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A26893
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A seasonable word of advice unto all the saints in England whereby they are exhorted to beware of Satans subtilties, and hold fast the words of sound doctrine / by J.B., a lover of the truth.
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J. B.
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1655
(1655)
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Wing B122; ESTC R32845
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20,027
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31
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Vigilant will not easily be surprized with the subtilties of Satan he who hath the spirit of Prayer will mightily prevaile against Satan and by Faith the Saints are guarded against every assault of Satan Besides these two great Snares there are six erroneous opinions which Satan hath drawn many Saints to take up upon the mistake of divers Texts of Scripture The first is they do hold that it is the duty of the Saints to call for Judgements and divine vengeance upon their Enemies as being the enemies of God So they say Elias did 2 Kin. 2.24 whereas we have an expresse Rule to the contrary Bless I say and curse not Ro. 12.14 for which they alledge that which is written in the Revelation where the Soules which lay under the Alter cried How long Lord holy and true dost thou Judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the Earth which words by the very poynting of them do appear to be spoken by way of Interrogation rather then by way of Deprecation For hereby the Saints do rather desire to know how long it would be before the Lord would Avenge them of their Enemies then call for vengeance upon them Another Text they produce to prove that the Saints may cal for judgments on the heads of wicked men is because it is said Rev. 11 6. the witnesses of Jesus have Power to shut heaven to turn water into blood and to smite the Earth with plagues as often as they will which I suppose they did not by cursing and bitternesse but by patient bearing of afflictions and forgiving heartily their Enemies Hereby they put vengeance into the hand of God and heaped coales of fire upon their Enemies Prov. 25.21 22. Secondly many do now hold that in the Apostles Daies the Saints were to looke upon the Magistrate as the Ordinance of God but in these Times they are not so to esteeme of him And the Reason they say is because then he received his Power from God but now the Beast the great Monarchy receiveth Power from the Dragon which is a Delusion in the main for in the Apostles Daies the Romane Monarchy as governed by heathen Emperours being the Beast that came out of the Sea received then power from the Dragon Rev. 13.2 as well as the Romane Monarchy governed by Popes which was the Beast that came out of the Earth Rev. 13 11. who did exercise all the Power of the first Beast v. 12.14 This is quite contrary to the rule of the Gospel which commandeth the Saints to yeild obedience to Magistrates to Principalities and Powers Tit. 3.1 Rom. 13.1 1 Pet. 2 13 14. And if the Israelites while they remained in heathenish Babylon were commanded to seeke the prosperity of the City wherein they lived and to pray unto the Lord for it because in the Peace thereof they were to have Peace Jer. 29 6 7. I suppose it is the duety of every Christian in what place soever of mystical Babylon he live in until the time Come in which the Lord hath appointed to deliver his people thence to Pray Earnestly for those who are in Authority and for the peace of the Nation wherein they live For to stirre up those who profess Religion against the higher Powers is a slieght of Satan to move them to Insurrection and Rebellion as he did in Germany by many lying visions to their shame and Reproach and scandal to Religion The main End that Satan aimeth at in seducing those who professe Godlinesse to revile and rebel against the Civil Power is thereby to deprive them of their Liberty of assembling and meeting together An unvalued mercy for hereby by their reproaching the Magistrate the Magistrate being provoked doth move Persecution for which many times both he and the whole Nation is plagued and many real and guiltles Saints do suffer for the offences of some deluded Professors Hereby the Name of God and Religion is dishonoured and the Propagation of the Gospel hindred by those who thinke themselves the onely Persons who carry on the worke of God more then any other in their Generation Thirdly this Errour is frequent among those who professe Religion they say they ought to Pray for their own Enemes but not for the Enemies of Christ As if any were an Enemy to the Saints and not an Enemy to Christ What Injury is don to them is don to Christ He that persecuteth them persecuteth the Lord Jesus Acts 9.4 22.7 26.14 22.8 26.15 so that if the Saints were not to Pray for the Enemies of Christ they could not pray for their own Enemes If the one were forbidden the other precept could not be kept Besides Christ prayed for his Enemies Luke 23.34 and Stephen prayed for the Persecutors of the Saints Act. 7.60 and our Saviour declared that all Sins and Blasphemies except against the holy Ghost should be forgiven unto men Mar. 3.28 29. then if all Sins wherewith men sin against Christ be remissible or pardonable they may be prayed for 1 Joh. 5.16 17. The Rule then is not onely to pray for men as they are Enemies unto us but as they are Enemies to Christ And indeed hereby Satan doth seeke to destroy a Saint and frustrate all Graces in him If a man should loose a Leg or an Arme or any other Limbe he might notwithstanding live many yeares but if a mans Heart were wounded he would suddenly dye although all the rest of his body were safe So if Satan can worke any to forsake Charity he knoweth then that the rest of their Graces if they had all other would not Advantage them 1 Cor. 13.1 2 3. for Love is the very being of a Saint and the true Image of God So that under colour of hating of the Enemies of God Satan seeketh in these last Times to deface the Image of Christ in the Saints To make this passe the more current he doth minde them of that which David saith I hate those that hate thee Psal 139.21 22 23 24. where first this was spoken prophetically of Christ who knew all those who were Enemies unto God appointed unto destruction and therefore he could distinguish the irreconcileable Enemies of God from his Saints so that he knew whom to pray for and whom to hate but the Saints cannot do this therefore they must follow the Rule and Pray for all men If they be worthy their Prayers and welwishes remain with them if not they return to them again Luk. 10.5 6. and secondly in the time of the Law they knew who were the Enemies of God and who were not they knew that onely the Seed of Abraham were freinds and in Covenant with God and that all the rest of the world were his Enemies whom they were to hate Therefore it was that the Prophet said to Jehosophat wouldst thou love them that hate the Lord therefore the wrath of the Lord is upon the 2 Chr 19.12 But when Jesus Christ suffered then the partition wall was
in the Faith And Fourthly Hereby he causeth them to put private Interpretations upon the Scriptures applying them at their pleasures to particular Times Places and Persons Whereas the Scriptures and divine prophesies as they came not in old time by the will of man but holy men spake at they were moved by the holy Ghost so they are not to be interpreted according to the will of man with any private Interpretation but according to the mind and spirit of God which we can only find out by searching the Scriptures and comparing spiritual things with spiritual A Third way by which Satan bringeth many to a misunderstanding of the Scriptures and a perversion thereof is by keeping them in Ignorance of the present Dispensation they are under hereby causing them in Gospel-Times to walke chiefly by the Rule of the Law and to look for the performance and accomplishment of those things in their Daies which are not to be fulfilled until future Times This Satan doth by making use of Ignorant and unfaithful shepherds who knowing not the Scriptures themselvs or unfaithfully dispencing them somtimes contrary to the Convictions of their own hearts Light and knowledge to maintain their temporal Advantages and to keep up the principles of their artificial and scholastic Theology do impose such Doctrines upon the world that they lay the weight of a mans Justification upon his duties and performances thereby destroying as far as in them lyeth the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ And although in their Doctrines and words they will speak of Justification by Faith yet in their works and practizes they deny it Laying heavy burdens works and duties upon men which neither they nor their forefathers were able to bear And hereby Satan causeth them either to omit or pervert and wrest those Scriptures which hold forth Justification freely by Faith in Christ without the works of the Law Secondly Satan doth by his Seducements and subtile Suggestions cause many to mistake diverse prophetical Scriptures as to Time by perswading them that the accomplishment of those Promises will be in their Daies And this he doth by taking Advantage of an earnest desire which is in many professors to see the fulfilling of those things which are conteined in those Prophesies because they are perswaded that thereby the Lord would be exceedingly glorified And therefore the Saints in these Times should very carefully watch over their Zeale which in most men is rather a passion then a Grace especially if it be fixed upon a wrong Object The Jewes were Zealous of the Law of Moses but being ignorant of the Law of the Gospel of Christ their zeale was dissalowed of by the Apostle saying Rom. 10.2 they have a zeale but not according to knowledge for they being ignorant of the Righteousnesse of God went about to establish their own Righteousnesse And so far did this zeale hurry them that they persecuted the most precious Saints of Jesus Christ Thus Paul persecuted the Church Luk 9.51 to 56. Phil. 3.6 and thus Satan took Advantage against the Disciples working upon their Zeale who were then Ignorant of their present Dispensation and work which Christ was then to do in the world For when Jesus Christ was to go to Jerusalem on a certain time he sent some before him who prepared his lodging in a Town of the Samaritans The Samaritans being professed Enemies to the Jewes finding that Christ intended to go to Jerusalem to worship refused to receive him Whereupon James and John moved with Zeale taking for example Elias the prophet but being at that Time ignorant of the work which their Master then came to do moved the Lord to command fire to come down from heaven to consume the Samaritans But the Lord answered Ye know not of what Spirit ye are of for the Son of Man is not come to destroy mens lives but to save them And assuredly Satan doth work thus in the world taking advantage of a great zeale which is in many Saints who are zealous of the glory of God and tender of his honour who set before them the Examples of many Zealous Saints who were acted by an immediate hand of God and they call for fire Judgements blastings and wrath upon many whom they see do dishonour God and as they conceive do carry on the work of Satan against Christ Not considering that yet we are under the tenders of the Gospel and a door of mercy is open unto all men To all sorts of sinners excepting those who sin against the holy Ghost to whoremongers and Idolaters to drunkards and blasphemers so that he that is a persecuter of Christ and his Saints to day may be a converted Paul to morrow Not considering that the day of wrath vengeance and utter destruction is the Day of the Lord the Day of his next coming and appearing Untill which time his Disciples should be merciful as their father which is in heaven is merciful who maketh his Sun to arise on the evil and good Mat. 5.44 45 46. and sendeth Rain on the Just and unjust Wherefore the Saints in these Daies should watch over their zeale and have a Care that it be bounded with love on the one hand and knowledge on the other and be circumspect that they fix their zeale on a right Object according to that of the Apostle It is good to be zealous or earnest in a good thing Gal. 4.15 16 17 18. We should zealously love when the Lord would have us do good but we should not hate zealously when the Lord would have us to love nor Curse when he would have us to blesse nor deprecate any when he would have us to pray for all Men. Satan having caught any in this Snare that is blinded their Eyes that they are not able to know the things that belong to their present Dispensation and having wrought upon their zeale and fixed it upon a wrong Object In the first place he doth deprive the Saints who are thus deceived by him of many gospel Comforts which do arise from the apprehension of the Love of God grounded upon free Grace and applied unto us by and in Jesus Christ Secondly hereby that is by altering the nature and property of true zeale which is alwaies attended with love knowledge and humility he increaseth spiritual Pride in them which may be thus discerned when they begin to have low thoughts of all men but of themselves and of such as agree with their Judgements when they seperate themselves from their Brethren supposing them to be Low flat dead backward and lesse zealous in the worke of God then themselves when they will passe a Judgement upon others and say this man is guilty of the sin against the holy Ghost this man is faln from the Faith and his former professions this man is an hypocrite this man is a Persecuter of the Saints this man is not to be pray'd for this man ought to be cut off again by reason of this