Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A31341
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A salutation in the love of God and in the fellowship of the work of His blessed truth ... with a word of exhortation and counsel ... also a warning unto all them that have long known the truth but have not, neither obey it with all their hearts ... / by Samuel Cater.
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Cater, Samuel, d. 1711.
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1672
(1672)
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Wing C1489; ESTC R36283
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11,127
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14
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it was unto the Travelers in dayes past For when Paul the servant of God who was deeply exercised in his mind and troubled in his heart because of his own weakness and the strength of Sa hans accusations and temptations under the sence of which he cried unto the Lord for help whose answer was to him My grace is sufficient for my power is made perfect in weakness by the which he did come to witness help and deliverance from the body of sin and death and thâ—n his Soul praised the living God and then as he received of the Lord so he Preached to others and committed them unto God and to the word of his Grace which sayes he Is able to save your souls and to give you an inheritance with the Sanctified in Christ Jesus and he sayes That this Grace hath appeared to all that so many as obey it are brought into the perfect way of holyness in Gods fear Therefore all know your minds stayed in it and your hâ—arts subjected unto it that so you may come to witness Rest by it to the which I commit you as unto that which I am a living witness for the Lord is able to save your Soules and to set your hearts at liberty to serve and praise the living God And all be dilligent to keep your Meetings to wait upon God with them that meet together to worship the Lord out of a pure heart And all wait in the Light and labour to keep your hearts and minds stayed in and with his blessed and holy Spirit of Truth upon the living God that so his blessed peace you may all feel abounding in your hearts more and more to the comfort of your Soules that so in the living feeling of Gods heavenly power you may have fellowship together And all take heed that the enemy of your Souls That goeth about like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour does not betray your simple minds in causing your minds to wander from the Truth or to let thoughts to rest in your hearts which is the work of the enemy to bring in to trouble you when you are waiting upon God But all submit unto God and in his name and power Judge them out and let them not have a place in your hearts for if you do they will hinder you from hearing the voice of the beloved of your Souls And all take heed of deadness and drousiness and sleeping in Meetings for that is a great disorder and brings dishonour to the holy name of God that is concerned in and amongst you which all that loves the Lord ought to be tender of and it is also a great and heavy burthen to the Souls of the Righteteous which sits with you and are preserved in a fresh and living sence of the goodness of the Lord and it is also a great dishonour unto your selves as you are men and women that profess to meet together to worship God in Spirit and Truth for I do say and know That Gods witness in all your consciences who ever have felt the power of God and known the worship of God that is performed in Spirit that when and whilst at any time that sleepy drousy Spirit prevails over any although you may be in the Meeting with them that does serve and worship God you do not then worship him but burâ—hens the Just in your selves and in others for the Word of the Lord which the Children of God hear and feel is quick and poweâ—ful and Christ who is in the midest of those that meet in his name is a quickening Spirit whose Life quickens the mortal bodys and refreshes the Immortal Souls of all his little ones that wait for his appearance And therefore all wait in Gods pure fear that you may be covered with the Spirit of the Lord that so your nakedness may not appear which is the cause of shame And unto you that have long been convinced of the Truth and have not been faithful unto it but are in the state of them the Apostle speakes of Who for the time might have been teachers of others but now you have need one should teach you the first principles of true Religion for you are they that have not been faithful to God who have not truly nor throughly forsaken dead works but rest in a convincement of the Truth saying and confessing to that which doth shew you and all men sin and convinceth of the same is the Truth of God and there is no other but do not so obey it as to become conformable thereunto but rest in the knowledg of the will of God but does not yeild obedience unto it and have gotten into a form of Truth but for want of obedience to the same doth not come to witness the power of God to Rule in your hearts Freinds You are in the foolish Virgins state which Christ speaks of which have got the lamps but have not the Life and Virtue of the Love of God dwelling in you by the which the Soul is daily fed and nourished but even whilest your tongues may be talking of God your Souls are in leanness and this comes upon you because your hearts still lusteth after that which Gods Spirit is against which you ought to come out of and to be clean separated from and here you keep an enemy in your own bosome and harbours a Dalila in your own hearts while you suffer any lustful desire to live in your hearts that Gods Truth hath appointed to be slain and crucified which you ought to bear the Cross unto for the want of which you cannot follow Christ until you deny your selves and take up the Cross to your own wills to whatsoever it be that it lusteth after for our God is Pure Holy Just and Righteous who will and does render unto every man according to his Works for although he let the Children of Israel of old have their lustful minds satisfied yet for it he brought leanness of Soul upon them which was a just Judgment of God upon them which before he fed with bread from heaven even so doth he now Blessed be his holy name saith my Soul for now doth the Lord refresh and feed with bread from heaven which the world knowes not nor the disobedient pertake not of for the Lord our God refreshes cloathes and feeds and ministers Peace and Comfort unto those who are zealous for his name and obedient to his holy Truth But the disobedient doth and must dwell in a dry Land Therefore you that have the knowledge of this ever blessed and worthy to be obeyed Truth and Grace of God whith is given you for to lead and guide you to the Kingdome of the Living God Prize your time and improve your Talent For I testifie unto you that there is a Prize put into your hands and an oppertunity hath God afforded you to get strength Before you go hence and shall be seen no more But if you spend this pretious time that the Lord hath given you To work out your Salvation and to make your calling and election sure Then God will be just in the day when your Ruin comes upon you And his servant and servants will be clear of your blood And the Talent which is a measure of the Lords good Grace and Spirit will be taken from you and will be a swiâ—â— witness against you And therefore whilst you have time prize it and whilst you have Light walk in it least darkness so much overtake you and the cloud of errour through your continual disobedience to the Light growes so thick upon you as you cannot see the way to God and then the enemy of your Souls takes you wholly captive again to do his will And then the Scripture comes to be fulfilled upon you The Dog is returned again to his old vomit and the Sow that was washed to the wallowing in the mire And then thou art fit neither for the land nor for the Dunghil but to be trodden under foot of men and then falls into that snare that David prayed to the Lord to be kept from that he might never become a Scorn to fools that had no understanding for all of you that have in any measure obeyed the word and Grace of God you have known cleansing by it so far as you have obeyed it which is able to save and to cleanse throughly all thâ—m that abides in it whereby the words of Christ comes to be fulfilled If you abide in my word then are you my disciples indeed and you shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free And as you tender the glory of God and the good of your own Souls wait dilligently to hear what the Spirit saith in and unto you for that will deal justly and truly with every one for it is the same that ever it was which justifies them that obey the Truth but condemns and reproves in whatsoever they do evill And this is the Spirit that all are now to hear and obey which speakes a word in season to every ones condition And therefore all wait to hear what it doth signifie unto you whether it be Judgment or Mercy for through Judgment Mercy comes to be known for by Judgment that comes to be overcome which is contrary to the Lord and therefore blessed are they that wait upon the Lord in the way of his Judgments until by Judgment that be slain that is contrary to the Lord that so you may come to see Mercy and Truth to meet together and Righteousness and Peace imbrace each other which is the desire of my Soul who am a true Freind to your Souls This to be Read in the Assemblies of Gods People in the fear of the Lord in England Scotland and else where this may come as Friends may see a service therein Written at Monrosse Prison in Scotland the eleventh Moneth 1671. when I was there a Prisoner for the Testimony Of the Truth Samuel Cater THE END