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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
earth_n	lord_n	see_v	world_n	5,471	5	4.4220	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93732	Because that in the following discourse the reason is recited and answered, why my ministry is rejected and not received by this ignorant, but more especially corrupt world; therefore I thought it expedient and necessary to publish the same.	Stafford, Richard, 1663-1703.	1700 (1700)	Wing S5107G; ESTC R184555	29,991	44

very cause What a stir was there against Paul made by Demetrius and his fellow Crafts Men when he Preached against the Idolatry of the People of Athens and so he mentions that he was evil intreated at Philippi for the Like Reason The Inhabitants of both Places did imagine that they did Please Atone and Worship the Great God of the World by those their Idolatrous and Superstitious Rites and Customs But when the Apostle did from the Spirit of the most High God contradict them therein then the Heathen were in a rage by having heard that heretofore themselves followed a vain thing The Doctrine of the Apostle Paul as to this matter is exactly fitted and applyed against these their false Imaginations God that made the World and all things therein seeing that he is Lord of Heaven and Earth dwelleth not in Temples made with hands neither is Worshipped with Mens hands as though he needed any thing seeing that he giveth to all Life and Breath and all things Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God we ought not to think that the God-head is like unto Gold and Silver or Stone graven by art and Mans device Now Preaching and Publishing hath that Effect that some do believe receive and obey the things Spoken or Published others do kick against them as it is said in the same Chapter that they mocked at the following Doctrine of this same Apostle It is a work of an hard Nature to strive against the Lusts long received customs established Rites and Habits of Men For custom is a second Nature and when People have been long used to a thing you had almost as good tear or pluck away one of their Limbs as go about to remove or perswade People off from it Can a Leopard change his Spots or an Aethopian his Skin So may they do well who have been accustomed to do evil That is it is very hard and difficult Nevertheless if that same custom be evil or vain then as the same God did Create the outward Man so in the second or New Creation of him which is called the New Birth or Regeneration which signifies a being born again the Grace of God will perswade off from and get rid of that same evil or vain Custom Saith the same Apostle If after the manner of Men I have fought with Beasts at Ephesus Now Beasts will what lieth in them unless they be broken off from it unto their Lusts and to their Customs and so long as Men are of the same Mind they are after the manner of Beasts Like as a Carriers Horse will go on in its wonted way so The brutish among the People are for doing still though it be evil or false what they have been used and accustomed unto for such are led by Sence and Memory and not by Reason or Judgment Now Faith is an higher and more sublime Principle of Action which carries above all these And where the Man doth live by Faith and act by Faith then He puts away childish things 1 Cor. 13. 11. Then he puts away the inferiour Principles by which others and perhaps himself formerly did Act and Live And now he is acted by Faith only Whereby he becomes somewhat above and beyond a Man as Reason Advances above a Beast For Flesh and Blood doth not reveal these things unto him The just shall live by his Faith Hab. 2. 4. Which is a great and observable Scripture in that it is thrice quoted by the Apostle Paul and it is written for our Instruction and Admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come To lead and bring People over unto this Noble and Divine State of Living by Faith is the end of all our Writing Books and Preaching Sermons But the generality of Mankind hath been so long Settled upon the lees and sunk down into Earthliness Sense and the things of this Life that they are not so easily and soon raised up to this Spiritual frame of Mind which if obtained would influence all their Actions There is that in the Hearts of Natural Unregenerate People and also that remainder of Corruption and of the old Nature even in the Regenerate that these last do grow weary of and the others do strive against the Heavenly seed of true Doctrine There is a reluctancy in the former and an aukwardness in the latter And as it is written There was War in Heaven Michal with his Angels fought with the Dragon and his Angels So hence doth arise War in the Soul of Man Christ Jesus with the words he puts into the Heart doth fight with the Devil and his Suggestions and also with what Temptations arise from the Flesh and from the things of this World and accordingly as one prevails or the other so is the Man determined to Good or Evil Truth or Falshood Right or Wrong There is a way which seemeth right in a Man 's own eyes but the paths thereof lead unto Death And as God hath made our Nature with a strong bent and tendency to the thing that right is so even in our backslidings and goings aside we do not commonly any thing that is wrong but under a shew and outward appearance of right The time cometh that whosoever killeth you will t●ink that he doth God service John 16. 2. Said Jesus to his Disciples and that was committing a grievous Sin even Murther it self Yet however strange it may seem yet so it is that People are so infatuated and deluded as to think that they did serve and obey God whilst they were acting a thing contrary to his Laws This confirms what was afore observed That People think that they do keep the Commandments of God even whilst they break and transgress them and they fain would have it so as if they had not sinned An Example hereof may be seen in the History of the fall of Adam Now the Serpent was made more subtil then any beast of the field which the Lord God had made And he said unto the Woman yea hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree of the Garden Gen. 3. 1. By which he would cunningly insinuate in the first place as if God had given no such Commandment which yet was so evident to their Hearts and Consciences That the Serpent himself could not well gain-say and deny it as appears by the Answer of the Woman in ver 2. 3. Whereupon the Serpent did reply in ver 4. 5. And frame another kind of Temptation unto which the Man and Woman do unhappily yeild But then it being added And the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked By their Eyes being opened may be at first supposed as if their Condition was not hereupon become worse but better for the present For so it seems where those who heretofore were blind or Blear-eyed do see Here again it may be perceived from the following Verse There was also in them a secret consciousness that they had offended God

his Danger then he will be certainly Drowned and Perish Just so is the Condition of all People in this World We are by Nature the Children of Wrath as well as others And as such Death and Hell followed with him Rev. 6. 8. Like a cruel and devouring Dog doth run after and pursue us So that the same Word which the Angel spake unto Lot doth belong to ●…ery one of us Arise and escape for thy Life And truly unless we do arise and escape for our Life and unless we are warned as the Preaching and Ministry of the Word gives the warning and unless we take the warning which the Obedience to the same word doth As it is written By Faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet prepared an Ark to the Saving of his House Heb. 11. 7. But if it were not for this we should certainly fall into the Damnation of Hell And those People who like Brutes Beasts go blindfold through the vale of this Life without any sence apprehension or fear of the Damnatino of Hell they will more certainly fall 〈…〉 The Reason why any are so fearless and unconcerned as to this as too many are is because they see it not But if Hell Fire was evidently set f●…h before their Eyes They would be at their wits ends and think they could never get far enough off from so terrible a thing Even as Lot did arise and escape for his Life to avoid the Flames of Sodom and Gomorrah So where they see it by Faith will reasonable people arise and escape for their Life to avoid the Fire and Damnation of Hell all one as we now see they do whatever they can to run from an Inundation of Water of from the Sword of a devouring Enemy In this last Instance when people fly from the Sword from the drawn Sword and from the greiousness of War Are they then without fear In no wise unless they shut their Eyes or are stupid and then such are soonest knocked on the Head Even so again it is here The last Enemy Death dogs us at our heels And as it is said in the Book of Revelations Hell follows with him And can then people live without fear And yet for all they who live most without fear of Hell will soonest fall into it I have read of Damocles sitting at a Table feeding upon Dainties and good Chear but directly over his Head there did hang a drawn Sword by a single and weak Thread Such an one as long as he did not see it might be without fear but if he did look up and behold it then he can be no longer heartily and really merry No more then Belshazzar could when he saw the hand writing upon the Wall In like manner The Wrath of God which in Scripture is called the Sword of the Lord is revealed from Heaven against all unrighteousness of Men and it hangs directly over all the Children of Disobedience and all the Sinners and Transgressours of the Earth by the single Thread of their uncertain Lives For this same Wrath of God will be really executed upon and sensibly felt by them after that their Breath is gone out of their Nostrils and their Souls are departed from their Bodies How then can any Live in pleasure upon the Earth and be wanton and nourish their hearts as in a day of Slaughter Unless to compleat the Paralel in this also Herein they become Like th●… Beasts that Perish As to be quite insensible and ignorant thereof Alas Notwithstanding the Brute Beasts are thus insensible and ignorant in the m●…n while they must at length come to the shambles and then they smell Blood and they would fain not go but they are pushed in Even so those who by multitudes are going on in the way to Death and Hell when they come near to the first then they begin to know and are sensible of the other also but then it is too late And the door was shut Mat. 25. 16. Time past cannot be recalled in a Thought neither will a Desire at the last gasp be accepted for a godly and well spent Life They who in the midst of Life and Health go on securely without the fear of God and of his Threatnings and in unmindfulness of their Latter End Even these will not be without fear when the Time is come that they must Die But the Soul will indeed Shiver and Tremble as She is taking her flight forth into the invisible World Or if she should be hardened and rendred insensible through a foregoing Deadness in Trespasses and Sins or through Bodily Pain and Sickness which take up and employ all her Faculties at that time yet after she is actually dissolved from this Tabernacle of Clay then if she is loaden with Sin and Guilt will succeed A certain fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery Indignation which shall devour the Adversaries Heb. 10. 27. For in the World to come there is no hardening against God or the sence of his Judgments Therein the Devils believe and tremble All people must and will fear one time or another But as the Wise Man saith Happy is he that feareth always who fears most in this World that he may fear least in the World to come For from this kind of fear that is a fear of God and a fear to Sin against him doth proceed a good Conscience thence is no fear that is slavish or hath torment Then comes Perfect love which casteth out fear But as it is written When the Sun was going down a deep sleep fell upon Abram and loan horrour of great darkness fell upon him So now the Sun of our Life is going down let it be both our Desire and Prayer and also Endeavour that a Filial and Reverential fear a great Aw and Dread of the invisible Lord God may fall and always remain upon our Souls and Spirits That for these very few now they are fewer then ever they were yet remaining Days of our Pilgrimage we may Walk in the fear of the Lord and in the Comfort of the holy Ghost against the time comes when we are to fall severally Asleep in the Lord Jesus and from thence ever to awake after his likeness It hath been fulfilled already as to the Inhabitants of this Nation and Generation The same is now fulfilling whilst I am Publishing these things and it will be yet fulfilled as to their ●uture kind of behaviour towards my Ministry For all will not believe though a Man declare it to them whilst I go in and out amongst them But especially it will be more evidently clearly and illustriously fulfilled after that we are all departed off from this Earth Behold I have told you before And they whether they will hear or whether they will forbear Why do not some hear and others forbear For they are a Rebellious House Notwithstanding now they call themselves Christians but as All are not Israel who are of Israel Rom. 9. 6. So all are not Christians at this Day who hold fast the Name thereof Yet They shall know that there hath been a Preacher among them who hath Preached the Words of God and of eternal Life Consider what hath been said and the Lord give you understanding in all things So Witnesseth RICHARD STAFFORD a Scribe instructed in the Law of GOD and in the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST As Paul was in the City of Jerusalem brought up at the Feet of Gamaliel So I was for the space of Six Years Educated at Magdalen Hall in Oxford FINIS LONDON Printed in the Year 1700. And are to be Sold unto such who Will receive the Love of the Truth that they might be saved 2 Thes 2. 10. And who will Consecrate their gain unto the Lord and their substance to the Lord of the whole Earth Micah 4. 13. and towards the outward labour and charge of Making known his Truth 38. 19.