Selected quad for the lemma: enemy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
enemy_n	good_a	seed_n	tare_n	1,657	5	12.7414	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A35026	The naked truth, or, The true state of the primitive church by an humble moderator.	Croft, Herbert, 1603-1691.	1675 (1675)	Wing C6970; ESTC R225557	74,185	74

I am confident the Arrian Heresie had soon expired but by continual disputation the heat of Passion was raised and the matter pursued with far more violence which at length grew into rancour and malice irreconcileable For some Godly Bishops I humbly conceive more zealous than discreet would not rest satisfied unless the Arrians were forced either to subscribe to the new word Homoousian or to quit their Livings and this caused that great Persecution against the Orthodox where the Arrians prevailed whereas by silence imposed on all parties the malice rancour persecution warr all had been prevented and the Truth spoken in love would at length most probably have prevailed For was not the Gospel at first planted this way preaching and praying men to receive it by this way of weakness it prēvailed for the weak things of God are stronger then men But when men will be wiser then God and in their foolish wisdome think it fit to adde their strength to Gods weakness as a speedier and surer way to establish the Truth God to convince them of their folly suffers that strong man the Enemy of the Gospel whom none but his Almighty Arm can bind and master to come and sow his tares of division which soon over-runs the good seed of the Church and brings all to confusion But what then would I have all heretical Opinions broach'd and spread abroad without any controul Are not Princes and Magistrates to be Nursing Fathers unto the Church must they not adde the Power of the Sword to that of the Word Not hold the Sword in vain but for the punishment of evil Doers c All this I grant and desire as much as any man that both Prince and Pastor would hold fast the Faith once delivered to the Saints fully declared and contained in Scripture let them suffer no new Doctrine to be set on foot certainly superfluous the Scripture being allsufficient and probably dangerous as being of Man and not of God who having given us a compleat Rule of Faith and Life by his Prophets Apostles and his only Son we have no reason to believe any New Doctrine proceeds from him therefore St. Paul is very bold and cryeth out If an Angel from Heaven Preach unto you any other Gospel than is already preached let him be accursed The Magistrate then is to countenance and protect the Pastor preaching the Gospel of Christ to silence oppose punish all that Preach any thing contrary or not cleerly contained in the Gospel Heresies never at first appear in their own natural shape but disguised with specious pretences drawn from some obscure places of Scripture capable of various Interpretations and thus having gotten footing by degrees they lay aside their Disguises and march on bare-fac'd Therefore both Pastor and Magistrate ought to be very watchfull and oppose all beginnings ever so specious as dangerous or at least superfluous as I said Let the Pastors at first endeavour by plain and sound Doctrine to stop the mouths of Gainsayers but if these turbulent spirits will not be stop't neither by Admonitions nor Entreaties then let the Pastors proceed to the Power of the Keyes which were it used with that Gravity and Severity as it was in the Primitive times would have great effect that is were it used in a solemn Assembly by the Reverend Bishop and his Clergy not by Lay-Chancellours and their Surrogates and the person excommunicated and shut out of the Church were likewise excluded from all Conversation and Commerce every one shunning his company as a person infected with the Plague so it was of old and so it ought to be now and so it would be now if men made any Conscience of their wayes this I am confident would reduce many a one But if after this any persevere in their perversness then the Magistrate may doubtless by his Power used with Christian moderation endeavour to stop the spread●●g of the Contagion and do what in wisdom he thinks meet to preserve the purity and peace of Church and State urging against them that Scripture Hast thou Faith have it to thy self before God Rom. 14. 22. Or that Give none offence neither to the Iew nor to the Gentile nor to the Church of God 1 Cor. 10. 32. Or that Gal. 5. 12. I would they were even cut off that trouble you St. Paul was not here in jeast but in great earnest as appears by his continued fervency all along this Epistle and doubtless he means not here a cutting off from the Church by way of Excommunication for that was in his power to do why then should he wish it nay they had cut themselves off from the Church before certainly then he means a cutting off by the Civil Power which then was Heathen and therefore St. Paul would not have it made use of by Christians for he would not allow them to appeal to unbelieving Magistrates no not in Civil things 1 Cor. 6. much less in Spiritual things Wherefore when St. Paul wishes they were cut off he wishes there were a fitting Power that is a Christian Magistrate to punish or banish those that trouble the Church of Christ with Doctrines apparently contrary to the cleer Text and such as are destructive to Christianity I dare go no farther But as for those who keep their erroneous Opinions to themselves who neither publish nor practise any thing to the disturbance of the Church or State but onely refuse to conform to the Churches established Doctrine or Discipline pardon me if I say that really I cannot find any warrant or so much as any hint from the Gospel to use any Force to compell them and from Reason sure there is no Motive to use Force because as I shewed before Force can't make a man believe your Doctrine but onely as an Hypocrite Profess what he believes not I know full well there is a common Objection against this taken from St. Austin who was long of my Opinion but seems to be altered on this occasion Some Hereticks Donatists came to him in his latter dayes and gave thanks that the Civil Power was made use of to restrain them confessing that was the Means which brought them to consider more calmly their own former extravagant Opinions and so brought them home to the true Church This Objection is easily answered First the Donatists are well known to have been a Sect not only erroneous in Judgment but very turbulent in Behaviour alwayes in seditious practices and in that case I shew'd before how the Civil Magistrate may proceed to Punishment but our case is not in repressing seditious practises but enforceing a. Confession of Faith quite of another nature Then secondly to answer more particularly this story I suppose there is no man such a stranger to the world as to be ignorant that there are Hypocrites in it and such for ought we know these seeming converted Donatists might be who for love of this World more than for love of the Truth forsook their