Selected quad for the lemma: knowledge_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
knowledge_n	according_a	know_v	way_n	1,303	5	4.6991	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A94717	The foot out of the snare. Or, A restoration of the inhabitants of Zion into their place, after their bewildered and lost estate by the operation of a violent power, and authority, wrought in the author by the Prince of Darkness, under an appearance of the brightest light. Being a brief declaration of his entrance into that sect, called (by the name of) Quakers. With a short discourse relating what judgment he was learned in, by the ministry of those people. Together with the revelation of a spirit in himself. Also, what desperate delusions he was led into by yielding a subjection to the teachings of a seducing spirit in him under a shadow of the true light; and how this body of deceipt came to be destroyed. With the manner of his separation from them. / By me John Toldervy, then servant to Col. Webb.	Toldervy, John.	1655 (1655)	Wing T1767; Thomason E861_13; ESTC R206654	40,712	60

that it required I could not be redeemed and since that the Truth was made manifest if disobeyed no remedy I should be eternally damned Wherefore as I respected my Salvation this Redeemer was to work me and to dispose of me according to his will and whatever I willed was not to be done but to be crossed by my being subject to this Redeemer Upon which there arose a great Controversie in my Spirit of what stood in the will of man and what did not said one Spirit This is in the will when it was not on the contrary said another Spirit as to the same thing this is not in the will and so through fear I should always yield a subjection unto that Spirit by which I was limited and brought under bondage to do many things in my will against my will whereupon I became a destroyer of the will of God as touching that Liberty which was allowed me in the use of my Members either to speak or to act also in the use of those Creatures made for the service of Man and so as those former weaknesses which reigned in me through the darkness of my understanding came to be destroyed my understanding being not then well enlighened greater weaknesses as to the not enjoyment of my self did arise also as one imaginary being in me came to be overthrown there was begotten the like Being in another shape and by it was I wrought upon to believe many things by me undeniable and also led forth and acted from one thing unto another according to what followeth So believing that what was manifested of God in man was the Light of Life which was one with himself as it is written I and my Father are one by which was given unto Man a savory discerning of what was Good and what was Evil what was darknesse which darknesse was to be expelled by this light there remained therefore nothing for the Man to do but to stand in the Will of that which was pure in him and so by it he became a Judge of what impurity or the Law of Sin would act him in which sin the occasion of Death was to be swallowed up in victory that so only the light of life which is innocent might live there being nothing in Man for Death even as a King over-ruling all in subjection unto himself Whereupon was concluded that Man was the Cause of all this distraction and confusion in himself and so abstracted from this confusion was that being which made an appearance of holinesse in the minds of all professed religious People subjected under divers Forms Ordinances and Ceremonies which is a vapour it self and must die as the Ordinances were shaddows and are ceased but Man having lost the kernel the substance which giveth nourishment and satisfies he feedeth upon the dry husk and being not refreshed with the true Bread and Water of Life he remaineth alwaies seeking and never comes to know what is true alwaies feeding and never satisfied until he comes to understand where the Bread of Life is to be found which is in himself according as it is written I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one and so eternal life living in us there needs no more thirst there needs no more hunger after Knowledge this is eternal life to know God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent But since there is much Mysterie recorded in Scripture it is concluded that the knowledge of those Mysteries is to know the Will of Christ and so the way to salvation yea it is believed that the knowledge of the Scriptures is to know God and Christ though it is spoken concerning Christ I am the Way the Truth and the Life And again it is written the Word is nigh you in the mouth and in the heart so that the Way the Truth and the Life is in us that which giveth Salvation But saith * Judas 's love being removed from Christ by the seducements of the Deceiver his understanding became lost and so his minde was driven out from God into the Earth Judas How is it that thou wilt manifest thy self unto us and not unto the World But this Conclusion also proceeds from the evil one transformed in Man he being scattered very confused and darkned in his understanding covered as with a vail and so Satan as an Angel of Light moveth and leadeth forth to divers Duties which are his own for the upholding of his Reign in Man Also feeds Man with Wisdom and variety of pleasant Language called Gifts in performances for the upholding of his Duties by which sin being shaded over he is justified many being called failings but perfection is not to be attained in this life but in another life hereafter though it is written Except Christ be in you ye are Reprobates having rent the garments of righteousness ye are acursed being hipped up above the Truth and trampling the Blood of the Covenant the life of the Innocent in the dust so that if the Author and Finisher of our Faith be living in us there is perfection but if not perfection is not faithfulness being ceased Now the World was understood to be the Garden of Eden in which Man was placed at the first and still is and the Trees of this Garden all living beings proceeding out of the Earth living in and upon the Earth all which having their being of God the life of all things by somwhat of himself that proceedeth forth of the Earth God the Life who created all the Life from whence is received the increase of all It was also understood that Paradise was in Man where his delight should be where his minde should be stayed at unity with God who made choice to take up his Habitation and abode there himself with his increase the Family of Love and beloved Ones who were to be kept nourished and refreshed by Man 's living obedient unto the will of God in the same simplicity of Love and so at unity with this Family of Love the Seed of Israel Then was this understood to be the state in which all men were created and is now also the cause of his fall All men were made of nothing and still are as one Generation passeth away another Generation succeedeth by God the Author of all and so as one increase by him was brought to their end another increase was produced forth of himself according as it is written I kill and I make alive Therefore in the first Creation of Men they were made pure and holy without sin in the likeness of that God who was their Maker perfect for where no sin was there was perfection But Man when he came into a growth in the World he saw the excellency of that Provision of that Fruit prepared of God to be a nourishment or refreshment for him he began of himself by hearkening to the weaker being in him the fleshly minde to be discontented with that allowance which was sufficient

Spirits by vvhom I vvas accompanied as though I had been a Spirit my self It may be observed That about this time it was so with me That what I looked upon I should be searching after knowledge in relation to it making enquiry the cause of its Being the way by which it came to have a Being c. For I was perswaded That the Knowledge of all things was to be Discovered and made known to me so that a while after my prying so much after Knowledge did infuse so much Spirit in me that I could not look upon any thing but I was tormented in my Spirit at the sight thereof and many times had such burnings in my Body as may be likened to the heat of live Coals by which for many nights I could not have the least rest Having refrained from Food about a day and a half I was moved though limited by the Spirit in me for a longer time to go and eare So having made a search for the like Food that usually I did eat and finding none but in the stead thereof a great Roast of Beef I was at a loss upon which there arose a great Contest in my Spirit what I should do said that Spirit which respected me for the satisfying of Nature Eate of the Beef said the other Spirit by which I was limited No I am the Lord said the former Nay but eate since there is no other there is a sufficient justification Whereupon the Case being well examined after a time Judgement was determined upon that Spirit by which I was limited So I did take and eat while satisfied with much moderation All which time being much disquieted and strongly moved to give over This Deed being now finished I went into the Hall where after two or three turns I sate down and casting my Eyes upwards I was taken with a strong Fancy that I saw Heaven open from whence proceeded a great blast of Fire somwhat like unto Lightning at which sight being really perswaded it was a discovery of those Plagues which were to be poured forth upon me because of the former Disobedience I was struck down by that power in me as though a dead thing had fallen upon which immediately there was an extream burning within me like unto the heat of a fiery hot Furnace which remained a little more than about half a quarter of an hour About three hours following this there was a private Meeting of our People whither I was moved to go though much contrary to my Will but being in a great fear I durst not deny but went so after I had been there about half an hour I was moved by the power of that Spirit in me to shake which manner of shaking I had long waited for believing they were Effects in order to the rooting out and perfect destroying of that Being in me which was of the Devil So it being observed that I was moved to shake the Command was Give way which signified that I should not limit the Work of the Lord in me upon that which was for Condemnation so I gave way upon which the strength of that Spirit by which I was moved to shake grew so that what strength I had in me of my self was not in the least sufficient to subdue the workings of the other Spirit in and upon me whose power wrought so in me being spread like unto an infused substance into all Parts and Joynts of my Body that my whole Man was so shaken torn and rent that had I not by a great strength been enabled I could not have contained Also it did work in me as though I had taken a strong Purge by which I was clensed exceedingly in working forth of me an extream Foam So having fulfilled its Will it ceased of it self Now as the Air is rent by the fierceness of the Spirit by which is caused a hideous and ratling noise called Thunder and so the whole Heavens become clensed of all filthy vapours or corrupted substance naturally destructive to all Beings so was it believed that the corrupted Spirit in me was rent and torn by that Spirit which is my Life by which the Heavens in me was clensed Then was I possessed with these perswasions That this was one of those two Plagues which was to be poured forth upon me and that the occasion of this Plague was because of the denial of my Lord and Master in the presence of the Jewish Spirits in me out of respect to my own Liberty the satisfying of Nature with that Food which was disallowed After this as I remember the following night I was Commanded to stay up all that night and wait for Revelations but having refrained from sleep divers nights before I could not wait according to the requirings of the Spirit because of extream drouziness whereupon I made intercession to those Apparitions to take rest for that night so upon Promise of attending there the next night I had liberty but going up stairs a voyce spake in me and willed me to go down but then I supposed it to be from one of the Spirits which I left behind me in the Room so out of great fear I was enjoyned to stay up all that night and durst not sleep but wait for Revelations and having waited a short time I could not possibly refrain longer from rest then was I perswaded to go against the Will of the Spirit in me but in going it spake again and Commanded me to go in the Shop which I did and having waited there about half an hour wrestling strongly against sleep I moved of my self to go up again into the Chamber but going up stairs another voyce spake behind me and Commanded me to return back again then was I Commanded by that in me to lie down and humble my self for I had Blasphemed which I did wallowing and tumbling upon the ground Then heard I another voyce saying Nicodemus is in thee the betrayer of Christ in the night Then sorrow struck me to the very heart and I was extreamly troubled so after I had layen about an hours time upon the ground I was moved by that Being in me to rise but as I was rising I was commanded to lie down again Anon after I was moved to rise as before but when rising I was commanded to lie still and so by contradictions of this Spirit in me was I thus acted divers times in the end it was pleased to raise me on my Feet it self moving and guiding of my Body by its own power like as before So this night being spent I was in the morning commanded to light a Fire with dead Coals and Sticks that a Miracle might be made known to be wrought by me being really perswaded that like as Fire did proceed from the Lord upon the Altar in the sight of Moses Aaron and the Children of Israel So from the Lord in me should there proceed that Vertue vvhich should infuse a heat into those Coals and Sticks by vvhich

perswaded with By which true Judgement became lost in me That I may in this be as a Sea-mark whose poor Vessel was well-nigh Split upon those Rocks and am now become as one to give warning that none do through the hastiness of their own Minds in their own Wills under a pretence of God's Will dishonor the Truth by giving heed to such Seducings and Temptations ascribing that to God and calling it His when indeed it is the Effects of their own Fancy through their own Weakness and their own Imagination 3. That there may be a true and impartial Information held forth to every one to whose Hands this Discourse shall come of the true Rise and Progress of my Entrance into and Separation from the People called Quakers in order to the silencing of those false Aspersions which have been cast not only upon me but also upon the aforenamed People themselves by reason of me And which is more especially upon the Truth it Self which through misrepresentation and misunderstanding of things hath much suffered These things Considered I hope it will be understood by all sober-minded Persons that I am in this Work upon a great Duty which I may not be at rest till it be effected and the rather because herein the Temptations and Wiles of Satan are Discovered and in measure detected which many being ignorant of could not Believe or Avoid And although I must and do expect That there will be sent forth Floods after me even to the very drowning of me if possible by Reproaches Calumnies Aspersions and whatever may be to render me or make me Odious as divers have appeared in such-like very active towards me already but those who profess the highest Truth even the Perfection and abounds therein dares not nay they cannot appear in the Language of the Beast of the Serpent of the Deceiver yet however things be I shall abide where I am therefore I count not any thing which I may suffer valuable in comparison of that Peaee I have in bearing this Witness which is not anothers but fulfilled in and on my Person So that I may truly say as in another Case What I have heard with mine Ears and seen with mine Eyes and felt with my poor tormented Body and Spirit That I have testified and do testifie and my Witness therein is true To which let me add a few Words by way of Caution to thee in the perusal of what followeth 1. That thou Consider what thou Readest and understand things as they are Also be serious in thy Observation and be not light in Mind nor easily tickled with toyish Laughter at such Vanities as thou mayest perceive to have attended me But Watch and Pray That thou also mayest not be led into Temptation For I assure thee That in the hour of my Temptation I judged those Madnesses and Follies great and serious things though now through Mercy I look upon them with another Eye 2. Despise not the Scriptures wherein the Minde of God is so preciously and plentiously Recorded neither doat too much upon them for therein the Deceiver will work in thee Subtilly to the drowning of thy Understanding by forming in thee Imaginations and comprehensions of things which are not I mean things which are not in the Counsel of God by which the Unbelieving and Disobedient Minde will be kept nourished in thee therefore be not wise above what is written either in the Scriptures or in thy Self lest the Light of Israel become a Rock of Offence and a Stone of Stumbling unto thee for both which were my Errors by which I dearly suffered 3. Watch unto Prayer and be staied in what is thy Obedience that so thy Understanding might be opened and thou mayest be able to distinguish between things that differ as saith the Scripture Try the Spirits whether they are of God for there are that have a great seeming-sameness at least a great similitude and likeness of God as when thou shalt be inwardly moved to Speak or Act See that thou impute not that to God which is thine own nor ascribe not that to thy Self which is His and by how much the more Difficult it is for thee to Distinguish thy own Spirit in its Operations and Effects from the Operations and Effects of the true and faithful Spirit of the Lord be so much the more Humble and Lowly and filled with Moderation both towards thy Self and others until thou art Restored to a cleerer Sight 4. Be not rash in Judging nor Censuring an Evil whereunto I my self was most inveterately addicted and is the universal Distemper of these times for unsavoury Expressions being out of Charity especially where it come short of Knowledge stands not in the Counsel of God though many glory therein but they Acting from themselves and so their work being their own true Judgement will rest upon them the wisdom which is from above being pure and peaceable and full of gentleness yea even to the Froward otherwise I say otherwise what had become of me and others this day but the Word of Truth will Rebuke in his day when the Eyeshall see as it is seen beholding things as they are and not as Fancied or Imagined to be 5. If thy Heart be set Free pray for the Author that he may be kept by the power of God in Obedience to that Faith which is Salvation who referring thee to the Discourfe as it follows bids thee Farewel John Toldervy WE whose Names are hereunto Subscribed being Certified of the Contents and Circumstances of the Discourse ensning and some of us having Perused a Part and others the Whole of it are fully satisfied of the Truth of Things Reported in it and do Recommend it as a Piece worthy to be Read and taken into Consideration by all serious Christians as a sad and very remarkable Providence of God to be Observed of all those who take pleasure either in the knowledge of the gracious Works of God or in the Discovery of the Wiles and Subtilties of the Devil And as a seasonable Warning-piece unto all others that they be not taken in the like Snare And if taken that they may recover themselves out Thomas Brooks Thomas Jacomb George Cokayn Will. Adderley John Goodwin John Tombes Will. Jenkyn Matth. Poole The Foot out of the Snare I J. T. having for divers years been full of zeal after the things of God by which zeal I was led forth with exceeding love after the knowledge of Christ to which end I sought after those Ways and Means which I was perswaded to be most useful for the satisfying of my Judgment clearing of my Conscience as Duties enjoyned in order to my upright and close walking with God and blameless life and conversation amongst men To the same end I was led forth with much fervencie of spirit after the Teachings of those whom I judged to be most enlightned with that Spirit which was of God and that were esteemed of the primest Professors to be