Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A49753
|
A faithful warning with good counsel and advice to the rulers & magistrates in England that they not countenance wicked and merciless men to oppress and spoil the innocent under pretence and colour of a law / by one that really desireth the prosperity of the truth and the welfare of all men, Alexander Lawrence.
|
Lawrence, Alexander, d. 1682.
|
1675
(1675)
|
Wing L650; ESTC R30490
|
4,687
|
8
|
A FAITHFUL WARNING WITH GOOD COUNSEL ADVICE TO THE Rulers Magistrates IN ENGLAND That they may not countenance Wicked and Merciless Men to oppress and spoil the Innocent under Pretence and Colour of a Law By one that really desireth the Prosperity of the Truth and the Welfare of all Men Alexander Lawrence And Judgment is turned away backward and Justice stands afar off for Truth is fallen in the Street and Equity cannot enter Yea Truth faileth and he that departeth from Evil maketh himself a Prey and the Lord saw it and it displeased him that there was no Judgment Isa 59.14 15. Printed in the Year 1675. A FAITHFUL WARNING WITH GOOD Counsel Advice c. TO You Rulers Magistrates in this Nation and else-where who think to establish Cruelty and Oppression by a Law and thereby to exalt your selves and Lord it over the Heritage of the most High God as the Seed of Evil-Doers did in all Generations as you may read in the Scriptures of Truth Exod. 5.2 and so on Pharaoh that great Oppressor when Moses and Aaron spake unto him to let Israel go to serve the Lord said Who is the Lord that I should obey his Voice to let Israel go I know not the Lord neither will I let Israel go c. but instead thereof made their Task heavier v. 6.7 So proud Haman whom King Ahasuerus gave Command that all should bow unto but honest-hearted Mordecai who was as much or more the King's Friend as Haman did not therein obey the King's Command knowing Haman to be of the Agagites and when Haman understood he was vexed but thought it Scorn to lay his Hand on Mordecai alone but sought the Destruction of all the Jews as you may read Ester 3. at large And for Nebuchadnezzar who made an Image of Gold and set it up in the Plane of Dura in the Province of Babylon and commanded that all should at what Time they heard the Sound of the Cornet Flute Harp Sackbut c. fall down and worship the Golden Image c. Dan. 3. at large but Shadrach Mâ—shach and Abednâ—go whose Hearts were upright and stedfast before the Lord would not and it was told the King and the King was full of Fury c. and said Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my Hands verse 15. c And the back-sliding Jews when their Hearts turned from God though they cryed The Temple of the Lord c. yet they kill'd the Prophets and stoned them that were sent and when Christ the Son was come who is Heir and Lord over all they said We have a Law and by our Law he ought to dye Several more Instances might be given how many went about to establish Cruelty and Oppression by a Law as in the Ten Persecutions and in Queen Mary's Dayes who was called A Christian Princess yet how many suffered Martyrdom by a Law in her Dayes for their Testimony for God and the Truth according unto what God had manifested unto them in their Day and Time and if you go about to do the same Thing and persist in it know ye that the Lord God of Heaven and Earth whose Power is Vnresistible when he riseth to plead with Man for Sin and whose Glory far excels the Sun in its Brightess the same Way by which you think to exalt your selves and Lord it over his Heritage will he assuredly bring you down and cause you to bow before him either to acknowledge his Power and Soveraignity over all and that he alone ought to be worshipped as King Nebuchadnezzar did and that in Truth and Vprightness of Heart or worse to wit bring Destruction upon you as he did upon Pharaoh and his Host who thought to bring Israel again into Bondage and as he did Haman and his Sons who thought to have the whole Stock of the Jews in the Provinces of King Ahasuerus destroyed but the Lord wrought their Deliverance and brought Destruction upon their Enemies therefore in vain is it for Man to strive against his Maker for when did any arise up against God and his People and prosper Therefore be instructed and take Counsel you Rulers and Magistrates in this Nation and elsewhere who oppose the Appearance of God in his People and would limit all according to your Way and Will or otherwise they must suffer be not overwise in your own Eyes neither think it an Vndervaluing unto you to take Counsel and Advice at so mean a People as we the despised People of the Lord called Quakers are For of a certain Truth God in the Riches of his Love in and through Christ Jesus our Lord and alone Saviour hath appeared unto us and manifested the Way of Life and Salvation in us and unto us by his good Spirit which he hath given unto us to profit withall and many have been the Admonitions Counsels and Advice of the Lord unto you through and by his Servants which ye too little have regarded but rather made a Mock of them and what they have spoaken and written accounting them as Mad Men as they of old did the Servant of the Lord 2 Kings 9.11 Nevertheless as a Servant of the Lord and in Love and Good-will unto you as one that really desireth your Good the Good of all Men my Advise and Counsel unto you is to hearken and lend an Ear unto that Light in you which secretly manifests Sin and reproves for it for of a certain Truth that is a Measure of the Good Spirit of God that will reprove you for your Cruelty Oppression and shew you you should not do so against your Fellow-Servants That will reprove you for your Pride and Haughtiness of Spirit and shew you what is Good and what the Lord requires of you that is to do Justly to love Mercy and to walk humbly with thy God Mic. 6.8 That will reprove you for Swearing Cursing Vain and Idle Talking Wantonness Whoredom Drunkenness and all Manner of Uncleanness and Evil whatsoever though done never so secretly yet the Lord is privy to it and his all-seeing Eye beholds all the Actions of the Sons and Daughters of Men and by the Measure of his Good Spirit he strives with them and sheweth them they should not do the Thing that is Evil and by the same calleth unto them for Amendment of Life and those that turn at the Lord's Reproof he will pour forth his Spirit upon them and make known his Words unto them but if you sâ—t at nought the Counsel of the Lord and will none of his Reproofs as some of Old did and too many now do then will he laugh at your Calamity and mock when your Fear cometh as Desolation and Destruction as a Whirl-wind then you may call and hee 'l not answer and seek him early and not find him because you hated Knowledge and did not chuse mark that the Fear of the Lord which is to depart from Evil. Therefore must you eat the Fruit of
your own Way and be fill'd with your own Devices that do so But who hearkeneth unto the Lord shall dwell safely and be quiet from Fear of Evil Prov. 1.25 and so on Therefore be instructed ye Rulers of this Nation and take Counsel of the Great Law-giver Christ Jesus who said As ye would that all Men should do unto you so do you unto them for this is the Law and the Prophets and remember the Parable that Christ spoak A certain King which would take Account of his Servants when he began to reckon there was one brought before him that ow'd him ten Thousand Talents had nothing to pay withal but his Servant humbled himself c. and his Lord frankly forgave him the Debt but he not doing so by his Fellow-Servant what did befal him And doth not Christ teach his to pray Forgive us our Trespassâ—s as we forgive them that trespass against us Now if you cannot forgive them that trespass against you how can you expect to be forgiven of God And if Men ought to forgive them that trespass against them then sure they ought not to persecute such as never trespassed against them I would ask you one Question Wherein have we given Occasion to be thus dealt with what Plots or Evil Contrivances against the King or Government have we been found in since God raised us up to be a People or what have you against us except in the Matter of our God Now if you should say We do not obey the Law I then again query What wholesom Law is there that we disobey But if it be a Law that would limit in the Worship and Service of God who alone in that Case is the Law-giver to his People and ought to be subjected unto then I query What Power have you to make a Law to bind the Consciences of God's People in the Worship of God more then Queen Mary and her Parliament had by which so many Protestants were put to Death which you condemn as Evil in tâ—em for the Testimony of their Consciences according unto what God in their Day made manifest unto them was not she called a Christian Princess and lawfully descended to the Crown c But if you say They were persecuted because they bore Testimony to the Truth but you because you are in Error c. How do you know that could not the Ministers of those Laws say as much to the Sufferers as you do unto us are you guided by an infallible Spirit in what you do nay sure for the Spirit of God never led any to such Things but if any were in Error they were to be reproved and admonished and after the second Admonishing rejected not cast into Prison or spoiled of their Goods and the like But it may be some may say They had not Power Was not all Power in Heaven and Earth given unto Christ and where did he give his Church as you would be reckoned Power to do so And therefore you that are called Lord-Bishops and Ministers and Spiritual Men ought not you rather if Men were in Error to convince them by the Truth and stop the Mouths of Gain-sayers by sound Doctrine then to stir up King and Parliament to make Laws to take honest Men and Womens Estates from them imprison and banish them for their Consciences towards God and because they cannot put into your Mouthes and also to press the Ministers of those Laws to put them into Execution did ever Peter John Paul or any of those Bishops and Gospel-Ministers do so Is this like Truth or Gospel Dispensation Nay sure therefore away with it all you that profess Christianity of all Sorts whether Papists Episcopal Men Presbyterian or what soever and learn to do as you would be done by and the same Liberty you would have your selves the same give unto others in Exercises of Religion they living Peaceable not seeking the Subversion of the Government nor the Hurt of any and this would heal the Nations Breaches and make it as a Body or Family as it ought to be seeking the Good Preservation one of another both in Liberty and Estates c. But this persecuting killing and destroying one another about Religion never was of God but sprung from the Devil the Father of all Cruelty and Persecution for Truth hurts none he came not to destroy Mens Lives but to save them But it may be some may say This is not Cruelty but a Law that is for the Good of the Nation so might all say that made Laws in such Cases but I say it is not any Law or Custom of a Nation whatsoever that can justifie any Man before the Just and Equal God in doing the Thing that is unjust and whatever is contrary to Christ's Command who said as ye would all Men should do unto you so do ye unto them is unjust and to be accounted for unto the great Law-giver Christ Jesus Therefore do not smooth and flatter your selves in saying We have a Law and the like for the same did they say that are gone before you who were found doing the same Things and so justifie the Wicked and condemn the Sufferings of the Righteous in all Ages But he that justifieth the Wicked and he that condemneth the Just even they are both Abomination to the Lord Prov. 17.15 It is your Good we desire and many Times it is in our Hearts bowed down before the Lord both in Soul and Body to pray unto him in your behalf that he would change your Hearts and cause you to be otherwise minded that we might live a godly and quiet Life in all Honesty as becometh the Gospel and if for these and such like Things we suffer the Good will of him that appeared in the Bush who had heard and doth hear the Groans of his Peoâ—le and was come down to deliver them be done who hitherto hath given us Strength and Patience to undergo what he hath suffered to be inflicted upon us for his Name sake and our Hope and Trust is will do unto the End as we abide faithful to him to whom be Glory over all forever Amen From One that really desires the Prosperity of the Truth and the Welfare of all Men Alexander Lawrence