Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	know_v	spirit_n	world_n	6,961	5	5.3573	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A40949	The saints duty, and safety, in a trying time, and when they are attended with a suffering condition: or, The saints duty in meeting together in the way of God, as worshippers of him and their safety and happinesse in continuing and abiding with the Lord in that wherein the Lord hath appeared, & doth continue and abide with them, to minister unto them both in a time of suffering, and in a time of rejoycing. And also, the danger of being negligent in meeting together, to per- [sic] perform their duty and service to God, through any wile, and crafty mysterious working of Satan, whereby he labours to seduce and deceive them, &c. Written in the 4. moneth, 1664. by R.F. To be read amongst Friends at their meetings, and upon occasions, to such as there may be a service,	R. F. (Richard Farnworth), d. 1666.	1664 (1664)	Wing F502A; ESTC R215744	12,166	18

is it any better now That it was so then is apparent and evident Gal. 2.1 for said he O foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the Truth Gal. 2.3 Are ye so foolish having begun in the Spirit are ye now made perfect by the flesh it is a kind of witchcrast and great folly indeed for a people that have begun in the Spirit to depart and go back again into the flesh to have known the Truth and true way of the Lord and been obedient and subject thereunto Rom. 3.122 and afterward to disobey the Truth and depart from the way of the Lord into the way and worship of the Spirit of the world 2 Tim. 3.3.4 to leave a certain thing for an uncertain to leave the everlasting Truth to follow Errour and Fables to leave the best for the worst to forsake that which God doth own to follow that which he hath called from to leave that which is attended with blessings and happiness from God to follow that which is attended with misery and wrath from the Lord is folly indeed and below the Spirit and wisdome of God and indeed it is no point of true wisdome or any part of a wise man indued with the wisdome of God So to do Hast thou not been acquained with the teachings of God in the way of the Spirit of the Lord and did not the Spirit of God in its teachings and leadings both teach thee and lead thee to the knowledge of a people both taught and owned of the Lord to meet with them in point of Religion and worship of God and give thee many refreshings and testimonies from his own life to enjoyn and encourage thee therein to abide and continue with the Lord and his people in the way of his teaching and worship as aforesaid And as thou hast bin acquainted with the teachings of God hast thou not also been acquainted with the teachings of the enemy of God under pretence of a Friend did Satan never yet transforme himself like to an Angel of Light to labour to bewitch thy mind by insinuations and crafty mysterious workings to seduce and withdraw thy heart from God and to labour to cause thee to disobey the known truth of the Lord wherein the Lord appeared unto thee and gave thee many Testimonies of his Love and enjoyned thee therein to walk and didst thou not with purpose of heart and godly resolution intend and signifie thy intentions to the Lord that thou hadst a purpose of heart to continue therein untill the enemy by insinuation and crafty mysterious workings did somewhat change thy purpose of heart and began to altar thy godly resolutions did not the enemy of thy soul come craftily and after a mysterious manner and say what dost not thou own the teaching of God and art not thou taught of the Lord and very sensible thereof and didst not thou in simplicity answer and say yes it is so I cannot deny it did not the enemy reply then say unto thee seeing thou art taught of the Lord and art sensible of his Teachings as thou art alone by thy self and when thou art on thy bed and as thou walkest up and down and art about thy occasions and hath such sweet refreshings from him what needst thou to goe hither and thither to Meetings and to expose thy self to hazards and dangers and was there not a fleshly easeful part in thee ready to hearken and be inclineable to the secret Teachings of the Enemy and account them as Divine Oracles or Sayings of God and was not thou ready to have changed thy former Purposes and godly resolutions and say what should I goe to Meetings for seeing I am so acquainted with Divine Teachings at home and abroad and do find the Lords refreshing presence to attend and accompany me as I do will not my going to Meetings and continuing faithful to the Lord therein as I have purposed make the thing customary and bring it up into a form by so doing is it not better therefore for me and my safety to absent there from and keep closse with the Lord at home and not goe to Meetings did not the Lord Pursue the Enemy and search out and discover unto thee the depth of that wile and crafty mysterious working of Satan and teach thee that thou art not to deny thy duty to God and the continuation and abiding with the Lord in what he makes known unto thee and wherein he enjoynes thee to walk and with him to abide under the denominations of Formality and Customarinesse as the Enemy under pretence of a Friend would perswade thee and when thou hast been made sensible of the Love of God in discovering the wiles of the Enemy and the danger which he laboured to lead thee into and were preserved and kept out of the same how didst thou then prize his Love and walk humbly before the Lord and as thou didst continue with him and abide faithful unto him didst not thou meet with some or other that the Enemy had possest with that wile and crafty working of Satan which God preserved and kept thee out of as aforesaid and did not they into whom Satan had so entred and possest with that wile and mysterious working endeavour to hold it out to thee as some new discovery and when thou couldst not own or entertain the same as an Oracle or saying of God but withstood the same and declared against it as a delusion of Satan did not prejudice appear as a work of the enemy in such an instrument against thee for so doing and was not he ready to judge thee to be formal and customary because of thy stedfastness unto the Doctrine of the tryed Truth and for thy continuation and abiding with the Lord in that wherein he appeareth unto thee owns thee in gives thee many Testimonies of his love and enjoyns thee to walk as a true subject unto him and worshiper of him To continue and abide with the Lord in that wherein he hath appeared and whereby he doth accompany the souls of his people both in the ministration and government of Spirit for refreshment and preservation to teach and defend them against the power and pollicy of Satan and for the benefit and safety of the people of God so that the continuation and abiding with God in the way and worship of God is not to be looked upon as a customary traditional or formal thing which the Lord doth not own for it is the duty of the people of God under the Covenant of grace to continue in the things wherein they have been and are instructed of God and are assured of 2 Tim. 3.14 Ioh. 15.4.5 knowing of whom they have learned them as the Saints did and according to the Doctrine of Christ That wherein God appears and abides is full of life power and vertue and what doth God appear and abide in without forme either in the inward or outward

Christ Jesus blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort who comforteh us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we our selves are comforted of God for as the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our Consolation also aboundeth by Christ and whether we be afflicted it is for your Consolation and salvation which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer or whether we be comforted it is for your consolation and salvation and our hope of you is stedfast knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings so shall ye be also of the Consolation as it is written and left upon Record in Scripture 2 Cor. 1 3 4 5 6 7. It is a pretious and an excellent thing to be in that power which measures spirits and lets forth it self in power and vertue in a ministration to several estates and conditions and doth acquaint one another with the way and manner of its working bearing of burdens when the soul is in sufferings To Simpathize with it therein as well as to h●ve fellowship with it in consolation or else how should we performe that Christian office and duty both in tribulation and consolation which in the spirit of love we are to do for we are to suffer with them that suffer as well as to rejoyce with them that rejoyce therefore it is good to know one another under sufferings that we may have fellowship one with another both in sufferings and in rejoycings and so be helps in the Lord one to another to do good unto all but not to hurt or destroy any that are weak in the Faith and attended with many weaknesses tryals or exercises so that we may alwayes upon the account of the Lord his service both appear and be found in that principle spirit wherein we and our services may be acceptable well pleasing to the Lord and helpfull one to another through Christ Jesus the Son of his love For assuredly God hath appeared spoken unto us in spirit and called us out of the way and worship of the spirit of the world hath made known that which is certain unto us that is to say the tryed known Truth and true way and worship of God in the spirit and we are not to leave or forsake it least it be said who required thee to forsake the way and worship of God the Lord hath made known the truth and way of his worship unto us and he hath called us unto it required us to continue and Abide with him in it and therefore it is our duty to meet together as God hath commanded and not to forsake the assemblies of the people of God when man doth forbid us for we have judged already that if God command us to meet and assemble together to wait upon God and true worshipers of him and if men do command the contrary and forbid us to meet under great penalties in such cases we are to obey God rather then man and the Lord hath given us this Testimony that he owns and accepts of us in so doing For if God command one thing and man command another thing It is better to obey God then man in such cases because the Lords power is absolute add his commands are righteous and just and therefore ought to be obeyed he hath power to pardon or punish as we are obedient or disobedient unto him and he hath right to teach order and dispose of us both by Creation and by Redemption who hath punishments for the wicked and rewards for the righteous and if he be offended or displeased by denying obedience to his just and righteous commands whose power is the highest power to obey the will and commands of men who are contrary minded to him to avoid a suffering condition no King nor Potentate upon earth can deliver from the wrath and displeasure of God for so doing but if we fall into the wrath and displeasure of men for denying their commands which are contrary to the commands and requirings of God to be obedient and subject unto him whose power is absolute and who hath right both by creation and redemption to claim our obedience and subjection unto him he can deliver us from the wrath displeasure of man and therefore it is the Saints duty to be obedient to God and it is for their safety and happinesse to continue in his word and doctrine and in all conditions to abide true and faithful unto him though we be attended with sufferings from men for so doing An Epistle to go amongst friends to be read in the fear wisdom of God DEar Friends Brethren and Sisters whom I dearly love in the Lord my dear love runs forth unto you hath an entrance within you and doth rest upon you It is a precious thing to feel the Lord possessing our hearts and spirits living ruling and reigning within us and to feel one another in the power of an endlesse life which is for our refreshment and great consolation they who are under the daily administration of the spirit and power of God do daily partake of the love vertue and sweetnesse of God for the power bindeth under or removes all obstructions oppositions and interpositions and besetments of soul and reacheth unto it for its relief and refreshment and carrieth forth unto it of the eternal sweetnesse that it feeds at the breast and is nourished with the milk of the Word which is the vertue of God and tastes of its sweetnesse so that it can say as David did Thy word is sweeter unto my taste then the honey and the honey-comb The Lord hath come forth in power unto us and we are witnesses thereof so hath he come forth in vertue and sweetnesse within us and our soules have tasted thereof he hath been with us in stroms and tempests so that the flouds of afflictions and waters of persecutions hath not destroyed us we have been kept in the Ark of the Covenant above the waters and carried over to the dry land of peace and rest by the arm of the Lord he hath stood between us and the dangers and hath kept back the force of the storms and violence of the enemy from us so that though he hath often tried us yet he did not thereby destroy us but had a way in his wisdome to keep and preserve us and though troubles and afflictions attend us yet the Lords refreshing presence is with us and his free spirit doth uphold us We have this testimony that we are a people blessed and beloved of God and though our troubles have heretofore been many yet our deliverances have been as many for many are the troubles of the righteous but the Lord delivereth out of them all And as we have had many deliverances wrought and brought to passe for us by the

creation so that the forme wherein God appears and abides with his people in the spirit of his Son is full of life vertue and consolation the Apostle saith to the Church of God and Saints in Christ Jesus which were at Philippie let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the forme of God thought it no Robery to be equal with God Phillip 2.5 6. And if God should destroy and make void all forme wherein he appeareth then forasmuch as Christ Jesus is in the forme of God would not that be to destroy Christ Jesus but God doth not destroy that form therefore not all form comliness as the enemy supposeth And if the Enemy of the soul cannot beget thee to be negligent and carelesse in meeting and continuing with the people of God under pretence of formality customariness would he not by another of his wiles and craftinesse seek to deceive seduce thee say consider what sweet refreshments and springings of Love thou hast at home alone by thy self and what weights and burdens thou many times meets with at Meetings and is not thy souls Enemy under pretence of putting thee in mind of taking that into consideration ready to say thou had better stay at home and not goe to Meetings then to goe thither to bear many burthens or else say thou should not have been at that Meeting and goe no more unlesse thou have some special motion to go unto Meetings under that pretence doth he not mysteriously labour to kill thee so that thou begins to die to thy love and faithfulnesse if thou lend an ear to him and then thou wilt loose strength and grow weak and after that when thou shouldest goe to a meeting he will tell thee thou either hast no motion to goe or else it is not strong enough to raise thee above and carry thee through the reasonings and over the oppositions which thou meets withal in thee to hinder and keep thee from going to meetings so that the Enemy is mysteriously destroying of thee and labours to slay thee in thy Principles and Testimony and when thou art dead thou art ready to judge others to be out of the Life and Power of Truth through thy mistake and if he cannot wholly prevail with any to absent from all Meetings doth he not goe about by another of his slights and cunning devices and tell thee in secret that if thou go to meetings thou should not goe to publick mixt Meetings to bear Burdens but should meet with those onely that are nearest unto thee and the equallest in condition and growth with thee and so hearkning unto him he draws out into Parties and begins to rent and divide thee from the Body and begets some others into the like subtilty and self separation with thee and presents them to thee and thee unto them and labours to gather you after that manner into the mystery of Iniquity and makes Parties and causeth devisions and that 's the way to Sects and Schisms Now when thou art once acquainted with the Lord both in counsel direction instruction power vertue and consolation in a spiritual ministration and hast tasted of the good word of God and of the powers of the world to come which are spiritual and eternal powers which binds under keeps down and turns aside the earthly dark powers within thee and makes way to come to that which is oppressed and afflicted within thee to relieve it refresh and minister unto it wherein and whereby it hath many Testimonies of the Love and Acceptation of God in that ministration as well as refreshments and souls consolation thou art therein to mind thy continuation and abiding with God and his people in that ministration that thou mayst appear for the Lord in the Assemblies of his Saints in that Principle and Spirit wherein the Lord hath appeared unto thee that in that Spirit and Power wherein the Lord hath born with thee thou mayest bear with others that are under Burdens Sufferings Exercises and Tryals and so by bearing one anothers burden with the Spirit and Power of God the Law of Christ is fulfilled and thereby thou and others will be eased refreshed reached unto by the power and filled with the Love and vertue of God to be a sweet savour to the Lord and one in another that he may be honoured and glorified and if thou be under a burden at any time in a Meeting dost thou fetch it in or is it laid upon thee that thou maist be as a help to another to simpathize with such as are burdened and under a Suffering condition Gal. 6.2 for it is said Bear ye one anothers burden and so fulfill the Law of Christ hast thou been burdened and hath not the life and power of truth joined with that which was burdened and afflicted within thee to help the oppressed untill the burden was removed and the afflicted was relieved and the oppressed in spirit was eased and art thou unwilling to bear with others and be a help to them when they are under burdens troubles tryals and exercises whether art thou then in the life and power of love which is willing to help the oppressed and doth bear and endure under all burdens tryals and exercises untill it rise over all that which oppresseth and minister to the afflicted for its refreshment doth not many times the strong bear the infirmities or burdens of the weak Rom. 15.1 2 3 4 5. 1 Cor. 13.4.5 6 7. nay is there not a desire ariseth many times in those that are most in the life and power of love which is acquainted with bearing of burdens and helping the afflicted when it sees others under afflictions and burdens that they may be a help to them in that estate desiring that the burden of the oppressed may come so much upon them as the other may be eased knowing that the power will ease them again and doth not the oppressed many times both in meetings and when they are visited by a good Friend feel the burden go so much from them as that they are eased and when it is so doth it not go upon some that feels when it comes upon them and are they not so made meet helps in the Lord one to another after a spiritual manner for if I come freshly and lively into a meeting and have no burden upon me if a burden do come when I am there I feel the life bear it and I know thereby that some or other is eased by it and I waighting patiently with contentedness under the burden the life and power of truth works through it and riseth over it so that I am eased and refreshed and in the power and vertue of the life and spirit of God am made to minister to the afflicted and to be a simpathizer with the oppressed So that we may say as the servants of God did in former ages to the Church of God and Saints in