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	worship_n	yield_v	76	3	6.8740	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A90388	Babylon the Great described. The city of confusion. In every part whereof Antichrist reigns. Which knoweth not the order and unity of the spirit, but striveth to set up an order and uniformity according to the wisdom of the flesh, in all her territories atd [sic] dominions. Her sins, her judgements. With some plain queries further to discover her, and some considerations to help out of her suburbs, that her inward building may lye the more open to the breath and spirit of the Lord, from which it is to receiv [sic] its consumption and overthrow. Also, an exhortation to the powers of the earth. By Isaac Penington, the younger.	Penington, Isaac, 1616-1679.	1659 (1659)	Wing P1153; Thomason E770_2; ESTC R203128	52,975	64

as good shift as they can without it and then having thus prepared people she brings forth her wares Look ye saith she this is the way thus and thus the Saints practised do thou thus also But thou must receive the Saints spirit before thou either know or worship or thou knowest and worshippest out of it and in that path of sorcery and witchcraft from the life thou shalt never meet with the life but the further thou proceedest therein wilt be more and more entangled from it and become stil a greater and greater enemy to it and more and more in love with the whore and her whorish paths and pleasing wayes of devotion whereby the false spirit in thee is raised up and nourished but thy soul famished for that can be nourished with nothing but the bread of life from the hand of the Spirit but not with words or forms of knowledge or wayes of worship invented or imitated which doe but tickle the understanding or affectionate part of man but reach not the life so that that which should serve the Lord is not there raised but stil bound over with the bond of iniquity 5. Luxury excesse and pleasure She is rich with her Merchandize and she enjoyes it to the ful she takes the pleasure of it She builds costly houses weares rich apparrel fares deliciously read spiritually with the spiritual eye She is rich in knowledge rich in wayes of worship rich in duties rich in religious performances and practices And as she gained these in her own will without the leadings of the life and by her own search and wisdom So she can make use of these in her own will and according to the direction of her own wisdom She can fast when she will give thanks when she will preach when she will pray when she will sing when she will meditate when she will bring forth her knowledge to others when she will Look on the Papists how rich are they in outward buildings in gorgeous Ceremonies in times of worship in wayes of mortification and pennance in fasts in feasts c Look on the several sorts of Protestants they have their riches in their kind too their Churches their buildings their arts their sciences their languages their bodyes of divinity their cases of conscience c. They can open the whole body of Religion resolve all doubts expound all Scriptures c. The great City was cloathed in fine linnen and purple and scarlet and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls Rev 18. 16. And she sate thus on the Throne like a Queen living deliciously and taking her pleasure to which her torment and sorrow afterwards is proportioned ver 7. Yea she had treasure and costlinesse enough to make all her Merchants rich that would trade with her ver 19. What knowledge what delicate food could the wisest or greatest of the earth desire which she had not ready for them see ver 3. ver 9. But Sion all this while hath lain in the dust and been despised She hath had no building no fence but hath been trampled under foot by every unclean beast Her witnesses have been cloathed with sackcloath a garment which all the lofty inhabitants of Babylon disdain her sare hath been hard in the Wildernesse only a little Manm which with fleshly Israel who lust after rich and large knowledg is counted light bread and their souls soon loath it Nor had she this in plenty but only a smal proportion dayly from the hand of the free-giver sufficient to keep life in her in the Wildernesse and to furnish her with strength to give in her testimony against Babylon so far as the Lord saw good to call any of her seed thereunto Now what professor can be willing to fare thus with her at present and to wait for her future riches fulnesse beauty and glory Nay nay they have so long lived richly and fared deliciously in Babylon that they know not how to eat the bread of affliction and drink the water of affliction with sad and desolate Sion And yet this is the only way and passage out of Babylon into Sion That which hath been rich and fat and ful-fed there must become poor and lean and feel hunger and have none of the bread of life administred to it no nor so much as husks neither And in this sad day and state of misery the poor is visited which receives the Gospel and the dead raised which receives the life 6. Worshipping of the Devil All the world wondred after the beast and they worshipped the Dragon Rev 13. 3 4. Now the Dragon is the Devil Rev 20. 2. There is no other worship of God under the new Testament but in Spirit and truth and he that worships otherwise worships not God but that Spirit which teacheth to worship out of Gods Spirit and out of the truth Every prayer is not a prayer to God but only that prayer which is from and in the Spirit Every Ordinance or duty is not an Ordinance of God or a duty performed to God but only that which the Spirit leads into and guids and preserves in This is the way that all the earth have departed from the Lord namely by erring from his Spirit They cry up practises in Religion dutyes ordinances the means the means a Church a Church as the Jews did the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord but they find the Church before they have found the Spirit of the Lord and so they find not the Church that is in God the Church that is of his building but they poor hearts frame up a building as wel as they can according to the pattern they find in the Scriptures and so they are not an habitation for God in the Spirit but are estranged from the life and Spirit in all their worship and so are not found by the Spirit which searcheth them and their worship worshiping of God but the works of their own hands and Devils Rev 9. 20. For that charge stands good against all the inhabitants of Babylon even to the highest and strictest of them all whether in forms or out of forms There are many men who are very zealous and devout in their wayes of worship who were never taught by the Spirit the way of worshipping God nor do at all know how to worship in the Spirit these my soul exceedingly pittyes They have received into their understandings from the letter of the Scripture that God is to be worshipped in Spirit and that God will give his Spirit to them that ask it They have asked and they hope they have the Spirit but poor deceived hearts they know not what spirit they are of nor in what spirit they act nor what spirit they serve and so perish for lack of knowledge the key whereof hath been hid from them Now let such consider There are but two spirits the Spirit of God and the spirit of Satan one of which guid all men in their devotion and

unclean that the pure life may receive you into unity with it selfe but the spirit that is unpurged from its Babylonish worships and practises the Lord will not suffer to come neer him Therefore search what is Babylon and of Babylon in all your wayes and worships and wait on the Spirit of the Lord to be redeemed out of it and separated from it or ye must remain separated from the Lord and not partake of his life and vertue from which that City with all her inhabitants is shut out for ever The Lord hath had a sore controversie with this Nation with her Rulers her teachers and people for his seeds sake which he hath been begetting to himself and calling forth to worship him according to the pure Law of his spirit of life out of the wayes worships and Heathenish customs of the earthly spirit Israel is his first born whom he will not have any longer kept in bondage They are his own of his own begetting and forming of his own nourishing and bringing up the plants of his own right hand whom he watereth with the dews of Heaven and with the showrs of his everlasting mercy and loving kindness whom he hath gathered by the arm of his power and whom he leadeth and defendeth by his cloud and pillar of fire over whom he is tender as of the apple of his eye They are his anointed ones whom he will not have touched but rebuketh Kings and Parliaments Armyes and Councils for their sakes saying Touch not mine anointed and do my Prophets no harm Have ye not seen how no strength nor Council hath been able to prevail against them They have had no fence but the arm which hath gathered them What plottings and contrivings hath there been against them How are they as sheep appointed for the slaughter destinated to be devoured crushed and trodden under foot what divinations and inchantments have been used against them even to blot out their name and remembrance from the earth But why do ye strive and contend thus with the God of Jacob can ye prosper He that made the earth will not ye let him have room therein for his people Must they be subject to your wils Must they bow to your image shall not the God of the spirits of all flesh have the command of the spirits of his own people can ye stop the Spirit of God from breathing upon them or will ye fal foul upon them if they be obedient to the breathings and movings of his Spirit May it not suffice that they are innocent and harmless among you in their conversations and practises but will ye still Lord it over their consciences will ye put the Lord to it to the very last to try it out with you whether he can defend his people and make way for their liberty Wel If peace be taken from you if your rulers laws and governments be broken in peices if his hand be stretched forth against you if he curse your very blessings whom can ye blame Why do you provoke him against your own souls are ye stronger then he If ye be stronger and wiser ye may prevail but if he be stronger and will put forth his arm his people shall be saved and find a shelter in him in the midst of all that wrath which is powring down upon you Your peace hath been lengthned out for their sakes If it had not been for their sakes for the remnant which the Lord hath had to gather ye had ere this been as Sodom and like unto Gomorrah The Land is ful of filthinesse which the Lords soul loaths and instead of drawing forth the sword against it ye draw it forth against his witnesses There is liberty enough for sin and vanity for excess and riotousnesse for images and idols but to worship God in Spirit to obey his pure movings this kindles your rage and these are the people who are a burthen to you Ah how fain would ye ease you of this people Sion is indeed a burthensome stone and will fall heavy on all that meddle with her But the Lord will ease himselfe of the adversaries of his life and Spirit and he will bring forth his righteousness which he hath prepared and set it up in the earth and none shall be able to stop him Therefore gather your selves together in battel associate your selves that ye may be broken in peices take council together it shall come to nought speak the word it shall not stand but the Lords council shall stand and he will fulfil all his pleasure and will delight himselfe in his people and raise them up by the fall of their enemies and then ye shall see against whom ye have plotted and contended and what ye have helped to bring about by all your secret plots and designs If the Lord had not been on our side now may Israel say if the Lord had not been on our side what had become of his poor people Ah poor worm Jacob how often would the foot of pride have trampled thee down again and again had not the everlasting arm been stretched out for thee But fear not worm Jacob nor be not sollicitous for thy preservation but trust that arm which delighteth to preserve thee Ah foolish people and unwise who strive against your own mercy who see not upon what hinge all your mercies hang but make it your work to break down the Wall that defends you Jerusalem is the City of the great King which is coming down from heaven and Israel is his people and both must have a place in the earth the Lord hath determined it and who can withstand it what prejudice can Jerusalem or the inhabitants thereof bring unto you They are enemies indeed to this earthly state of things and would have all brought in subjection to the life and power of their King and all that stands in opposition to God brought down and made pliable to his spirit and this the unyoked earthly spirit cannot bear But this is the interest of your souls and the way to unity with that life which is their happiness peace and rest for ever for if ye could pass through the fire and bear the burning up of your dross ye also might become vessels for the Finer and might dwell with them in their everlasting habitation The Saints formerly had an entrance ministred to them into the everlasting Kingdom and came to mount Sion which cannot be removed and to Jerusalem the City of the living God Heb. 12. 22. where the blood of sprinkling the peace that passeth understanding the everlasting righteousness and the joy unspeakable and full of glory was witnessed in the renewed spirit which receiveth the Kingdom which cannot be shaken and entreth into the everlasting rest And this is again revealed and the 〈…〉 nesses shall ascend into heaven in the sight of their enemies even into the new heaven and the new earth where righteousness dwells and the old heaven and old earth withal its inhabitants shall be burnt up and then shall it be seen that righteousness becomes and belongs to the house of God for ever And his City shall be a quiet habitation free from all the noise and hurry of Babylon where the pure river of life runs clear free from all the mud and mixtures of Babylon and the Lord God of infinite fulness will not disdain communion with his creatures but will tabernacle among them dwell with them sup with them walk in them and take them into his holy habitation and they shall dwell with him sup with him and walk in him But who shall abide in his tabetnacle who shall dwell in his holy hill He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart c. he who contemns the vile person how great and high soever but honoreth them that fear the Lord be they otherwise what they will This man shall dwell on high above the reach of all low creeping dark spirits even in that holy habitation of life and power which nothing can touch or annoy I shall now conclude with a few words concerning the present estate of this poor distracted Nation This Nation hath long lain wounded and sick She hath had many Physicians on whom she hath spent much who have promised her fair but have not effected her cure Of late her wound hath been much enlarged yea she is become sick at her very heart and in great danger Many are spending their judgement upon her some thinking a King would help all some a Parliament and some hoping for good from the Army but every eye sees her case to be very desperate Ah England England Thou strivest with thy Maker and he overturns thy strength and councils The life and wisdom which thou despisest is that which alone can heal thee Thou strivest to keep off the strokes from the enemies of God and smitest his dear ones how can he spare thee Hand stils joyn in hand to keep the Lords stroke from reaching Babylon which he hath directed at her heart and will not miss her but will peirce through every thing that stands in his way Though the cry hath long been Hurt not the tender conscience it is that on which God works and wherein he chuseth to appear and with which he is pleased and pitties Many promises have been touching liberty of conscience yet still the meek of the earth the innocent lambs of Christ those that are faithful to the light of God in their consciences are persecuted and suffer What canst thou plead O England why the Lord should not break thee all in peices and save his people himself by and in the midst of thy ruins The Lord will have the victory over thee in this particular about which he hath so long striven with thee It would be better and easier for thee to yield unto then be forced by his hand Therefore at length hear his voice which hath so often and so loud cryed unto thee Let my people go that they may serve me The End

that wisdome wherein they stand and to that eye wherewith they look to see Now mark this Antichrists coming when he first deceived was very mighty exceeding strong 2 Thess. 2. 9 10. Whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders and with al deceivableness of unrighteousness c. Weigh the thing wel Satan used al his art and al his strength to conceive and bring forth this mystery of iniquity so like the mystery of godlines that it might pass for currant in the world and he rule as God in in i● With all power c. no power of deceit wanting he did not spare for signs and lying wonders yea 〈◊〉 gave power to the beast to do wonders and miracles even to make s 〈…〉 e come downe from heaven on the earth in the sight of men which was the sign and wonder whereby the God of Israel was distinguished from Baal power to work this very sign Satan gives to the Beast to confirm the godhead of the Dragon and Antichrist with Rev. 13. v. 13 14. These are the things men look for see but great power signs miracles they are satisfied the whole world stands ready to be deceived with this Yea and if the eye be not opened in persons which can distinguish of power they must needs be deceived Signs wonders and miracles had their place in the first covenant and were to that part to which the first covenant was not to them that beleeve but to them that beleeve not Now after the full demonstration of the truth by signs and miracles the power of Satan riseth up and by lying signs wonders and miracles overturneth the truth Now the unbeleeving part in man expects and cals for signs and miracles and says that wil determine the controversie and settle the state of the Church again but that part is not to prescribe God his way yea he wil steal as a theif upon thee whose ey is abroad and lookest for demonstrations without And as Antichrist got up thus so Antichrist wil go out thus he wil raise up this power and what lying signs wonders and miracles he can to defend himself with now the Spirit of the Lord is risen up to dispossess him and cast him out of the house which he hath long lodged in And he that can be cosened with power with signs with lying wonders which are lying because they come from the spirit of deceit with an intent to deceive though they may come to pass and appear true to mans eye Deut. 13. 1 2 3. or with any of the deceivablenes of unrighteousnes shal never come out of Babylon but only be translated into some of the more refined chābers of it fed with somemore fresh likenesses of truth where he shall stil remain an Inhabitant and worshipper in some Image perhaps of universal love life and liberty and yet be out of the life out of the love out of the liberty of the truth which stands in the power and presence of the Spirit of God and not in the most refined Image or likeness All the world wondred after the beast and they worshipped the Dragon which gave power unto the beast and they worshipped the beast Rev 13. 3 4. The Dragon is the Devil the beast is that spirit of the earth which he raiseth up and feeds in men with a form and appearance of truth to which he gives his power and his seat and his authority and every man hath a measure of this according to his state condition place and service in Babylon And now what a man doth here in Religion be he never so devout and zealous and frequent in Ordinances and duties is the worship of this spirit and of the Dragon who sits and rules in this spirit I am run into hard expressions very hard because the nature of these things is hid from mens eyes and they are in the mist of Antichrists raising in the smoak which comes from the pit where there is no opening of the true eye nor no true sight of things but truly if ever ye espy the Dragon the beast Antichrist the whore the false Prophet ye must look at home and read within and there having found the thing and seen it in the true light ye will be able to read it certainly abroad also Now do not go about to distinguish these things in the notion of the understanding but come to feel the life to unite with the life and the eye will open which can see into the nature of things and will behold all in it's season for that eye which is so eager to see shall never see these things but that eye alone which waits in stilnesse and quietnesse on the pleasure and good will of the opener Now all this time while Babylon stands while Antichrist sits in the Temple while Satan reigns over all the Antichristian world the true and living God hath not been known feared nor glorified but mens knowledge hath been of a false God they have set up and him they have feared and given the glory to in their worship nay the Gospel hath not been preached the true Gospel the everlasting Gospel the Gospel wherein is the light and power of eternal life to turn men from all Antichristian forms of knowledge and worship to the true life and power But when Babylon falls and Mount Sion begins to appear again then this Gospel is to be preached again even by an Angel who receiveth it from God himselfe Rev 14. 6 7. for man could never recover it again it requires a new inspiration The law is to go forth out of Sion the word of the Lord from Jerusalem And this Gospel is to be preached to every Nation and Kindred and Tongue and people v 6. mark There was not one Nation not one kindred not one tongue not one people that kept the everlasting Gospel but it was laid up in Sion it was carried with the Church into the Wildernes and there it hath been hid all the time of the apostacy since the dayes of the Apostles But now Sion is redeeming the true woman bringing back again out of the Wilderness she brings back the true everlasting Gospel with her and there is an Angel chosen in the power of the Lord even in the same power and Spirit that first preached it to preach it again to every Nation Kindred Tongue and people And the Lord hath so ordered it that he will have the voice of this Angel as despicable to the wise in Religion to the zealous in devotion of all sorts of this backsliding age as the former preaching was to the wise and devout both among the Jews and Greeks So that whosoever is wise in Religion according to the flesh whosoever is wise in expectation and waiting for the kingdome whosoever is wise in reasoning about it and can tel the foregoing signs of it c. shall not know the voice but he that can shut his eyes by

life and from the Spirit then she blasphemes the life and the holy pure power and movings of the Spirit The woman which sate upon the scarlet coloured beast with whom the Kings of the earth committed fornication and the inhabitants of the earth were made dru●k with the wine of her fornication was full of names of blasphemy Rev 17. 2 3. Yea the beast which carried her which had many heads horns and crowns he also had on his heads names of blasphemy Rev 13. 1. And there was given to him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies ver 5. And he with the whore together for he did it by her spirit and instigation by vertue of the wine he had drunk out of her cup opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and them that dwel in Heaven ver 6. This hath been the work of the tongue in every head of the beast namely to blaspheme the life to blaspheme the true living power in all ages and generations since the apostacy from the life and spirit of the Apostles Now there is a twofold blasphemy which the whore and the powers of the earth that serve her are guilty of 1. There is a speaking well of the wayes of their own invention or the wayes which they have imitated without the life to call these the wayes of God the true wayes of life is blasphemy I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not but a Synagogue of Satan Rev 2. 9. There were even in the Apostles dayes persons who pretended to be Christians and pretended still to be of the Church though they had lost the life and this the Spirit of the Lord saith was blasphemy And what is their gathering into a Church who were never gathered into the life and setting up Ordinances and pastors what is this what is it for him to call himself a Christian or inward Jew who never had the fore-skin of his flesh cut off by the circumcising knife of the Spirit what will the Lord say this is when he comes to judge 2. There is a speaking evil of the truths of God The true knowledge the true fear the true worship the true Saints the true God the true Tabernacle the true Temple the true Heaven all which is in the Spirit and is alone revealed and seen there there are reproached these are mis-represented and the true sight and acknowledgement of them called error heresie and sectarism by all the blasphemers of Babylon Israel who had the Law and the Prophets the true Ordinances and the true Priests yet they called evill good and good evil they put darknesse for light and light for darknesse they put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Isa 5. 20. They were so wise in their own eyes and so prudent in their own sight they were so mighty to drink wine and men of such strength to mingle strong drink justifying the wicked for reward and taking away the righteousness of the righteous from him that there was no convincing of them by the light of God shining from the Prophets of their casting away of the Law of the Lord and despising the word of the holy one of Israel ver 21. to 25. Nay they were observers of the law and bearkned to the Prophets and Priests of the Lord Jer 5. 31. Therefore when the overflowing scourge came it should not come neer them Yea when the true Prophets of the Lord threatnedthē with his coming with dreadful vengeance and his strange worke they in the height and confidence of their spirits could reply Let him make speed and hasten his worke that we may see it Isa 5. 20. How blind were they from seeing their blasphemies their calling of evil good and good evil c Yea in the very dayes of the Apostles The way of truth was evil spoken of and Synagogues of Satan setting up and blasphemies growing up apace from those which held the true form but denyed the power even while the powrings forth of the Spirit and revelations from the Spirit did abound How can it be expected it should be otherwise now when the Spirit is grown such a strange thing that to mention such a thing as being moved by the Spirit or acted by the Spirit is become ridiculous and the very teachers of the Nation who must speak by the Spirit if they speak the word of God cry revelation is ceased and count it a reproach for a man so much as to pretend to speak by the movings and in the power of the Spirit Now this double blasphemy necessarily follows the fornication Whoever is fornicated from the life he blasphemes the the life in all his knowledg in all his worship in all his Religion He calls that prayer which is not prayer that an ordinance which is not an ordinance that a Church which is not a Church 〈◊〉 a Minister which is not a Minister and that which is indeed the prayer the ordinance the Church the Minister he denyes and blasphemes and cannot do otherwise until the righteous judgements of the Lord purge the whores wine out of him and he be led back to that life and Spirit again from which in all these wayes of worship inventions and imitations he is gone a whoring The whore for these many ages hath been laying blasphemy to the charge of such as in any degree have been led by the Spirit of the Lord from her whoredomes but now the Lord is taking it off from them who have long been unjustly charged therewith and charging it upon her and she cannot escape his judgement for though she put on never so fine dresses and appearances like the Spouse and Church of Christ yet the Lord can distinguish and find out his Spouse though naked in the wilderness and without her attire and can also espy the whorish spirit though cloathed with the Churches attire and can charge her blasphemies against him his Tabernacle and them that dwell in Heaven upon her 3. Grosse or more refined idolatries Little children said John keep your selves from Idols 1 John 5. 21. He saw Antichristianism breaking in apace many Antichrists being already come and now saith he keep to the anointing and keep from Idols Without a very strict watch without a mighty preservatiō by the anointing he saw idolatry would even creep in upon them who had tasted of the true power and vertue of life But how shall they keep from Idols who know not the anointing but think the revelations thereof are ceased He that buyeth not the tried gold of Christ Rev 3. 18. How can he avoid buying untried gold of Antichrist or silver or brasse or wood or stone which his Merchants traffique for and make idols of Rev 9. 20. If thine eyes be anointed with the true eye-salve thou mayest see and read the parable Idolatry is the worshipping of God without his Spirit that is the plain naked truth of the thing to invent things from the

Religion and one of which they serve therein He that is led by the Spirit of God he serves God he worships God He that is led by the spirit of Satan he serves not God but that spirit which appeares in the Temple of God like God and gives such demonstrations that he is God as no flesh can deny 2 Thess 2. 4. Here now is the great deceivableness of unrighteousness In prophanesse in manifest wickednesse Satan is easily seen and men that are found here it is granted that they are serving the Devil but that he should sit as King in gathered Churches in dutyes in ordinances in wayes of self-denyal and mortification and be worshipped here this is hard to be seene yet any of these which the Spirit of the Lord leads not into or which are performed at any time without his Spirit he is worshiped in Consider this ye that are wise in Religion and are dilligently reading the Scriptures and gathering knowledge and rules of worship and applying promises c. Do ye this in the life and Spirit of God or in your own wisdom and according to your owne understanding Doth not the wisdom of that spirit which is out of the truth guid you in your searchings after truth O do not serve that spirit which the Lord hates but come backe to that from which in all this ye erre and which in all this ye cannot serve and worship And let not your Religion any longer consist in meer practising what the Saints formerly practised for that ye may do without the same spirit but in yeelding up to that life power and pure spirit that they were led by And when ye are joyned to this then do not prescribe the Lamb the way that he shall go but follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth Do not tell the Shepheard by your gathered wisdom the way that he must lead you in but know the voice and follow For this I can truly testifie that if once ye come in faithfulnesse and true light to follow the Lamb he will lead you in paths ye have not known and out of the paths ye have known 7. Compelling of others to worship Rev 13. 15 16. The false woman and the beast set up a worship in the will and they do not know why any in the will also may not subject and submit to it They can give them reasons they can give them arguments from Scripture and if they will not yeeld to these they are to be looked upon as stubborn and refractory and to be compelled by outward force This hath been the course generally throughout the Land of Babylon But these shew hereby that they themselves are erred from the truth and therefore very unfit and unlikely to teach it others For that which God works upon is the conscience which he convinceth by the light of his Spirit and no other light can truly convince it That therefore which would have a man yeeld to any practise or way of worship till he be truly convinced is of the Devil My son give me thy heart saith Christ the wisdom of God Come not to me with oblations and sactifices but give me thy heart My son give me thy knee give me thy obedience to the wayes I have set up give me thy conformity saith Antichrist saith the adulterated wisdom and if any refuse she endeavours to compel them Thus like Jeroboam the son of Nebat she makes that which she calls Israel to sin or like Nebuchadnezzar she sets up an Idol and causeth all her children to bow to it Thus the load of the iniquity of multitudes lies upon that scarlet whore who forces her cup of abominations and filthiness upon all she can Rev 17. 4. causing all both smal and great in all her Territories to receive her marke and worship her Image The work of the Minister of Christ is to keep the conscience tender that the voice of Christ may be heard and the Law of his Spirit of life which makes obedient to the God of life spring up there but this is the Image here is the way bow conform say the Ministers of Antichrist But we are not convinced in the sight of God that this is the way say poor souls It is your own fault ye may be convinif ye will say the Ministers of Antichrist we are ready to give you arguments and Scriptures to convince you how is it ye are not convinced Ye must be convinced otherwise the Magistrate must deale with you Thus they endeavour to harden the conscience that they may set upon it and ride it and terrifie it from it's subjection to it's only true and lawful King O the havock that hath been made of souls by this means the Lord is requiring it of this generation But let me ask this question to all the learned and wise in all the Regions of Babylon under what painted form or way of worship soever Can any worship God aright before they be truly convinced of his will and way can any be convinced without his light and Spirit were it good and acceptable in the sight of God for any persons to run into that way whereof thou sayest thou art convinced that it is the way before they themselves are convinced If it be not good or acceptable what is that that goes about to compel them Away with thy carnal weapons and if thou wilt draw to God draw by that which is spiritual but if thou wilt still be using outward force running to the laws of men and power of the Magistrate the Lord hath opened an eye which discovers thy nakednesse herein and is able to make it manifest in the sight of all people and thou shalt not long cover thy shame The Lotds people shall be a willing people to follow him in the day of his power but all the Lords people have been unwilling to follow thee in the day of thy power which is neer an end and the very fountain of thy deceit and tyranny over the conscience is opening and making manifest 8. Persecution of such as she cannot compell to her worship She sets up her form of knowledg she sets up her way of worship and those that will not be drawn to own the one and practise the other she sets her brand upon them for erroneous persons Schismaticks Hereticks they must not buy or sel Rev 13. 17. They must be banished or imprisoned or perhaps put to death for she is hardly satisfied til she hath drunk the blood of those who in any eminent degree are the witnesses of Christ against her Rev 17. 6. This was a thing wondered at by John with great admiration to see this woman this great City out of which all the venomous darts are shor against the Saints and Martyrs of Jesus under a pretence of zeal for the Church and ordinances of Christ For this is the engine whereby the Dragon makes war with the true womans seed which keep the commandements of God and have the testimony