Selected quad for the lemma: kingdom_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
kingdom_n	chapter_n	child_n	verse_n	1,786	5	9.5716	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33367	Look about you, for the devil that you fear is in you, or, The right devil unfolded in his descent, form, education, qualification, place and nature of torment : with many other divine secrets, never from the beginning yet extant till this last witness, so beneficial both for the seed of gain, and the seed of faith / written by Laur. Claxton.	Claxton, Laurence, 1615-1667.	1659 (1659)	Wing C4579; ESTC R32621	55,901	151

declaration of dreadful things concerning thee reminding thee of all thy proud thoughts and lofty looks as also how thou hast spent thy time in pleasure on this earth and been wanton in the day of judgement yea cruel in the day of mercy in condemning yea killing the Just that blessed seed of Faith now if these men shall be saved and if those works shall be justified that is recorded in Mic 3. 11. viz. abhorring judgement perverting all equity judging for reward teaching for hire divining for mony grinding the faces of the poor enriching themselves in the ruine of others I say if such great men as these that have here enjoyed all the pleasure and glory of this perishing world shall enjoy that immortal ravishing glory in the world to come then minde what will follow then in vain were the Scriptures written and to no purpose was those great sufferings of our Lord Jesus who saith Mat. 19. 29. And every one that hath forsaken houses or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my names sake shall receive an hundred fold and shall inherit everlasting life and then in the same Chapter Christ shews from the young mans going away sorrowful How hard a thing it is for a rich man to enter yea saith Christ A rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of glory and in vers 27. when Peter said Behold we have forsaken all and followed thee what shall we have therefore now you may read his answer was this That ye which have followed me in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones c. Now in all these words expound or interpret which way ye can to stile your fears of death and your dreadful portion at the great day I say from the Lord of glory you cannot find any colour or title in the least that doth encourage or give any admittance to a worldly minded rich man for if you minde what you read you shall find all the promises here or in Scripture elsewhere doth onely appertain to such that hath forsaken all false worships and false Christs and hath renounced all unjust ways or means whereby he hath enriched himself yea he that hath slighted a good name with the credit of this world and is not onely ready to persecute but be persecuted for that glorious yet despised man Jesus I say from the spirit of Faith all the promises of the Lord in Scripture doth onely belong to these poor despised scum of the earth as in these words Thou Peter or ye my disciples or any other of my precious ones that hath lost all for me you are those that shall have all gain by me you shall have everlasting life and be with me in my Kingdom yea in glory like my self as mind that saying of James the second chapter and fifth verse Hearken my beloved brethren hath not Cod chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him Now what can be said more or what more wouldest thou have God do for thee wouldst thou have him unjust or contradict his own word then be content with thy rich glory here and let us have our glory with our God we grudge not at thy greatness in this world no nor thou shalt not hinder us or detain us from our portion of glory to come thine is almost at an end ours is yet to come and shall never end therefore be not deceived thou canst not live the life of the devil here and live eternally with the Lord hereafter then as I said before so against men and angels I should say again that such as I had better never been born to deprive my self of such a livelihood as I might not have been inferior to many and all to live upright and justly in this my strange country which now I am deprived of all Surely if it were so as some of Cains cursed brood doth say and binde it with an oath That all shall be saved then poor Paul and the poor Prophets and we in these days have made a sad exchange but as sure as God is God whosoever thou art be thou Ranter or Quaker King or Beggar thou shalt finde at the day of our Saviours appearance that thou so dying shall never be saved and then if it were possible thou wouldst say what I here write is truth and such as thou art found lyers Now one word more to this last plea of the seed of Cain and so as touching this point I have done which is this If there be no other devil but what is in man or woman then thou sayest Kings may rise devils Magistrates devils Lawyers devils Soldiers devils Merchants divels Doctors devils yea and Preachers Devils these being for the most part the richest men of this world and the Scripture in many places extends it language onely against such men may cause not onely a supposition in the seed of faith to judge according to the tenor of the inspired Writ but also a terror upon the souls of rich men in that Christ compareth riches to bryers and thorns as in that parable of the sower Mat. 13. 22. where he saith And the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choak the word and he becometh unfruitful riches being such a snare and deceiver of the soul may justly and that not without suspition cause a serious examination whether riches be not the onely instrument why or wherefore the true God nor his word doth not take root within thee where there is so much fulness of the treasure of this world there can be no admittance for the treasure of God ye cannot serve two masters and that because the riches of this world is in antipathy to the riches of heaven in that one is perishing the other everlasting the one clouds or draws the soul from God the other expells mists and draws the soul to God so that Christ knowing it was the greatest tryal and snare to the soul doth declare it a hard thing to enter yea so difficult that since he took upon him the form of flesh there hath not nor now is not one of ten thousand knowing the true God that shall be much troubled with the riches of this world for where riches is there must be a mighty power of faith keeping the soul in obedience to its God and that because where there is riches it requires the creatures whole attendance to give all care and diligence that possible may be to augment it or at least to uphold the stock or principle in so much that it makes him uncapable to cast his whole care upon the God of endless riches Now to conclude there is one thing more of great concernment to be seriously laid to heart by these rich men which is this First How thou camest to this thy greatness whether it was

by birthright or inheritance as the eldest son Secondly Whether it came by thy accute subtile wit and ripe ingenuity in improving thy Art or Calling by which thou wert capable of by which fleshly wisdom of thine thou art possest in thy riches Ans I shall from my seed-spring give thee the result of my thoughts as touching thee and as sure as God is God thou shalt finde what I write is truth 1. For the first Suppose in my condition as I am kindered or friend should unexpected by me give me a thousand pound a year more or less now it is just in me to receive it and possibly as justly I improve it onely here consists the danger that if by these riches my soul is drawn from God and more delighted in the pleasure of my riches then God so that I think my self a great man and now am grown lofty hard-hearted and such like corruption attends me in so much that not onely my self but likewise my neighbors takes notice that I am not like the man I was before So that now thou that hath thy greatness successively is not by Scripture condemned provided it prove not a snare or a thorn to choak thy soul by having such a deep impression in thy heart that the infallible truth cannot take root in thee onely here is the hazard as aforesaid if thou use it as though thou use it not which is no easie thing yet if thou canst make use of it to the glory of our God by feeding the hungry and clothing the naked in the name of a Prophet or a righteous man so said and so done thou shalt have a Prophets or righteous mans reward which is eternal life in the world to come I say if these things in the enjoyment of thy riches are performed by them then it may be thou art one of those few of the rich and noble that shall be saved But 2. Thou that hast got thy riches by thy subtil wit is much different from the other in that the first was freely given so that he came justly by it but as for thee thou best knows how thou came to thy greatness for thou hast heard as aforesaid it is a wonder for a man to do just and upright things and yet grow rich therefore the Scripture calls thee to account and that the more thou mayest remember not many years ago thou wast but a poor Journy-man of thy Trade not worth a groat but in debt and now in these few years thou art worth thousands O friend deal plainly with thy soul though thou may hide it from man thou canst not hide it from God for thy ways are naked to his glorious piercing eye that although thou may blind man with thy fair carriage and sugared pretences seemingly gilt over with holiness and purity of life yet for all this our glorious personal God doth know and in thy conscience will read how many thou hast cheated and murthered to make thy self great by undoing of others in this thing are not most of your Doctors over shoes and boots in this crying sin in taking a crown for that which cost but six pence and not onely so but for want of judgement and mercy destroys the poor creature to the utter ruin of his family so that thou art of that number that treadeth in the broad way that at last will lead thee to the destruction of thy soul eternally yea world without end and therefore take notice that God is not afraid to call thee to account or that he will be more merciful to thee then a beggar because of thy greatness or that thy white hand or fair face adorned with Silk Gold or Silver shall cause an eye of compassion more to thee because of that then to a black deformed creature No no our God thou shalt finde seeth not as man seeth neither is his thoughts as mans if he were then had the fair neat rich proud daughters of Sion been respected but in stead of a blessing he blasted all their glory and their bravery as you may read at large Isaiah 3. from the 16 to the end first repeating how they walked with stretched-out necks and wanton eyes walking and mincing as you go and making a tinkling with your feet therefore the Lord in stead of shewing mercy did smit with a scab the crowns of the heads of the daughters of Sion yea the Lord did discover their secret parts and took away all their bravery of tinkling ornaments about their feet their cauls and round tires like the Moon the chains bracelets mufflers the bonnets tablets ear-rings and nose-jewels wimples and crisping-pins the glasses and fine linen the vails with the changeable suits of apparel O if God were a respecter of persons here was invitations plenty but you may read that in stead of a sweet smell he gave them a stink and in stead of a girdle a rent in stead of well-set hair baldness in stead of beauty burning yea and that with eternal burnings shall all proud despisers of this infallible truth undergo at the great and terrible day of our Saviors appearance concerning which I shall open at large in the last Chapter Thus much in answer to your Pleas now I shall prove from Scripture the seed of Cain to be of the devil The devil or Seed of Cain infallibly proved from experience in Scripture II. BEcause of the great opposition that may arise up against this glorious Truth through the exceeding pride and unbelieve in the hearts of most men give me leave to cite a few Scriptures in confirmation of this work in hand In the first Epistle of John the third Chapter you shall find it thus written Not as Cain which was of that wicked one and slew his brother Also in the 13th chapter of Matthew it is thus written He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man and the field is the world the good seed are the children of the kingdom and the tares are the children of the wicked one and the enemy that soweth them is the devil Moreover in the 8th chapter of S. John Christ Jesus the God of Truth speaketh thus Ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do he hath been a murtherer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there was no truth in him when he speaketh a lie then he speaketh of his own for he is a liar and the father thereof My spiritual and rational friends which are sober was not Cain the first murthering lying man that ever was born of a woman seeing no true Christian can gainsay it was not that cursed Cain from the beginning that murthering devil and father of lies spoken of by Christ aforesaid in answer to those carnal Jews which boasted themselves to be of Abrahams seed and were not those lustful murthering-minded Jews or Gentiles which our Lord branded with titles of serpents vipers children of the devil and such like

But Secondly in the next place I shall give you to understand that this wilderness here spoken of was not a wilderness yielding fruit for the supporting of life where nothing but wilde beasts void of reason doth inhabit as the seed of Cain doth imagine and the learned of that seed do vainly teach though this wilderness was the same that John quotes in Mat. 3. 13. saying The voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare ye the way of the Lord c. Now let any sober man judge the black darkness that is over the learned to think that Iohn should cry the message of the Lord to a wilderness of wood and wilde beasts that hath no understanding to receive it and as great a darkness it is for thee to think that any devil without man or devil-man could so far overcome Christ as to lead him into such a wilderness no no therefore take notice that wilderness Iohn preached in and this wilderness Christ was lead up into was onely the wilderness of mans heart whose hearts are as barren as a natural wilderness that beareth no fruit as unto the true knowledge of things appertaining unto eternal life O minde what you read it was the wilderness of mans heart and not such a wilderness as Moses led the people of Israel through for neither did Iohn preach nor was in any such wilderness 3. It s said Christ fasted forty days and forty nights but from what he fasted is not in the least mentioned therefore I affirm that as Moses fasted forty days and forty nights in the mount from natural food so did Christ fast forty days and forty nights in the spiritual that is Christ did baptize none with the Holy Ghost nor with fire neither did he do any miracle for the space of six weeks and the original of this was that he might be tempted of the subtile serpentine devil-man as aforesaid which made that devil-man say If thou be the Son of God command that these stones be made bread however thou that readest mayest not apprehend this yet let me tell thee that man-devil did not mean the hard stones that we tread upon no more then Iohn when he said God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham Oh what absurdity is it in any man to think that God would of natural dead stones raise them up spiritual living children no no when the devil-man said Command that these stones be made bread which was this Command this stony heart of mine and the stony hard hearts of the Pharisees and Sadduces that sent me command them to be made hearts of flesh by baptizing of us with the Holy Ghost and with fire whereby I and others may so believe that we may become true bread unto Christ for in Iohn 4. 32 34. there saith Christ I have meat to eat that ye know not of meaning his dispute with the woman of Samaria as touching this it was his meat and drink to do the will of his Father which will was to baptize his Elect with the Holy Ghost and with fire without which no man could have eternal life abiding in him 4. Then the devil taketh Jesus up into the holy City and setteth him on a pinacle of the temple Observe that the City and pinacle of the Temple were both in the self same place yet understand that the Temple and the City signifie one and the same thing as from the words of Paul Defile not the temple of God whose temple ye are yea ye are the temples of the holy Ghost and the city of the living God as is recorded in the Corinthians and Hebrews and yet you shall finde though the Saints are the City and Temple of God that the Scripture calls the Nation of the Jews the holy City so that I know that was the holy City that the devil-man took Christ up into and there in the most eminent or highest place of the Temple stated his temptation in the pinacle that is nothing else but the high temptation that this devil used out of his own high spirit of reason saying Cast thy self down that is submit unto this people which in Moses time were the onely Nation or City of God do but submit to be Governor or King in condescending to us there can no harm befal thee in that he hath given his angels charge concerning thee thou being the Son of God and our King we shall conquer the whole world but Christs kingdom not being of this world he tells them as at other times Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God It might well be called the high temptation of the devil that if it had been possible to unthrone Christ of his immortal Crown and Kingdom and crowned him King over a mortal bloody and perishing kingdom I say as in relation to the strength and subtilty of this temptation a man might well be called devil 5. Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory thereof and saith All these will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me Answ If you could understand the Scriptures you shall read it calleth rich wicked men Mountains and poor believing men Valleys as saith Isaiah chap. 40. verse 4. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain shall be made low there is very little of the New Testament to be understood in the letter but spirit onely therefore saith Christ My words are spirit and life so that if thou couldest see with an eye of Faith then thou couldest with me acknowledge that this exceeding high mountain which the devil shewed Christ and all the kingdoms of the world with the glory of them were all in the devils own heart for if you minde the Chief Priests and Rulers from whence this devil-man was sent they in their Councel instructed him that if that Christ to whom he was sent would but come and submit yea side with them for submitting you must understand is no less then to worship that if Christ Jesus would but submit to be their king and governor then they would assure him he should have all the kingdoms of the world for thou being the Son of God no earthly king can stand before thee for in so doing we shall have the rule and government of the whole world and the glory thereof which if thou wouldst but condescend to this we could make our words truth that Herod Pilate and Cesar would give place to thy crown and dignity by which we should become a greater people then ever we were these and such like thoughts was in the Priests and Rulers which they thought they had so wisely compacted together as a mountain not onely strong and great but a high mountain over-topping all other mountains whatsoever So that now you have the interpretation of that Scripture which till this last Witness could never be rightly understood that the high mountain there spoken of

thou abhor a drunkard or any that is given to hospitality and that because his quality is quite contrary to thine for thou art all for toyling and moyling rising early and lying down late neglecting no opportunity wherein thou mayest enrich thy self when as the other riseth up early and lyeth down late in drunkenness spending and making away that portion which was given thee so that thou being covetous he is no companion for thee for thou hast so much care in thee and upon thee how to make thy self great on this earth that unless thou canst advantage thy self thou wilt not spend a penny but when thou hast got five pounds or more or less then whatsoever shift thou and thy family shall make that shall not be diminished in the least but to usury it must go and then thou pinchest thy belly and the bellies of thy poor wife and children by living so long upon small Beer and flet Cheese and such like stuff that thou increasest thy estate to a vast sum at last that now the greatest care and thought of thy heart is how thou shalt secure thy riches from some of thy seed that if they should break into thy house they may not plunder thee of it and to that end thou inventest all maner of subtilty to deceive the deceived that thou hidest some in the earth and some on the house-top and some in hollow trees one place or another that thy brother serpent may not steal it from thee or the Law of this thy kingdom impose great Taxes upon thee I say thy care is so much upon this thy perishing earthly treasure that thy heart thy soul is wholly wrapt up in it insomuch that thy sleep and meat goes from thee that now having what thy heart desireth after thou art more tormented now then when thou hadst little or nothing therefore remember that of Christ Luke 12. 15. where he saith Beware of covetousness for a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth and where thy treasure is thy heart will be also so that what will all this thy greatness in this world and plenty of gold or silver avail thee when the tears of the poor are laid naked before thee and starved for want of bread which thou hadst in abundance and not onely this but it is read in thy soul that thou hast enriched thy self in the ruine of others and thy conscience tells thee thou never got this justly but by fraud and deceit by grinding the faces of the poor and keeping back the hire of the laborers As touching this look about you ye Tradesmen of all sorts yea from the highest to the lowest examine your own consciences how often ye have cheated and remember this ye Landlords that oppress the poor Tenents as also ye Brokers that grinde the faces of the poor in lending upon usury or commodities and that after forty or fifty pound in the Hundred I say remember this that no cheater oppressor nor extortioner shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven and therefore against you I cry wo wo wo for this shall rise up a witness against thee and shall eat thy flesh as if it were fire as it is in James the fifth the first second third and fourth verses and then even then when thou thinkest all is well and that thou hast setled thy estate to thy hearts content that now thou fearest no want but canst without trouble cherish up thy soul with the fruits of thy wits and endeavors and to take thy pleasure for the time to come then comes the messenger Death and deprives thee of all the happiness of thy riches and saith unto thee Ah fool this night thy soul shall be required of thee then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided Luke 12. 20. Now thou hast brought thy covetous heart to perfect what it longed after and now must thou leave all and knowest not what will become of thy soul on the other side of death and so in terror and fear of death thou diest and in torment thou shalt rise at the great day as in the next Chapter thou shalt hear and read at large So that I cannot but admire the wonderful wisdom of my God that notwithstanding the pleasure and pomp of this world belongs onely to the seed of Cain yet he gives them a bitter cup to drink at last which potion makes the devil afraid and to tremble at the thought of that day by which they are not onely bridled from their great cruelty and tyranny they would i●●ose upon the Seed of Faith but also the thought of death doth in some measure out-top their pleasures and greatness so that their life in this their onely heaven is not much better then our life in this our onely hell for though they have fulness and such as we have want yet we have peace and they have war yea oftentimes sad torment to think what will become of their souls when as the Seed of Faith knoweth what he is here what he shall be in the grave and what he shall be at the resurrection even glorified with his Savior So if you seriously lay to heart the vast difference of the Seed of Faith and the seed of Cain upon their bed of sickness or hour of death it would cause admiration as thus The departure of the seed of Cain out of this world is as much as if a Prince should depart not onely from his loving wife and pretty children but be banisht from his Crown and Kingdom never to enjoy it more and also where he is banisht he is shut up prisoner all the the time of his life even so is ●● death in this world he must leave not onely all his society but the pleasure of this his kingdom where he had delight as much as heart could wish and in the grave his soul and body lyeth uncapable of either joy or sorrow and then at the great day of our Saviors appearance thou shalt be raised up thy body thy hell thy soul thy devil shut up close prisoner world without end Now death is unto the Seed of Faith as a Messenger of glad tidings in that it frees him from the cruelty and oppression of the devill the seed of Cain and take him from all his hardship and wants that he hath undergone by living uprightly in this strange kingdom and then he knowing that all the time he is in the grave there is no remembrance of good or evil and as soone as ever his God comes he shall be raised to meet him in the aire with his mighty angels where he shall have a kingdom that one hours enjoyment of that will be more then ten thousand times ten thousand the greatest substance of glory could be attained unto for ten millions of years in this perishing world Thus in brief you have the difference of the two Seeds what triumph the Seed of Faith have in death over the seed of