Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	work_v	world_n	worship_n	61	3	6.5702	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A77366	A sermon preached before the Honourable House of Commons, at their publique fast, Novemb. 29. 1643. By VVilliam Bridge, sometimes fellow of Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge, now preacher of Gods Word at Yarmouth.	Bridge, William, 1600?-1670.	1643 (1643)	Wing B4465; Thomason E79_11; ESTC R13662	28,626	38

build in both his house and walls of the City The Ecclesia tunc semper fu●t optima quando agebat inte pessi●os Luth. Churches have alwayes lost most in times of peace and gained most in times of trouble Whilest the 10. Persecutions conti●ued the integrity of the Church●s was best preserved The Psalmist saith Send out thy light and thy truth O Lord Psal 43. 4. and let them leade me unto thine Altar There is no going unto Gods Altar with worship without the leading hand of truth and there is no building Gods house for an Altar without light When God made the world he first made light on the first day as an example unto us in all our workes to work by light Now light and truth do break forth much in troublous times 1. Troublous times are praying times and praying times Reas 1 are knowing times Prov. 2. 3 4 5. If thou cryest after knowledge and liftest up thy voyce for understanding if thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for hid treasures then shalt thou understand the feare of the Lord and finde the knowledge of God 2. In troublous times mens hearts are most low and Reas 2 h●mbled and so more apt and ready to receive and to be led into any truth You read in Esa 11. that God promiseth that in the latter times the whole earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord and in the verses a little before it is said of the Lion and the young Lion that a child shall lead them these two go well together but the stout Lion-like spirit will never be led by the hand of a sucking child till it be brought down and low by troublous time 3. In troublous times God is pleased to communicate Reas 3 himself more freely to his people God is not unto his in affliction as at other times he is most sweet when the world is most bitter It is with a Nation Church● people in their reformation as with a person in his first conversion because of those many temptations that a converting person is to conflict withall God doth more abundantly reveal and communicate himself unto him at his first conversion so with a reforming people because of those many oppositions that they shall meet withall in that work God doth then more then ordinarily communicate himself unto them Thus troublous times do bring forth light and truth God loveth to have a sacrifice from the hands of the children of Abraham out of the thickets and bryars Opposition commendeth reformation in troublous times there is much opposition and therefore in those times reformation is very beautifull The Doctrine is clear then the application easie Thus. Hence we may all see and know what is the work of the App 〈…〉 times even to measure the Temple Now for a long while we have had experience of the first Vision and we have felt the hornes the rising of the carpenters we have seen also And who may not say I have lift up mine eyes and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand Blessed be God that we have lived to see this day to see a man stand with a measuring line in his hand in England And who ever you are that heare me this day you are either such as have this measuring line in your hands or else such as are to be measured If you have the measuring line in your hands then remember this Doctrine the first Proposition Stones of Reformation are to be laid with most exactnesse Herein if you be exact you shall be like unto Jesus Christ who as Salmeron observeth when he came to purge the Temple did not onely admonish chide reprove the money-changers or whip them away but did overthrow their very Tables Ne impium opus facile repeterent Lest they should recover their trade Sac●●dot●● in Templ● 〈…〉 dentes su●●●●gellorum d●g 〈…〉 S●l●ner in Joan. 3. againe In other things you are very exact men are exact in their trades exact in their accounts exact in their reckonings exact in their diet exact in their sleep exact in their haire both of head and face In small things you are exact and will you not be exact in this greatest You know what other Reformed Churches have done the Reformation of all other Churches are round about you you have their writings before you their books their practices their examples and this for many yeeres can you think that God hath set us now for an hundred yeeres upon their shoulders to see no farther into Reformation then they have done If two men be to do the same work the one first and the other after he that doth it first though he doth it never so well yet will excuse himself and say I never saw he work done before me I was faine to invent my very tooles and instruments and you will excuse him though there be some fayling in him But when the second man commeth to the same work that hath a former example and all his tooles to help him you expect more exactnes from him You know my meaning I need not apply this Oh that our God would make England the praise of the whole earth Nothing will do it but our exactnes in reformation Certainly this reformation that is now on foot hath as I may speake with reverence cost our God very dear the liberties the estates the lives and bloods of many of his deare children of whom the world was not worthy Do you think God will lay out all this for an imperfect unexact poor and low reformation Let me present you with the prophesy of Bishop Hooper who when he was in prison called his Printer to him and said You shal out-live these Marian times and see the alteration of the present religion when the Gospel shall be freely preached wherefore remember me to my brethren as well in exile as others and bid them be circumspect in displacing of Popish Priests and put good Ministers in Churches or else their end will be worse then ours He said be circumspect I say be exact And though I do not wish that every morning there might be a boy crying at your doors as once at Philips Mortalises thou art mortall thou art mortall for that the Drum doth sufficiently every morning yet I could wish that this sentence might be sounding in your hearts every morning and night that it might lie down with you and rise with you stones of reformation are to be laid with most exactnes But how shall that be Quest Thus. 1. Be sure of this that you take the right line into Answ your hands Gods word it is our line able to reach unto all particular affaires of the Churches Mistake me not I pray A Church is considered two wayes As a meeting of people men and women O● as a Church meeting a meeting of Saints apparent Beleevers coe●us sidelium I doe not say that the Word is to be the onely line and

course and turne been vexatious to the people of God It is no new thing for the Saints and Churches to be pushed gored scattered by cruell and beastly enemies Yea the Churches may be so afflicted with enemies that a man shall not know whither to fly for safety for in every part of the world there shall be some opposers I saw foure hornes misery and calamity and persecution arising out of every part VERSE 19. And I said to the Angel that talked with me c. This Angel by Interpreters is said to be Christ himself the Angel of the Covenant who is the best Interpreter of Heavenly visions and of hard Scriptures When we understand them not we should search make enquiry and go to Christ saying as Zechariah here What are these Lord And he answered me these are the hornes which have scattered Iudah Israel and Ierusalem The enemies of the Churches are not said here to have wounded or killed Iudah Israel or Ierusalem but ventilarunt they have tossed them up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it were into the aire they have scattered saith the English It is the proper work of the enemies of the Churches to scatter Gods people The Disciples of Christ are commanded to be without hornes Be wise as Serpents and innocent as Doves the word in the Greek is without hornes as Doves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but here the enemies are said to sccatter Iudah Israel and Ierusalem that is their work and property VER 20. And the Lord shewed me foure Carpenters The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is such Agents and Instruments as do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fabricavit work with art counsell and deliberation Though the enemies of the Churches be unreasonable and cruell as horned beasts yet the instruments that God rayseth up to suppresse them are full of humanity wisdome and counsell and they are foure too a proportionable strength VER 21. Then said I What come these to do And he spake saying These are come to fray them away and to cast out the hornes of the Gentiles Look how they dealt by Gods people so God will deale by them they scattered Israel and the God of Israel will raise up instruments that shall scatter them they cast out Gods people and they shall be cast out Scattering enemies shal be scattered themselves at last CHAP. 2. VER 1. I lift up mine eyes again Here is another vision brought to the same purpose in generall to uphold and comfort the distressed s●rvants of God When the the condition of the Saints is low and their fear●s great there is need of repeating comforts Then visions promises and consolations must be oft repeated I lift up mine eyes again And I looked and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand That is for to build exactly The second verse tells us it was for to measure Jerusalem which cannot barely be understood litt●rally for ver 16. of Chap. 1. It is said I am returned to Ierusalem with mercies saith the Lord my house shall be built in it and a line shall be stretched forth upon Ierusalem c. which promise in its latitude was never yet fulfilled litterally but it is to be understood of the New Jerusalem especially mentioned in Revel 21. Where we find a man also at this measuring work So that we may yet say though the afflictions of the Churches be very great and their desolations many yet if a man will lift up his eyes and stirre up himself he may and shall behold a man with a measuring line in his hand And thus you see that there is ●ardly a word of these three visions but affordeth some speciall instruction But because I have not time for all I shall especially close with those three Doctrines that are especially held forth in these three visions Thus. 1. In that here are four hornes that appeare first you may Doct. 1 observe this That when God intendeth good and salvation to his Churches he doth first suff●r many potent malicious enemies to rise against them 2. In that these foure Carpenters do appeare immediatly after these foure hornes as it were in the same vision you may observe That though God do suffer the enemies of his Churches and people to be exceeding strong many and most mischievous yet he will raise up an answerable strength against them Foure Carpenters against foure hornes which shall fray them away and deale by them as they have done by others 3. In that the man with a measuring line doth immediatly follow upon these you may observe that when God shall please to raise up speciall instruments to suppresse the Churches enemies then and then especially Reformation is to be much endeavoured which is to be done with exactnes even by Line I begin with the former vision of the foure hornes and the Doct. 1 first Doctrine namely that when God intendeth any great good and salvation to his people he doth first suffer malignant potent and many ●nemies to rise against them Was it not so with Israel wh●n God intended to bring them out of Egypt Then their Taskemasters arose and doubled their work and were more inimicitious to them then formerly Was it not thus with the Jewes when God brought them out of Babylon to build the Temple opposition they met withall in their remove in their journey and all along in their Temple-work Was it not thus with the Israelit●s when they went to execute justice upon that malignant Tribe of Benjamin for the great sin of Gibeah If you look into the 20. of Iudges you shall find that before Benjamin was punished they got two great victories upon Israel Israel if you count the numbers of their souldiers w●re twelve to one Israel had the best cause and their work was good they went forth to do just●ce on that delinquent Tribe yet if you consult the story the Tribe of Benjamin first slew of them down to the ground forty thousand m●n This is Gods way still He seldome or never destroyeth his enemies but out of Zeale The Zeale of the Lord of Hosts hath done this saith the Prophet Now Zeale is nothing else but angered love and three things there are in the world that God doth love especially His people His truth and His worship When the enemies prevaile they spoile his people they defile his worship they scorne his truth so his love is angred his Zeale is stirred and then his enemies are confounded But what reason is there why God should suffer his precious Quest servants and people to be thus handled oppressed gored scattered by cruell enemies Good reason for it Totidem inimici totidem paedagogi Answ so many enemies so many school-masters Make plain my way before me saith the Psalmist because of mine enemies but in the Hebrew it is because of mine observers our enemies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Inimicus q●asi obser●ator dictus quod semper obser●et et contempletur quibus malefacial