Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	saviour_n	spirit_n	worship_v	2,314	5	9.2452	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47436	A discourse concerning the inventions of men in the worship of God by William Lord Bishop of Derry ...	King, William, 1650-1729.	1694 (1694)	Wing K528; ESTC R9667	85,542	194

in thine Heart that God hath raised Him from the Dead thou shalt be saved For with the Heart Man believes unto Righteousness and with the Mouth Confession is made unto salvation To profess solemnly that we expect no Happiness but from the good pleasure of God and that we freely acquiesce in his Provisions for us is no small Evidence of the submission of our Minds to God and upon that account may be reckoned an Instance of External Worship and accordingly many of the Psalms contain such Confessions 3. You sit generally at your Publick Prayers 4. At the holy Sacrament you sit not only whilst you Receive but likewise at the Thanksgiving and Blessing before and your Directory imposes this posture on Communicants tho' contrary to Holy Scripture in respect of that part that concerns the Prayer and Thanksgiving and without any Command or so much as Example from Scripture in respect of the sitting at the time of Receiving 5. Too many of your perswasion condemn us who conform to God's Word in these particulars as guilty of Superstition and endeavour to render our Conformity ridiculous not being content to lay aside the Commands of God themselves but endeavouring likewise to condemn and scoff at the Observation of them in Vs. In short I entreat you to consider That you have not any one Visible Act of Adoration amongst you in your Assemblies except we reckon in this Number That your Men Vncover their Heads at Prayer and yet even this is not required by your Directory III. And now let me a while Examine calmly with you the Pretences I have met with for laying aside this part of God's Worship for it is not probable that any would banish Adoration out of their Assemblies and alledge no Reason for their doing so 1. First therefore I find that place of Scripture produced to this purpose John iv 24 God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth Some think that all Bodily Worship is here forbidden and that only the Worship of the Spirit or Mind is required of us under the Gospel Upon this some have declared against all Churches or separate places for Worship Others are against all Bodily VVorship Others against all Sacraments Others against all Vocal Prayers Praises and Thanksgivings And even in the Apostle's time some were against all Visible Assemblies And indeed if we understand this place as some do that all Bodily Worship is excluded by it and that it is sufficient to Worship God in our Spirits or Minds only I do not see but all these are in the right and those who pretend to be above Ordinances and worship God no-where are most conformable to this Rule and next to them the silent Meetings of the Quakers without Sacraments without Vocal Prayers or Praises are the most spiritual service For if other Dissenters think Bodily Worship such as Bowing Kneeling c. Unlawful or Unnecessary because they are Acts of the Body and unfit on that account to be offered to God who is a Spirit why may not the Quakers omit the Sacraments and the Words of the Mouth which are Outward Things as well as the other Nay why should not outward Teaching or Preaching cease Since the Spirit is a sufficient Teacher and has promised us Heb. viii 10 I will put my Laws into their Minds and write them in their Hearts Vers. 11. And they shall not teach every Man his Neighbour and every Man his Brother c. The Principle and Reasoning is the same in all these and will justifie the Silent Meetings of the Quakers nay the Extravagance of Those that pretend to be above all Ordinances as well as the Irreverence of other Dissenters But we ought to interpret Scripture so as one place may not contradict another and since the Holy Scriptures shew us that God requires our Vocal Prayers and Praises our Visible Sacraments and Adoration we ought not to interpret worshiping in the Spirit so as to exclude these but rather conclude that they may be offered up to God in such a manner as to become proper for spiritual VVorship or God would never have required them When therefore our Saviour represents the Worship He taught the World as a Worship in Spirit and Truth his meaning doubtless is not to exempt us from worshiping his Father with our Bodies whereof He Himself has given us an Example but to teach us That the Outward Acts of Worship that we pay to God are only Acceptable to Him when they proceed from and are accompanied with a hearty submission of our Souls and that every Act is more or less Acceptable as it has more or less of our Hearts and Affections in it But that Circumstances of place and the like give us no Advantage and are of no value towards making our Worship Acceptable This meaning of the words directly answers our Saviour's design which was to shew the Samaritan Woman that the time was coming that the Worship offered to God under the Gospel would be nothing more acceptable for being offered at Jerusalem or Mount-Gerezim or any other place But the Heart being right all places were alike Which was directly contrary to the Jewish Law that allowed no Sacrifice or Oblation to be acceptable to God that was not offered at the Temple and consequently their Worship derived its acceptance from the place and not from the Heart alone of him that offered it We affirm therefore as our Saviour has here taught us that it is only from the Heart or Spirit that our Worship becomes acceptable to God and that the time or place where it is offered contributes nothing to our acceptance But that in whatever place at whatever time in whatsoever posture we offer up our Spirits and Hearts to God we are accepted by him But then we say likewise a Man who neglects the Assemblies of Christians cannot have a good Heart towards God because he breaks his Command that such as do not take care to provide a convenient and decent place and set it apart for Christians to meet and to perform God's Worship in cannot have a value for it that such as neglect the Holy Sacraments want Faith in His promises as well as Obedience to His Commands and that those who neglect to Worship him with their Body and to pay outward Reverence and Adoration when they come into his presence must want inward submission of their minds because they do not approach as he requires If a Man truly Worship God in his Spirit it will oblige him if able to perform these outward Acts and if he be not able God doth not require them It is in this as in Faith Jam. ii 18 A Man may say Thou hast Faith and I have Works Shew me thy Faith without thy Works and I will shew thee my Faith by my Works After the same manner a Man may say Thou Worshipest God inwardly in Heart and Spirit and I Worship him outwardly and in