Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	darkness_n	light_n	shine_v	2,493	5	8.8882	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41067	A touch-stone, or, A perfect tryal by the Scriptures, of all the priests, bishops, and ministers, who have called themselves, the ministers of the Gospel whose time and day hath been in the last ages past, or rather in the night of apostacy : they are tried and weighed by the Scriptures of truth, and are found out of the life and power of the scriptures, and out of the spirit and doctrine of them that gave them forth, and quite contrary to their principle and practice, both Papists and Protestants : unto which is annexed, Womens speaking justified, &c.	Fox, Margaret Askew Fell, 1614-1702.	1667 (1667)	Wing F639; ESTC R7178	82,431	96

voice that spake unto him when he was struck down unto the earth with the sight of a Vision said unto him Arise stand upon thy feet for I have appointed thee for this purpose to make thee a Minister and a Witness both of these things thou hast seen and of those things in the which I shall appear unto thee delivering thee from the People and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God Acts 26. And according to this the Apostle confessed himself when he mote to the Romans I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians both to the wise and the unwise so much as in me is I am ready to preach the Gospel to you that are at Rome also For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the Power of God unto Salvation to every one that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Greek for therein is the Righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith and the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men because that which may be known of God is manifested in them for God hath shewed it unto them And thus the Apostle goes on exhorting and teaching the Romans in the 1st and 2d. Chapters and telleth them That God will render to every man according to his deeds to them who by patience continue in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality and eternal life but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the Truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath For saith he there is no respect of persons with God for as many as have sinned without the Law shall perish without the Law and as many as have sinned in the Law shall be judged by the Law for not the hearers of the Law are just before God but the doers of the Law shall be justified c. And in the 10th of the Romans where he is speaking of his hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel he tells them That Christ is the end of the Law to every one that believeth For saith he the righteousness of Faith speaketh on this wise Say not in thy heart who shall ascend into heaven that is to bring Christ down from above or who shall descend into the deep that is to bring Christ up again from the dead but what saith it The Word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart that is the Word of Faith which we preach And when he wrote to the Hebrews he rehearseth the New Covenant that the Prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah had prophesied of and saith This is the Covenant that I will make with them after those dayes saith the Lord I will put my Laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them Heb. 10. These with many more places of Scripture might be instanced of the Apostles how they ministred both in Preaching and Writing And in the first Epistle of John he saith That which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes and our hands have handled the word of Life This we declare unto you that ye may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. Here was a right Minister of God that would have had those he wrote to to have been in fellowship with him who was in fellowship with the Father and with the Son and therefore he saith unto them These things I write unto you that your joy may be full This then is the message which we have heard from him and declared unto you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lye and do not the truth but if we walk in the Light as he is in the Light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin And again the same Apostle saith A new Commandment I write unto you which thing is true in him and in you because the darkness is past and the true Light now shineth Let that therefore abide in you which ye have heard from the beginning If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall abide in you ye shall also continue in the Son and in the Father These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you but the Anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any man teach you but as the same Anointing teacheth you of all things and is the truth and is no lye even as he hath taught you ye shall abide in him for ye have an unction from the holy one and ye know all things 1 John 2. Here is sound firm and wholsome Teaching that these holy men of God taught those that they taught but contrary to their teaching have Inventions and Teachings of men been for many Ages and Generations in this dark Night of Apostacy in which the pure and holy and glorious Church of Christ hath been gone into the Wilderness where she hath had a place appointed her of God until the One thousand two hundred and threescore dayes were accomplished which John saw Rev. 12. But now she is coming forth again glory to the Highest for ever And the Man-child which hath been caught up to God and to his Throne is coming to Rule all Nations and now are these Ministers of darkness which have ministred in the night coming to be seen now that the day appears For God that hath commanded Light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts and hath given us the Light of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ which is the Son of Righteousness by which we see and comprehend them all So to proceed to the particulars The first thing that I except against in matter and form of their Worship Viz. All sorts of Preachers and Teachers that are out of Christ and his Apostles Spirit Doctrine and Rule is the taking a part or portion of Scripture for a Text and adding thereto their own Inventions which they study out of their own brain and also bringing other Authors who have done the like many of them not Christians but Heathens and thus make an Image and set up and deceive poor peoples souls and keep them everlearning but never come to the knowledge of the Truth and are more ignorant of God than many Heathens that never professed Christ nor the Scriptures and so it is ordinary with them to bring the Heathens words in that which they prepare for them and stir them up and this is quite contrary to Christ and the Apostles practice It is true Christ took the Book when it was delivered unto him and he opened and lookt upon it and found a place

hand upon him saying Fear not I am the first and the last I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore and have the keyes of hell and death Write the things which thou hast seen and the things which are and the things which shall be hereafter And this Revelation which John saw of Jesus Christ will as surely be fulfilled as all the other Scriptures that prophesied formerly of his coming in the flesh who in the fulness of time came and fulfilled all that was written of him so certainly will he come and fulfil the Revelations that have been of him And of his power and great glory and of his coming in his Spirit and in his Revelation by which he reveals the Father as he said himself in the days of his flesh Hereafter I will not speak unto you in Proverbs but I will shew plainly of the Father John 17. Howbeit when the Spirit of Truth is come he will guide you into all truth And this hath the Lord fulfilled and will fulfill in his day and time appointed For the times and seasons are in the Fathers hand although the night-owls who have been in the darkness have striven always to put this Light out when it would have shined in their time which was dark And therefore have they striven together and combined together to make their Mountain strong and set up Schooles of Learning as they call them and educated youth up in that darkness and kept them studying and divining in their braine till many have studied themselves out of their wits and so they might follow their Orders and Ordinations and Degrees one above another and one below another with such a rabble as is not worth mentioning and none might speak nor preach nor read no nor teach School but such as take Orders or Degrees or Licences from them and all this rabble is quite contrary to Scripture-Rule and Example It is true the Apostle exhorted the Thessalonians to study to be quiet and to do their own business and to work with their own hands 1 Thess 4. 11. And wrote to Timothy to study to be approved to God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the Word of Truth This was not studying in the power of darkness to be approved of men to study all their dayes to invent an hours talk to please men and so they take the Scriptures and garnish and adorn and flourish this dark muddy stuffe with it and when they have done sell it for money and so bear rule by the poor peoples means and the poor people are kept so in darkness and ignorance by them that the people love to have it so But as the Prophet Isaiah saith What will they do in the end thereof But surely the Lord is coming to gather his flock according as he spake by his Prophet Ezekiel which Prophesie is not yet fulfilled for it was to the Jewes As I live saith the Lord God because my flock is become a prey and because there is no Shepherd neither did the Shepherds search for my Flock but they fed themselves and not my Flock Behold I am against the Shepherds I will require my Flock at their hands neither shall the Shepherds feed themselves any more I will deliver my Flock from their mouthes As a Shepherd seeketh out his Flock in the day that he is among his Sheep so will I seek out my Sheep and will deliver them Ezek. 34. So the Lord will fulfill his faithful Word which changeth not however they promise themselves peace till sudden destruction come upon them For so Christ said when he was in his flesh when he spake of the coming of the Son of Man in his power and great glory be bad them watch and told them that the Son of Man would come as a thief in the night and he told them if the good man of the house knew at what hour the thief would come he would not have suffered his house to be robbed and he said Blessed is that servant that when his Lord cometh is found watching Thus you see that the Scriptures are utterly against the practises of those that have been in the Ministry and Teachers of People since the Apostles dayes in the Apostacy for they have neither President nor Example from the Ministers of the Lord neither under the Law nor under the Gospel as we shall prove more fully hereafter For when the Lord reproves Edom and Esau and their Priests and told them they had offered polluted bread upon his Altar and they had offered the blind for sacrifice and lame and sick and that from the rising of the Sun to the going down of the same his name was polluted as ye may read at large in Mal. 1 2. chap. He told them that he would corrupt their seed and spread dung upon their faces even the dung of their solemn feasts yet he told them That his Covenant was with Levi even of life and peace and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me the Law of truth was in his mouth and Iniquity was not found in his lips he walked with me in peace and equity and did turn away many from iniquity for the Preists lips should preserve knowledge and they should seek the Law at his mouth for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts but ye are turned away c. So these are none of the Priests of our dayes that come from the Universities and have their Orders and Degrees from thence for they confess themselves to be all polluted and filthy from the Crown of the Head to the Soal of the foot and they tell people they must never be free from sin and iniquity nor they must never look for Revelations So these are none of Levie's Tribe for he turned many from iniquity and the People were to seek the Law at his mouth because the Law of Truth was in his mouth And so by what hath been spoken before concerning their attaining to the Ministry as also their Principles what they hold you see that they are none of Gods Ministers under the Law neither did any that were ordained of God to be Ministers under the Law attain to it by such means or in such a manner as they have done to theirs viz. by School-learning Neither are they God's Ministers under the Gospel so that they are neither Gods Ministers under the Law nor Gospel As also Christ those that he chose to be Ministers you may read what sort of men they were When he was on the Coast of Zebulon and Naphthali he preached unto them Repentance And as Jesus was walking by the sea of Galilee he saw two brethren Peter and Andrew and he called them They were casting their nets into the sea for they were fishers and he saith unto them Follow me and I will make you fishers of men And straightway they followed him Matth. 4. Mark 1. And when he had gone a

Jesus that is within them which preacheth in a Mystery and preacheth righteousness very nigh in their hearts and will cleanse their inward parts and make their hearts clean from that mystery of Iniquity that hath been long lodged in them and held them Captive and led them into sin and transgression and wickedness Oh that all hearts and secret parts might be cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ and that every one would walk in the Light abide in the Light as he is in the Light and here is the fellowship and unity of the Saints in Light Jesus Christ the Righteous ruling in their hearts and who lives in the Vnity and Spirit of the Lord Jesus they come to have fellowship with the Father and the Son as John had and these things he wrote unto them that their joy might be full and that they might partake of the same Light Life and Spirit and have Unity with him whose message is That God is Light and in him is no darkness at all And whosoever saith he knows God and abides in darkness is a lyar and the Truth is not in him 1 John 1. And this hath been the Condition and Doctrine that hath been holden forth for many hundred years they have walked in darkness and shewed as if they had fellowship with God and they have loved the world and the things of the world which the Apostle saith is not of the Father And if any love the World the love of the Father is not in him 1 John 2. And now Reader do but consider how these Teachers of the world live and after what manner and how they do oppress people for their maintenance and whether there is any sort of people more covetous of the world than they are and how they draw people from the Unction of the holy One that the Apostle here turned people to and desired them to take heed unto and to continue and abide in that which they had heard from the beginning and not to turn to those Antichrists that were then entering into the world but they were to abide in the Anointing which thy had received and it would teach them all things and it was truth and was no lie 1 John 2. But these Ministers of darkness that have been in this night of Apostacy all their indeavours have been to draw people from the Light and from the Vnction of the Holy One after them and after their Imaginations dark Studies and brain Divination and so have deceived poor people and have led them captive at their wills and as the Prophet said Have born rule by their means and the people have been so blind that they love to have it so And thus the Scriptures have been fulfilled and there hath been power given to the Beast and people generally have said in their hearts Who is able to make war with the Beast But glory to the highest Lord his time is over and the year of our Redeemer is come and the Spirit of the Lord is upon him and the Lord hath anointed him to preach good tydings to the meek liberty to the Captives and the opening the Prison doors to them that are bound and to proclaime the acceptable Year of the Lord and the day of Vengeance of our God Isa 61. 1 2. Oh Reader The time is short the day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the night and all this long-suffering of the Lord that hath been past is because he is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance And seeing that all these things shall be dissolved oh what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness looking for that blessed hope and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ that all may be found with him in peace without spot or blemish which is my desire And so read over this following Treatise and weigh in the seriousness of thy heart and consider the Scriptures of Truth by which thou mayest judge by the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ in thee how all the world have been befooled and blinded and led captive even at Satans will and how this Antichrist hath ruled in the hearts of People and sate in the Temple of God and hath been decked and covered over with the Scriptures and Saints words speaking them forth with unclean lips and from unclean hearts and so have deceived the hearts of the simple but this fine linnen and purple and scarlet that Babylon hath been decked with in one day shall be taken from her Amen even so Lord Jesus come quickly M. F. A Touch-Stone OR A Perfect Tryal by the Scriptures of all the Priests Bishops and Ministers c. ME thinks I hear the Bishops mutter murmur and contemn that I should publish it out to the world how I desired the King to beware of their Counsels therefore I do hereby give them my Reasons of the Cause why I did so which Reasons may satisfie them and the whole world except they can by as good or better overturn them In the first place I desired since it pleased the Lord to bring the King to his outward Right and Propriety of the Crown of his Ancestors that he might have done that whereby he might Prosper according to the words of the wise King Solomon who said It is the glory of God to conceal a thing but the honour of a King to search out a matter Take away the wicked from before the King and his Throne shall be established Prov. 25. And again he saith The thoughts of the Righteous are right but the counsel of the wicked is deceit the words of the wicked are to lye in wait for blood but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them the wicked are overthrown and are not but the house the righteous shall stand Prov. 12. Also it was my desire that he should follow the example of the good Kings of Israel whose way it was to ask counsel of the Lord or of his Prophets as King David enquired of the Lord whether he should go up against the Philistims and the Lord said Go up 2 Sam. 5. and again King David called Nathan the Prophet and told him that he would build a House for the Ark of God and the Lord sent word again to David by Nathan the Prophet 2 Sam. 7. And when there was three years of famine in the Land David enquired of the Lord and the Lord answered him it was for Saul and his bloody house 2 Sam. 21. Also King Solomon the Lord appeared unto him and bid him ask what he would have and Solomon asked of the Lord an understanding heart to judge his People that he might discern between good and bad for saith he Who is able to judge this thy so great a People And this speech pleased the Lord that Solomon asked such a thing 1 Kings 3. And again the Lord spake unto Solomon the second time concerning the House which he was building

Samaria Jesus saith unto her Woman believe me the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this Mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father but the hour cometh and now is when the true Worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in Truth John 4. And to this purpose did Jesus speak to Nichodemus when he came unto him by night when he said unto him Verily verily I say unto thee except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God At which words Nichodemus wondred but Jesus answered Except a man be born of Water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God That which is born of the Flesh is Fesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit Marvel not that I said unto thee ye must be born again the wind bloweth where it listeth c. John 3. And to this purpose was the man whose name was John sent of God to bear witness of Christ Jesus the Light that all men through him might believe He was not that Light but was sent to bear witness of that Light which is the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world He was in the world and the world was made by him which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God John bare witness of him and cryed saying This is he of whom I spake he that cometh after me is preferred before me and of his fullness we have all received grace for grace as may be read at large John 1. And to bring People to this Light and Spirit of the Lord within them did Christ Jesus and all his holy Apostles endeavour by their Preaching Therefore saith Jesus Christ unto Nichodemus we speak what we know and testifie what we have seen and ye receive ●ot our witness This is the condemnation that Light is come into the world and men love Darkness rather than Light because their deeds are evil For every one that doth evil hateth the Light lest his deeds should be reproved But he that doth truth cometh to the Light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God This is Christ's Doctrine and Worship And when he was preaching among his Disciples and also the Scribes and Pharisees heard him and many believed among the chief Rulers ●●t they did not confess him because of the Pharisees lest they should be put out of the Synagogue And Jesus cryed out among them ●nd said He that believeth on me believeth ●ot on me but on him that sent me I am come ● Light into the World that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness And if any man hear my words and believe not I judge him not for I came not to judge the world but to save the world He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him the Word that I have spoken shall judge him at the last day and so on John 12. And Christ told the Pharisees that the Kingdom of God came not by observation but the Kingdom of God was within them And when he sent forth his Disciples he saith As ye go preach saying The Kingdom of God is at hand Mat. 10. Also when he sent out the seventy he said Heal the sick that are therein and say The Kingdom of God is nigh unto you Luke 10. 9. And we also see by the Epistles of the Apostles which are left upon record after what manner of Doctrine and exhortation they spake unto the People as the Apostle John which was the beloved Disciple what he hath written in that which hath been already mentioned in the 1st 2d. 3d. and 4th Chapters of John Also the Apostle Peter in his first Epistle saith For we have not followed cunning devised Fables when we made known unto you the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but we are Eye-witnesses of his Majesty For he received from God the Father honour and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory saying This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased And this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy Mount We have also a more sure Word of Prophesie whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a Light that shineth in a dark place until the Day dawn and the Day-star arise in your hearts Here the Apostle directs them to a more sure Word than that which was heard in the Mount which came from the Excellent Glory which they taking heed unto might have the day to dawn and the day-star to arise in their hearts This was a true and a right Minister also he saith Knowing this first that no Prophesie of the Scriptures is of any private Interpretation 2 Pet. 1. How is it then that it is kept so private that none must interpret it but Learned men such as have been at Oxford or Cambridge But the Apostle saith That the Prophesie came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the holy Ghost But those that have had learning at Cambridge and Oxford will hardly give a right Interpretation of that which the holy Ghost hath spoken forth But when the Apostle wrote to Timothy who was a Bishop and an Overseer made by the holy Ghost to him he saith Continue thou 〈◊〉 the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of knowing ●f whom thou hast learned them and that from a Child thou hast known 〈◊〉 holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto Salvation through faith in Christ Jesus Here Timothy did not go to Cambridge nor Oxford nor no such place to learn what he had done from a Child All Scripture saith he is given by inspiration of God and i● profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction that the man of God may be perfected throughly furnished unto all good works 2. Tim. 3. And when Peter speaketh of his beloved Brother Paul and of his Epistles which he had written and what he spake Some things he saith are hard to be understood which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest as they do also the other Scriptures unto their own destruction 2 Pet. 3. So they that have not the Inspiration of the Almighty and motion of the Spirit of the Lord God the same that gave forth the Scriptures when they come to Interpret them and give meanings to them being unlearned therein they just wrest them to their 〈◊〉 destruction and therefore they do not profit the People at all These be they who separate themselves men that are sensual not having the Spirit Judge 19. Also the Apostle Paul when he was sent forth to Preach the Gospel of Christ the