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A35131 Rebellion rebuked in an answer to a scandalous pamphlet entitled The Quaker converted to Christianity &c. written by one William Haworth ... and William Dimsdale ... / by John Crook, William Bayly. Crook, John, 1617-1699.; Bayly, William, d. 1675.; Crisp, Stephen, 1628-1692.; Stout, Mary, 17th cent. 1673 (1673) Wing C7212; ESTC R27638 40,731 115

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c. Answ We own the holy Scriptures which say If we confess our Sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all Vnrighteousness c. 1 John 1. 9. But Confession of Sins ought to be performed from the Sense of the Evil of Sin upon the Conscience and not out of Formality and Custom only as most do Yet we say where the Heart is sprinkled with the Blood of Christ from an Evil Conscience at that time and whilst remaining so Thanksgiving is proper to be given to God for Praise is comely for the Upright And such know the Blood of Christ to be a speaking Blood it speaketh saith the Apostle c. causing that Soul that is washed with it alwayes to be mindful of it and truly to prize it For the Ransomed shall pass with singing when the Hypocrites shall remain in Bondage notwithstanding their daily Confessions Thou say'st Jesus Christ of Nazareth c. brougbt this Righteousness c. Answ If thou believest that none were really saved or made Righteous by the Righteousness of Christ till then or after that time thy Faith is contrary to Scripture which calls Christ s Righteousness an Everlasting Righteousness Dan. 9. 24. Isa 45. 17. Micah 5. Yet we believe Salvation only by that Jesus which witnessed a good Confession before Bontius Pil●t● c. For answer to the Heathens Knowledge of God's Vengeance and Sight in the Deity c. I refer the Reader to the Reply to the Young-man's Book but for thy own Knowledge of it I find thee like the Pharisees of old fleeing from the Wrath to come by casting all God's Vengeance upon Christ an Easie Way if thou couldst so e●cape it by imagining his doing and suffering God's Pleasure to be reckoned thine by a bare Belief of it wholely without the● Here we differ in our Account I say according to Dan. 9. 24. speaking of Christ to finish Transgression and to make an E●d of Sin and to make a Reconciliation for Iniquity and to bring in Everlasting Righteousness c. I know and believe Salvation by the Imputed Reckoned and Real Everlasting Righteousness of Jesus Christ brought nigh which in the Fulness of time was manifest in and by him and in due time really made mine by the Work and Application of his Spirit in my Inward Parts and that God is well pleased or satisfied in and with him in whom I am accepted and not for Works of Righteousness that I have done nor yet for the Works sake only or quatenus Works though wrought in me by his Spirit but in and for the sake of him that works all our Works in us and for us according to Isa 26. 12. But thou believest to be saved by a Righteousness wholely without thee Reckoned but not Real which Righteousness Christ wrought One Thousand Six Hundred Years since not that we undervalue that Righteousness nay cursed is he that so doth really no nearer to thee then the place where he personally lived and dyed Now it is the great Lord of all that must view both our Accounts for the Goods we have received of him Mat. 25. 14. therefore I leave them both to him to determine which is Right This may serve for Answer to much of thy Epistle touching this Subject For Proof of thy Belief thou sayest We are made Righteous in the same way he was made Sin but he was not made Sin by Inhesion or really as thou speakest else-where for he knew no Sin therefore by Imputation Answ The same Way when Christ knew no Sin nor was any Sin inherent in him must we then be made Righteous without either knowing or enjoying any real Righteousness in us as this Comparison holds forth But did not Christ Really suffer and bear our Sins in his own Body upon the Tree Did not he suffer under the Burden thereof upon whom the Iniquities of all were made to meet But besides if we are made Righteous in the same way in all things that he was made to be Sin for Sin is mention'd in the Abstract then we must be without or free from all manner of Good as he was without or free from all manner of Sin or Evil which destroyes the Doctrine of Sanctification the New Creature c. where all things are of God In the next page save one thou affirmest That the Gifts and Vertues that the Spirit of God works in our Minds is our own Righteousness 1st Because our Souls are the Subjects of it And 2dly Because it is really in our Minds therefore ours and yet in this place thou sayest Christ is really our Righteousness as thy self interprets Jehovah Tsidkenu What! one while he is really Righteous and another while not Real but Reckoned I would not wrong thee but thy words are plain but more of this afterward Thy calling William Penn a Novice manifests only Pride in thy self but is no Proof against him and the truly Considerate will account thy Charge upon him to belong to thy self till thou hast confuted his Arguments Thou sayest If Christ Jesus had the Guilt of Sin really charged upon him c. Answ What! dost thou suppose the Innocent Lamb of God to be really guilty of Sin What Blasphemy is this What! really guilty of that which thy self sayest he really neither did nor had Yet thou bring'st Scripture to prove it saying What else is to be understood by that 2 Cor. 5. ver ult For he hath made him to be Sin for us who knew no Sin c. Thou usest many words to prove the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness to Men while in Sin and Rebellion against God As if Contraries while in Contrariety could at the same moment of time be in perfect Unity O vain Man Doth not the Apostle James Chap. 2. Vers 20. say That Faith without Works is dead c But I have spoken my Experimental Knowledge and believe according to Scripture of this Subject before and may have Occasion to touch at it hereafter In the next place thou bring'st forth thy own strange Conceivings about Man's own Righteousness for Error is seldom alone Thou say'st Our own Righteousness consists in those Gifts and Vertues which the Spirit of God works in our Minds and we express these outwardly in the Observation of the Moral Law in our Walkings amongst Men. Answ This is such a Heap of Confusion that I remember not the like The Scripture calls what is wrought by the Holy Spirit in us the Vertues of Christ 2 Pet. 1. 3 5. And Paul Rom. 8. saith To be Spiritually-minded is Life and Peace Then according to thy Interpretation we must have Life and Peace in our own Righteousness Thus like the Foolish Woman dost thou build a House and pull it down with thy Hands For take away the Gifts and Vertues which the Spirit of God works in our minds and what remains but a Body of Sin and Death and thoughts only Evil continually and yet Man as bold
the Knowledge of the Gospel might discourage thee from making his Book publick c. Answ I wonder at it seeing thou saidst before that it is not possible for any to receive it truly and forsake it which if he hath not done thou speakest unadvisedly with thy Lips in saying It s an Experience which the Lord in rich Mercy gave him whom thou also callest Dear Elect Child and sayst Flesh and Blood hath not revealed this to him but our Father which is in Heaven But how can he that thus Contradicteth himself agree with the Truth in others Again Oh! that every one of you my dear Brethren and every one in Hartford had the Knowledge of Christ thus distinctly formed in you till which thing be the Soul of him to whom Christ hath committed you as his Charge shall Travel in Birth and be in Pain Blessing God that his poor Labours have not altogether been in vain as to this matter Answ What is that Travel and Labour worth that brings not to the distinct Knowledge of Christ And what a Church is that and what a Pastor is he and how can they be Dear Brethren in Truth in whom the dictinct Knowledge of Christ is not yet formed Thou sayst That thy daily Prayers to Christ is that we all meaning thy Brethren in the Ministry may be made able Ministers of the New Testament Answ Then it seems you are not yet so by thy own Confession therefore be silent till you are made so Thou sayest You have but Law and Gospel to preach Answ Where in all the New Testament dost thou find the Apostles preaching the Law and saying They were sent to preach the Law But a Dispensation of the Gospel was committed to them and they were made able Ministers of the New Testament not of the Letter or Law but of the Spirit But why dost thou divide between Law and Gospel as if they were not one in their End and Nature saying The Law for the Conviction of Sin c. and yet thou call'st it Spiritual Answ The Spirit is said to Convince or Reprove the Unbelieving World John 16. 8. Jude 15. saith He shall Convince all that are Vngodly of all their Vngodly Deeds c. Again The Law is said to be perfect converting the Soul and making Wise the Simple Psalm 17. 7. So that Law and Spirit are frequently used as Terms that signifie the same thing and if thou Experimentally knewest the Spirituallity of the Law thou wouldst not go about to divide them or quarrel with us about them But hence hath risen the Mistakes of many viz. because they have found several Names or Terms in Scripture therefore concluded they must needs intend several things while it is frequent in Scripture to intend one and the same thing under several Names as Father Son and Spirit have several Names given to them yet one in Nature or Beeing several Ministrations divers Operations c. and yet all by one and the same Spirit 1 Cor. 12. We know the Spirituallity of the Law in the Apostle's Sense is the inward Convictions of the Spirit manifesting also God's holy Will and Commandments requiring perfect Obedience thereunto which man finding himself unable to do then the Sword or Law of the Spirit slayes him and he dyes being made willing so to do by God's Power or Law within though Self and Flesh cryes out to escape here thou fledst and savedst thy Life But into this Death thou must come if ever thou enterest into God's Kingdom the Talking of it will not serve in this State the Dead hear the Voice of the Son of God and live and his own Arm being then revealed raiseth up this Dead Man when no Eye so much as pittied him his Condition being so hid and unknown to all living in his former Estate then he gives Thanks from the very inward of his Soul to God through Jesus Christ crying out now as in a holy Triumph That there is no Condemnation now to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after th● Spirit Rom. 8. 1 2. where that Ransomed Captive renders the Reason of his Joy viz. because the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus had made him free from the Law of Sin and Death Mark How he attributes that to the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus which before he ascribed to Jesus Christ as having an inward Sense and Feeling both of his Saviour and the Salvation come to his poor Soul thereby Thou either Ignorantly or Enviously if not both affirmest That whoever hath tasted that the Lord is Gracious never takes up with the Quakers Christ Oh! that the Gospel were studied by us more and preached by us more Answ The Quakers Christ is the Lord 's Christ as is shewed before the same that deliver'd Paul from his wretched State And if thou hadst understood what thou saidst immediately before concerning the Blood of Christ which thou call'st as Oyl poured into the Gashes of Conscience thou wouldst not have spoken thus sleightingly if not blasphemously of the Quakers Christ For all the Tasters and Feelers inwardly know him to be God's own Arm revealed when no Eye else pitties them But thou with many more have the outward words concerning these things yet are inwardly and experimentally Strangers to the Life and Vertue of them in your own Hearts and Consciences which Knowledge the Quakers account with the Apostle to be the Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ Oh vain man Dost thou think by thy Fleshly Study and preaching from the same to Advance the True Christ Nay but Man and Self instead of Christ and his Righteousness For the Gospel is a Mystery and the true Preaching of it Foolishness to all that Perish and the Things of it are the Heavenly Things themselves searched out only by the Spirit of God for they are too deep for Man's Will Study or Wisdom to find out Therefore cease from thy own Study and wait in the Silence of all Fle●● for the pouring forth of the Spirit which only can open the Mysteries of Christ and his Righteousness and shew them unto thee Thou say'st We are to conceive of God according as the Scriptures set him forth to us Answ But the Scriptures contrariwise condemn all Man's Conceivings saying Eye hath not seen Ear hath not heard neither hath it entred into the Heart of Man to conceive what God hath laid up for them that love him The Scriptures are true as God means them not as Man by his Conceivings interprets them and the Understanding of every True Disciple must be opened by Christ before he can rightly know them as 't is written He opened their Vnderstandings that they might und●rstand the Scriptures for until then they are a sealed Book both to the Learned and Unlearned Isaiah 29. 11 12. Thou utter'st many words about the Confession of Sin as if the Quakers were against the Confession of Sins to God
which more may be written by another Hand towards the End of this Book as also a further Account from Hartford where he dwells concerning him which I would have the Reader take good notice of And in that he saith The Light by which the Heathens did the things contained in the Law Rom. 2. which shewed the Work of the Law written in their hearts is not the Light of the Spirit of Christ he is found a Denyer of the Scriptures John 1. 9. and Tit. 2. For if every Man that cometh into the World be lighted with the Light of Christ then the Heathens and all other Men were lighted And if the Grace of God which brings Salvation hath appeared to all Men then it appeared to the Heathens for they were Men and came into the World And herein W. D. thou contradicts thy Companion and great Adorer of thee W. H. who calls it the Deity Godhead as aforesaid and the Godhead is the same Spirit or Life and Light which was in Christ Jesus as it is written Col. 2. 9. which is Grace and Truth John 1. 16. 17. So then it was the Light Spirit Grace and Truth which was in Christ Jesus That appeared to the Barbarous or Heathen People by his Confession And so now let this Tree be judged of by its Fruits according to the Young man 's own Saying and let us see what kind of Fruits it bears for I have read That Men do not gather Grapes of Thorns nor Figs of Thistles and that A Good Tree cannot bring forth Evil Fruit neither can a Corrupt Tree bring forth Good Fruit Mat. 7. Luke 6. 43 44. So by this true Rule let all who reads and tastes of these Fruits judge of this Tree the Light First pag. 7. It assented to the Words of Christ and his Apostles 2dly It Convinced him of Sin and Reproved him and called to him when he was going or thinking to Steal and it kept him from obeying that Temptation about the Herrings though he loved them and had a brave Oportunity to steal or slip one into his Pocket 3dly It caused him to be of Few Words and kept him from Lying or telling of Lyes 4thly It delivered him from Sinning outwardly and from doing any Wrong to his Neighbour 5thly It gave him Strength or Power to do that which was Good Just and Right in the Sight of God and Man 6thly It convinced him of one Sin or Evil one day and delivered him from it and another day another Evil and he had Power over it 7thly He had Joy Peace Quietness of Spirit and Comfort in Obedience to it Reply Now whence or from what kind of Tree cometh these Blessed Fruits and Effects if not from the Tree of Life Or who is the Author of or from what Spirit comes this Light if it be not the Light of Christ Jesus Is it not the Spirit of Truth that convinceth of Sin and keeps from Lying and Stealing and wronging of Neighbours and leads into all Truth to do that which is Good and Just and Right in the Sight of God and Man And was not that their Comforter who were lead and guided by it Did it not give them Joy and Peace and Comfort when they were obedient to it Read and understand Or who gives Peace to his People besides him And is it not the same Grace of God which Paul declared of Tit. 2. which taught them to deny all Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts and to live Soberly and Righteously Then did it not teach them to deny Lying and Stealing and Wronging their Neighbours and to do as they would be done by according to Christ's Doctrine Or is there any other Spirit or Light which can deliver from Sin and give Power over it but what is of Christ Jesus Is it not written of him That there is no other Name under Heaven by which Men can be saved or delivered And is he not called the Deliverer and Counseller who is the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the World Read the Scriptures and consider these things Acts 4. Isa 59. John 1. 9 Is it not the Light of Christ that makes Sin manifest Eph. 5. And doth not the Apostle say in that same place vers 8 9. The Fruit of the Spirit is in all Goodness Righteousness and Truth So judge of this Tree by its Fruits if it be not all Goodness Righteousness and Truth which it brings forth And doth not W. H. say It is the Spirit that maketh known Sin which is not seen before Mark Then whensoever any one seeth Sin it is the Spirit that makes it known for it is not seen before And that it was the Godhead in which the Barbarous People saw c. Acts 28. And yet how Enviously he Clamours against the Quakers in his confused dark Mind calling their Spirit Delusion and their Doctrine Antichristian like the Foolish Clamerous-tongued Woman Solomon speaks of whose Feet are without pulling down her own House How do you think your Babel will now stand when ye thus throw up and pull down your own Work and Revile us for the same Truth you acknowledge in Words like the Hypocrites of old who said They had one Father even God and yet called Christ Jesus Deceiver and Blasphemer and judged him worthy of Death because he acknowledged himself to be the Son of God who was truly so John 19. 7. So read your Spirit and Way which is not like Christ Within nor Without though thou sayest you have both but the contrary appears in thee And ye are more like the Mad-Man Prov. 26. who cast Fire-brands Arrows and Death at you know not what comparing the Light of Christ to Pharoah or Egypt and Light of Nature Contemning and Undervaluing it as if it were not of God but what ye know not like the Jews one while A Good Man and then Nay but he Deceiveth the people So you one while it s the Deity and then Nay it s Not the Light of the Spirit of Christ but the Light of Nature Thus are you confounded about that which delivers from Sin and Temptations from Lying Stealing and doing Wrong and keeps out of Evil and gives Power over it and convinceth of Sin and reproveth for Sin and which gives Strength to do that which is Good Just and Right in the Sight of God and Man and Joy and Peace in it Take heed of the Sin against the Holy Ghost for it is near when that which casts out Devils is called Belzebub Your Reproaching of us is little to us but beware how you sport your selves with a Consuming Fire and be you Warned in time for your own Souls sake And consider your Confusion and Darkness Whether the Lord requireth Obedience Service or Worship to any other Light or Spirit of Christians but his own or what Tree or Plant would the Heavenly Father have to grow but what is of his own planting as it is written Every Plant which my Heavenly Father hath
and confident as if he needed nothing for all true Sense flows from the Spirit and all it works in us is but our own Righteousness sayst thou and to be all Glorious within as is spoken of the King's Daughter Psalm 45. 13 is to abound in our own Righteousness according to thy Interpretation And 2 Pet. 1. 5 8. speaking of the Vertue of Christ saith He that lacketh these things is blind and contrariwise it maketh them in whom these Vertues abound that they are neither barren nor unfruitful in the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ W●at is this less then the calling Christ Belzebub And what follows but that he has a Devil viz. And we express these outwardly in the Observation of the Moral Law in our walking amongst men So the worse people are and the looser they walk the greater Right they have unto the Righteousness of Christ and in a better Condition to receive it then those that from the Sense of the Evil of Sin turn from it because say'st thou this is properly our own Righteousness which consists in those Gifts and Vertues that the Spirit of God works in our Minds c. Is not this Rantism in the highest Degree And for the Moral Law Christ is so far from repealing of it that in Mat. 5. he binds it closer and faster to his Disciples For of old it was said Thou shalt not commit Adultery but by him Thou shalt not Lust c. And of old Thou shalt not Kill but by him Thou shalt not Hate c. But remarkable is Mat. 7. 13 14 15. where he commands doing as we would be done by and calls it the Straight Gate fore-seeing that False Prophets would preach another Broader Way and Wider Gate therefore the next words say Beware of False Prophets c. And at present thou art one of them O that thy Eyes were open to see it Thy Reasons are as Ridiculous as thy positions one is because it is called your Faith and our Righteousness and your Love c. Answ By the same Reason Christ himself must be our own Righteousness for he shall be call'd The Lord our Righteousness Jer. 23. 6. And their Righteousness is of me saith the Lord Isa 54. 17. And 1 Cor. 1. 2. Christ our Lord c. And the Scripture saith He that dwells in Love dwells in God and this Love is shed abroad in the Hearts of the Righteous do they therefore dwell in their own Righteousness Oh thick Darkness Another Reason thou givest is because our Souls are the Subjects of this Righteousness 't is really in our Minds therefore ours Answ What wouldst thou have to be the Subjects of true Righteousness Is it not our Souls that are saved Do not they and we by them reap the Benefit of Salvation And is not that the Subject of Righteousness which is saved by it And by the same Reason the Grace of God must be our own Righteousness because our Souls are saved by it and the Subjects of it It is said God loves Truth in the Inward Parts and that he will write his Law in our Hearts thou sayest All that is in our Inward Parts is our own Righteousness though wrought by the Spirit of God which is said to lead into all Truth Therefore by thy Conclusion God saves us by our own Righteousness But the Ground of thy dislike of the Gifts and Vertues that the Spirit of God works in our Minds which thou callest our own Righteousness is because it is really in our Minds therefore ours What! a Christian and an Enemy to Reallity What! a Spiritual-Man and an Opposer of those Gifts and Vertues the Spirit of God works in our Minds calling them our own Righteousness What! must the Poor in Spirit the Meek the Mourner the Hungerer and Thirster the Merciful the Pure in Heart the Peace-maker c. deny their Blessedness which they must do if these be their own Righteousness according as thou affirmest they are viz. Those Gifts and Vertues that the Spirit of God works in their Minds What! must they turn from Reallity and lay hold of Imagination from real Enjoyments and Possessions to conceived or imagined Apprehensions Who ever besides Hypocrites were Enemies to Reallity VVho ever besides the Vitious Debauched Proud and Letter-learned Pharisees withstood and opposed the real Gifts and real Vertues that the Spirit of God really works in our Minds This is a Doctrine so contrary to the very Tenure and Scope of Scripture that it may well be called A New-invented Fable which all sober People must needs abhor the very Thoughts of It is very strange that 〈◊〉 Reality of a thing should make it nothing worth for our own Righteousness is said to be as Filthy Rags And thou sayest Because the Gifts and Vertues of the Spirit of God are Really in our Minds therefore our own Righteousness The sum of the Matter seems to be this That our Heads and not our Hearts our Bodies and not our Souls our own Conceivings and not Reallity our Imaginations without and not the Gifts and Vertues of the Spirit within our Minds are the Subjects of true Righteousness according to thy Account Another Reason thou givest to prove the Gifts and Vertues afore-mentioned to be our own Righteousness because we put forth the Actions wherein this Righteousness consisteth both internal and external is it not we that believe and we that repent and that we are said to pray Answ By this Argument its best neither to believe nor repent nor pray because these are but our own Righteousness and the more we do them the heavier are we loaden with the Filthy Rags of our own Righteousness These things manifest thy Estrangedness to the VVork of Regeneration and Helpings of the Spirit of God A Heavy Charge upon all the Prophets and Apostles of Christ who were obedient to these inward Gifts Vertues and Motions of God's Holy Spirit For by thy Account they did but obey their own Righteousness in what they did they knew and understood that their Hearts was but as the Pen of a ready Writer as David speaks And must there be nothing written spoken or acted because the Spirit makes use of Men and Women to do these things but if they do it it must be charged upon them as their own Righteousness doth the yielding of the Members of our Bodies Instruments to the Holy Spirit of God to act by according to the Exhortation therefore make all its Performance in us our own Righteousness while the Scripture saith 'T is not I that Live c. but Christ Lives in me Neither is it we that speak as we are kept truly Silent out of all our own Thoughts but the Holy Ghost in us Mark 13. 11. Thou say'st Our Righteousness is but the Righteousness of meer M●n c. and yet before saith It consists in the Gifts and Vertues the Spirit of God works in our Minds See thy Confusion from thy own words Thou say'st One