Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A26233
|
The strong man armed not cast out, but removed to a stronger hold viz, from profaneness to hypocrisie, or, An answer to a book entituled, The strong man armed cast out and his goods spoyled ... written by James Jackson ... written for the vindication to the truths of the Gospel ... by Ra. Austen.
|
Austen, Ralph, d. 1676.
|
1676
(1676)
|
Wing A4237; ESTC R35295
|
72,304
|
126
|
God and Father of all c. First one Body 1. One Body All Believers in all Ages of the world past present and to come in all Nations Kindreds and People Worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth under all Forms do make this one body And this one body hath but one Spirit 2. One Spirit as the Members of the Natural Body have but one Soul to Actuate and Enliven them so also in the Mystical body they all are quickned taught moved and led by that one Spirit which is the Promise of the Father and of the Son Thirdly The Members of this one body having one spirit have also one hope even the hope and expectation of all the good things promised in the Gospel 3. One Hope Eternal Life the enjoyment of God for ever Fourthly Another Bond of Vnion in the true Church 4. One Lord. is One Lord even our Lord Jesus Christ unto whose Laws and Commands all his People are Subject Fifthly One Faith That is 5. One Faith the true Justifying Faith of Gods Elect wrought by that one Spirit apprehending that one Lord for Justification by him alone Paul calls it the Common Faith Titus 1.4 Titus mine own Son after the Common Faith Sixthly Another Bond of Vnion in the true Church 6. One Baptism is one Baptism 1 Cor. 12.13 By one spirit we are all Baptized into one body whether we be Jews or Greeks whether we be bond or free and have been all made to drink into one Spirit This one Baptism makes all Believers truly one Seventhly The last bond of Vnity of the true Church 7. One God is One God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all All Believers are born of God and are all Partakers of the Divine Nature among the Lords People none of them have a better Nature than another as to the Truth but as it differs in the Degrees or Measures to some God is pleased to Communicate a greater measure to some a lesser Measure of Gifts and Graces that one and the self-same Spirit Divideth to every Man severally as he will 1 Cor. 12.11 We see here these seven Bonds are the true Bonds of the true Members of Christ his Body the Church and are here mentioned and laid down by the Apostle as strong Reasons and Grounds why all the Members should endeavour to keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace and not Divide and Separate one from another seeing they are all Members of one Body and have but one Spirit among them all and have all one hope all of them but one Lord one Faith one Baptism all but one God and Father here is good Reason then they should be one among themselves in Vnity Peace Love Fellowship and Communion one with another as Opportunity serves So that the Author above mentioned hath little Reason to boast of that kind of Vnity that is among the Quakers if he consider these things Sixthly 6. The Quakers Patience The Author of the strong man Armed cast out further tells us That the Patience and Faithfulness of these People in doing and suffering the Will of God is Remarkable for the World is against them though as he says they are the onely Innocent and harmless People upon the Earth and because there is more of God amongst these People the Quakers than others therefore are they hated of all Men and every where amongst all Religions evil spoken of Answ In Answer whereunto I say That Patient suffering for Well-doing is very Acceptable with God and shall certainly have a great Reward from God the Apostle Peter saith 1 Pet. 3.14 If ye Suffer for Righteousness sake happy are ye But there is a Suffering sometimes for Evil doings and Evil sayings And it is better if the Will of God be so that we Suffer for well doing than for evil doing v. 17. Now it is true These People the Quakers have been Sufferers as well as others but for what have they Suffered Has it been for well doing for doing the Will and Work of Christ They will say Yea for doing the Will of God but it follows not therefore that it is so Christ will rather say unto them who Required these things at your Hands Nay he hath forbidden them your False Doctrines and Opinions your Disownings Despisings and Separations from the Precious People of the Lord in all the Societies Assemblies and Congregations in the Land your Disturbing of them and Railing against them whilst they are about the work of the Lord ye your selves being drawn or driven by the Seducing Spirit have done his work and not the Lords work and have sometimes Suffered for it And herein ye boast and think your Patience is great and that ye suffer according to the Will of God But know That it is not the Suffering but the Cause that makes a Martyr It is possible a Man may give his body to be burned and that is more than to be Imprisoned and yet not suffer for Righteousness-sake 1 Cor. 13. Though I give my Body to be burned and have not Love it profiteth me nothing Jesuites and Papists have sometimes suffered for their false Principles and Practices and so may others and so have you Therefore speak no more of your Patient sufferings untill ye know that ye Suffer for a good Cause for well doing untill ye Suffer for Christ and for Righteousness-sake Thus I have gone through the several particulars wherein the Author of the strong man Armed cast out says He and the People called Quakers do Excell all other Professing People in the World wherein it appears to all Men that have in them the Spirit of God how grossely these People are Deluded and blinded by seducing spirits that they give heed unto which making strong Impressions in their Minds they are Seduced and carried away with them never Examining of them and Trying of them by the Scriptures and so are easily Deceived And it is a most dreadful Condition that they are in and an Evidence of the greatest and sorest Judgment of God that the Nature of Man is capable of on this side Hell a Judicial blindness and hardness of heart upon any Man or Men is the greatest of all Judgments And this is the punishment that God often lays upon Men that will not hearken unto him that Despise his Word and Ordinances his Worship and his People That will not Receive the Truth in Love that they might be saved Therefore God doth send them strong Delusions that they should believe a Lye that they all might be Damned who believe not the Truth but have pleasure in unrighteousness That which doth confirm this man James Jackson A false Perswasion of Conversion Author of the strong man Armed cast out that he is truly Converted by the Light within which he says is Christ is this for that he finds such wonderful Effects in himself as he Accounts them he is
now become a New Man he is turned from Darkness to Light and from the power of Satan unto God he is turned from all his former Profane Wicked Debauched course of Life as he tells us and also from being a Parish Priest and not onely so but he is also turned from being a Teacher among the Independents and since come to joyn with the Quakers And now he tells us he is where he would and should be and concludes he is turned to the Lord And counts it a Marvellous thing that any should Deny the Light in every man to be Christ Strong Man Armed p. 14. but say it is the Devil or at best but the Light of Nature But saith he it was never known that the Devil or Nature did ever turn any to the Lord. Answ For Answer hereunto I say it is true it was never known that the Devil or the Light of Nature did ever turn any to the Lord. And here now is another Tryal of thy state and all others that are of thy Principles and Practices Ye take it for granted that ye are turned to the Lord by Hearkning to Obeying and Believing in the Light within for thy part James Jackson thou hast given no Proof nor Evidence at all according to Scripture or the Experience of the People of God that thou art yet Converted to the Lord whereby any Man that is Taught of God should be perswaded that thou art truly Converted to the Lord That which thou dost Manifest to all and which thou thinkest is a ground sufficient to perswade them to believe that thou art a New Man and which it seems is enough to satisfie thy self is this because thou art turned from Profaneness to a more Civil Life and hast also left several sorts of Professors and now closed with the most Holy Innocent People upon Earth yea the onely People of God for so thou hast said of them But let us further Try these two things by a true Touch-stone and Weigh them in the Ballance of the Sanctuary The one The Light within of what sort it is The other the Effects of this Light what it produceth in men And for that Causes are often Difficult to be known and discerned immediately in and by themselves it is best to Try them by their Effects that which they produce and bring forth by which we may come to know of what Nature the Cause is So then This Light within thou sayest The Light within Converts none to the Lord. and wouldest have all Men to Believe hath Converted Thee and many Thousands to the Lord of the People called Quakers but we are wholly left without any Proof Sign or Evidence that you are Converted to the Lord Nay on the contrary we see many Proofs and Evidences that thou and they are not yet Converted to the Lord as have been already and more yet shall be Discovered whereby it will be made plain and manifest that thou and they that are of thy mind are utterly mistaken and deceived concerning both the Cause and the Effect That is ye are mistaken utterly concerning the Light within and the Fruits and Effects of it in and amongst you As for Thee James Jackson Author of the strong Man Armed cast out it is plain and manifest to a Spiritual Eye That thou art yet in the Gall of bitterness and in the Bond of Iniquity for certainly The Tree is known by its Fruits a good Tree cannot bring forth bad Fruits By the Fruits of Trees we know of what Kind or Nature the Tree is that brings them forth dost thou doubt of this thou need'st not if thou dost but remember who it was that said it and all Agree and know it is a Truth So then Thy Fruits Discover thee to be a very Corrupt Tree bringing forth sower bitter poysonous deadly Fruits Thy Grapes are Grapes of Gall thy Clusters are bitter And the like are the Fruits of the Leading Quakers amongst you Thou and they bring forth False Doctrines Errors Heresies and Blasphemies against God his People and his Truths ye give heed to Seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Devils speaking Lies in Hypocrisie which I shall plainly Discover in several particulars First Thou sayest of many thousands of the Lords peculiar People Strong Man Armed p. 12. That they Build not upon the true Foundation Jesus Christ but that the Teachers of all other Sects and sorts of Professors amongst the Presbiterians Independents Baptists and others they ever Rejected Disallowed and set at nought this stone this true Foundation which is Christ in us the hope of Glory and Build upon some other false Foundation Now let me tell thee thou false Tongue set on fire of Hell hadst thou the true Light in thee indeed as thou sayest of thy self thou wouldst sooner have chosen to have had thy Tongue cut out than to have spoken this Lie in Hypocrisie Or to have had thy Hand cut off than to have wrote it For if it be better for a Man to have a Milstone hanged about his Neck and to be cast into the Sea than to Offend one of those Little ones that believe in Christ what thinkest thou will be the punishment of him that Offends many thousands of those Little ones Yea when the Offence is so high that he Reproacheth Slandreth and Blasphemeth them and their Lord and Saviour in them for he hath said He that Despiseth you Despiseth me Inasmuch as ye did it to one of these my Brethren ye did it unto me Thou Reproachest the true Light in many others by the Real Darkness within thy self And if the Light that is in thee be Darkness how great is that Darkness O it is very great and gross Darkness Consider these words Natural Light is Spiritual Darkness and who spake them it plainly appears from these words spoken by Christ's own Mouth that the Light in Men all unregenerate Men is but Darkness It is Real Natural Light the Light of Reason Vnderstanding and Conscience which yet as to the apprehending of Spiritual things is but Darkness for the Natural Man though never so Wise and Rational cannot see nor Discern the things of God in a Spiritual manner and such a Light within thou hast and mistakest it for the true Light Jesus Christ as is manifest by the Effects as was said for Christ the true Light cannot Reproach his own People nor the work he hath wrought in them as thou dost therefore thy Light is Darkness Nay further have we not good grounds to Believe that the Darkness in thee and many others of your Leaders is more than that Common Natural Darkness that is upon the Minds of all unregenerate Men. There is cause to believe that it is a Judicial Darkness and Blindness as was upon the Minds of many of the unbelieving Jews who Rejected Christ and his Gospel after all his Teachings and Miracles among them Such a Darkness as the Prophet Isaiah speaks of Make the Heart of this