Linguistic DNA - Concept Modelling Demonstrator

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
lord_n	day_n	holy_a	see_v	10,511	5	3.8303	3	false

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A48938	A salutation to the church of God the spouse of Christ coming out of the wilderness leaning upon her beloved And more particularly to the young and tender members of her body. By one who travels in spirit for the preservation of peace and love, and unity among the children of God, William Loddington.	Loddington, William, 1626?-1711.	1682 (1682)	Wing L2806; ESTC R216896	9,178	27

A SALUTATION TO THE CHURCH OF GOD The Spouse of CHRIST Coming out of the Wilderness leaning upon Her BELOVED And more particularly to the Young and Tender Members of Her Body By one who travels in Spirit for the Preservation of Peace and Love and Unity among the Children of God William Loddington LONDON Printed for Tho. Cooke MDCLXXXII A Salutation to the Church of God the Spouse of Christ coming out of the Wilderness leaning upon Her Beloved Righteous Houshold of God built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner stone The Lord thy God which hath gathered thee from the barren Mountains and fitly framed thee into an holy Building hath in free Love and mercy been pleased Blessed be his name to let me see in my latter dayes a glimps of thy Beauty and to tast of thy Heavenly bread and living Water sealed up from impure Hearts and inclosed as a Garden from the wild Beasts of the Forrests THis Morning being the 4 of the 2 Mo. in the year 1682. even by break of day The sence of my Mercies and thy Sorrows and Exercises O Woman cloathed with the Sun came so powerfully within me that they kindled a Desire to salute thee and thy tender Children on this wise before I put off this my Earthly Tabernacle which in course of nature cannot be long But as I write an inward kind of shame and dejectedness arises from the thought of my former unkindness to thee and would as it were cloud the Light and stop my Spirit from this manifestation of my Love Not that I ever openly persecuted thee in railing Words or violent Actions No I may rather say I was as many now are among the Number of thy more subtil and dangerous opposers who under pretence of Gospel Ordinances Christs Commands and Scripture Examples do the more hurt and grieve thy Spirit more than a profane Enemy I verily thought in my young Zeal for God thirty years ago that I might have done some things against thee for I feared then thy chief and Principal Members were Deceivers I could not relish their Doctrine of beating swords into Plow shares and Pikes into pruning Hooks in that day But I obtained mercy because I disputed and argued Ignorantly against thee being covered with that vail which is this day over the Hearts of many in reading the Writings of Christ and his Apostles as it was over the Hearts of many of old in reading Moses and the Prophets But the Lord thy God glory to his name hath rent much of the vail and in mercy given mea sence of another kind of war-fare and other Weapons which would the Beast-like Nature and carnal Spirit incurably Now I feel thy Wisdom and my own Weakness thy Wisdom or rather the Wisdom given thee from aboye is first pure and can by no means defend or contend for any unjust or unholy thing for profit Honour or affections sake It is also peacable loving and kind even to its Enemies not rendring Evil for Evil but Blessing for railings O little flock Thou art easy to be entreated Some of thy own professed Friends know it to be true How tender have I seen thee in admonishing intreating and reproving when an airy conceited unruly Spirit has entred them O thou beloved of the Lord Thou art beautiful within And thy order is comly wrought by the heavenly Wisdom and not of Fragments and shreads of mans Invention How do thy envious and subtile Adversaries fret and chafe to see thee travelling in good order even as an Army with Banners Yea there is a fear seizeth them to see thee walk wisely 1 Sam. 18.15 Hence arise so many endeavours so many devises to disorder thy Camp and so to weaken thy Hands in thy Spiritual Warfare Sometimes profane high Spirits assault and carry away thy outward Substance abuse thy Friends and Imprison them often unto Death But when this roaring Lyon sees he cannot hurt thee then he craftily transforms himself into an Angel of Light And here I feel my Heart and Life concern'd for thy young and tender Babes whose years in this World as well as in Truth have been but few These are in greater danger than those of full Age who by reason of use have their sences exercised to discern both good and evil Heb. 5.14 These are soonest allured with fine Words especially when spoken by such as call themselves the Christian Friends and can be as bold as Hannaniah Jer. 28.3 saying Thus saith the Lord God of Israel when he saies no such matter and under pretence of breaking the Yoke of Babilon in a heat endeavour to break off the Yoke of Christ thy Husband Dear young Sons and Daughters of New Jerusalem now coming down from God out of Heaven having no need of Sun or Moon for the Lord God is the Light thereof keep to this Light and it will keep you within the walls of this holy City I know there is a deceitful voice abroad calling you out while it bids you look within promising Liberty it self being a Servant of corruption crying out against you Elder Brethren and Sisters sometimes as Babel Builders it self being in my understanding but a Painted Virgin Daughter of Babilon Isa 47.1 And sometimes as Apostates while it self is introducing an Apostacy from the first Principles of Truth seeking to limit the holy one of Israel under colour of keeping to that which first convinced you It may not be unservicable to tell you my own experiences of Gods Love in this very particular I had fell into the Snare if the Lord had not stay'd me Let high Spirits esteem it a reproach to acknowledge any weakness There is great peace in doing it Psal 32.3 Provided it be not done for any fear or favour of Man but in a true sence of mercy in the deliverance When I first heard Some among us of no mean gifts as I thought and for whom I had more than common affection cry out against Impositions Innovations and formalities I confess it made a great impression upon me having an old fixed Zeal in me against all Persecution for Conscience sake So the Testimonies against Forms Persecution generally springing from dead Forms was so taking and pleasant that I did not in the least mistrust any such Snake as Anarchy lay hid under these flowers of Truth wherefore in true affection to a true Christian Liberty I writ to some Friends among whom I observed some things that I mistrusted had a tendency to Imposition and I worded it high with them to prevent all Appearances of that Evil. And though I can truly say this was the utmost of my Intention yet some began to fear I was running into Separation and Confusion But I was in peace mistrusting Nothing till I felt a wrong Spirit catching at it and about to make a further use of it yea and applying in Print unknown to me some things against Friends which I had writ

to have more names than the Fathers written upon its Fore-head Pure Nature will not suffer any Vine to bring forth the Fruit or Leaf of a Bramble O the great abuse this day of that precious Priviledge Liberty of Conscience How many of an evil Conscience will talk fluently for its Liberty How many strain it for advantage as if they would have it signifie to be of any Religion and therefore are fierce against any visible Gesture or Form that may distinguish them from others crying out Imposition Formality Ceremony Human Inventions mans Orders c. In tender Love I desire some would but Consider how short they fall of the Judgment and Reason of men of more inferiour Principles than what they pretend to Hear what the Author of A seasonable Discourse against Popery saies Printed by H. Broom page 35. What conversation can there be with these men speaking of the Jusuits who are under no obligations of Society no Character of notice or distinction who at the same time are Priests and Hectors Casuists and Artificers Presbyters Ana-baptists Quakers and why not Episcopalians too Theists Atheists and amidst all these very good Catholicks Let any sober man saies he judge what kind of Religion this is in it self and how fit to be encouraged and submitted to Thus dear young Friends you may see how this kind of liberty is condemned by rational men as unfit for Society among them much more among you Lord God of purity Peace and Heavenly Order preserve you that we may all strive together and not assunder for the Faith and sound form of the Gospel Phil. 1.27 If now any of you should desire to know what I understand by that liberty of Conscience which many and I among them have so zealously contended and deeply suffered for Know in brief That it is a Liberty for every man to try all things as the Apostle exhorteh yet not to be alwayes trying and never satisfied but when he has tryed all then to hold fast that which in his Conscience he finds best without being compelled by any outward force or punishment to joyn or worship with any others And so likewise that every body Society or Congregation of People have the same freedom of their several religious worships and exercises without persecuting one another all living in obedience to the Civil Laws that is such as tend to the welfare of outward Concerns And this is the true just liberty and not a liberty for Members of the same Body or Society to differ from each other in things which destroy their Character and Government among them But seeing I am speaking of liberty let me mind you of two things more First of a plea I often meet with that there are good men and bad of all Religions And so by consequence secretly insinuating they are all alike But I hope you easily perceive the Serpents Poliâ—y in arguing thus for all Religions that it is to make Peoples Consciences pliable to any Religion that may come uppermost or rather indeed to be of no Religion that so they may shun all sufferings upon Religious Accounts Secondly of a Spirit which thinks to justify its liberty by quoting your ancient Friends as Paul did the Athenian Poets for their Authors Acts 17.28 But as the case is different so I trust the effect will be for Paul quoted the Poets for a right end and prevailed with some But these how can they expect to turn you to that which the Author they quote yet living testifies is not the sence of his words nor the intent of his mind to have you turned unto To put a wrong Interpretation upon any mans writings is a very bad sort of Imposition Hold fast the profession of your Faith and form of sound words 2 Tim. 1.13 which you have received in the faith and Love of Christ Jesus from which some turn away Of whom are Phygellus's that is such as shun the eye or oversight of their Brethren and Hermogenes's that is such as are born of humane Wisdom 2 Tim. 1.15 Mark what a weighty signification is in these very names left upon Record for the Churches And as for the deceased Friends some instance one of them viz. Isaac Pennington I had often conference with I have sometimes objected his own sayings yea and read â—hem over face to face in great affection to vindicate such a Liberty which I then verily â—hought might consist with Good order But I must do him right I never heard him consent or give any Countenance but rather a kind of Indignation would arise against my sence of his words which was the same as some now put upon them But their actions now make it manifest they drive at another end then I intended And I verely believe he felt my Innocency as some others have done even in my opposing them for he did not cease coming to me when opportunity served and when we met and talked of these differences his labour still was that I would lay aside that Wisdom and Reasoning which run me upon those expositions I well remember the very place where once as we were walking and discoursing about Dissenters I fell to pleading for a moderation and compliance with them upon this consideration that I looked upon them and the others to be all as Schollars in Christs School only some werein a higher and others in a lower Class or form But this Comparison he could not relish his very Countenance changed at it and to this purpose he answered That the difference was far otherwise and that there was a Spirit quite contrary to Truth subtily working under their pretences but a tenderness and bowels of love and compasion was in him towards the innocent among them And I say the Truth in Christ I lie not my conscience bearing me witness Glory to thy name O Lord that I have great heaviness and inward sorrow for my loving Friends stil under the like mistake as I was who yet see not the tendency of the dividing Spirits fine devices And when I consider what sweet comfort and Spiritual Refreshment we have had together in the service of the Lord O that life not death Psal 55.15 may seize upon them saith my soul that they may walk in the footsteps of Christs little flock and feed their Kids by his shephards tents For why should ye be O dear Friends as those that are vailed turning aside from the flocks of his Companions Let all thy Children O God of Peace and love dayly more and more witness how pleasant it is for Brethren to dwell together in unity And how fitly it s compared to the precious Ointment upon Aarons head that ran down to the very skirts of his Garment viz. to every member of the body And to the dew of Hermon that descended to all the mountains of Sion viz the Meetings of Christ for there the Lord commanded and doth command the blessing even Life for ever Psal 133. So tender hearted Friends feel

Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n

Text snippets containing the quad