Selected quad for the lemma: judgement_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
judgement_n	according_a	day_n	lord_n	2,533	5	3.6979	3	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29185	The ministers of England which are called, the ministers of the gospel vveighed in the ballance of equity: by way of consideration, whereby it plainly appears, whether they be the ministers of Christ, or of antichrist. And also, whether to bear a testimony against a setled maintenance, either by tyths or any other way which may be invented to uphold that ministry, be any way dangerous to destroy the gospel of Christ; resolved. With a serious meditation upon the dealings of God with England, and the state thereof in general. Published for the satisfactiou [sic] of such as desire to prove all things, and are willing to hold that fast which is good; by a friend unto the faithful ministers of the gospel of Christ, John Braithwait.	Braithwaite, John, fl. 1660.	1660 (1660)	Wing B4206; ESTC R221651	16,773	40

England And do not many of thy People think and say the same what would it be thy happiness to sin without reproof surely nay for if once they whose souls are vexed with thy filthy conversation were driven out of thee then would thy misery come the Lord would make thee desolate even like Sodom Gomorrah which was overthrown for an example of his righteous judgments unto all that would not receive instruction Oh how is thy Silver become drosse And thy liberty become bondage Oh how art thou gone backward and not forward even doating upon thy old Idolls and not content that they should worship them that have set their minds thereupon but thou wouldest also compel that remnant in thee that are followers of the Lambe for whose sake the Lord hath long spared thee and yet thou art so foolish and unwise as much as in thee lyeth to hasten on thy own distruction what may wickedness be tollerated in thee and not be reproved Is this the liberty that thou now seeks after Wouldest thou have wickedness established by a Law and the reprovers thereof to be condemned Is it not even thus within thy borders and yet for all this thou wilt lean upon the Lord and say is not he amongst us no evil can come unto us and cry peace peace even till distruction come upon thee from the Lord Oh how often hath the Lord invited thee and even with his love sought to draw thee unto himself but thou hast refused his loving invitation and greived his holy Spirit from time to time so that if the Lord say as he once said concerning Ephraim it is but just England is joyned to Idols let it alone and then desolation and misery will come upon it when I would comfort my heart against sorrow it is even faint within me to consider what warnings from time to time hast thou had and this thou hast and dost account thy trouble but greater trouble shall come upon thee from the Lord except thou repent Oh how hast thou chosen thy own waies and followed thy own Counsels and would have Ministers of thy own making and Prophets which would flatter thee in thy wickedness and Prophecy smooth things unto thee even the deceit of their own hearts and this thou hast loved rather than plain and honest dealing and now what shall the Lord do unto thee for those things shall not he recompence thee according to thy wayes and doings and in that day thou shall confesse to his righteous judgments How have thy Priests stirred up thy Rulers against a harmless people even like as Amazia the Priest of Bethel did who complained against Amos the Prophet saying Amos hath conspired against the King the Land is not able to bear his words is it not even thus among thy Priests Oh England and alas what have this People done against thee I mean the dispised remnant which are called Quakers what evill have they done that thou art so mightily troubled what do thy Priests say concerning them do they say they are Heriticks and such like But how when or where did they prove it against them within thy borders it is good for all thy Inhabitants Oh England to consider of this matter and not imbrue their hands in the blood of the innocent for of a truth the Lord hath raised this people up within thy borders to make thee a happy and a blessed Nation for even in him in whom they have beleived the Nations comes to be blessed even in Jesus Christ the Covenant the light which is given for salvation to the ends of the earth of whom they have born and do bear their Testimony within thy borders of which Testimony they need never be ashamed which if thou shouldest alwaies reject and go on in thy Rebellion thou wilt be most unhappy and miserable even the worst of the Nations and therefore it is my desire in the bowels of love as being one of thy Inhabitants who wisheth thy welfare and happiness that thou mayest seriously meditate upon the dealings of God with thee and upon his loving kindness which hath been and yet is tendered unto thee and that thou mayest return to the Lord is the earnest desire of my soul lest it be said to thee as Christ once said to Jerusalem O England England thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thy Children together as a Hen gathereth her Chickens under her wings but you would not Oh that thou hadst known in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes The End

Law for payment of Tithes since Christ came in the flesh made in the time of Pope Innocent the 3d. In the year 1215. and was not that in the time of Apostacy and night of darknes and is not that a bad foundation for the Ministers of the Gospel to stand upon and an uncomfortable Maintenance for them to live on contrary to their freedome to maintain a Ministry for while any such Law doth remain it drawerh covetous men to be Ministers is not the hope of a good maintenance as it it is called 100 l or 200 l Per annum that moveth the Father to set his Son to the Vniversity to be made a Minister cannot many in England tell this by experience and is not this Covetousness the root of all evil and is not this maintenance that which causeth the Jesuits and Papists desire to be in this land again hoping that the law which their Father the Pope made will maintain them which law if it were once made null void their hopes would be frustrated for if the people be once clearly freed from that yoake of bondage they would not easily be brought under it again and as for these gifted men so called hath it not been a snare unto them and the love to the money or maintenance hath inticed them to receive orders the Popes orders and have not many of them become as Cruel in prosecuting the Popes law for a forced maintenance as the learned Well this I must say from the Lord God unto you who say you are gifted men and have thus betrayed your Testimony Gods hand is stretched out against you above all other men for as much as you have professed to have the gift of his Spirit and that freely and now go to sell it and compell people to buy it O wicked abomination Was not the time once that you cryed against oppression and are you become oppressors are you so quickly gone in the way of Balaam for gifts and rewards the wages of unrighteousness and would have this burthen alwaies to remaine upon the people O greivous wickedness the Lords anger is kindled against you and it will be more tollerable in the day of judgement for the Pope and his company I mean the vniversity men than for you because the Lord hath shewed more of his loving kindness unto you than he hath done unto them and yet you have not prized it And when I had dilligently considered upon these things I saw it no way dangerous to destroy the Gospel of Christ To bear a Testimony against Tythes or to bear a Testimony against any other maintenance which may be setled upon Ministers by a Law which compels men to maintain a Minister which they beleive is not a Minister of Christ But rather to bear such a Testimony and to take away the Law that compels men to maintain those men Do not they make a setled Maintenance the foundation of their Ministry and Gospel is not the greatest striving by them about the greatest Benifices and the most preaching where their is the greatest gifts which they do not beleive are the Ministers of Christ is dangerous to destroy the ministry of Antichrist if the matter be considered well for have they not from one age to another from time to time throughout the dark night of Apostacy made this to wit a setled maintenance the foundation of their Ministry and where there was no setled Maintenance no Minister no Preaching may not England experience this But the Ministers of Christ that are so in deed truth will be contented with what Christ hath alloted to them for a necessity is laid upon them and they must preach the Gospel or else woe unto them and he that preaches the Gospel let him live of it and let every Church so called maintain their own Minister or Ministers so long as they think or beleive him or them to be Ministers of Christ but if any man in the said Church or Assembly be not willing let him not be compelled any otherwise than by love Let people do as they would be done unto and shew themselves to be Christians indeed throughout all Christendome Let their be no compelling of men to beleive seeing Faith is the gift of God and let every man be fully perswaded in his own mind for whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin and let there be good Laws to punish Wickedness as murder stealling whoredome drunkenness cozening false witness 1 Tim. 17 8 9. ver or any other thing which deserveth punishment by the Law of God and let it be done without partiallity or respect of persons or of the Religion they professe and let not Gods Spirit be stoped by a Law in neither male nor female but let that have freedome in all for Gods righteous Judgments will fall upon them that seek to hinder or stop that and therefore let there be liberty for one Society of people to dispute or discourse with another though different in their judgments concerning the things of God provided there be no violence used by one party to another with their hands or with weapons or with any other thing that may do hurt to the body or life of man or woman old or young and let there be moderation and if any pretend to be led by the Spirit of God and yet do wickedly let them be punished as their transgession doth deserve but let not that be called wickedness which is not so indeed but let every thing be weighed in the Ballance of Equity that judgment and Justice may be set up and righteousness and peace may run down that violence be no more heard in the Land For the day of Gods everlasting love is come and he is visiting the people in his tender mercy Luke 1.78 in causing his light to spring from on high and his day to dawn and he is discovering the skirts of the Whore and the hour of her judgment is come and all that do or seek to uphold her a day of wo and desolation is coming upon them a day of Sorrow and misery and therefore all people be advised to prize the loving kindness of the Lord who by his light doth and will let you see your states and conditions and the intents of your hearts are known to the Lord Is it not he that searcheth the heart and tryeth the reines Amos 4.18 and declareth unto man what is his thoughts Is not this Testimoony true that Light is come unto you and if it become to you why will ye not walk in it what can you expect if you prize not this loving kindness of God in Christ who comes a light unto you and letteth you see how it standeth between God and your own souls And therefore all people consider of your wayes and your doings and while you have a time and a day of visitation from the Lord prize it and weigh things in the Ballance of equity and see whether these

things be not so consider if the pretended Ministers of the Gospel in England have not been Antichristian what was the Bishops who received their Ordination from the Pope or at the least did derive their succession from him If the root be unholy what can the branches be If the Pope be Antichristian what were the Bishops And if the Bishops were Antichristian what can the pretended Presbytery be do not they derive their succession from the Bishops would not they be heirs of their Inheritance would not they rule over the Conscience what is the meaning of all this covetousness and pride amongst them what 's the meaning of this envy and stirring up the Magistrates to cast men into prison and spoile their goods what do they think this is the way to convert people unto God or convince people that they are Ministers of Christ surely nay people may rather by all these things judge that they are Antichristian Ministers and so this doth but discover their folly and madness unto all men who have understanding But what is the matter they cry up the Gospel so much do they that out of the integrity of their hearts or is it not rather out of the deceit of their hearts is it not because of their hire would not those which are called Independants turn to the name of Presbyters rather than deny their wages and the Presbyters turn to Episcopacy rather than deny theirs nay would not the greatest part of all those men if the Magistrate so commanded and they have that liberty granted them turn to say or sing mass and call that Gospel and cry it up too rather than deny their hire the Popes wages so that of all that may be said or seen concerning them 1 Tim 6.10 the love of money which is the root of all evil is the foundation upon which they stand and that is the main thing they cry up in effect for say they take away the maintenance and the Gospel will down and as one of them said being asked if he preached for hire This is the great quarrel of all they have against us to pull down the Ministry of the Word What is this but to make it the Foundation yea and the chief thing that doth uphold them But the Lord God of Heaven and Earth is risen who will not only discover but also shake their Foundation and dread and terrour and amazement shall come upon them from the Lord God who searcheth the heart and tryeth the reins Oh what a snare hath this Setled or rather forced Maintenance been it hath not only inticed the Independants and Presbyterians but the Baptists also have been partakers thereof it is even but a remnant that have escaped drinking of this Cup of Abomination and these few are set even as a mark for all the rest to shoot their arrows of envy and malice against And when I considered whether the People were clear and innocent as touching this matter Alas nay the People love to have it so and therefore they cry for Laws to compel themselves to pay to their Ministers and my heart pittied them that they should be so blind and ignorant and I said were it not better for them if they have a mind to maintain their own Ministers that they did it freely and of their own accord Alas what foolish people be those who call for a Chain to be bound in and a Rod to whip themselves that so him whom they call their Minister may bind them and whip them and hail them to Courts and to Prison and spoil their Goods when he pleaseth But alas the ground of all this is Ignorance 2 Cor. 4.6 for the People have been kept from the light which should give unto them the knowledge of the glory of God and who hath kept them from it but these Merchants of Babylon have not they called it natural have not they said that that which reproveth for sin is a natural Conscience and the Scriptures doth say John 16 7 8. it is the Spirit of truth and so the People have been so foolish to give their money to be made blind and to be led into the ditch and so perish But when I considered that those Priests were in a great measure the cause of all these Abominations and Wickedness I mean those that go in Balaams way Then I began to admire the long-suffering and forbearance of God who hath spared them thus long and given them so many warnings and visits by his Servants that so they might return from their wickedness and the evil of their doings that he might have mercy upon them and do them good but yet for all this they will not return but will do despite unto the Spirit of grace and will cleave unto their Idols it is not long ere the Lord will say Gen. 6.3 as he once said concerning a People My Spirit shall not alwayes strive with man and then VVo and desolation shall come upon them all that partake with them Wherefore you Rulers and all People take heed that ye do not uphold them after you see this their abomination If you do ye shall not prosper nor escape the judgments of God and also take heed that you do not stop your ears against that which would let you understand and see their wickedness for if you do stop your ears ignorance shall not excuse you in the day of the Lord God Object But saith the People our Ministers they Christen our Children and doth not that make them Christians and it is possible if we do not hire them they will not Cristen our Children and will they not then be Heathens Answ Then it seems your Ministers do that which the Ministers of Jesus Christ did not do to wit Sprinkle Infants and call it Cristening or Baptisme an Ordinance of the Popes making and for which all the great sums of Money is given to the Pope and his Ministers that you may have the name of Christians which name as it appears to me is derived from Sprinkling with Water which some People call Cristening and indeed it is possible if the Popes Wages be taken away then they will cease to Sprinkle the Children but however this is my Testimony that they have no right in equity and conscience to demand much less to force a maintenance from those that do not hire them nor approve of their Doctrine as their Cristening and such like things which is not at all necessary to Salvation but this is the thing that is necessary to Salvation that Children be informed to the Light Gods Covenant which is given for Salvation to the ends of the earth which if they walk in it Isa 42.6 49.6 they will come to know God and Jesus Christ which is life eternal though they never be Cristened and if they be Cristened and know not him they are in the state of Heathens for the Heathen know not God Object But if every man may do as

and upon him will we wait then shall righteousness run down like a mighty stream Ier. 25.5 6 and judgment and justice be established in the Earth and Christ shall raign as King and in his dayes shall Judah be saved Isa 25 8 9 and Israel shall dwell safely and the name whereby he shall be called is the Lord our righteousness and he will destroy death for ever and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces and the rebuke of his people will he take away out of all the earth and in that day shall men say loe this is our God Isa 35 7 8 9 10. we have waited for him we will be glad and rejoyce in his Salvation for evermore and then the dry ground shall be as a pooll and the thirsty as springs of water in the habitations of Dragons where each lay shall be a place for reeds and rushes and the redeemed of the Lord shall come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads and they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flie away and then shall salvation honour and wisdome be ascribed and given to the Lord our God and to the Lamb who alone is worthy both now and for ever Amen A Serious Meditation upon the dealings of God with England and the state thereof in general O England thy day of visitation from the Lord hath been exceeding large and his dealings with thee exceeding wonderful when thou wast in distress and cryed unto the Lord he heard thee and delivered thee from thy oppressors but Oh how quickly hast thou forgotten the loving kindness of the Lord and the dealings of thy God! Remember the dayes that are past when thou wast in bondage and slavery and desired freedome to worship the Lord and the Lord heard and granted unto thee thy desire and also made known the way of his worship within thy borders in thy Towns in thy streets in thy Assemblies hath the Lord proclaimed the way of life and Salvation by his Children and Servants but oh how hast thou requited the Lord for his loving kindness how hast thou intreated his Servants with prisons whipings and revilings who bare their testimony against thy wickedness against thy pride and covetousness and Idolatry but oh how hast thou rejected the counsel of the Lord and hath chosen thine own wayes and followed thy own counsel and hardned thy heart and stiffned thy neck even like a rebellious people that would none of the Law of the Lord and therefore thou must eat the fruit of thy own doings and confess that the Lord is just in all his wayes and righteous in all his judgements for thou hast sinned against the Lord in that thou hast not performed thy promises which thou made in the day of thy distress and therefore distress must come upon thee again to bring thee to remember those things and repent which if thou do the Lord will have mercy upon thee and heal thy back-slidings but if thou do not but continue in thy rebellion the Lord will continue his judgments upon thee should not the long-suffering of the Lord lead thee to repentance and his gentle dealings with thee by correction cause thee to understand that he loves thee but if thou wilt not receive instruction by all his gentle dealings but wilt go on in thy wickedness what canst thou then expect but the indignation of the Lord to fall upon thee what dost thou think if thou continue in persecuting the Servants of the Lord to wit those that tell thee of thy wickedness thy pride and covetousness dost thou think that that will turn the judgments of God from thee surely nay that will but hasten wo and misery upon thy own head Oh what a day of visitation hast thou had how many times hath the Lord delivered thee and now it may be said by thee as it was once concerning Israel of old yea they turned back and tempted God and limtted the holy one of Israel they remembred not his hand nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy Is not this thy condition oh England although indeed the Lord hath a remnant in thee that do not bow their knees to Baal nor pour out drink-offerings to the Queen of heaven and this remnant are those which thou calls troublers of thy peace which trouble thee much like as Elia troubled Israel and this remnant that woman Jessabel I mean thy false Church that paints her self would have destroyed that so her false Prophets which feeds at her Table might not be troubled but trouble must come upon them and their peace must be broken and although Jessabel cause a Fast to be proclaimed yet God will execute his judgment in thee and if thou say in thy heart wherefore come these things upon me for the greatness of thine iniquities are thy skirts discovered and thy heels made bare for the Lord hath seen thy adulteries and thy neighings the lewdness of thy Whoredoms and thine abominations on the hills in the fields Woe unto thee oh England wilt thou not be made clean when shall it once be Oh! what a large profession hath been made in thee what a talk of Godliness and Christianity but alas what is found in thee doth not pride and envy abound in thee and hath not these things greatly displeased the Lord and for this cause is the anger of the Lord kindled which will devour the bryers and thorns in one day and in that day whither will you flie and where will you leave your glory you that have gloryed in professing the Gospel and Ordinances and even made this a covering for your wickedness and abomination who under a pretence of seeking the glory of God have sought honour to your selves and to make your names great in the earth is it not even thus oh England and hath not thy Prophets that divine for money and thy Priests that preach for hire have not they flattered thee in thy iniquities have not they cryed Peace to thy Rulers even until the finger of the Lord hath broken forth against them and they have been confounded and wilt thou not for all this receive instruction nor correction but still go on in thy wickedness and rebellion against the Lord what wilt thou revolt more and more and shew more and more cruelty to the Servants of the Lord surely then more and more of the indignation of the Lord thou must feel what is it now become a trouble to thee to have sin reproved in thy gates Dost thou make him an offender that speakes the truth And do those men that testifie against thy wickedness break thy peace the peace of thy Rulers and the peace of thy Priests And do thy Prophets that devine for money Priests that preach for hire do they tell thee that it would be a happiness to thee if thou were ridd of those men that reprove thee for thy wickedness do not they even thus oh

Apostles Christ said Cor. 2.6 be ye perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect and the Apostle said Rom 8.2 we preach wisdome among them that are perfect mark that are perfect was not that in this life but do not these learned men say that none can be perfect in this life the Apostle said the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death Hath made me free mark that was not that in this life or while the Apostle was in the body John 1.9 8 12 but do not they say none can be made free from sin in this life John said that was the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the World was not Christ that true light who said I am come a light into the World that whosoever followeth me should not abide in darkness but should have the light of life but do not they say that every man is not lighted Tit 2 11 except it be with a natural a created light the Apostle said the grace of God that brings salvation hath appeared to all men but is not their Doctrine that it hath appeared but to some men And when I began to weigh these Doctrines of theirs in the equal ballance I found them very unsound and contrary to the Scriptures Matt 7 16 and then came into my mind that saying of Christ By their fruits ye shall know them or every tree is known by its fruits men do not gather grapes of thornes nor figgs of thistles and when I had thus considered the state of the tollerated Ministers or pretended Ministers of the Gospel in England and found them clear contrary to Christ his Apostles in these and many more things which I might mention then I saw it was the Lords righteous judgments upon them to strip them naked and bare and stain their glory for as much as they have sought honour to themselves and have dishonoured the Lord God of Heaven and Earth who is now risen in his power which they have denyed and in effect they have said his arme is shortned that it cannot save as in former ages and revelations is ceased and is to be expected no more and so the day hath been dark over them Prov. 29 18. and there hath been no vision and where there is no vision the people perish and for this cause will the Lord God let them know the revelation of his righteous judgments which shall shortly come upon them though they would put it far away and though they cry peace peace yet shall sudden destruction come both upon them all that willingly doe uphold them And then I began to consider upon the setled or rather forced maintenance which as it appears doth uphold them whether to bear a testimony against it be any way dangerous to destroy the Gospel of Christ yea or nay and when I had considered well upon this matter I could not see nor find that Christ had laid a settled or forced maintenance for the foundation of the Gospel but did send forth his Ministers freely Freely they had received Mat. 10.8 freely they were to give and he that preacheth the Gospel may live of the Gospel here the Gospel was to maintain them and not a forced maintainance to maintain it 1 Cor. 9.14.18 for the Gospel is the power of God to Salvation saith the Apostle whose care was not to make the Gospel chargeable but as it doth appear those men which are called Ministers of the Gospel now in England strive to make that which they call Gospel chargeable and that not only to them who receive their doctrine but also to them who deny it which is a most unrighteous thing what can be more unrighteous than that one Congregation or Assembly of people should be forced by a law to maintain the Minister and meeting place of another Church or Assembly which are clean contrary the one to the other in their Judgement in things appertaining to the worship of God and if it may be unrighteousness in the one is it not so in the other Seeing they both beleive or at least they say the way which they walk in is the way of God Object But if it could be certainly judged which of them is in the right way might not they that are in the right way compel and force them that are not to maintain them Answ Nay he that is in the right way must do as he would be done unto and that is just and right and that is the royall law Jam. 2.8 the Law of Christ now if thou wouldest not willingly maintain the Minister of an assembly that differeth from theein judgment then thou must not desire much less force a mantenance from them but if thou keep a flock eat the milk of the flock Cor. 9.7 if thou plant a Vinyard eat the fruit thereof mark he that plants a vinyard may eat of the fruit thereof he doth not say thou may eat of that thou hast not planted for how could that convince men or convert them unto God To eat them and to devour them would rather set mens hearts against thee and that way which thou dost professe and therefore as in this respect to bear a Testimony against Tythes or any other forced maintenance to maintain Ministers is no way dangerous to destroy the Gospel of Christ Object But if there be not a law to compel men to pay to the Ministers People are so hard hearted and Covetous they will not pay toward their maintenance and then preaching will go down and people will become heathens Answ It seems then that for all the Preaching that hath been in England people are yet hard hearted and Covetous what reason is there then that those that are yet hard hearted covetous should pay or maintain those men that they have not profited by when I consider this thing it appeareth to me to be greater covetousness in those men called Ministers to desire to have a maintenance from those people that have not profited by them than it is for the other to detain it And as for Preaching going down and people becoming Heathens this I say that Preaching which is grounded upon covetousness let it go down let their Preaching go down for they rather keep people in heathenisme then bring any to the true knowledge of God who themselves dare not trust God for their maintenance after which things the Gentiles seek Object But though those learned men have been Covetous and proud and made an evil use of their maintenance nevertheless is it not convenient that the law remain which compelleth men to pay to the Ministers for peradventure God may raise better men in their places as gifted men and such like Answ Let the Law of Christ remain let him that preacheth the Gospel live of it but let not any law remain which compelleth men Was not the first