Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
ground_n	hear_v	heart_n	word_n	4,417	5	5.4372	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A81785	Johannes Becoldus redivivus or, The English Quaker, the German enthusiast revived : visible in this narrative. / Translated into English, for the use of his countrey-men, by J.S. ; Written long since in French by Guy du Brez.	Brès, Guy de, 1522-1567.; Scottow, Joshua, 1618-1698.	1659 (1659)	Wing D2413; Thomason E2137_3; ESTC R208359	48,581	94

understand how it is said The Letter killeth Paul calleth the Law The killing Letter and faith The Spirit quickneth i e The Ministry of the Gospel which he opposeth unto the naked Law and he himself calleth his preaching The Ministry of the Spirit we must not understand this place as those dreamers who as often as they meet with an obscure place that maketh against them say The Letter killeth i.e. According as they say to understand the meaning of the Scripture this killeth but we must come to the Spirit i. e. to forge Allegories Paul never thought of such fopperies as we may see in reading the same Chapter 2 Cor. 3.8 It is then wretchedly and wickedly done to cast off the Scripture upon such pretence of the Spirit Luk. 24.27 seeing our Lord giveth us his Spirit to understand his word as we see Christ opened the understanding of the two Disciples not by making them wise in themselves nor setting them to look for a new kinde of word or natural and innate in them in rejecting the Scriptures but that they might understand the Scriptures After this manner the Apostle Paul exhorteth the Thessalonians not to quench the Spirit he would not have them fly in the air after vain and unprofitable speculations without the word of God but consequently he addeth Despise not prophecie thereby shewing that then the Spirit is quenched and suffocated when Prophecie is rejected what will those poor souls answer who have rejected the lanthorn Psa 119.105 which God hath given to be a light unto their feet We confess that the external word preached by men of it self nor alone cannot convert the heart but the Spirit of God must work internally to beget faith in us now this is done in good order by the preaching of the Gospel as appeareth by Lydia the Purple-seller Acts 16.14 she heard Paul preach but the Lord opened her heart to understand the things which Paul spake for this cause the preaching of the Word is called seed we know that if seed fall upon a spot of ground which is desert and not tilled it is lost without producing fruit but on the contrary falling upon soil tilled and well manured it brings forth fruit in abundance So the word of God Luk. 8.15 if it fall upon the hard and rebellious brain it remaineth without fruit as upon stony soil but upon an heart prepared by the operation of the Holy Ghost then it brings forth much fruit and as the Husband-man when he hath sown his seed he can do no more he cannot make his grain to grow but leaveth it to God so must the Ministers do when they have preached and sown the Word of God they cannot make it grow they must commend it unto God as the Apostle saith He that planteth is nothing 1 Cor. 3.7 and he that watereth is nothing but it is God that must give the increase he doth not therefore reject him that planteth nor him that watereth that is to say the external Ministers for he soon addeth We are co-workers or labourers with God ye are Gods husbandry ye are Gods building It appeareth that the Ministers are joyned in the work with God inasmuch as God maketh use of them as instruments and he worketh by his word by giving vertue in the internal man one may see as plainly as day light the errour of Muntzer the first father of these Anabaptists and that there is no reason in his speech Our Mennonists have condemned their father in this point notwithstanding there be others who maintain this opinion or rather blasphemy as some strange spirits the disciples of Sebastian Franque who this day do renew the question yea some little space of time since one of the chief of that Sect whose name I shall forbear to declare in the City of Frankfort before several honest people told me and with might and main maintained with divers of his disciples That the earth never bare a more abominable Idol then that which is called the Bible and that all the World doted upon it looking therein for the word of God whereas we should look for it in our hearts and one of them redoubled it and said in the presence of Mr. Alosco and of us all What do you talk so much of the Scripture I assure you on my part I have learned more by seeing an Hen or a Capon killed then ever I learned by all the Sermons and Lectures of the Books that ever I read Unto whom I answered It must needs be that you eat often of Hens and Capons seeing you have learned so much by their death but I pray you said I What good did you ever learn thereby he answered That he had learned to know the obedience which Jesus Christ rendred unto God his Father upon the Cross and that as the fowl was slain without making resistance and that for the good and life of man so was Jesus Christ slain for the life of mankind it was said then unto him How do you know that ever there was such an one as Jesus Christ and that he died for man do you find that written in the Capons belly the Turks also do kill Capons but they cannot reade there that Christ was their Saviour In the end they were very angry and like people deprived of their sences when they were hampered by the word of God and by their own reasons What man is there that would not wonder at such foolish and irrational discourse is it not just that such people should be so handled seeing they have rejected the word of the living God which the Angels themselves desire to pry into that they should be sent to School unto the bruit beasts Further I come to the Proposition of Muntzer who saith That the Ministers are much deceived thinking that faith cometh by hearing and that it is written Brother shall not teach brother any more saying Know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least to the greatest of them being all taught of God If Ministers be deceived by so thinking Answ then was Paul also deceived for he thus spake How shall they believe c. yea Rom. 10.14 17. he saith That the doctrine which was preached was the word of faith but one may easily see their pretence which is totally to make void the Scripture and the Ministry of the Gospel to come unto Revelations We have already shewed that God will instruct men by Ministers Rom. 10.8 the Eunuch is sent to Philip Cornelius to Peter Paul to Ananias c. As for that passage of the Prophet where it is said Brother shall not teach brother c. the Lord would not hereby banish from out of the Church the Ministry of the Word God forbid to draw men after visions and revelations now they fail in that they do not narrowly look into the place for the Prophet doth not say totally that they shall not teach no more but these are his words They