Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	abandon_v	church_n	separate_v	33	3	10.9328	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93091	A treatise of liturgies, power of the keyes, and of matter of the visible church. In answer to the reverend servant of Christ, Mr. John Ball. By Thomas Shephard, sometimes fellow of Emanuel-Colledge in Cambridge, and late pastour of Cambridge in New-England.	Shepard, Thomas, 1605-1649.	1652 (1652)	Wing S3148; Thomason E681_17; ESTC R206794	175,099	213

have bestowed a great part of our labour in these parts neither we hope altogether in vaine which makes us somewhat the more engaged and encouraged to write as we doe And now having thus farre in this Epistle and in the Booke following testified our love to the truth and desires of the peace unity reformation and prosperity of our beloved England and the Churches of God therein wee commend both to the consideration of the Reader and all to the grace and blessing of Christ Jesus and rest From New-England Novemb. 28. 1645. THO. ALLIN THO. SHEPARD ADVERTISEMENTS TO THE READER TO the Epistle of the Author of this Reply wee say nothing because it savours for the most part of love and desire of unity which we thankfully acknowledge onely we cannot but take notice of two passages 1 A complaint made against some standing affected New-England ward who have carryed it so as if a chiefe part of holinesse consisted in separation and that therefore some have separated from all private and publique communion there others from all publique but not from private others from the Sacraments onely allowing publique communion otherwise To which wee answer that as the Church fell by degrees into universall pollution by the Apostasie foretold to bee under the Man of Sin so by degrees it recovers out of it againe If therefore separation reach no farther then separation from sinnes and such sinnes of Churches wherein our selves in joyning with them must bee involved wee suppose such separation all due respect and love reserved and professed to the Churches themselves cannot justly bee accounted unwarrantable and 't is the profession of the Author in his Epistle to plead for communion with the Churches of Christ no farther then they hold communion with Christ If any transgresse these bounds either in respect of private or publique communion in England wee must professe openly that if any mourn for it wee are or would bee companions with them in that griefe Whose heart bleeds not to see Gods flock scattered and needlesse rents made that scarce Truth or errour can now adayes bee received but it is maintained in a way of Schisme directly contrary to the gathering and uniting Spirit of Jesus Christ A wide Conscience calls evill good and therefore can communicate with any evill a strait Conscience cals good evill as Gerson observes and therefore can readily separate even from that which is good When rash and sudden men are grown masters of their Consciences it troubles not them from whom they divide nor whither they run in separate wayes when weak yet godly men are under the tendernesse yet much darknesse of Conscience being very timorous of wayes that are evill grow many times shy at least in simplicity are led from wayes that afterward are found to be lawfull and good 'T is the usuall misery of English spirits either to spin the Spiders web and swallow down all corruptions in Churches or so to breake downe the gap in forsaking corruptions utterly to abandon the Churches themselves The wine of causelesse separation hath a spirit in it if God graciously prevent not that hurries men headlong to strange distances that in separating from publique they separate from private in separating from corrupt Churches as no Churches they separate from the purest even those of their own in separating from pollutions of Gods ordinances at last they fall to the storming of some if not to the utter renouncing of all the Ordinances themselves we mourne wee say for such evills and could with bended knees desire our deare Countrey-men to consider whether this bee the Spirit of Christ Jesus that so carries them to reject them whom the Lord Jesus hath not yet wholly forsaken and not rather with one heart and with bowells of compassion if any liberty can bee procured to study how to heale the bleeding breaches and manifold evills of sick and sinfull England that in their owne recovery from pollutions the whole may arise and share alike with them therein tolerating with all long-suffering many things amisse mourning daily after the Lord till such times come wherein he wil give his people his ordinances not only in purity but also in power when the Lord shall be one and his name one Zach. 14. 9. over all the earth As for our selves wee look not upon our departure to these parts to be a separation rigidly taken but a lawfull secession or a heavenly translation from corrupt to more pure Churches by the hand of our God and how far we allow of separation the ensuing Treatise will declare 2 The second is That we dissent one from another as much as others from us and perhaps the lesser part of us Answ We confesse we know but little and that but in part and therefore if we should say that in some things we did not dissent we should not speak the truth nor say that we were sinfull men yet this we must speak to his praise whose we are and whom we serve with our spirits in the Gospel of his Son that although Satan hath been oft busie to make breaches among us yet the Ministers of Christ have been hitherto generally if not all of one heart and mind in the maine and principall things of his Kingdom amongst us and which is observed by many where ever differences are sown yet the Ministers never disagree and that although some differences have and doe arise before their convening together yet they never yet met but grace hath over-wrestled corruption peace trouble and truth errour and so have most sweetly accorded in one the thoughts of which Christ-like peaceablenesse of spirit and love as it oft sweetens many other sorrows so we desire to bee spared herein and that this our crowne may not bee taken from us by such passages suggesting great differences as these be Now for the Reply it self we desire the Reader to consider that we had neither time nor Bookes ready at hand to consider some of the quotations made in the margent and therfore being such testimonies as cast not the ballance one way or another we have passed most of them by with silence It had also been easie for us to have Analysed more orderly the words of the Reply then as they are set downe but because we would not doe the least wrong we have set them down as we finde them in the Book not every passage for that were needlesse but those things wherein there seemes to bee any observable matter of dispute between us nor are we conscious of doing the Author the least wrong in setting down his own words as hereafter you find them We confesse that in sundry of our Answers we have studied not onely to answer to the Reply but have taken in what sundry others godly learned object against our principles but without mentioning scarce any time their Names of which we are sparing for no other reason but because we honour the men from our very hearts and could wish though differently