Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	aaron_n	call_v	gospel_n	29	3	5.5240	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A50410	Certain sermons and letters of defence and resolution to some of the late controversies of our times by Jas. Mayne.	Mayne, Jasper, 1604-1672.	1653 (1653)	Wing M1466; ESTC R30521	161,912	220

men altogether unletter'd men called from mending nets to preach the Gospell If this were so That God according to his good pleasure without any consideration of study or height of parts chose simple unlearned unstudied men to be Prophets and Apostles and Teachers then why should any thinke he hath so confined or entailed his free Spirit or vocation of men upon great parts and studies that he may not if he please call the like unstudied simple men from the Plough or Fisher-boat or Stall or Shop-board to be Ministers of his Gospel and Teachers of his people now My Brethren you see I have not prevaricated or diminished ought of the strength of the Argument which is urged in favour of Lay-mens preaching In answer to which laying aside all partiality to my selfe and prejudice against them I shall with the same spirit of meekness and Candour with which Saint Paul here in this Text bespoke his Corinthians beseech you who heare me this day to observe and weigh and consider well this which I shall say for a Reply First Far far be it from me so to flatter the place of my Education or so to biass my beleef by any false ovevarluing of humane Industry or great parts that I should pinion as it were or put limits to the power of the Almighty Or should be so irreligiously bold as to gain-say that piece of his Gospell which compares his holy Spirit to the Wind which bloweth where it listeth If they who thus pretend to a private Inspiration doe meane that whatever God did in the times heretofore he is able to doe now I shall easily grant it And here in the presence of you all confesse my selfe to be of their opinion Nor shall I make any doubt or scruple at all to say that if we looke upon what God is able to doe by the same power by which he was able to raise up Children to Abraham out of stones or to speake yet more neerly to the Argument in hand by the same power that hee was able to make a Herd-man a Prophet or a Fisher-man an Apostle he is able in our times also if he please to make the meanest Tradesman one of the greatest Luminaries of his Church Since to an Omnipotent Agent whose gifts are meerly Arbitrary and depend wholly upon the pleasure of his owne will the greatest endowments of men and the least are alike easie But though he be able to doe this and in the ancient times of the Scripture have imparted his Gifts without respect of Persons yet whether he now will or whether in our times hee doth still thus extraordinarily raise up Teachers to himselfe is extreamly to be doubted For here with all the Christian gentleness and reason which may possibly conduce to the clearing of this doubt were I to argue this Controversie with one of those men who invade our function and from gathering of Sycamore fruit step up into the Pulpit I would onely aske him this question What Commission he hath thus to usurp upon our Office Or who signed him his patent Since the Apostle tells us in the fifth Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrewes at the fourth Verse A place well worth your marking my Brethren That no man taketh this honour of a Priest to himselfe But he who is called of God as was Aaron I know his common answer will bee that God hath called him to this Office by the secret Instinct and Motion of his Holy Spirit But then he must not take it ill if I yet farther aske him by what signes or markes or testimonies or tokens he can either ma●… it reasonably appeare to himselfe or others that God hath dealt with him as he dealt with some of the Prophets or Apostles called him from his Trade by such a motion of his Spirit Elisha we know made Iron swim and knew mens Closet-discourses in a farre Countrey which was a sure and certaine signe that God had called him to be a Prophet The Apostles also we know wrought many of Christs miracles which was a most infallible signe that God had chosen them to be Apostles If any of these men who derive their warrant from the same sacred spring can make Iron swim or like Elisha remaining here in their owne Israel can tell us what the King of Syria saies in his Bed-chamber Or if like Saint Peter they can cure fevers and diseases by their bare shadowes passing over them Or if like the rest of the Apostles having never before knowne Letters they can of a sudden speake all Languages the Controversie is at an end It would bee a very great sinne against the Spirit of God to deny that hee is in them of a Truth But if all the proofe and signe they can give us that they have him be onely a strong perswasion of themselves Nay if by an infallible Illumination they could assure themselves that they have him yet as many as have not the like infallible Illumination to assure them so too will not be guilty of an unpardonable offence if they suspect they have him not For here I must once more repeat my former Question and aske by what effects or signes of the Spirit men shall know them to be called By what will some man say why Doe you not heare them preach expound Scripture unfold Prophecies interpret Parables nay plucke the veile and cloud from the Booke of Mysteries it selfe the very Revelation Can any of you great Schollers with all your study of Philosophers Fathers Councells Schoole-men Historians Oratours Poets either hold your Congregations longer or send them away more edified And will you yet ask Questions Or doubt of the certainty of their vocation I must not dissemble with you if I could meet with an unlearned Handicraft-man who without study can doe this to the same height and measure of Truth as those unjustly-cryed downe learned and well-studied men doe I should begin to alter my opinion And should reckon him as hee deserves in the number of the inspired But alas my Brethren as I am not come hither to disparage the guifts of the Holy Ghost in what person soever I finde them or to perswade that Scripture rightly expounded is not one and the same from the mouth of a Priest or an inspired Lay-man so this I must freely say to you That as many of those strange Teachers as I have heard have expounded Scripture indeed and have ventured upon some of the hardest places of the Prophets But then if all my studies of the Bible assisted with all those holy uncorrupted learned helps which might enable mee to understand it aright have not deceived me their expositions and Sermons how passionately delivered or how long soever are evident proofes to mee that they have not the Spirit If they had they would never certainely expound Scripture so directly contrary to his meaning Or make the writings of the Prophets or Apostles weare only that present shape not which the holy Ghost hath

Sir the Gospell at that very time when the 〈◊〉 of it was accompanied with Miracles obtained not alwaies that successe which the saving Doctrine of it deserved The Iewes saies S. Paul 1. Cor. 1. 22. Require a signe that is they would believe it no farther then they saw Miracle for it And the Greekes That is the learned Gentiles seek after wisdome that is They would believe no more of it then could be proved to them by Demonstration Nay notwithstanding all those great Miracles which were wrought by Christ and his Apostles after him S. Paul tels us at the 23. verse of that Chapter that the vilenesse of Christs death did so diminish the Authority of his Doctrine though confirmed by Miracles that the Preaching of Him crucified was a stumbling block to the Iewes and Foolishnesse to the Greekes Next Sir As Christ hath no where commanded that men should be compelled to receive the Gospell by any Terrors or Infl●…ctions of Temporall punishments so I finde that all such endeavours are very unsutable to his practise You know what his answer was to his two zealous Disciples who would have called for fire from heaven to consume those Samaritans who would not receive him ye know not saith he of what spirit ye are of The sonne of man is not come to destroy mens lives but to save them Which Answer of hi●… was like the Commission which he gave to his Apostles when he sent them forth to Preach the Gospell of verall Citties which extended no farther then th●…s If they will not receive you shake off the dust of your feet against them for a Testimony that you have been there Ag●…eable to this p●…actise of Christ is ●…hat Canon whic●… p●…st in the Councell of Toledo which s●…ies praecipit san●…ta Synodus Nemin●… deinceps ad credendum vim inferre 'T is ordered by this holy Synod that no man be henceforth comp●…lled to believe the Gospell A Canon which I wish the m●… of the Countrey where 't was made had worne in their Ensignes when they made W●…e upon the Indians And agreeable to this Canon is the saying of Tertullian Lex nova non se vindicat ultore gladio The new Law allowes not it's Apostles to revenge the contempt of it by the Sword And agreeable to this saying of Tertullian is th●… 〈◊〉 in Procopius where one tell●… Iustinian the Emper●…or that in striving to force the Samaritans to be 〈◊〉 by the Sword he made himselfe successor to the two over zealous Apostles who because they would not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Master would have destroy'd them by fire Th●… 〈◊〉 ●…ing ●…o to deale freely Sir both with you and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as I read the writings of some of our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 w●…o think all others Infidells who are not of th●… 〈◊〉 And whose usuall language 't is towards all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from them in Poynts though in them●… ind●…fferent and no way necessary to Salvation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make Covenants raise Armies st●…p them 〈◊〉 ●…ir Estates and compell them to come in 〈◊〉 thinks a 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 Alcoran is before me●… an●… the Preachers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ●…christian Doctrines 〈◊〉 they walke our English streets in the shape of Assembly Protestant Divines seem to me to be a Constantinople Colledge of Mahomets Priests To speak yet m●…re pl●…ly t●… y●…u Sir I am so far●…e from thinking it a peece of Christian Doctrine to Preach that ' ti●… lawfull if it may not be done by perswasion to take from men the Liberty even of their erring Conscience that the new Army which shall be raised which I hope never to see for the prosecution and advancement of such an End however they may be Scots or English-men by their Birth will seem to me an Army of 〈◊〉 and to come into the field with Scymitars by their sides and Tulipants and Turbants on their Heads How farre Defensive Armes may be taken up for Religion cannot well be resolved without a Distinction I conceive Sir that if such a warre fall out between Two Independent Nations That which makes the Ass●…ylants to be in the wrong will necessarily make the Defendants to be in the Right which is as I have proved to you a want of rightfull power to plant Religion by the Sword For in all such Resistances not only They who fight to preserve a true but They who fight because they would not be compelled to part with a false Religion which they beleeve to be a true are innocent●…like ●…like The Reason is which I have intimated to you before because All Religion being built up on Faith and Faith being only Opinion built upon Autority and Opinion built upon Autority having so much of the Liberty 〈◊〉 mens wills in it that they may chuse how farre they will or will not beleeve that Autority No man hath Right●…o ●…o take the Liberty of another mans will from him or to prescribe to him what he shall or shall no beleeve though in all outward things hit other have sold his Liberty to him and made his Will his Subject where both parties therefore are Independent and One no way Subiect to the Other Religion it selfe though for the propagation of it selfe cannot warrant the One to invade the Others Freedome But 't is permi●…ted to the Invaded by both the Lawes of God that of Nature and Scripture too unlesse they be guilty of some preceedent Injury which is to be repayred by Satisfaction not seconded by Resistance to repell Force with Force And 〈◊〉 the Army now in Conduct under Sir Thomas Fairefax be of this perswasion thus stated I shall not think it any slander from the Mouth of a Presbiterian who thinks otherwise to be called an Independent If a Prince who is confessedly a Prince and hath Supreme power make Warre upon his Subjects for the propagation of Religion the Nature of the Defence is much alter'd For though such a Warre whether made for the Imposition of a false Religion or a true be as uniust as if 't were made upon a forreigne Nation yet this injustice in the Prince cannot warrant the taking up of Armes against Him in the Subject Because b●…ng the Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Supreme within his ow●… Kingdome As 〈◊〉 power concerning the publick secular Government●…f ●…f 〈◊〉 it selfe i●…to Him so doth the ordering of the Outward exercise of Religion too In both Cases he is the Iudge of Controversies Not so unerring or Infallible as that all his Determinations must be received for Oracles or that his Subjects are so obliged to be of his Religion that if the Prince be an Idolater a Mahumetan or Papist 't would be disobedience in them not to be so too But let his Religion be what it will let him be a Ieroboam or one of such an unreasonable Idolatry as to command his people to worship Calves and Burn Incense to Gods scarce fit to be made the Sacrifice Though he be not to be