Selected quad for the lemma: church_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
church_n	answer_v	holy_a	scripture_n	2,886	5	5.5015	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34990	A description of the Church of Scotland with a word of reproofe to the priests, and teachers, and officers therein, for their many corrupt doctrines and practices, also a warning and a gentle invitation to all people, that lives under their tyrannicall government, to come to the truth ... : herein is their church made manifest ... : with an exhortation to all people to come out from amongst them ... / written in love to the simple-hearted in that nation ... by one who desires that people might be brought to the truth ... who am known among men by the name Stephen Crisp.	Crisp, Stephen, 1628-1692.	1660 (1660)	Wing C6928; ESTC R40352	17,808	15

Christ was as your answers would doe if yee were asked but your Idolls shall be broken and their names shall you be ashamed off as they were ashamed of the Groves and the greene Trees under which they had worshipped their Idolls whom God confounded before you and then your Water and Wine and Cakes and such like things which you call Sacraments and your Masse-houses which you call Churches signed with the Popes Grosse your predecessors these things will but all adde to your shame and sorrow Therefore whilst you have time lay aside these carnall and foolish traditions and come to the light which lets people see over them all to the one Baptisme it selfe and to the Supper and Table of the Lord it selfe and to the Church it selfe which is in God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as you may read 1 Thess 1.2 And lastly the Discipline of your Church doth appeare contrary to the Discipline of the true Church and in this particular yee have so far proceeded already within these few yeares that yee have thereby much manifested your selves even to many who did not before see you for this many hath looked upon as a taile of a Scorpion with which yee have sought to bend that sting and venome which lodged in your hearts against the true Church which yee could not vent with your tongue nor hands but this also will the Lord cut off that the Scorpions shall hurt no more your sting begins to decay and your force to faile you and people begins to walke safely in the path of peace and in the way of righteousnesse notwithstanding your taile or your tongue to the greife of your hearts which is filled with mischeife against the righteous in the Land But the Lord is their deliverer and according to the evil of your desires against the innocent even so shall your reward be Now the true Church they did observe that if any that was called a Brother should be a Fornicator a Railer and Extortioner a Covetous person an Idolater or a Drunkard with such a one not to eat now if you would observe this in your brother-hood yee would quickly be scattered one from another your Preists suspended for their Coveteousnesse and Drunkennesse and Railing the people suspended for their Fornication and Idolatry and Extortion and Railing and Fighting and many other misdemeanors your Communion would soone fall but you who are a body or Church so called made up of such as these yee take another course to uphold your fellowship for if any who hath beene one with you in these things before mentioned doth come to see with the light wherewith Christ hath lighted them that these things are displeasing to God and so dares not goe on with you any longer in them but declares against your Idolatry your covetousnesse your railing and it is with such a one that you will not eat nor drinke nor buy nor sell Oh abominable depth of Satan this is the way you have found out to keep people from believing in the truth and from departing from your corrupt and cursed practices In short this is as your Fathers the Jewes did who were the crucifiers of the Lord of life if any then did confesse him to be the Christ that said I am the light of the world who lighteth every man that cometh into the world they must be cast out of their Synagogue marke out of the Synagogues of the unbelievers and crucifiers such as yee who cannot nor will not have any fellowship with them that beleives in the light that they may be made Children of the light your latter end shall not be like unto theirs Furthermore the Apostle exhorted the Corinthians to deliver the incesteous persons to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that his soule might be saved in the day of the Lord but he did not intend the destruction of his body as yee wickedly doe who thirsts after blood to asswage the flame of your envy but the Lord will quench that flame and yee that desires blood yee shall have blood to drinke but the Apostle fought not with flesh and blood but against spirituall wickednesse and against incestion and fornication and Idolatry but yee make war against the flesh and blood and seekes the destruction of the outward bodyes as much as in you lyes but those who believes in the light and trusts in the Lord the God of our salvation the power that saveth out of sin and unrighteousnesse them will he deliver out of your bloody hands and from your cruell teeth and from the reach and venome of your hurtfull taile but it may be you will say although we have no criminall fact to lay to their charge whom we have cast out of our Church of whom you speake yet they are Heretickes and it was Pauls councell that one that is an Heretick after the first and second admonition Reject I answer if this were observed among you there would be none found to reject for all would be found to be rejected and this is the reason that whosoever comes to be members of the true Church doth reject you because of your Heresie in doctrine and corruption in conversation but after that way which you call Heresie worship we the God of our Fathers who wrought the holy Scriptures by inspiration of the holy spirit and according thereunto we believe in the true light that lighteth every man that commeth into the world which our beleife you call Heresie and we beleive that this light wherewith every man is enlightened is a sufficient light to lead all that follow and obey it to eternall life and this you call Heresie and that this light is the perfect and beavenly gift of God and whosoever yeilds himselfe into the obedience of it shall thereby be translated from darknesse and the workes thereof which is sin and be brought to live righteously and holyly in this life and this also you call Heresie and many more things which in the Scriptures are declared and by us believed and witnessed doe you call Heresie as may appeare in a booke lately published by the Presbitery at Edenborough to their shame called a testimony against the petition for tolleration wherein your envious and bloody spirit is sufficiently set forth to every judicious Reader against the life of the Scriptures and whomsoever into it is come But your cainish spirit is seene and your end is at hand and your reward shall be according to your workes And now all yee people of Scotland in whom is sincerity and simplicity unto whom this shall come consider in the feare of the Lord where you are and who you are joyned with and against whom yee take part while yee abide in this Church and search the Scriptures your selves and see whether these things be so or nay and come out from amongst them and partake no longer of their sins least you partake also of their plagues which is neare comming upon them and praise the Lord who hath spared you untill now and caused his light to breake forth to discover their wayes and workes of darknesse before yee are overwhelmed by his judgements and as in sincerity yee come to try these things with the light in it yee will see more light and by it an understanding will be opened in you to see into their abominations and deceits beyond what is heare declared but if yee reject this the day of your visitation then shall yee be shut up in darknesse and your ignorance shall increase and your hearts shall be heardened and yee made fit for the indignation and wrath of God to be powered forth upon when the measure of your iniquityes shall be fulfilled While you have time prise it and while you have light love it and beleive in it that you may be made Children of it S. C.

Christ the Son of the living God who is the light of the world and lighteth every man that commeth into the world with the true light and let that be the beginning and foundation of your building and that will stand for ever this was before transgression was and before will worship was against this the gates of hell cannot prevaile This is the corner-stone which ye builders have rejected and doe still reject the light and so refecting it are building Babylon as it were which is now confounding and yee are put to a stop and can proceed no farther for the people sees your confusion in many parts of the Nation and begins to love and imbrace them whom you have cast out of your Church who have the light for their foundation which answereth the witnesse of God in all and who soever builds and not on this their building shall come to naught and the builders shall be ashamed for that which should uphold them will come a top of them and breake them to peices The next thing reprovable in your Scottish Church is the matter whereof it is composed and in this also are you contrary to the true Church the Spouse of Christ for your Church is composed of evill and ungodly men and women whose hearts is delighting in ungocly practices as wearing and lying and cousening and dissembling and scoffing and scorning yea in striking and beating the innocent such is your Church made up of dead stones whose h●arts are as an Adamant their mouths filled with cursing and their tongues filled with venome and their hands filled with violence these is your materialls with which ye have builded but the Lord God of light and power is making you bare and manifest and by his power is throwing you down where shame shall cover your Church where the scorner shall be scorned in the day of their calamity and the strikers shall be st ucken with a rod that will breake them to peices the sword of the almighty is drawn and shall wound them in their inward parts that have wounded his Children in their outward bodyes and greived his holy spirit and then shall howling and lamentation come upon your Church but there shall be none to pitty for the double reward of your doings to Gods Children shall shortly come upon you and that is the word of the Lord to you But if you demand how is all this proved that our Church is compassed and made up of such persons as these I answer I prove it thus not only by the hearing of the ear nor by what I have seen of you in the eternall light of the Son of God before my comming among you but also being an eye witnesse of your behaviour fowards me who when I have in obedience to God and love to your souls but proclarmed the fear of God amongst you in one of your Masse-houses or Markets what an offence hath it been counted by you who are of the Scottish Fresbiterian Church some crying kick him kick him knock him down and such like language and usage have I and many of my brethren and sist rs found amongst you as in particular the behaviour of the people of Dalkieth on the 13th of the 9th month 59. may witness where had not the Soldiers appeared as a stop to your murderous purposes against me your works of mischief had more appeared but your spirit is seen and known to be of one nature with the scarlet colored where whothirsteth after and is drunk with the blood of the Saints besides there needs no greater proofe of this charge against your Church but what hath and doth proceed out of your own mouths who are dayly confessing your selves to be such kind of people and so are judged out of your own mouths as all such slothful servants ever was doth not your Priest say that ye are all going astray every one after the lusts of his own heart and have forsaken God the fountaine of living waters and digged to your selves Cysterns that can hold no water and that your hearts are estranged from God regarding lying vanityes and many such like things might be mentioned from your owne mouths the breath whereof as fire shall devoure you now if it benot so why do you say so lying against your own souls and if it be so how can your Church be the Church of God pure and undefiled unspotted and without wrinkle or any such thing answer for your selves or cease from deceiving your selves and others with the name Church of God for with him dwelleth no iniquity Now if the light were the foundation then would none be counted fit members of your Church but such as walked in it and so your fellowship would stand in the light as the true Church-fellowship did and doth but evill doers as Scoffers Lyers Proud Covetous Persons Strikers fierce D spisers Railers and Persecutors such hates the light and denyes and rejects it and so may be continued in your Church-fellowship which is in sin for terme of your lives and shall be continued in the inheritance of utter darknesse in the end where shall-weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth for ever Another thing reprovable in your Church is the officers thereof they being in all thing contrary to the qualifications signified by the scripture of truth as ye might well see if t●● God of this world the Prince of darknesse had not blinded your eyes a little of the disproportion betweene them and the officers spoken of in the Scriptures for the simples sake wh● desires to be informed I shall instance and first of all concerning your Presbitries for th● Presbitry which the Scriptures speaks of who laid their hands on Timothy 1 Tim. 4.14 We such with whom was the power of God as was manifest by Timothyes receiving a gift by th● laying on of their hands who had rec●ived the gift of God themselves and had also receive power to communicate the same but you who are proud men and covetous men who usurp Authority and presumes to be called by the name and deny that power to be extant with you or any else or that any can be immediately called or gifted for the ministry you are of th●● sort mentioned in the 1 Titus 16. Who professe yee know God but in wo ks deny him b●ing abominable and disobedient and to every good work reprobates for these qualificatio● doth belong to such men as yee professe your selves to be which I shall set down and then let 〈◊〉 sober people judge whether yee be reprobate unto them yea or nay 1 They ought to be blamelesse and whether yee be so or nay be your own Judges who 〈◊〉 none can live without sin and so consequently not without blame for all sin is blameabl● 〈…〉 this particular yee have excluded your selves then watchfull but what doe yee watch fo●●●cept it be opportunity to promote your corrupt honour or to augment and exact your 〈◊〉 gaine then of good behaviour that is not

to raile and to curse and to stir up people 〈◊〉 ●●mults and to stoning those who are not of your judgement this is evill behavi●u● then giv●● to hospitality as to this let the poor people who in your Parishes goes in cold and hunge● while you live in fulnesse and idlenesse beare witnesse against you then apt to teach in th● also are ye far short who must take a weekes time to study to teach the people two or thr●● houres and yet cannot get your devised studyed stuffe to hold together but one while is co●firming that which it may be the same day or shortly after you will deny againe then 〈◊〉 given to wine no strikers how many of you have beene guilty herein in drunkennesse a●● striking and setting others on to strike would be too tedious to mention here but who desi●● to be informed of them and their manners let them in sincerity take notice of th m a●● they shall come to understand their spirit also some of their workes of this nature are alre●● printed and presented to publick view then not greedy of filthy lucre and in this particul●● how far your greedynesse hath appeared beyond all that have gone before you let the sufferi●● of them who for conscience sake could not put into your mouths beare witnesse against y●● again saith the Apostle in the 7th verse of that 3. Chapter of the 1st Timothy he m●●● have a good report of them that are without but how far are yee short of this who can●●● keepe up a goood name amongst them of your owne Church but your covetousnesse and dece●● is mannifest among them notwithstanding your tiranny doth much stop their mouthes and bl●●● ●heir eyes that they yet see not so much of your deceipt as shortly they will come to see But in briefe the description of the Church-officers in the whole Scriptures of the Apo●tles is that they be blamelesse which ye say none now can be and that they be filled with the holy Ghost and with saith which yee say they cannot be for sin must have a room ●n them then they cannot be filled with the other and that they hold the mi●tery of faith ●n a pure conscience which yee say they cannot doe for some sin must remaine and that defiles the conscience that they should be gentle towards all Men in meekenesse instructing ●hem that oppose themselves But out of this and all these qualifications yee being found ●our officiating must be like your Officers and your Officers are like the Members a body ●it for destruction together which the Lord is appearing against in his mighty power to ●ut of head and tayle root and branch together 4thly The Doctrines of your Church also are reprovable and corrupt in many things contrary to the Scriptures and first in your Doctrines of God whom you say is to be known and believed on as in the distinguishmant of three Persons and herein yee teach contra●y to the Scriptures of truth which yee say is your rule and by it are all such Dreamers ●nd Deceivers judged and by the spirit which gave them forth which speakes no where 〈◊〉 three Persons as yee imagine and teach but declares of the only wise God who is one 〈◊〉 being and subsistence individuall infinite who divideth all things and to every 〈◊〉 ●●eir portion who limiteth all things and is not limited whose power and spirit is 〈◊〉 ●able from him who is the Father of the spirits of all flesh who by his power 〈◊〉 ●●th and by his spirit quickeneth all living Creatures whose power is the Christ 〈◊〉 whose spirit is the holy and eternall life which they partake of who waites for his ●ppearance in his power and these doth not the Scriptures call three Persons but the one witnesse in the Heaven which you are all ignorant of who dreames and divines to the people of a distinguishment of Persons in the God-head therefore cease your deceipt yee Deceivers and Sooth sayers of Egypt and come to the light that shines in the heart that by it yee may come to the true knowledge of God your Creator and of his power by which ●●e were created and of his spirit by which he quickens into newnesse of life all those who ●eares him and waites for his salvation which now by the light is makeing manifest 2dly Your Doctrine concerning the word of God is altogether reprovable who teach people to beli ve that that is the word of God that can be bought and sold for mony and the knowledge thereof attained by humane learning namely the Scriptures of the Prophets and Apostles that you say is the word of God and they that say otherwise you say must be cursed but I tell you this curse will returne upon your owne heads who preach contrary to the Scriptures which saith Christ is the word of God now if he be the word ●f God then the Scriptures is not except they be Christ which if you thinke they be de●lare your meaning plainly and if you know any other Christ then the Scriptures then ●all yee him the word of God and call the Scriptures a Declaration according as they are ●alled by them that wrote them who knew the word of God it selfe which yee being ignorant of have as it were changed the glory of the incorruptable and immortall word of God which abides for ever into the similitude of writings which had a beginning 〈…〉 and must come to an end and in the end shall you know the word of God to be that wh●●● searches your hearts and Judges your ungodly thoughts and purposes this shall abi●● with you in the end for this was in the beginning which the Scriptures was not a●● this is it by which the Scriptures and all other things came to have a being so th●● if the Scriptures must be called the word of God because the word came to 〈◊〉 Saints and bid them write them then might Noahs Ark or Solomons Temple 〈◊〉 the Priests Garments or any other thing of the like nature be called the word of Go● because by it they were commanded to make them and furthermore that which the word of God is that which was made flesh and if you can tell how or wh●●● the Scripture was made flesh then declare it or else let that be called the word of G●● henceforth that did become flesh againe without the word was nothing made that 〈◊〉 made and if the scriptures be this word then declare to us how you know that they w●●● before the creation for that which maketh must needs be before the things that by it 〈◊〉 made farther the word of God saith the Apostle is quicke and powerfull and shar● then a two edged sword deviding betweene the soule and the spirit but if this be 〈◊〉 Scripture then tell us what is the reason that your soules are not thereby divided from 〈◊〉 spirit of iniquity and d ceipt that rules over them but yee imagine that death onel●