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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	church_n	great_a	see_v	2,797	5	3.4756	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A63270	The saints declining state under gospel administrations, or, The case of desertion briefly stated in a few considerations by William Troughton ...	Troughton, William, 1614?-1677?	1652 (1652)	Wing T2318; ESTC R6248	32,617	114

age it is neither wholly night nor wholly day with us but we expect a glorious evening wee looke for a time when truth shall vanquish error and light shall swallow up darknesse And those that have a name they live and yet are dead shall be plainly discovered and that maske and vizard pull'd off where with they have blinded many precious Saints I meane their pretences of high and glorious discoveries without relation to the blood of a crucified Christ which is not only sleighted and undervalued by Papists and others that live under a Covenant of works but also by another sort of Professors who have much of the Spirit of divine light and dying to the flesh and carnall created things in their mouthes the Lord Jesus in the sufferings of his humane nature is laid aside as an Almanack out of date or an old administration or fleshly appearance out of which they are passed And this is that spirit of Antichrist which began to work in Johns time and appeared much in Luthers time in Zwenkfeld his followers who judged Luther and other faithful Christians to be men of a very low straine that lived under a carnall administration upon the letter and history not knowing God in Spirit and in mystery which is the very language of the manifestarians in these daies concerning many precious Saints I shall be far from stirring up the civill Magistrate against those that erre in judgment about spirituall things so they submit to lawfull Authority in civill things for this were to thwart the straine of Christs Gospel which exhorts us to love and forbearance if peradventure the Lord will give them repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth a Heb. 10.2 our weapons saith the Apostle are not carnall but spiritual b 2 Cor 10 4. and my Kingdome saith our Saviour is not of this world if it were my disciples would fight c Ioh. 18.36 Howbeit it concerns every Christian soul to mourn before the Lord and to be earnest with him in prayer that he would consume the man of sin with the breath of his nostrills and that he would throw down the strong holds of Satan namely those horrid errors and blasphemies which are crept into the Churches of Christ I shall desire thee Christian Reader to read this little book without prejudice and to avoid jangling and strife and minde the things that tend to peace and edification Now the Lord give thee and mee a seeing eye a hearing eare and an understanding heart Farwell To the Christian READER HIgh attainments and choyce Communion with God are a great Happinesse such as many Saints come not up to nor all that pretend they have them doe enjoy Some judge themselves on the top of Mount Sion when they are at the foot thereof they are without sinne perfect live in the Essence of God neither Christ nor any of his institutions are considerable with them The Ministery is a delusion the Ordinances of the Gospel low administrations empt Cloudes fleshly appearances and dead formes righteousnesse holinesse faith are to them of little account Immediate revelations are onely looked at the holy Scriptures laid aside Whereupon Satans delusions are often taken for the Spirits discoveries and these conceit themselves all Spirit manifest much flesh Is it not fleshly wisdome to put down what the infinite wisdome of God hath set up to seek out inventions of out own and not to be content with the Gosspel which is the power of God to mans salvation Reader art thou beyond others in knowledge holinesse high attainments let not thy tongue but life declare it Christ had the Spirit not by measure John 3.34 he was annointed above his fellowes Heb. 1.9 fill'd with all the fulnesse of God Colos 2.9 yet he conversed with sinners Matth. 9.11 pray'd with others Luk. 9.28 frequented the Assemblies Luke 4.16 preached to mixt multitudes Mark 6.33 34. pray'd before meat Matth. 19.19 15.36 Communicated with his disciples Mat. 26.29 made use of the Scriptures Luk. 4.17 18 19 20 21. and directed others to do so John 5.39 How is it then that any should cast off such duties Have they more of the Spirit than Christ Are they richer than he If such thoughts lodge in them the Lord teach them to know themselves to bee lowly minded and to esteeme other better than themselves Phil. 2.3 What heights soever such speak of they are in a bottome greatly benighted and clouded decay'd rather than growne Christians Declinings are dangerous growth is comfortable It 's matter not onely of observation but of complaint that the power of godlinesse is much abated in most Saints Many in England have lost their first love it 's time for them to remember former dayes and to doe their first works lest severe judgements divorce them from their sweetest comforts This little Treatise very savoury and seasonable written with a Dove-like Spirit will discover to thee thy declensions and direct thee to the ready way of recovery Read it with a single heart and the Lord make it a blessing to thee W. G. Saints in England under a Cloude THat such as are spirituall and have tasted of the specially love and grace of God may yet for ends best known to him be cast into a sleepy and languishing condition and brought to a low ebb in their owne sense and feeling is an experimented and undeniable truth and hereof we have divers instances in holy writ Job was a godly man there was none like unto him and yet the Lord hid his countenance from him and writ bitter things against him a Job 13.26 and David and Heman were filled with horror and amazement in the apprehension of the Lords withdrawing his comforts and the light of his countenance from them and the Church of Christ was once put upon this sad and dismall conclusion That the Lord had forsaken her yea her Lord had forgotten her b Isa 49.14 Cant. 5.6 Nay in this we have the Lord Jesus himself for an example who as touching his humane nature wanted those sensible feelings and injoyments of God which he was wont to have in so much that this blessed Saviour of mankinde cried out in the bitternesse of his soule My God my God why hast thou forsaken me c Mat. 27.48 And againe My soule is exceeding sorrowfull even unto the death d Mat. 26.38 For our better understanding of this truth Two sorts of desertions and that wee may have a distinct knowledge of it according to the Scriptures we are to consider two sorts of desertion which differ much the one from the other First 1. A reall desertion there is a totall reall desertion and rejection by God and this is when the Lord hardens the heart of a man as hee hardned the heart of Pharaoh e Exo. 4.21 and wholly withdrew the influence and beames of divine grace from him the Lord wil call him no more he will breath on him no