Selected quad for the lemma: prayer_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
prayer_n	pray_v	spirit_n	watch_v	2,594	5	9.9201	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A85315	Stablishing against shaking: or, A discovery of the Prince of Darknesse (scarcely) transformed into an angel of light, powerfully now working in the deluded people called, Quakers: with a sober answer to their railings against ministers for receiving maintenance from their people. Being the substance of one sermon preached Feb. 17. 1655. at Shalford in Essex. / By Giles Firmin (pastour of the church there) upon occasion of the Quakers troubling those parts.	Firmin, Giles, 1614-1697.	1656 (1656)	Wing F967; Thomason E885_13; ESTC R202074	45,528	65

is this Angel of Light who works by deceit 2. God hath his ends in this it is not his pleasure that Satan should ever be an Angel of Light again but it is his pleasure I know no false Divinity in the word that Satan should have liberty to transform himself into an Angel of Light First what terrible ends he had in giving Satan commission to goe to Ahabs prophets in sending strong delusions 2 Thes 2.11 the Texts declare and certainly there are the same reasons still when people have lived under light but they love it not secret rottennesse lye at bottome they love darknesse they shall have Lights at last which shall sute their principles and certainly lead them to what they love and that freely Secondly he doth by such providences try and make discovery even of his own people Deut. 13.3 A Prophet riseth up giveth a signe and the signe comes to passe who would not follow him take heed I doe it to prove you How much miserable ignorance and vanity of heart have these times discovered wherein Satan hath thus acted even in those who gave hopes and we dare not absolutely deny but they may belong to God those who we hoped had been men have discovered themselves to be children yea the weakest of children carried about with every winde of doctrine Thirdly he doth exercise his owne who doe stand here is room for patience watching studying prayer I believe there is more discouragement upon the spirits of sound Ministers and Christians than there was in those former dayes which they so much prayed against and are answered Now our hearts but why doe I measure other mens hearts by my own doe even dye the Spirit of prayer is gone and what can we look for but a su●table reward to our abused liberty More heads I could have added and enlarged but I have done with the doctrinall part Vse For Uses I will make but one for time will not let me handle more Let people then look to their Lights be they Lights of doctrine or of comfort the Prince of darknesse is transformed into an Angel of Light he walks in the Churches he that taketh light from him will be sure to finde it end in darknesse take heed that you be not deceived Object Deceived Have we not a word that tells us There is an impossibility of the Elect being deceived Mat. 24.24 Answ 1. It is true and are you Elect doe you know it so certainly upon grounds infallible not imaginary that you are one of them I think we must goe backwards to prove Election by the effects which the execution of that Decree produceth One which I am sure is to make the Elect vessel carefull what doctrines it receiveth 2. An Elect vessel cannot be deceived so as to misse of salvation yet he may take such courses and goe in those pathes which in themselves would lead him to perdition after effectuall calling I meane but that the mercy of the Lord fetch him back by repentance out of them 3. An elect Vessel may be so farre deceived as to dishonour God exceedingly grieve the Spirit of God wound the hearts of the children of God which should not nay cannot be small things in the eyes of one who is indeed Elect. 4. Though an elect Vessel cannot be deceived as to ruine his soule yet he may be so farre deceived as to lead others also into deceitfull pathes and may be truely an occasion why they lose their soules God may show the Elect mercy and recall them but not those it may be whom the Elect hath mislead And here look to it ye Separatists that have cast off the Ministery with so much scorne at your dore must lye the cause why so many persons are turned Quakers you now rise up against them some of you but the people that hear you and them argue tell us you are run down you cannot answer them and no wonder But who may it thank that so many are carried away into such vile errours as your selves can judge onely your selves while the people kept to Gods Institutions waiting upon Officiall preaching there was no such doings Whither come these Quakers but to Townes where you dwell and have drawn away the people from the Ministery there these Foxes finde their preyes Had the people kept close to the Ministery they had been preserved from these miscarriages and been in the way God useth to save by but now they are gone Quest But how shall we know this transformed Angel of Light how discern him Answ This is a hard thing because an Angel of Light Angels doe excell man in wisdome abundantly whence we may well thinke it is not easie to finde him out When David asked the woman of Tekoah whether Joabs hand was not with c. She answers My Lord not Thou man as the Quakers is wise according to the wisdome of an Angel of God I may say that man had need have wisdome neer to the wisdome of those true Angels of Light who would be able to discover all the falshoods of this transformed Angel of Light both in doctrine and in comforts c. As for the Light of comfort it is not my purpose to touch that here I intend onely the Light of doctrine and truly the generation I am now to take in hand are so grosse that an ordinary assistance of Gods Spirit is enough to discover these to whom now I shall addresse my self and because I am to speak to plain people and to those onely I intend this Sermon because that sort is so mislead I shall desire them but to observe this First I lay down that which I know is the Light of Christ which I call the Major Proposition Secondly I lay down the doctrine of the Quakers as being quite crosse to that Light which I call the Minor Proposition and because I would not wrong the Quakers I write down their own words out of their own Books with the page where you may finde them if you have the books so that when you see Major or Minor you may know what I am proving if I doe prove the Major to be the Light of Christ and the Quakers be crosse to that Light then the Conclusion is you may be sure the Quakers light come from Satan transformed c. Argumēt 1 Major That light which will not admit of nor endure the triall that light is Satans light and not the light of Christ Minor But the light of the Quakers will not admit of nor endure the triall Ergo. the light of the Quakers is the light of Satan and not the light of Christ Major The Major is thus proved because the light of Christ will admit of and endure the triall as Take Christ himself who is the Light of the world if the question be whether he be the Christ he will come to the triall Ioh. 5.39 He had others to bear witnesse of him in the verses before but he offers himself to be tried

in our sense they cry out upon us Mason p. 11. reproves Mr. Scortrith with scorne because he affirmed that God and a Saint are not one Christ and a Saint are not one then quotes against him Joh. 17.11 which is nothing to his purpose 21.22 and 2 Cor. 6.16 1 Cor 6.17 yet saith he is there not a reall union between them is not Christ the head of the body c I believe Mr. Scortrith did never deny this for it is the common received truth among Divines that the union is reall that is it is not Ens rationis 't is not an imaginary thing and that Christ is the head Mysticè who denyes it Dr. * Saints persev p. 189. Owen hath gone as farre as a man can goe with safety I think in this point and yet not spoken more then some others have before him both Bucanus and Polanus so that it was another kinde of union which Mr. Scortrith denyed and with him also all sober men Parnel fruits fast p. 25. propounds these two queries to Priest Stalham Sparrow and among the rest 48. What is your owne righteousnesse and what is the righteousnesse of Christ and how doe you distinguish between them What a hard question is this to answer in a sound way also but then 49. Whether he that is justified by the righteousnesse of Christ doth not dwell in it and it in him and whether he that dwells in the righteousnesse of Christ doth sin yea or nay Is this the way whereby you come to be so free from sin You say below these things i. e. the 61 Queries I doe not aske as if I knew them not but for the satisfaction of the simple c. The simple are beholden to you but had not you been both proud and simple you would not have moved such queries as you have done But I answer for the righteousnesse of Christ dwelling c. I deny that the righteousnesse of Christ whereby a believer is justified doth dwell in him Saluta c. p. 20. your fellow Quaker Naylor is against you unlesse you carry this secretly that we are Christed with Christ then something you may gather by dwelling I mean it is not inherent in us Bellarmine makes difference between the satisfaction of Christ by which we are pardoned this he will not admit to be in us and that righteousnesse by which we are justified this he saith is inherent in us But I dare not accuse the Quakers of being guilty of so much knowledge and I presume you doe not aime at his doctrine For the other phrase The justified person dwelling in the righteousnesse of Christ and so not sinning I confesse my simplicity cannot understand this unlesse it had more sense in it I have read 2 Pet. 3.13 wherein dwelleth righteousnesse but I have not read where a Beleever dwels in Christs righteousnesse nor of so dwelling as not to sin Argum 8 Major That light which teach men to omit their duty to God that light is the light of Satan not of Christ Minor But so doe the light of the Quakers Ergo. The Major need no proof Christ doth not teach men to omit their duty then he is a teacher of unrighteousnesse Minor But the Quakers light teach men to omit their duty to God viz. Prayer Parnel Watch p 46. speaking against one Then thou went on with thy deluding spirit pressing the wicked to pray whereas Prov. 15.8 the prayers of the wicked are abominable and thus thou didst that which was ab●minable in the sight of God in praying thy selfe and teaching the wicked to pray Parnel Gol p. 15. The Apostles did not teach the wicked to pray Answ 1. It is true while men goe on in a course of wickednesse and are resolved to doe so yet in the meane time think to heale themselves and make God amends by their Prayers the Lord saith he abominates their Prayers Yet this denyeth not Prayer to be their duty to acknowledge their Lord and Creator upon whom they depend 2. Why doe the Quakers so much call all people to sinke downe to the light of God in the Conscience as before yet now exclaime upon men for being guided by it the light of God in the Conscience doth teach men to pray bids them pray should they not obey their Conscience 1 Jonah 6.14 the Conscience of the Heathens did dictate Prayer 3. Must not the wicked pray because they sin and so it is abominable then they must not plow neither for that also is sinne Prov. 21.4 but all sin is abominable to God what then must not the wicked plow I hope then the Quakers will keep their families 4. Was Peter no Apostle was not Simon Magus wicked read Acts 8.22 The Apostle lames 5 Chap. 13. Is any among you afflicted Let him pray But suppose a wicked man though I love Charity well yet I believe there might be one or two among those Tribes he writes to what must he doe Surely Any will reach him If he may pray when afflicted why not at at other times observe the Epistle and you will finde there were some wicked among them 5. What mean those words Ier. 10.25 Fury on families that call not on his name Naylor Saluta p. 19. to the question must we not pray Answers I say waite for the spirit of prayer But where learn you this This is your spirits Divinity suppose the Spirit comes not this month or yeare Then it seems the duty must lye by for God to give his Spirit is his free act for me to pray is my duty as a Creature let me doe my duty and waite there for the free Spirit of God p. 20 Your times are in your owne hands a little after but the times of Sons and Daughters are not in their hands no it 's true if you mean those times David speaks of Psal 31.15 But the times of prayer you speak of Daniel was a Son yet he Chap. 6.10 three times a day prayed so David and others had their times But for times to sin we abhorre them we hope more then you Conclusion Since then the Quakers Light teach people to omit prayer I conclude their light is of Satan c. Argum 9 Major That light which teacheth men to say they have no sin that light is the light of Satan not of Christ Minor But so doe the Quakers light Ergo. Major Christ his Light teach us that for the Dominion of sin all his people are freed from it Rom. 7.12.14 but he that saith he hath not the being of sin and doth not sin the truth is not in him 1 Ioh. 1.8 Iob had more holinesse in him then all the Quakers God saith of him that he was perfect ch 1. i. e. Evangelically not Legally for Chap. 9.20 he speak other language so 30. 31. verses Iob 14.4 1 Kings 8.46 Eccles 7.20 Prov. 20.9 Iam. 3.2 a relative perfection in our justification an inherent perfection of parts in our Sanctification a