Selected quad for the lemma: kingdom_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
kingdom_n	devil_n	divide_v	satan_n	2,318	5	9.3446	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A49183	An apology for the ministers who subscribed only unto the stating of the truths and errours in Mr. William's book shewing, that the Gospel which they preach, is the old everlasting Gospel of Christ, and vindicating them from the calumnies, wherewith they (especially the younger sort of them) have been unjustly aspersed by the letter from a minister in the city, to a minister in the countrey.	Lorimer, William, d. 1721.	1694 (1694)	Wing L3073; ESTC R22599	321,667	222

and preach a new Gospel that can make it to be true or prove that it is so The Nature of things are not so soon changed no things will still remain to be what they are though weak passionate Men should never so often think and boldly say that they are not what they are that which is once true will still remain true though men think and say ten thousand times over that it is false As on the contrary that which is once false as it is most false that we preach a new Gospel will still remain false though our Author and his whole party should ten thousand times over both think and say and swear too that it is true We therefore beseech all Christian People neither to believe our Author nor Us upon our bare Words he confidently affirms that we preach a new Gospel We deny it he brings no proof but his own reproachful Word for what he says against us We bring Scripture Reason and the Testimonies of Ancient Fathers and Modern Divines for what we say against him in Vindication of our own Innocency and for Proof that the Gospel which we preach is no other than the Everlasting Gospel of Christ which always hath been now is and ever will be preserved in the Christian Church to the end of the World Now we advise People not to trust either him or us without Tryal but to examine what is said on both sides and then to trust those whom they find upon Tryal to be most trusty and to have given the best Reasons why they should be trusted in these Matters Consider Christians what our most blessed Lord and Saviour saith Matth. 15.14 That if the blind lead the blind both shall fall into the Ditch It will not excuse People before God that they followed their Leaders for they are rational Creatures and they ought to see with their own Eyes and not to follow their Ministers blindly without considering and knowing whether they lead them right or wrong whether they lead them in the way of Error or in the way of Truth Therefore our Saviour saith again Matth. 24.4 Take heed that no Man deceive you The like Advice our Lords great Apostle gave unto the Churches to whom he wrote his Epistles Let no Man said he deceive you with vain Words 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Ephes 5.6 This Advice he gave with respect to some of the things that are controverted amongst us at this Day And again Let no Man deceive you by any means 2 Thes 2.3 And as a Preservative and Antidote against being deceived he exhorted them to prove all things and to hold fast that which is good 1 Thes 5.21 Moreover though he was extraordinarily assisted by an infallible Spirit yet he commended the Bereans as People of a noble generous Mind for trying his own Doctrine by the Touchstone of Holy Scripture before they believed it Acts 17.11 It was not any slowness in them to believe which made them examine his Doctrine but it was Wisdom and Prudence for the Scripture saith they received the Word with all Readiness of Mind and searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so they received readily and yet searched diligently making no more haste than good speed and by searching they found all that Paul preached to them to be according to the Scripture therefore they believed his Doctrine and believed in Christ according to his Doctrine ver 12. And this was it which Paul commended them for that though he was an Apostle inspired with a Spirit of Infallibility and could and did Work Miracles to confirm the Truth of his Doctrine yet they searched the Scriptures daily to see whether his Doctrine was according to the Scriptures before they believed it and when by searching they found it to be all according to the Scriptures they immediately believed and readily received it for that very Reason because it was according to the Scriptures of Truth And Paul was of such an excellent Spirit that if the Bereans or any other People had by diligent search found any part of his Doctrine to be really contrary unto the Scriptures of Truth which was impossible for them to do he would have commended them also for not believing it Acts 26.22 23. 1 Cor. 15.1 2 3 4. 1 Cor. 7.25 40. Gal. 1.8 Yea our blessed Lord himself when he was on Earth in his State of Humiliation as a Man and Minister of the Circumcision for the Truth of God to confirm the Promises made unto the Fathers Rom. 15.8 He did not desire that his Hearers should believe him upon his bare Word John 5.31 If I bear Witness of my self my Witness is not true That is though it be never so true in it self yet it is not true with respect to you or it doth not appear true and convincing to you therefore as we read in that Chapter and elsewhere our Lord over and besides his own Verbal Testimony used to prove the Truth of his Doctrine by Scripture and to confirm it by such miraculous Works as could not be done but by the infinite Power of God who neither would nor could give his Seal to ratifie and confirm a lie And thereupon he said unto the unbelieving Jews John 10.37 38. If I do not the Works of my Father believe me not but if I do though ye believe not me believe the Works that ye may know and believe that the Father is in me and I in him And when convinced by the Notorlety of the Matters of Fact that he did wonderful Works above the Power of Man they were forced by the Evidence of common Sense and Reason to confess it yet being unwilling to believe in him on that account they found out a way to elude the force of his Argument deduced from his Miracles by raising a dispute about the invisible Secret cause of them and by blasphemously ascribing them to the Devil and not to God Matth. 12.24 Mark 3.22 He did not in Answer to that blasphemous Cavil tell them that they must believe on his bare Word that his Miracles were wrought by the Power of God and not of the Devil But by plain Reason and strong Argument taken from the circumstances of his Miracles he proved against them that they could not possibly be from the Devil and therefore they must be from God Mark 3.23 24 25 26 27. with Matth. 12.25 26 28 29. He said unto them How can Satan cast out Satan And if a Kingdom be divided against it self that Kingdom cannot stand c. The Summ of our Saviours Argument was this That his Miracles were wrought to confirm a Doctrine that is directly contrary to and destructive of every thing that is Devilish and wherever it is received in Faith and Love there always the Devils Interest decays and himself is despised and abhorred yea many of Christs Miracles were done immediately upon the Devil himself and he was thereby cast out of that Power and Possession which he had got by

Usurpation over the Bodies and Souls of Men and the ultimate end of them all was to set up Gods Kingdom among Men and to destroy Satans Kingdom Therefore the Devil could not possibly be the Author of Christs Miracles since they were directly contrary to his Nature and destructive of his Kingdom and Interest in the World The consequence is evident because if the Devil be supposed to do such Miracles so circumstantiated he is and must be ipso facto supposed to be a silly weak Prince that for want of a Politick Head and Ambitious Heart acts quite contrary unto his own Nature and doth what he can to destroy his own Kingdom and Interest in the World But the Devil cannot be supposed to be a silly weak Prince who so Acts for want of Policy and Pride Such a Supposition is evidently false and self-contradictious for the Devil is a most Politick proud Spirit that is his very Nature as he is a Devil and his Politick proud Nature always Acts like it self and ever prompts him to defend maintain and propagate his Kingdom and Interest among Men. Therefore it 's impossible that the Devil should be the Author of such Miracles as are so contrary to his Nature and destructive of his Kingdom and Interest among Men since it cannot be that such a Politick Ambitious Spirit as the Devil is should be so filly as to make war upon his own Subjects pull down his own Kingdom and take the Crown from his own and set it on anothers Head This was our Lords Argument whereby he proved his Miracles to be from God and not from Satan And this Reason with others he hath given us why we should believe both his Doctrine and Miracles to be from Heaven and doth no where require us to believe it without any Reason Now if neither Christ nor his Apostles desired Men to believe them upon their bare Word without good proof who are we and who is our Author that either we or he should desire People to believe either the one or the other of us upon our bare Words without good proof Especially when the matter in Controversie is of the highest Nature and greatest Importance to wit whether we preach a new Gospel which he affirms and we deny and without any Reason but with a great many Falshoods and Calumnies he affirms it but with good and solid Reason we deny it and have disproved his Falshoods and wiped off his Calumnies Amongst other things our Author reproaches us as hath been shewed with the Name of Rational Divines by which it plainly appears that he himself would not be accounted a Rational Preacher or Writer of matters of Divinity and then belike he would not have the People to be Rational Hearers and Readers but to believe all that he either Preaches or Writes without knowing any good Reason why or wherefore But that which he casts upon us as a reproach we take it as a Crown being rightly understood as we have shewed it ought to be And if we be indeed Rational Divines we bless God who hath made us such and pray him so to continue us whilest he hath any Service for us here and still to make us more Rational that we may be the better able to open unto his People the true Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Faith And as we desire to be Rational Divines in the sense before explained so we desire that the People may be Rational Hearers Readers and Believers so rational as not to receive every Doctrine they hear from the Pulpit and read from the Press without knowing by Scripture and Scriptural Reason why and wherefore they receive it Therefore we exhort and beseech them to try before they trust Believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they are of God 1 Joh. 4.1 1 Thes 5.21 prove all things and hold fast that which is good Consider what we have said to clear up God's Truth and to vindicate our own Innocency from the Aspersions and Calumnies of the Accuser of the Brethren and according to the Evidence we offer you judge impartially as you will Answer to God and your own Consciences FINIS Some Books Printed for John Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultrey SEveral Discourses 1. Of Purity 2. Of Repentance 3. Of Seeking first the Kingdom of God By Hezekiah Burton D. D. late Rector of Barns near London and Published by the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Dr. Tillotson in 8vo Bishop Wilkins h●s Gift of Prayer and Preaching newly Reprinted with the Addition of near a thousand Authors to the Preaching in 8vo Mr. Slaters Thanksgiving Sermon October 27th 1692. 4to His Sermon at the Funeral of Mr. John Reynolds Minister of the Gospel Jan. 8. 1692. 4to His Sermon at the Funeral of Mr. Richard Fincher Minister of the Gospel Feb. 19. 1692. 4to Mr. Daniel Burgess his Mans whole Duty and Gods wonderful intreaty of him thereunto from 2 Cor. 5.20 in Twelves His Advice to Parents and Children the summ of a few Sermons Contracted in 12o The Death and Rest Resurrection and Blessed Portion of the Saints in a Discourse on Dan. 12.13 Being preached on the Occasion of the Death of Dr. Daniel Rolls Minister of the Gospel Together with the Work of the Redeemer and the Redeemed in 12o A Good Minister of Jesus Christ a Funeral Sermon for the Reverend Mr. Richard Steel a faithful and useful Minister of the Gospel Nov. 27. 1692. By George Hammond M. A. and Minister of the Gospel

not so with us at this day But when we look abroad into the World and into the present state of the Reformed Churches at home and abroad and see or hear what lives Men generally lead how they fight against God and against one another against God by transgressing all his holy just and good Laws and by turning his Grace into Lasciviousness And against one another by injustice and uncharitableness by malice and envy by lying and slandering c. We cannot but fear that God is against us and will fight against us as we are against him Levit. 26.23 24. and fight against him And it greatly encreases our fear to see that those who pretend to greatest seriousness in Religion have lately fallen out and have been quarrelling together about such a practical point of Religion as that is Whether true Repentance is necessary before we can obtain from God the pardon of our sins through the alone satisfaction and Merits of Christ When God is loudly calling us to Repentance for obtaining the pardon of our sins and we should all be found in the practice of Repentance in order to that end we are like Mad-men fallen to disputing Whether our Repentance be necessary before we are pardoned when we are pardoned or after we are pardoned And there are those amongst us who have raised a great clamour against such honest and faithful Ministers of Christ as dare tell and dare not but tell the People that they must truly repent of their sins before they can obtain the pardon of them although at the same time they assure the people from the Lord that God for Christs sake will most certainly pardon them immediately after they have repented This is cried out against as dangerous Doctrine by a sort of Religious People amongst us who will have it that Repentance is only necessary after God hath pardoned us but not before And though to please these People some Ministers have openly granted That Repentance and pardon of Sin are simultaneous in time that is they are not one before another for any space of time but are both together only Repentance is first in order of Nature by the grace thereof to dispose and prepare us for receiving our Pardon by Faith in Christs Blood Yet this will not give them content but they will have their Pardon before Repentance and the Ministers who preach or write otherwise shall be proclaimed to be Antichristian Arminian or any thing that Passion suggests This we say greatly encreaseth our fears for to us it seems evident that the hand of Joab is in this matter that is plainly that Satan has a wicked design by this means to keep the People from Repentance and so from obtaining the pardon of their sins that the desolating Judgments of God may come upon the Nation and that we may be all destroyed together And that Satan may not be discovered he hath artificially disguised himself and appears on the Stage transformed into an Angel of Light pleading for the exaltation of the glorious riches of free grace in the Justification of Sinners by the Blood of Christ without all works of any Law whatsoever and with great appearance of Zeal asserting That the freeness of Gods Grace in the Justification of Sinners by Faith in the Blood Merits and satisfaction of Christ cannot possibly be maintained unless it be denyed that true Repentance is antecedently necessary to our obtaining the pardon of our Sins It seems to us that this is Satans Plot against us and that he hath thus disguised himself the better to carry it on and the more effectually to compass his design upon us And this is the more probable because we find that at the beginning of the Reformation Satan plaid the same game when he perceived that by our first Reformers preaching up Justification by Faith only and not by Works many People were induced to separate from the Church of Rome and embrace the Reformation he endeavoured to make them believe that since Sinners are Justified and Pardoned by Faith only and not by Works then there was no necessity that they should repent of their Sins in order to their obtaining the Pardon of them And thus he thought that though they had got their feet loosed out of one of his Snares yet he should still keep them fast in another and lead them Captive at his will That this is so indeed and no Fiction of ours is manifest from the Testimony of Bishop Hooper that blessed faithful and valiant Martyr of Christ who in the Reign of Queen Mary was burnt alive for the Protestant Religion in a slow Fire about the space of three quarters of an hour and sealed the Truth of the Gospel with his blood This Man of God in a Book of his Intituled A Declaration of Christ and his Office Printed at Zurich in the Year 1547. Chap. VII th handling the point of Justification saith This is certain and too true Let the whole Gospel be preached unto the World as it ought to be Repentance and a vertuous Life with Faith as God preached the Gospel unto Adam in Paradise Noah Abraham Moses Isaiah saying Vae Genti Peccatrici c. Isa 1.4 c John the Baptist repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand As Christ did Repent and believe the Gospel Mark 1. and then of an hundred that come to the Gospel there would not come one When they hear sole or only faith and the mercy of God to justify and that they may eat all ments at all times with thanksgiving they embrace that Gospel with all joy and willing heart And what is he that would not receive this Gospel the flesh it self were there no immortal soul in it would receive this Gospel because it promiseth aid help and consolation without Works But now speak of the other part of the Gospel as Paul teacheth Rom. 8.13 If ye live after the flesh ye shall dye And as he prescribeth the life of a Justified man in the same Epistle Chap. 12 13 14 15 16. And Christ Mat. 10. And Peter in the 2 Epistle and 1 Chap. This part of the Gospel is not so pleasant therefore Men take the first liberty c. Thus that blessed Saint who feared neither Man nor Devil but in the true faith and fear of God set himself with a Divine courage and holy boldness to oppose the Devil and all his Instruments to destroy his Kingdome in the World and on the contrary to exalt the Name and Glory of God and to set up Christs Spiritual Kingdom in the hearts and lives of Men. Would to God! that we had many Hoopers amongst us at this day who saith again in the same Chapter not far from the beginning Nothing maketh the cause wherefore this mercy to wit of Justification should be given saving only the death of Christ which is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the only sufficient Price and Gage for sin And although it be necessary and