Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A41561
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Some observations upon the keeping the thirtieth of January, and twenty ninth of May by J.G.G.
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Gailhard, J. (Jean)
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1694
(1694)
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Wing G129; ESTC R17606
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41,903
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64
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and often leave the Body for the Shadow like those Jews who trusted in lying words Jer. 7.4 saying The Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord. One of the chief remote Causes of this is the Inconsiderateness of Parents which except it be removed we can in reason have no great hopes of mending If they have one Son they sometimes intend him for a Way which he is neither fit for nor inclined to If they have many then such an one must be a Soldier the other a Lawyer and the third a Divine when it may be he who is intended for the Law is fittest for a Soldier and the Soldier for Divinity when they ought to consult with the Genius and Capacity of all and observe that which is more proper for every one As for those who are appointed for the Study of Divinity there must be a farther regard than meerly to put them in a way of getting their Livelihood as if they were put to a Trade Such Thoughts do often pass from Parents into the Minds of young Men who do not examine themselves whether or not they have an inward Call a Disposition and Inclination of Soul to that high Trust Whether they can in some degree answer the Duty of the Place take care of Souls which they are to give God an account of * Ezek. 33.6 8. Whose Blood if lost for want of warning shall be required at their hands 2 Cor. 4.1 2. They are Stewards of the Ministry of God who ought to be found faithful they must prepare some time * Verse 9. to be made a Spectacle unto the World and to Angels and to Men and as it were appointed to Death They are †Eph. 6.20 God's Ambassadors and consequently ought to be true to his Honour and Interest and punctually to follow their Commission And saith the same Apostle * 2 Cor. 2.16 Who is sufficient for these things Hence for want of a due Consideration come our ‖ Zech. 11.17 Idol-Shepherd and †Isa 56.10 11. Dumb Dogs as the Scripture calls them Yea greedy Dogs which can never have enough Though to some this Discourse may prove like a Digression yet 't is not really so but to the purpose for it leads us to one of the Springs whence does arise the Disorders we speak against If I allow a thing which 't is my duty and in my power in some degree to oppose I thereby become guilty of and accessary to the Guilt that comes from it Our great Clergy-men ought at that time humbly to have addressed against appointing days on such occasions and not promoted it and penned Rubricks as they did they wanted Zeal for the Honour of God When King Vzziah would have come and sacrificed the Priests withstood him 2 Chron. 26.18 So Ambrosius in Milan did shut the Church-doors upon Theodosius I am very far to have such Examples made Presidents yet on such occasions the least that could be expected from Men of that Character was to lie still and not to act if Erastianism and Interest had not been their Fundamental Rule How ill soever it was things were done and 't is not these words Our Will and Pleasure is to have the Rubrick for the Thirtieth of January and Twenty ninth of May used c. C. R. which alone may stamp an Authority as to the Lawfulness of the same in relation to Civil things I shall not take upon me to determine though I thank God 't is not here an usual stile to say Such is Our Pleasure But it doth altogether lose its strength when it comes to the Worship of God And I say this for a Rule That if all the Men in the World were all together under what Notion soever neither their Authority nor their Wit would make that be Good and Lawful which is Bad and Unlawful though I know the difference how some things are such in their Nature and others so by Accident However that which was done we cannot hinder from being done there is no remedy for that which is past only for the future let it be prevented That which is due to God must not be made over to the Creature I hope unbiassed Men out of what hath been said will be convinced of the Unreasonableness and Unlawfulness of keeping such days in such a manner and upon such an account During the two last Reigns both Kings were concerned so it was not to be expected they would have been induced to discontinue the Observation thereof But now they are gone and 't is to be wished they have not left behind them so much of that Spirit that possessed them as to make People Obstinate in retaining that Superstitious Custom The late Happy Revolution will 't is hoped make in time a Change in this so as to have it laid aside there being now no Awe nor Temptation to induce Men to persist in it but only Ignorance Blindness and Superstition It cannot be found in the Old or New Testament that ever any Anniversary Holiday Fasting or Feasting was Instituted on the behalf of any Man dead or alive though God made use of several to work great Deliverances or to suffer and be Martyrs for his Truth No set days for Moses Joshua Sampson though great Deliverers nor for the Death of Isaiah Zechariah and so many other Prophets and Apostles put to death Holidays belong to God alone him alone they ought to regard without any Squint-eye towards the Creature the Lord is a Jealous God who will not have in his House mixed with his Worship any thing that seems to look towards Man the Practise of the contrary is a Branch of Heathenish and Popish Superstition if not Idolatry Few words more I shall add to shew the Sinfulness of this and then proceed in General to lay open the Unlawfulness of all such Formalities out of Scripture Reason and Authority But before I proceed further I must make a short stop to say something to vindicate what in few lines before I asserted and in answer to something that is said to justifie the Practise of the Thirtieth of January I say nothing can be found in the Word of God to ground this upon First of all they must own there is nothing to countenance it in the New Testament Newman in his Sermon P. 4 5 6. or else they would let us hear of it As to the Old they would endeavour to draw it out of three several cases the first is that of Saul the second of Josiah and the third of Gedaliah As to the first it seems they lay a great stress upon it for two of them and may be more for what I know Dr. Burch and Mr. Newman on the last Thirtieth of January took their Text out of it The case is thus In the Battel in Mount Gilboa between Israel and the Philistines Saul and his three Sons were killed his Sons by the Philistines and he