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	king_n	law_n	3,633	5	5.0197	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93730	The absolute truth, and utmost certainty of the word of God and that all things which are contained in the scriptures, yea to every tittle and iota thereof, will be fulfiled : demonstrated in a discourse on Rom IX. 6 / by Richard Stafford ...	Stafford, Richard, 1663-1703.	1699 (1699)	Wing S5107F; ESTC R200365	26,764	34

God In that so very few are converted by it and do obey it That ye who do believe and obey to the saving of your Souls be not soon shaken in Mind by the Disadvantages which arise thereby for it may anon appear that this is yet a greater fulfilling of the same Word As the Apostle Paul doth record of himself That after the manner of Men he had fought with Beasts at Ephesus So both in the beginning entrance and course of our Ministry which is more advanced and carried on by Writing Printing and Publishing then by speaking with a living Voice For whereas the Voice Perishes in the utterance and the matter is soon forgotten by the Hearer that reaches to the People afar off and to after Ages I say again that both in the beginning and course of our Ministry we have met with Scoffers who with their several kinds of sayings did endeavour either to turn us aside from our intended Ministry or to defeat the design thereof As it was said to Ezekiel Thou art not sent to a People of strange Speech and of an hard Language but to the House of Israel Not to many People of a strange Speech and of an hard Language whose Words thou canst not understand Surely had I sent thee to them they would have hearkened to thee But the House of Israel will not hearken unto thee for they will not hearken unto me For all the House of Israel are impudent and hard hearted Ezek. 3. 5 6 7. So if I should recount my manifold Experiences I should make known that I have met with more perverse and contrary usage Evil entreaty contradiction and false Reproaches from Formal and Nominal Christians and from outward Worshippers then ever I did from open Sinners and the manifest Ungodly Tho' I have spoken equally against their Sin and Ungodliness as I have laid open the Hypocrisie and Foolish vain deceits of the others And yet all this doth nothing shake me in Mind nor yet doth it at all abate or lessen from my present Comfort in the well grounded hope of my future acceptance from the Lord. But rather it doth increase and confirm me therein That I may have boldness in the Day of Judgment because as he was so are we in this present World For the like did happen to him also to be thus opposed and contradicted in his Ministry by the Scribes and Pharisees who were the then Teachers and Expounders of the Law and by the Jews who were as exact and constant in all the Parts and Times of the outward worship of God all the same while as the People of this Nation do go continually to their Parish Churches or other Congregations and Assemblies Where the most good is either done or intended there the Devil doth raise the greatest opposition and the old Serpent doth never shew himself more subtle then when he Acts through those who seem to be Religious and to make a fair shew in the flesh So that when the Spirit of Lying and Falshood or Reproach doth proceed forth through them it hath a greater Appearance and Likeness unto Truth and so it passes down glib with them who judge according to Appearance and not Righteous Judgment The Lord is well pleased for his Righteousness sake He will magnifie the Law and make it Honourable Isa 42. 21. And as the Ministration thereof is more worthy and excellent then the Business and Employment of the Greatest Kings or wisest States-Men Nevertheless Ignorant and Ungodly Minds like as when Michal saw David Dancing before the Ark she despised him So they will lessen and have a low esteem of such a kind of Office Or as they Proudly and Disdainfully think that it is not consistent with a Good Birth and Education Alas All these and such like are but foolish and false Imaginations which Satan suggests and keeps in the Minds of some People for to uphold his Kingdom It is all but Imagination and nothing of reality therein for as it is said in the Book of Job I am also formed out of the Clay Nehemiah the Governour of the Province speaks in the behalf of the Poor Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our Brathren our Children as their Children Neh. 5. 5. God hath made of one Blood observe that all Nations of Men for to dwell on the Face of the Earth Acts 17. 26. Wherein then doth one differ from and excell another even in respect of these vile Bodies whilst we are in the midst of Life and carry them about us all one as when they come to be in the place of Skulls where the Poor and Rich are all alike And whereas the Richer sort now a-days call themselves a good Family I wish that sin and contempt of God and that shame which is among them of coming down to the Plainness and Simplicity of his Worship or to the place where his Word is Preached did not manifest and demonstrate the contrary He that overcometh shall not be hurt by the second Death And this is overcoming that Corruption which is both within our own Nature and also that which is in the World through the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life And truly if the Pride of Life was overcome and rooted out of the minds of any one as it is out of every one who is indeed the Child and Servant of God and an Heir of Glory then all those things that Savour of Men All those Imaginations and Sayings which arise up from the Pride and Fashion of this World or from the chief that is from the Rich People thereof will all sink and fall to the ground and be as dung in Comparision of the Knowledge of Jesus Christ or what may further his Gospel in the World For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ Rom. 1. 16. What need had the Apostle to say this But only in Relation and Answer to those who would imagine and fasten shame thereon in order to disswade from what was Good and Praise worthy The Devil Acts in the minds of People to endeavour to beat off or let and hinder one who may be a proper Instrument and Labourer in the Work and Vineyard of the Lord. But the shame wherewith they would reproach that shall at last return upon their own heads when themselves shall at last rise up to Shame and Everlasting Contempt And they who were a shamed of Christ in this Adulterous and Sinful Generation It is not said Jewish or Heathen but in Epithets proper and sutable to this Countrey of England at this Day of them shall the Son of Man be ashamed when He cometh in the Glory of his Father with the Holy Angels People are commonly ashamed of that whereof a great stir and clutter is made before-hand and nothing comes of it And hereupon it is that Ignorant Persons and Unbelievers would endeavour to fasten shame on the Preaching of the Gospel For as they

think and object the Gospel imports good tidings and talks of great yea the greatest things in the World and nothing hereof is seen to them nor presently had That Reason which Paul gives in Rom. 1. 16. Seems to Answer all this to two sorts of People the Jews and Gentiles I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the Power of God unto Salvation to every one that believeth Observe and Attend well to that To the Jew first and also to the Greek It is therefore said To be the Power of God unto Salvation unto the Jew first This was to instruct and rightly inform him who did expect Salvation by Moses and the Prophets as to which they did both come short which the Gospel of Christ doth supply and make up The Jews were not so much Ignorant in Part as Unbelievers in Part But the Greeks or Gentiles were altogether Unbelievers in the whole And take them as such they can no more understand what this Power of God unto Salvation is then if you talk the same unto a Brute Beast And therefore it is fitly put before To every one that believeth For put the case you should talk of Salvation to an Infant or to a Child of a twelvemonth old Will He understand what thou sayest In no wise So it is if you talk to a Savage Indian who knows nothing of God or Futurity and when such an one is in good Plight and Health and hath none but Friends about him then talk to him concerning Salvation which signifies Safety and Preservation from Danger whereas he sees and perceives no danger at all And He will think that the Man is Idle or Mocketh or is Foolish who talk and discourses thereof It would be near the same to acquaint some Poor Ungodly Beggars about Salvation If they are Healthy Lusty and Strong if they have before them a Meal of Good Victuals and they know where to have another they do not apprehend much more or besides this But they think such an one speaks Parables or Nonsensical things unto them It is very observable how it is Ushered and brought in A Brutish Man knoweth not neither doth a Fool understand this When the Wicked Spring as the Grass and when all the Workers of Iniquity do flourish It is that they shall be destroyed for Ever Psal 92. 6 7. So it is though it be besides their Opinion and Expectation In like manner when any of the other Truths of God or of the things pertaining to his Kingdom come to be declared and spoken of the same Preface may be used and put before A Brutish Man knoweth not neither doth a Fool understand this So it will be of the things whereof we shall by and by speak A Brutish Man knoweth not neither doth a Fool understand this It being usual with the Holy Ghost when He comes to make known things which will hardly meet with Credibility and Reception to Anticipate and take notice of the same before-hand As Isaiah 53. Begins after this manner Who hath believed our Report Importing that very few or none would until afterward they should see it fulfilled It is properly and truly expressed when such are Termed Brutish Men and Fools For tho' they have the shape of Men yet they understand no more of the things of God And thereby also we are given to apprehend for 't is the Wisdom and Knowledge of God which gives them this Character that if they do not use that Image of God which he had Implanted in them towards the Knowledge of God and of the things pertaining to his Kingdom They lose it again and Notwithstanding they retain the same outward shape with his Saints and Servants yet in inward likeness they are very Brutes And so whatever or how much they know besides if they have not this knowledge also they are in very deed Fools because hereby and for want thereof they become Subject and Liable unto Loss and Punishment Now if I had altogether to do with Brutes and Fools I should be ashamed of Preaching the Gospel unless there were some Spiritual People who know of the things whereof we speak Or unless their understandings were somewhat opened that they could a little conceive thereof But if the Mystery of the Gospel be a little opened and made known unto ye then neither will ye object shame nor yet shall I incur shame in the Preaching thereof And in the mean while this is no running away or besides from the Text but it shews and confirms all along that the Word of God hath some effect and reality For whereas People are commonly ashamed of that whereof a great clutter and stir is made and nothing comes of it But the Gospel is in Word and that is not so much as in things But yet the Gospel come not to you in Word only but also in Power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance 2 Thes 1. 5. It is much more then in other Words for thus much is evident and sensible that they have not so much Power over the Hearts and Consciences of Men as this Gospel hath Neither were any other Words under Heaven Accompanied with so many Signs and Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Ghost whereby God himself did bear Witness to the certainty and reality of the things contained in this Everlasting Gospel And then it is in much Assurance that it shall be all fulfilled and found true This is the very Reason why things so go on as they have and do now in the World That the Scriptures might be fulfilled And therein the Word of God hath its effect Which speaks of things exactly as they are But here this is to be attended unto that the Things and Words of God are to be performed and fulfilled in their Season Luke 1. 20. That is according to the Order and Succession of Time some have been already fulfilled others are now at this Day fulfilling But the greatest and most things of all are yet to be fulfilled as in the future State the Resurrection of the Dead the Day of Judgment and the Succeeding Eternity The thing is certain tho' the time appointed for it is long For the Vision is yet for an Appointed Time but at the End it shall speak and not lie tho' it Tarry Wait for it Because it will surely Come it will not Tarry Hab. 2. 3. Gods work as to the Inhabitants of the Earth is a work of six or seven Thousand Years continuance which is a going and carrying on ever since He first Created Man on the Earth during all the while He who hath called the Generations from the beginning hath ordered them to pass through all which is but a short time in respect to God to whom a Thousand Years are but as one Day tho' it be long to us And accordingly the Scripture speaks of it thus differently both these manner of 〈◊〉 That is It is short as to God and long as to us

hath ordained strength Psal 8. 2. He that maketh the Dumb Exod. 4. 11. And the Stammering Lips Isa 28. 11. to serve for his own Glory doth appoint such a weak Vessel and Unworthy Instrument for the Ministration of his Word and Truth Although the Person himself cannot effect any thing yet the Word and Truth of God which appears forth through him will have its effect one way or another either to Salvation or Condemnation either to make People partakers of the Mercy of God or to Load them with more Guilt and Ill deserving if they will not obey the Word of Life And tho' this last seems to be an hard saying yet it is grounded on those Words of the great Preacher of Righteousness If I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had sin but now they have no Cloke for their sin John 15. 22. And so the Apostle Paul Witnesseth in behalf of himself and of the other Ministers of the Gospel For we are unto God a sweet Savour of Christ in them that are Saved and in them that Perish To the one are we the Savour of Death unto Death and to the other the Savour of Life unto Life and VVho is sufficient for these things 2 Cor. 2. 15 16. As himself doth Answer this last in the fifth Verse of the following Chapter Not that we are sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves but our sufficiency is of God And if we are not sufficient to think neither are we sufficient to speak or to do We are meer Creatures in the hands of God As in him we live and move and have our Being So whatever Good Words and True Words do proceed forth from any one It is what before he had put into our Heart It is agreeable unto his method and manner of Dispensation to Publish and make known his word and will unto the Inhabitants of the Earth By Men of the like Passions and of the same Flesh and Blood with our selves And it hath so came to pass that who have been the greatest Instruments of his Glory and have received most from God of any in their several Generations The World hath not known them but despised them Which hath happened not only as to the Ungodly and common sort But even so it hath been with the Multitude of outward Worshippers and who called themselves the Servants of God The truth of this observation appears from the History of the Prophets Christ and his Apostles and of his Faithful Ministers ever since who have been Workmen approved of God and not Men pleasers That is to say such who have Fashioned the Word of God according to the Will and Lust of the Rich and Mighty People Which if they had been indeed the Servants of Christ they would not have so Learned of him their Master For as the Rain cometh down and the Snow from Heaven and returneth not thither but Watereth the Earth and maketh it to bring forth and bud that it may give Seed to the Sower and Bread to the Eater so shall my Word be that goeth out of my Mouth It shall not return unto me Void but it shall Accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it Isa 55. 10 11. It shall Accomplish either the Salvation or Condemnation of People It shall thus Prosper in the thing whereto God sends and intends it That if it doth not reform them it will leave them more without excuse The same Word which now warns them of both will pass upon their several and respective Lives and Deaths for all Eternity Tho' when the Word of God is laid before People and they obey it not nor do accordingly then it is thought to be vain weak and ineffectual Yet God Himself here saith It shall not return to him Void But whither they will hear or whither they will forbear it shall be known that there hath been a Prophet among them Ezek. 2. Such Words have been made known or such things have been Written That they might have turned from their Iniquities and from the Evil of their doings which however they were Stifled or Disregarded in the mean while shall rise up again at the Judgment of the Great Day They were warned and testified against and his Laws were set before them but when they would not take warning nor yet yield unto him who by his Word Spirit and Ministers testified against them to bring them again to his Law All these and such like are Signs and Prognosticks that such People will Perish It here so comes to pass As when Paul expounded and testified the Kingdom of God some believed the things which were speketh and some believed not Acts 28. 23 24. So it is of Preaching every Sermon out of the Word of God or hearing forth every Testimony of Divine Truth Some obey and give heed unto it and some do not Then Zerubbabel the Son of Shealtiel and Joshua the Son of Josedech the High Priest with all the Remnant of the People obeyed the Voice of the Lord their God and the Words of Haggai the Prophet as the Lord had sent him and the People did fear before the Lord Hag. 1. 12. And so we read in Ezra 10. They did obey the Commandment of the Lord in Putting away the strange VVives But we Read more often in the Book of Kings Chronicles Isaiah Jeremiah and in the Evangelists That the Chief and Multitude of the People did not obey then that they did obey And yet it was the Word of God which was Preached unto them also But it so came to pass that the Scriptures might be fulfilled which speak of their Destruction When the Prophet came to Ananiah with Words from the Lord and met with a rough Answer from Ananiah He said I know that the Lord hath Determined to destroy thee because thou hast done this and hast not hearkened unto my Counsel 2 Chron. 25. 16. And so it was remarkably Noted of those that came out against the Children of Israel to Battel For it was of the Lord to harden their Hearts that they should come against Israel in Battel that He might destroy them utterly and that they might have no favour but that He might destroy them as the Lord Commanded Moses Josh 11. 20. And so it was Emphatically remarked after that gentle Reproof of Eli unto his Sons Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the Voice of their Father because the Lord would stay them 1 Sam. 2. 25. It is just the same after all the Preaching and Good Admonition and Counsel warning after warning Line upon Line Line upon Line Precept upon Precept Precept upon Precept here a little and there a little Notwithstanding all the things which are contained in the standing written Word of God in the Bible Notwithstanding all that is Preached and Alledged out from thence every Sabbath and Week Day throughout the several Congregations and Places of this Island Notwithstanding