Selected quad for the lemma: work_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
work_n	conscience_n	dead_a	purge_v	5,027	5	9.3264	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A91118	A testimony of God, and his way, and worship against all the false wayes and worships of the vvorld. Also an answer to some of the false doctrines held forth, by a professed minister, in VVales; shewing the unsoundness of his former actions, and is found to be one, in the nature of the vvorld; which sometime he hath spoken against. With an answer to some queries; propounded by one, who is called an Anabaptist. / Given forth for no other end, but in love to the truth, as it is in Iesus: by Alex: Parker.	Parker, Alexander, 1628-1689.	1656 (1656)	Wing P383; Thomason E883_6; ESTC R207301	24,030	31

hath given the light is the heart purified and the conscience purged from dead works and so the devils works comes to be destroyed for for this purpose was the Son of God made manifest that he might destroy the works of the devill and the works of the devil are in the heart for in the time of the night the devil the enemy of man he hath wrought his works in the heart of man and so hath wrought and begotten him into his image to do his work and so man becomes a servant to the devil bringing forth fruits of unrighteousnesse and this is all done in the heart the devil having gotten possession and sits and rules as King in the heart of man and there is the ground of all sin it a riseth out of the heart which is deceitful and desperately wicked from thence ariseth pride envy wrath malice murders drunkennesse lying swearing adultery fornication covetousness persecution tiranny and oppression and all other evills whatsoever they have their ground and rise from with in out of the heart for there is no man tempted of God but every man when he is tempted he is drawn a way of his own lust for lust is conceived in the heart and after it is conceived it brings forth sin and sin being finished brings forth death and the wayes of sin is death and while sin lodgeth and is regarded in the heart it defiles the heart and separates from God and all the prayers and sacrifices that are offered up unto God from an impure heart are abomination to him all outward shewes and outward cleansing will not avail nor bring peace as long as the ground and root of sin remains within for it is the heart which the Lord requires as it is written my Son give me thy heart so it is an inward work that every one must know and witnesse if ever you know true peace and rest for as the devils work is within in the heart and defiles the heart so must the work of Christ be within likewise for the destroying of the devils works and for the purifying of the heart for this is the mistery which hath been hid and is hid from all wisedom of the flesh and from all vultrous eyes and venomous beasts and reveiled to the Babes and Lambs of God who have laid down their Crowns at the feet of the Lamb and have denied themselves and the pomp and glory of this world and do bear the dayly Cross and despised the shame and do love and walk in the light which the world hates and thereby are led out of darknesse and the ungodly practises which the world lives in into righteousness and peace to exercise a good conscience towards God and towards man and this must every one own if ever they own the living God or a pure conscience where the Mistery of faith is held they must own this light to guide them in the exercise of their consciences for this light is the eye whereby a man comes to see himself and the root and ground of sin and untill man comes to own this light he never comes truly so see himself and so is far from denying self for first a man must see himself before he can deny himself and the light it is that let a man see his sin and that he is driven from God and out of union with God because of his sin and it is sin that separate from God and breaks the peace with God for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God all have gone astray we our selves even as others and have been wandring as Sheep without a Shepherd but the Lord of Hosts is risen and hath sent forth his Son even Jesus Christ the true Shepherd who is gathering his Sheep into the fold where they shall lye down in peace and none shall make them afraid and if the Son make you free then are you free indeed but no freedom there is but only by him whose bloud washeth and cleanseth from all sin and whereas it is sai● If we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us This was spoken to a condition before confession as is plain to the Children of Light for saith he if we confesse our sins he is faithfull and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness he doth not say from part but from all and this they witnessed who were in the light and hath fellowship with the Father and the Son as is written God is light and in him is no darkness at all he that saith he hath fellowship with God and walks in darkness is a liar and doth not the truth But if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the bloud of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin and him wee witnesse even Jesus Christ the everlasting Covenant of God who makes free to the utmost all that come unto God by him and wee testify against all those that oppose the pure doctrine of Christ Jesus and sayes none can be fully cleansed from sin while they live upon the earth and so would make the bloud of Christ of none effect which whosoever walketh and abideth in the light of Christ his bloud cleanseth from all sin for whosoever abides in him sins not he that sinneth hath not seen him neither known him and this the Scripture declareth and I bear testimony and set to my seal that it is true for he that doth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous and hee that commits sin is of the devill for the devil sinneth from the beginning but whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his seed remaines in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God and in this are the Children of God made manifest and the children of the d●vil 1 Joh. 3. c. He that is born of God is the Son of God and the Son of God doth not commit sin and except a man be born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God for the first man is of the earth earthly and minds earthly things his joy and treasure is there in things that are below delighting in the visible things his heart is there his care and labour is for the things of this life what to eat what to drink what to put on how to become great in the earth and by his earthly wisedom which is from below which is sensual and devilish he is plotting contriving to get great possessions and to compaste the earth to get himself a name in the earth but cannot be satisfied when he hath compassed one piece of ground which he coveted after presently the lust runs out again and covets more but is never satisfied and in this state man is an enemy to God and the thoughts of his heart are evill and that continually and notwithstanding many times a true sense and

feeling of his sad and miserable condition is arising in him and the witnesse of God reproving him and calling him from his abominations and whoredoms and many times brings him into some trouble yet he sleights his love and hates the reproof and goes on in his rebellious wayes and so treasures up to himself wrath against the day of wrath and revellation of the righteous judgement of God who will render a just reward unto him according to his deeds and here lies all the ungodly world driven from God out of his Covenant out of his peace out of his presence out of his pure love and spiritual worship and are loving and delighting in and worshiping the creature more then the Creator But the Saints and holy men of God who came to witnesse redemption and were in Covenant with God and faith of his Son had passed from death to life and they had put of the body of sin and the old man and his deeds and were created anew being born again of the eternall word which liveth and abideth for ever and their hearts was purified and their consciences purged from dead works and ther bodies made fit Temples holy and pure for the Lord God to dwell in and there was his worship in the spirit in his holy Temple where there is no need of Sun Moon or of Candle but the glory of the Lord fils the Temple and this they witnessed who were redeemed from the earth and were in Christ Jesus where there union joy and fellowship was where there is neither Greek nor Jew circumsition nor uncircumsition Barbarian Scythian bond nor free but Christ is all and in all and the same is the Lord our God now working and bringing to passe even by his own power and outstretched arm is he getting himself the victory what we are we are of and by him he alone it is that worketh in us both to will and to do by his own power made manifest in us and worketh mightily in us whereby wee are made willing to do his will and work and this is all by his Son who of God is made wisdom justification sanctification and redemption he is made unto us all things and through him we can do all things even through the Son of God whom we know is come and hath given us an understanding to know him that is true and wee are in him that is true even in his Son Jesus Christ who is our life our joy our stay and strength by whom we are freed from sin and from our vain conversations which formerly we lived in who hath broken the bond of iniquity and set the oppressed free to praise and glorify his name who alone do praise him the dead cannot praise him it is the living the living that praises him to whom be everlasting praises and glory world without end Amen So I say and declare that if any man say he hath no sin before he come to confesse his sin and to witnesse the power of God cleansing him from his sin he doth dec●ive himself and the witnesse of God in his own conscience will testify against him and be his condemnation But where the living power of God is made manifest to purify and cleanse and to destroy the works of the devil to burn up and consume the old heavens and the old earth which is cursed and brings forth cursed fruits I say where the old is destroyed and the new heaven and the new earth witnessed wherein dwells righteousness Shall we deny the work of God Not far be it from us but to declare his marvailous works which he hath wrought in our dayes to ages and generations to come that they may dread and fear the name of our God and to others who sit in darknesse and in the shadow of death who are wandring astray as sheep without a Shepherd and are feeding upon the husk and spending their money for that which is not bread and their labour for that which doth not satisfy freely from the bowels of tender love to their soules do we declare what the Lord hath done for our soules that they might return home into the Fathers house where there is bread enough to satisfy the hungry thirsting soul that every one may eat their own bread and sit under their own vine and have union and feilowship with us in our fathers love for evermore So in the name of the Lord I do warn all people who read these lines to repent and cease from all their sins and abominations which formerly they have lived in and from all the false and Idolatrous worships of the world which a long time ye have followed and thereby have been deceived and led captive laden with sin but have not come to the true knowledg of God but are still in their old crooked and perverse nature and knows not the Crosse of Christ nor the yoke nor the bridle to the tongue but are at ease in the flesh and can speake their own words and think their own thoughts and do their own works I say return return and hearken diligently to the voyce of the Son of God which cryes for purity and holinesse without which none can see God that thereby your soules may live and may feed upon the dayly bread in the Fathers bosome which whosoever eats of this bread shal never hunger and he that drinks of this cup shall never thirst but it shall be a well of living water springing up unto eternal life so every one wayt in the measure of light which from Christ you have received for the appearance of Christ in you that his life may be made manifest in your mortal bodies for this is the command of God This is my beloved Son hear him and Christ the Son calls and says Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden take my yoke upon you and learn of me I am meek and lowly in spirit and you shall find rest to your soules So all people come freely his love is freely tendred to you sleight not the tender profers of his love but come forth and separate your selves and touch no unclean thing and the Lord will receive you and will be a Father unto you and you shall be his Sons and Daughters mind the pure and still voyce that thereby you may be led into the pure life and pure union and love of the children of light for if you neglect such great salvation woe will be your portion for ever There ore whi●e you have the light believe in the light and work while it is day before the dreadfull night of darkness come when none can work By one who hath seen the deadness and emptiness of all the formal worships and formal profession that stands in the will of man act d in mans will who is returned back into his fathers house and there dwels in rest and peace and hath ceased from his own work written forth in the bowels of love to captive and weary

hold that some are ordained to salvation and some to condemnation before they have done good or evill and these deny one another and hold one another accursed yet all are dipped in the water some are divided about that which they call the Lords supper and about breaking of the bread some will break it themselves and some will eat it as a supper some will sup before they eat it some will have it in an upper chamber some are for laying on of hands and some will not and many other things there are which breakes their union and thus they are divided in Babylons Kingdom tearing and rending one another like dogs and swine falling out about the husks But the Saints who are led by the light of the Son of God out of Babylon into the fold do feed upon the bread of life in the Fathers house where there is no want but fulnesse where the presence of the Lord is enjoyed and the holy and innocent ones who are washed and cleansed in the bloud of the Lamb rejoyce in his presence who are Baptized into Christ and have put on Christ whose hearts are purified and conscience purged from dead works these are Christians But to sprinkle water on the face of a child doth not make it a Christian or to be dipped over head and eares in water doth not wash and cleanse from sin for hee is not a Christian which is one outward which hath the name only neither is that the Baptizme which is outward with the water But he is a Christian which is in Christ a new Creature and Baptizme is that of the spirit having the heart sprinkled from an evill conscience and the body washed with pure water and this Baptizme I own and witnesse unto and deny all imitatour who have not a command from God as they had that gave forth the Scriptures Yet this I say if any one now have a command from Christ to go and Baptize with water or if any out of tendernesse of Conscience do such a thing I do not deny it nor judge them for it But I was not sent to Baptize but to preach the Gospel and it is no breach of Christs command nor denying his ordinances in not Baptizing not being commissioned by him to Baptize for it is neither dipping nor sprinkling or not dipping that availes any thing but a new Creature so to deny that which was a command of Christ to some being but outward it not being a command by Christ unto us is no breach of Christs command no more then it was in the Apostles in denying the outward commands as Temple Sabbath Circumsition and the like which were commands in their time and place and wee own them and all the commands of God mentioned in the Scriptures by the same spirit which gave them forth which spirit was the Saints Rule before the Scriptures were written and their Rule who gave forth the Scripture and the Saints Rule now according to the Scripture owning all things in their time and place as the Scripture declares of and though we be counted as deceivers yet true it is no more but what the Ministers of Christ undergone from that generation who were high in knowledge as doctours chief Priests and learned Rabbies yet by all their learning and Scripture knowledge they knew not the mistery but counted the Crosse of Christ foolishnesse as it is now by this generation of Scripture learned ones and university men by all their learning and study the mistery of Godlinesse they know not but counts them an ignorant people to whom the Lord hath made known himself in measure and reveiled his secrets unto and counts them as a people not worthy to live I say amongst that generation that cryes up the commands of Christ in words I find this man querying without But for the simple ones sake who desire to be satisfied I have written this in answer to his queries that their minds may be informed and from the darknesse they may be turned to the true light of lesus which opens the dark understanding and leads out of darknesse to follow Christ in the pure path of life which whosoever follows shall not abide in darknesse but shall have the light of life Query the I. Whether you do own the New Testament with the Epistles of the Apostles unto the Churches to be a true testimony of the spirit of the Lord yea or nay And if they be whether were they not given forth as a Rule unto the Churches to walk by and if they were not given forth as a Rule then wherefore were they given forth and what use were they of unto the Churches Answ The New Testament we do own and witnesse which is the Law of God written in our hearts and the spirit put in the inward parts whereby we are gathered together into the fold and are fed with living refreshments in the bosome of our Fathers love which spirit was and is a Rule and guide unto the Saints and thereby are taught of God in spirit and do worship him in spirit according to his promise which promise is now fulfilled and fulfilling to his praise and glory to whom all glory belongs for evermore And the Epistles of the Apostles to the Churches we own to be a true testimony given forth from the spirit of the Lord and was the word of the Lord in them and to them to whom they were written for the edifying and building them up in their most holy faith which faith was within them a mistery held in a pure conscience and their Rule and guid was within them and all that was written or declared by the holy men of God it was to bring them to the pure worship of God within in the spirit Qu. II. Whether the Scriptures be of any use unto any people now in this generation and if they are then whether the Ordinances therein conteyned be to be practised by such a people as beleeve in the Lord Iesus with all their hearts yea or nay And if they are not to be practised then when and where were they abolished Ans The Scriptures are not of any private interpretation neither came by mans will but holy men of God spoke them forth as they were moved by the Holy Ghost and they are of use for they were given forth to be read to be believed on to bee practised and fulfilled but not to make a trade on nor for ungodly men with their vain and proud minds to talk on but let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity and as iniquity is departed from and the fear of God placed in the heart it keepes the heart cleare and so the pure wisdom from above is received into the pure heart and the pure in heart are blessed and shall see God who is light and the Ordinances of God are seen in the light and led into by the light but the darknesse cannot comprehend the light nor all the wisedom