Selected quad for the lemma: christian_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
christian_n	church_n	true_a	visible_a	6,279	5	9.0945	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62156	Righteous judgment placed upon the heads of malicious opposers and persecuting apostates in some brief animadversions upon Francis Buggs book, entitled, De Christiana libertate, in which his great weakness and gross wickedness is detected, his foul defamations and uncivil reflections are reprehended : with a seasonable warning to him and the rest of his abettors in their mischievous work of opposition to and separation from, the Lord and his people / by a lover of peace, Robert Sandilands : together with an Ingredient by another hand.	Sandilands, Robert.; Richardson, Richard, 1623?-1689. Another ingredient against the venom in F.B.'s book.	1683 (1683)	Wing S661; ESTC R32326	57,765	142

a Judas amongst Christs Disciples from the beginning of the Creation since the Lord gather'd a People to himself to this our Day or Age thus to be attended with various deep Exercises by Oppositions Violence and Persocutions from the World on the one hand and by Distraction Discord and Separation on the other hand of those who have appeared as amongst us but were not of us and therefore that they might be made manifest what Bottom and Evil Spirit they were of notwithstanding they lurked under and were cover'd for a time with a Profession of the Way and Holy Truth of God they have gone away from us as the Apostle writ concerning the Antichrists They went out from us but they were not of us and the Reason he gives is clear For says he if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us But they went out to what end That they might be made manifest that they were not all of us 1 John 2.19 We may observe the Church of Christ in his time was then sadly troubled with these Antichrists such as rose up in Appearance for Christ against Christ in opposing the Blessed Divine Manifestations of his Spirit through the Members of his Church And I remember he makes particular mention of one Diotrephes who it seems as many like unto him in our day following his very foot-steps Ioved to have the preheminence and who prated against them with malicious Words and good Paul was he not very sensible in fore-seeing that this would attend the Churches and therefore forewarned them thereof in his farewel to the Elders of Ephesus Take heed therefore unto your selves and to all the Flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you Overseers for I know this that after my departing shall grievous Wolves under the form or appearance its like of Lambs not sparing the Flock also of your own selves shall Men arise speaking perverse things to draw away Disciples after them Acts 20.25 26 c. And in his Salutation to the Romans Chap. 16. v. 17. saith Now I beseech you Brethren mark them which cause Divisions and Offences contrary to the Doctrine which you have learned and avoid them So that we may clearly perceive it is no new or strange thing that hath happened to be our sad Exercise as indeed I do look upon it to be the most grievous of all the Exercises that could have befallen us I mean as with respect of the Body of Friends And now amongst many of the chief Agents of Cruelty Slander and Envy whom the Devil that great Enemy to the Peace of Christs Church hath made use of and this pernicious work of opposition to and seperation from the good Order and wholesome Discipline thereof I find lately one called Francis Bugg in Aragon a proud self-conceited person and yet as confused and malicious as any which I hope anon to Evince by some brief Animadversions on the Second Part of his Book called De Christiana Libertate the first part only relating to Liberty of Conscience none of his Work but by a nameless Author So far now as I feel my self concern'd for the Truths sake and the vindication thereof to give forth my Testimony as well against the great weakness as the gross wickedness of this Hellish dark piece of deceitful work of Envy and Folly and to detect his groundless Suggestings unchristian Reflections and uncivil Informations not at all designing thereby to undertake the Answering of every particular passage that hath relatition to particular persons ingaged in the differences betwixt our Friends and the separate party for that would be a work both more tedious and also would require more pains then at present I can take to undertake the same which I leave to them as they find themselves concerned in Truth to take notice of my present work then only is to make some shor Observations of that which in General I am concerned with and lies most obvious in my view Righteous Judgment placed upon the Heads of our Malicious Opposers CHAP. I. HAving perused the Second Part of Francis Bugg's Book he miscalls De Christiana Libertate I do not so much as find any one page or passage to have the least resemblance of I doubt very much whether he knows what the true Chrsstian liberty means or Relation to Christian Liberty in a true and proper sense I mean what he has wrote himself and not what is Transcribed from other Authors abstracting which there will be but a small parcel of his remaining Besides thou may take notice of the Pride and Self-conceitedness of this vain Man who gives his Book a Latin Title which signifies no more in Latin then in English and has no more Emphasis nor Authority in it therefore only useful for Vain Ostentation especially considering that the Book it self is no ways correspondent to the Title In his Epistle page 4. He alledges two principal Reasons why we look upon him and his Adherents to be no Quakers or consequently as he says no Christians First He says Our Non-submission and Non-conformity to the New Order of the Women He begins thus in his flouting Airy mind And Secondly That their way of compelling and Antichristian way of proceeding to bring to and force Vniformity is by us slighted and contemn'd Answer But we know right well there is a Third and a more weighty Reason than either of these and that is We have a certain inward sense and sure discerning from the Infallible Spirit of Truth which I know they will not regard or admit of that the wrong wicked perverse Spirit hath entered into them and thereby are Adulterated in these minds from the blessed pure Spirit of Christ Iesus and departed from the Truth in the inward parts whereby they are degenerated and were so in their Spirits before ever they durst publickly appear in this treacherous work of Separation and before it wa● so notorious as it is now And so they having Apostatized from the Truth and the living Vertue and sensible Operation and Experience of the Life thereof firs● in their own particulars thus They and not We have rendred themselves n●● Quakers or no Christians For we never concluded any person to be truly a Christian simply because of his outward Conformity to the Profession of Truth and because of his Submission to the Holy and Decent Order of Christs Church in respect there is nothing visible can rightly constitute and properly denominate any Man or Woman True Christians in the sight of God who regards more the inward bent frame and disposition of the Minds of People than their outward appearance however glorious it may be and therefore it is of absolute necessity that their hearts and spirits be uprightly stated in his sight if ever they attain to the Nature of true Christianity Now though it be confest that many outwardly may appear in the view of others for a time seemingly strict and serious in their Conversations