Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	worship_n	zeal_n	zealous_a	118	3	8.8519	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A90391	An examination of the grounds or causes, which are said to induce the court of Boston in New-England to make that order or law of banishment upon pain of death against the Quakers; as also of the grounds and considerations by them produced to manifest the warrantableness and justness both of their making and executing the same, which they now stand deeply engaged to defend, having already thereupon put two of them to death. As also of some further grounds for justifying of the same, in an appendix to John Norton's book ... whereto he is said to be appointed by the General Court. And likewise of the arguments briefly hinted in that which is called, A true relation of the proceedings against the Quakers, &c. Whereunto somewhat is added about the authority and government which Christ excluded out of his Church ... By Isaac Penington, the younger.	Penington, Isaac, 1616-1679.	1660 (1660)	Wing P1166; Thomason E1020_5; ESTC R203130	87,615	103

ye and be not afraid of their terror neither be troubled 1 Pet 3.14 and the Apostle Paul bids the Philippians stand fast in one Spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel and in nothing terrified by your adversaries which is to them an evident token of perdition but to you of salvation and that of God And the same Apostle who commended the Hebrews as having done well in bearing the great sight of afflictons encourages them to go on still and not be weary or faint in their minds but resist even to blood eyeing Christ who endured the contradiction of sinners to the very last Heb. 12.3 4. And he practised as he taught for he was not terrified with bonds or afflictions nor accounted his life dear unto him but that which was dear unto him was the serving of his Lord and Master in preaching and witnessing to his truths as his spirit led him Acts 20.23 24. trusting on the Lord to uphold him in enduring of them or to deliver him out of them as he pleased 2 Tim. 3.11 but that which he and the rest of the Apostles and Saints of Christ applyed themselves to in case of persecution was to suffer 1 Cor. 4.12 And whoever they are that will be Christs faithful Disciples now must look to meet with the same cross as they did not only from the prophane World but from the worldly professors also for there were not only zealous worldly professors in that age but the same spirit hath remained in every age since which still gets into the best form it can when need requires to oppose the power thereby And they that are in the Spirit and in the power must expect to be persecuted by such and they are to bear it and not to flie from it unless by a particular call and dispensation from the Lord for a particular service which is not the rule as it is here made but rather an exception from the rule So Christ sending his Disciples in hast to preach the Gospel bids them not salute in the way Luke 10.4 nor be stopped by persecution but hasten to publish the sound of Christs coming in the Cities of Israel for the harvest was great but the laborers few Mat. 9.37 and yet notwithstanding all the hast they could make they should not have gone over the Cities of Israel before the Son of man come Mat. 10.23 There is a time to suffer persecution and a time to flee from persecution and both these are to be known in the Lord and to be obeyed in the leadings of his Spirit but to lay it down as a general rule for Christians to observe that when they are persecuted they should flee this is expresly contrary to the Scriptures afore mentioned which shew that Christians are not generally to flee but to stand in the service and work to which they are called bearing witness not only by believing and publishing but also by suffering for the testimony of the truth They are Christs Souldiers and their duty is to stand in the battel and bear all the shot and persecutions of the enemy if God call them off to any other service that is a sufficient warrant for them but flying upon other termes may prove a great dishonour to their Master and to his cause and truth and may be the occasion of a great loss to their Spirits who are so tempted to flee Neither is this bearing the brunt of persecutions and standing in Gods work and service notwithstanding them all even unto death any tempting of God but an obedient taking up of the cross according to his will and command And whereas you plead that reason requires it what kind of reason is it which bids avoid the cross of Christ and flee for safety And what kind of Spirit is that which preacheth this Doctrine laying it down as a general rule for Christians to flee when they are persecuted Is it not that Spirit which fain would be at ease in the flesh in so much as it self will rather persecute than be disturbed of its fleshly liberty though its very unwilling to bear the reproach of being accounted a persecutor Ah how did the Jews cry out against their Fathers for killing the Prophets and verily thought if they had lived in their dayes they should by no means have done it and yet the same Spirit was in them though they saw it not but thought themselves far from it That which blinded them was a wrong knowledge of the Scriptures and a great zeal and devotion about their Temple worship and Ordinances without a sensible feeling of the guidance of Gods Spirit The same Spirit that deceived them layeth the same snare in these dayes and men swallow it as greedily with as great confidence as they did the zealous professors of religion for the generality still becoming persecutors of the present appearance of truth not knowing what they do Thus in the fear of the Lord God and in love to your souls with a meek and gentle spirit not being offended at what ye have done but looking over it to the Lord who bringeth glory to his name and advantage to his truth by the sufferings and death of his Saints have I answered your grounds and considerations and in the same fear love and meekness have I some things further to propose to your considerations which are of great concernment to you and deserve to be weighed by an equal hand in the equal ballance without prejudice or partiality 1. Consider meekly and humbly whether the Scriptures be the rule of the Children of the new covenant for if the Scripture was not intended by God for the rule and ye take it to be the rule then ye may easily mistake the way to eternal life and also err in your understanding and use of the Scriptures making such an use of them as they were never intended for and so missing of the true use and intent of them Now that the Scripture was not intended nor given forth by God to be the rule of the Children of the New Covenant besides our faithful Testimony from the sight of the thing in the true eternal light weigh our arguments from the Scripture many are mentioned in our writings consider at present of these three 1. The Scripture is an outward rule or law but the Scripture saith the law of the new covenant shall be an inward law It is written in the Prophets that all the Children of the new covenant or new Jerusalem shall be taught of the Lord Isa 54.13 who teacheth them inwardly by his Spirit and writeth his law in their hearts Jer. 31.33 34. and after this manner did the Lord take his people into covenant with himself and teach them in the Apostles dayes 1 John 2.27 The covenant is inward the teacher inward the writing inward the law inward and there it is to be read learned and known where the Spirit teacheth and writeth it 2. Scripture or the writings

open to the voyce of Gods Spirit and then no marvel if afterwards ye grew hard and fit to persecute who first had shewed your selves unfit and unworthy to suffer Ye might meet with many crosses afterwards which might neither be able to humble you nor keep you tender having once lost that cross which was appointed of God to do it for all crosses do not break humble or keep the heart low and meek but such as are sent and sanctified by God thereunto 4. Consider when ye came to New-England whether tenderness grew up in you and was abundantly exercised towards such as might differ from you or whether ye were as eager for the way that ye thought to be right as the conformists you fled from were for the way they thought to be right When Israel came out of Egypt into their own Land they were to be tender even toward an Egyptian much more towards their own brethren Now when ye were out of danger of being persecuted your selves did ye lay a foundation of tender usage towards all that should differ from you or did you lay a foundation of persecuting such as differ and would suffer none differing from you but persecute them just as the Bishops persecuted you Did ye flee the having of your selves persecuted or did ye flee the persecuting Spirit For if ye did flee only your own persecution and not the persecuting Spirit in your selves no marvel though it fell a persecuting so soon as the fear of your own persecution was over In this fleshly part there is a persecuting Spirit which if it be not kept down by the power of God though it loves not to be persecuted yet will soon be persecuting 5. Did you feel your selves to grow in the inward life upon your coming into New-England or did that begin to flag and wither and your growth chiefly consist in form and outward order in which ye might easily be mistaken too for many who have given a true testimony and have been faithful in helping to pull down yet have erred when they came to build up That Spirit which is kept low by persecution and gives forth its testimony against things in fear and trembling is many times exalted when it is out of the fear of persecution and can weigh debate consider and resolve things in that part which cannot build for God Ephraim under the rod spake trembling but the rod being off he could exalt his own wisdome and offend in Baal That worship and way of government and order which a man takes up in the fleshly reason and which falls in with the worldly interest he serves not the true God in but Baal This is that destroyes and eats out the life of Religion in many namely the mixing of it with their worldly interest for then the offence of the cross ceases to them and they begin to be offended at others on whom the cross is still laid by God thinking that they may comply with them in joyning their religion and worldly interest together and so avoyd the cross as well as they Nay he that will follow Christ must take up the daily cross even that cross which God daily layes upon him who will still be requiring somewhat which is contrary to his own fleshly part and contrary to the fleshly part of those with whom he converses And as this cross is taken up the worldly part is offended and the life grows cutting down worldly interests and wayes of Religion daily but as worldly interests are followed and kept up the fleshly part thrives and the life decayes and suffers even till at length it come under death and then death hath the dominion 6. Consider whether your chief strength of setting up your Church Government order at first of bringing persons into it and of preserving them in it lie in the spirit and spiritual weapons or in the flesh and carnal weapons if in the spirit and spiritual weapons then ye will be able in God to perswade mens consciences to it and to preserve them by the same vertue and strength which perswaded them and this ye will still have the main recourse to but if in carnal then ye will have recourse to the carnal and there will be your main confidence of keeping up your Church For if it was built by that power it must be upheld by that power so that take that away it falls This is Antichrists strength he sets up a form in the wisdome and maintains it by the outward sword Take him off from this and put him to gaining ground by the demonstration of the Spirit to mens consciences as in the sight of God or to preserving his ground so here he is at a loss and his Kingdome daily falls even in the most refined parts of it Let every Church and people that nameth the name of Christ depart from the wayes of Antichrist and make the Spirit of Christ their strength for that is indeed the only strength of the true Religion both of the inward and outward part thereof In that it begins by that it is preserved and there also it grows and is perfected 7. Consider for it lies upon me to press it yet further and lay it yet more home to you for your good whether the persecuting Spirit did not take its advantage of assaulting you upon your getting from under the cross here into New-England and whether it did not soon find a place in you there and grow up in you and bring you from step to step to that degree of hardness that ye could at length even drink the blood of the Saints That it was then the proper time of the persecuting Spirit to seek to get an entrance into you that is very manifest but whether it did get entrance or no that belongs to you narrowly to search and examine When ye were under the hatches while ye your selves were persecuted then there was little room for that Spirit in you then was not a proper time for your entertaining of it but when ye were at liberty to chuse a way and form of worship then was a proper time for this temptation to prevail with you of setting up your own way as the chief or only way and under a pretence of zeal for God to persecute the breakings forth of his light in others for it could not be expected that that Spirit should directy tempt you who had suffered so much by persecution suddainly to become persecutors of others but to hide its bait under a cover and under a pretence of zeal for God his truths and way of worship to blind your eyes and draw you aside into that which is indeed persecution of it Sin is very deceitful and seeks covers and of all sins persecution has most need of covers it is of so contrary a nature to the tender Spirit of the Gospel Now when sin hath got its cover then by degrees it hardens the heart both from and against the truth Take heed

powerfully leads us from it this is not right nor justifiable in the sight of God Ah take heed of reviling persecuting and speaking all manner of evil against us falsely for his name sake whom we are called to serve and whom we do serve in following and obeying the light of his Spirit in us which hath led us to the true knowledge of God and to life and peace with him About the close of this argument for the further strengthening of it it is said Duty is not opposite to duty passiveness for the truth and activeness against the enemies of the truth are both duties in their season Answ Every kind of activeness against the enemies of the truth is not duty for some kind is sinful There is a lawful fighting and an unlawful fighting Such a kind of fighting against an enemy as may hurt a friend and cannot hurt the enemy is unlawful Now the Magistrates sword may hurt a friend may affright the tender conscience from its duty towards Christ but it cannot reach the falsehood which lodgeth in the heart nor draw the party from that but rather hardeneth him in it So that it is not a duty to have the Magistrates sword drawn out against that for which it is not proper where it may do hurt and not good The housholder would not permit his own servants to gather up the tares lest they should root up the wheat with them Mat. 13.29 Did Christ deny his Disciples that liberty and doth he grant it to the Magistrates Is the Magistrate out of danger of hurting the wheat while he is smiting at the tares nay is he not in danger of smiting and rooting up the wheat instead of the tares Surely this is the Magistrates duty to keep in his place and not to extend his sword beyond his commission and beyond what it is proper for And let me put this to all the Magistrates of the earth who have been drawing out their sword against tares as they might think are ye sure that ye never touched any green thing Revel 9.4 did ye never pluck up any wheat ye must give an account of this to Christ one day Here in Old England in the Bishops dayes the best were liable to be excommunicated and weeded out of the Church and also to be struck at by the Magistrate how it hath been in New-England I leave it to your consciences to consider of do not slubber it over but make up a just account What Moses did Levit. 24. in case of blasphemy he did by immediate direction from God vers 13. and he was a type of Christ who inwardly and spiritually fulfils all his outward shadows And Christ doth not say that every blasphemer under the Gospel shall be put to death but all blasphemy or speaking against the son of man shall be forgiven but there is a kind of blasphemy which he will not forgive And the Church by his Spirit are to try and deal with blasphemers even to the cutting of them off by the sword of the Spirit that they may repent and learn not to blaspheme 1 Tim. 1.20 but the Magistrace is not now appointed to cut them off in their blasphemy and so to take away that time of repentance from them which Christ hath allowed them Christs Ordinances and institutions do not clash one with another he doth not bid the Church cut off a Person from the unity with the sword of the Spirit that he might feel the loss of life and be made sensible of what a condition his blasphemies have brought him to and so come to mourn and repent I say Christ doth not do this on the one hand and on the other other hand bid the Magistrate banish him or cut him off with the sword and so take away his time of repentance from him Nay this device sprang from the false Church to make her excommunication outwardly terrible and dreadful which hath no inward vertue or cause of terror and dread at all in it So as touching Nehemiah he was both extraordinarily stirred up by God and his time was under the law so that the argument from his example is not valid to them who have not such a warrant as he had for he saith himself that God had put in his heart what he had to do at Jerusalem Nehem 2.12 and where the state and ministration is changed The Priests did that under the law which is not now to be done but typified what Christ the unchangeable Priest was to do So likewise Kings Judges and Governors of that People did that under the law towards them which is not now to be done outwardly towards any by any King Ruler or Magistrate but typified what Christ was inwardly to do in the Spirits of his people and how he would gather preserve and defend his Church and wound and subdue his enemies even by his rod and Scepter which is the sword of his Spirit the word of his mouth And as for Ephesus and Thyatira's not suffering false Apostles and the Woman Jesabel We do not say that any errors or erronious persons are to be suffered by the Church but to be dealt with in Christs power and authority But the delivering up of these to the secular power we know to have been an invention of Antichrists and a great dishonour to Christ as if his Rod and Scepter were not sufficient to defend his subjects and kingdome and to beat down his enemies and also a ground of much affliction persecution and bloodshed of the Saints yea and of suppressing the truth of God for a season For the persecutor having once gotten this cover then he can do that openly and boldly which otherwise he would blush and he ashamed of To persecute Christ to put his people to death and that for professing and publishing his truths God forbid saith the Antichristian Spirit in every form and way of Religion that we should do this but in every age calls the witnesses to the truth of that age blasphemers wicked persons persons that by their tenents overthow the fundamentall truths of the Gospel and their Doctrines destructive c. And now what zealous people or Minister or what Christian Magistrate can suffer such as these By this artifice the sufferings of the Saints come to abound in every age and their blood is made havock of and what is thus done easily passeth as an act of justice against offenders and not as indeed it is persecution of the truths and people of God The after-age can see what it is and cry out against it but still it is the subtilty of the persecuting Spirit to hide the persecutions of the present age under an appearance of zeal for God and of justice against offenders 3. In the next place it is said on the Quakers behalf that they are the Lambs of Christ Indeed this is a considerable thing for if they be Christs Lambs then they are innocent and cannot be the causers of their own sufferings but

can do nothing they cannot convert any man to God but the power that speaketh by them the same power worketh in other mens consciences at its pleasure And here is the beginning of the government of Christ in the heart when his truth carries conviction with it to the conscience and the conscience is drawn to yeild it self up to him then he layes his yoak upon it and takes upon him the guiding of it he cherisheth it he cleanseth it he comforteth it he ordereth it at his pleasure and he alone preserveth it pure chast gentle meek and plyable to the impressions of his Spirit And as the conscience is kept single and tender to Christ so his government increases therein but as it becomes hard or subject to mens wills so another spirit gets dominion over it Therefore the great work of the Minister of Christ is to keep the conscience open to Christ and to preserve men from receiving any truths of Christ as from them further than the spirit opens or to imitate any of their practises further than the spirit leads guides and perswades them For persons are exceeding prone to receive things as truths from those whom they have an high opinion of and to imitate their practises and so hurt their own growth and indanger their souls For if I receive a truth before the Lord by his spirit make it manifest to me I loose my guide and follow but the counsel of the flesh which is exceeding greedy of receiving truths and running into Religious practises without the spirit Therefore the main thing in religion is to keep the conscience pure to the Lord to know the guide to follow the guide to receive from him that light whereby I am to walk and not to take things for truths because others see them to be truths but to wait till the spirit make them manifest to me nor to run into worships duties performances or practises because others are led thither but to wait till the spirit lead me thither He that makes hast to be rich even in religion running into knowledge and into worships and performances before he feel a true and clear guidance shall not be innocent nor the Lord will not hold him guiltless when he comes to visit for spiritual adultery and idolatry The Apostles were exceeding tender in this point for though they certainly and infallibly knew what was to be believed yet they were not Lords over mens faith but waited till he who is Lord of the faith would open the way into mens consciences They did not take upon them to be able to turn the key to let in truth and conviction into mens spirits as men in these dayes have been too apt to undertake but directed them to him who had the key there to wait for the conviction and illumination of their minds and so to receive in as they found him give forth to them Let every man saith the Apostle be fully perswaded in his own mind take heed of receiving things t●● soon take heed of running into practises too soon take heed of doing what ye see others do but wait for your own particular guidance and for a full perswasion from God what is his will concerning you Though I know this to be a truth yet do not ye receive it till God make it manifest to you receive truth from his hand stay till he give it you Indeed the main matter in religion is to keep out the wrong part the forward part the bastardly birth from running into duties catching of openings and laying hold of promises and to feel the heir born of the immortal seed to whom all belongs and that the other birth never afterwards get up above him but be subdued and brought into subjection Again saith the Apostle take heed of doing any thing doubtingly be not forward be not hasty wait for the leading wait for the manifestation of the Spirit Be sure thou receive what thou receives in the faith and practise what thou practises in the faith for whatsoever is not of faith is sin being an error from the principle of life which is to guide and thereby thou loosest ground and dishonourest Christ and comest under condemnation And so the Apostle warns believers to take heed of drawing one another on too fast or of judging one another in such things as some of them might have light in others not He that eateth not to judge him that did not eat and he that did not eat not to judge him that did eat Yea in matters of worship he that observed a day and kept a Sabbath not to judge him that observed not a day or kept not a Sabbath for the Jews which were truly converted yet were hard to be drawn off from the observation of their Sabbath and could hardly bear with the believing Gentiles who were never taught to keep their Sabbath with them but were taught to esteem every day and sanctifie it to the Lord Rom. 14.5 And these who esteemed every day and dedicated it to the Lord ceasing from sin and resting to him for under the Gospel we are not to set up a new type but to enter by faith into the true rest which is the substance of what the other signified could hardly bear with them who observed a day Even in the Apostles dayes Christians were too apt to strive after a wrong unity and uniformity in outward practises and observations and to judge one another unrighteously in these things And mark it is not the different practise from one another that breaks the peace and the unity but the judging of one another because of different practises He that keeps not a day may unite in the same spirit in the same life in the same love with him that keeps a day and he who keeps a day may unite in heart and soul with the same spirit and life in him who keeps not a day but he that judgeth the other because of either of these errs from the spirit from the love from the life and so breaks the bond of unity And he that draws another to any practise before the life in his own particular lead him doth as much as in him lies to destroy the soul of that person vers 15. This was the Apostles rule for every one to perform singly to the Lord what he did and not for one to meddle with the light or conscience of another undervaluing his brother or judging him because his light and practises differed from his vers 10. of that 14. chap. but every one to keep close to their own measure of light even to that proportion of faith and knowledge which God of his mercy hath bestowed on them And here is the true unity in the Spirit in the inward life and not in an outward uniformity That was not necessary in the Apostles dayes nor is it necessary now and that eye which so dotes upon it overlooks the one thing which is necessary Men keeping close to God the Lord will