Selected quad for the lemma: master_n
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A75936
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A free gift, freely given of God to Henry Abbut and by him freely given to the reader, without money or price.
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Abbut, Henry.
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1684
(1684)
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Wing A70BB; ESTC R229461
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180,833
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200
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obedience in us so comes the feet to be defiled and made unclean Now as Jesus hath washed and made clean the feet of obedience in any and keeps them clean in the walking in obedience to God it is their duty and they are to follow the Example of Jesus That if they see in any that the Serpent hath bruised the heel of the seed of the woman in them that is in their walking upon the earthy part in them any part of the Earth hath cleaved to their feet whereby they are polluted or defiled then it is their duty as Instruments in Gods hand to wash and make clean the feet of those that they see so polluted or defiled And this is what God by the Apostle commanded If any man be overtaken in a fault yea which are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness considering thy self lest thou also be tempted Bear ye one anothers burthens and so fulfil the Law of Christ Gal. 6. 1 2. Which is as much as to say If any man by the temptation of the Serpent hath defiled his feet of obedience in being overtaken in a fault the earthy part on which he walked upon in his obedience hath cleaved to his feet of obedience and hath defiled them yea that are spiritual yea that stand in your obedience by the power of Jesus in you who hath washed your feet wash ye the feet of those that are polluted restore such a one again to the pure and clean walking in obedience to Jesus but do it in the spirit of meekness in a low and meek spirit not lording it over them but in meekness and lowliness of mind as if thou wert indeed a servant to them attending upon them to that very end considering thy self lest thou also be tempted lest thou also fall by the temptation of the Serpent self in thee lest thou pollute or defile thy feet of obedience in walking upon the earthy part in thee And so then thou mayst stand as much in need of another to be an Instrument in Gods hand to wash thy feet to make thee clean in thy obedience to God and so restore thee again by the spirit of meekness to God as thy Brother hath need of thee And in thus your seeking to restore one another in the spirit of meekness ye bear one anothers burthens and so fulfil the law of Christ the Command of Christ to wash one anothers feet as he washed your feet And when and where this shall be put in practice that Lordly power which some in their wills because they have known Jesus in the flesh and he hath sent them to preach and cast out Devils they have taken upon them to judge and condemn others wherein the Witness of God in their Consciences the Light of God hath acquitted and cleared them And when that Lordly power shall be thrown down and a Cross taken up to that Will and also when and where this duty of washing one anothers feet is known and practised then when there is indeed such a thing done whereby the feet of obedience is polluted or defiled and it be seen by those in whom the Lordly and Masterly spirit is cast down and a Cross taken up to that Lordly and Masterly Will in them that was ready to run out in judging and passing sentence upon others because their feet of obedience have been polluted and by the subtilty of the Serpents temptations they have been overtaken in a fault Instead of running upon them and passing sentence upon them there will be a Spirit of meekness gentleness forbearance love long suffering pity and compassion used to them and thereby to be as Instruments in Gods hand to wash the feet of such a one to recover to restore and bring such a one again into obedience to God as not knowing how soon you that now stand may fall by the like temptations And this I believe men will come more into the practice of as they come to know what it is to take up the Cross to their own Wills and to follow Jesus and not be like the Disciples of Christ that would have had fire to come down from Heaven upon those that would not retain them who knew not what spirits they themselves were of and yet had known Christ and had followed Jesus in the flesh and had preached and cast out Devils and yet knew not what it was for Jesus to wash their feet nor what it was to wash the feet of others and therefore had no patience to bear with them that would not retain them that would not take in and believe what they said although spoken in their wills as in their own Wills it was that they would have fire come from Heaven to consume them Some there hath been in this knowing Age that we live in that hath taken upon them to judge those true words spoken by one whose life they have had nothing to object against and yet for declaring what he hath known of the deceit that is wrought in the heart of man by the subtilty of the Serpents self in man and that under a form of Religion and thereby the Devil perswades man that he shall thereby come to be like God and declaring how he hath in Jesus's Name by the power of Jesus the true Light in him resisted and cast out the Devil in his temptations and desiring them to have a care that they be not deceived by the temptations of the subtilty of the Serpents self in them under an outward form of Religion and of being like God as Adam was and himself had experienced They have judged these words or words spoken to that purpose or tending to the same effect in discovering the subtilty of the Serpents self in man in an outward form of Worship and how the Serpent in those temptations might be resisted and overcome to be spoken from a wrong Spirit and so would make the Devil to be a dividing of his Kingdom and so if Christs words be true they would make the Devil to be a throwing down his Kingdom for he said to those zealous Professors that thought themselves better than others when they so judged of him that he cast out Devils by Beelzebub the Prince of Devils that a Kingdom divided cannot stand And if Satan cast out Devils he is divided against himself and how then can his Kingdom stand Mat. 12. 24 25 26. Jesus himself meets with the like dealing from the like sort of zealous Professors And he told his Disciples that the disciple is not to be above the master nor the servant above the lord It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master and the servant as his lord if they have called the master of the house Beelzebub how much more shall they call them of the houshold Mat. 10. 24 25. But that which made them judge that the words were not spoken by a true Spirit was this as hath been several times expressed by them
me But so it hath pleased the infinite wise God to leave their failings weaknesses infirmities or miscarriages and not onely theirs but others of his faithful Servants in writing and now in print not to the end to be as Examples for us to follow but to be as Warnings for us to have a care that we by the subtilty of the Serpent do not fall as they did for they and we stand and are saved by all one and the same Faith in the same Jesus and what is written is written for our Instruction and Learning And I know that the same Spirit that will blame me for making so publick the dealings of Friends by me will also blame me for medling with the failings weaknesses infirmities or miscarriages of the Twelve as it did in some Friends for speaking of the failings of Job who although perfect and upright and how patiently he bore what God suffered Satan to afflict him with yet his patience did not always continue the same for if it had he would never have cursed the day of his birth c. I made but use of this in my speaking in the Meeting to shew what great need we all had to stand upon our watch lest at any time we be overcome by the subtilty of the Adversary and this gave such an offence that I was by two counted no small Friends at two several times rebuked for mentioning Job's failings And therefore I expect no other but by the same Spirit I shall be sentenced and judged for my making so publick the dealings of those called Friends or Quakers to me or rather to that which was of Jesus in me but if they do I know by what Spirit it is that they so judge and censure me That it is not by the spirit of God for the example of the spirit of God I follow it is the example of God by his spirit in Matthew and Luke to make publick in writing the dealings of the Twelve by Jesus It is the example of God by his spirit in Paul to make publick in writing Peter's not walking uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel but dissembled It is the example of God by his spirit in the holy men of old that gave forth the Scriptures to make publick in writing the failings of the best of his Servants as of Noah Abraham Lot Moses David Job and others And therefore I shall conclude with the words of Jesus Mat. 10. 24 25. The disciple is not above his master nor the servant above his lord It is enough for the disciple that he is as his master and the servant as his lord if they have called the master of the house Beelzebub how much more shall they call them of the houshold I have forborn the mentioning of any Name or Names and so I shall unless I hear what I have written be contradicted or the truth of it questioned and then I may not onely name the Names of the Persons but the Places where they either spake or did what I have herein mentioned READER WHosoever thou art that shall read what I have writ if upon the reading of what I have writ of the dealings of some of those called Quakers to me thou shalt therefore judge or think the worse of the Truth those called Quakers own and believe in that is of the true Light in them which Light is Jesus that came to save his People from their sins and that Jesus who is the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the World it is onely he and there is none other that can save any one from their sins and the way that they own that God is to be worshipped in by this Jesus the true Light in them is to worship him in his Spirit and Truth That evil Spirit that would lead thee or cause thee upon the reading of what I have writ to judge or think the worse of the Truth owned and believed by those called Quakers and of the way owned and believed by them that God is to be worshipped in because of the dealings of some of them to me the same evil Spirit upon the same ground may lead thee or cause thee to judge or think the worse of Jesus and of the way that he declared that God the Father was to be worshipped in and that because of the dealings of the Twelve by him as I have in what I have writ mentioned of their dealings by Jesus as that they did not believe all that he said to be true nor did they always understand the truth spoken by him but by Peter he was rebuked for speaking the truth and all of them did contradict him in his speaking the truth saying to him That should not be done to him and that by them that he had said should be done to him and that by them as when he told them they should be all offended because of him that night and so offended as to be scattered and forsake him and as he said they should therein deal by him so they did deal by him although they had all said they would not deal so by him And moreover there was one of the Twelve that for the love he had to money betrayed him and sold him to them that he knew sought for him to take away his life Thus much you may read in the Scriptures of the dealings of the Twelve by Jesus And therefore I do say that the same evil Spirit that would have thee to judge or think the worse of the Truth that is owned and believed by those called Quakers of their worshipping God in Spirit and Truth because of what I have writ that some of them have done to me The same evil Spirit upon the same ground may cause thee to judge and think the worse of Jesus and of the truth that Jesus preached because of what the Twelve did to him that thou mayest read written in the Scriptures God knows and bears me witness that why I make mention of their dealings to me is to do what I believed I ought to do thereby to make known what knowledge and acquaintance man may have of Jesus in the flesh and yet not know Jesus in his Death and Resurrection as the Twelve who had the most knowledge of him and acquaintance with him in the flesh and were sent by him to preach and cast out Devils and yet knew him not in his Death and Resurrection And therefore man may go a great way in an outward form of Worship and in an outward following of Jesus and yet not come fully to know what it is to deny himself daily and take up his Cross to all self and be a Follower of Jesus in the Spirit As the Twelve although they followed him in the flesh and so had the most acquaintance with him yet they had not in that time of their knowing of him and following of him in the flesh so fully learned that Lesson of self-denial and taking up of the daily Cross to their own wills as they learned it when they knew his Death and Resurrection in themselves and followed him in the Spirit And as Paul said They knew no man after the flesh yea though we have known Christ after the flesh yet now henceforth know we him no more Oh how subtilly the Serpent self in man can and does act in an outward form of worshipping God tempting man in that knowledge and understanding that he hath of God to eat of the forbidden Tree that he might thereby be as Gods I do therefore beseech the Readers to have a great care that they be not deceived by the Serpents subtilty therein as I do know he hath formerly deceived me And also I do beseech them not to answer the desires of the subtile Serpent or Tempter in them as to judge or think the worse of the Truth the true Light in man or of those called Quakers because of some ill dealings done by some of them to Henry Abbut FINIS