Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	father_n	life_n	way_n	6,604	5	5.4332	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A90389	An eccho from the great deep: containing further inward openings, concerning divers other things, upon some whereof the principles and practises of the mad folks do much depend. As also the life, hope, safety and happiness of the seed of God, is pointed at; which through many dark, dismall, untrodden paths and passages (as particularly through an unthought of death and captivity) they shall at length be led unto. / Through Isaac Pennington (junior) Esq;.	Penington, Isaac, 1616-1679.	1650 (1650)	Wing P1163; Thomason E618_1; ESTC R206346	113,201	142

O the various workings in the Heart of Christ He can weep and rejoyce over the same thing how sorrowful doth he here express himself at that which he told the Disciples he was glad of It afflicts him to see his people in misery in perplexity in the hands of death and yet he rejoyceth to behold what he meaneth to work for his Father himself and them out of it He groans again very deeply in himself vers 38. He did not make a shew of sorrow and groaning but it was inward in his heart and he prays for him and sets his strength to deliver him he both calls upon God for his strength and puts forth that strength of God that was in himself He cryed with a loud voyce Lazarus come forth Vers 43. He spake with Life and Power mightily He who was the Resurrection and the Life gave an evidence of it for he spake Resurrection and Life with his lips he sent forth his raising and living Power and it did raise and beget life This is the only way to cure such as enter into this state of death into the grave of Christ they must be raised by the very same Power wherewith Christ was raised Nothing beneath that will avail to effect it the death that binds them the grave that holds them under will easily master any thing else It is not using of means that can relieve them they are dead they are beneath the use of means they have lost all life and knowledg in the grave they know no means they can use no means they can stir no way they can move no more then a dead man Nor indeed are there any means appointed for them or to be used by them Spiritual means are as improper and will prove as ineffectual in this state of spiritual death as natural means would used towards a man naturally dead That Light that Life whereby they knew whereby they acted being dead and buried they cannot stir nor move they are in no capacity either of knowing using or receiving benefit from any means That Eternal Life Love Power that at first quickened them that at first brought them forth by whose withdrawing from them and leaving them for a season as he had done Christ before My God my God why hast thou forsaken me they were brought to this state must come again himself to the grave and raise them up by the very same Power of Life if ever they live more Of the Relation between Christ and his and the Hold they have of each other FROM JOH 10. Vers 14. I am the good Shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine HE is the Shepherd they the Sheep He the Father they the Children He the King they his Subjects He the Head they his Members He and they together make up one Church one Body one Christ They have all the same Life in them he the same with them they the same with him and the same with one another but yet every member its different portion according to what it is needs and is appointed to There is unity and variety every where in every thing in every life which true Light comprehends but darkness confounds and makes the one swallow up the other Though they all make up one Christ yet not one Head but he is the Saviour of his Spouse of his Body he lays down his Life for his Sheep he begets them renews them washes them sanctifies them It is true they both came from one and they are one both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one They came from the same Original they are of the same Nature they have the same stamp upon them there is the most perfect Oneness between them that can be the very same that is between God and Christ and yet there is also a difference The whole body of man or any other creature hath the same flesh and blood the same life it is wholly of the same substance and make and yet there is a difference between one member and another The head is not the whole body nor is it the hand or foot or any other member of the body nor is any other member or part of the body or the body it self the head nor ever can be according to the present constitution of nature I am the good Shepherd Christ had been speaking of three things in the beginning of the Chapter Of the door of the sheepfold the Door-keeper and the Shepherd The first and the last he challengeth to himself I am the Door saith he vers 9. I am the good Shepherd saith he here and the second belongeth to him also he is the Door-keeper who opens and shuts the door 1. Christ is the Door There is a door at which Christ enters into us and that we are to open to Christ Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man open to me c. and there is a Door at which we enter into the Father which Door is Christ. We are the Seed of the Father sown in a strange Land and we return by Christ unto our own home There is no other Door but this to enter into the Kingdom and Bosom of the Father by 2. Christ is the Door-keeper he it is that opens this Door and lets in the Sheep at this Door he hath the Key of David who opens and none shuts and shuts and none opens He set the Door open to that Church Rev. 3.8 He turns the Key and lets in the Soul into spiritual Light Life and Truth and he who gets in by any other means he who gets spiritual Mysteries opened to him before Christ opens them he comes not into them aright nor will he be advantaged in the life of his spirit thereby That Truth alone will do us good which Christ by his Spirit opens to us and leads us into 3. He is the Shepherd the great Shepherd of the Sheep the Master-Shepherd He is the only Shepherd to the Universal Flock that never had any Shepherd but him The Kings the Priests the Prophets of old they were only typical Shepherds to that typical Kingdom and People of Israel The Officers of Churches were only Shepherds to a few particular Congregations some to one some to another The Apostles rose a step higher they were Shepherds over all the Churches at that time in the World though some of them had a more peculiar charge over the Jews as Peter some a more peculiar charge over the Gentiles as Paul But none of these were Master-Shepherds but all under Christ as his Servants He is the only Shepherd of the Universal Flock and the Head-Shepherd of every little Flock in whom all the Light and Life doth dwell and from whom it doth spring forth to them who speaks in all other Shepherds and to whom the greatest Shepherds are but Sheep I am the Way the Truth and the Life saith Christ No man cometh unto the Father but by me I am the spiritual

Way wherein I my self and wherein all spirits walk towards God I am the Truth the Light that leads all in this Way I am the Life that quickens and enables all to follow this Light in this Way I am the Way It is by entering into me that a man enters into the Way and by walking in me a man walks in the Way Out of Christ and quite out of the way to the Father ever in Christ and ever in the Way Every branch that abideth in him is in the way of growing in the Light and Life of God and of bringing forth fruit unto God I am the Truth It is in Christ we have the true Light the Lord shall be a Light unto thee They are the spiritual Beams of Truth that flow from Christ which only guide us to God All the light of this world all the light of reason is but darkness and leads a man further and further from the Father Christ is our Light when ever we are led to the Father I am the Life All the quickenings and warmings we have any where but from Christ never lead us to God it is only the Life of him in us that moves us and guides us truly and aright to him Every motion but what we have from Christ is a dead motion there is no true life in it in him we live and move and have our spiritual Being We are out of the way dark and dead naturally and all the helps of nature and art help but to lead us more out of the way to increase our wanderings darkness and death upon us God hath made Christ unto us our Way and our Light and our Life when ever we come to the Father we come in him as our Path lighted by him who is that Truth that never deceives quickened and animated with him who is that Life that never fails I am the good Shepherd He is not only a Shepherd but the Shepherd not only the Shepherd but the good Shepherd He taketh care of the Sheep he maketh a Fold to keep the Sheep safe in he looketh to every one of the Sheep he calleth his own Sheep by name vers 3. he leadeth them out he goeth out before them chuseth their pasture for them hath skill and maketh use of it to feed them to water them to preserve them to cure them he ventures his Life for them yea yeelds it up to rescue them Whom seek ye I am he if therefore ye seek me let these go their way A kinde Shepherd a loving Shepherd a faithful Shepherd a tender Shepherd the good Shepherd I am the good Shepherd And know my sheep I know who they are I know what they are I know their nature I know their names I know whence they came I know their very original I know their present state their present strength their present weakness I can tell every one of them both who they are and where they are and what they are and what they need there is nothing can befall them no condition they can be led or driven into but I understand it and them in it It notes Christs full understanding the state of his sheep and his owning and taking care of them in their several states I know mine yea the performing every office of service and care that belongs to him concerning them in that state as if they be sick or weak or wandering the Shepherd is then to express special love and care towards them The Shepherd is not to neglect or cast off his sheep for any such thing as one who knows not their weakness their foolishness their proneness to run astray their liableness to diseases c. but to be the more tender over them to take the more pains about them to watch them so much the more narrowly to guard them so much the more safely Christ will not suffer any of his sheep to miscarry of those which thou hast given me I have lost none And know my sheep Christ knows his sheep as part of himself as of the same nature and life with himself knows how to love and cherish them as himself yea can neglect himself his own ease and liberty yea his very life for their sakes And am known of mine As Christ knows his sheep so his sheep know him He knows them as his sheep and they know him as their Shepherd The derived light and life in them knows that original light in him from whence it came Hence it is that they cannot but own and submit to him They hear his voyce they folfollow him they will not so much as harken to the voyce of strangers Let another come with never so much learning with never so much skill with never so much light with never so high and mysterious openings of spiritual things they know him not they cannot receive any thing from him It is the goat the stranger in us that hears the voyce of a stranger but the sheep never hears any voyce but the voyce of Christ It knows none but him and it knows him very well and will hear him in every thing he speaketh will follow him any whither will take any food any Physique from him will yeeld it self up to him to deal as he will with it in any distemper which it is obnoxious to These sheep are ever satisfied while they are under the eye and in the hands of this Shepherd They like every thing he makes use of towards them They like his crook whereby he gathers them in when he sees good unto himself they like the very rod wherewith he smites them they know him so well the sight the thoughts of them his use of them is a refreshment to them thy rod and thy staff comfort me Psal 23.4 This knowledg between Christ and them is just such a knowledg as is between the Father and him as it is illustrated in the next verse of this Chapter It arises from such an union it is heightened by such a communion nay it is such a kinde of knowledg for nature We know Christ by proceeding from him and by lying in his bosom and by his opening his secrets to us Thus Christ comes to know the Father and thus we come to know Christ There is the most intimate the most clear the most full acquaintance between the Father and Christ that can be Christ knows the Father as one with him as he in whom the Father is written and brought forth Christ speaks much of his knowing the Father what is it It is a knowledg that ariseth from the same nature by the communication of the same nature unto him he hath his capacity and comprehension of it by the full revelation of the Father in him he hath his light and by lying in the bosom of the Father he hath the full use of his light to see with There is a kinde of knowledg between Creatures of the same nature and the neerer they are in the line of blood the better they know

know his is knowledg and shall appear knowledg when it cometh to be tried when the day comes and the shadows fly away this shall stand and remain we know He that is born of God he that feeds upon and grows up in the Life of God he doth indeed know He that sees with his eye in his light sees truth sees himself and that not any way painted but in his own native nakedness beauty and excellency But all other eyes all other lights all other sights of things with these eyes in or through these lights are but shadows tend but to hide and deceive and after their appointed season is over must pass away Man must dye his eye be closed at the time of his death after which it can see no more and then must he into the grave and all his light and knowledg be buried with him Go on O Man study the creatures study the Scriptures gather a stock of knowledg and experience from these Admire God love God live in God live to God be perfect walk exactly with God This is knowledg this is life this is excellency I cannot but give it its due as I am a man I love it and O how is my heart taken with the person in whom I find this vigorous But again This is not knowledg this is not life this must perish and thou with it This will not save thee but kindle the flames upon thee and help the more to scortch thee And if I do not know this more certainly then thou knowest any thing let me be proved a Lyar and shamed before the whole bulk of mankind for so unjustly arraigning accusing and condeming man so long and so deeply in mine own spirit and now at length so publiquely in open view We know no man after the flesh This Seed of God who are begotten and born of God who live in the Life of God who walk in the Light of God they see nothing after the manner of men they know nothing as man knows It is not by reason or experience by the sight of the eye or hearing of the ear that they come to understand but by the springing up of their own life in them Indeed while the man remains in them he will be knowing even spiritual things as other men know them and making use of them as other men make use of them but this is not the life in them that doth thus The Life only knows it self and it only knows by it self by its own living it comes to know There is light sown every where in this life and as the light grows the life springeth up in it They need nothing to make them perfect but the perfect growth of their own life they need nothing else to teach them to guide them to refresh them all that they can desire dwells in that life which they already have They are like God his Seed cannot but have his likeness their happiness their perfection lieth in themselves in their own life They walk in the light as he is in the light the knowledg the fellowship they have with things is by feeling them in their own spirits They know God by feeling him there and they know other things by comprehending them there in God in whom they are originally and most fully Yea though we have known Christ after the flesh The Word became flesh The Word appeared in flesh the Word tabernacled in flesh dwelt in flesh discovered himself in flesh and the Word may be known after the flesh Those spiritual Excellencies and Glories of God which he in his fleshly Appearance held forth may be seen by the fleshly eye and after a fleshly manner All his Preachings all his Miracles all his outward Manifestations of the Power Goodness and Love of God in these were but fleshly Manifestations and he who thus knew him knew him but by these knew him but after the flesh Christ as he was here in a fleshly state so he had a fleshly knowledg of God and held forth a fleshly knowledg of God which was useful to him and might be also to others in the season of it but it passed away with him he dyed to it and is to live no more to it and with his Apostles after him in part and must pass away in all in whom the other seed is sown according as that comes to live in them Yet now henceforth know we him no more We have been weak we have been babes in Christ and then the man did much live in us and we knew by outward receptions of Light and by visible demonstrations of Power While the seed is young and tender the weeds are suffered to grow up with it that it might also grow If you should at first pluck up all the knowledg of the man ye could not but pluck up the knowledg of God too which is weak and as it were hangs upon it but let them both alone let them both grow till it hath taken thorow rooting and then it will keep its ground and be able to bear the violence of the separation Let but the New-Man grow strong and hearty enough he will spue up the other of himself henceforth know we no man after the flesh yea though we have known Christ after the flesh yet now henceforth know we him no more Not as if Paul or any else then had perfectly attained unto this but life in him and in others was working apace towards this and had in part also attained And now let me tell thee O Man if thou canst bear to hear it that though thou hast a great deal of knowledg in thy kind yet not one dram of true knowledg not one grain of knowledg in the right kind Thou canst not read aright one line throughout the whole Creation nor one tittle of the Book of God Thou dost not know God or the creatures or that which thou thinkest cannot but be known that God made the creatures Thou dost not know sin or the Law whereby sin is sin or Christ who is the Redeemer from sin That which thou callest the knowledg of these things which indeed thou hast is not knowledg and when they come to be opened in the light of the Lord which shall put out thy light and discover thy darkness which is now painted as if it were light thou shalt find thou dost not know them Thou art so far from Redemption that thou never knewest what sin was even thou who canst talk of sin and seemest to thy self to be able to open it in the several kinds natures and degrees of it Ah poor perishing man how wilt thou be deluded in thy hopes of Salvation Thy ways are the ways of death all thy motions towards God towards Life towards Happiness as thou thinkest are but so many steps from it Thou dost but dream of things in the night and it is not much material whether thy dreams please or disturb thy fancy for whichsoever it be it is but imaginary thy