Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	spiritual_a	worship_n	worship_v	1,653	5	9.0507	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54129	A defence of a paper, entituled, Gospel-truths against the exceptions of the Bishop of Cork's testimony by W. Penn	Penn, William, 1644-1718.; Penn, William, 1644-1718. Gospel-truths. aut; Wettenhall, Edward, 1636-1713. Testimony of the Bishop of Cork. aut	1698 (1698)	Wing P1274; ESTC R218266	58,772	142

A DEFENCE Of a PAPER Entituled GOSPEL-TRVTHS Against the EXCEPTIONS OF THE BISHOP of CORK'S Testimony By W. Penn. The Second Edition Printed in the Year 1698. THE PREFACE Reader IT was the Wise Counsel of an Ancient and Great Prelate of the Kingdom of Ireland at a late Visit I made him there to discourage Controversie and endeavour to abate Strife among Christians For said he Heaven is a Quiet Place there are no Quarrels there and Religion is a Holy and Peaceable Thing and Excites to Piety and Charity and not to Genealogies Strife and Debates But the Bishop of Cork seems to be of another Mind that could not pass by so Inoffensive a Paper as that Stiled Gospel-Truths given him by me in a Private Way at a Friendly Visit upon his own Desire without his Publick Animadversions and those Exprest not with so much Justice and Charity as might have been expected from him to his Dissenting Neighbours I am I confess very sorry my Christian Visits to the Bishop have met with no Better Returns than Controversie But because that 's his and not my fault it shall be my Satisfaction I did indeed Perceiving him Conversant in our Writings and his Character to be Moderation casually Present him with one of those Papers but as the Nature of it is Far from Provocation so my design in it was purely to Improve his Temper and not to Excite his Contradiction Nor was it Writ for an Exact and Compleat Account of our Belief but Occasionally to prevent the Prejudices that the Attempts of a Course and Scurrilous Pen at Dublin just before might provoke in some against us as to the Points touched upon in the Gospel-Truths And though we have been so Unhappy as to be therein Mistaken by the Bishop yet it 's some Comfort to Us that our Christian Declaration hath had quite another Reception with the Generality of those to whose Hands it has come And I heartily wish That hath not been the most prevailing Motive to his Undertaking However since he has been pleased to fault it both with Shortness and Error which we thought Healing at least Inoffensive I esteem my self Answerable for it and shall with God's Assistance Defend it against the Force of his Exceptions and I hope with Clearness and Temper For though I may be plain as he may expect I desire to be neither Rude nor Bitter I ask Reader but the Common Justice due to all Authors especially in Controverted Points of Religion to wit Attention and Impartiality and then judge whether our Pacifick Paper deserved so Sharp a Censure and the Manner of its being given him so Publick a Return Though I hope the Consequence will be Good To Almighty God I leave the Success and am in all Christian Obligation Thy Assured Friend W. Penn. Bristol the 23d of the 7th Month 1698. GOSPEL-TRUTHS Held and briefly Declared by the People called QUAKERS for Satisfaction of Moderate Enquirers SOBER READER IF thou hadst rather we should be in the Right than in the Wrong and if thou thinkest it but a Reasonable Thing that we should be Heard before we are Condemned and that our Belief ought to be taken from our own Mouths and not at theirs that have prejudged our Cause then we intreat thee to Read and Weigh the following Brief Account of those Things that are chiefly Received and Professed among us the People called Quakers according to the Testimony of the Scriptures of Truth and the Illumination of the Holy Ghost which are the Double and Agreeing Record of True Religion Published to Inform the Moderate Enquirer and Reclaim the Prejudic'd to a better Temper which GOD grant to his Glory and their Peace I. It is our Belief that GOD Is and that He is a Rewarder of all them that fear Him with Eternal Rewards of Happiness and that those that fear him not shall be turned into Hell Heb. 11. 6. Rev. 22. 12. Rom. 2. 5 6 7 8. Psal 9. 17. II. That there are Three that bear Record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Spirit and these Three are really One 1. John 5. 7. III. That the Word was made Flesh and dwelt among Men and was and is the only Begotten of the Father full of Grace and Truth His Beloved Son in whom he is well pleased and whom we are to hear in all things who tasted Death for every Man and Dyed for Sin that we might Die to Sin and by his Power and Spirit be raised up to Newness of Life here and to Glory hereafter John 1. 14. Matth. 3. 17. Heb. 2. 9. IV. That as we are only Justified from the Guilt of Sin by Christ the Propitiation and not by Works of Righteousness that we have done so there is an absolute Necessity that we receive and obey to unfeigned Repentance and Amendment of Life the holy Light and Spirit of Jesus Christ in order to obtain that Remission and Justification from Sin Since no Man can be Justified by Christ who walks not after the Spirit but after the Flesh for whom he Sanctifies them ●e also Justifies And if we walk in the Light as he is Light his precious Blood ●leanseth us from all Sin as well from the Pollution as Guilt of Sin Rom. 3. 22. to 26. Chap. 8. 1 2 3 4. 1 John 5. 7. V. That Christ is die Great Light of the World that lighteth every Man that cometh into the World and is full of Grace and Truth and giveth to all Light for Light and Grace for Grace and by his Light and Grace he Inwardly Appears to Man and teaches such as will be taught by him That Denying Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts they should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World John 8. 12. Chap. 1. 9 ●14 Tit. 2. 11 12. VI. That this Principle of Light and Grace which is GOD's Gift through Christ to Man is that which shews us our Sins Reproves us for them and would Lead all all out of them that obey it to serve GOD in Fear and Love all their Days And they that turn not at the Reproofs thereof and will not Repent and Live and Walk according to it shall die in their Sins and where Christ is gone they shall never come who is Undefiled and separated from Sinners Ephes 5. 13. John 16. 7. Prov. 1. 20. to 24. John 8. 24. VII This is that Principle by which GOD prepares the Heart to worship him aright and all the Duties of Religion as Praying Praising and Preaching ought to be performed through the sanctifying Power and Assistance of It other Worship being but Formal and Will-Worship with which we cannot in Conscience joyn nor can we maintain or uphold It. Rom. 8. 26. 1 Pet. 4. 10 11. VIII Worship in this Gospel-Day is Inward and Spiritual For GOD is a Spirit as Christ teacheth and he will Now be worshiped in Spirit and Truth being most suitable to his Divine Nature wherefore we wait in our Assemblies to feel GOD's

God The Nature of it is to Discover Sin Reprove for It and Lead out of It all such as Love and Obey the Convictions thereof It is a Principle of Divine Life that Quickens the Obedient Heart to Newness of Life It Raises the Mind above the World to God and searches out and reveals the Deep things of God to the humble and waiting Soul And be it known to the Bishop and all that with him profess Ignorance about what we mean by the Light of Christ within Man This is It I have been treating of and I have writ I bless Almighty God My own Experience the Taste and Relish I have had of Its Excellency and Sufficiency in the Course of far the greater and best part of my Life But the Bishop must excuse me if I say I ●annot but take it very Ill at his hands to ●orbid us in his following Words to pretend ●o give an Account of what we Believe unless ●e can make him understand our meaning And ●ecause he does not penetrate our Sense to ●all our way of Wording that blessed Prin●iple of the Light of Christ in Man a Per●ect Banter This to me is one of the seve●est Persecutions because Spiritual things ●re only to be Spiritually discerned and un●erstood I would fain know how a Rege●erate Man can possibly make a Carnal Man understand the New Birth It is cer●ainly the Gift of God to understand Divine Truths as well as Rightly to Believe So that supposing our Assertion of the Nature Power and Excellency of the Light of Christ in Man to be true not to have leave to say so unless we could make every Man rightly take our Sence and Meaning whether he be Spiritually Discerning or not looks Antichristian as well as Unreasonable We speak Wisdom says the Apostle among them that are perfect 1 Cor. 7. 6. It seems others understand him not must He therefore not have wrote of the things of God The very Preaching of the Gospel was Foolishness to the Wiselings of Jews and Greeks they could make neither Head nor Tail of It by Their way of Judging of Truth Must not the Gospel therefore be preach'd When the Apostle Paul preach'd to the Athenians some of the Men of the Gown the Philosophers of that Time Opposed and Despised him saying What will this Babbler say But had they known what he meant we cannot think they would have said so to Him Wa● the Aposlte then or the Athenians in faul● that they did not understand Him Or was it Bantering as well as Babbling because he did not make them understand his meaning which is only the Work of the Holy Ghost to do Who was it I pray tha● said The World by Wisdom knew not God And can we suppose any thing else blinded the Scribes and Pharisees and the High-Priest of the Jews from discerning the Messiah when He came For they wanted not Academical Learning if that could have enlightned them nor yet the Scriptures but they Resisted the Holy Ghost their only True Interpreter and so stumbled and fell Let the Bishop also have a Care In the Second Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians he will find that the A●ostle spake the Wisdom of God in a My●tery which the Prinees of this World knew ●ot with all their Wisdom For the things ●f God fays the Apostle knoweth no Man but the Spirit of God by which those Christians knew those things that were freely given to them of God Which thing also we speak says He not in the Words which Mans Wisdom teacheth but which the Holy Ghost teachetb comparing Spiritual things with Spiritual But the Natural Man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him Neither can he know them because they are Spiritually discerned Now according to the Bishops treatment of us the Apostle ought not to have writ of Faith and Salvation unless he could have made all that read his Writings understand his Meaning And it must be a perfect Banter to talk of speaking Wisdom in a Mystery and not in the Terms that Man's Wisdom teacheth But the Lord Jesus Christ was of another Mind when he said I thank thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth because thou hast hid these things the Truths of the Kingdom from the Wise and Prudent and Reveal'd them unto Babes Even so Father for so it seem'd Good in thy sight It is hence beyond all Dispute that God hideth the Mysteries of His Kingdom from the Wisdom of Man when Simplicity and Sincerity fail not to Reach and Understand them Here it was that poor Nicodemus was absolutely at a loss for Christ's meaning when Christ said Unless a Man be born again he can in no wise enter the Kingdom of God John 3. Insomuch as he asked Christ upon his Discourse of the New Birth How can these things be At which Christ seems to admire in a sort of Reproof upon Nicodemus Art thou a Master of Israel and knowest not these things As much as to say Art thou a Man of thy Station in the Church of God Ignorant of the Way to Heaven Whoever reads that notable Interview between Christ and Nicodemus will find that Christ resolves the Matter into Two Births That which is Born of the Flesh and That which is Born of the Spirit and these are Contrary And therefore no wonder if they differ in their Understanding of the Holy Scriptures being a Declaration of the Faith and Experience as well as Doctrine and Practice of the Servants of God that were Enlightned and Born of the Holy Ghost Nor is this all for they that are Born of the Flesh Persecute them that are Born after the Spirit So that when they can no longer commit Violence upon their Persons and Estates they will Persecute them with their Tongues and Pens They are Hereticks Blasphemers Illiterate and Ignorant yet Presumptuous Enemies to Caesar and Disobedient to Government if they will not give God's due unto Man viz. Conscience And if they choose to deliver themselves in Scripture Stile and speak earnestly of the Necessity of the Work of the Spirit of God in order to an Experimental and Saving Knowledge of the Truth declared in Holy Scripture and that Christ's Ministers are made by the Holy Ghost and not by Humane Learning and that the Worship which is acceptable to God must be in the Spirit and in the Truth that is with Clean Hearts and Right Spirits Kindl'd and Inflam'd with the Holy Spirit of God They must be called Enthusiasts Unintelligible Men of Cant and Banter And here I leave the Bishop upon this Paragraph desiring him to Consider whether his Knowledge of God the Father and Jesus Christ whom rightly to know is Life Eternal John 17 be by the Revelation of the Son of God in his own Soul since Christ himself Teacheth and Affirmeth that no Man knows the Father but the Son and He to whom the Son Reveals Him I should be glad

us to take his Advertisement that our Liberty hangs but by slender Threads and a Reason of State and not of Nature Right or Christianity which certainly is not to bespeak this Considerable Party to the advantage of the Government And for which I think the Bishop a very moderate States-man and the Government as little beholding to his Politicks as we are to his Charity However we will have a better Opinion of our Superiors Regards to Liberty and conclude that their Inclination equals their Discretion and that their Judgment as well as Prudence is of that side Let the Bishop say what he pleases And tho' he deserves it not at my Hands I could almost perswade my self to think that he does not begrudge us and means not so loosly as he writes But be it as it will That God that has upheld us by hit free Spirit to this Day through many and great Afflictions we firmly believe will suffer nothing to attend us that shall not in the Conclusion work for his Glory and our Good if we continue stedfast to the End in the blessed way of Righteousness wherein he has so often and signally Owned and Preserved us notwithstanding the Violence of Open Enemies and the Treacherous and Restless Endeavours of False Friends His 16th Paragraph multiplies Reflection as before observed and Repeats what I have already largely answered particularly that we own the Christian Faith which he makes us to Wave Suppress or at least not to Confess and have express'd it even in the Paper he has faulted so much of Shortness and that more fully in all Points than in the Creed commonly called the Athenasian except that about the Trinity which seems to me less plain by that Copious way taken to explain It. He also says We Reject all Outward Positive Parts of Worship which we deny For we own and use Prayer Preaching and Praising in the Spirit without which they cannot be Owned or Joined with for they cannot be so performed to Edification by a true Christian Worshipper since God who is a Spirit will be Worshipped in Spirit and in Truth which Christ's Spirit must enable us to perform And such Worshippers Only God the Father seeks to Worship him Implying he regards not other Worshippers But Especially the Bishop says we reject Baptism and the Supper We say we do not Reject but Disuse the Signs because we felt the Invisible Graces in our Souls they were Signs and Shadows of and therefore not in Disrespect to the Signs but in Reverence to the Divine Substance they shew forth we discontinue their use among us They obtain'd place in the Infancy and Twi-light of the Church in her more weak and Ceremonious time directing as I may say that Inter-regnum between the Law and Gospel before the Dispensation of the Holy Ghost had Fully obtained Place and Preheminence in the Church But of this I have been already very particular He grows warm in his 17th Paragraph and Episcopal for he says In a word I again Require you as you will answer all your Secret Arts and Pretensions at Christ's Tribunal that you either Embrace and Profess the Entire Christian Truth in the Points wherein I have shewn you to be Defective and that you receive the Christian Seals or Badges Baptism and the Lord's Supper or else that you Desist to lay claim to the Name of Christians But first I must return the Bishop his Secret Arts and Pretensions In all which he is Greviously Mistaken For either I do not understand his meaning or I abhor it Next be it known to him we Wave not we Suppress not but heartily Embrace and Profess before the whole World all Points of Christian Doctrine according to the mind of the Holy Ghost as I have amply signified before upon this subject And where the Bishop takes leave of the Text he must excuse me if I leave him to keep company with it We did not Entitle our Paper All Gospel-Truths but Gospel-Truths which extended so far as we were Tax'd with Error about those Truths And yet he must have but a little Charity that will not allow a Believer and Follower of those Truths to be a Christian Nor indeed has the Bishop given us the Articles of Faith he says we Wave or Suppress or told us his own or that One Churches Faith he would have us receive as I have Complained already But that the Bishop should forbid us so much as to lay claim to the Name of Christians unless we will Practice what he calls the Seals or Badges of Christianity which divers Churches in Christendom think he misuses is very Uncharitable and Dogmatical But besides what I have said at large in our Excuse and Defence in that Matter he produces not one Scripture that calls them either Seals or Badges But yet there are other things that are so represented by our blessed Saviour and his Apostles which he takes no notice of As Mat. 16. 24. where they that will he reputed Christ's Disciples must take up his Cross and follow him Christ's Cross is a Christians Badge and Seal of Discipleship Again John 13. 35. He said to his Disciples By this shall all Men know that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another Likewise Mat. 25. 34 35 36. The Distinguishing Character of the last Day is not Water Baptism and the Outward Supper but Love Mercy and Compassion Bowels and Charity not being Ashamed or Afraid of Owning and Helping the Lord's Servants in their Afflictions viz. I was an Hungry and ye gave Me Meat I was Thirsty and ye gave Me Drink I was a Stranger and ye took Me in Naked and ye Cloathed Me I was Sick and ye visited Me I was in Prison and ye came unto Me. This is the Christian Badge that will be Recognized by our Lord Jesus Christ at the last day We have his own Word for It. In all which He is so far from mentioning either of the other Badges that Luke 13. He brings in the Unhappy that are on his left hand using this Argument to engage him to receive them into blessedness viz. We have Eaten and Drank in thy Presence and thou hast taught in our Streets A plain Instance they had the use of such Ordinances as the Bishop reputes Badges of Christianity but it is as plain that such Pleas would not do For behold the Lord Jesus says unto them in the Parable I know you not depart from me ye workers of Iniquity I recommend the perusal of the following Verses to my Reader which confirm my sense of the Text For He spoke to an outside People that counted themselves the People of God and were observers of Meats and Drinks and Divers Washings And that which was Doctrine and Caution then is Doctrine and Caution now for Truth holds the same to the End I might add Holiness for a Characteristick without which no Man shall ever see the Lord And that neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor