Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	john_n	spirit_n	word_n	6,916	5	4.7675	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A70537	The character of the true church In a sermon preach'd at the French church in the Savoy, upon these words, How goodly are they tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel, Numb. XXIV. v. 5. By A. D'Astor de Laussac, formerly a prior and an archdeacon of the church of Rome.	Dastor de Laussac, Antoine.	1700 (1700)	Wing L623C; ESTC R221680	22,752	35

to pass that Christians who in the golden days of the Church were lookt upon as so many Gods come down from Heaven are now so much altered how comes their Religion to be so earthly They formerly carried Christ in their hearts they express'd these mysteries in every action of their lives and now they think Christ can hardly be found but in Images of him so frail so corrupt is their piety that they wou'd think themselves without any Religion were they once without their Images and Relicks were they once deprived of the privledge of procuring themselves Patrons among the Saints Whence comes so deplorable a change Can we look upon the Church in this condition as that new Jerusalem St. John saw coming down from heaven paepared as a Bride adored for her Husband Revil 21.2 Alas if it be the same Jerusalem it shares in the same fate with that whose sad condition Jeremiah bewailed and we may say with him how doth the city sit solitary that was full of people Lam. 1 How is she become as a widow She that was great among the Nations and Princess among the Provinces how is she become tributary Such was the fate of Christ's Church It was formerly full of worshippers who worshipp'd in spirit and in truth but after it was gone to decay there were hardly seen any Christians but such as were carnal idolatrous or superstitions Christ her Spouse had indeed promis'd to be with her till the end of the world provided she taught that Doctrine he had deposited with her but her Ministers were backward in performing the conditions impos'd they follow'd not so much the Scripture as the interpretations they gave it according to their particular interest and designs therefore Christ abandon'd them They preach'd the imaginations of their hearts they set them forth as rules of faith by means of that authority they usurp'd over mens Consciences Hence came the deplorable state of the Church which was found insensibly burden'd with more precepts and ceremonies than the Synagogue hence it was that the Church which had triumph'd over the world became herself tributary in the flock tributary to ambition in the ministry tributary to those superstitions which ignorance or slackness of piety had introduc'd into the flock You need not wonder at the strangeness of this proceeding God suffer'd it to be so the better to display his incomprehensible wisdom By permitting disorder and corruption to invade the Church occasion'd by the pretended infallible authority the ministry had assum'd over the word of God He wou'd make Christianity sensible of the indispensable necessity of submitting the Ministry to his Holy Word as he had order'd it The Church is represented to us as terrible as an Army drawn up in battel array For what makes an Army terrible to the enemy but good order and discipline What made the primitive Church so powerful and glorious Terrible it was to the world because the truth and efficacy of its doctrine submitted the flesh to the spirit terrible to Tyrants because it plac'd the pleasures of this present life far belew the glorious advantages of a future state it became terrible to error because it submitted reason to faith tradition to revelation the authority the Ministry has over the people to the authority the word of God ought to have over the Ministry God saith St Paul has set some Apostles some Prophets some Pastors and Teachers for the edifying of the Church that the faithful might not be like Children toss'd up and down with every wind of doctrine Acts 20. The Holy Ghost saith the same Apostle has set some overseers to feed the Church of God which he has purchas'd with his own blood We own this ordination to be by God's appointment we respect this Ministry upon that account but the Ministry is of the nature of relative beings it is not set up for it self the Ministry has a relation to God who establish'd it and for that reason all that it teaches in Religion must be referr'd to the glory of God Now that relation does not appear and is not made good when that faith the Ministry would set up has too great a relation to its own particular interest Acts 20. the Holy Ghost has appointed Overseers and Pastors to govern the Church of God 't is true their flock must listen to them in order to be instructed but then they themselves must listen to the Holy Ghost John 16.13 14. who speaks by the word of God When the spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak He shall glorifie me for he shall receive of mine and shall shew it unto you Here is as it were the finger of God pointing out the subordination of the Ministry to the Holy Ghost who guides it the Holy Ghost does not speak of himself he glorifies the Saviour that sent him by receiving from him what he teaches the Apostles And must not this order last for ever Is it possible there shou'd have been a time when the Ministry had power to decide by its own authority when it might be dispenc'd from glorifying the Holy Ghost by taking out of those Sacred Writings he himself dictated those rules of faith it would impose upon the flock If this subordination had lasted if the Ministry had been in every particular rul'd by the word of God wou'd the worship of Images have been set up so expressly contradicted therein wou'd not the hand of Ezekias that broke down the Brazen Serpent whereby the people were led to Idolatry have taken away under the Gospel a worship that proves so often a rock of offence to Christians Wou'd not the Angel that took up the body of Moses lest divine honours shou'd be paid him have hid the relicks of Saints in their Graves rather than have permitted them to be carry'd in pomp about their Churches and upon their Altars there to receive such honours and adorations as are only due to God If the Gospel had been consulted wou'd Christians that pretend to works of supererogation be otherwise thought of than unprofitable Servants Wou'd the Supper of the Lord have been taken for the real and substantial body of Christ rather than for the virtue and efficacy thereof if regard had been had to the style of the Gospel that always gives to the sign the name of the thing signify'd and oftentimes attributes to the effect the name of the cause that produces it If Christ has edify'd his Church by himself or his Apostles how comes it that the Gospel makes no particular mention of Transubstantiation of the Sacrifice and worshipping of the Sacrament The first of these is a continual Miracle the Sacrifice of the Altar is one of the essential parts of piety the worshipping of the Sacrament is such as must necessarily if of divine institution make men that neglect it guilty of the

sole Interpreter of the truths therein contain'd and the infallible judge of controversies on that occasion The Religion that protests against the authority which the Romish Ministry has assum'd over the Scripture looks upon the Word of God as the only rule of the Christian Faith and gives the Scripture so great an authority over the Ministry that Christianity is no longer liable to its decisions than as they are conformable to Divine Revelation The authority which this Supream Minister has assum'd over the world of God has by degrees alter'd the purity of the Faith by adding to or taking from what Christ had establish'd whereas the authority which the word of God has re-assum'd over the Ministry has re-establish'd the purity of that Faith which Christianity enjoy'd in the golden days of the Church Hence arises the diversity of Communions one of which pulls up out of the field of the Lord what the other had sown from this opposition proceeded the animosities of the Church of Rome against the Protestants But Christ has taken care to comfort his Church in this distress it labours under telling it withal that he had been hated first Reformation is for no other reason odious but because it roots up those plants our Heavenly Father had not planted and pulls down from the heavenly edifice what had been built with wood hay and stubble 1 Cor. 3. 12. If the Ministry using the authority assum'd had only set up some new curious doctrine interwoven with human opinions I own it won'd have been hard for the purity of saith to have born with it but yet rather than break unity it wou'd have been necessary to have waited till the Lord had try'd every mans work Ibid. v. 13 as St Paul has exprest it But no less than the Church it self was aim'd at No other foundation says St Paul can any man lay but that which has been laid viz. Jesus Christ 'T is not only the death of Christ his resurrection his ascension and sitting at the right hand of God that are the foundation of the Church all these mysteries wou'd have been needless had they been unknown and they had been unknown that not God spoke by his Prophets by Jesus Christ and his Apostles Now the word of God wherein are set forth all these mysteries has been the seed of the Faith and Faith having subjected Reason to its authority has been the foundation of the Church And this is its character set forth by Christ himself when he said Mat. 7.24 Whosoever hears my sayings and doth them I will liken him to a wise man who built his house upon a rock whereas he that hears and doth them not 〈◊〉 v. 26. shall be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand Whence it clearly appears that the true and only foundation of Christian Religion was the subjecting of human understanding to the word of God Now to establish a Church meerly upon the authority of a Ministry that sets us for a rule of Faith what is rather grounded upon tradition than upon revelation is building a house upon the sand because 't is no more than to hear the word of God and not to be conformable to its anthority to lay another foundation than what has been laid 'T was then necessary to find out another principle to return to the original foundation of the Church that is to look upon Holy Writ as the only rule of Faith and the only foundation of the authority of that Ministry Christians are to be led by Nay it seems evident that Faith coming from hearing and hearing from the Word there is so great an affinity between the word of God and Faith that the faithful's submission to the authority of the Scripture is one of those truths which Reason and Revelation do not more clearly prove than every Christians natural suggestion The being of a God is a truth resulting from a natural instinct 'T is a natural instinct in Christianity that there is a Church and in that Church generally taken 't is a natural notion that the faithful must be rul'd by the word of God What occasion'd that numberless train of false Gods among the Pagans but that natural notion man always carried along with him of some true Divinity from whom he deriv'd his being life and motion Whence comes it in Christianity that all Hereticks have been seen to give their Sect the name of a Church but because there never was any Christian that own'd Christ for the Saviour of the world but was sensible there was a Church wherein the faithful might attain Salvation and why was there never any Heretick in all these suppos'd Churches but what endeavour'd to authorize his opinions by the Scripture This is such a natural notion as cannot but convince any reasonable mind that Christians must have the word of God for the rule of their faith since by that same word they have faith convey'd to them And if in Morals Hypocrisie is a homage Vice pays to Virtue it may be said in Religion that that affectation in Hereticks of being grounded upon the Scripture is an homage Error pays to the Truth whose original source and infallible witness is in that Holy Word it being to the Church of Christ what the mercy-seat whence were pronounc'd the oracles of God was to Israel of old How cou'd we judge better of the Church of Christ than by the model himself has left us Thou art Peter Mat. 1.18 and upon this rock will I build my Church he does not say upon thee Peter but upon the rock that is upon that Christ Simon had but just confess'd because the Church cou'd neither be founded upon the person nor upon the Ministry of St Peter but upon the confession that Apostle had made of Christ who is the fundamental Stone of the Spiritual Building Christ does not say here thou shalt build my Church for man is not able to build the Church of God but I will build my Church because the character that distinguishes the Church of Christ from all such as might usurp that name is that Christ is the foundation of it and the Master-builder in this Spiritual Edifice no other hand must be seen but that of Christ that is his will his power his spirit and the authority of his word And tho St Peter and the other Disciples have been associated to that great work yet 't is Christ's hand alone that has wrought all by them They indeed preach'd but Christ converted they wrought Miracles but 't was through his name they baptiz'd but Christ perform'd the regeneration in a word 't was Christ edify'd his Church How goodly are thy tents O Jacob This is certainly the character of Christ's Church since it receives no other truth but that he brought upon earth no other solemnities but those he consecrated no other Sacraments but those he constituted no other expiatory Sacrifice but that of his death nor any

other merit but that of his blood This is doubtless the Church of Christ since all is founded upon his word all is edify'd by his doctrine all is referr'd to his glory 'T is not so with the Church which Papal authority has set up which would needs force Christianity to follow it as the Church of Christ How many rules of faith how many acts of piety which have no solid foundation in Holy Writ That 's a building wherein Christ's hand appears much less than those of the builders since in it the authority of the Scripture gives way to that of the Ministry as if that were become the original source of Divine Revelation One wou'd think our Saviour who knew all things had a mind to prevent the errors whereinto men were like to fall by taking a Church of men's setting up insensibly upon Earth in the name of Christ for that which he had founded himself in the fulness of time and indeed he does prevent it by the precautions he takes in the establishment of the Apostolical Ministry which he associates to the building of his Church He chooses for Apostles men of the lowest rank of the people ignorant unlearned self-interested fearful in a word men who were no way proportionate to the work they were design'd for Why did he leave them in this state of infirmity till the coming down of the Holy Ghost but that the tryal of their weakness might make them sensible 't was Jesus Christ who acted in them at the very time they were building up his Church that so they might not arrogate to themselves the success of it tho their hands were employ'd in the Structure Why was our Saviour pleased to particularize the failings and infirmities of his Apostles but as a precaution to posterity which might have attributed to them the glory of having edifyed his Church His wisdom having discover'd to them their natural insufficiency leaves no room in them for presumption by shewing them they had no vertue but what came from above it characterizes the Church of God by Christ's hand alone that built it I am not ignorant how that the Evangelical Ministry must last to the end of the world how Christ promis'd his Apostles he wou'd be always with them and how this promise is to be fulfill'd in the Succession of the Ministry But divine wisdom uses the same caution in the succession as in the establishment thereof What character does he give to the succession of the Ministry no other than the succession of his doctrine I send you as my Father has sent me Go and teach all nations Mat. 28 baptizing them in the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even unto the end of the World These last words include a promise made to the Ministry and a condition imposed in order to partake of the promise teaching them as I have commanded you that 's the condition on which he promises to be with them They are sent by Christ as Christ was by the Father Christ sent by his Heavenly Father makes the truth of his mission appear by the transcendency of his miracles which are so many proofs of his Divinity by the apparition of the Holy Ghost that declares him to men for the beloved Son of God But he does not impose the necessity of believing his Doctrine otherwise than as it is conformable to the Father that sent him Whence proceeds this admirable conduct But from this reason that the Evangelical Ministry was to be excercis'd by men the gifts of the Holy Ghost were to longer to accompany the Ministry than was requisite to establish the Faith after that the Church was to be directed by the Holy Ghost Jesus Christ was to be with the Ministry but after an invisible manner If the visible succession of the Ministry had been a sufficient proof of its mission then some hypocrite or other sitting in the Apostolical Chair might have pretended to have acted by the spirit of God when there was no such thing The faithful might have been impos'd upon unless Christ had promis'd his Apostles to be with them setting them this Law withal to teach as he had commanded them and unless he had charactariz'd the ministry by the succession of his doctrine so that every ministry that teaches not what the Apostles have taught or that sets for a rule of saith another thing than they taught is not look'd upon as the Apostolical Ministry Boast he never so much of having succeeded St. Peter unless he have the succession of the Doctrine he has no right to it he must not impose The truth Christian Religion obliges us to believe came to us from the Father by the Son from the Son of God by the Holy Ghost from the Holy Ghost by the Apostles by their Successors Now to know whether they be the true Successors of the Apostles is but to examine whether the truth they profess the Religion they propose flow from the primitive Spring How goodly are the tents O Jacob How great must our happiness be who live in the bosom of a Church which holds it for an axiom of faith to be conformable to God's Holy Word which is so happy as to be directed by a Ministry that may without controversy say the Religion we preach comes not from our selves we are not the Authors of it 't is the very same the Apostles left us in the Gospel the Apostles receiv'd from the Holy Ghost the Holy Ghost deriv'd it from the bosom of the word incarnate the word incarnate from the bosom of the Heavenly Father Thus by the Authority of the word of God is the succession and purity of Faith preserv'd in the Christian World Such is the necessity of this grand principle that no sooner came the Church to forget it but it fell into a most deplorable condition Look back into those all at once happy and unhappy days when Peace succeeding that persecution which the Church had so long groan'd under corrupted Christianity which all the subtilty of Hereticks and cruelty of Tyrants were not able to oppress The Church became great in wealth and dignity but at the same time small in virtue the salt of the earth vanisht away all fell into corruption Both Pastors and Flock had much at the same time a general disgust for heavenly things the sacred fire of the Altar went out by degrees whilst no other burnt thereon but that of Lust and Ambition The Children of Eli made it their main business to encrease the rights and advantages of Priesthood the Church of a Heavenly Kingdom became a Temporal Reign the Apostolical Chair became a Throne whereon the Apostles Successors were not ashamed to exact those Divine Honours the Apostles themselves had rejected and the Holy Scripture the authority whereof had till then govern'd the Church became itself Captive to the