Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	common_a	lord_n	prayer_n	2,904	5	6.1819	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47197	The way cast up, and the stumbling-blocks removed from before the feet of those who are seeking the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward containing an answere to a postcript, printed at the end of Sam Rutherford's letters, third edition, by a nameless author, indeed not without cause, considering the many lyes and falshoods therein, against the people, called Quakers, which are here disproved, and refuted / by George Keith ...	Keith, George, 1639?-1716.; Rutherford, Samuel, 1600?-1661.	1677 (1677)	Wing K233; ESTC R19568	115,272	246

print before his death some years that God had forsaken their Nationall Church and was not like to return to her again and he answereth all the common reasons from Sciptur or the Covenant that seemed to prove that the Lord would return unto them and plainly sheweth the weakness and invalidity of them The book is in the hands of many which I have read and I had it from the mouth of an honest faithfull man that he heard Iohn Livingston say in prayer Lord since Dumbar thou hast spit in our face and since that never looked over thy shoulder to us again This is he whom the Author of the Postscript calls that great man of God and this prayer he had in a certain family in Aberdeen And this is that Church that was such an apostat and whom the Lord had so forsaken by the confession of their chief Seers and who indeed was never a true Gospell Church that we the people called Quakers have forsaken and we are resolved by Gods grace never to return unto her for the Lord hath said unto us let them come unto you but goe not ye unto them the Lord hath added divers who were among them and under that profession unto us and will add many more yea thousands in due time for the Lord hath a precious seed to gather out from among them And there are many among them I know who have true breathings after the Lord and these in due time the Lord will regard and bring them to his Zion which he has begun to build in great glory even in and among the people called in Scorne Quakers SECTION V. 1. What is said against the Presbyterian Church in general as national and as being so guilty of persecution and blood is not understood of all that goe under that name many among them being free of such crimes and of a more sober Spirit and principles 2. An Apology why I frequently use the word Presbyterian 3. Presbytery too good a name for them unless with this addition Pseudo-Presbytery that is Pr●sbytery falsely so called 4. The Presbyterian Church guilty of denying the true Christ who would exclud him out of the very Saints 5. The Presbyterian Church a foolish builder and guilty of very bad and Vnchristian Doctrins 6. The Presbyterian Church although she pretend to be more for a spritual way of preaching and worshiping then the Papal or Episcopal yet upon the matter she is not one jot more for the same then they are proved by divers Instances 7. Two Questions put to the Presbyterians 8. A list of the r●viling false acousations and railing speeches of the Author of the Postscript against the people called Quakers 9. Presbyterian teachers have not that credit now with many people as to make them believe whatever they say with an implicit faith as formerly they too much had 1. ANd as to what I have said in generall against the Presbyterian Church as Nationall and as being so guilty of persecution and blood I understand it not of all that goe under that name for I doe believe many among them are altogether free of having a hand in such things and are of a more sober Spirit and of more sober principles but I understand it of a great faction and party of them that did most prevail and carryed away many simple wel-meaning people along with them what by deceitfull perswasions and what by fears And I know many that were so carryed away are now come to see the evil of these practices and are resolved never to concurre in or countenance the like of them again But especially the Presbyterian Clergy and priesthood had the main hand and stroak in these disorders and all to uphold their kingdom and gratify their lust and ambition 2. And that I have so frequently used the word Presbyterian or may afterwards use it is onely for distinction's sake becaus I know not how otherwise to designe them yet I am farr from judging them to be true Presbyterians or that their Classicall judicatorys were true Presbyterys such as were in the primitive times And therefore Presbytery is too good a name to give them unless with this addition Pseudo-Presbyter● that is to say Presbytery falsly so called seing they have so positively denyed that which gives the very life and being either to any true Church or Presbytery viz the immediat Revelation and 〈◊〉 teachings and leadings of the Spirit of Christ in every member so that as of old there were who called themselvs Iewes and Apostles and were not so these Presbyterians call themselves true Pre●●●●erys but are no more so then a dead image of a man is a true man And indeed who ever hath a true knowledge of either the Gospell or a true Gospell Church will see that with good reason and good ground we have forsaken the Presbyterian and Nationall Church and that not only becaus of her bad practices but also for her bad anti-Christian and unsound Doctrins in many things she denying the real in-being and reve●ation of Ies●● Christ in any of her Members or indeed in any men in those days 4. And although she falsly accuse us as denying the true Christ yet I hope to make it apparent that she and not we are the denyers of him who would exclud him out of the very Saints and altogether confine him to some particular place but this I intend to reserve till afterwards 5. Also she discovereth her self to be a very foolish builder who maketh her foundation so narrow and her building so wide for no less then the whole Nation she would take into her building yea all Nations if she could And yet the true and saving Power and Grace of Christ Iesus which ●elongs to the very foundation of the Church she ●ill onely have it extended but to a small number of ●er members and that the greatest part have neither ●eceived this Grace nor ever shall but are exclud●d inevitably from it without their own consent ●y Gods absolut decree that barreth them out from 〈◊〉 possibility of Salvation before they ever came 〈◊〉 the world Surely this is too narrow a foundaion for so wide a building and it is but a small ●avour to so many thousands of her members than ●hey are not so much as under any possibility of Salvation yea it seems they are rather the worse then the better for being her Church members seing to the boot they shall be more guilty of condemnation then the Heathen who never heard the Gospel outwardly preached and yet neve● a whit the more near unto Salvation These ar● sad tidings she preacheth to her Church members Again her most eminent Saints she leaveth the● still in the dirt and mire of sin for term of life and tells them they can never be free from sin i● this life but sin and can not but sin daily in though● word and deed Surely such un-Christian Doctrins with many more could be named an ground enough for any man whose

15. 22. If I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had sin but now they have nocloake for their sin But may expect to be numbred amongst the enemys of Gods Work It was the commendation of good Men in all ages that they walked sutably to the dispensation of the Lord in their day and this is the great duty the Lord calls for from his people to follow the Lamb wh●thersoever he 〈◊〉 this will be their commendation before the Lord as Rev. 14. 4. When the life Light and power of God removeth from one dispensation to another to be alwayes a follower of that which is our duty for it is not to be expected that Moses or David if they were alive now would looke to find that life in their sacrifices and externall rites which they found when they were upon Earth no this is only to be waited for in the spirituall way of the Gospell worship And to come nearer if Cranmer Hooker and Ridly who were Martyrs for the Protestant faith in beareing witness against the Idolatry of the Masse thought it no small mercy to have the use of a common prayer booke in English no doubt in that day might feel life in it yet when the Light of reformation encreased it discovered that to be a limiting of the Spirit of God in Prayer and consequently had in it self a tendency to deaden the heart by remaining in that formality If they were living now the Lord would require of them to seek after a more Spirituall Way of worship where the pure life of Christ was more to be found and felt then in read prayers Even so now when the Lord is poynting forth a more spirituall way which is by following the pure motions of the Spirit of life in an immediat way upon the heart in all religious dutys the Lord will have all his people to owne that way both in practice and profession and they that will reject this or refuse or oppose it He will no less reckon them as his enemys now then these that have been refusers or opposers of his work in former generations A 3 Obstruction is Truth hath been for most part loaded by its opposers with many heavy slaunders calumnys and lyes and traduced with the nick-names of errour Heresy blasphemy and delusion yea called devilisme and what else malice can invent so Pauls religion was called heresy Acts. 24. 14. and Christians were a sect every where spoken against Acts 23. 22. Yea Christ himself was said to have a Devil Ioh. 8. 48 53. And what wonder then that the opposers of Truth in this day speake so of Truth as it is now manifested The Professors thereof are said to deny Jesus Christ that was borne of the virgin Mary where as they have often testifyed they owne no other Christ but him to be the Saviour of the world that was crucifyed at Ierusalem and this we can say in the uprightness of our hearts as in his sight that searches hearts Our opposers say wee deny the Scriptures of Truth whereas we owne all things therein being rightly translated to be the dictate of the Holy Spirit and that they containe all the substantialls of true religion and whatsoever is contrary to them to be but delusion yea we are content to have all poynts of controversy betwixt us and our opposers to be determined by the Scriptures of Truth We are said to deny the Ministry and ordinances of the Gospell whereas we owne all the true and faithfull Ministers that are called of God and that function and are not meerely men-made Ministers that are made to be Ministers in the meere will of men only endued with some measure of natural and acquired parts and feel not the power and vertue of the life of Jesus Christ dwelling in their hearts without any sense of which power and life they can pray and preach But we owne all Spirituall and living preaching and prayer As for the ordinances called Sacraments we own them only according to Scripture sense viz. that Baptisme which is by the Holy Ghost for Iohn Baptised with water but Christs Baptisme is with the Holy Ghost and with fire Math. 3. 11. Act. 1. 4. This is that one baptisme Eph. 4. 5. The Bread and Wine that is Elementary we deny as being but a carnal ordinance which are all repealed at the time of reformation under the Gospell Heb. 9. 10. as all rites are which stand in meats and drinks washings or Baptismes as the Greek hath it But we owne the Communion of Christs body and blood according to Luk. 6. 53. compared with verse 63. Our opposers say we lay the whole stresse of justification and remission of sins upon our own righteousness and we declare we owne no meritorious cause of the remission of sins but the righteousness blood and sufferings of Jesus Christ that was crucified at Ierusalem and as it was done and performed by the Man Christ born of the virgin Mary and yet we profess none are justified but such as are in a measure sanctified and actually cleansed from sin so as none are justified in their sins These and many more of the like slaunders asserted with boldness and impudence by malicious opposers are no small obstruction to many simple-hearted people who are but too ready to take things of this nature upon trust without tryall and proofe especially if the assertors be in any repute for a piece of seriousness as the Scribes and Pharisees high Priests who were in great authority and esteem with the people and thereby did influence their slender followers to preferre Barrabas a murderer and a robber to Christ Iesus A 4 Obstruction is that Truth when it comes first abroad is at severall great disadvantages in the eyes of the world as first it seldom hath the countenance of Civil authority but mostly is persecuted and laws and statutes made in opposition to it this is universally known in all ages and throughout these Nations where it first appeared Secondly it hath the opposition of the Nationall Clergy so called and of the most learned of that sort of men who have the greatest advantages of authority to influence the body of the Nation see Ioh. 9. 22. For the Iews had agreed already that if any men did confess that he was Christ he should he put out of the Synagogue Thirdly Truth being a witness against the abuse and superstitions which have through length of time and long custome been rooted and strengthned so in a Nation that it needs no less the the power of God to extirpate people can hardly admit to hearken to any testimony against these things whether they be personal or national customes see Mark 7. 9. and he said unto them full wel ye reject the commandement of God that ye may keepe your own tradition It 's not an easie thing to forsake old Customes this hath been a cause why men in all ages have stumbled at the simplicity of truth