482 The `Preachers plea. álnlI ,tT Pothers r o ff by the r(oof his owne heart in anything,wihourmakingref fiance wthoutd, ringtheafiifianceofGodsSpirittowith ftandit, whether it be pride, malice, revenge, otwhatfoeuer elfe, the fameh a Slaue tohis fin, a drudge to hisowne humour, and thebafeftCreature vnder Heaven. Nay heeis more flauifh by degrees,thenthofc flaues,whomtheyviedinold times (andas they doeRill in fomeCountries) to buy withmoney, and to vfe at their pleafure. For there is no fuck Ilene, buthe keepeth a freemind ina feruile,flame : but men generally, being in this moti filthy and wretched thraldame , thinke themfelues tobe in the mofl happy effete that may bee , and haue no will or difpoGtion tobee freed , but areenemiesto themeases oftheir delivery. Thusbane Ifsewed you, that thoughmen thinke themfeluesat liberty whenthey may line licen. tioully , yet theyare much deceiued : itmaybe laid of them as Ned, raid of hhGen,9,aÇ. Canaan: SeruantsofSerwnu they beek, doing thebuflaelfeof the Dinell , not grudgingly orvnwillingly asbond-Rapes vfually doe, but readily, greedily, and joyfully, Nymph. Ism. (Itbaukeyeu) weüfatiefeedforthee: yet by theway glueme leaseto elemandefyesenething: DetbnotPaulfaytoChr ions; Brethren yet itauc been Gai113. called intoliberty *? je thatitfeemethcbereitbbertyaim itsCbriJlianúy ,wbicbwhat it ie(Conyfobbe)Iprayyoutornfrufbme. The Lanny Epaph. Certenly the fiate andcallingofa true Chriflian, is a lonelycalling, ofChrittia- a calling that calleth menvnto it, Inch a calling as that thebeanies thereofare 47* able torauifh the eye. True it is, thateuerfince,damdid eate the forbidden fruit, all the menthesofthe poflerityare foout oftafle, that we can neither heare nor fee, nortafle any thing that good is; fo that ifwe looke vponthee. (late ofaChriflian lining inobedience , with an eyeof flefh, itlookeh euen like Chrill for allthe world, caenasawithered branch ,andIkearea,ill:bedrie tErom3,r, greund: wbmwefieit, tbereisnofermethat wejhea /ddefire it,. The eyeof anatu. tall man can feeno good in it, vnlefîeitbe good to deaue vnto the Lord , or srPfaLtr9, r it ie good to heaJJb5e4m, orle is good to room thewayofGods Commencements a, sVerfe 3.. andfuchlike,which are like pils,and to die forit, will notdownwith a carnal' man; yetif it beduly confdered, it is the onelyeflate of liberty, le is nets flefhly liberty,* liberty for mentodoe and fpeake, and line as they themfelues pleafe, euerymanafter hisownefafhion, as though the raines fhouldbee laid onevery mans necke,and he leftto hisowne difpoGtion. It isno filch liberty: for then the more Libertine thebetterChriflian ; and then all the world would Toone be religious, forall theWorldare well-neere Libertines. But this liber- tywhich Chriflians haue,isa fpirituail liberty, a heavenly liberty, a liberty of the foule; not whichgiueth the body liberty from obedience, but whichfer.. teth theSoule at liberty fromdcflruftion : notwhich maketh vs freeto finne, but which fetteth vs freeto fertte God : not which giuetha man lease to Hue eGal,$.r3. as caring for none, butwhich makethhimbyloueaScruant vinoall^: afree- domeit is from the bondageofSathan, from thethraldome offinne, from the curie ofGods J.aw , gluingan intereft into Gods favour., into the merits of Chrift,into the felicityofthe chofen , and into the eternallinheritanceofGods Kingdome, This is thelibertyof Chrillians,ofwhich howfocuer worldly men (which fauour onely ofearthly things) may iudge, yetfachit is andfo great, and bath fo many priuiledges annexed thereunto, as that all the enfranchife- mentsand freedomes ofthis world, are not worthy therewith tobecompared; Foras the new )erufalem, which isfrom above, is ofall other CirclesandIn- corporations, the moftglorions, foitis the greatef1priuiledge that any man can attain,tobe,ofa ftrangeranda forreiner,admitted to be a Cirtizen,and free- yEphe,f..aa9. denizenofthat fociety P. Thus at your requeflI haue given you a rafle of the doftrineof Chriflian Liberty: the obedient Chriflian is the true free-man, cum the Lordsfree-man. Nymph.,
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