Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	good_a	love_n	love_v	3,988	5	6.5055	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A43141	Tvvo sermons preached in the parish church of St. Giles in the fields, by way of preparative upon the Articles of the Creed by VVilliam Haywood ...	Haywood, William, 1599 or 1600-1663.	1642 (1642)	Wing H1241; ESTC R5536	37,177	43

thing without which no love no approaching no comming to God possible Oportet accedentent credere He that comes must beleeve Which brings us on to the next gradation namely beleeving He that comes must beleeve saith St. Paul and it is no weake conclusion for no small necessity lyes in the connection of these two Hee must indeed whosoever intends to come to God unlesse hee will stand stock still and not put forward one foot in the way beleeve and submit his judgement to God before he can begin to come For faith is the first step of all possible motion to Godward faith Aquinas If our comming to God be a mentall comming not a corporall why beleefe is the very first act of the minds approaching the very first thing that the mind can doe about God is to beleeve For impossible the will or any other faculty should make towards God till the understanding have done his part And impossible the understanding should comprehend any thing concerning God unlesse beleeving leade the way Oportet discentem credere is the Philosophers Rule He that learnes any humane Science must take diverse things upon trust at first entrance and beleeve some principles before he sees reason for them And shall not God expect as much obedience at our hands in learning his divine Mysteries which so farre surpasse our Reason yes sure if the perfection of all our learning bee to know God good reason this great perfection should begin in in perfection that we should first beleeve what wee know not I will hearken what the Lord God will say concerning me saith David Teach me O Lord the way of thy Statutes O learne me true understanding and knowledge for I have believed thy Commandements Mark that there is the way to learn namely by beleeving Everyone therefore that hath heard and learned of my Father commeth unto me saith Christ How learned ye but by beleeving his Teacher Yea but Christ himselfe he learned without beleeving Yee will say And if beleeving were not necessary for Christ how is it for us yea but Christ was head of the body in which is the perfection of all Senses In Christ were bid all the treasures of wis●dome and knowledge In him dwelled the fulnesse of the God-head bodily He was the true light that lightens all men else no need therefore of his beleeving for beleeving is necessary for them that walke in darknesse but in Christ was no darknesse at all We wa'ke as in an obscure must we see through a Glasse darkely saith Saint Paul but so did not Christ He saw face to face And therefore he had more then beleefe of divine things hee had perfect knowledge and San light Nay he himselfe was the Sun light the Sonne of Righteousnesse which lightens every man that commeth into the World And when we shall come where Christ is and be united to the beames of his glory we shall then have Sun-light too But as yet wee have but Candle-light or Star-light as Saint Peter calls it The Word of Prophecy whereto you doe well to give heede saith he as to a light shining in a darke place till the day dawne and the day starre arise in your hearts Till that day dawne and the morning breake of eternity in the next life shine forth upon us well are we if we nay injoy this Candle light if we may be directed by the beames of divine Revelation and walke by faith not by sight Meane while let us not grudge that we have not so cleare a Vision of God and heavenly things as we would wish at first It is necessary wee should grow by degrees that the knowledge of divine things may grow the more pleasant with us the more wee are still inlightned Happy are we that we enjoy the least perception of God in any degree that wee have the smallest spark of his knowledge in the dimmest way For as the foolishnesse of God is wiser then men so the very darkenesse if I may so call it of Gods wa●es is brighter then men Better is it to have an obscure beleefe of his Mysteries then the clearest knowledge the most perfect science of other matters and let us content our selves so to know our Maker as hee pleaseth to bee knowne not goe about to square his deepe Counsells to our shallow judgements sufficient to us to know that hee hath said without saith it is impossible to please God Whatsoever is not of faith is sin By saith we are justified and not by the workes of the Law Rom. 3. It is God that justifies the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through faith The life that I now live is by faith in the Sonne of God He that beleeveth and is Baptized shall bee saved but hee that beleeveth not shall be damned Yea but yet a reason though may be rendred one would thinke for Gods Counsell in this why he would tie all n●en that desire to bee saved to this one meanes of beleeving Reasons indeed may be rendred for this oportet many a one but still the best reason of all is Gods Will because he pleases to have it so oportet it is expedient that hee who comes to God should beleeve Why first for Hu●●lities sake such Estius because as by pride of our reason and thirst of knowledge we tooke then our fall so by submitting our knowledge to God and by denying our owne reason in the obedience of faith we night rise againe Expedient thus to make good our Saviours Doctrine Except yee become as l●le Children yee cannot enter into the Kingdome of God Expedient for Gods glory that we might owe all our knowledge of God to Gods own teaching by his Word revealing it to us according to that of the Prophet Every one shall be taught of God Expedient that thus the obedience of our fa●th might be more glorious in the eyes of Infidels for what praise were it to doe any thing for Gods sake if wee were led to it by perfect knowledge There is no honour of faith saith Gregory where we have manifest reason to induce our good working And therefore that our love may be more apparant let our knowledge bee obscure Let us love what we see not Let us sustet and die for Gods Truth before wee have the perfect vision of it Herein is the miracle of faith that wee can forgoe things temporall before our eyes for the desire of things eternall as yet not knowne Thus the strength of God is perfected in weaknesse and thus the foolishnesse of our preaching goes beyond all the wi●edome of Philosophers that whereas they by all the shength of their reason could never perswade an unlearned man for vertues sake to part with his goods Divine faith as weake as it is will teach the simplest Christian for his beleefe ●ake to part with his life Thus also men are trained up to obedience before they know and attaine still to know more by their progres●e in obedience according to that