Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n
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A30522
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The everlasting gospel of repentance and remission of sins ... by ... Edward Burrough.
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Burrough, Edward, 1634-1662.
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1660
(1660)
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Wing B6001; ESTC R14681
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25,766
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33
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the hearts of the People but the Seed of Corruption brings forth fruit in them and your Vineyards are like barren and untilled ground that is unplowed and undigged and unplanted with Trees of Righteousness Oh ye have been unprofitable Vineyard-dressers and ye have laboured for your selves and not for the Lord as is manifest and ye have been idle and lazy and the God of Heaven is weary of you and the time is at hand he will pluck you up by the roots and visit you with great destruction and your name shall be a Reproach amongst men for ye have not sought the Lords honour but your own and ye have been changable in your wayes for your own advantages ye have preached for filthy Lucre and through Covetousness made merchandize of People and ye have traded with the Scriptures and made a Trade of Preaching the Gospel and ye have made Traffick of the Souls of men and these things have you done and the Lord hath kept silence and he hath forborn to smite you and therefore have you been hardened the more in your Transgressions as though the Lord took no notice and you have filled your hands with dishonest gain in your unrighteous wayes and your sins are increased every day against the God of Heaven you repent not when you are warned but reject reproof and go on without fear ye are a company of proud men heady and high-minded men ambitious and self-seeking persons even such as the Prophets Christ and the Apostles marked forth for Deceivers and your fruits and works do prove it ye have been covered with the Sheeps cloathing in your unrighteous natures and your Iniquities are almost full and the Lord will bring unresistable destruction upon you in a day when you cry Peace peace then sudden destruction will come Wo unto you because of your Iniquities the Earth is weary of you which ye have corrupted through your false wayes and the Kingdoms groan under your Oppressions and the Earth will spue you out and the People whom you have deceived shall rise up in Judgment against you the dreadful Day of the Lord is at hand upon you ye Apostates from the Life and Faith of Christ Jesus for of that race you are even of them Apostates that went out in the Apostles dayes that went in Balaam's way and Cain's way for ye are of the spirit that kills and persecutes people about Worship and Sacrifices and Religion as Cain did and ye go for Gifts and Rewards even as Balaam did These things are so the Witness of God in your Consciences shall answer and all People shall acknowledge the truth hereof in the day when God pleads with all the wicked All People Return and Repent of your Iniquities the dreadful Day of the Lord is at hand ye Sinners and Transgressors ye hypocritical Professors and prophane Persons the Day of Vengeance is at hand Whither will you fly and where will you leave your glory where will you seek a defence or where can you be hid the Mountains will not cover you nor the Rocks will not fall upon you the wrath of the Lamb you cannot escape even the long-suffering of God will be turned into a flame of anger and patience will be turned into sharp rebuke the wrath of the Lamb will utterly smite you and the Cup of Gods Indignation you must drink all the Earth must tast of it and the Wicked shall drink the dreggs Wherefore all ye Inhabitants of the Earth forsake your Transgressions that the Lord may not cut you off for ever but let God arise to destroy your Iniquities and to save your Souls let him take vengeance upon your Inventions that he may forgive you Oh! why will you dye why will you perish the Lord would have you to return that he might save you And this is the day of your Visitation the door of Mercy is yet open for a little season and the Lord yet calls unto you for a moment but the time is at hand that he who is filthy shall be filthy still and that determination shall be passed Come ye Blessed and Go ye Cursed the doleful sentence shall be pronounced to all workers of Iniquity Into everlasting Burning must they depart prepared for the Devil and his Angels and shall not see the Countenance of the Lord to refresh their souls but in the presence of the Lord and of the Lamb shall the Wicked be tormented Wherefore hear and tremble all ye Transgressors that live and act contrary to your knowledge and against the Witness of God in your own Consciences and this is your great sin for which the wrath of God cometh not because you have acted in Ignorance and without knowledge but because you have acted against the Light in your Consciences and sinned against your knowledge and done the things which you knew were evil before you did them and because hereof you are not to be excused but the burden of your own sins and the guilt of them will fall heavy upon you in the Day of the Lord For this is the Condemnation of the World that Light is come into it but you have loved Darknesse rather than Light and followed evil deeds and loved them and this contrary to the Light that is come into the world and which hath enlightned your own Consciences Certain Propositions of Faith laid down which every one must believe or else they cannot be saved I. NOw none can be saved from the Wrath of the Lord but they who are saved from their Sins for Sin brings the Wrath of God upon the Consciences of men and Anguish upon Soul and Body and who are not saved from Sin cannot be saved from Wrath for Wrath pursues the Guilty and he that doth evil sin lies at his door and continual anguish upon his spirit because of sin and the load and burden of the body of death oppresseth his soul and anger from God kindleth in his breast because he hath sinned and he knows he is guâ—â—â—y of Transgression and the Lord wounds him in his Conscience and no man in that state can speak peace unto him nor can any save him from the Wrath of God because he is not saved from his Sin nor from the guilt of it but his grief and burden is because he hath sinned against the Light in his own Conscience And therefore whosoever will be saved from Wrath must be saved from Sin and Christ must purifie his heart and the Blood of the Lamb must sanctifie him and his Conscience must be cleansed from the guilt of Transgression and Christ must live in him and he must live the life of Faith which gives victory over all Sin or else he cannot be saved with the Salvation of God eternally II. Again Whosoever will be saved with the Salvation of God must own the Light of Christ Jesus in his own Conscience and he must believe in this Light and walk in it even the Light in his Conscience that convinces him and
the Lord is at hand upon you ye Hypocrites ye that serve God with your lips and with your mouths profess much love when as your hearts are full of Envie Covetousness and Earthly-mindedness ye are the Apostate Christians that have taken the Form of Godlinesse upon you but want the Power ye preach and pray and hear Sermons and keep Sabbath-dayes and perform Duties but ye are not changed in your hearts but the old nature is alive and the old birth lives in you and ye are unlike unto God in nature and ye walk in the Flesh and not in the Spirit and ye take Christs words and the Apostles words and use your tongues when God never spoke to you O ye Hypocrites ye have a name to live but are dead and ye think ye are Rich when as ye are poor miserable blind and naked and your souls are lean and want the Bread of Life and ye have not put off the body of Sin nor have you overcome your Souls enemies but the burden of Sin lyes upon your Consciences and Temptations overcome you daily and though you say ye have Faith in Christ yet your hearts are not purified but the Old Man with his deeds is yet alive and the New Creature is not brought forth in you nor is Christ living in you and speaking in you the day of the Lord will come upon you you false-hearted men ye Apostate Christians that hold the Profession of Truth and Church and Gospel and Ministry in your unrighteous minds your Sacrifices are not acceptable to God nor your Offerings well-pleasing to him for your hearts are not aright before him and your Hypocrisie will God judge and his Wrath will go out like fire to consume your glory and God will cloath himself with Zeal as with a Cloak and with a Garment of Vengeance and he will slay you with his Sword and wound your Consciences with the Words of his Mouth and your Religion will not save you nor your Garment cover you from the Wrath of the Almighty Wo unto you the Mighty Day of the Lord is at hand upon you ye Earthly Professors who would be heirs of two Kingdoms who would enjoy God and this World too and love its Vanities and Profits and Pleasures and Honours and live in strife and contention one with another about earthly things and about your Religion too and are not of one heart and mind and soul but are strangers to the New Covenant of God though you hear Sermons and say a Form of Prayer and keep Sabbaths and Lecture-dayes and perform Ordinances and Duties and yet your hearts are hard and the body of Sin and Death lyes upon your Consciences and you are not changed into the Divine Nature this Religion will not save you away with it all it 's of Antichrish and his spirit leads you while you walk in the Form of Godliness without the Power the Lord will come upon you suddenly therefore Repent ye of your Hypocrisies and turn to the Spirit of God within you hear its Reproofs and obey it and walk in the Spirit and be ye Changed or else you can never be Saved VVo Wo unto all ye false Teachers and blind Leaders of the People ye Diviners and false Prophets and Day of the Lord is at hand upon-you ye have deceived souls for dishonest gain ye have run and were never sent of God and ye have not profited the people at all and ye have taken the name upon you of Ministers of Christ when he never sent you forth and you have kept a prating and preaching up and down and run for Gifts and Rewards and Hire ye have deceived the World and the Bloud of Souls rests upon you O ye Generation of Serpents poyson hath lodged under your tongues your hearts have been rotten and your tongues feigned and full of flattery and you have been as Canker-worms in the Earth and have corrupted the whole World Whom have not ye deceived by your Lyes and false Divinations Whom have not you cryed Peace unto if they would but give you Gifts Money and Hire What Form of Religion would not you take up for advantage to your selves how often have you turned from one way to another Oh ye false-hearted men the God of Heaven will shew you no mercy ye are the men that have made the Earth drunk with false faith and false doctrines and with contention and distention sometime preaching up one Government sometimes another and sometime being for one way of Worship and sometimes for another Treachery hath lodged in your hearts above all others ye have eaten up the sin of the People and cryed Peace unto the Ungodly Wo unto ye that have gone in Cain's way that have bread Contention Persecution Strife and Emulation amongst People and that have gone in Balaams way for Gifts and Rewards and would do any great man a pleasure and even curse the people for Money ye have been such as all the holy Prophets cryed against your fruits and works declares it ye have sought for your Gain from your Quarter and could never have enough such as Isaiah cryed against Chap. 56. and such as Micha cryed against Micah 3. That preached for Hire and divined for Money and leaned upon the Lord and cryed Peace to them that would give Money and prepared War against them that would not and these things have you done some of ye Teachers and Priests and ye have been blind Watchmen and ye have been idle and lazy Shepherds such as Ezekiel cryed against Chap. 34. that ruled over people with Force and Cruelty and killed them that were fed and did not heal the diseased nor strengthen the weak but pusht with the horn at such as went astray from you and idle and lazy Shepherds have you been who have not sed the Flock with living food but you have caused them to drink of the foul waters and their souls are lean and barren under your Preaching Oh look into your Flocks and see what fruit is brought forth by them and what may be gathered from them Oh the abundance of Pride and Wickedness of Ambition and Vain-glory and Covetousness and the love of this World lying and double-dealing and all the fruits of the flesh How do they abound amongst the flocks of your fold who are in their fruits and by their works not the Sheep of Christs Pasture but are like Goats and VVolves under your Teaching Can ye behold this and consider of it and not be ashamed of the fruit of your wayes VVhat have ye brought forth these many years or what profit have the People received from you who are yet in their sins unturned from them and not converted to God whereby it appears you have run and never were sent because the People are not profited at all and it grieves the heart of the Righteous to look into your Vineyards and to see such bad fruit growing you have been sloathfull Tillers and have not sown the good Seed in