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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93787	A caveat against seducers: as it was preached by Richard Standfast, Mr. of Arts, and rector of Christ-Church in Bristol, whereunto are annexed the blind mans meditations. By the same author.	Standfast, Richard, 1608?-1684.	1660 (1660)	Wing S5204; Thomason E1816_2; ESTC R203605	25,969	77

c. and some Pastors and Teachers Mark not all teachers for who then should be hearers but some Pastors and Teachers And why hath hee given the Church Pastors and Teachers but amongst other ends for this also that we should not be tossed to and fro and carried about c vers 14. If then God gave Ministers to prevent Seducers we may well account them no better than Seducers that shall revile or oppose them Fourthly Beware of those who decline the word of God revealed in the Scriptures and set up any other Rule to walk by in the worship of God and way of salvation 'T is his word that is the Truth and therefore to decline this and instead thereof to set up Traditions new Lights or pretended Revelations is the mark of a deceiver There be many in these latter daies that have boasted much of the Spirit and pretended to Revelations no less than Angelical but let them boast and pretend what they will Si à verbo discrepant non sunt Evangelica Revelationes sed Diabolicae illusiones if they agree not with the written Word of God they are no Evangelical Revelations but they are diabolical delusions 'T is the way of Christs Apostles that we must walk in we must hear them i.e. beleeve regard obey and follow them and they that do not thus hear them are not of God and by this we may know the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of errour 1 Joh. 4.6 Fifthly They that are for divisions and offences contrary to the Doctrine which we have learned from the blessed Apostles are to be marked and avoided for they serve not the Lord Jesus Christ but their own bellies Rom. 16.17 If it be but strange doctrine with which heretofore we have had no acquaintance which is brought unto us Heb. 13.9 let it stand at the door and examine it thorowly before it be let in and unless it have a good certificate give it no entertainment but if it cross the unity of the Spirit and the bond of Peace away with it for unnecessary strife and needless divisions have no agreement with the Spirit of God To this purpose give mee leave to acquaint you with a passage of a modern Divine much to be taken notice of his words are these In a Church where the Doctrine of Salvation by Christ only is soundly and truly taught and received if any the most sanctified man in shew shall teach any thing which may tend to make a division or faction See Mr. Par. in his Loctures on Rom. 16 17. and to disturb the peace of the Church suspect and be jealous thereof for either it is false or if true yet better be buried as low as the center of the earth than to be broached to break the Peace and unity of the Church Thus hee Sixthly Beware of those that promise liberty beyond the bounds of the Gospel The Gospel indeed is a perfect doctrine of perfect liberty shewing us the ready way how to be freed from the terrour and rigour of the Law from the service of sin and slavery of Satan and from the curse of God and the wrath to come But if any man shall stretch this liberty to a freedome from Parents and Masters and Magistrates and Ministers to a freedome from the Ordinances of God to a freedome from the Moral Law as the Rule of our Obedience to a freedome from penitential sorrows and from praying unto God for the pardon of our sins this is beyond the liberty of the Gospel This is not liberty but looseness this is liberty turned into a cloak of maliciousness and they that thus promise liberty are themselves the Servants of corruption See 1 Tim. 6.1 2 3 4. Seventhly By their fruits you may know them Mat. 7.16 Mat. 7.16 not by their leaves but by their fruit for the leaves may bee fair when the fruit is faulty Not by their cloathing but by their carriage for that may be sheepish when this is ravenous and devouring not by their street-doors but by their secret chambers for the one may be swept and clean when the other are foul and nasty There is filthiness of the Spirit as well as of the flesh and though they put away fornication and drunkenness yet if they retain pride and hatred and malice and wrath and seditions and heresies are they not carnal Men may pretend to much light and perfection and acquaintance with God but if they say They have no sin they are a company of lyers 1 Joh. 1.8 10. And they that walk in hatred let them pretend what they will they walk in darkness 1 Joh. 2.9 11. And therefore look narrowly into their conversations A conversation truly pure and truly peaceable patient and meek full of self-denial and mercy and charity is a conversation suitable to the Gospel but they that walk contrary to these are disorderly walkers Walkers indeed some of them are for they go to and fro and compass Sea and Land to make Proselytes who if they come not within compass of the Statute against Vagrants and Wanderers whom a whip and a pass should convey to the place from whence they came yet they should be carefully avoided by all those that wish well to their own peace and the good of their brethren Or lastly If this be not the true meaning of that place Mat. 7.16 then by their fruits we must understand the fruit which grows upon their doctrine observe what fruit their doctrine brings forth for by that you shall know them The scope of their doctrine will help to discover what they are If it tend to the denying of all ungodliness and worldly lusts and to living godly righteously and soberly in this present world 't is well but if it tend to the strengthening of the hands of evil daers this is according to the false Prophets of old Jer. 23.14 If it tend to peace and love and mercy and meekness 't is well but if it tend to hatred variance envy and malice it cometh of evil If it tend to build men up in their most holy Faith if it tend to a growth in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ if it tend to the growing up in all things into him which is the head i.e. into a greater communion with and conformity to the Lord Jesus 't is well but if it tend not to these things 't is but hay and stubble at the most or else 't is a wind of doctrine empty and light stuff at the best having more of noise and sound than of soundness and solidity But if this wind prove blustering and tempestuous raising up storms of sedition and rebellion and kindling the coals of needless contentions all the day long though it carry with it never so great a shew of zeal and holiness yet can it not proceed from the Spirit of that God who is not the Author of confusion but of peace 1 Cor. 14.33 But

they will increase to more ungodliness and their word will eat as doth a canker 2 Tim. 2.16 17. 2 Tim. 2.16 17. The like Caution we have Heb. 12.15 Heb. 12.15 Look to it that no root of bitterness spring up 2 Tim. 3.13 and thereby many be defiled evil men Seducers wax worse and worse 2 Tim. 3.13 So hard a matter it is if once we be caught to recover again out of the snare of the Devil So that if we put all this together we may plainly perceive that we have a great deal of reason to be watchful over our selves and to take heed that no man deceive us What remains now Use but that I press you earnestly to this your duty If ever there were age wherein this Subject were in season this is it Erasmus in writing the life of St. Jerome hath a notable passage concerning those times wherein that Father lived his words are these Nullum fuit unquam saeculum seditiosius neque consusius sic omnia contaminarant haereticorum errores ac dissidia ut magnae cujusdam artis fuerit orthodoxum esse i.e. There was never any age fuller of confusion and sedition and the errours and dissentions of Hereticks had so polluted all things that it was a kinde of Art for a man to be Orthodox which passage looks as if it were calculated for our meridian 't is the very picture of the times wherein we have lately lived wherein there have been spread abroad such variety of errours that it could be no less than an Art to be Orthodox Almighty God fed us once with the staves of a good Shepherd beauty and bands in beauty there was unity in bands order but our beauty hath been defaced and our bands broken our unity divided and our order dissolved many shepherds have been smitten and the flocks scattered the gaps were left open and the Foxes let loose and the Sheep had got libertatem erroris and were at liberty to stray and perish as it were cum privilegio It cannot therefore but be a word in season to call upon men to look about them Blessed be the God of Truth for the hopes which hee hath given us of seeing better times but the day is so newly broke and there is so much of the old leaven gone abroad and our own Station is so slippery and errour is so infectious that I hope it will prove an acceptable service to warn every one of you as Christ warned his own Disciples to take heed that no man deceive you And for your better furtherance in this so needful a work I cannot in the general commend unto your thoughts any better direction than this namely To be in the fear of the Lord all the day long even natural fear is the great Guardian of the body how warily doth hee walk that is afraid of falling how careful is that man about his mony that fears robbing how diligent is hee that is afraid of danger how circumspect is hee that is afraid of sickness So is spiritual fear the great Guardian of the soul Prov. 16.6 For by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil and the same fear will preserve us also from departing from God Jer. 32.40 Jer. 32.40 If therefore you would not be led away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Pet. 3.17 with the errour of lawless men be not high minded but fear Happy is the man that feareth alway Pro. 28.14 but hee that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief Prov. 28.14 For particular helps against the danger of being seduced let mee commend unto you these few following Helps against Seduction First Labour to know the Truth A blind man may easily be led out of the way And to this end let the word of Christ dwell in you richly that you may be able to discern between things that differ for his word is Truth Joh. 17.17 Joh. 17.17 This will be a lamp to our feet and a light to our paths but ignorance of the Scriptures is the way to errour Mat. 22.29 This was the Rule of old to the Law and to the Testimonies Isa 8.20 Isa 8.20 and it is in force still and it is well for us that we have a written word for a Rule to walk by for otherwise what certainty could we have of any of those things that do belong to our peace 't is by the Scriptures that we come to know the voice of Christ from the voice of a stranger and to be preserved from the path of the destroyer This is the principal Antidote which St. Paul prescribes against the like danger as may appear by comparing Act. 20. v. 29.30 Acts 20.29 30. with vers 32. for having warned them of grievous Wolves which should enter among them after his departure for a remedy against them hee commends them to God and to the word of his grace c. And the like may be observed from 2 Tim. 3. if wee compare the four last verses with the rest of the chapter Secondly Labour to be rooted and settled and stablished in the Truth Be not children in understanding nor yet in inconstancy mutatur in horas is the character of a childe in the phrase of the Poet children are never long in one mind but be not you such children a tottering wall may easily be blown down a childish inconstancy is in danger to be tossed to and fro like a wave of the Sea a weather-cock disposition is easily carried about with every wind of doctrine Ephes 4.14 unstable souls may quickly be insnared and therefore hold fast the profession of the Faith without wavering 2 Pet. 2.14 wavering is the way to wander from the Truth Thirdly Be contented with the Truth without itching after novelties lest ye be drawn away from sound doctrine hee that is weary of being led by God is in danger to be led away with errour Remember them that were weary of Manna and lusted for flesh Num. 11.33 Num. 11.33 it had been better for them to have been contented with Gods allowance than to have longed for such varieties they had sweet meats indeed but they had soure sauce with it for while the meat was in their mouths the heavy wrath of God fell upon them and they that did feed to the fullest did never thrive with it Psal 106.15 for God sent leanness into their Soul Psal 106.15 Fourthly Be lovers of the truth men are not easily won to let go what they love but if once our love to the truth grow cold we may easily be wrought upon to exchange it for fables yea it is just with God that such men as do not embrace the love of the truth 2 Thes 2.10 11. that they may be saved should be given up to believe lies 2 Thess 2.10 11. Fiftly Be ye doers of the truth and beware of living in any known way of wickedness with liking and allowance There are some men that

pretences also but you have not all their cunning yet for besides all this that hath been said upon this Subject they can rack the Scriptures to the length and breadth of their false opinions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Pet. 3.16 and torment them to make them speak more than ever they intended for the maintaining of their lies which Scriptures if let down again and left to themselves and to their own proper sense and meaning will prove too narrow and too short to serve their turn and to cover their falshood Besides this they have also unwritten traditions and feigned miracles and cunning devised fables they can also pretend to dreams and revelations and for a need can forge Authors for their own advantage nor are they without their clouted shooes and patched garments the better to beguile us with a shew of Antiquity as the Gibeenites did the people of Israel Josh 9.5 and all these they can set off 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with good words and fair speeches Rom. 16.18 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with flattering words 1 Thes 2.5 1 Thes 2.5 2 Pet. 2.3 yea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Pet. 2.3 with artificial words composed as it were on purpose and set as in a frame for the better uttering of their false wares and counterfeit commodities Some of these St. Paul mentions 2 Thes 2.2 Where hee saith 2 Thes 2.2 that hee would not have them troubled either by word or by spirit or by letter as from him by word there 's tradition by spirit there 's revelation by letter as from mee there 's forgery and tradition revelation and forgery are usual arts whereby hereticks do deceive By some of these devises formerly mentioned the Papists seek to support their purgatory and prayers for the dead invocation of Saints worshipping of Images and other things of like nature nor have the Anabaptists and Quakers been without their pretended Revelations and new Lights whereby to maintain their old errours and vertiginous imaginations And lastly when all other means fail Some Seducers have been ready to rake hell by black arts and to call in to their aid the Prince of Darkness that so by lying wonders they may gain the more credit to their damnable doctrines Most of all these cunning devices that I have mentioned were easie to be seen in the carriage of Simon Magus and those Hereticks that were his followers for they pretended to a greater depth of knowledge and understanding in the hidden mysteries of those Scriptures which were then extant than other men had and therefore they were called Gnosticks then they suited their doctrines to mans natural corruption and to the basest of fleshly lusts complying with the Heathen in their abominable Idolatries and alluring with much wantonness those that had escaped from them that live in errour promising also ease to the flesh and freedome from worldly troubles by teaching it lawful to deny Christ in times of persecution and at last like Jannes and Jambres who withstood Moses they counterfeited the miracles of the greatest Apostles the more to disparage the truth of the Gospel and to bring their notorious lies into credit reputation Thus did they And whether the worst of these Arts have not sometimes been made use of by some of the Jesuites and their emissaries amongst whom I think it will be no injury to reckon some of the Quakers also is not a little to be doubted Sure I am that they whom we read Seducers 2 Tim. 3.13 2 Tim. 3.13 are in the Greek called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Sorcerers by which word we understand men that have some skill in witchcraft or at least know how to blinde the eyes and to delude the fancies of their beholders that they shall think like men in a dream that their hands are full of gold when 't is nothing but leaves and that they have before them plentiful Tables when there is nothing to be fed on but appearance and delusion and so do Seducers deceive the eyes of their followers with false lights which serve only to lead men out of the way and to betray them into the ditch Seeing then that Seducers are such subtil Serpents such cunning gamesters such crafty companions such skilful fowlers such Masters of Art in the Mysterie of couzenage we had need to take a great deal of heed that no man deceive us I have been somewhat large upon this point but I hope not tedious because 't is no more than the nature of the Subject doth require but I will be the briefer in the Reasons following A fourth Reason may be taken from the dangerousness of Seducers Reason 4 for as they are cunning so they are pernicious persons for what are they but theeves and robbers and the theef comes not but to steal Joh. 10.10 and to kill and to destroy John 10.10 St. Paul saith See that no man spoil you Col. 2.8 Col. 2.8 the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lest any man carry you away as a prey as a prisoner as a captive to make prize of their estates 2 Tim. 3.6 and slaves of their persons 2 Tim. 3.6 where the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies a spear and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taken so Pasor q.d. led captive like prisoners taken by conquest in the battel or lest you be carried away as the Sheep by the theef to be destroyed and devoured Seducers are no better than theeves sheep-stealers yea men-stealers they steal the sheep from the shepherd yea one man from another yea a man from himself and their coming is to rob us of the truth and of our peace False doctrine is a great troubler of mens minds Gal. 1.7 but truth brings rest Jer. 6.16 Jer. 6.16 and of our comfort and at last of our very souls and heaven and happiness also and when these be gone what will be left us but beggary and everlasting misery and therefore being such dangerous persons we have the more reason to take heed that no man deceive us The last Reason may be taken from the difficulty of getting off again Reason 5 if once we be intangled If once we be got into the snare it will not be an easie thing to recover our liberty and this difficulty ariseth partly from the cunning of Seducers and partly from the nature of errour Seducers are as cunning to keep possession as to gain admission and to this end they frighten their followers with the woful dangers of Apostacy from the truth for so they call the revolting from their errours and by this device they so boare their ears that they are in danger to be their servants for ever Besides this Mat. 16.6 errour is of a spreading nature the corrupt doctrine of the Pharisees is called leaver Mat. 16.6 because it is of a sour and enlarging nature Hereupon St. Paul saith Shun prophane and vain bablings for