Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	according_a	doctrine_n	word_n	3,266	5	3.9423	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A48473	Plaine truth without feare or flattery, or, A true discovery of the unlawfulnesse of the Presbyterian government it being inconsistent with monarchy, and the peoples liberties, and contrary both to the protestation and covenant : the end of establishing the militia of London in such hands as it is now put into by the new ordinance, the betraying votes and destructive practices of a traiterous party in the House of Commons concerning certain petions for liberty and justice : also, a vindication of His Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax, concerning certaine scurrulous words uttered by some of the said faction : with the meanes and wayes that must be used to obtaine reliefe against the said cyrannous usurpers, and for reducing the parliament to its due rights, power and priviledges, in the preservation of the kingdomes laws and liberties / written by I.L.	Lilburne, John, 1614?-1657.	1647 (1647)	Wing L2156; ESTC R12537	30,822	22

what the good will of the Lord is concerning his Church and worship what order and rule he hath prescribed and left us by his owne Son in the Gospel Doth not God the Father say This is my beloved Son heare ●hin Mark 9.7 And is it not written And Moses truely said unto the Fathers A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you like unto me him shall ye heare in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you * not the Scots nor the Priests and it shall come to pass that every soule which shall not heare that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people * marke tremble all yee Priests Presbyterians Act. 22 23. And doubtless Christ who was a Son was not less faithfull in Gods house then Moses who was a servant And againe ye have a sure word saith the Apostle unto which yee doe well to take heed 2 Pet. 1.19 Yet doe these presumptuous men despise this command of God and neglect this sure word hearken to their owne corrupt humours take heed to their owne ambitious covetons desires and so proceed in despight of God and his Christ to erect a government after their owne inventions But they will tell you that the Assembly have fearched the Scriptures and had respect to the word in framing this government I beleeve they have but as the Devill did to make use of them for his own ends against Christ for they did not search to find what government it was the Gospell did hold out and warrant and propound and promote that But they first resolve upon propound such a government as will serve their purpose and then they apply themselves to make it good by Scriptures or to enforce the Scriptures for a warrant thus have they made their forme of Church government the rule of Gods word and not Gods word a rule to their form of government having done no otherwise then many Attu●nies Clerks doe who often draw Declarations and writings by another mans president or patterne without examining or consulting the Law in the case which is just as if a Taylor should first make a suit and then make use of his measure And grant that this Presbyteriall government be according to the word of God it is so in toto Is it so absolute that there is no degree of Reformation above it if so then the Scots have exceeded that grand planter of Churches Saint Paul for he told the Corinthians That he would yet shew them a more excellent way Cor. 12 31. And that we know but in part and prophecie but in part but when that which is perfect is come that which is imperfect shall be abolisht 1 Cor. 13.9 10. And Saint Peter and the Prophets spake of a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness Of such a beautifull perfect Reformation and change as if it was a new world 2 Pet. 3.13 and Esay 64.17 I hope no proud Priest or Presbyterian dare affirme that there is yet any such Reformation or change in Scotland righteousness dwelleth not there I am sure and I would it was not almost banished out of England For as much then as there is a reformation more true and excellent than theirs or else theirs is none at all why may not the Independents so called or some others approach neerer to it then they with-waies then doth in the waies of the Presbyterians unlesse the Presbyterians will affirme themselves the onely wise and that the spirit of the most high God dwels only in them but then they must give me leave to aske them Saint Pauls question 1 Cor. 14.36 Came the word of God out from you Or came it unto you onely Or did the Bishop seale unto the Presbyterian Priests the holy Spirit when they sealed unto them their Ordination and so they have kept it ever since close up in a box to be brought forth in these times Truly my friends as learned Rabbies as they are They erre not knowing the Scriptures To the Law therefore and to the Testimony if they speake not according to this word it is because there is no light in them Isa 8.20 The Devill preached truer doctrine when he said that Jesus was the Sonne of God M●t. 8.29 then these Priests when they say that the Presbyterian government is jus divinum the law and government of Jesus Christ but this is as true as that the Church of Rome is a true Church the which they do now * Mr. Seymour one of the Assembly affirmes it in a dispute affirme to prove their Antichristian standing true And now here by the way I will occasionally put a few Queries First whether in case a forme of Church-government and worship contrary to the word of God be by force put upon us against our consciences by the Parliament and Presbyterian Assembly it be not by the same reason as lawfull for us to refuse and resist it vi et armis by force * And the rather because it is inforced by another Nation and without the Kings approbation as it was for the ●cots in like manner to reject and resist the forme of Church-government and worship put violently upon them against their consciences by the King and Bishops Secondly whether the Scots ought or have any more authority or right to prescribe or endeavour an imposition of Church-government and worship upon the people of England then the people of England have to prescribe and endeavour the imposition of the like upon the People of Scotland Thirdly If not Whether the Scott go not beyond their Last Do not move out of their sphere and intermeddle with what they ought not And now seeing there is as cannot be denyed a more high pitch of Reformation in Religion and holy worship then is yet attained or discovered I hope it is no offence nor transgression against the State for any true Christian or servant of Jesus Christ to press hard after it and not to conform himself to fixed formes bounds limits thereby to confine Gods holy Spirit Ye stiffe-necked and rebellious Priests of uncircumcised hearts and eares ye have alwaies resisted the Holy Ghost as your Fathers the Bishops did so do yee Act. 7.51 I have insisted the more upon this particular that the truth herein might be cleare because of the great delusion put upon the People by many of our pretending Reformers through their grand Oaths and pretexts of expelling all Popery and Popish innovations even whatsoever should be contrary to sound doctrine for so I understand those words in the Protestation contrary to the same doctrine and to reforme Religion according to the Word of God and to establish it in the power and purity of it and yet notwithstanding apply all their interest and power to support an * If the standing of the Bishops were antichristian what is theirs who stand by their ordination and power antichristian Ministery and to establish Church-government whose

and money of the People without the Peoples consent make Judges create Lord Keepers or Chancellours and yet the King in presence for they cannot now pretend a necessity by his absence and making use of his name to violate all Law oppresse the People and to commit all injustices in a word to destroy our Liberties and to execute their own Arbitrary wills They speake of having the Kings power with them virtually but we can neither see nor find any of its proper vertue either among them or from them for his Majestres Regall power is just and mercifull regulated by Law preservative and corrective and not unjust cruell irregular and illegall desacing and destructive as the effects have been of the power which the Parliament hath exercised And concerning the Kings estate and revenues no question but it is accumulated and that they have it in bank for they have been very parcimonious Stewards they can hardly spare either the master money for his necessities or his servants any for wages He like a Ward or Pupill is at their set allowance and content with the pittance his late tutors and guardians will allow him I doubt not but it will prove that some of them have made better allowance to themselves both out of his estate and the Republiques also Second how by reason of the predominancy and power of this tyrannous Party in both Houses whose malignant pernitious influence hath been and still is diffusive throughout all the Parliaments actions all these which have taken this Vew and Protestation are and have been defended in pursuance of the same it is sufficiently manifest For who but they that endeavour to maintain the true reformed Protestant Religion according to the doctrine professed in the Church of England in the power and purity of it are hated illegally prosecuted and persecuted vilifyed and reviled and he is most favoured and soonest preferred that can shew himselfe most virulent and violent against them And if you do but sken or looke like a Hare on the one side at the Kings Crown and Dignity you presently incurre through the powerful Votes of this Party the Parliaments high dislike and displeasure and it is a sufficient badge that you are an enemy because you are so to Traitors to the State witnes the high diss●●e of the Armies wise and just demand of his Majesties royall assent to an Act of indempnity truly if they take a bare Parliament ordinance without the Royall assent I will not give them one farthing for their security and it will be found that their Iudges Chancellours Excise men and Sequestrators are in the same case as the Souldiers And to endeavour or petition for liberty according to the Protestation is as much as to ●eg a Prison to sue for justice is to be accounted seditious in a word to be sincere and honest is to be adjudged worthy of no trust imployment or preferment But to make the truth and the wicked practices and purposes of this destroying Party in both Houses yet more plain and open these cunning contrivers of our intended Vassalage and thraldom frame a combination and confederacy by covenant with the Scots and by power and subtilty surprize and ensnare therein the whole Parliament and Kingdom the which I pray read and observe In their feigned profession of sorrow they acknowledge that their not prizing the Gospell nor labouring to receive Christ into their hearts and they say truly hath been the cause of all other sinnes amongst us And therefore with their hands listed up to the most high God they do solemnly swear sincerely to endeavour a reformation of religion in the three Kingdomes in doctrine worship discipline and government according to the word of God and the example of the best reformed Churches now what meanes this juggle and to the example of the best reformed Churches above they swear● and endeavour a reformation and what sincerity is here to make mens impure inventions equivalent to the infallible rule of Gods word to make dogma Presbyteri the opinion of the Priest adaequate to the unalterable last Will and Testament of Jesus Christ only here by this F●yst these deceitfull Spirits endeavour to bring in something of their own that with their claw-back Priests they may seem to have something to do with Christ in his Church government and to sit checke by joule with him in his throne and thus they do still dis-esteem the inestimable benefit of the Gospell and oppose it in the power and purity of it even as their Fathers did so do they harden their hearts against the Lord. If the word of God be a sufficient rule to reform and govern the Church by what need then of any other pattern or platforme The best reformed Churches which are this day in Europe need reformation yea the pure Church of Scotland notwithstanding all their pretence For if you observe our Brethrens various double dealings turnings and windings self seeking and advantage-making in every businesse they transact or negotiate with us far unbeseeming men pretending so great conscientiousnes in all things so highly professing the power of Religion in purenes of life and conversation At first they were against the King then while he was with them they spek and write highly for him and now they have made the most they can of him The Scots have made more of the King then Judas did of the King of heaven they are again become adversaries to him one while they press one part of their deceitfull Covenant as at first they did that part for bringing evill instruments unto condign punishment whilst that Delinquents troubled them Afterward where by craft they had gotten the King among them hoping thereby to have had him established their Presbyterian Church-government within this Kingdom they were very zealous for that part of the Covenant which concerns the preservation and defence of his Majesties person and authority Now both the former are forgotten and they are at this instant extreme urgent and importune for that part of the Covenant which concernes the reformation of Religion in the three Kingdomes in dextrine worship discipline and government according to the word of God and the example of the best reformed Churches by which words the example of c. they would have it granted that their Kirke of Scotland is the best reformed in all the world● and therefore we are bound by this clause of the Covenant they conceive to reforme by their pattern and to make their government our example as if they blind Beetles had obtained the very S●●mum grad●m of the government of the Church of Christ comprehended in the Gospel thus using the Covenant as a Waterman doth his Saile to turn every way and hereby they justify the Scripture which saith a double minded manty unstable in all his wayes Iam. 1. 8. but not one Word do they speak for justice or liberty of the Subject though they see all oppression and violence rage

and raign amongst us this part of the Covenant they lifted up their hands as high to God and swore as solemnly to performe as any other but because they have no use for it they regard it not the truth is they profess they know God but in works they deny him being abhominable and disobedient and to every good work reprobate But to speak more particularly of our own Presbyterian Reformers the Scotists of our Kindome M. Hollis Stapleton and the rest of the zealous hypocrites with their Antichristian Priests Covenanters they sware you see my Friends to endeavour a reformation in Religion according to the word of God and the Parliament as seeming to adhere only to this sure and alone necessary and sufficient rule for reformation and not t● take the bare opinions of men for granted truths without justification from the word of God to which end they long since propounded queries concerning the said government for the Assembly to prove by the word of God for the justification of it the which queries I have here inserted for every mans better information and consideration to wit First whether the Parochiall and Congregationall Elderships appointed by Ordinance of Parliament are jure divino by the will and appointment of Jesus Christ Secondly Whether all the members of the said Eldership are members thereof or which of them are jure divino and by the will and appointment of Jesus Christ Thirdly Whether the supreme Assemblies or Elderships viz. the Classicall Provinciciall and nationall whether all or any of them or which of them are jure divino and by the will and appointment of Jesus Christ Fourthly Whether appeales from congregationall Elderships to the Classicall Provinciall and Nationall Assemblies or to any of them are jure divino and by the will and appointment of Jesus Christ Fifthly Whether Oecumenicall Assemblies are jure divino and whether there be appeales from any of the former Assemblies to the said Oecumenicall Assemblies jure divino by the will and appointment of Jesus Christ Sixtly Whether by the word of God the power of judging and declaring what are notorious and scandalous offences and of conventing before them triall and actuall suspending from the Sacrament such offenders accordingly either in the congregationall Eldership or Presbytery or in any other Eldership or Presbytery presented to the Houses as the advice of the assembly and whether such powers are in them only or any of them and in which of them jure divino and by the will and appointment of Jesus Christ Seventhly Whether there be any certaine and particular rules expressed in the word of God to direct the said Elderships or Presbyteries or any of them in the exercise and execution of the powers aforesaid and which are those rules Eightly is there any thing contained in the word of God that the Supreme Magistrate in a Christian State may not judge and determine what are the aforesaid notorious scandalous offences and the manner of suspension from the same and in what particulars concerning the premises are the said Supreme Magistracy in the word of God excluded In answer of which particulars the House of Commons desired of the Assembly of divines falsly so callen their proofs from Scripture and to set down the severall texts of Scripture in the express words of the same And it was also ordered that every particular Minister of the said Assembly that was or should be present at the debate of any of these Questions should upon every resolution that was to be presented to the House concerning the same subscribe his respective name either with the affirmative or negative as hee should give his vote and that they which should dissent from the major part should set down their positive opinions with the expresse texts of Scriptures upon which their opinions were grounded Here you see an excellent way for the proofe of this Scottish creature prescribed and a great deal of seeming care in the Parliament to set up a Religion according to the word of God and not according to the Church of Scotland and yet though these severall queries or questions were by the fallacious Assembly never answered unto this day nor are they able to answer them satisfactorily for they can neither immediate or mediate directly or by consequence prove by the word of God and Gospell of our Lord Jesus Christ their so much pres'd Presbyterian government to be jure divino by divine Law or right as they most presumptuously audaciously have alledged yet nevertheless although these queries were never resolved nor the Parliament ever satisfied by sufficient proofe out of the word of God of the lawfulness of this government whether it be the government of Jesus Christ or not hath this evill party where of Mr Hollis a man ever factious is reputed chiefe by their heady presumptuous courses to raise to themselves a faction from London the Scots for their owne security and to drive on their own premeditated design of dominion and soveraignity prevailed to have it established by Ordinance enjoyning it in all places and upon all persons with as much rigour and severity as ever the Bishops did their conformity all which ye see is directly against their Covenant and no other then plain perjury but unless they can establish this Scottish Presbyterian government they can never absolutely establish tyranny for the expedients of this Presbyterian government conduce directly unto tyranny even to abolish all rules of Law and civil liberty it is an antipathy to Monarchy and the legall power of civill Magistracy and brings under a yoake where it is predominant both King and People as shall God willing be demonstrated fully in due time and by this meanes these aspirers hope through the help of the Preists to order King Charles as the Presbyterians in Scotland did King James whom they did restraine affront disobey and raise tumults against if he prove refractory to any of their arbitrary Councels and so suppresse and curb us the free Commoners that we shall not be able either to help him or remedy our selves Yet questionless if ye aske any of these our master Reformers if when they made and took the Covenant they did not intend to make Gods word their direct rule of reformation They will answer yes otherwise they must confess themselves most hatefull hypocrites denying the truth and sufficiency of the holy Scriptures men that intend no Religion but a treasonable designe against King and People under that notion and I wish it doe not prove so in the end by some men If they did intend as they will not deny to make Gods word their Rule to reforme by why doe they make the Church of Scotland the rule of their Reformation and cast the word of God behinde them Why do they enforce upon us the reformation or rather deformation of another Kingdom no waies justified or approved by the holy Scriptures and not endeavour as they have sworne sincerely to seeke out