Selected quad for the lemma: life_n
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A41425
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A plain testimony to the antient truth and work of God and against the corruption of the clergy, and their upholders. By T. G.
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Goodaire, Thomas, d. 1693.
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1691
(1691)
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Wing G1088; ESTC R218842
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26,567
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31
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2 3. Mat. 5. 48. Ephes 4. 11 12 13. Heb. 6. 1. Heb. 13. 20 2â— Rev. 14. 2 3 4 5. 1 John 2. 14. Chap 3. 4. to vers 11. And further I do affirm that all that preach and speak against Perfection from Sin and say That there is no Perfection from Sin can be attained unto in this Life all such Persons and People do encourage People for to live in Sin and they do discourage people from pressing after perfection and they are a means to beget people into Unbelief that they may not believe that such a good state and condition is to be attained unto in this Life and all such deny the sufficiency of Christ and the end of his coming in Spirit into the Hearts and Souls of all true Christians and true Believers in him which end was and is for to mortifie and to kill and crucifie Sin and to destroy the Works of the Devil which is Sin and Iniquity in people and every evil Plant which the Lord hath not planted which hath taken deep Root in people's hearts the Lord will pluck up by the working of his own Power and Spirit in the hearts of all true Christians and true Believers and Followers of Christ who truly love and obey him and this great Work of Christ must be known and witnessed for to be done and wrought by him in every true Christian before Christ can be known experimentally for to reign and rule in the hearts and souls of people And these things are a mystery unto all that live in Sin and take pleasure and delight therein and unto all the proud and covetous Clergy that are in the whole World that preach for Tythes or Money and are hired by people to preach for so much Money by the Year which the true Apostle Paul said That the love of Money was the Root of all Evil And the true Ministers of Christ hated all such covetous Practices and declared against them and Paul said I have coveted no man's Silver or Gold or Apparel ye your selves know said he that these Hands have ministred unto my Necessities and to them that were with me Who was a Tent-maker he was not brought up at any Schools of Learning for to be made a Minister of Christ nor none of the Ministers of Christ were brought up at any Schools of Learning to be made Ministers of Christ but several of them were ignorant and unlearned men as to outward Learning and Scholarship which people do so much boast of but they were brought up at Christ's School and they were taught of him by his holy Spirit and they were endued with Power from on High and they were led and guided by Christ's Spirit into all Truth and out of all the wicked ungodly Ways and Practices which many of the Clergy-Men and of their Hearers before mentioned live and walk in now And the Apostle Paul said That the Gospel which he preached be neither received of Man neither was he taught it of Man but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ and he preached not unto any people with inticing Words of man's Wisdom nor of man's Learning but he preached and spoke unto the people in the Demonstration of the Spirit with Power that their Faith should not stand in the Wisdom of Men but in the Power of God and Christ made them able Ministers of the New Testament not of the Letter but of the Spirit for the Letter killeth but the Spirit giveth Life unto the Soul And so the Ministers of Christ never preached such a Doctrine as these covetous Clergy-Men do now Read these Scriptures Galatians 1. 11 12. Acts 2â— 33 34. 2 Cor. 3. 6. 1 Cor. 2. 1 2 3 4 5. 1 Tim. 6. 6 7 8 9 10 11. And you that preach and speak against Perfectiâ—n 〈…〉 Sin and say none can be set free from Sin in this Life can you not believe that Christ Jesus is as able and sufficient and willing to save people from their Sins and to bring them to a perfect state from Sin according as God created Man and Woman in the beginning as the Devil who is the author of all Sin and Evil who makes his Children and Servants perfect in Sin and Wickedness who continue to the end of their days to obey and follow him and are led and guided by his spirit into Sin and Evil and his evil Fruits are brought forth and acted and done daily by his Children and Servants to the great dishonour of God who made Man and Woman for to love fear serve and honour and obey him in Truth and Righteousness and to live and walk before the Lord in a holy godly righteous Life in all manner of Holiness and Righteousness in our holy Lives and godly Conversations so long as the Lord is pleased that we shall live upon the Earth that so God Almighty may be honoured and glorified in us and by us that so we may answer the end for which he hath made and created us which is to fear and love him with all our Hearts which if we do so in Truth then we shall be made willing by the Lord for to obey him and keep his commands which is the duty of every one so to do And now all you that do not believe that Perfection from Sin can be attained unto and that not any can be set free from Sin in this Life doth not your Faith and Belief stand in him who is the author of all Sin and Evil which is the wicked Spirit And your faith and belief stands not in Christ who is the Author of Perfection from Sin who is the good Spirit and saves his People from their Sins but not in their Sins and Christ said Whosoever committeth Sin is the Servant of Sin And the Apostle Paul said Know ye not to whom ye yield your selves Servants to obey his Servants ye are to whom ye do obey whether of Sin that leads to Death and Destruction or of Obedience unto Righteousness which leads to Life and Peace with the Lord. And so long as People live in Sin and are Servants to it they are free from Righteousness and the Apostle John said He that commiteth Sin is of the Devil and he said He that is born of God sinneth not Read these Scriptures John 8. 34. Rom. 6. 16 17. to the end 1 John 3. 4. to vers 11. And all that believe that they cannot be set free from Sin so long as they live in this World they know nothing of the New Birth experimentally no more than Nicodemus did which was a Ruler of the Jews nor no such persons nor people that plead for living in Sin term of Life they know nothing by expeâ—â—ence what it is for to be Regenerated and Born again of Water and the Spirit without which inward spiritual knowledge they cannot enter into the Kingdom of God and they that are born of God by the Water and Spirit of Life they are not Servants to Sin
of the Devil who was a Lyar and a Murderer from the beginning And now I shall mention and lay before you some of the Cruelties and great Persecutions of the Presbyterian Clergy and some of their Hearers and Members of their Church both in Old England and in New-England which they have acted and done against the People of God who are in scorn called by the World Quakers first they have cast many of us into Prisons and there they have kept several until they dyed and by their means and doings they have taken away the Goods and Chattels of many of our Friends both Rich and Poor to the value of many Thousands of Pounds and this they did in Oliver Cromwell's time and they proceeded against us for not paying of them Tythes and Money for Preaching by a Law which gave them trebble Damage and they caused evil men for to come into our Houses and Grounds for to distrain our Goods and Chattels which they did several times and sold our Goods and Chattels and gave the Money to those Tything Hireling-Priests and they sold our Goods Chattels at an undervalue and they took many times Goods and Chattels from us which were worth above five times more than they call'd their due thus they have done to many of us And they have cast several into Prisons for less than eighteen Pence a piece at their own valuation which they said was their due and thus they have ruinated several of our Friends and their Families aforesaid in their Estates besides the Cruelties which they have Inflicted upon our Bodies in casting many of us into Prisons and there they kept many until they dyed and thus Cruelly with much more Cruelties which are here too tedious to mention have they acted and done against us because we could not for good Conscience sake uphold them in their ungodly Ways and Practices as to pay them Tythes and Money for their Preaching as Ministers of Christ as they and the people that hear them call and account them to be but Christ came to put an end to that Law and Priest-hood and Covenant by which Tythes were paid in the time of the Law and first Covenant and hath abolished it read Heb. 7. 8 9 10. And where do ye find or read in all the Scriptures of Truth that any of the true Ministers of Christ took Tythes or Money for their preaching Or did ever any of the true Believers and Followers of Christ pay Tythes And whosoever they be that either take Tythes or pay Tythes denys Christ to be come and the end of his coming so as to yield obedience unto him by doing that which he requires of them And now I have something more to mention of the Wickedness and Cruelties and Murders of the Presbyterian Clergy and the Professors and Members of their Church in New-England against the people of God called in scorn Quakers first they cast many in Prison and they Whipped many in a cruel manner both Men and Women 〈◊〉 their naked Bodies and they took away the Goods and 〈◊〉 of many of the people aforesaid and they Branded and Burnt them with Hot â—â—ons and they Cut off the Ears of some and Bâ—nished them And all these Cruelties with much more which are not here mentioned which they acted and did against the people aforesaid would not satiâ—fie their blood-thirsty Spirit And now I desire all true Christians who are true Believers and Lovers of Christ to consider and take notice of all these Cruelties and Murders aforesaid and see if these Clergy-Men and People aforesaid be not acted and guided by the same Spirit now that the High-Priests and Chief Priests and Scribes and Pharisees were when Christ was upon the Earth and they had a form of Godliness and professed Scriptures and they made long Prayers and made clean the outside and appeared righteous in the sight of men but their hearts were deceitful and full of Hypocrisie and Iniquity as many of the Priests and Professors of Religion are found to be now by their evil Lives and Conversations in this world And was there any greater Enemies to Christ Jesus when he was upon the Earth then those High-Priests and Chief Priests and Scribes and Pharisees were then And they sought every way they could for to destroy Christ and his Ministers and sought false Witness against them for to have them put to Death and Christ and some of his Ministers were put to death by means of such wicked ungodly Priests and Professors of Religion as aforesaid which had a form of Godliness but they were absolute Enemies to thse that lived in the Life and Power of Godliness as these Priests and Professors and People are now many of these now are absolute Enemies to the Children of Light and all that do truly believe and own the Spiritual Appearance of Christ in their hearts as to obey and follow it who was and is the true Light and Life of all true Christians and true Believers in him in all Ages Generations that are past gone and all such Christians and true Believers in him who do obey follow the Light Spirit of Christ in their hearts they do and will receive power daily for to forsake their Sins and Iniquities and the same Light and Spirit will beget a perfect hatred in their Hearts against all Sin and every appearance of it both in themselves and in all others where they see Sin acted or done And whosoever doth truly love and 〈…〉 Light and Spirit of Christ in themselves which shews them Sin and reproves them for it in secret when they either think speak or act any thing that is Evil it will teach and help them to forsake Sin and every appearance of Sin according as the Lord doth manifest Sin unto them And whosoever doth truly believe in this Light and good Spirit of Christ which shews people their Sins and reproves them in their own Hearts and Consciences when they do sin against God if they do truly love and obey and follow this Light and good Spirit in them it is sufficient in its self without the help of vain sinful men which preach against Perfection from Sin in this Life I say again it is sufficient and there is help and power enough in it for to lead and guide all people out of their Sins and to give them power to forsake all their Sins and Iniquities by degrees all that are willing to deny themselves of all their sinful Ways and Pleasures and so become obedient to this Light and Spirit of Christ in them and this Light and Spirit the Lord hath given a measure of it freely to every one for to profit withal and it is sufficient for to teach all People that truly believe in it and obey it and is willing to be taught by it it will teach them to deny all ungodly Thoughts Words and Actions and it will teach them to live soberly justly godly and righteously