Selected quad for the lemma: world_n
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A97024
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A comment on the times, or, A character of the enemies of the church. Written by Thomas Wall, Mr. in arts and minister of Jesus Christ.
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Wall, Thomas.
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1657
(1657)
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Wing W477; ESTC R186183
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24,470
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92
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enemies of the Church according to their several ranks observe first from the general scope of the Text That the Church of God never wanted enemies never will There is no peace to the wicked saith God There shall be no peace to the godly say the wicked The wicked shall have no peace which God can give the godly shall have no peace which the wicked can take away God is the Lord of all the earth it is fit that all parts of the earth should yeild him some tribute of souls There may be seven thousand and one in one part of the earth but alas what is seven thousand and one in one part to scarce one of seven thousand in all the other parts Sure I am God's flock is but a little one all the rest are enemies Whoever are the enemies great is their enmity and proportionable thereunto their cruelty Whoever are the enemies for there are enemies without the pale of the Church and there are some within Some without There are that hate the Church the seed of the Serpent their father 's own brood Ye are of your father the divel saith our Saviour Christ There are that mock it an Ishmaelitish issue There are that deride Sanballets progeny There are that rail at it Rabshekah's race There are that curse it Balaams brood All seek to destroy it There is no agreement between good and evil Neither of which can subsist in any part of the other Meet they may but not unite There is nothing good which is not wholly so The least defect changeth the title Thus stands it also between truth and falshood Truth is but one it hath no subsistence but in it self admits of no agreement with what is not one with it Look then what difference there is in the nature of the things which are entertained such difference there is in the affections of those that do profess them Religion is the surest tye of love where this knits not the hearts there can be no perfect Union A seeming truce there may be but no true concord It is their Religion true or false which all Nations of the world believe themselves most engaged both to defend and propagate When this comes into competition that spurious concord which is knit by secular respects like some goodly Fabrick founded upon the sands is suddenly overthrown with every puff of passion or misprision Enmity grounded on difference of Religion may be lull'd asleep by some secular interests but cannot be extinguished If the cradle be not continually rocked it quickly wakes like a fire which hath some while lay smothering under the pile breaks forth ere long more violently into a sudden flame If disagreement in mâ—tters of faith causeth enmity the more contrary one faith is to another the greater is that enmity The world haâ—â— embraced three and but three several Religions the Jewish Christian and Mahumetan The Jews expect their Messiah yet to come who with great state and glory shall subdue all Nations to his Scepter and reigne gloriously with them upon the earth The Mahumetans have their Saviour already come and shall come again and receive them into a paradice above to all fleshly delights Wine and Women Musick Banquettings and all things that delight a sensual and brutish appetite Neither of these are so contrary the one to the other as the Christian is to both teaching against the one that the Saviour of the world is already come whose Palace was a Stable and his Couch a Manger whose Crown was Thorns and his Scepter a Cross whose Revenews was poverty and his State humility whose Sword was his Word and his conquest Dying In a word whose Kingdom was not of this world Teaching against the other nothing but spiritual joys and incomprehensible consolations in the glorious vision and fruition of God Go to now O thou Christian go to the Jews first and tell them You are a faithless Nation your Messiah is come and ye have rejected him and with cruel hands have crucified the Lord of life and therefore your expected felicity is turned to miseryâ—your glorious reign over all Nations to a no less strange then sad dissipation over all the earth and your carnal security to spiritual confusion Wilt thou tell them this and not expect their enmity From the Jew go to the Turk and tell him abused Musselman your Prophet is an Impostor his law a lye the carnal delights which he has promised you will turn to unutterable dolours of soul his beautiful women into mishapen hags your harmonious musick into hideous howling and your delicious fare into surfeâ—s of wo and bitterness Wilt thou tell him this and not expect his enmity 2. But secondly There are enemies within the pale of the Church too It is not saith David an open enemy that hath done me this dishonour for then I could have born it But it is thou mine own familiar we walked in the house of God as friends c. A stab from a friend wounds the heart deeper then the body while the body weeps in blood at the stroke the soul bleeds in tears at the unkindness Brutus received a greater wound from Caesar then he gave and Caesar a greater wound from Brutus then his weapon when he cryed tu fili Brute That misfortune doth most amaze which we do least expect and those injuries do most trouble which we least deserve No sight so uncouth as to see children pierce those Breasts which gave them suck Good milk turns to bad blood in a wicked heart The juice of the same Flower which becomes honey in the Bee converts to poyson in the Spider Corrupt affections abuse the greatest blessings O dear and sacred Mother My soul shall weep in secret for thy ungrateful sons these Birds had not peck'd out thine eyes hadst not thou brought them out nor kick'd against thee hadst not thou fed them full of such excellent viands of knowledge which thus puffs them up Hast thou purchast such a pure Reformation for them from that adulterous Synagogue of Rome with so much blood of thy dearest children that they should turn their weapons into thine own bowels to seek for a new one there There are sure some crudities in their ill-disposed stomacks that have turned the wholsom food of the Church into these venomous practises My Meditations have suggested four 1. Scrupulosity 2. Envie 3. Ignorance 4. Ambition or Pride Upon which these four Beasts in the Text do act their enmity against the Church Scrupulosity sets forth unto us the Beast of the reeds Envie the Bulls Ignorance the Calves and Pride the men that delight in war Scruples are the reeds the Beast that lurks in them is a peevish spirit which thence takes all occasions to prey upon the peace of the Church Every blast of wind shakes the bending reed to and fro every idle scruple staggers the unsetled humorist in his obedience Were these doubts the zeal of a well meaning mind there might be place
A COMMENT On the TIMES OR A CHARACTER Of The Enemies OF THE CHURCH Written by Thomas Wall Mr in Arts and Minister of Jesus Christ LONDON Printed for the Author 1657. To His Most Dear Brother Mr S. VV. TO entitle a Book to the name of a Brother is neither unusual or undecent the Primitive Fathers more frequently in all Ages some no less eminent for Piety then Learning have done it and it is good to take example from those who are capable to give it As well to relieve my own affections as to acknowledge your kindness I Dedicate this to you I should have been as little satisfied in my self as shown my self thankful to you had I made any other choice 'T is your acceptance that I crave and not protection because it is a dish not agreeable to all Palats In Book-feasts men hate those that feed on that which themselves love not While I would hereby give you a testimony of my thankfulness I would not have it prejudicial to its Parent I hope the Author you may own though not the Subject Much of my support have I received from you and to speak in my second Religion gratitude though I should pay all I have I should have all to pay T is yet my comfort as God hath made you a means of doing good to me so he hath he made me an instrument to embalm your name To which I will add one grain more my Prayers Beseeching God to bless you with the same blessings which I beg for the person of Your most affectionate Brother Thomas Wall To the READER Reader IF thou art a part of the Subject of this Discourse thy reduction into the Bosom of the Church is my aim therein and surely my desires thereunto are very strong but can send no help to my endeavors Arguments can never prevail where we are resolved to persist Many men even with disadvantage fight with death because they think they are never truly conquered who had rather die then be so and so make a foolish Bargain with the world exchanging their lives for reputation And so many persist in destructive errours sillily thinking they are never overcome while themselves do not acknowledge it and lose the Truth to save credit Where then just arguments cannot convince there is no hopes to reclaim He to whom man never spake the like spake yet to no purpose to such men but yet he spake So holy a president secures my attempt If thou therefore wilt not permit me to benefit thy soul at least give me leave to discharge my own But if thou art a Reader who hast as well courage to own the truth as knowledge to discern it let not thy affections to read out-run thy judgement in the reading fully to observe the dependence of every sentence with the former may haply require more then perfunctory perusal the want of a more severe observance may be injurious to thy self as well as to me it may be a loss to both I have subscribed my name hereunto not that I suppose so mean a piece can gain any reputation to my name or my name to it but that my holy Mother may take notice she hath one Son the more who hath a greater zeal to serve her then ability who had rather discover his weakness then neglect his duty If any desire to have a further account of me I am content to give them this convenient notice That as there is no tittle in this Treatise either directed or intended against this present Government so do I profess my self willing to yeild all submissive obedience to it Among other Arguments wherewith I have satisfied my Conscience for so doing this is one For that I do believe it was by a special Divine providence raised up to give a stop to the violent and unrighteous actions of these men who now by an argument taken out of their own mouths must be forced to confess That either the designe at which they drove was wicked or themselves wicked in the managing of it In what I have writ it is little to me to be judged by men it is God that judgeth the heart I expect not success herein from popular noises but the secret blessing of the same righteous God who knows the integrity of a heart inflam'd with zeal to his glory and the Churches peace And if I reclaim none that are fallen I have my hire if I can but confirm them that stand Farewel Psalm 68. 30. Rebuke O Lord the company of the Spear-men or the beast of the reeds the multitude of the Bulls with the Calves of the people till they submit themselves with pieces of silver scatter the men that delight in war LEt God arise and let his enemies be scattered so begins this Psalm and it shall be the subject of my discourse When the enemies of God rise up against his Church it is time for the Church to fall down to God to implore his aid against those enemies Holy Prayers are more powerful then profane Swords It is not so much the arm that imploys them as the cause against which they are employed that makes the swords profane The vigour of faith in humble devotions hath a greater prevalency then the valour of the arm in an abused instrument of cruelty Samuel wrought no less deliverance for Israel then Gideon or Sampson and yet I never find him in the head of their Troops The people fought but it was he obtained the victory In vain is that Religion whose Patron cannot shield its Professors In vain are any attempts against it if he can It is good seeking help from an all-powerful hand If the Bulls roar for rage against the Church it is time for the Lambs to bleat out for rescue Rebuke O Lord the company c. A secret ordination summons all things to the end of their being the glory of God The very malice of his enemies shall set forth the tryumph of his mercy and power in the preservation of his Church It may be strongly opposed but not wholly ruin'd What can the Church do against so many adversaries and so violent The less help it finds on earth the more it seeks from heaven The more violent are her adversaries the more earnest are her prayers Rebuke O Lord the company c. The words contain First A Declaration of God's enemies Secondly An Imprecation against those enemies The enemies are marshalled into four ranks 1. A company of Spear-men or as some Translations read it the Beast of the reeds 2. The multitude of the Bulls 3. The calves of the people 4. The men that delight in war The Imprecation is also two-fold The first more gentle it is but Rebuke the Spear-men and that with a limitation too till they submit themselves with pieces of silver For they that will not but delight in war more severely deal with such Scatter them Scatter the men that delight in war Before I enter upon the description of these