Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	abel_n	write_v	zion_n	68	3	8.1797	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42712	The everlasting rule born witness unto, vvhich is to try all people that do profess God and Christ in words, or, I. A tender salutation to all people in what nation soever, and under what form soever, who do profess God and Christ in words ... II. Also an exhortation unto all people to come to that which will give them victory over sin and the devil ... III. A distinction between the ministers of Christ and the ministers of Antichrist ... / by a lover of truth and righteousness, who seeks the well-being of all mankind, William Gibson.	Gibson, William, 1629-1684.	1667 (1667)	Wing G682; ESTC R38756	64,130	72

of your Fathers ye Serpents ye Generation of Vipers how can ye escape the Damnation of Hell Wherefore behold I send unto you Prophets Wise men and Scribes and some of them you shall Kill and Crucifie and some of them you shall Scourge in your Synagogues and shall Persecute from City to City that upon you may come all the righteous Blood shed upon the Earth from the Blood of Righteous Abel unto the Blood of Zacharias whom ye slew between the Temple and the Altar And now Oh all ye Professors of all sorts who will not believe Christs words which he hath left upon record in the Holy Scriptures and yet say you do believe in him you are judging and condemning the Jews for slaying Christ and his Apostles and you imagine and say if you had lived in the dayes of the Jews who slew Christ and his Apostles you would not have been partakers with them in the Blood of Christ and of his Apostles Oh consider if Christ were now walking up and down in these Nations called Christendom in such a low and mean Appearance as he appeared among the Jews in that Age in which he suffered death among the Jews and should pronounce Woes against those who calls themselves Christians and say they do believe in him and love him would not they be angry at him and fret at him and cry away with him Oh consider it if he should tell the Proud and Covetous and Envious Priest and Professors who calls him Lord and calls God their Father that they were of their Father the Devil who was a Lyar and a Murtherer and if he should call them Serpents and a Generations of Vipers would they not chase and fret at him and would they not cry Away with him and would they not desire to have him shut out of their Countrey Oh consider of these things and lay them to heart ye persecuting Priests People and Professors of all sorts if you are Christians you are Christ-like now Christ is meek and he saith Learn of me I am meek and lowly in the heart and you shall find rest unto your Souls so all you persecuting Priests People and Professors of all sorts come to the Light wherewith Christ hath enlightened you all and believe in it and obey it and it will open your Hearts and Understandings to know and understand that Christ is the Light of the World and hath enlightened every one that is come into the World and that all that believeth in that Light wherewith he hath enlightened them shall not die and perish in their Sins but by Christ the Light within they will come to be led out of their Sins and so to have Everlasting Life in him the Light For it is written In him was Life and the Life was the Light of men and the Light will let you see that Christ spiritually within men and women is unto them the way to God the Father and the Truth and the Life and the Door of the Sheepfold and if you believe in the Light it will open your hearts to understand that no man or woman upon the Earth can come to get any entrance into Gods Everlasting Kingdom but by Christ spiritually within for he saith I am the Light I am the Way I am the Truth I am the Life I am the Door of the Sheepfold he that enters by me the Door shall go in and find Pasture but he that climeth up another way is a Thief and must be cast down and none can ever enter into Gods Kingdom but by Christ spiritually within even the same Christ which the Jews cried away withal who was Crucified without the Gate of Jerusalem yea I say the same Christ and not another I say if ye believe in this Light it will open your hearts to understand these things to your own everlasting comfort and satisfaction and it will give you an entrance into Gods Everlasting Kingdom and if you do not believe in the Light wherewith Christ hath enlightened you then you will continue in blindness of mind and hardness of heart and will grow worse and worse deceiving and being deceived and you will continue fighting against the Lord God who Created you and you will continue fighting against the Lord Jesus Christ in his Members persecuting his tender and dear Servants who are as dear unto him as the Aple of his Eye and if you do it had been better for you that you had not been born for said he Whosoever shall offend one of these my little ones that believe in me Mat 18.5 6 7. it were better for him that a Misstone were hanged about his Neck and he were cast into the Sea 2 Tim. 3.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 12 13. and if you continue in so doing then these are the words of Truth unto you all you are of the same Seed and Spirit that they were of who slew the Prophets and Christ and the Apostles and if you be found in the same work the Holy and Just God will give you the same Reward So remember you are warned now in your life time Mat. 25. from vers 32 c. to the end so prize your time and all of you labour to amend your doings which are evil in the sight of the Lord God And believe in the Light that you may be the Children of God who is Light and in whom is no Darkness at all And now unto all people in all Forms who profess the Scriptures of Truth to be your Rule to walk by and denieth the Light Grace and Spirit of God which is but one wherewith he hath enlightened you to be a sufficient Rule or Guide for you to walk by and calleth it a new Way and calleth it False Doctrine to direct people to the Light within them I say in Coolness and true Moderation in the Fear of the Lord God consider and take diligent notice of Peter's Doctrine to the Saints Know this said he that the Scriptures came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God gave them forth as they were moved by the Holy Spirit or Ghost So I say in the Fear of the Lord God take notice there were Holy men before there were Holy Scriptures and it was the Holy Spirit or Light of God and Christ in men that made men holy and was their Guide and their Rule by which they were led and guided to do those things which did please the Lord God before there was any outward Writing or Printing Abel was a Righteous man and was beloved of God and was Guided and Ruled by the Spirit of God within him before any part of the Bible was written and Abel offered unto the Lord and the Lord accepted of his Offering but Cain was a wicked man and a Vagabond for he was wandered and ravened from the Spirit of God within him and when he was ravened and wandered from the Spirit of God within him and his Soul had

do as he said and not as he did for he had no need to say so for his Conversation and Doctrine was agreeable The Apostle Peter when he writ unto the Elders he said unto them Feed the Flock of God which are amongst you not taking the Oversight thereof by Constraint but willingly let all people that reads take notice of those words the Elders were not to take the Oversight of the Flock by constraint but willingly now the reason why Peter did write these words unto them was because there was not any outward Gift or Reward to be given unto them for their Feeding and taking Care for the Flock of God for it was a Spiritual Work and it was to have a Spiritual Reward so lest any through the temptation of the Enemy of their Souls should have striven to put that from them that God required of them Peter warned them then the next following words are these Not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind now filthy lucre is much Earthly gain ill gotten but the Elders were not to take the oversight of the Flock of God for outward gain but as being of a ready mind and a willing mind to serve God in what he required of them yea to feed his Sheep with the Bread of Life which God gave unto them and the Elders were not to be Lords over Gods Flock which he had made them Overseers of but they were to be Examples to the Flock and they were good Examples to the Flock and they did not say as some of the Hirelings have said Do as we say and not as we do for they had no need to say so for their Conversation and Doctrine was agreeable and so is the Doctrine and Conversation of the Elders and Ministers of Christ in this Age Glory to the Lord God for ever Now if there were a young Priest that had learned his Trade at Oxford or Cambridge who wanted a place to set up his Trade in if one should come unto him and tell him of three or four places one of One hundred pounds by the year and another of Two another of Three and another of Four and bid him chuse which of those he would go unto one may easily know which he would chuse for he would be where he could get most with his Trade and he need not be constrained to go unto a Parish where he might have Four hundred pounds in the year for his Hire 1 Thess 2.9 but he would make great hast to get unto it lest another of his own Trade should get it before him and this is contrary to those Ministers which Christ sent forth Paul who was a Tentmaker when he was a Minister of the Gospel laboured with his own hands and administred unto his own necessities that he might make the Gospel without charge and Peter and John and the rest of the Ministers of the Gospel some were Fisher-men and some of other callings and they Laboured with their hands yet they had power to eat and to drink for the refreshment of their Bodies when they did travel up and down among the Saints who were gathered by their Ministry but they were often in Hunger and Cold and Fastings and Peril by Sea and Land and were often whipped stocked and imprisoned and they had not a Parish and a hundred pound in the year and an outward Law to guard them as the Hireling Priests have And now all ye Magistrates both high and low and all people in what Form of Religion soever think it not strange that we cannot come unto the Steeple-house and hear your Priest Preach and Pray seeing that they are so far different from the Ministers of Christ every way so that they are no more like the Ministers which Christ sent forth in nature then a Wolf is like a Lamb. And now all Magistrates and People of what form of Religion soever who profess the Scriptures to be your Rule and denieth the Light Spirit and Grace of God within you which convinceth you of Sin to be a sufficient Guide of it self to lead you out of Sin whether you be such as own those Priests and their Practice which I have written something in short against or whether you be such as do deny them and are gathered into some other Form differing from them if you set the Scriptures in the Place of the Spirit of God which made men holy before any Scriptures were written and from which the holy men spake forth the holy Scriptures then with you is my controversie on the behalf of the Lord my God So come to your Tryal and be you tryed by that which you call your own Rule the Holy Scriptures which was given forth from and by the Holy Spirit so the Holy Spirit of God is the Original of the Holy Scriptures therefore I and all my faithfull Brethren and Sisters do know them and love them and believe them Abel was a Righteous man before the Scriptures were written and he in the Spirit of God had his Habitation and by it he was kept pure before God and in the Purity of his heart and Innocency of his Soul he offered unto God and God had respect unto his Offering And Enoch walked with God in the Spirit in Innocency before the Scriptures were written And Abraham knew God who is a Spirit and believed in him before Scriptures were written Isaac and Jacob had acquaintance with God before the Scriptures were written for these men were before Moses was born and Moses knew God before he did write Scriptures No man knows the things of God but the Spirit of God and the Spirit searcheth all things even the deep things of God and these men did know the things that God did require of them in their Generation by the Spirit of God and in the same they did perform that which was required of them in which they were accepted of God in their Generation And all the Prophets and Apostles who did write the holy Scriptures they did know God before they did write Scriptures and it is the same that ever it was that doth give unto man the knowledge of God and of his things even the Spirit of God But in the Bible which you call your Rule there is an express Command of God Thou shalt Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart Mat. 19.19 and thy Neighbour as thy self these words are written in the Bible which you call your Rule now to the Witness of God Mark 12.29 30 31. the Light of Christ in all your Consciences do I appeal Whether do you love the Lord God with all your hearts and your Neighbours as your selves yea or nay You that persecutes your Neighbours because they will not be of your Religion and come to your Steeple-houses and hear your Hireling Priests and pay them Tythes which was never demanded by any of Christ's Ministers no the Ministers and Apostles of Christ did never demand nor receive any Tythes

hearts with sorrow and trouble for if you flee from that then you will never be cleansed from your Sins for by the Spirit that judgeth Sin in the heart and burneth against it as a Fire was and is the Sons and Daughters of Sion converted unto God yea brought out of their Sins unto God and whosoever flees from that of God in them which condemns them when they do evil they flee from that which God hath placed in them to lead them out of evil and so they cannot come to be redeemed out of evil until they come to love that which condemns them for evil so I say unto you in tender Love love the Light within you and when it bringeth trouble upon you for your Sins which you have committed then own its judgments for it will not judge you except you have done wrong and as you wait in it it will let you see that its judgments are very just and true and so if you keep your minds unto it it will work true repentance in your hearts and a godly sorrow and it will lead you into the House of Mourning and through the Valley of Tears and as David did you will come to water your Bed with your Tears and to weep until your flesh fail of fatness and so you will travel through a short Sorrow into an Everlasting Joy for the Sorrow lasts but for a Night but Joy cometh in the Morning For the Lord will give Beauty for Ashes and the Oyl of Joy instead of Mourning but he gives this only unto those that comes into obedience unto his Light within them so when condemnation cometh upon you for Sins which you have committed do not flee from it for it is the Rod of God and you will see it to be so as you wait with your minds stayed in the Light and you will see that it is not for your hurt but for your Everlasting good and then consider why should you flee from it Oh flee not from it For whom I love I rebuke and chasten said God and he restoreth every sinful man and woman whom he receiveth to be Sons and Daughters and through his Judgments in their hearts he redeemeth them from Sin and so receiveth them into his Everlasting Kingdom of Life and Glory So I say unto you in dear and tender love flee not from that of God in you which condemneth you for Sin and the Light it will be with you when you are in the Fields and when you lie in your Beds and where ever you go the Light is in you and if you love it and keep your minds unto it it will teach you when you are at your Labour and it will keep you out of all Evil if you keep your minds unto it and when wicked people would tempt you to that which is Evil it will not let you consent unto them but rather to reprove them and now people I say unto you if you love this same pure and holy and spotless thing in you which never consented unto any Sin that you have committed but hath alwayes stood in you a faithfull Witness against you when you did commit Sin I say if you love it and obey it though now it may but be little in you even as a Grain of Mustard-seed which is a small Seed yet when your affections are truly set upon it it will grow speedily and will become in you as a strong Tree and the Fruit of it will ravish and overcome your heart with heavenly Joy and then you will see the folly and madness of those who rejoyceth in doing of Evil and you will find that Holy thing in you to be as Christ said Mat. 13.31 32 33. Like a little Leaven that a woman took and hid in three Measures of Meal until the whole Lump was leavened so as you wait in this Light within you though it lie low in you because of the sinfull nature which lieth atop of it in you yet it will work in you as the Leaven doth work in the Meal for the sinfull nature which lieth atop is of the Devil and that which lieth under is of God and as you joyn in true love and affection to that suffering Seed of God you shall come to know and bear witness that God is able to bring it out of the Grave in you and from under all those Powers of Darkness that hath oppressed it for God is stronger then the Devil that you will confess and so wait in the Light of Christ to feel more of the strength of God and Christ in your own hearts then of the strength of the Devil and when this you are come to witness then you will have ceased from Sin which is the Devils work for God who is the stronger in you he will rule you by his Light and Spirit which dwells in you and then the Devil who was the stronger in you he will be cast out and then the Lamb the Light he will have the Victory in you and will lead you into all Truth and so the Light if you follow it it will lead you to be Children of the Lord God who is Light and in whom there is no Darkness at all and so the Children of the Lord are taught of the Lord by the Light of the Lord and they are in Righteousness established So put not the day afar off linger not away your time but prize it thou that is young in years say not in thine heart I have time enough I may take pleasure in Earthly things yet for many dayes and have time enough to repent and seek God afterwards I say unto thee say not so in thy heart for the Lord God can cut thee down as in a moment Psal 9.17 though thou be in the Flower of thy Youth but Remember thy Creator in the dayes of thy Youth and seek him while he may be found for the Spirit of the Lord will not alwayes strive with man and as the Tree falleth so it lieth there is no Repentance in the Grave and there is no unclean thing can enter into Gods Kingdom for the wicked must be turned into Hell and all that forget God So remember you are warned by a Lover of Truth and Righteousness and a true Lover of the Souls and Bodies of all men and desireth not the Destruction of any but desireth that all people might come to Repent while they have time and so obtain Mercy from the Lord God I am known by the Name of William Gibson Written in the Year 1664. and was sent then to be published in Print but the Person to whom it was sent being at that time cast into Prison and Calamities coming on in the City it was not gotten done Postscript IT is said by many ignorant people who use to plead for Sin That the Righteousest man that is upon the Earth doth Sin seven times a day now I say they do abuse and wrest the Scriptures for there is no such