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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
earth_n	lord_n	sing_v	song_n	3,082	5	9.7277	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34984	An alarum sounded in the borders of spiritual Egypt vvhich shall be heard in Babylon, and astonish the inhabitants of the defiled and polluted habitations of the earth. And the power of the Prince of Darkness called into question; and he himself examin'd by the truth, how he came to raign over mankind; and how long his time shall be, till he comes to be cast out of his dominion, and the creature be deliver'd from under his tyranny; to serve God in spirit and in truth, as Christ, the prince of peace, has order'd them. Also the number of him whom the world hath wonder'd after, found out; and demonstrated to be near at an end: and withal, that it is no wayes unlawful, nor in vain, both to hope, and to expect the utter desolation, and destruction of sin in this life, and the setting up of perfect righteousness in the souls of men, where sin has too long raign'd. Written in a testimony to the truth, and against the false position of the devil, and his servants; by a servant of God, Steven Crisp.	Crisp, Stephen, 1628-1692.	1671 (1671)	Wing C6922; ESTC R215182	35,940	50

in the worst way viz. By Sin which is so very contrary to his nature But Let but these Sin-Pleaders suppose That if God should stretch forth his Power so far in man that it should destroy all the Works of the Devil and cast out Sin and cause his Soul to take as great Delight and Joy in Well-doing as ever it had in Sin and should plant Humility as naturally in the Soul as the Devil has planted Pride in it Now the Question is Whether this Power that works this change be not as able to keep the Creature in this Condition as to bring him to it without any help of the Devil or his Work But they will say To suppose a thing that is Impossible is either against Reason or Presumption I Answer All things are Possible with God except to Lye and as concerning this It is not only possible but the contrary is impossible because God hath so often promis'd it to make a perfect Work and to finish his Work in all them that trust in him And for this End is Christ Jesus come That he might destroy the Devil and his Works And in the Parable he saith When he comes that is stronger he shall bind the strong Man and spoil his Goods and cast him out This seems as if Christ who is the stronger had no need of the Devil or his Goods either to keep his People Humble thereby But the Apostle said That they were kept by Faith through the Power of God unto Salvation Except you will say as the Priests in Scotland say Cursed is he that sayes Faith it without Sin and let all the People say Amen Then the words of the Apostle must be read thus You are kept by a Faith which is mixed with sin in the Power of God unto Salvation But if you will have it so speak it out as they have done but being you profess That Faith is the Gift of God we may well say It is able to clense the Heart and to give Victory over the World and also over the Devil and Sin and then there is no need of sin to keep us Humble For if Humility was a Fruit of sin it would not be so acceptable unto God as it is for the Prophet says He giveth his Grace to the Humble and dwelleth with such that are of a Contrite and Broken Heart Again if a few sins yea though they be but a Remnant can keep men Humble then a great deal of sin must needs make a man more Humble so then let us plentifully sin that we may plentifully be Humble But God forbid that such doctrine or such Teachers should go unreprov'd for they have exalted the work of the Devil beyond the Work of God And it is because such Teachers have been countenanc'd that the People have been led into so much Blindness Ignorance and Hardness of Heart and that People have wholly lost the Hope and Expectation of a Day of Deliverance and have taken up a Rest in a sinful and slavish state And now If any come to Preach the Gospel which brings Deliverance and Freedom to the Soul their Souls being in a Rest already though a False Polluted Rest such are look'd upon as Disturbers of their Rest and Breakers of their Peace and such like even as it was with the Prophet Micah when he cryed out Mic. 2.10 Arise ye and depart for this is not your Rest because it is polluted it shall destroy you even with a sore Destruction But Blessed be the Lord God of Heaven and Earth forever for he hath brought forth his Day of Salvation which many have long'd after and are longing and are in travel that they might come to know it to whom a sinful state is no Resting-place but is unto them as a strange Land in which they cannot sing the Songs of Sion but still have Jerusalem in their remembrance which is Free-born from above longing after the Day of Gathering that the Lamb and not the changeable Priests and Teachers may be their Light and Leader Unto such I say and testifie in the Name of the God of Heaven Lift up your Heads for the Day of your Redemption draweth nigh and Deliverance shall come out of Sion the City of our Solemnity Isa 33.20 And a Mighty Voice shall be sounded forth from the holy Mountain from the Lord of Hosts and those that hear it shall live and the dead Bones in the Valleys shall be enliven'd and the Joy of that Day shall be greater then the Joy of the Harvest Now How and in what manner these things will be brought to pass is a great Dispute among many that are yet seeking in the carnal Wisdom to conceive and comprehend spiritual things and so they come to be scatter'd divided in their imaginations And therefore in the mean time those that are become willing to sit down in Quietness in the Light of Christ Jesus that sheweth every running-out of the Mind they come to feel the Pure Fear of God to be planted in their Hearts so that they dare not think their own Thoughts nor speak their own Words And here is the beginning of the true Wisdom by which Wisdom it is given unto them to understand those things which they could not find out in all the time of their Travel and Pains in the faln Wisdom And whil'st they were hearkening after the different Voices of men they never could have a Certainty But now hearing him by whom God speaketh who is manifest within them whom their Ear is inclin'd unto within they come to know certainly that which they know through the Testimony of the Holy Spirit who alone is able to reveal unto those that Fear Him the Mysteries of God's Kingdom and he shuts them up from the Wise and Prudent of this World And therefore you that desire to have an understanding of these things come down from your high Builded Towers of Knowledge and Comprehension and sit down in that Pure Light that brings a Death upon the Earthly Wisdom and become as Fools that you may be wise and that Wisdom that is so received shall lead to know the Number of the Beast which the whole World with all their Accademical Wisdom and all the Sects with their Inventions are strangers unto at this day and are carrying about with them his Name and the number of it or his Mark by which they are accepted among Men and yet do not know what it is But when they come to a wise enough to know it and honest enough to forsake it then they will see that the Friend-ship of this World comes to be broken and the Enmity to work against the Holy Seed and the Seed comes to arise and bruise the Head of the Enmity and to nail it fast to a Cross till it Dye and then comes Freedom then there is War no more then there is peace on Earth and nothing but good will towards all Men yea to Enemies Then Anguish and Sorrow

the acceptable Year of the Lord unto whom there is nothing acceptable which is imperfect Certainly there is no manner of Slaves so well contented with their Bondage as the Devil 's are and therefore it is worth the considering what right he has to Raign over Mankind and what Work it is he gives his Servants to do that is so well pleasing unto them that they cannot endure to hear of being set at liberty as long as they have a day to live As for my part I have considered what right the Devil can claim to the Government which he has among the Children of Men raigning over Kings and Princes Priests and People from one Sect to another setting them all to work in blind Zeal one against another yet all agreeing in this one Question to wit Is there any Man or Woman upon the Earth that is freed from under the reign of the Devil that he can live without Sin or is it possible for any to be so the general Answer is No we are all and must be all his Servants all the dayes of our lives But some might say Seeing you are all Fellow-Servants and that both you and your Work do belong to one Master why then are you disagreeing with one another about the work But Oh my soul longeth that some might be awakened once to consider and to bethink themselves how they came to this state and condition and by what right and authority their Master keeps them in this Bondage and whether it i● not both lawfull and possible to come from under it And in the first place it is to be considered that this spirit which is called the Devil and Satan had no dominion over Man in the beginning for God gave Man power over all Beasts Fishes Fowls and over every creeping thing that he should Rule over them and in that time the Devil that old creeping Serpent was kept under and could not speak nor command as with authority and he being but a subject himself he sought to have dominion having lost the glory of the everlasting Kingdom and so he came to the Woman which was made and brought forth in a time of sleep and perswaded her Mark not commanded and his perswasion was that she should break the Command of God under pretence that she should be profited thereby So here was but a sneeking underly spirit coming to the Woman in a deceitful feigned manner with a Lye in his mouth to see if he could deceive her and lead her to be disobedient to her God and Maker Who could then have thought that this spirit that was subject to all sorts of misery should have reigned and ruled over so many Millions of thousands of Men both high and low young and old Well the Woman hearkned after a Lye and broke the Command of God and went to try whether this Serpent had found out a way to make her better or not and not only so but went to the Man and gave him also and he did eat Mark this Devil the old Serpent he did not go to the Man that was a work too high for him but there comes his Companion which was given of God which was of his Flesh and Bones to tempt him he did not hearken to the Devil but to his deceived Wife and he did eat and their Eyes were opened and they were asham'd and hid themselves Here were the two first subjects which the Devil had in his Kingdom he having before this time no Dominion among the Creatures which God had made Now it is to be observed that there are but four wayes to come into Dominion to wit by Descent by Election by Conquest and by Treason Now which of these it is by which the Devil got his entrance is easie to be concluded All that are wise will say That it was by Treason and Falshood and that Man thereby came to be deprived of that Dominion and Rule which he had before and his boldness was taken from him and he was ashamed So now see for whom you are pleading all you that are so zaelously pleading for the Devils Kingdom viz for an old Traytor that came into his Government by a Lye and spoyl'd our Predecessors of their Dominion Glory and Power at once by Sin for which you are now pleading Oh Blush and be ashamed every one of you and let your mouthes be stopped for ever But now seeing that it fell out so What was the determination of the Lord in this matter hearken to his Sentence And to the Serpent he said because thou hast done so thou shalt creep upon thy Belly and art cursed above all Cattel and above all the Beasts of the Feild see he must creep upon his Belly and not stand upon his tip-toes lifting up his head above the Nations he must eat Dust and the other Beasts must eat the Grass of the Field but he Dust all the dayes of his life and not the Fat of the Land and to have the tenth part of the Fruits of the Earth bestowed on his meanest Servants having also the other nine parts of it bestowed and ordered to his will and so shall it be with thee as long as thou livest that is not to say that he shall live for ever and to have Dust to eat and a Belly to creep upon But at last God has determined that his head should be bruised there is his end Oh! All ye Pleaders for Sin behold your Prince and hear his Sentence and be asham'd and stop your Monthes forever And now when he had gotten a little Dominion let Us examine a little how this Trayter us'd his Rule in the beginning his first Lesson was to Teach his new subjects to hide themselves from the presence of God that which before was their chiefest joy and crown was now their greatest fear and dread and so they run under the Trees hiding themselves as their Posterity now does at this day but the Lord found them out and spoke to them and caused them to hear that dreadfull Sentence and not only so but drove them out from where Life was to be found into the Earth where there was nothing to be gotten without pain and labour and whereas they were before in Dominion and had nothing to do but to dress the Garden in which the Life was they must now Till the Ground which brought forth unto them Bryers and Thorns and in that state Man's misery was great and his sorrow unspeakable and his darkness not to be expressed and had lost his discerning of things that differ and having an expectation of a Seed which should destroy the Serpent and bruise his head he was apt to think every Birth to be that Seed as his Children in the fall do at this day so that when Cain was born his mother said she had gotten a Man from the Lord but poor Woman she knew not the feed and how that that seed which is born of the flesh is a Persecutor and

that the Enmity is great in the first birth and so that although he grew up to be an Offerer yet he did not grow up in dominion over the Serpent nor over the quality of the Destroyer in himself and that sort of Offering was more acceptable to the Devil then to God And now mark that man was a Sinner and yet religious his Sin and Religion were consistant and could have place together at one and the same time in one man as it is now with the Professors of this Age who say they are Sinners and that their best Works are polluted and defiled with Sin and that they must remain so whilst they live and yet they will seek acceptance with God in these poluted Offerings notwithstanding they do profess him to be pure to whom they Offer Thus was this first Sacrificer blind and darkned and so are many Thousands after him and the dominion of the Devil was over him First Deceiving him by Leading him to Expect an Acceptance because he Offered though with an Evil Heart Secondly to lead him into the evil which had kept him from acceptance Thirdly by making him so Wrath and Angry because he was not accepted against his Brother that did well and was partaker of the one sure Faith of the Elect Seed of God And the Serpent having thus darkned his mind then he durst come before him with a Lye though he was a Man of whom Eve thought that she had gotten him from the Lord perswading him that if that Faithfull Abel was out of the Way that then it would be better with him So he hearkned to the Counsel of this evil spirit and shed Innocent Blood about Religion here Persecution got his entrance into the World by one that was an Offerer and an evil Doer together a fit Instrument for such a Work But behold what became of this Man the Blood which he had shed and the Earth which had drunk it up cry'd for Vengance against this bloody Offerer and he fear'd exceedingly and said He could not bear his Punishment and said Every one that finds me will slay me and to prevent that he went and Built a City in the Land of Nod hear was the beginning of Fortifications which was to defend the Transgressor for the Righteous have a Tower namely the Name of God and there they are safe without such Gates or Walls Now let every one consider how little right this spirit had in all these things but he entred by a Lye and Reigned by a Lye and Darkness and deceit was his defence for his Government and how little reason there is to plead for such a spirit let the wise in heart judge It would go beyond my present aime and purpose to trace this spirit who is called the Devil and Satan the Dragon and old Serpent through all Ages since the beginning to see with how little Truth Right or Equity he came up to Reign among Men. The understanding Reader of the Scriptures of Truth can see it clear enough and it is a great wonder and one of the greatest that is in that part of the World called Christendom that there are so many men being men of knowledge in other matters and such as set up the Scriptures so much as they seem to do calling it the Word of God the Rule of Christians the Light of the World the Guide of Life c. that they should go with such a Book in their hands pleading for the Devil's Kingdom and for a necessity that it must continue as long as there is a man upon Earth Whereas the Scripture in substance is nothing else but as a Declaration against him and his Government and sheweth how he ought to be forsaken opposed resisted and cast out and withall how that Primitive pure and holy and Righteous Law of that Spirit which is called God and is holy pure and Blessed for ever how that ought to be imbraced received and exalted in the whole Creation I say this is a very great wonder of which and of the consequences thereof the Christians so called have cause to be ashamed yea are a Reproach to the whole World and it is high time that some do arise for God and the call is gone forth Who is on the Lord's part Exod. 32.26 The Devil has an innumerable Host to plead for Sin some with Arguments and some with cruel Weapons but who is on the Lord's part that can say the Lord Reigns in Righteousness and in Truth he Judges the Earth Oh! All ye carnal Professors of God and Christ in words but in works deny him and sayes that Sin must stand and remain as long as you live Be it known unto you in the Name of the God of Heaven that where Sin remains there the Devil is Prince and Ruler And if that must remain as long as you live the Devil desires it no longer for he that will be his Servant in this life must be his Companion in the World to come But hear ye the Word of the Lord thou great Host and mighty Army of the Devil Beast Serpent and the old Deceiver who plead that his Government shall stand as long as there is a man to live upon Earth The Controversie of the Lord God Almighty is Proclaimed and begun against you all and your Prince yea the Arm of the everlasting God is stretched out against you and henceforth ye shall not be prosperous but the Dominion of your Prince shall be lessened and both his and your Power shall be weakned and your Weapons both of Deceit and Cruelty shall be broken and come to nought The Inheritance of of the Wicked shall be laid waste and the design which hath been carried on so long shall be frustrated Deceit and Falshood shall fall before the Truth and Darkness shall flee before the Light and your fortified City shall fail you and the Land of Nod will not be a hiding place for you For the Arm of the mighty God of Jacob shall scatter you as a reproach and make y●u ashamed of your Work and of your Prince Now to touch a tittle at your Arguments which the Servants of this spirit make use of for to hold ●p his Kingd●m of whi●h they say It is impossible tha● it should be brought down even as if God had given up all Man kind which is the best of his Creation unto t●e Devil and that he should keep none of them for himself to serve him till they have fulf●lled the Devi●'s work to the ●●ll and can serve him no longer Certainly t e Heathens M●ors and Indians have a better D●ctrine then these in the ground though Darkness is over their understandings as concerning God and Heaven and such things yet many of them do not judge that there is such a necessity to do evil as long as they live but abstain from that which they know to be evil and they that do so are esteemed to have their pleasures and delight in the

cometh from God they shall understand and it is to such I write for I have learn'd to cover the Pearls before the Swine and to with-hold the Children's Bread from the Dogs And by what is here said it sufficiently appears First That this Intruder or Usurper call'd the Devil Satan Dragon or Antichrist has no Right to Rule and to Rain over Mankind all the dayes of their Life Secondly That his Kingdom is a limited Kingdom and was not to continue forever Thirdly That the limits of it has been reveal'd to several of the Servants of God Fourthly That the appointed time of his Government is nigh come to an End Fifthly That there is a Blessed Day and Time to be expected after the end of his Raign And Sixthly That none can come to enjoy that Blessed Time and Blessedness nor sing the Song of Joy and Deliverance but those that patiently wait upon the Lord in the dayes of Tribulation and have that Hope to see the Salvation which cometh out of Sion And therefore for a Conclusion I shall say this That all those that feel themselves in Bondage under this Prince of Darkness in what manner soever it be and are not willing to remain so alwayes Believe but in him that sheweth you your Bondage and wait in his pure Light in your own Consciences which discovers Darkness and the Prince of it and then you will feel a Hope to spring up in you that you may be deliver'd as I my self have felt 1 Joh. 3.3 And this Hope will lead to a daily Washing and Purifying and to a daily Crucifying and Mortifying of thy earthly Members And as this Hope comes to work in thee it will bring thee to an Experience of being deliver'd in some particular things and that will strengthen thy Hope of being deliver'd from more and so at last a Faith will arise in thee Perfectly and Thorowly to be made free from sin And when thou art made Partaker of this Faith then the greatest and strongest Bond of the Devil is broken for through the Unbelief of it he keeps his Kingdom in Man and Woman And when this Evil Root of Unbelief is taken away then his Kingdom comes soon to an end and the Government of Truth comes to be set up in thee and so there comes a Change to he wrought in thee both inwardly and outwardly and so comes his Kingdom who is the Intruder or Usurper to be lessen'd first in thy self and then thou comest to see that Change in another and so it goeth forward from one to ten and from ten to a thousand and so forth more and more until the Inheritance of the Wicked comes to be wholy laid waste till Truth and Righteousness and the Raign and Government of Christ Jesus our Lord comes to be set up in the Earth which my Soul longs and travels for and so I know it is with many more for whose sake this is written and as a Testimony against that proud and presumptious Generation of Hypocrites of what Sort or Name or in what Nation or Kingdom soever they may be who not only have subjected themselves unto this Prince of Darkness and unto the Power of him who is call'd the Devil and Satan but also pretend That all Mankind must do so and continue so all their dayes and that there is no Remedy nor Help against it and so deny the Power of God and lead the people to trust in a Lye But the Day of the Power of God is come and the Refuge of Lyes is swept away and the Deliverance and Victory of the Lamb is known unto many to whom and to the Everlasting God by the Operation of the Holy Spirit in the Hearts of the Redeemed be sung Everlasting Praises Thanks-giving Renown Honour and Glory and Dominion forever Postscript THere comes something further up in my Heart concerning this matter which I think good to communicate unto you There are hardly any ignorant how commonly it is said That we cannot live without sin and that we cannot be made free from it as long as we live in this World even as if our Sin and our Life were so knit together that they cannot be seperated from one another but that they must end together and not the one before the other Now all those that believe there is 〈◊〉 God they also believe that he is the Fountain of Life and gives Life unto all that Lives And all that believes that there is a Devil they also believe that he is the Author and Original of Sin as Christ said When he speaks a Lye he speaks of his own for he is a Lyar and a Father of Lyes Joh. 8.44 and so he is of all other Wickedness Now he gives life to no man for that comes of God and he having made them live then comes the Devil and betrayes them unto sin And now are Men and Women become such Fools that they seek to bind together inseparably that which is of God with that which is of the Devil and that is a gre●t Foolishness For What Fellowship has Christ with Belial or Light with Darkness So also the Life of Men simply consider'd in it self has no Fellowship with sin for they come forth of two different Originals and he who is the Original of Life is stronger then he who is the Original of Sin And though he has brought in Sin and has corrupted Nature which first was pure by sin and men in that corrupt Nature do abuse their Life which they have from God to his Dishonour and to their own Perdition yet that Life is not so joyn'd unto Sin that they are inseparable For though it be true That men cannot sin if they live not yet it is not true to say That if men sin not then they cannot live for the life that some lived they lived by the Faith of the Son of God Gal. 2.20 and that is in dominion over Sin and over the Devil the Author of it There is another common Position That we must live in sin so long as we do carry about with us this Body of Sin and Death meaning this Substantial or Corporal Body alledging the words of Paul Rom. 7.24 Now this is also a Blind and Foolish Position as if the Fault of all sins which they commit were in the Body or the Member● of it whereas on the contrary the Body simply in it self is not guilty of that which through the Body is done it being altogether passive having no will in the Members but they are as Instruments that are order'd or dispos'd of according to the Laws of God or of the Devil the one or the other being set up to rule in the Will and Mind of the Creature and the Members have no power to do or leave undone any thing but as they receive it by the Will or Understanding Also there is no Member of the Body but is made to serve the Lord and is also made fit for it and