Selected quad for the lemma: enemy_n
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A56022
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A general epistle to friends every where Written in obedience to the requirings of the spirit of life from God.
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Parke, James, 1636-1696.
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1682
(1682)
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Wing P371; ESTC R218729
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29,511
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32
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A General Epistle TO FRIENDS Every Where Written in obedience to the Requirings of the Spirit of Life from God Some of the things spoken to in this Epistle GOd's peculiar Love and Favour manifested to the People of God With a Salutation to them The manner of Gods bringing of us out of spiritual Sodom and Aegypt and his end therein Something of the old Serpents subtilty and cunning working with a way opened for all how to escape it that are convinced of the Truth Some wholsom Exhortations unto all who are come to the Way of God to continue stedfast in it and to be constant in their Obedience to Christ Jesus unto the end With something by way of Advice to beware of the Whores Cup and that ye receive not the Beasts Mark on your Foreheads or in your Hands Also concerning mighty things done by Faith A few words concerning Marriage And several other things relating to Husbands and Wives Parents and Children Masters and Servants A friendly Caution to all such who have transported or may transport themselves beyond the Seas into forreign Plantations Dear Friends and Brethren WHO are the called of God in Christ Jesus and witness the hope of your calling out of Darkness into his marvellous Light and are the Children of the Light and of the Day The dear and tender Salutation of my Love in the Light Life and Spirit of God reacheth to you all with fresh and fervent desires that you all may be kept faithful unto him who hath called and also made choice of you to serve worship love and obey him in your generation that you may be called the Trees of Righteousness of the Lords planting his Seed taking deep Root in you you will all bring forth fruit to the honour and glory of him who hath not only planted but often also watred you with his heavenly dew showers of plentiful Rain which purely and refreshingly hath fallen down upon you as no People else hath witnessed the like in our age or generation nor hath been known since the Apostles days glory to the Lord God of Heaven and Earth he hath made many Trees fruitful that now remain as lively fresh and green as ever altho some are not only withered but dead twice and pluckt up by the Root that were planted and have been watred with us often by our heavenly Father the Husband man both to us and them who did sow the same good Seed in them Grounds that prove evil as on that which is good Ground and that which he plants or sows in any mans heart is good and shews man what is purely good and of God from that which is contrary that all might come to love the good and hate the evil as its manifest from God by his immortal Seed or Word of Life within and that all might chuse the good and refuse the evil as either appear or is represented to any particular all are to love the good and hate the evil to chuse the good and refuse the evil to joyn to and be one with the good but to separate from reject and deny that which is evil and the pure Light of Christ in every Conscience as all take heed thereunto and wait therein will let them see and know how to distinguish betwixt good and evil under what disguise fair pretence or transformation of the Enemy soever it may appear to blind beguile or deceive the simple either to keep in the evil always from the good or to lead out and draw from the good after tastes of it into the evil again to make the latter end of such worse than their beginning I say and testifie in the Lord dear Friends as we all keep in and mind the glorious Light of the Son of God no such Darkness will ever again come over any of us as to call good evil or evil good to put light for darkness and darkness for light sweet for bitter or bitter for sweet for that cometh of Darkness from the Prince of Darkness and God of this World even the blindness that some are in who profess the light yet put darkness for it and call good evil and evil good and how can such know the good and acceptable will of God or good from evil then they were not like to chuse the good and refuse the evil And how were they like to obey the Light of Christ or walk in it that cannot clearly or truly distinguish betwixt Light and Darkness Christ or Belial May not such follow darkness in stead of light and Belial instead of Christ nay do they not walk in darkness not knowing whither they walk whose Minds thus are blinded by darkness And such to the Children of the Light and of the Day may be known by this Character that though they profess the Light of Christ and have been convinced by it yet they hate it and will not bring their deeds to it to be proved and tryed this Prover and Tryer that judgeth and condemns for sin and evil they cannot abide the coming of but would have their works and things tryed and proved by the Darkness which they themselves are in Which dear Friends I tenderly beseech you in the love of God to beware of and dwell in the Light of the Son of God forever mind it love and believe in it as much as ever you did since you turned to it and came to believe in it then I know you will be as willing to bring your deeds to it as ever you were and will be as ready to imbrace and follow the motions of it as you were at your first Convincement or the Candle of the Lord first shined upon your Tabernacles And I doubt not but a Remnant are so at this day although some are already turned aside from the Light into great Darkness and lost the sence of Life having Death over them and they feed thereon being out of the green and fresh Pastures of Life where once they fed with us gladly and accounted them good and precious which now seems but to them as the Manna did to the Children of Israel when they had eaten thereof and were full how did many of them forget the Lord and his works and murmured against Moses that was faithful in God's house and said Hath he brought us hither to destroy us And they said Can God furnish a Table in the Wilderness which was also a questioning of Gods Power and Providence All which were the fruits and evil effects of Unbelief and their revolting and acksliding Hearts and the Lord said Israel hath cast off the thing that is good he saw it was angry and greatly displeased therewith and the Lord did forsake them and cast them off because they did forsake him and cast off the thing that was good and followed after that which evil and often did evil in the sight of the Lord and many ways God proved them and tryed them and did mighty things for them for his Names sake
and for Israels sake he cut Rahab wounded the Dragon divided and made a way in the Sea a good and safe Passage for them in the Journey which the Lord led them on in he carried them on Eagles Wings and rebuked Kings and subdued strong Nations before them but when they rebelled then he turned to be their Enemy and fought against them whom he had often saved and had been afflicted with them in their Afflictions So dear Friends you that are gathered to God by his gathering Arm of Love and Power keep with the Lord and forsake him not whatsoever you may suffer for his Names sake therein the Lord will appear to your joy and will afflict them that afflict you for your obedience to God and the keeping your Consciences pure and good in his sight Let not a revolting or rebellious Heart be found in any one of you such cannot continue or abide with the Lord whose hearts are evil and rebellious out of them cometh not good things their hearts are defiled with evil filled with it and bent to do wickedly and they cannot cease from sin And how hath the Devil loaded some with Iniquity that do yet profess the same Light and Way of God with us How do they manifestly appear Children that are corrupters or corrupt Children endeavouring to corrupt the Minds of the Professors and other People by the seeds of Corruption which they have sown and printed for them to feed upon and it s the evil Seeds-man that sows corrupt or evil Seed What Instruments soever are by him made use of in that work mark them and avoid them as Instruments of Unrighteousness Oh Friends as you love your eternal Rest and Peace with God watch against and shut out the seed of the Serpent and his evil Seeds-men that sow it abroad by the Light of the Lord which shines in your hearts and hath given you the knowledge of God you may discern and see clearly the old Serpent's cunning in his Agents what high swelling words soever in their vain minds they may come with amongst you or print for Food to the uncircumcised and the unclean Be ye stedfast always abounding in the work of the Lord unto which you are called of God be not beguiled any one of you by the Serpent's cunning wait low in the pure Simplicity and that will give knowledge and understanding of the wiles and cunning working of the creeping Serpent And now is the seed of God risen to break the head of the Serpent and to tread under foot his power and authority which he hath got in man and women by disobedience and their rebellion against God whereby man in the beginning was subjected to vanity and not willing but by a salfe hope the Devil had begotten in them which was the cause of their being beguiled the begetting of that false hope that they should be as Gods knowing good and evil and as if they should not dye notwitstanding their transgressing the Command of the Lord which the Serpent's deceitful and beguiling Doctrine subjected them into the belief of Therefore take heed that none of you be beguiled as the Serpent beguiled Eve and draw you from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus It seems the Believers which the Apostle writ to had a godly simplicity and stedfastness in the Truth of God but afterward were in some danger to be drawn from it but Eve had not been so beguiled if she had minded to keep Gods command counsel and not hearkned to the Serpent So hearken not to the doctrine or voice of the Serpent which leads from God into Transgression and to death from the Life of God and to lose the Image of God which Adam and Eve were deprived of though once beautified therewith And so Gods Image may be lost now by them that are come into it and have born it and the beauty of Holiness that any one had may be lost if there be not a keeping in that Power which brings into it and preserves the faithful in it The heavenly Creator in the new Creation createth us in Christ Jesus unto good works and he restores his People to God in his Image which is after God in Righteousness and true Holiness so we become holy as the Lord our God is holy and perfect as our heavenly Father is Perfect and so we are a chosen Generation and a royal Priesthood to God and are prepared of him to offer an Offering acceptable and well-pleasing in the sight of God and come to know how to please God in all things and to hearken to his voice and obey his Voice that is better than Sacrifice or the sat of Rams which some content themselves with even a bare Profession of the Truth and Knowledge of but do not obey it nor walk in it but rather cause the way of Truth to be evil spoken of opening the Mouthes of Adversaries to blaspheme that holy Name by which we were called and who know the Truth but act contrary to the guidance of that Spirit of Truth which led them into the Truth and the Way wherein they should go and so go into the Apostacy and to turn back again into Aegypt which all ought to beware of for we were not brought out of the Apostacy or delivered out of Aegypt either to look back or go back again Did not the Lord by a very mighty hand stretched out Arm bring us out of Egypt spiritually as really as he did the Children of Israel out of outward Egypt in the days of old And how did God wound and overthrow our Enemies though strong and potent not by any might or power carnal but by his own holy Spirit and Power which he made known in our hearts and which we received from him Hath not this conquered and overcome many of your Enemies that oppressed you which you groaned under and were sorrowful because of till deliverance came And cannot many of you say that the right hand of the Lord hath brought mighty things to pass and that the right hand of the Lord hath done valiantly And cannot you say the Lord was on your side and now is the same and that greater is he that is in you than he that is in the World Although dear Friends you have many Enemies yet to encounter with fear not neither be at all dismayed only look to the Lord and believe in him and love and trust in him fear not man nor put no trust in Princes nor in any Arm of flesh and if the wicked bend their Bow and shoot their Arrows at you who are innocent in your Minds and of a peaceable Life matter it not but look to the Lord that Innocency and a peaceable Mind still may be found in you all leave your cause to the Lord to plead who in his own due time will plead your cause execute judgment for you the Lord can if he please soon break the Bow of the Wicked and turn their