Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	deed_n	light_n	reprove_v	2,125	5	10.3012	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54196	Primitive Christianity revived in the faith and practice of the people called Quakers written, in testimony to the present dispensation of God, through them, to the world, that prejudices may be removed, the simple informed, the well-enclined encouraged, and the truth and its innocent Friends, rightly represented / by William Penn.	Penn, William, 1644-1718.	1696 (1696)	Wing P1342; ESTC R15209	43,826	145

lead and guide the Soul of Man to Blessedness In order to which the first thing it does in and for Man is to give him a True Sight or Discerning of himself What he is and what he does that he may see and know his own Condition and what Judgment to make of himself with respect to Religion and a future Estate Of which let us hear what the Word himself saith that cannot Err as John relates it Chap. 3. 20 21. For every one that doeth Evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light least his deeds should be Reproved But he that doeth Truth cometh to the Light that his deeds may be made Manifest that they are wrought in God A most pregnant Instance of the Virtue and Authority of the Light First It is that which Men ought to examine themselves by Secondly It gives a true Discerning betwixt Good and Bad what is of God from what is not of God And Lastly It is a Judge and condemneth or acquitteth reproveth or comforteth the Soul of Man as he rejects or obeys it That must needs be Divine and Efficacious which is able to discover to Man what is of God from what is not of God and which gives him a Distinct Knowledge in himself of what is wrought in God from what is not wrought in God By which it appears that this Place does not only regard the discovery of Man and his Works but in some Measure it manifesteth God and his Works also which is yet something higher for as much as it gives the obedient Man a discovery of what is wrought or performed by God's Power and after his Will from what is the meer Workings of the Creature of himself If it could not manifest God it could not tell Man what was God's Mind nor give him such a grounded Sense and Discerning of the Rise Nature and Tendency of the Workings of his mind or Inward Man as is both expressed and abundantly implied in this Passage of our Saviour And if it reveals God to be sure it manifests Christ that flows and comes from God Who then would oppose or slight this blessed Light § 2. But that this Light doth manifest God is yet Evident from Rom. 1. 19. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in Men for God hath shewed it unto them An universal Proposition and we have the Apostles Word for it who was One of a Thousand and inspired on purpose to tell us the Truth Let it then have its due weight with us If that which may be known of God is manifest in Men the People called Quakers cannot certainly be out of the Way in Preaching up the Light within without which nothing can be manifested to the mind of Man as saith the same Apostle to the Ephesians Eph. 5. 13. Whatsoever doth make manifest is Light Well then may they call this Light within a Manifestation or Appearance of God that sheweth in and to Man all that may be known of God A passage much like unto this is that of the Prophet Micah Chap. 6. 8. God hath shewed thee O Man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love Mercy and to walk humbly with thy God God hath shewed Thee O Man It is very Emphatical But how hath He shewed him Why by his Light in the Conscience which the wicked Rebel against Job 24. 13. Who for that Cause know not the ways nor abide in the Paths thereof For its way are ways of Pleasantness and all its Paths are Peace to them that obey it § 3. But the Light giveth the Light of Life which is Eternal Life to them that receive and obey it Thus says the blessed Saviour of the World I am the Light of the VVorld he that follweth me shall not abide in Darkness but shall have the Light of Life Now he is the Light of the VVorld because he lighteth every Man that cometh into the VVorld and they that obey that Light obey him and therefore have the Light of Life That is the Light becomes Eternal Life to the Soul That as it is the Life of the VVord which is the Light in Man so it becomes the Life in Man through his Obedience to it as his Heavenly Light § 4. Furthermore this Light was the very Ground of the Apostolical Message as the Beloved Disciple assures us This then is the Message which we have heard of him and declare 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 cleanseth us from all Sin VVhich is so comprehensive of the Virtue and Excellency of the Light in reference to Man that there is little need that more should be said upon it for as much as First It reveals God and that God himself is Light Secondly It discovers Darkness from Light and that there is no fellowship between them Thirdly That Man ought to walk in the Light Fourthly That it is the VVay to obtain forgiveness of Sin and Sanctification from it Fifthly That it is the Means to have Peace and Fellowship with God and his People his true Church redeemed from the Pollutions of the VVorld § 5. Some perhaps may Object as indeed it hath been more than once objected upon us That this is another Light not that Light wherewith every Man is enlightned But the same Apostle in his Evangelical History tells us that in the VVord was Life and the Life was the Light of Men and that that very Light that was the Life of the VVord was the True Light which lighteth every Man that cometh into the VVorld John 1. 4 9. VVhere is there as plain a Text to be found against the sufficiency as well as Universality of the Light within or a plainer for any Article of Faith in the whole Book of God Had the Beloved Disciple intended Two Lights in his Evangelical History and his Epistles to be sure he would have noted to us his Distinction But we read of none and by the Properties ascribed in each Writing we have ●eason to conclude he meant the same § 6. But if any shall yet Object That this is to be understood of a Spiritual Light and that ours is but a Natural one I shall desire them to do two things 1st To prove that a Natural Light as they phrase it doth manifest God other then as I have before explained and allowed Since whatever is part of Man in his Constitution but especially in his Degeneracy from God is so far from Yielding him the knowledge of God that it cannot rightly Reprove or Discover that which offends him without the Light we speak of And it is Granted that what we call Divine and some Mistakenly call Natural Light can

cannot subsist without it Which made David break forth in his Expostulations with God Whither shall I go from thy Spirit or whither shall I flee from thy Presence Psalm 139. 7 8 9 10. Implying it was every where though not every where nor at every time alike If I go to Heaven to Hell or beyond the Seas even there shall thy Hand lead me and thy Right Hand shall hold me That is there will this Divine Word this Light of Men this Spirit of God find me lead me help me and comfort me For it is with me where ever I am and where ever I go in one respect or other Prov. 6. 22. When thou goest it shall lead thee when thou sleepest it shall keep thee and when thou awakest it shall talk with thee And I can no more get rid of it if I would then of my self or my own Nature so present it is with me and so close it sticks unto me Isa 43. 2. When thou passest through the Waters I will be with thee and through the Rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the Fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the Flame kindle upon thee David knew it and therefore had a great value for it In thy Light shall we see Light or we shall be enlightned by thy Light Thou wilt Light my Candle the Lord my God will lighten my Darkness Again The Lord is my Light whom shall I fear It was his Armour against all Danger It took Fear away from him and he was undaunted because he was safe in the way of it Of the same blessed Word he says elsewhere It is a Lamp unto my Feet and a Lanthorn to my Paths In short a Light to him in his way to Blessedness § 3. Obj. But if the Jews had this Light it does not follow that the Gentiles had it also but by your Doctrine all have it Answ Yes and it is the Glory of this Doctrine which we profess that Gods Love is therein held forth to All. And besides the Texts cited in general and that are as Full and Positive as can be exprest the Apostle is very Particular in the second Chapter of his Epistle to the Romans That the Gentiles having not the Law did by Nature the things contained in the Law and were a Law unto themselves That is they had not an outward Law circumstanced as the Jews had but they had the Works of the Law written in their Hearts and therefore might well be a Law to themselves that had the Law in themselves And so had the Jews too but then they had greater outward helps to quicken their Obedience to it such as God afforded not unto any other Nation And therefore the Obedience of the Gentiles or Vncircumcision is said to be by Nature or Naturally because it was without those Additional External and extraordinary Ministries and Helps which the Jews had to provoke them to their Duty Which is so far from lessening the obedient Gentiles that it exalts them in the Apostles Judgment because though they had less Advantages then the Jews yet the Work of the Law written in their Hearts was made so much the more evident by the good Life they lived in the World He adds their Consciences bearing Witness or as it may be rendred witnessing with them and their Thoughts mean while accusing or else excusing one another in the Day when God shall judge the secrets of all Hearts by Jesus Christ according to my Gospel Which presents us with four things to our Point and worth our serious Reflection First That the Gentiles had the Law written in their Hearts Secondly That their Conscience was an allowed Witness or Evidence about Duty Thirdly That the Judgment made thereby shall be confirmed by the Apostles Gospel at the great Day and therefore Valid and Irreversible Fourthly That this could not be if the Light of this Conscience were not a Divine and Sufficient Light For Conscience truly speaking is no other then the Sence a Man hath or Judgement he maketh of his Duty to God according to the Vnderstanding God gives him of his Will And that no ill but a true and scriptural Use may be made of this Word Conscience I limit it to Duty and that to a Virtuous and Holy Life as the Apostle evidently doth about which we cannot miss or dispute read verse 7 8 and 9. It was to that therefore the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ desired to be made manifest for they dared to stand the Judgment of Conscience in reference to the Doctrine they preach'd and prest upon Men. The Beloved Disciple also makes it a Judge of Man's present and future State under the Term Heart For if our Heart condemn us God is greater then our Heart and knoweth all things Beloved if our Heart condemn us not then have we Confidence towards God Plain and strong Words And what were they about but whether we Love God in Deed and in Truth And how must that appear VVhy in keeping his Commandments which is living up to what we know And if any desire to satisfie themselves farther of the Divinity of the Gentiles let them read Plato Seneca Plutarch Epictetus Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and the like Gentile VVriters They will also find many of their sayings collected in the first Part of a Book called the Christian Quaker and compared with the Testimonies of Scripture not for their Authority but agreeableness In them they may discern many Excellent Truths and taste great Love and Devotion to Virtue A fruit that grows upon no Tree but that of Life in no Age or Nation Some of the most Eminent VVriters of the first Ages such as Justin Martyr Origen Clemens Alexandrinus c. bore them great Respect and thought it no lessening to the Reputation of Christianity that it was defended in many Gentile Authors as well as that they used and urged them to engage their Followers to the Faith as Paul did the Athenians with their own Poets CHAP. VII Sect. 1. An Objection Answer'd about the various Dispensations of God The Principle the same Sect. 2. God's Work of a Piece and Truth the same under divers Shapes Sect. 3. The Reason of the prevalency of Idolatry Sect. 4. The Quakers Testimony the best Antidote against it viz. walking by a Divine Principle in Man Sect. 5. It was God's End in all his Manifestations that Man might be God's Image and Delight § 1. Obj. BUt it may be said If it were one Principle why so many Modes and Shapes of Religion since the World began For the Patriarchal Mosaical and Christian have their great differences to say nothing of what has befallen the Christian since the Publication of it to the World Answ I know not properly they may be called divers Religions that assert the true God for the Object of Worship the Lord Jesus Christ for the only Saviour and the Light or Spirit of Christ for the