Selected quad for the lemma: saint_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
saint_n	call_v	church_n	corinth_n	2,165	5	11.4080	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A88818	The wolf stript of his sheeps clothing or The antichristian clergy-man turn'd right side outwards. Wherein is briefly discovered and layd open their subtile and wicked wayes and practises to deceive and destroy not only private people, or particular societies, but whole nation and kingdoms, and all under the plausible vizzard of reformation, church-government, punishing of hereticks and sectaries. / By R. Lavvrance Marshal General.	Lawrence, Richard, d. 1684.	1647 (1647)	Wing L682; Thomason E386_10; ESTC R201479	19,259	30

to the work of the Ministery which had in them an infalliable spirit to guide them and yet you never finde them speaking or doing any thing in their own name or in the name or authority of any other but Christ himself producing his precepts and practices for all their words and actions That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you 1 John 1.3 so Acts 4.20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard they do not say the things which we have considered and and agreed upon So ye read in the first of the Acts and verse the second That Christ by the holy Ghost had given commandment to the Apostles whom he had chosen and in obedience to those commands of Christ did they act and do all which they did This was the doctrine Peter preached Acts 10.42 And he commanded us to preach unto the people and to testifie that it was he which was ordained of God to be judge of quick and dead and when Peter and John were commanded to preach no more in this name Acts 4.19 Peter and John answered and said unto them Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more then unto God judge ye And as they did not decline the preaching in the name never the more for being commanded to the contrary so would they not have preached it ever the less or more for being commanded to do it by any but Christ who had alone power to inable them to obey his commands therefore saith David I will run the way of thy commandments when thou shalt inlarge my heart Psal 119.32 If men could inlarge hearts as well as give commands there might be some hopes of their forcing to beleeve in Christ and to walk in the way of his commandments But in vain do ye worship me saith Christ teaching for doctrine the commandments of men Matth. 15.9 Though the commandments which those Pharisees take for doctrine were commandments of men to worship the true God and that after the most strictest manner according to the Law of Moses as they judged Acts 26.5 and yet this was then vain worship how comes it now to be orthodox and so you finde Paul that great Apostle called and chosen to the Ministry by Christ himself Acts 9.5 6. and to that end was filled with the holy Ghost Verse 7. of a contrary spirit to the Apostles and Ministers of our times when there was several divisions and opinions in the Church of Corinth he did not side with one or two of them to see if he could suppress the other he did not countenance those that cryed up Paul no more then those that cryed up Apollo nor those that were for Cephas less then those that were for Christ but his designe was to have Christ advanced above Paul Apollo and Cephas two he included them altogether and writ to them all as Brethren 1 Cor. 1.10 11. and the thing which he propounded to them was not whether any of the rulers or of the pharisees beleeved on him as they did John 7.48 but Is Christ divided was Paul crucified for you or were you baptized into the name of Paul Verse 13. threw himself down that Christ might be set up He doth not direct his Epistle to them under the names of their several opinions as they stood divided neither doth he call them Sectaries nor Schismatikes though they were as really such as most that are so accounted of among us but to the Church of God which is at Corinth to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints c. Verse 2. Neither doth he charge the cause of their divisions upon their illiterate mechanick Teachers though such they had Verse 26 27. for if he had they might have said to him Paul thou art but a Tent-maker but all that Paul prest at was to tread down and that with detestation all humane wisdom and learning and let them know it had no share neither in him nor in Christ as you may see in the three first Chapters of this Epistle which would have been useless at that time if that had not been the cause of their mistake they did not know that God would destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent V. 19. That the foolishness of God is wiser then men and the weakness of God stronger then men For ye see your calling Brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty and base things of the world and things which are despised hath God chosen yea and things which are not to bring to nought things which are They did not consider that God would have no flesh glory in his presence that Christ was made alone by God wisdom and righteousness to his people Yerse 29 30. But so far have these self-exalting vain-glorious Clergy-men been from using any of these Arguments or Scriptures against divisions and opinions that it is little less then Heresie with them for any to read or make mention of these Scriptures to them if it cross their designes that if Paul were now alive amongst us and should preach such doctrine as this 〈◊〉 were enough to fill two or three Gangrena's but though they have hitherto and still may deceive and delude the world with their humane inventions and vain imaginations so shall they not do the Church For the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgement to be punished 1 Peter 2.9 And though the Wolves and Goats may follow them because they are all of one nature and spirit yet the sheep of Christ will follow him For they know his voice and a stranger will they not follow but will flee from him for they know not the voice of strangers John 10.4 5. Neither shall the time of their deceiving last alwayes Onely he who now letteth will let till he be taken out of the way And then shall that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming 2 Thess 2.7 8. FINIS

party at the beginning of this war that in some Garrisons as Oxford Newark York and several others there were whole Troops and Companies of black-coats and where ever the greatest flocks of these learned Deceivers were resident there were the people most disaffected to the Parliament as witness the Universities and Cathedrals which appeared to be the very nests and cages of unclean birds If the Parliament should have forborne to have given them the tenth of the Kingdom till such time as the tenth of the Clergy had been of their sides the Ordinance for Tithes might yet have been unpast If I should go on to particulars of their Malignant speeches and actions which they have spoken and done against the Parliament and their proceedings since this war begun you would not have the patience to read them of their villifying the Parliament and all that adhered to them under the names of Rebels and Traytors frequently charging them of sacriledge and robbing the Church of her ancient Rites and Ceremonies extolling the Book of Common-prayer calling it the Divine Service of God thereby to render the Parliament odious for taking away such holy things with abundance more of this nature so that all these things well considered and laid together I wonder who will appear the great Sectaries the grand Heretikes the factious Fellows the sowers of Sedition and destroyers of Religion in the Kingdom whether the Laity or the Clergy and who we have now most cause to stand in fear of whether those which are now discovering the superstitious blindness and wicked practises of the Clergy or the Clergy themselves which are driving on their old designes in a new shape that are building a new Babel out of the old rubbish that are giving that great skarlet whore a new dress thereby to make the world once more wonder after her that they may once more hear that voice Great is Diana of the Ephesians but let me perswade thee not to fear them neither it is enough for their servants their vassals such as stand and fall with them to live in fear of them But if thou best one of those which follow the Lamb wheresoever he goeth Rev. 14 4. that art willing to carry the cross of Christ as well as wear his Crown that art willing to suff●r with him as well as raign in the day of their great calamity When they shall drink the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his Indignation and shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb Revel 14.10 Then shalt thou stand with the Lamb upon mount Sion verse the first Then shalt thou sing a new song before the throne Verse 7. Then shall you sing A●leluia salvation honor and power unto the Lord our God for true and righteous are his judgements for he hath judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand Revel 19.1 2. Therefore be not now at all troubled when thou seest the day begin to grow dark it is but a cloud that is arising it will be no more night with the Church if they have a dark hour the sun will shine through the cloud For lo the winter is past the rain is over-gone the flowers begin to appear on the earth Cant. 2.11 It is now spring-time with the Church and though there may be many a cold blast and stormy showre yet they are rather to be desired then feared They will cause the fig-tree to put forth her green-figs and the vine with the tender grape to give a good smell Cant. 2.13 What though Truth be yet called Error and Light darkness the Saints and faithful servants of God Schismatikes and Heretikes c. let not this trouble thee it is no new thing that hath befaln thee they never were called by other names yet by this generation of men called Clergy and Paul was not ashamed to confess to Felix that after the way they call Heresie he worshiped the God of his Fathers and if thou best ashamed to confess that now thou mayest come to be ashamed of Christ and Truth and so deny both Therefore do not thou minde so much what men cry up for truth and tread down for error for all is not error that is voted so It hath been the lot of truth in most counsels if not in all to have the fewest voices and thou mayest be sure they themselves that put truth upon vote are not themselves satisfied what truth is till they have done voting But if they were the sons of truth or had any love to or high esteem of truth if they had ever tasted of that word of truth and righteousness if they had ever received the truth in the love of it it would be more precious to them then to be ventured at one stake But this doth fully declare to us they hold the truth in unrighteousness Romans 1.18 These are such as Isaiah speaketh off Isaiah 48.1 Which are called by the name of Israel and are come forth out of the waters of Judah which swear by the name of the Lord and make mention of the God of Israel but not in truth nor in righteousness These men never followed Christ for the love of Truth it is the loaves more then the miracles that they minde These Simon Magus's which have purchased their Apostleships by their money love their wages better then they do their work The first thing they minde is how to get a Gospel-maintenance and then they never fear a Gospel Ministery they know by experience the former begets the latter These are not of the race of that true Shepherd for his work was to save mens lives Luke 9.56 But the business of these hath been to destroy mens lives He came to lay down his life for the sheep John 10.15 These come to take away the lives of the sheep John 10.10 His work was to feed the flock John 10.9 These take the fleece and starve the flock Ezekiel 34.2 His disposition and expression to the flock are full of love and tender bowels He shall feed his flock like a shepherd he shall gather the Lambs in his arms and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those that are with young Isaiah 40.11 But these like those wicked cruel shepherds are on the contrary nature The diseased have you not strengthned neither have you healed that which was sick neither have you bound up that which was broken neither have you brought again that which was driven away neither have you sought that which was lost but with force and with cruelty have you ruled them Ezek. 34.4 These are of those theeves Christ speaks off John 10.10 that come not but for to steal to kill and destroy but I am come that ye might have life saith Christ and that you might have it more abundantly These are not