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
A93787	A caveat against seducers: as it was preached by Richard Standfast, Mr. of Arts, and rector of Christ-Church in Bristol, whereunto are annexed the blind mans meditations. By the same author.	Standfast, Richard, 1608?-1684.	1660 (1660)	Wing S5204; Thomason E1816_2; ESTC R203605	25,969	77

c. and some Pastors and Teachers Mark not all teachers for who then should be hearers but some Pastors and Teachers And why hath hee given the Church Pastors and Teachers but amongst other ends for this also that we should not be tossed to and fro and carried about c vers 14. If then God gave Ministers to prevent Seducers we may well account them no better than Seducers that shall revile or oppose them Fourthly Beware of those who decline the word of God revealed in the Scriptures and set up any other Rule to walk by in the worship of God and way of salvation 'T is his word that is the Truth and therefore to decline this and instead thereof to set up Traditions new Lights or pretended Revelations is the mark of a deceiver There be many in these latter daies that have boasted much of the Spirit and pretended to Revelations no less than Angelical but let them boast and pretend what they will Si à verbo discrepant non sunt Evangelica Revelationes sed Diabolicae illusiones if they agree not with the written Word of God they are no Evangelical Revelations but they are diabolical delusions 'T is the way of Christs Apostles that we must walk in we must hear them i.e. beleeve regard obey and follow them and they that do not thus hear them are not of God and by this we may know the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of errour 1 Joh. 4.6 Fifthly They that are for divisions and offences contrary to the Doctrine which we have learned from the blessed Apostles are to be marked and avoided for they serve not the Lord Jesus Christ but their own bellies Rom. 16.17 If it be but strange doctrine with which heretofore we have had no acquaintance which is brought unto us Heb. 13.9 let it stand at the door and examine it thorowly before it be let in and unless it have a good certificate give it no entertainment but if it cross the unity of the Spirit and the bond of Peace away with it for unnecessary strife and needless divisions have no agreement with the Spirit of God To this purpose give mee leave to acquaint you with a passage of a modern Divine much to be taken notice of his words are these In a Church where the Doctrine of Salvation by Christ only is soundly and truly taught and received if any the most sanctified man in shew shall teach any thing which may tend to make a division or faction See Mr. Par. in his Loctures on Rom. 16 17. and to disturb the peace of the Church suspect and be jealous thereof for either it is false or if true yet better be buried as low as the center of the earth than to be broached to break the Peace and unity of the Church Thus hee Sixthly Beware of those that promise liberty beyond the bounds of the Gospel The Gospel indeed is a perfect doctrine of perfect liberty shewing us the ready way how to be freed from the terrour and rigour of the Law from the service of sin and slavery of Satan and from the curse of God and the wrath to come But if any man shall stretch this liberty to a freedome from Parents and Masters and Magistrates and Ministers to a freedome from the Ordinances of God to a freedome from the Moral Law as the Rule of our Obedience to a freedome from penitential sorrows and from praying unto God for the pardon of our sins this is beyond the liberty of the Gospel This is not liberty but looseness this is liberty turned into a cloak of maliciousness and they that thus promise liberty are themselves the Servants of corruption See 1 Tim. 6.1 2 3 4. Seventhly By their fruits you may know them Mat. 7.16 Mat. 7.16 not by their leaves but by their fruit for the leaves may bee fair when the fruit is faulty Not by their cloathing but by their carriage for that may be sheepish when this is ravenous and devouring not by their street-doors but by their secret chambers for the one may be swept and clean when the other are foul and nasty There is filthiness of the Spirit as well as of the flesh and though they put away fornication and drunkenness yet if they retain pride and hatred and malice and wrath and seditions and heresies are they not carnal Men may pretend to much light and perfection and acquaintance with God but if they say They have no sin they are a company of lyers 1 Joh. 1.8 10. And they that walk in hatred let them pretend what they will they walk in darkness 1 Joh. 2.9 11. And therefore look narrowly into their conversations A conversation truly pure and truly peaceable patient and meek full of self-denial and mercy and charity is a conversation suitable to the Gospel but they that walk contrary to these are disorderly walkers Walkers indeed some of them are for they go to and fro and compass Sea and Land to make Proselytes who if they come not within compass of the Statute against Vagrants and Wanderers whom a whip and a pass should convey to the place from whence they came yet they should be carefully avoided by all those that wish well to their own peace and the good of their brethren Or lastly If this be not the true meaning of that place Mat. 7.16 then by their fruits we must understand the fruit which grows upon their doctrine observe what fruit their doctrine brings forth for by that you shall know them The scope of their doctrine will help to discover what they are If it tend to the denying of all ungodliness and worldly lusts and to living godly righteously and soberly in this present world 't is well but if it tend to the strengthening of the hands of evil daers this is according to the false Prophets of old Jer. 23.14 If it tend to peace and love and mercy and meekness 't is well but if it tend to hatred variance envy and malice it cometh of evil If it tend to build men up in their most holy Faith if it tend to a growth in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ if it tend to the growing up in all things into him which is the head i.e. into a greater communion with and conformity to the Lord Jesus 't is well but if it tend not to these things 't is but hay and stubble at the most or else 't is a wind of doctrine empty and light stuff at the best having more of noise and sound than of soundness and solidity But if this wind prove blustering and tempestuous raising up storms of sedition and rebellion and kindling the coals of needless contentions all the day long though it carry with it never so great a shew of zeal and holiness yet can it not proceed from the Spirit of that God who is not the Author of confusion but of peace 1 Cor. 14.33 But

A CAVEAT AGAINST SEDUCERS As it was Preached BY RICHARD STANDFAST Mr. of Arts and Rector of Christ-Church in Bristol Whereunto are annexed The Blind Mans Meditations By the same Author Ther 's none so blind as he that will not see LONDON Printed for H. Mortlock at the Phoenix in St. Pauls Church-yard neer the little North-door 1660. TO THE Courteous Reader Courteous Reader THe continual declining of my Sun and decay of my sight as it threatens mee with blindness so it warns mee to provide for my night approaching this moved mee to consider with my self how I might lay up somewhat in store for the time to come which might bee for my support and comfort in so sad a condition Hereupon I composed some few copies of verses which when I had imparted to some of my friends for their approbation they much importuned mee to make them publique for the benefit of others in the like condition I was at last prevailed withall But being loath to suffer so inconsiderable a peece as I judge the verses to bee to pass alone I was willing to prefix some sermon or other which might bee for more publique advantage and being doubtful what to fasten upon the perswasion of friends hath drawn this from mee which here follows which I consented to the more willingly because there is some correspondence and agreement between the one and the other for as the one tends to the comforting of the blinde so the other tends to the curing of such as through ignorance and errour have been led out of the way This brief account Courteous Reader I thought good to give thee of the Printing of both that which I now desire of thee is to read the Sermon diligently to accept the Uerses candidly and to judge of both charitably If thou finde any benefit by either bless God and pray for him who is Thine in the Lord Jesus RICHARD STANDFAST A CAVEAT AGAINST SEDUCERS MATTH 24.4 Take heed that no man deceive you THese are the words of our Blessed Saviour to his Disciples warning them to beware of being led aside by the cunning craftiness of such as lye in wait to deceive And if Christ thought it fit to give such a Caution to his own Disciples you need not think much if wee call upon you in the same words to take heed that no man deceive you The Caution I confess points directly to the matter proposed in the former verse scil the time and the sign of the coming of Christ and of the end of the world Concerning which Christ bids them to take heed that no man deceive them howbeit the words are not so to be● restrained to the matter here in hand but that they call for the like care upon all like occasions And indeed it is a duty that lies upon all Christians to take heed what they hear and to beware of deceivers And this is a truth most plain and evident by those frequent Caveats which wee meet withall in the Book of God As for instance Beware of false Prophets Mat 7.15 Mat. 7.15 Beware of the Scribes Mark 12.38 Mark 12.38 Beware lest any man spoyl you through Philosophy Col. 2.8 Col. 2.8 Beware lest you bee drawn away with the errour of the wicked 2 Pet. 3.17 2 Pet. 3.17 and so likewise 2 Thes 2.3 2 Thes 2.3 Take heed that no man deceive you by any means which words are very full and very emphatical for sometimes wee may be deceived with the man sometimes with the means Sometimes with the man If hee bee one of whom wee have so good an opinion both for his parts and for his piety that wee judge him too wise to bee deceived himself and too honest to deceive others the authority of such a man may easily betray us into an errour Magnos errores magnorum virerum authoritate transmittimus Wee never err more securely than when we follow a guide whom wee presume wee may safely trust Thus the conceit of St. Peters worth raised him so high in the repute of the people that his example did as it were compel them to follow him as appears by Gal. 2.13 Gal. 2.13 Thus sometimes the man may deceive us Sometimes also the means may deceive us which means are various as will appear more fully in the following part of this discourse But the Apostle would not that any man should deceive us by any means 't is not the man but the matter that must be regarded nor should wee suffer any means to withdraw us from the truth Many more like Caveats wee may finde in St. Pauls Epistles from the frequency of which wee may very well collect either some more than ordinary proneness in us to bee mis-led or some more than ordinary danger in falling away from our own stedfastness And by all it will appear how much it concerns every one of us to take heed that no man deceive us And if wee look well into the matter wee shall finde a great deal of reason to make us all very careful in this behalf The first Reason may be taken from our own proneness to errour Reason 1 Green fruits and such like trash are more desireable and more delightful to depraved appetites than wholesome food and such depraved appetites have wee all had ever since our first Parents tasted of the forbidden fruit their eating set our teeth on edge and our natural corruption hath a stronger bias in it towards perverse opinions than it hath towards sound doctrine partly because it is very much a stranger to truth and partly because it is very much desirous of novelty 1. Our natural corruption is very much a stranger to truth our Blessed Saviour saith I am come in my Fathers Name and yee receive mee not if another shall come in his own Name him yee will receive Joh. 5.43 Joh. 5.43 From whence by the way wee may observe That Seducers need not boast of the multitude of their Proselytes as if that success of theirs were a sufficient witness of their walking in the truth nor need the messengers of the truth bee discouraged at their cold entertainment in the world as if that were enough to prove that they were not sent of God for Christs own Disciples may fish all night and catch nothing when the nets of false Apostles may bee ready to break through the multitude of fishes and Christ himself may not have so welcome a reception as a false Prophet for so hee saith himself in the place alledged which though it may seem strange at the first yet upon a serious survey the wonder will vanish For Christ coming in his Fathers Name brings nothing but truth with him and therefore no wonder if hee be neglected but they that come in their own names bring falsehood and lies and therefore like to be the better welcome for truth hath no such party within us as errour hath errour is neerer of kin to our corruption than truth

they will increase to more ungodliness and their word will eat as doth a canker 2 Tim. 2.16 17. 2 Tim. 2.16 17. The like Caution we have Heb. 12.15 Heb. 12.15 Look to it that no root of bitterness spring up 2 Tim. 3.13 and thereby many be defiled evil men Seducers wax worse and worse 2 Tim. 3.13 So hard a matter it is if once we be caught to recover again out of the snare of the Devil So that if we put all this together we may plainly perceive that we have a great deal of reason to be watchful over our selves and to take heed that no man deceive us What remains now Use but that I press you earnestly to this your duty If ever there were age wherein this Subject were in season this is it Erasmus in writing the life of St. Jerome hath a notable passage concerning those times wherein that Father lived his words are these Nullum fuit unquam saeculum seditiosius neque consusius sic omnia contaminarant haereticorum errores ac dissidia ut magnae cujusdam artis fuerit orthodoxum esse i.e. There was never any age fuller of confusion and sedition and the errours and dissentions of Hereticks had so polluted all things that it was a kinde of Art for a man to be Orthodox which passage looks as if it were calculated for our meridian 't is the very picture of the times wherein we have lately lived wherein there have been spread abroad such variety of errours that it could be no less than an Art to be Orthodox Almighty God fed us once with the staves of a good Shepherd beauty and bands in beauty there was unity in bands order but our beauty hath been defaced and our bands broken our unity divided and our order dissolved many shepherds have been smitten and the flocks scattered the gaps were left open and the Foxes let loose and the Sheep had got libertatem erroris and were at liberty to stray and perish as it were cum privilegio It cannot therefore but be a word in season to call upon men to look about them Blessed be the God of Truth for the hopes which hee hath given us of seeing better times but the day is so newly broke and there is so much of the old leaven gone abroad and our own Station is so slippery and errour is so infectious that I hope it will prove an acceptable service to warn every one of you as Christ warned his own Disciples to take heed that no man deceive you And for your better furtherance in this so needful a work I cannot in the general commend unto your thoughts any better direction than this namely To be in the fear of the Lord all the day long even natural fear is the great Guardian of the body how warily doth hee walk that is afraid of falling how careful is that man about his mony that fears robbing how diligent is hee that is afraid of danger how circumspect is hee that is afraid of sickness So is spiritual fear the great Guardian of the soul Prov. 16.6 For by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil and the same fear will preserve us also from departing from God Jer. 32.40 Jer. 32.40 If therefore you would not be led away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Pet. 3.17 with the errour of lawless men be not high minded but fear Happy is the man that feareth alway Pro. 28.14 but hee that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief Prov. 28.14 For particular helps against the danger of being seduced let mee commend unto you these few following Helps against Seduction First Labour to know the Truth A blind man may easily be led out of the way And to this end let the word of Christ dwell in you richly that you may be able to discern between things that differ for his word is Truth Joh. 17.17 Joh. 17.17 This will be a lamp to our feet and a light to our paths but ignorance of the Scriptures is the way to errour Mat. 22.29 This was the Rule of old to the Law and to the Testimonies Isa 8.20 Isa 8.20 and it is in force still and it is well for us that we have a written word for a Rule to walk by for otherwise what certainty could we have of any of those things that do belong to our peace 't is by the Scriptures that we come to know the voice of Christ from the voice of a stranger and to be preserved from the path of the destroyer This is the principal Antidote which St. Paul prescribes against the like danger as may appear by comparing Act. 20. v. 29.30 Acts 20.29 30. with vers 32. for having warned them of grievous Wolves which should enter among them after his departure for a remedy against them hee commends them to God and to the word of his grace c. And the like may be observed from 2 Tim. 3. if wee compare the four last verses with the rest of the chapter Secondly Labour to be rooted and settled and stablished in the Truth Be not children in understanding nor yet in inconstancy mutatur in horas is the character of a childe in the phrase of the Poet children are never long in one mind but be not you such children a tottering wall may easily be blown down a childish inconstancy is in danger to be tossed to and fro like a wave of the Sea a weather-cock disposition is easily carried about with every wind of doctrine Ephes 4.14 unstable souls may quickly be insnared and therefore hold fast the profession of the Faith without wavering 2 Pet. 2.14 wavering is the way to wander from the Truth Thirdly Be contented with the Truth without itching after novelties lest ye be drawn away from sound doctrine hee that is weary of being led by God is in danger to be led away with errour Remember them that were weary of Manna and lusted for flesh Num. 11.33 Num. 11.33 it had been better for them to have been contented with Gods allowance than to have longed for such varieties they had sweet meats indeed but they had soure sauce with it for while the meat was in their mouths the heavy wrath of God fell upon them and they that did feed to the fullest did never thrive with it Psal 106.15 for God sent leanness into their Soul Psal 106.15 Fourthly Be lovers of the truth men are not easily won to let go what they love but if once our love to the truth grow cold we may easily be wrought upon to exchange it for fables yea it is just with God that such men as do not embrace the love of the truth 2 Thes 2.10 11. that they may be saved should be given up to believe lies 2 Thess 2.10 11. Fiftly Be ye doers of the truth and beware of living in any known way of wickedness with liking and allowance There are some men that