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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	new_a	scripture_n	testament_n	8,305	5	8.0705	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A82319	Several sermons and discourses of William Dell Minister of the Gospel; sometimes attending both the generals in the army: and now Master of Gonvil and Caius Colledge in Cambridge. Heretofore published at several times, and on several occasions; and now gathered in one volumn, for the benefit of the faithful, and conviction of the world.	Dell, William, d. 1664.; Goad, Christopher, 1601-1652.; England and Wales. Parliament. House of Commons.	1651 (1651)	Wing D929; Thomason E645_4; ESTC R208819	213,548	263

otherwise in the Church for whoever speak there the hearers are to judge of the truth of the Doctrine and accordingly are either to receive it or reject it having power to do either as they see occasion and so errour cannot prevail in that Church where the faithfull have liberty to judge of all Doctrines and do exercise that liberty But where they that publish Doctrine are also the judges of it and the people are bound up to the Doctrine of the Teachers and may not question or contradict it there errour reigns as in its proper Kingdom And thus by these means errour may certainly be kept out of the Church that the Church may live in truth and peace But here now a great question wil be moved and that is this Whether the Magistrate hath not power to suppress errour by the sword and whether the Church may not use this remedy against errour as well as all those before named I answer that many men of great eminency have attributed such a power to the Magistrate and have done him the honour besides his throne in the world to erect him a throne in Gods Kingdom at the least equal to Christ thinking that Religion would soon be lost if he should not uphold it And to make this good they have produced many Scriptures of the Old Testament which seem to arm the Magistrate against the authors and spreaders of errours But I desire the wise hearted to consider whether as clear Scriptures may not be produced out of the Old Testament to prove that temporal power in the world belongs to Ecclesiastical men as that spiritual power in the Church belongs to worldly Magistrates And to this purpose because I would not be too large in this matter now I shall desire him who hath a minde to be instructed to reade and weigh the Reply of the French Prelates to the Lord Peters which he may finde in Fox his Book of Martyrs vol. 1 p. 467. Wherefore seeing the Scriptures of the old Testament are every whit as strong to give Ministers power in temporal matters as Magistrates in spiritual it is without all question the only sure and safe way to determine this cause by the new Testament or the doctrine of Christ and the Apostles by whom in these last dayes God hath spoken fully to the Church and after whose doctrine there is no other word to be expected And because herein I finde no such power given to the Civil Magistrate to judge and determine in spiritual matters therefore I conclude he hath none Now if any shall say This is a great wrong to the Magistrate to thrust his power out of the Church and to confine it to the world I answer That to make the Church an Ecclesiastical Kingdom standing in outward Laws orders authority dignity promotion goverment all which are to be granted established and managed by state power and yet to deny the Magistrates authority and influence into these things which flow from his own power and consist in it and by it this is to streighten and to wrong him indeed But to declare the true Church to be a spiritual Kingdom as Christ hath made it and not at all of this world but the very Kingdom of heaven upon earth and thereupon to deny him power in it is no more to prejudice the Magistrate then to deny him power in heaven Seeing the Sons Kingdom which is heaven on earth is to be as free from worldly and humane power as the Fathers Kingdom which is heaven in heaven Christ being to be all in all in this as God is to be all in all in that And so to deny the Magistrate that power which Christ never granted him is no wrong to him at all but to grant him and gratifie him with such power would be a great and intolerable wrong to the truth and Church of Christ as in many other things so in this present matter we are speaking of as you may see in the following particulars For the putting the power of the sword into the Magistrates hands to suppress errour is attended with these evils 1. Hereby the Magistrate is made a Judge of Doctrines and hath power given him to pronounce which is truth and which is errour being yet no more infallible yea everywhit as liable to erre as the meanest of the people And what Magistrate is there that hath the power of the sword but will uphold his own Religion and judgement to be the truth though never so false and will sentence what ever is contrary thereunto to be errour though never so true and so the truth and word of God which only is to judge all and it self to be judged of none by this means is made subject to the judgement of vain man and shall either be truth or errour as he pleases to call it and errour when it pleaseth the Magistrate shall be adorned with the glorious title of truth and shall have his authority to countenance and uphold it And how great a prejudice this hath been and is to the truth and how great an advantage to errour it is very easie to judge Now if any shall say that the Magistrate may not judge of doctrine by himself and use his sword accordingly but he may take to him the councel and advice of godly and able Ministers as now of the Assembly and so may judge and punish according to their judgement I answer Is it fit that the Magistrate in so great matters should be blinde folded himself and see onely by other mens eyes Again if the Magistrate judge according to the judgement of ●he Ministers and depending more on their knowledge then his own shall draw his sword against whomsoever they shall perswade him What higher honour doth he attain to in all this then to become their Executioner Yea if he punish amiss he may prove a very murderer Pilate in this case may be a sea-mark to all the Magistrates in the world who following the councel and judgement of the High Priests put the Son of God himself to death as if he had been the son of perdition Which I say may serve for a sufficient warning to the end of the world to all Magistrates that they confide not on the judgement of the Clergy but that they be sure themselves in what they do 2. The putting power into the Magistrates hands to suppress error by the sword gives him full opportunity to destroy and slay the true children of God if at any time he shall mistake and judge them Heretikes For what power men ignorantly allow a godly Magistrate against true Heretikes the same power will all Magistrates arrogate to themselves as their just due against all those that differ from themselves in matters of Religion though their judgement who so differ from them be never so true And thus the Magistrate who is a most fallible Judge in these things in stead of tares may pluck up the wheat

of God that will exercise a Judicature in Heaven and determine of things of the Kingdom of God which the Spirit hath kept in his own hands you may break one the other earthen potsheards But if you joyn against the Spirit and be one as Jew and Gentile Herod and Pilate against Christ it will be your everlasting breaking so that a man cannot gather a Sherd of you to take fire from the hearth or water out of the Pit for God hath set his King upon his holy Hill and you are but sheaves against a hearth of fire The Power of Christ is coming forth happy they that wait for it The Lord shall send the rod of his power out of Sion be thou Ruler in the midst of thine enemies Psal 110. All Forms and Shadows shall flie away and the new creature only abide and they that walk after this Rule peace be on them and mercy and upon the Israel of God The spiritual Church shall rise and be established in the beauty of holiness These are the tidings of this Book And I heard a voyce saying Hallelujah Praise the Lord from the Heavens prayse him all ye heights prayse him all ye Angels of his all the wisdom of man Prayse him Sun and Moon all worldly Magistrates praise him all the Stars of light all Ministers Pastors Teachers prayse him ye Heavens of Heavens all Forms and Churches and what ever of you excel and are lifted up above others exalt the Lord not your selves for his name only is excellent his glory is above the Earth and Heavens he also exalteth the Horns of his people the prayse of all his Saints even of the children of Israel a people neer to him Thy part be among these who ever art the Reader it is the desires and prayer of him who knows no greater no other happiness Who is thine as to it Christop Goad CHRIST'S SPIRIT A Christians Strength OR A plain discovery of the mighty and invincible power that all Believers receive through the gift of the SPIRIT First held forth in two Sermons on Act. 1. 8. and after published for the instruction and use of those that are spiritual Anno 1645. By WILLIAM DELL Minister of the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST at Yelden in the County of Bedford 1 Cor. 4. 19. 20 I will come to you shortly if the Lord will and will know not the speech of them that are puffed up but the power For the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power 2 Tim. 3. 5. Having a form of Godliness but denying the power of it from such turn away London Printed for Hen. Cripps and Lod. Lloyd 1651. To the Right Honorable the Lady ELIZABETH Countess of BULLINGBROOK Right Honourable THe form of Godliness is very common in these dayes of ours but the power of it is very rare How few persons shall we finde in the visible Church who live and act in the strength of God But generally men do what ever they do in their own strength and that not onely in humane things but in divine How seldom do we see either in Ministers or Christians in the discharge of their duties in their several places more then the power of men The greatest part by far not onely of those who are called Christians but also of forward Professors being ignorant what it is to be strengthened with might in the inner man according to the glorious power of the great God How little is there among all our plenty of that preaching which is not in the plausible words of mans wisdom but in the demonstration of the Spirit and Power How few Congregations among the many that are in the Kingdom are gathered together in the Spirit and Power of our Lord Jesus Christ How few of those Christians are there in whom is the exceeding greatness of Gods power together with the effectual working of it But the form of Godliness is now become almost the covering of all flesh and in these dayes of light and knowledge it is accounted by all that are not down-right Atheists a great shame not to seem to be religious And when men and families and Congregations are gotten into this form they think themselves both safe and happy as being near the suburbs of the Kingdom of God and close Neighbours to the Saints And this form of godliness as it is of very easie compliance with flesh and blood in this particular in that according to this men onely make their actions new retaining still their old natures so it is also of great credit and esteem with carnal Gospellers But the spiritual man judgeth all things and yet he himself is judged of no man and he being partaker of the power of God himself can in some measure discern both the presence and want of it in others both which he knows in his own experience Now this form of godliness is when men are godly without God and anoynted without Christ and regenerate not having the Spirit that is when they have a semblance of holiness but not the thing it self a semblance of grace retaining their old natures And such Christians as these perform spiritual duties with natural strength heavenly duties with earthly strength the works of God with the power of men In the Religion of these men there is the outward duty done and it may be very speciously and plausibly but there is none of Christ nor the Spirit in the duty There is their own working towards God which is faint and faithless and not Gods own working in them towards himself which is lively and mighty and all the religious acts they do are onely their own operations and not the operations of God in them This form of godliness how pleasing soever it be to a mans self and of what reckoning soever with others who are like himself yet is indeed of very evil and woful consequence whether we regard the doings or sufferings unto which this form necessarily engages For first when men by occasion of this form are called forth to do the great works of God and yet are destitute of the power of God their duties are above their strength and their strength bears no proportion to their duties And so sooner or later meeting with difficulties they faint and languish as a Snail their works being too high for their faculties For nature being strained above its power and offering at that which is beyond its abilities by degrees grows weary and returns to its old temper again And he that sought that glory which was not his own at last lies down in his own shame Again the form of godliness exposes a man to those evils that are incident to the faithful because of godliness Now when a man hath the same evils with the faithful and not the same power to support him under those evils when men have the same evils in the flesh but not the same power in the Spirit the same burthens on their shoulders but not the same everlasting arms