Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
lord_n	word_n	world_n	worship_n	1,141	4	6.9164	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A76754	Jesus Christ, the same to day, as yesterday, in life and power, in afflictions and sufferings: and the seed of the serpent the same now, as ever, in darkness and emnity; in rage and persecution. Being for removal of the stumbling block out of the way of the simple, concerning the testimony now given against the priests, and their worships, (viz.) Cannot you let them alone, why do ye disturb them, and their assemblies? go unto their houses, or to some private place, and speak to them there; cannot you give the same liberty to others, which you would have yourselves? Wherein is manifested, that what estimation, and enterrainment [sic] the witness of Jesus receiveth at this day from the men of the world, is the same, as it hath alwayes been from the beginning. / Given forth for the sake of the honest-hearted, and in witness of the truth, as it is in Jesus, every where spoken against, scorned, and persecuted, under the reproachful name of quaking. George Bishop.	Bishop, George, d. 1668.	1655 (1655)	Wing B2995; Thomason E861_7; ESTC R206652	22,155	33

JESUS CHRIST The same to day as yesterday in Life and Power in Afflictions and Sufferings And the Seed of the Serpent the same now as ever in Darkness and Emnity in Rage and Persecution BEING For Removal of the stumbling Block out of the way of the Simple concerning the Testimony now given against the Priests and their Worships viz. Cannot you let them alone why do ye disturb them and their Assemblies go unto their houses or to some private place and speak to them there Cannot you give the same Liberty to others which you would have your selves WHEREIN Is manifested that what Estimation and Enterrainment the Witness of Jesus receiveth at this day from the men of the World is the same as it hath alwayes been from the Beginning GIVEN FORTH For the sake of the honest-hearted and in Witness of the Truth as it is in Jesus every where spoken against scorned and persecuted under the Reproachful Name of Quaking GEORGE BISHOP But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit even so it is now Gal. 4. 29. And shall say Cast ye up cast ye up prepare the way take up the stumbling Block out of the way of my People Isa 57. 14. For ye Brethren became followers of the Churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus for ye also have suffered like things of your own Countrey-men even as they have of the Jews who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own Prophets and have persecuted us and they please not God and are contrary to all men Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved to fill up their sins alway for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost 1 Thes 2. 14. 15 16. London Printed for Giles Calvert at the Black-spread Eagle at the West-end of Pauls 1655. JESVS CHRIST The same to day as yesterday in Life and Power in afflictions and sufferings And the Seed of the Serpent the same now as ever in Darkness and Enmity in Rage and Persecution VVHereas it is said concerning the Testimony now born against the Priests Cannot you let them alone and their Worships why do ye disturb them and their Assemblies go unto their houses or to some private place and speak to them there Cannot you give the same Liberty to others which you have your selves We say Our Own and the Will and Wisdome and time of Man which saith We will go here and there and do and forbear this and that we deny Did that Spirit rule it would say Be it far from thee Let these Priests and their Assemblies alone none of those Beatings Tumults Reproaches Imprisonments taking from Families and Relations and from wayes of maintainance whippings drawings of thy blood and hazards of thy life shall be unto thee And we deny the making of disturbance on our Part and the Principle from whence it proceedeth unless the speaking of the Word of the Lord be a disturbance as it was always accounted even the troubling of Israel For our Backs are turned to the Smiters and our Cheekes to the Nippers and the Pullers off the Hair and to him that striketh on one Cheek the other is turned neither do we resist Evill with Evill For the Principle of Light which we witness in measure leadeth us out of warres strife envy debates or doing Evill to any or rendring Evill for Evil but being cursed to bless being persecuted to pray that their sins may be forgiven and is desisirous that none should perish but that all might come to the knowledge of the Truth and Vengeance we leave to the Lord whose it is and who will repay it Nor do we deny the same liberty to others which we ought to have For whatsoever we would that men should do unto us the same we do unto them according to the Royal Law and for this purpose do we meet together and wait upon the Lord our Teacher to receive his Word and Testimony whether for Instruction or Reproof and in our measures we know his Voice from a Strangers and can try the spirits and even those who oppose themselves have and may come into our Assemblies freely and speak whom we judge in the spirit of Christ Jesus who is the Spiritual man that judgeth all things and yet he himself is judged of no man whose Weapons we make use of which are spiritual not in the flesh or the spirit of this World or with the weapons thereof such as are Beatings Strikings Tumults Imprisonments shedding of blood calling to and before Magistrates and such like Though out of our Meetings have some of our Friends have drawn and imprisoned and others have been disturbed and abused And this we further Declare That what is fallen upon this Generation and is set before their Eyes and testified against them is no new thing but what hath been witnessed throughout all Generations and of which the Scriptures bear Record For since Adam fell into the Transgression to this very day God hath not left himself without a Witness but in all times by Him who is the Rock of Ages hath he testified against the sinful and Adulterous Generation and the worships and ways thereof Against the Sacrifice of Cain by Abel Against the Old World by Enoch and Noah Against Sodom by Lot Against the People of that time by Abraham Isaac and Jacob Against Egypt by Moses Against all the Nations by the Nation of the Jewes who had the Law and the Testimony Against the Idolatrous Worships and wickedness of the Kings Princes Priests Prophets and People of the Jews by his servants the Prophets whom he caused to rise up early and sending them who testified even to their faces in the time of their Idolatrous Worships and Sacrifices When the Word was made flesh he cleansed the Temple scourged out thereof the sheep and the Oxen poured out the Changers money overthrew the Tables said unto those who sold Doves Take ye these things hence make not my Fathers house a place of Merchandize And in the Temple he disputed and reasoned with the Doctors and testified against the Traditions and Customs of the Scribes and Pharises the painted Sepulchers the Graves that appeared not Against them that held up the Figure when Christ the substance thereof was come by the Disciples and Apostles who having received Power from on high witnessed Jesus who was dead and rose again and ascended to be the Lord of Glory and that there was Salvation in no other and against the Temple and the services thereof did they testifie even in the Temple and the Synagogues in the time of their Worships and also against the Idol-Gods and Vanities of the Heathens And since the Apostles times to this day throughout all the Apostacy hath he witnessed by some or other to this or that Branch of Righteousness against the seduced World and Antichrists Now as the Spirit of God in all Ages carryed forth his servants to testifie

for him who is the Rock of Ages against the world and wayes and worships and Customes thereof And as the Prophets spake the Word of the Lord against the Altars and their Priests and Prophets in the presence of the Kings and Princes and People in the time of their Sacrifices And as the unchangable Priest in the Apostles and Disciples witnessed against the Changeable Priesthood the whole body of the Jewish Services and Worships in the Temple and the Synagogues in the times thereof And as during the Apostacy the like Witness hath been born by some or other to this day So now the true Ministry and Teacher being come to be witnessed and the worship which is in Spirit and Life and the Witness of God raised from the Dead in Thousands after these many Hundred years of Apostacy It carryes forth in the Power and at the Command of the Lord many of his Sonnes and Daughters in whom it is born up to bear Witness against the false Ministry Priests and Worships even in the times thereof and to the faces of the Priests and in the presence of the Rulers And woe be unto them if upon any consultings with flesh and blood they therein disobey the Commandement of the Lord. For the a Amos 3. 8. Lyon hath roared who will not fear The Lord God hath spoken who can but prophesie God hath given the b Psal 68. 11. word and great are the Company of them that publish it He that can receive it let him receive it Should not c Exod. 5. 4. Moses have gone in to Pharoah when the Lord commanded him and say Thus saith the Lord God of Israel Let my People go that they may hold a Feast to me in the Wilderness Should not the d 1 King 13. 12 c. Man of God that came from Judah to prophesie against the Altar of Bethel have cryed out against the Altar in the Word of the Lord and have said O Altar Altar thus saith the Lord Behold a Child shall be born unto the house of David Josiah by name and upon thee shall he offer the Priests of the High Places that burn Incense upon thee and mens bones shall he burn upon thee because King Jeroboam stood by it to offer Incense and because it was in the time of the Sacrifices which were offered by his Command and the Princes and People and Priests thereof were present Should he have gone privately to the Court with Cap and Knee and have spoken gently to the Priests and by a many of May it please your Majesty and other flattering Titles have whispered the King in the Ear or the Priests or applyed to some Courtiers so to do instead of coming so boldly to disturb their Worships to affront the King and his Princes to their faces and to weaken the hands of the people in telling them they should be brought under the Power of the King of Judah their Enemy by his Sword who should offer mens bones and the bones of the Priests upon the Altar as such a thing would be now accounted Should he have gone to Jeroboams house to have refreshed himself and to have a reward at the desire of the King after he had prayed and the Lord had restored to him his Arm which was withered when he had stretched it forth against the Prophet and said Lay hold on him was he not neither to eat bread nor drink ter in the place nor to return by the way he came Should not the Prophet e 1 King 18. 1 c. Elijah have gone at the Word of the Lord and have shewn himself to Ahab who had cut off the Prophets of the Lord so that he onely remained and by reason of the great dealth for want of Rain had sent to all Nations to seek him and where he was not found took an Oath of that Kingdome and Nation that they found him not And when Ahab said to him Art thou he that troubleth Israel Should he not have answered the King I have not troubled Israel but thou and thy Fathers house for that ye have forsaken the Commandements of the Lord and thou hast served Baalim Now therefore send and gather unto me all Israel unto Mount Carmel and the Prophets of Baal 450 and the Prophets of the Grove 400 which eat at Jezabels Table And being there gathered together should he not then have said to them all How long halt ye between two Opinions If the Lord be God follow him and if Baal then follow him put on the Bullock on the Altar and let the God which answereth by Fire be God Should not the Prophets of the Lord during the times of the Kings of Israel and Judah have spoken the Word of the Lord to them and to the false Prophets and Priests and People against their Idolatries and wickednesses though it was to the cutting of them off both Kings Princes Priests Prophets and People whether they would hear or whether they would forbear Him that dyeth * 1 King 21. 24. of Ahab in the City the Dogs shall eat or he that dyeth in the Field the Fowles of the Air shall eat c. Should not g Jer. 36. 28. Jeremiah have wrote another Roll like to the former which Jehudi in the presence of the Princes and King had cut with a Pen-knife and thrown in the fire Should he have been h Jer. 1. 17 18. afraid of their faces had he not then been confounded before them was he not made a defenced City an Iron Pillar and Brazen Walls against the Kings Princes Priests and People Should not i Amos 7. 10. to the end Amos the Gatherer of Sycamore Fruit have prophesied again at Bethel because Amaziah the Priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam King of Israel saying Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel the Land is not able to bear all his words for Amos saith Jeroboam shall die by the sword and Israel shall surely be led away Captive out of their own Land and said O thou Seer flee thee away into the Land of Judah and there eat bread and prophesie there but prophesie not at Bethel for it is the Kings Chappel it is the Kings Court. Should not k Mat. 3. 7. John have said to the Pharisees and Saducers Ye Generation of Vipers who hath forewarned you to flie from the wrath to come Should not l John 2. 14 15. Christ Jesus in the daies of his flesh have cleansed the Temple and have testified against the worship that was not m John 4. 23. 24. in spirit against the Doctors Lawyers Scribes and Pharisees who were the highest Professors and outwardly most religiously strict of any in their time Should not the Apostles and Disciples have gone into the n Act. 3. 1. to the end 5. 19. 20 21. Temple and into the Synagognes every Sabbath day as their p 10. 17. 14. 18. 4. 19. 26. 19. 8.

Acts. 5. 29 30 31. Act. 5. 19 20. 21. manner was and there have testified against the Outward observation of the Law of Moses through the Resurrection o Act. 9. 20. 13. 5. 14 15. 14. 1. 17. 12. of Jesus Christ from the dead whom they had with wicked hands slew and hung upon a Tree and whom the Lord bad highly exalted and made Lord and King and were not the Prison doores opened by the Angell and they bad him to go and speak in the Temple all the words of this life Should not Stephen even before the Councell have q Act. 6. 12. 13. 14. 7. 48 49. 50. said to the high Priest and Pharisees and People and testified The most High dwelleth not in Temples made with hands Ye stiffenecked and uncircumcised in hearts and eares ye do alwaies resist the Holy Ghost as your Fathers did so do ye which of the Prophets have not your Fathers persecuted they have slain them that shewed before of the coming of the Just One of whom ye have been the Betrayers Murtherers though they had a law that whosoever made himself the Son of God he should die Should not Paul have gon into the r Acts. 19. 16. 17. 16. to the end 17. 17. Schools and on Mars-Hill and in the Market place and have disputed against the Idol Gods Should not the Martyrs have testified against the Priests and Idolatrous Masse in the times thereof though they knew therefore they should be murthered with Torments Should not the Superstitious and Formall worships in this and their later generations have been witnessed against though guarded by lawes and fortified with the powers of these Nations Was not the Dread of the Lord upon his witnesses aforementioned and necessity laid upon them so to do Consulted they with any other Oracle Had not woe been to them should they have been disobedient Are these things new are these things strange Again were not the witnesses of God in their Generations accounted of as scornfully and basely as they are at this day and the Word of the Lord which they spake contemned and sleighted as it is now received they any other or better entertainment of the Generations to whom they spake and against whom they testified from the beginning Mind and consider He that lived in the dayes of s Gen. 4. 5 6 7 8. Abel might have seen Cain hating his Brother Abel because his Sacrifice was accepted And though God witnessed it to Cain and testified of Abels Gifts and reasoned with him If thou doest well shalt thou not be accepted if thou doest evill sin lies at the doore Yet he lifted up his hand and slew him He that lived in the dayes of t Gen. 6. 7. chap. 2 Pet. 2. 5. 1 Pet. 3. 19. 20. Noah might have seen how that world slighted his preaching and how ridiculous was his prophesying of a Flood accounted and the making of an Ark to swim upon the dry Land Those who lived in the dayes of Lot might have heard the men of Sodom say This u Gen. 19. 5 6 7 8 9. Fellow came in to Sojourn and he will needs be a Judge when he said to them Nay my Brethren do not so wickedly upon their calling on him to bring out the strangers that they might know them how he seemed to his Sons in Law as one that w Gen. 19. 14. mocked when he told them The Lord would destroy that City x Exod. 5. 2. Pharaoh said unto Moses who is the Lord that I should obey his Voice to let Israel go I know not the Lord nor will I let Israel go Ye are Idle ye are Idle wherefore do ye Moses and Aaron let the People from their works get you unto your burthens Did not y 1 King 13. 4 5 6. Jeroboam stretch forth his hand and say Lay hold on him by the Man of God that prophesied against the Altar and though his Arme was restored and the sign came presently to passe which he gave to wit the Altar rent and the ashes poured out as the Man of God said and at his prayer did he or Israel believe the Word or the Lord spoken by him to turn from their evill wayes that the Judgments threatned might not befall them Did z 1 King 18. Ahab forsake Baal or the people his worship though he a 24. could not answer by fire and though they b 29. said it was well said That the God that answered by fire should be God And c 40. slew all the Prophets of Baal because the Lord whom Elijah prayed to answered by fire and though afterwards at his prayer they that day had d 45. abundance of Rain which for e Jam. 5. 17. 18. three yeares and six months before was shut up Was not Elijah the very next f 1 King 19. 2 3. day constrained to flie for his life g 1 King 21. 25. was there any like Ahab who sold himself to commit Iniquity though the Hand of the Lord appeared more in his daies then any of his Successors against Syria and in mighty wonders through his word by his Prophets Said not h 1 King 22. Ahab of Micajah This man prophesies no good of mee but evill Thus saith the King take Micajah and carry him back to Hamon the Governour of the Citie and to Joash the Kings Son and say thus i 26 27. saith the King put this Fellow into the Prison and feed him with Bread of Affliction and with water of Affliction untill I come in Peace And k 24. which way came the Spirit of the Lord from mee to speak to thee said Zedekiah the False Prophet the same time when he smote Micajah on the face What made this l 2 King 9. 11. mad fellow with thee said the Captains of the Host to Jehu by the Prophet when he came and anointed him from the Lord to be King of Israel Fared it any better with the rest of the Prophets whom the Lord m 2 Chro. 36. 15. 16. Jer. 7. 25. 25. 24. 35. 15. 26. 5. 29. 19. 32. 33. 44. 4. rising Early sent unto them saying O do not the n Jer. 44. 4. Abominable thing that I hate was the Burthen of the Word of the Lord any otherwise esteemed said they not unto the o Amos. 2. 11 Prophets prophesy not and gave they not wine to the Nazarites to Drink Answered not all the p Jer. 43. 2. Proud men thou speakest falsely as for the Word of the q Jer. 44. 16 17 18 19. Lord that thou hast spoken in the Name of the Lord we will not hearken thereunto but we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth Who hath believed our r Isa 53. 1. Report and to whom hath the Arm of the Lord been revealed s Isa 65. 2. Rom. 10. 21. But to Israel he saith all the day long have I

stretched forth my hands to a Gain-saying and a Rebellious People Then I said I have u Isa 49. 4. Laboured in Vain I have spent my strength for nought I heard the w Jer. 20. 10. defamings of many fear on every side Report say they and we will report it all my Familiars watched for my haltings saying peradventure he will be inticed and we shall prevail against him and we shall take our Revenge on him How were they x mocked by every one and despised and the Jer. 6. 10 20. 7. 8. Word of the Lord made a reproach unto them y Isa 8. 18. and a derision daily and for signs and wonders Then I said I will not z Jer. 20. 9. make mention of him nor speak any more in his name but his Word was in my heart as burning fire shut up in my bones and I was weary with forbearing and I could not stay How was a Isa 20. 2 3 4 5 6. Isaiah brought forth walking three years naked and barefoot And b Jer 13. 4 5 9 7. Jeremiah hiding a Girdle in the bank of Euprates till it ir was marred And carrying c Jer. 25. 51. to the 30. a Cup to all the Nations to drink that they might drink and be drunken and be moved and be mad and spue and fall and rise no more And d Ezek. 4. 1 2 3. Ezekiel pourtraying Jerusalem on a Tilestone laying siedge against it casting up Mounts and raising battring Rams and setting an Iron Pan between him and the City e Ezek. 12. 1 2 3 4 5 6. Digging through a wall in the middle of the day and bringing out thereof his stuffe in the sight of his People f Ezek. 5. 1 2 3 4. Cutting off his hair from his head and beard and weighing it in a Balance openly and casting one third thereof into the Ayre and another third burning with fire And cutting another third in pieces with his Knife g Ezek. 4 5. Lying 390. daies on his left side and h Ezek. 4. 6. 40. daies on his i 9. 10 11 12 15. Right side and during the times aforesaid eating his Bread mingled with Beasts dung by weight and drinking his water by measure How ridiculous were these things in the Eyes of those Generations and how were they accounted as the Actions of k Jer. 29. 24 25 26. Mad-men How did they cast them into Prisons and Dungeons and the Stocks as Mad-men and how were some of them put to death And l 2 Chron. 36. 15 16 17 18. the Lord God of their Fathers sent to them by his Messengers rising up betimes and sending them because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place but they mocked the Messengers of God and despised his Words and misused his Prophets untill the wrath of the Lord arose against his people and there was no remedy Was not John the m Mat. 11. 11 greatest of Prophets who came in the n Luke 1. 17. Matth. 11. 14. Spirit and Power of Elias turning the hearts of the Fathers unto the Children o Mat. 3. 2 3. crying in the Wilderness Prepare ye the way of the Lord make his paths strait The Messenger that went before his face preaching Repent for the Kingdome of Heaven is at hand the p Mat. 3. 10. Ax is laid to the Root of the Tree Every Tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewen down and cast into the fire called r Luke 7. 33. a Devil though he came neither eating and drinking but in a Garment of Camels Hair tyed about with a Leathern Girdle was he not cast into prison and s Mat. 14. 3 10. beheaded When the Son of God of whom all the t Luke 1. 70. 24. 27. Act. 3. 18 21. Prophets spake came himself was he otherwise accounted of was he otherwise intreated by those who cryed out against their Fathers for persecuting and killing the Prophets whose Tombes they built and whose Sepulchres they garnished was he u John 1. 26. 9. 29. 1 Cor. 2. 6 8. Act. 13. 27. known by his flesh to that Generation w Phil. 2. 7. made he not himself of no Reputation was not his x Visage more marr'd then any mans of no z Isa 53. 2 3. Comeliness and Beauty whereby he should y Isa 52. 14. be desired Was he not a a Isa 53. 3. man of sorrows and acquainted with griefs esteemed as b Isa 53. 4. stricken and smitten of God and afflicted despised and rejected of men and were not their faces as it were hid from him Was he not c Isa 53. 7. afflicted and oppressed d John 8. 49. 10. 39. Luke 4. 28 29 30. tumulted and stoned blind-folded e Luke 22. 64. and buffetted smote on the Cheek and f Mat. 27. 30. spit upon g Mat. 27. 29. crowned with Thorns h Mark 15. 15 and scourged i Luke 23. 35. derided k Mark 15. 29 rayled on and l Mat. 27. 39. and reviled and m Luke 18. 32. spightfully entreated and mocked on the Cross n Mat. 27. 41. by the chief Priests and a Murderer o Luke 23. 11 desired before him p Luke 23. 18 19 24 25. and in his q Act. 8. 33. Humiliation was not his Judgment taken away r Esa 53. 12. numbred amongst Transgressors and put to death and his s Esa 53. 9. Grave made with the Wicked Was he not called a t Mat. 11. 19. man Gluttonous and a Wine-bibber a Friend of Publicans and Sinners u Joh. 5. 18. Luke 6. 4. to the 12. a Breaker of the Sabbath and of the Law of Moses and of the w Mat. 15. 2. 3 Traditions of the Elders w a Mad-man one y Mark 3. 21. besides himself a z Joh. 8. 48. Samaritan a a Mark 3. 23. Devil yea the b Mat. 9. 34. Prince of Devils yea and a c Mat. 26. 65 66. Blasphemer and put to Death as such a One though he d Joh. 7. 40. spake as never man spake with e Mat. 7. 29. Authority and not as the Scribes though none f John 8. 46. could convince him of sinne g Isa 53. 9. neither was any deceit found in his mouth And though mighty h Act. 2. 22. Signs and Wonders were done by him For a i John 10. 33. good work we stone thee not but for Blasphemy that thou being a man makest thy self the Son of God We have k Luke 23. 2. found this Fellow perverting the Nation and forbidding Tribute to be given to Caesar saying that himself is Christ a King We have a l Joh. 19. 7. Law that whosoever saith he is the Son of God shall die Ye have heard his m Matth. 26 64 65 66. Mark 15. 61 62 63 64. Blasphemy what think ye And they

because thou knewest not the houre of thy visitation Friends It concerns your pretious souls eternally to know this houre of your visitation least you continuing to fall upon the Corner-stone the Rock of Ages and thus to persecute it and evilly to requite the dear love of God to you in raising up his witness against you warning you of all deceipt and directing you where Redemption is to be found and eternall life it fall upon you and grinde you to powder For verily the Kingdom of God is come amongst you the Son is come to the Vineyard to look for fruit and upon such dayes of the Son of man are you fallen that you are not aware of whom if you shall still consult against cast out and murther and call the spirit of judgement and of burning of the Devill whereby the filth of the Daughter of Sion is purged away and which makes the earth to shake and the Pillars of the house to tremble and the strong man to bow and the mighty man to cry bitterly he will n Luk. 20. 13. 14 15 16. Mat. 21. 41. miserably destroy you and let out the Vineyard unto others and sad will be your portion for all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme but he that o Mark 3. 28. 29 30. shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness but is in danger of eternall damnation This said Christ because they said He had an unclean spirit Sink down therefore to that of God in every one of your Consciences the light of Iesus Christ wherewith he lightens every one that commeth into the world the faithfull and true witness to which we speak And let us reason a little together what is that about which you so much contend and for which you have drawn and are drawing and ready to draw the blood of those who longing for the Redemption of the seed in every one of you which lies and is sought to be held in Captivity by the Priests and their worships and knowing whom you resist and the terrors of the Lord are made to testifie against the wayes you walk in as leading to hell and as tending to the Chambers of death and to shew you would you hear the way that leads to eternall life whose Bowels even when under sufferings by you for so witnessing and against the spirit that rules in you earn after you and the salvation of your souls which are pretious God is their witness Are they Churches of Christ search and see in the Scriptures which you say is your Rule there all might p 1 Cor. 13. 31 prophesie one by one and when any thing was q 30. revealed to another that sate by the first held his peace and the r 29. Prophets two or three might speak and the rest judge there was the s 1 Cor. 2. 15. spirituall man who judgeth all things and yet he himselfe is judged of no man Therein t 2 Tim. 2. 25. meekness were instructed those that opposed themselves There u 1 Cor. 15. 24. 25. the unbeliever and unlearned by found Doctrine was convinced of all and judged of all and secrets of his heart made manifest so that falling down on his face he worshipped God and reported God is in you of a truth There were no strikings nor quarrellings nor Tumults nor drawings of blood nor calling to or haling before Magistrates or carrying to prisons whippings stockings throwing into Dungeons and keeping close prisoners from friends and maintenance for speaking or opposing nor sending such to their homes from Tithing to Tithing who came to visit them never were they found persecuting but were alwayes after this manner intreated and persecuted who ever persecuted was out of the Doctrine of Christ The w 1 Thes 1. 1. Church is in God the x 1 Tim. 1. 15. Pillar and Ground of Truth y 1 Pet. 2. 4 5. liveing stones built a spirituall house upon the living Stone Are yours such are these things found amongst you Be coole and consider for these things are plain he that runs may read them be not alwayes deceived by their fruits you may know them to be the a Rev 2. 9. 3. 9. Synagogues of Satan the b Rev. 18. 2. Cages of every unclean and hateful Bird the Haitation of Devills and the hold of every foul spirit plain dealling you will finde at length to be best Are the Members of Harlots Drunkards Enviers Swearers Lyars Hypocrites Cheaters Strikers c. the Members of Christ are such the Piller and Ground of Truth are those who are dead in Trespasses and sins living stones built upon the living foundation Is striking tumulting and such like in meekness instructing those who oppose or convincing the unbeliever and unlearned and manifesting the secrets of his heart what Churches are they when such things as these are found where neither the Testimony of the Lord will be endured nor an unbeliever and unlearned so accounted either convinced or permitted to stay there so to be Are your Priests Ministers of Jesus Christ search and see they were c Tit. 1. 7. blameless as the Stewards of God not self-willed nor soon angry nor given to wine nor to filthy lucre no strikers nor † 1 Tim. 3. 3. strivers nor brawlers nor envious nor raylers nor covetous d Isa 56. 11. nor seeking their gain from their Quarters e Mic. 3. 5. 6 7. 1 Tim. 12. 24. nor Biters with their teeth nor preparers of warre where it is not put into their mouths nor receivers of Tithes Oblations Obventions c. or suers for treble dammages or casters into prison of those who refuse for whom they neither plant nor plow nor sowe nor makers of f 2 Pet. 2. 3. Merchandize of the people through covetousness with feigned words or having g 2 Pet. 2. 14. hearts exercised with covetous practices they were not called of men h Mat. 23 10. Masters nor i Luke 11. 43 Mat. 23. 6. 7 8 stood praying in the Synagogues or for a pretence made long Prayers nor loved the uppermost seats in the Assemblies and at Feasts nor greeting in the Market place k Mich. 3. 11 nor preached for hire nor divined for mony nor had or sought for approbation of men or a State-maintenance or a state consistory nor spake l Jer 14 4 9. 14 a lying Divination and imagination of their own heart for the word of the Lord nor came with m 1 Cor. 2. 4. the entising words of mans wisdom nor by n Gal. 1. 1. 11. or in the will and time of man nor o Jer. 13. 21. ran when they were not sent nor made the p 2 Cor. 11. 9. 12. 13 14. Gospel burdensome nor had they any q 1 Cor. 4. 11. certain dwelling place nor did they persecute nor called they to Magistrates nor haled to prison those

who spoke to them in the name of the Lord or opposed nor had † Jud. 16. mens persons in admiration for advantage nor were * James 2. 1. to 13. respecters of persons But r Tit. 1. 8. were lovers of Hospitality lovers of good men sober just holy temperate holding forth the faithfull word by sound Doctrine exhorting and convincing gain-sayers s 1 Tim. 2. 24. gentle to all men apt to teach patient in meekness instructing them that oppose t 2 Cor. 4. 2. commending what they said unto every mans Conscience in the sight of God even to those that opposed themselves u Gal. 1. 1. 12. receiving the Gospel not by man nor the will of man nor were they raught it but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ in them In all w 2 Cor. 6. 4. to the 11th things approving of themselves as the Ministers of God in much patience in afflictions in necessities in distresses in stripes in imprisonments in Tumults in Labours in watchings in fastings by pureness by knowledge by long-suffering by kindness by the Holy-Ghost by love unfeigned by the word of truth by the power of God by the Armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left by honour and dishonour by evill report and good report as deceivers and yet true as unknown and yet well known as dying and yet behold they lived as chastened and yet not killed as sorrowful yet alwayes rejoycing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing and yet possessing all things troubled on every side yet not distressed perplexed but not in despair alwayes bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus that the x 2 Cor. 4. 11. 8 9 10 11. life also of Jesus might be made manifest in their body alwayes delivered unto death for Jesus sake that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in their mortall flesh Are those whom you call your Ministers found such or do not those whom they set you on now to persecute appear such as these and they the Contrary Are they not plainly manifested by their fruits Search and see how long will ye be deceived and shut your Eyes against the noon day and seek to support such as plainly appear not to be the Church of Christ or the Minsters of his Glorious Gospell Whom the Lord the Jealous God is now come to pull up being plants whom he hath not planted and against whom his Sword is drawn and fourbished by which both they that help and they that are holpen shall fall together and shall not be put up till the thoughts of his heart be accomplished And how long will ye beat tumult imprison and cruelly intreat his witnesses whom from amongst your selves he hath raised up to testifie against them and to lead you out of the waies of destruction into the Paths of Peace and out of dear love to your soules presse through all hardships and sufferings and difficulties at your hands yea theit lives are not dear to them for the finishing of their Testimony and that your souls may be saved in this Powerfull day of the Lord Jesus will not these things be bitternesse in the end What will you answer the Lord whom ye thus requite for all his kindnesse Mind and consider did not the Word of the Lord from the beginning take hold on those to whom it was sent though y Zach. 1. 5 6. the Fathers dyed and the Prophets lived not for ever and though they did put the z Evill day x Amos 6. 3. far from them and caused the Seat of Violence to come neer and mocked at the Word of the Lord and misused his Messengers Was there ever a Witness of God born against any thing but the downfall thereof was at hand according to the Witness and assuredly came to passe as they did abide Sufferings who bore against it their Testimony and the hotter the Sufferings drew not the time the neerer For as Jesus Christ in his flesh on the a Eph 4. 8. Crosse lead Captivity Captive so tthrough Sufferings his Truth conquers b Heb. 2. 14 15. thorough death it overcomes him that hath the power of death and c 2 Colo. 15. triumpheth over all and when the world seemeth to have upon it its greatest Advantage then is it ascending on the Throne and raigning over all Turn a little over these later times and observe calmely When raged the Fire and Faggot more furious against the Martyrs in Queen Maries daies than when the hour was come wherein that body of Popery which became so cruel was to be extinguished in this Nation when were the Persecutions of the Bishops more fierce then when the Parliament drew near which pulled them up by Root and Branch What is become of that body of Popery in England to this Day Where are the Bishops Deans and Chapters the Common Prayer and those heaps of Ceremoniall and Superstitious dead services and all that Hierarchy with the Appurtenances which had fortified it self with such lawes and length of time and mixed it self so in and with the Civill Powers that as her Mother Babylon she said I have set my Nest amongst the stars I sit as a Queen and shall see no sorrow when losse of Children and Widdow-hood came upon her in One day fear the snare and the pit and a horrible desolation even by the power that supported her How contemptible and base how much lesse then things of naught were the Martyrs in those dayes accounted of and the factious Puritanicall Non conformists as they were then called and how unlikely in the eyes of men yea how impossible a thing it seemed for those witnesses to turne the hand upon those Generations who in the height of their pride scorn and confidence thought of nothing but to swallow them up quick and to root them out of the Land of the Living by the hand of Authority which they had wholly made their own and the Lawes and were stretching out their Armes so to do Even when the d Jer. 4 7. Lyon came out of his Thicket and the Fuller had laid his Axe to their Root and Branches And when many of those men of Israel who with others of their Brethren compassed about those Walls of Jericho with the sound of Rams Horns so despicable was the Witness to that Generation of men before whom they fell and in whose hearing by it was it said Cursed be the man before the Lord that riseth up and buildeth this City Jericho he shall lay the Foundation thereof in his First-born and in his youngest Son shall he set up the Gates of it strived so eagerly and with vehemence to build it up again as a City in Israel for them to dwell in by the Name and in the Rule of a coercive Presbytery hating and despising the rest of their Brethren before whom Jericho fell the witnesses against them as Heretiques and Schismaticks upon