or judgement though with never so great a seeming clearness and satisfaction as if it must needs be of and from the Life in the Vessel It is not an easie matter in all cases clearly and understandingly to discern the Voice of the Shepherd the Motions of God's Spirit and certainly to distinguish the Measure of Life from all other Voices Motions and Appearances whatsoever Through much growth in the Truth through much waiting on the Lord through much Fear and Trembling through much Sobriety and Meekness through much exercise of the Senses this is at length given and obtained And yet there is a preservation in the mean time to that which is lowly and submissive looking up to the Lord continually and not trusting to its own