Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n
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A44118
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A vvord to the saints from the watch tower. By a faithful embassadour, in bonds for the gospel divers years. F. H.
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Holcroft, Francis, 1629?-1693.
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1668
(1668)
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Wing H2374A; ESTC R216408
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7,204
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28
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healed as it 's said by the Prophet Ieremiah Chap. 50. In those dayes and in that time saith the Lord the Children of Judah shall come they and the Children of Israel together amongst whom there had been much bitter and lasting strifes for ages and generations they shall come going and weeping they shall go and seek the Lord their God they shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thither-ward saying Come and let us joyn our selves to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant that shall not be forgotten Holy Brethren Let our hearts desires and prayers be instant with the Lord still that this grace shewed us from our God may teach us to deny those worldly Lusts and Covetings and ungodliness for which our God hath thus wasted us and that we may be more taught now by the grace of God that brings Salvation the grace by which we are saved that which the Holy Ghost calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The grace of God that is saving or that brings Salvation Bygrace saith the same Apostle again are you saved 2 Eph. and also by this grace of God in giving us this reviving to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world waiting and looking for the Blessed Hope and the glorious appearings of the great God and our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ But I pray let us return again to the Word of God Now for a little space grace hath been given us from the Lord our God to leave us a Remnant to escape and to give us a little reviving in our Bondage Further Observe this word little and weigh it well It is here twice repeated And therein our God as by a Watch-word speaks to you in London and to us all for I am prone to hope that this grace may yet reach further to you and to your Brethren then yet it hath done this grace given he speaks of is but for a Little Space and to give us a Little reviving in our Bondage in brief thus I have not been alone perswaded of it from sundry weighty grounds taken from sundry weighty grounds taken from the word of God that the fiery Tryal that waits yet for us is not over yet are the ways of our God in the deep and he oft repents him graciously of â—he evil he threatens and so I or others I judge ought not to speak peremptorily in these secret things which belong to God But I oft have thought that word of God is for us that in Ier. 9. after the Prophet had cried out against the great sins of Gods own Children vers 7. saith thus Therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts Behold I will melt them and try them for how shall I do for the Danghter of my People But now as the Lord speaks by anothe Prophet And because I will do thus prepare to meet thy God O Israel I am prone to think and believe that grace is now given us in this little space and little reviving from our Bondage that is come and may be yet coming For this very end that Israel may be prepared to meet God in that fiery Tryal that may yet be viz An hour of darkness before the utter downfal and judgment of the Whore which also hasteth greatly when God shall avenge the bloud of his Servants at her hand after which there shall be heard as the voice of many waters viz. Peoples and Kindreds Saying Alleluja for the LORD GOD Omnipotent reigneth as saith the Apostle Iohn Rev. 19. Then God will hasten the Coming in of that fulness of the Gentiles which shall be before the Iews be converted For blindness saith the Apostle Paul in part is happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in and so all Israel shall be saved And the fulness of the Iews Rom. 11. shall be also the Riches of the Gentiles as was their Fall and Diminishing Then the Kingdoms of this world shall become the Kingdoms of our Lord and Christ and he shall Reign for ever and ever And after this spreading of the Kingdom of God and the Grain of Mustard-Seed to which the Lord Christ compares his Kingdom shall be grown and that Least of all Seeds shall become the Greatest among Herbs and become a Tree so that the Birds of the Air come and lodge in the branches thereof After this shall come as it is written The Time of the Dead that they should be Iudged and God shall Give Rewards to his Servants the Prophets and to the Saints and to Them that Fear his Name small and great and he shall Destroy them that corrupt the Earth Till which time of the Resurrection of the Dead and of the Eternal Iudgment I thank God I dare not I do not with Gods Church of old look for any Personal appearing of Christ For any Third Personal Coming of the Son of man on Earth which I judge to be as Apocryphal and a dangerous Error touching those grand Fundamental Principles of the Oracles of God viz. The Doctrine of the Resurrection of the Dead and of the Eternal Iudgment Vnto them saith the Apostle that Look for him shall He Appear the second time without sin unto Salvation Dangerous and contrary to Scripture it is to expect any end to be put to the Ministration of the Spirit the Comforter in this World before the End of it He is now now come now Iesus the other Comforter is Gone away and now He the Spirit on earth continueth to bear witness with the Water and with the Bloud For these three bear witness saith the Apostle Iohn on earth And they agree in one I say dangerous is it to suppose a Coming of the Son of Man in Person that either shall not put an end to the administration of the Lord the Spirit here in the Church see 1 Tim. 6.14 and 1 Cor. 11.26 or that shall put an end to it before That moment the Apostle Paul speaks of when the Trumpet shall sound and the Dead shall be raised incorruptible and the Harvest comes which Christ calls the end of the World how unsafe I say either of these Assertions be let those that fear God judge viz. the Children to whom it is given to understand the Mysteries of the Kingdom Now dearly beloved Brethren let us mind what now lies before us and whatever our hand finds to do in this little space of reviving from bondage let us do it with all our might for I am prone to think the night comes again wherein little work will be done Now I shall conclude in the name of our Lord Christ earnestly admonishing you to redeem this season of Grace Let the Ministers of God the Dressers of Christs Vineyard that have by Jesus Christ prevailed for the Fig-Tree that it should not be Cut down but be let alone this year also Let us Brethren call to mind our Vows and Promises in the dayes of our wrestlings how that if God would trust us again with an Harvest-Season that
we would be more Faithful and Laborious c. So in the Parable saith the Dresser of the Vineyard Lord let it alone this year also till I Dig about it and Dung it which was a kind of Promise to God As if he should say Ah Lord Let it yet alone and how will◠Labour and Dig about it and Dung it c. And then Let all the Saints and also the Land Mind what follows And if it Bear Fruit Well Well indeed and if not saith the Dresser who before prayed for it Then after that Thou shalt Cut it Down And there will be then No remedy Now to the end we may wisely improve this Gracious Space of reviving from our Bondage that is by grace given us I beseech you as a Worker together with the Lord and his Ministers that you Receive not This Grace of God in Vain Let 's mourn for All the past Grace that we have received in vain and Watch how we receive and learn by this Grace that hath been shewed us from the Lord To Him let our eyes be beyond all Instruments Let us I say Learn Holiness and Godliness And that we may herein be furthered Consider for what Ends our God may Vouchsafe us this Breathing Call to mind what I said partly before that our Father seeing how Back-slidden how Luke-warm we are how unaccustomed to his Yoke and Cross and how Averse we have shewed our selves to bear them how readyto walk after the Carnal Imaginations of our Own hearts He will give us a Little reviving in our Bondage to further the Reviving of our Souls by Faith and Sound Repentance and Recovering that thereby our first Love may be restored and that we may be put into Heart for the Storm that is Coming for it will put All that is within us to it If the Righteous shall be there in Scarcely saved where then shall the ungodly and Sinners appear even when this Judgment shall again begin at the House of God Beware of False Mistaken Prophets that say the bitterness of death in these things is over least you find at last they Bite with the Teeth though you now love to hear them cry to you peace peace There hath been too much of this daubing with untempered Mortar already The Lord Spare us Here is more than two years and an half twice told passed over us since our Affliction began and yet I think we hardly judge the Witnesses are yet risen And how many then herein already have been found false Witnesses that have presumed far and much about Set times see you to it In this season Cry out in the Spirit every one O spare me that I may recover strength before the evil day come How loud doth God call in that word to us in the words of the Prophet Ier. 12. If thou hast run with the Footmen and they have wearied thee then how canst thou contend with Horses And if in the Land of Peace wherein thou trustedst they wearied thee then How wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan The Race with the Horsemen and the Sivelling of Jordan are yet I judge to come And now a season is given you to prepare for them improve it and with dread call to mind how many have in these Nations by as it were the very Looking out of Tribulation not only been found fainting too much which Gods Own must Mourn for but they have been Tired outright and are turned Apostates Perjured Covenant-Breakers Propliane and Superstitious c. and that after Enlightnings Furthermore Brethren to the end you may husband and improve this little space aright Mark in the Text for what ends there mentioned it is Given to us as to them of old and Let us See to it that we do not forget or over-look them and trifle about them Now for a little space saith he Grace hath been given us from the Lord our God to leave us a Remnant to Escape Call to mind the time when not so long since you lay in fears in your Beds night by night because of the Fury of Bloudy Papists as if they were ready to destroy and Where is the fury of those Enemies How doth God at present Say to the Flouds of the Ungodly Stand still The captive Exile hasteneth that he may be Loosed and that he should not Die in the Pit nor his Bread should fail Again read on This is to give us a Nail in his holy Place and it is repeated vers 9. To give us a Reviving to Set up the house of our God and to Repair the Desolations thereof and to give us a Wall in Judah and Jerusalem Let all of us now see to it that †Ezek. 22.8 we Despise not as formerly Gods Holy things and that we yield our selves unto the Lord and Enter into his Sanctuary which he hath sanctified for ever * Hag. 1.2 3 4. c. And according to our Light and in our Places Mind the Building of his House and Mourn over the Spiritual Desolations thereof Sion in this sence is a Wilderness in too many places and amongst too many of Us. And then this is added That God may Lighten our eyes and give us a little Reviving in our Bondage Which Lightening of eyes Ah that it may also reach the eyes of our Understanding that through the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of Jesus Christ the eyes of our understandings may be opened and our Faith in the Lord Jesus Increased That when Fiery Tryals may come such as the Primitive and Latter Churches also have seen shall come we may then both Rich and Poor all be like the Wise Merchant Who when he had found the Pearl of great price went and sold all that he might Buy it And that we may do this also with Joy and full choice of heart hating Father Mother Wife Children Brethren Sisters yea our own Lives also taking up the Cross and following Christ like Disciples indeed Beloved and Taught of God according to the Promise of the New-Covenant Amen Remember I beseech you still in prayer my Bonds The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you Amen F. H. FINIS