Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	let_v	see_v	word_n	4,072	5	3.9829	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A85327	Faith in five fundamentall principles, strongly fortified against the diabolical, atheisticall, blasphemous batteries of these times Serving for the conviction of opposers, the satisfaction of doubters, and the confirmation of believers. In a conference which a godly independent minister and a godly Presbyterian minister had with a doubting Christian. By E.F. a seeker of the truth.	Fisher, Edward, fl. 1627-1655.	1650 (1650)	Wing F993; Thomason E1375_2; ESTC R209221	23,410	56

is immortall And in Act. 7. 59. it is said that when the martyr Stephen was at the point of death he cryed out Lord Jesus receive my Spirit meaning thereby none other thing but when that his soul should depart out of his body Christ Jesus shoul be the perpetuall keeper of it and therefore assuredly it dyed not with the body but is immortall And in Luk. 23. 43. it is recorded that when our Saviour hung upon the Cross he said unto the good Thief This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise whence I pray you take notice that he could not be there with him in the body for that was immediately dead and buried therefore the meaning must needs be that his soul was gathered with the soul of Christ into Paradise and so consequently it dyed not with the body And in Phil. 1. 23. the Apostle said that he desired to bee dssolved and to be with Christ by the which it is evident that he was assured that so soone as his spirit did take leave of his body he should be happie in the enjoyment of the Lord Jesus Christ And doth not the same Apostle plainly witnesse the same truth 2 Cor. 5. 8. in saying when the soules of beleevers are absent from the body they are present with the Lord And doth not the Apostle Peter likewise seale to the same truth 2 Pet. 1. 14. In giving us to understand that there was some thing in his bodily tabernacle which must not be put off which could be none other thing but his soul and we may assure our selves that if the soul did dye with the body our Saviour would never have brought in the soul of Lazarus joying in Abrahams bosom after his death nor yet the soul of the Rich man in Hell torments Luk. 16. 23. Many other testimonies of holy Scripture might be bought for the further confirmation of this truth but I hope these are sufficient Chris But Sir because I could never yet see either in my selfe or in any other man any thing but a body I could never conceive what a thing the soul should be nor how it differeth from the body and indeed this hath made me of late to bee of their judgements who hold that the soul and body are both one and that the soul dyeth with the body Pres Well to the intent that I may clear these things unto you I pray you first of all to consider that Moses telleth us Gen. 2. 7. That after the Lord had formed mans body of the dust of the earth he breathed into his nostrils the brtath of life whereby you may perceive that the soul is of a spirituall nature and an uncorruptible substance and not a body In the creation of the soul saith a learned Author The almighty Author of the French Acad. made a blast not of his owne nature nor of his Creature the Aire but even of nothing and so new in the ordinary generation of man the soul is placed in the body not by vertue of nature it is not begotten or produced by nature but properly and peculiarly by the special working of God so that although the soul liveth and dwelleth in the body sustaining and moving it yet it is a certaine substance severall from the body and though the body hath no life in it selfe and therefore cannot subsist without the soule yet can the soul subsist and live and preserve it selfe in its substance after that it is separated from the body the soule is therefore so far from dying and corrupting with the body that it keepeth it alive and uncorrupt whilst it is in the body and doth live move and understand after that it is out of the body and though you see nothing but the body yet by the doing of the soul you may perceive there is a soul and what the soul is for the soul being of a spirituall nature as aforesaid and not a bodily we cannot see it in its own substance or nature nor have any knowledge thereof but by the testimony of the word and by the effects thereof Chris Well then Sir as you have beene pleased to give me some light and knowledge of the soul by the testimony of the Word so I beseech you doe your endeavour to add somewhat more to my knowledge by shewing unto me what be the effects of the soul Pres Well friend seeing you doe desire it I shall by the Lords assistance endeavour to let you see this truth more clearly by naturall reasons drawne from the effects of the soul for the truth is naturall reasons are as beames of the light of Gods Word and helps that may greatly further us in the understanding of the soules immortality 1. And therefore in the first place I beseech you take notice that if you doe consider of that eternity which was before the creation of the world your thought is not able to comprehend it but if you doe enter into consideration of times which shall still follow after us unto all eternity you shall finde your selfe better able to comprehend that and have a more cleare in-sight into it which shews that although your soul is not eternall in regard of beginning yet is it eternall and immortall in regard of end and was created to live an eternall life Secondly I pray you consider that in as much as mans soul was not created with his body as the soules of beast were and that it is not now begotten by way of ordinary generation as the soules of all living Creatures are we are thereby taught that God did not intend that any thing in nature should extinguish mans soule nor destroy it for if hee had so intended then would he have created and have ordered it to have come into men by way of ordinary generation as he hath done touching all other living Creatures that are mortall and therefore wee may hence undoubtly conclude that mans soul is immortal Thirdly I beseech you seriously to consider that the soules of beasts doe onely desire things present and their desire of some present good proceedeth not from any knowing vertue that is in them but onely from a sensible vertue for though beasts have a soule whereby they live and move yet is not their soul partaker of understanding but man naturally hath knowledge of an eternity yea and a disposition to beleeve it and to conceive it to be a good and profitable thing for him and thereupon doth he desire it as it is evident by that man naturally hath to live if it were possible alwaies There is not saith a learned Author so base a minde to be Duples truness Christ Religion found which coveteth not to live for ever and because they see by the daily examples of mortality that they themselves must dye therefore they do endevour to make their names eternall as much as may be as doth evidently appeare by their care of and love to their issue and posterity and by their endeavouring to do

FAITH In Five Fundamentall Principles Strongly Fortified against the Diabolical Atheisticall blasphemous Batteries of these Times Serving for the conviction of Opposers the satisfaction of Doubters and the Confirmation of Believers In a Conference which a godly Independant Minister and a godly Presbyterian Minister had with a doubting Christian By E. F. a seeker of the Truth 2 COR. 13. 8. We can do nothing against the truth but for the truth LONDON Printed for John Wright at the Kings Head in the old Bailey 1650. The Author to the Reader LIke as it is good Military policy when the Inhabitants of one City do heare and understand that the common enemy hath not onely assaulted but also vanquished another City within the same Dominions to use all the means they can to fortifie themselves against him even so do I conceive it to be good Christian policy when one Christian doth heare and understand that the common enemy Satan hath not onely assaulted but also vanquished the faith of others to use al the means he can to fortifie his own Therefore I being credibly given to understand that this foule Fiend hath vanquished the faith of some men touching these five Fundamentall Principles did thinke it to be good policy in me to use all the means I could to fortifie my faith in them by searching all the Magazines I could finde for the best Ammunition therein contained and to place it in the best order I could for my faith's defence And having so done considering it to be Ammunition of that nature as might be communicated to the defence of others and yet be no lesse usefull to my self I thought it my duty to make it common by committing it to the Presse But yet alas what are all these humane perswasions grounded on reason without the testimony of Gods Spirit in our hearts truly nothing Let us therefore in the reading of these things lift up our prayer to God for the powerfull work of his Spirit to seale up unto our hearts the truth of these Principles And the Lord grant our Petitions for his Mercies sake in Christ Amen FAITH in five Fundamentall PRINCIPLES INTERLOCUTORS A moderate Independant Minister A moderate Presbyterian Minister And a tempted doubting Christian Presbyterian YOu are well met good Mr. B. whither are you going so fast this way if a man may know Ind. Why truly Mr. H. I am going whither I wish you would go also and that is to meet a man whom I am perswaded is truly godly and yet by reason he hath been accustomed of late to frequent the meetings of divers erronious persons he seemeth to be somewhat tainted with divers of their erronious opinions at least to make question of divers fundamentall truths and is unsetled in his judgement and my intent in going to meet with him is to do mine indeavour to shew him the truth and settle him in the same And truly Sir if your occasions will permit you I think you shall do very well if you go with me and afford us your assistance Pres But Sir if we go shall we be sure to meet with him think you and will he be willing to confer with us Ind. Sir the man seems to be of an humble spirit and willing to see his errours and to know the truth and it is his own desire that I should meet him this day at a convenient place not far hence to answer his doubts Pres Well Sir then will I defer the businesse which I was going about till to morrow and go along with you 〈◊〉 you do desire it and spend this afternoon with you Ind. The houre he hath appointed for our meeting is one of the clock and I think it is now about that time Pres Yea indeed I think it is Ind. Well yonder 's is the place and yonder comes the man Pres Doth he meet you alone Ind. Yea so it seems Christ Oh Sir are you come according to your promise how much am I obliged unto you Ind. Yea I am not onely come my selfe but meeting with this godly Minister by the way I have desired him to come along with me Christ Sir I humbly thank you I know Mr. H. very well and he is very welcome to me Ind. Well now my loving friend if you will be pleased to propound your doubts we shall be ready to answer you as the Lord shal enable us Christ Why truly Sir as you know I hinted unto you before I have lately been where many points of Divinity have beene questioned and controverted and some of them flatly denied which hath made many scruples arise in my heart and especially about five fundamentall principles Ind. What be they I pray you Christ Why truly I am afraid to name them yet being I am in hope to receive satisfaction from you I shall adventure to tell you First that I make some question whether there be a God Secondly whether those Books which are called the Scriptures be the Word of God Thirdly Whether the Sonne and Holy Ghost be God Fourthly Whether the soule of man be immortall And fifthly Whether there shall be a resurrection of the body And to tell you the truth all these things are denied by some in whose company I have lately been Ind. Surely it is a sad and lamentable thing that men in these daies are growne to such a height of impiety as flatly to deny these fundamentall truths and so as it were to pluck up the foundation it self surely these men are meer Libertines and licentious men for as the firme and strong believing of these first Principles is the ground of our exact and even walking with God so when men do not onely question them but also flatly deny them it is the very roade way to all wickednesse and ungodlinesse it is therefore time for us that are Ministers to labour to strengthen these Principles both in our own hearts and in the hearts of others but blessed be God my friend though you make some question of them yet you do not flatly deny them so that there is much more hopes of rooting out these seeds of Atheisme out of your heart then out of theirs who flatly deny them Touching the being of the Godhead And therefore I beseech you in the first place consider that the first of these five Principles to wit That there is a God may be most clearly demonstrated by plain naturall reason for as Calvin truly saith God hath planted in all men a certain understanding of his Divine Majesty so that all men none excepted do know there is a God for indeed there is ingraven in the minds of men a certain feeling of the Godhead And to tell you truly this Doctrine That there is a God is such a Doctrine as every man is a teacher thereof unto himself even from his mothers womb yea and such a Doctrine as the first use of reason is imployed about and which nature suffereth no man to forget And although there have been some

as all the wisdome and power of man could never do it As for example If you do but consider the excellent subordination of the creatures you shall see a wonderfull order if you do but cast your eyes downward and behold the lowest creature in the earth you shall perceive that when it is wet with the dew of heaven it nourisheth the grasse and the grasse serveth to nourish the beasts and the beasts they do nourish and feed man whereby you may perceive the combination and connexion that is amongst these creatures and here you may see an order from one thing to another and all to one end all to serve man and must you not then think and conclude That man is to serve him who is the Author of this Order and that is the very same whom wee call God And if you doe but cast your eyes upward you shall perceive such an heaven so beset and furnished with Sunne Moon and Stars as no man could make And if you look into the fabrick of the world you shall in your apprehension behold one thing contrary to another the water contrary to the fire and drynesse contrary to moysture and the nature of contraries is one to destroy another and yet you may see these brought to such a comely agreement that they doe not intrench or usurpe one upon another but match together in the composing of many things The Earth you know is heavy and massie and very huge in bignesse and there is no solid thing to uphold it nor piller to support it for it is founded upon the waters and yet notwithstanding it is setled or rather hung as a Ball in the Ayre and stirreth not a whit The Sea likewise doth continually threaten the Earth and the nature thereof is to overflow the same and yet we see it passeth not its bounds now all these things considered must it not needs follow that there is a great and soveraigne power which over-ruleth all these things who maketh them thus to keepe their order and who can that be but onely the God of Order Thus my loving friend you see that the whole world with all that is therein is a plaine booke laid open to all men yea even for Children to reade and as it were to spell God therein the consideration whereof caused one learned man Avicen to say that he who acknowledgeth not a God-head is void not onely of reason but also of sence yea and caused another learned man to Duples say that all men ought to be forbidden to call the being of a God into question upon paine of being men any more Many other lively Characters of the Godhead stamped upon the Creatures might be held forth for the further confirmation thereof but hoping that by this time you are convinced of this truth I will proceed no further therein at this time Chris Indeed Sir I am so convinced for I know not how to contradict what you have said and therefore I pray you proceed to the next point namely to prove that the Scriptures are the word of God Touching the Scriptures being the word of God Pres WEll Sir in my judgement you have done exceeding well touching this point And I hope not onely done him good but me also for though I doe beleeve that there is a God yet I hope the hearing of these your arguments will be a meanes to strengthen this my beliefe and confirme this conclusion and adde more to this my assent But now Sir to the intent that he may perceive that those whom they call Independent Ministers and those whom they call Presbyterian Ministers doe not differ but agree in these Fundamentals let me crave leave to speake to the next point Inde With a very good will Sir I beseech you doe Pres Well then my good friend I would pray you and beseech you as you tender the everlasting welfare of your soule to be perswaded in your heart that those Bookes which are called the Scriptures are the only word of that one God which Mr. B. hath I hope throughly convinced you of and that they are that onely writing whereby he hath shewed even from the beginning after what manner hee will be worshipped and served 1 And that I may with arguments also convince you of this truth I doe in the first place beseech you seriously to consider that these Bookes are more ancient then any History in the world I tell you truely that all Historians have beene forced to confesse that the writings of Moses w●re before all other writings and that the very latest of our old Testament writers are of more antiquity then the ancientest Authors amongst the Heathen Have you not read how Eupolimus in his booke of the Kings of Iury saith that Moses taught Letters to the Iewes the Iewes to the Venetians and the Venetians to the Greeks also Diodorus of Sicilia saith that hee understood by the Egyptians that Moses was the first Law-giver of all now the learned doe agree that the antiquity of the Scripture doth shew and prove both the trunesse and divineness of them 2 And I would also in the second place intreat you seriously to consider that the majesty and authority of the great God of heaven doth wonderfully appeare in the manner of the delivery of his minde in these bookes no proeme is there used but thus saith the Lord no reason is rendred but I the Lord have spoken it So that they doe require credit to be given to the matter onely because the Lord hath spoken it the duty of every man is therein required without respect of person the King and Ruler is there told his duty aswell as the Subject judgements are there threatned against the Rich man as well as against the Poore there are duties prescribed to the inner man as well as to the out-ward man they require obedience in heart as well as obedience in life they prescribe lawes to the thoughts to which no man can pierce they forbid lusting and coveting which no writing of man doth Now who can prescribe lawes to the heart and thoughts but onely he who knowes the heart and thoughts and that is God onely And in the third place I would also be-beseech you seriously to consider that the matter contained in those bookes which wee call the Scriptures doth wholly tend to the exalting of God and debacing of man the power wisedome justice and mercy of God is abundantly set forth in these bookes and so is mans vanity and weaknesse yea the greatest sinnes and foulest faults of Gods own people are there left upon record yea the penmen of these bookes were so void of all carnall affections in their writings that they neither spared themselves nor their dearest and nearest friends in their writings an example whereof you may see in Moses Numb 27. 13. 14. Deut. 32. 51. Exod. 6. 20. Num. 12. 1. And also in the Apostle Paul 1 Tim. 1. 13. from whence we may truely frame this