Selected quad for the lemma: world_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
world_n	king_n	kingdom_n	pilate_n	2,382	5	12.0207	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33371	The right devil discovered in his descent, form, education, qualification, place and nature of torment : with many other divine secrets, never as yet extant : published for confutation of the learned, instructing the wise, and undeceiving of the simple / written by Laur. Claxton.	Claxton, Laurence, 1615-1667.	1659 (1659)	Wing C4583; ESTC R32623	54,824	149

but wilde beasts void of reason doth inhabit as the seed of Cain doth imagine and the learned of that seed do vainly teach though this wilderness was the same that John quotes in Mat. 3. 13. saying The voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare ye the way of the Lord c. Now let any sober man judge the black darkness that is over the learned to think that Iohn should cry the message of the Lord to a wilderness of wood and wilde beasts that hath no understanding to receive it and as great a darkness it is for thee to think that any devil without man or devil-man could so far overcome Christ as to lead him into such a wilderness no no therefore take notice that wilderness Iohn preached in and this wilderness Christ was lead up into was onely the wilderness of mans heart whose hearts are as barren as a natural wilderness that beareth no fruit as unto the true knowledge of things appertaining unto eternal life O minde what you read it was the wilderness of mans heart and not such a wilderness as Moses led the people of Israel through for neither did Iohn preach nor was in any such wilderness 3. It s said Christ fasted forty days and forty nights but from what he fasted is not in the least mentioned therefore I affirm that as Moses fasted forty days and forty nights in the mount from natural food so did Christ fast forty days and forty nights in the spiritual that is Christ did baptize none with the Holy Ghost nor with fire neither did he do any miracle for the space of six weeks and the original of this was that he might be tempted of the subtile serpentine devil-man as aforesaid which made that devil-man say If thou be the Son of God command that these stones be made bread however thou that readest mayest not apprehend this yet let me tell thee that man-devil did not mean the hard stones that we tread upon no more then Iohn when he said God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham Oh what absurdity is it in any man to think that God would of natural dead stones raise them up spiritual living children no no when the devil-man said Command that these stones be made bread which was this Command this stony heart of mine and the stony hard hearts of the Pharisees and Sadduces that sent me command them to be made hearts of flesh by baptizing of us with the Holy Ghost and with fire whereby I and others may so believe that we may become true bread unto Christ for in Iohn 4. 32 34. there saith Christ I have me at to eat that ye know not of meaning his dispute with the woman of Samaria as touching this it was his meat and drink to do the will of his Father which will was to baptize his Elect with the Holy Ghost and with fire without which no man could have eternal life abiding in him 4. Then the devil taketh Jesus up into the holy City and setteth him on a pinacle of the temple Observe that the City and pinacle of the Temple were both in the self same place yet understand that the Temple and the City signifie one and the same thing as from the words of Paul Defile not the temple of God whose temple ye are yea ye are the temples of the holy Ghost and the city of the living God as is recorded in the Corinthians and Hebrews and yet you shall finde though the Saints are the City and Temple of God that the Scripture calls the Nation of the Jews the holy City so that I know that was the holy City that the devil man took Christ up into and there in the most eminent or highest place of the Temple stated his temptation in the pinacle that is nothing else but the high temptation that this devil used out of his own high spirit of reason saying Cast thy self down that is submit unto this people which in Moses time were the onely Nation or City of God do but submit to be Governor or King in condescending to us there can no harm befal thee in that he hath given his angels charge concerning thee thou being the Son of God and our King we shall conquer the whole world but Christs kingdom not being of this world he tells them as at other times Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God It might well be called the high temptation of the devil that if it had been possible to unthrone Christ of his immortal Crown and Kingdom and crowned him King over a mortal bloody and perishing kingdom I say as in relation to the strength and subtilty of this temptation a man might well be called devil 5. Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory thereof and saith All these will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me Answ If you could understand the Scriptures you shall read it calleth rich wicked men Mountains and poor believing men Valleys as saith Isaiah chap. 40. verse 4. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain shall be made low there is very little of the New Testament to be understood in the letter but spirit onely therefore saith Christ My words are spirit and life so that if thou couldest see with an eye of Faith then thou couldest with me acknowledge that this exceeding high mountain which the devil shewed Christ and all the kingdoms of the world with the glory of them were all in the devils own heart for if you minde the Chief Priests and Rulers from whence this devil-man was sent they in their Councel instructed him that if that Christ to whom he was sent would but come and submit yea side with them for submitting you must understand is no less then to worship that if Christ Jesus would but submit to be their king and governor then they would assure him he should have all the kingdoms of the world for thou being the Son of God no earthly king can stand before thee for in so doing we shall have the rule and government of the whole world and the glory thereof which if thou wouldst but condescend to this we could make our words truth that Herod Pilate and Cesar would give place to thy crown and dignity by which we should become a greater people then ever we were these and such like thoughts was in the Priests and Rulers which they thought they had so wisely compacted together as a mountain not onely strong and great but a high mountain over-topping all other mountains whatsoever So that now you have the interpretation of that Scripture which till this last Witness could never be rightly understood that the high mountain there spoken of was the moderate wise and high read Consultations in the breasts of the Rulers given into a particular moderate wise high learned man much read in the Law and the Prophets

fire being formed in a Region of a more higher nature then this therefore they are of motion more swifter then thought of a pure thin or bright fiery nature so that with great ease they pierce through a narrow passage at the divine pleasure of the Creator So likewise it was with that Serpent tree of knowledge of good and evil for though his created purity was become all maner of imaginary impurities through his outcast condition yet you may know that his form was of a more fiery brightness then that of Adam or else Eve could not possibly have been deceived by him as aforesaid also his body being spiritual though his nature was carnal there was no let to hinder this descending into her womb to bring forth the Creators secret purpose of two generations coming through the loins of one woman to make an everlasting distinction between the transcendent glory of respection and shame of rejection Again though the Angelical Serpent descended into the womb of Eve yet you may know that his ascending nature was utterly lost so that in stead of his ascending upward into that habitation of ravishing glory from whence he was cast he was ignorant of it and of that God and his mighty Angels as if he had never known them in the least therefore he imagined his serpentine subtilty to be the onely wisdom then in being and this world to be the onely heaven Thus all the seed of Faith may be satisfied that the Devil that was is or at the resurrection shall so rise is in the form of a man and this Cain man-devil in process of time married and begat sons and daughters so that there shall not onely be a male but female devils also yea since there hath been and now is legions yea millions of legions of his seed in the forms of men and women and that as comely persons as ●ver were born of a woman O then ye seed of Cain look about you and seriously lay to heart how rashly it hath and now at this day is preached and by you believed that the devil was long before man was created as also that the devil had never the form or shape of a man but as it pleased Master Painter to draw him forth in such a form that when the devil knows himself to be a devil thou wilt see the cheat of both the Limner and his Picture Notwithstanding it hath been infallibly proved that there is no other devil but what is in men and women yet it is made known unto me the various pleas and excuses why or wherefore the generation of Cain have endeavored to finde out a devil before and without man First because that which is a devil is in antipathy to God so a professed enemy to his glorious person also the very name devil is a frightful cursed name a name that is a terror to all sober-minded men therefore to cloke their cursed devilish actions and that they may not be noted by the righteous Abels to be devils this devilish generation atribute it to a devil without them First It is by them supposed the devil is a deformed creature of an ugly shape with a cloven foot c. and therefore say they it cannot be a man or woman for they are comely beautiful creatures Secondly It is by them believed that the devil can transform himself into any form and appear where how and when he pleaseth therefore it cannot be that man should be the devil in that man can do none of these things Thirdly say they The devil is in hell tormented and torments all that he can captivate in his bounds but we are upon the earth not tormented neither torment we any man Fourthly say they The devil is a wicked cursed blasphemer against Go● and all that is good yea the devil is a ●…ing murthering persecutor of the ch●…dren of God therefore it cannot be th●… man should be this devil in that he is a true worshipper of God and is reverent of his name no blasphemer or persecutor of his people Fifthly and lastly The greatest Appeal the seed of Cain can make for himself is this If there be no other devil but what is in men and women then say they Kings may be devils Magistrates devils Merchants devils Lawyers devils Soldiers devils Doctors devils and Preachers devils and so in conclusion there may be few other in this world that at the day of judgement shall be raised but devils From these and such like hath that proud spirit of Reason in them corruptly imagined a Devil after their own fancy and have christened him Devil yea and given him a place of abode either under the earth in the hollow of the earth in ●…e depth of the waters or in the air or ●…e place they know not where and 〈◊〉 this is because they would not have ●od nor his people take notice that they ●…e his seed These and such like are in ●ome measure satisfactory to the spirit of Reason that there is a devil without them besides them and contrary to mans form Notwithstanding it hath been sufficiently maintained nay against all Gainsayers proved what the first descent or rise of the Devil was which never any since the foundation of the world could reveal till this Last Witness yet for thy further satisfaction I shall in short answer those thy frivolous Pleas and Excuses First thou pleadest The devil is a deformed deformed creature of an ugly shape with a cloven foot c. Answer This is one of the imagined whimsies of the ignorant and learned in these days this is one of the Scar-crows and Bug-bears believed and so reported by his own seed that the devil cannot be a man in that he is a deformed beast and yet not any of you dare avouch unto me where when and in what shape thou sawest him but in that thy soul is clothed with that ignorant dark devil within thee thou apprehendest and imaginest strange appearances without thee insomuch that an old Tree in the night is supposed a devil unto thee where this ignorance of a true God and a right devil hath taken place oh how fearful is that soul of something without it when the rise of thy fear is really within thee As consider what is the cause that a soul cries out The devil the devil stands before me waiting to carry me away with him and all that are with thee beholds nothing but thy self frighted and tormented by the devil within thee for my seed-spring declares unto thee there is no such thing as is supposed by thee but that devil that ever was is or shall be is for the most part as comely a creature as walks in London streets and hath as neat a foot and a a hand as any Lady in the land which shall appear more at large in that Chapter that treats of the seed of Cain his education or bringing up Again It is by the Seed of Cain believed man is not the

saith the rich soul This is a hard saying indeed for let me be of what Art or Calling soever if in that Art or Calling I do righteous things I shall be poor enough in this world for I finde in my Art and Trading that all men that grows rich hath got it by cheat and deceiving those they have to deal with for if a man deal justly he shall have much ado to maintain his family therefore well might the God of all knowledge say Not many rich not many noble but the poor shall enter in at the straight gate for the way the path the gate to the possession of the real durable truth is so narrow that the soul with its body must enter in pure and undefiled not laden with cheats and deceits as thousands at this day strives to enter in and are not able for want of their certificate that golden Rule In doing to others as thou would others should do to thee Now if thou say Where is that man or how is it possible for any man to perform this I answer I can both show thee the man and affirm it is possible for since I have known the true God and been made obedient to the rule thereof mark what I say I have not to my knowledge done that to another which I would not the same party should do to me and for the possibility thereof it lieth in thy power to do minde what I say It is as possible for thee to do justly as unjustly As instance thou having a friend that reposeth confidence in thee and declareth the truth of his business unto thee concerning which he entrusteth thee to do for him as if occasion require thou would have him do the like for thee now the occasion upon which thou art imployed is a business of great advantage as a bargain of Land Merchandize or otherways which if thou deal with him as for thy self sufficient benefit will acrue thereby but now in the managing of this his affairs thou findst thou canst gain for thy self twenty pound more or less and yet thy friend shall accomplish his desire cheaper then if he had aggitated the business himself and as touching this thy pretended plain-dealing and seeming honesty thou hast contrived a way that he shall never know of it but account himself as much obliged to thee for this thy great kindness and just dealing with him as if it were really so Now speak for thy self was it not in thy power to give him all or no and deal plainly was this any kindeness or just dealing in the least or hath it any relation to that Golden saying of Christ Matth. 7. 12. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do ye even so to them for this the Law and the Prophets No no thou wouldst never imploy him more but judge him and so look upon him as the ungratefullest man living upon the earth therefore look to thy own soul how it stands related to that golden rule aforesaid that whether thou finds in thy self a desire of revenge towards him or if ever occasion of such an account be tendered to thee thou wilt serve him the like I say be thou what thou wilt thou maist shake hands like Simeon and Levi brethren in cheat and deceit as thou may call to minde one remarkable cursed rule betwixt buyer and seller as thus Suppose thou be the seller and I the buyer I come for such a Commodity which thou hast I ask thee the price that thou canst afford it to live by thou doth protest as thou intends to be saved it cost thee so much I having no experience and believing thee gives thee thy price when thou knows thou hast cheated me both in the goodness of the Commodity and the price now judge thou if this be as thou would have another serve thee or dost thou think for all thy long prayers and heaven-like carriage that these ill gotten riches by which thou art grown great on the earth that such as thou shalt enter the straight gate or that thou shalt rise a rich glorious-Saint at the day of judgement then I may say in vain was it for me to forsake a hundredth pound a year and expose my self and children to strayts because I couldnot cheat for I tell thee if to do just and unjust be all one then I say with Paul Of all men we are most miserable when we might be rich to live poor here and be damned hereafter Oh no no as sure as God is God thou shalt know that so continuing and so dying as a cheat shall have all thy heaven here and everlasting torment hereafter therefore wonder not why it is a hard thing for Kings or great men to be saved but rather wonder that any is saved As take account from Saul the first King of Israel to the coming of Christ and observe seriously how many of them shall arise Saints also take notice from Christ to the raign of the Lord Protector thou shalt find it is a hard thing to deal justly and be rich in this world certain it is from experience I find it so far different yea so contradictory that from the seed of Faith I speak it to deal justly thou cannot be rich but poor in this world and yet what striving here is to be rich yea wise and great in this perishing world not in the least laying to heart that saying of James 5. 1. c. Go to now ye rich men weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you your riches are corrupted and your garments moth-eaten your gold and silver is cankered and the rust of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire ye have heaped treasure together for the last dayes ye have lived in pleasure on the earth and been wanton ye have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter ye have condemned and killed the just and he doth not resist you Now look about you the seed of Cain and tell me to whom was this spoken or whom doth this concern if not the great men of the earth or rich men of this world and yet how few of you do consider that destruction will be the end of this thy fleshly perishing glory Alas what though thou live thirty fourty fifty or eighty years this know thy glass is a running thy brave time will have an end and to thy bed of sickness thou must be brought when then all thy rich robes and precious Jewels may hange by thee but thou canst not make use of them and in room of them death prepares a garment for thee O then even then is a believers joy which now is thy sorrow for in stead of speaking peace to thee they will be a witness against thee yea a declaration of dreadful things concerning thee reminding thee of all thy proud thoughts and lofty looks as also how thou hast spent thy time in pleasure

on this earth and been wanton in the day of judgement yea cruel in the day of mercy in condemning yea killing the Just that blessed seed of Faith now if these men shall be saved and if those works shall be justified that is recorded in Mic. 3. 11. viz. abhorring judgement perverting all equity judging for reward teaching for hire divining for mony grinding the faces of the poor enriching themselves in the ruine of others I say if such great men as these that have here enjoyed all the pleasure and glory of this perishing world shall enjoy that immortal ravishing glory in the world to come then minde what will follow then in vain were the Scriptures written and to no purpose was those great sufferings of our Lord Jesus who saith Mat. 19. 29. And every one that hath forsaken houses or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my names sake shall receive an hundred fold and shall inherit everlasting life and then in the same Chapter Christ shews from the young mans going away sorrowful How hard a thing it is for a rich man to enter yea saith Christ A rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of glory and in vers 27. when Peter said Behold we have forsaken all and followed thee what shall we have therefore now you may read his answer was this That ye which have followed me in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones c. Now in all these words expound or interpret which way ye can to stile your fears of death and your dreadful portion at the great day I say from the Lord of glory you cannot find any colour or tittle in the least that doth encourage or give any admittance to a worldly minded rich man for if you minde what you read you shall find all the promises here or in Scripture elsewhere doth onely appertain to such that hath forsaken all false worships and false Christs and hath renounced all unjust ways or means whereby he hath enriched himself yea he that hath slighted a good name with the credit of this world and is not onely ready to persecute but be persecuted for that glorious yet despised man Jesus I say from the spirit of Faith all the promises of the Lord in Scripture doth onely belong to these poor despised scum of the earth as in these words Thou Peter or ye my disciples or any other of my precious ones that hath lost all for me you are those that shall have all gain by me you shall have everlasting life and be with me in my Kingdom yea in glory like my self as mind that saying of James the second chapter and fifth verse Hearken my beloved brethren hath not ●od chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him Now what can be said more or what more wouldest thou have God do for thee wouldst thou have him unjust or contradict his own word then be content with thy rich glory here and let us have our glory with our God we grudge not at thy greatness in this world no nor thou shalt not hinder us or detain us from our portion of glory to come thine is almost at an end ours is yet to come and shall never end therefore be not deceived thou canst not live the life of the devil here and live eternally with the Lord hereafter then as I said before so against men and angels I should say again that such as I had better never been born to deprive my self of such a livelihood as I might not have been inferior to many and all to live upright and justly in this my strange country which now I am deprived of all Surely if it were so as some of Cains cursed brood doth say and binde it with an oath That all shall be saved then poor Paul and the poor Prophets and we in these days have made a sad exchange but as sure as God is God whosoever thou art be thou Ranter or Quaker King or Beggar thou shalt finde at the day of our Saviours appearance that thou so dying shalt never be saved and then if it were possible thou wouldst say what I here write is truth and such as thou art found lyers Now one word more to this last plea of the seed of Cain and so as touching this point I have done which is this If there be no other devil but what is in man or woman then thou sayest Kings may rise devils Magistrates devils Lawyers devils Soldiers devils Merchants devils Doctors devils yea and Preachers devils these being for the most part the richest men of this world and the Scripture in many places extending its language only against such men may cause not onely a supposition in the seed of faith to judge according to the tenor of the inspired Writ but also a terror upon the souls of rich men in that Christ compareth riches to bryers and thorns as in that parable of the sower Mat. 13. 22. where he saith And the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choak the word and it becometh unfruitful riches being such a snare and deceiver of the soul may justly and that not without suspition cause a serious examination whether riches be not the onely instrument why or wherefore the true God nor his word doth not take root within thee where there is so much fulness of the treasure of this world there can be no admittance for the treasure of God ye cannot serve two masters and that because the riches of this world is in antipathy to the riches of heaven in that one is perishing the other everlasting the one clouds or draws the soul from God the other expells mists and draws the soul to God so that Christ knowing it was the greatest tryal and snare to the soul doth declare it a hard thing to enter yea so difficult that since he took upon him the form of flesh there hath not nor now is not one of ten thousand knowing the true God that shall be much troubled with the riches of this world for where riches is there must be a mighty power of faith keeping the soul in obedience to its God and that because where there is riches it requires the creatures whole attendance to give all care and diligence that possible may be to augment it or at least to uphold the stock or principle in so much that it makes him uncapable to cast his whole care upon the God of endless riches Now to conclude there is one thing more of great concernment to be seriously laid to heart by these rich men which is this First How thou camest to this thy greatness whether it was by birthright or inheritance as the eldest son Secondly Whether it came by thy accute subtile wit and ripe ingenuity in improving thy Art or