Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	life_n	lord_n	world_n	8,437	5	4.4039	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A91466	The fruits of a fast, appointed by the churches gathered against Christ and his kingdom, who go about to mock God with their outside-worship, and appointed fasts, and dayes of voluntary humiliation. Or, A declaration of the persecution of a messenger of the Lord, by a people who go under the name of Independants, in Essex, who have set themselves in the enmity of their spirits to oppose the truth of God, calling it a lye, and persecuting his messengers as deceivers, and wanderers, wherein their persecuting spirits is made manifest, and them to be in Cains generation, and stranges to the spirit of Christ, which vener persecuted, and so are noen of his, Rom.8:9. And also, of the unjust dealing of Judge Hills, ... And also, severall queries, that was sent ot the priests and magistrates, shich may be serviceable for them, or any other to answer, whom they do concern. / By ... James Parnell.	Parnell, James, 1637?-1656.	1655 (1655)	Wing P530; Thomason E854_14; ESTC R207483	31,427	32

THE FRVITS OF A FAST Appointed by the Churches gathered against Christ and his Kingdom who go about to mock God with their outside-Worship and appointed Fasts and Dayes of Voluntary Humiliation Or A Declaration of the persecution of a Messenger of the Lord by a people who go under the name of Independants in Essex who have set themselves in the enmity of their Spirits to oppose the Truth of God calling it a lye and persecuting his Messengers as Deceivers and Wanderers wherein their persecuting Spirits is made manifest and them to be in Cains Generation and strangers to the Spirit of Christ which never persecuted and so are none of his Rom. 8.9 And also of the unjust dealings of Judge Hills who sate upon life and death at the last Assizes at Chansford which began upon the eleventh day of the sixth month And also Severall queries that was sent to the Priests and Magistrates which may be serviceable for them or any other to Answer whom they do concern By a VVitness and sufferer in outward Bonds for the unchangeable Truth of God by Cains Generation who am known to them by the name in Colchester Castle JAMES PARNELL LONDON Printed for Giles Calvert and are to be sold at his Shop at the Black-spread-Eagle neer the West-end of Pauls 1655. THE FRUITS OF A FAST appointed by the Churches gathered against Christ and his Kingdome c. FIRST I shall give unto the Reader a declaration of the work of God in my Soul and the conversion of my heart from darkness unto his marvelous Light and from the power of Satan unto God and out of the path of death into the path of Life where I now walk in the Light of my God with the Ransomed of the Lord who are travelling towards the Holy City and also the cause of my coming forth into the World to declare the truth for which I now suffer Bonds by the persecuting Generation wherein I once lived a Child of wrath as all are by nature and when I was loved of the world while I followed the vain courses and wayes of the world where by nature I was led in imitation of others being in that nature which is prone unto the same the time I was sent unto the Schools of humane learning for to learn the humane wisdome for which end the Schooles are profitable but for the attaining of heavenly wisdom and knowledg they are as far unprofitable and many bookes that are there read are much for the corrupting of youth and the nourishing of the wild prophane nature which then ruled in me and I was as wild as others during the time I followed the School and after I was taken from the School I stil continued in the same nature growing and encreasing in sin and iniquity following the vain courses of the wicked world also was trayned up in the customary way of the worship of the world which is held in the Idols Temple every first day of the week but no conversion there was wrought but all still continued in the old nature both Priest and people young and old and as was the people so was the Priest all walking in darkness and blindness by form custome and tradition but ignorant of the pure light which is the guide and reacher of the faithful which oftentimes did reprove in secret when I was a lone but then I knew not what it was but oftentimes it did strike me into a consideration of my wayes and doings and set life and death before me so that I have sometimes promised within my self never to do the like again but the promise being in the wil made it did not stand but when the temptations came the careless mind got out again and led me still to delight my heart in the vanity which my eye did see and my ear did hear which all passed away with the using thereof and left me to the judgement which was due unto me for my iniquity which did follow me time after time calling me to repentance and the more I did incline my mind and draw nigh to it it also did draw nigh to me and so the goodness of God led me to repentance and the Grace of God wrought in my heart a Reformation and so I was found of him when I sought not and thus he both wrought the will and the deed of his own good pleasure and plucked me as a brand out of the fire to make me a vessel of honor to his name all living eretnal prayses be to his name for ever my soul shall praise and magnifie his name for ever For I may wel say with Paul Of sinners I was chiefe for according to my years J was as perfect in sin and iniquity as any in the Town where I lived yea and exceeded many in the same so that there was as little hopes of my conversion as any in the Town and yet though it is a place of many people J was the first in all that town which the Lord was pleased to make known his power in and turn my heart towards him and truly to seek him so that J became a wonder to the World and an astonishment to the heathen round about but they was such enemies to goodness and so given up to idolatry that as much as before they had loved me in my vain conversation so much the more thdy hated me in my conversion yea and my Families came to insnare me and lay wait for me for to intrap me but when they could not prevaile Psal 41.9 they stood afar of me and reproached me with lyes and proved my greatest enemies yea and my Relations became my adversaries and laboured to destroy what God had began in me because that thereby J came under the reproach and shame of the world because J could not conform to the world in their invented facious customes and traditions and their words wayes fellowship and worship but was made subject to the law of God and could not respect persons neither in word nor deed then the beast which rules in proud flesh was disturbed who before ruled in peace while he was worshipped but when I came to see proud Lucifer Rev. 13.38 the lust in man to be the beast which all the world worships and wanders after but these whose names are written in the book of life therefore J could no longer follow the world in blindness for by the power of God my eye was opened so that J did behold their idolatry and therefore J could no longer be conformable to them so that their rage and persecution arose against me and J became a mock in the streets yea and was I accounted as one not worthy to live amongst them yea and they said he that killed me would do God service but he that had called me out from amongst them unto himself that I might no longer follow the vain courses of the world nor set my delight no things below but that I might serve

came in upon the seventh day of the week and upon the second day of the next week I was brought into the Court before Judge Hills who sate upon life and death and there I stood for a gazing-stock a while and then the Judg commanded them to take me away and did not say any thing to me for then I was singled from the rest onely had Irons upon one of my hands then upon the next day morning the Goaler sent his man to take off my other Irons and so in the afternoon I was had before the Judge without any Irons and the Goaler took off my hat and cast it upon the floore and then the Clerk read a long Indictment full of falsehoods and asked me if I was guilty and I told him I denyed all guilt and called for my accusers and the Judge said I might see my accusers and told me I might say guilty or not guilty and I told him I was not guilty so they called twelve men to try me and the Foreman was a drunkard and they bid me object against any of them and I told them I owned none out of the doctrine of Christ and all that swore was out of the Doctrine of Christ and they had all sworn before my face and therefore I openly denyed by them to be tryed yet nevertheless they went on with their work and Priest VVillis was called and he swore against me and swore falsly too and the two men called Justices swore against me and swore falsly too and one of the Justices m●● so called and another man swore against me and swore falsly too yet all these false witnesses was heard to the full what they would say against me and thus the leader of the people caused them to erre for if the teacher be a swearer and a false swearer what may the people be for Christ saith swear not at all but let your yea be yea and your nay be nay for whatsoever is more is evil and the Apostle saith Mat. 5.34.35 36 37 Iam. 5.12 2 Iohn 9. in all things my brethren swear not at all c and he that abides not in the Doctrine of Christ hath not God and thus like people like Priest all live without God in the world And when their false witnesses had spoken what they could against me they brought in the Letter which I had sent to the men called Justices in Reply to their Mittimus and it was openly read in the COURT and I owned it for my Name was to it and the reading of it was much satisfaction to many that understood it and they also brought another Paper that I writ against the Idols Temple and the deceiver therein both which shall follow in order afterward and then when they were both read Iudge Hilles took them both and repeated over unto the Iury all that the could gather by wrong interpretation and construction against me whereby to incense the Jury against me and told them if they did not find me guilty the sin would lye upon their heads and he as it were passed the sentence upon me before the Jury went forth yea and told them what they should do whenas they had sworn before to speak the truth and nothing but the truth and I had charged them to take heed what they did for I told them none could judge betwixt truth and heresie but by the spirit of the Lord but when I would have spoken somthing to the Jury before they went forth the Judge interrupted me and would not suffer me though one of the Jury desired it neither would he suffer that the Jury should have the papers that was brought in against me though I required it but sought all that he could against me true or false although I had sent him a true declaration of the grounds of my imprisonment with the hands of four Witnesses to it neither would he suffer that to be read and that which I would have spoken unto the Jury was to clear it unto them that it was no scandalous nor reproachfull words to call a corrupt Magistrate a corrupt Magistrate and to call an unjust Judge and Lawyer an unjust Judge and Lawyer or a persecutor a persecutor or a deceiver a deceiver all which was brought against me and called railing and scandalous for by that account they might have taxed all the Prophets for railing and scandaling for they open and often declared against the corruption of the Priests and Rulers as you may read in many places in the Prophets Records Isajah called the Priests greedy dumb dogs Isa 56.11 Ezek. 34. Iohn 10. Lu. 13 14 15. Luke 13.31 32. Ioh. 3.14 and the Prophets called them Idoll-shepheards and the like and Christ called them hirelings and Christ called the Rulers hypocrites and Herod a Fox and read the 23. of Matthew and see if you may not as wel call that railing and yet in all this they did not raile nor scandalize any but gave to every nature its name and due reproofe whether they would hear or forbear but this is the condemnation of the world light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil So when the Jury came into bring in their evidence they could charge me with nothing but the Paper I had writ in reply to my Mittimus after I was imprisoned which Paper I had before owned in the open Court with my name to it but the Indictment they could not charge me with for it tended to a Riot which I was far from or any that owned me but the Judge and the Clerk both dishonestly strove to draw words out of the Fore-man of the Jury which the rest did not consent to neither could he speak their minds but others of the Jury was fain to speak themselves but nothing was cleared against me then the Goaler was commanded to take me away when I was gone forth of the Court they sent for me again and the Judge imposed two fines upon me to the value of about forty pounds the one he said was for the contempt of the Magistracy the other for the contempt of the Ministry for he said the Lord PROTECTOR had charged him to see to punish such persons as should contemn either Magistracy or Ministry But what a Ministry is this that stands in need of an outward Magistracy to uphold it against a people that comes with nothing but spiritual weapons to defend themselves against spiritual wickedness which now sits in high places but this Ministry is contrary to the Ministry of Christ whose weapons are not carnal but spiritual and also several of mine accusers stood upon the Bench hard by the Judge several times whispering of him in the eare 2 Cor. 10.4 and leavening and incensing his minde against me and I reproved one of them in the open Court for so doing and yet these things was suffered and also the Judge gave charge unto the Goaler to let no