A26810:91
Spiritual perfection, unfolded and enforced from 2 Cor. VII, 1 having therefore these promises,…
Spiritual perfection, unfolded and enforced from 2 Cor. VII, 1 having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God / by William Bates ...
London: printed for Jonathan Robinson, 1699
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
'Tis the root of all Evil, in Persons of all conditions, civil and sacred. This bribes those that are in the Seat of Judgment, to clear the guilty; and which is a bolder Crime, to condemn the innocent. Of this there is recorded a cruel and bloody▪ Instance, in the death of Naboth, occasioned by Ahab's Covetousness, This corrupts the Preachers of the Word, ⟨p. 44⟩to speak to the Lusts, not the Consciences of Men, upon whom they have a servile dependence: And as the Spirit of Delusion is never more the Spirit of Delusion, than under the appearance of an Angel of Light; so his Ministers are never more his Ministers, than when they pervert the Word of God to support sinful Practices by corrupt Principles. Covetousness makes Men faint and false in the time of trial: They will save the World with the loss of their Souls. In short, it was the impulsive cause of a Sin of the greatest Guilt that ever was committed, in betraying the Son of God; and his suffering the most cruel and ignominious Death: A Sin never to be expiated, but by the Flames that shall consume this World, the place wherein he suffered.
'Tis the root of all Evil, in Persons of all conditions, civil and sacred. This bribes those that are in the Seat of Judgment, to clear the guilty; and which is a bolder Crime, to condemn the innocent. Of this there is recorded a cruel and bloody▪ Instance, in the death of Naboth, occasioned by Ahab's Covetousness, This corrupts the Preachers of the Word, ⟨p. 44⟩to speak to the Lusts, not the Consciences of Men, upon whom they have a servile dependance: And as the Spirit of Delusion is never more the Spirit of Delusion, than under the appearance of an Angel of Light; so his Ministers are never more his Ministers, than when they pervert the Word of God to support sinful Practices by corrupt Principles. Covetousness makes Men faint and false in the time of tryal: They will save the World with the loss of their Souls. In short, it was the impulsive cause of a Sin of the greatest Guilt that ever was committed, in betraying the Son of God; and his suffering the most cruel and ignominious Death: A Sin never to be expiated, but by the Flames that shall consume this World, the place wherein he suffered.