Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	according_a	act_n	act_v	509	4	7.6801	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B09776	The Anabaptists meribah: or, VVaters of strife. Being a reply to a late insulting pamphlet, written by Thomas Lamb, merchant, intitulled, Truth prevailing against the fiercest opposition; or, An answer to Mr. John Goodwins Water-dipping, no firm footing for church-communion. Wherein the impertinency of M. Lamb's answer, and the validity of M. Goodwin's Water-dipping, &c. are manifested by I. Price a member of the Church of Christ, whereof the said Mr. Goodwin is pastor.	Price, J., fl. 1656.	1656 (1656)	Wing P3332A; ESTC R182056	87,699	107

application unto us giving sufficient testimony that God hath accepted him and he promising to walk as a visible believer in all the good wayes of God what ever your principle is I am not ashamed to tel you that my opinion is that he should be received into Church-fellowship with us and make no scruple of entertaining those that have received the Holy Ghost as well as we And whereas you speak of Mr. Goodwins and tho Church practise in this kind tho all due care hath been exercised not to offend weak Brethren and to keep and preserve the peace of the Church yet upon occasion communion and fellowship with us in this kind I mean in that of the Supper hath not been refused when desired and the peace of the Church preserved as I could instance matter of fact for proof if it were meet so that your Sun of triumph is turned into darkness and where is now your glorying Mr. Goodwins fifth Consideration is to this purpose that learned men are not agreed about the proper signification of baptizo whether it be to dip or sprinckle c. much less illiterate men for for all that they know it may signifie to run or to ride or what not as well as to dip and theref●re unchristian it is for brethren to separate from brethren upon their difference in and about such things whereof they can have no better assurance than humane tradition You answer 1. if you were not unlearned yet there would be little advantage in the right understanding of the signification of the said word seeing learned men do differ about the meaning thereof SECT LXI I Reply In this you give Mr. Goodwin the argument for if the learned agree not about the meaning of the word much less the unlearned viz. upon any personall knowledg then there can be no certainty but humane tradition no nor yet the certainty of that because there are severall significations of the same word given out by this tradition You answer 2. That the Scripture interprets it Rom. 6.4 Coll. 2.12 and many other places I reply Rom. 6.4 2 Coll. 12. You argue thus baptism must terminatively signifie dipping because it is said Rom. 6 4. 2 Coll. 12. buryed with him in baptism which is as if a man should argue thus the word Christ must terminatively signifie the burch because it is said 1 Cor. 12.12 as the body is one and hath many members and all the members of that one body being many are one body so also is Christ May not I as well argue thus also touching this word baptizo that it signifies terminatively to wash and turn you to Luke 11.28 where it so signifies and when the Pharisee saw it he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner and whereas you seem to infer thus baptizo is to dip in Mat. 28.19 Go teach all nations baptizing them that is dipping them because it is expounded so Rom. 6.4 We are buryed with him in baptism buryed that is plunged under water as a dead man is buryed under the earth May not I also as well urge thus baptizo must needs signifie to wash because it is said Mat. 3.11 He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost what is that dipt with the Holy Ghost that 's harsh but washed purified made clean by the Holy Ghost and this was made good by the pouring out of the spirit of God upon men according to promise in Isa 44.3 and made good Acts 2.4 Again Mark 7.4 the same word is used for washing when they come from the Market except they wash they eat nor compare this with Acts 22.16 therethis very Ordinance of baptism is made use of with respect to this signification of the word for washing and now why tarriest thou arise and be baptized That liberty is allowed by the Church to Mr. Lamb which he denyes to allow the Church and wash away thy sins since then there are various significations of the word baptizo why wil you take upon you the imposition of any one of them upon us any more than we impose another upon you take your own way for your selves wash sprinckle dip whether you please all if you please we shall not be offended with you for it neither shall we separate from you for the exercise of your judgment herein give us the same liberty and come again unto us our right hands our hearts our souls are all extended forth to receive you You proceed Mr. Goodwins sixth Consideration you affirm to be the same with his first and therefore for your Reader to your answer to his first consideration for an answer to that also SECT LXII HOw miserably are you mistaken in this Reply his first consideration was that when morall and ceremonial precepts come to competition ceremonials must be suspended and morals obeyed His sixth consideration is to this purpose manifest and indisputable commands of God must take place and he obeyed when they come in competition with such commands as are disputable among the godly holy and learned men whether they are indeed commanded or no as to instance to edifie comfort admonish counsell watch over one another these are the undoubted commands of God and due unto those to whom they are solemnly promised to be performed except there be a releasing by consent or the providence of God otherwayes or dering it that it is impossible to make them good unto those individual persons to whom they were made but whether God commanda that children should be baptized as well as men or that baptism should be administred this way or another these things are disputable and dispured amongst believers what say you now is there no difference between Mr. Goodwins first and sixth consideration Well that consideration is yet untouched by you but sure I am you are sufficiently touched and more then touched by it and I trust you are not past feeling I wish you would seriously lay it to heart SECT LXIII MR. Goodwins seventh consideration is to this purpose That that text viz. Hebrews 6.2 so much insisted upon by you Heb. 6.2 and the brethren with you doth import a plurality of baptisms though in respect of the end of baptism to us there is but one baptism Eph. 4.5 Eph. 4.5 yet in respect of variety of subjects and different forms these may b●● many and therefore these forms not expresly declared and manifested in the Scriptures it is a hard and unchristian thing to call those Churches accursed and unclean that shall not use that particular way or form that you so much magnifie and insist upon To this you answer first VVhy should that be hard to Mr. Goodwin which the Scripture hath made easie say you that is your interpretation no Text expresly or by necessary consequence proving what that form was Say I. 2. As for variety of Subjects the Scripture say you mentions but one viz. Discipled Persons to this I have replyed before Sect. 32. Mr.

which you say he hath after used of such splashy Reply shallow watry thin and barren argumentation either pro or con than the writing of seven such boo●s as this is which we now implead You speak much of your findings but if you have found any such place in all his writings namely where he hath denyed that true proper and natural consequences from granted premises in the Scripture are not to be admitted as the truths of God I believe you may rejoyce in it and eat the morsells thereof your self alone having no partner with you therein in any part of the world whereof the Sun in the firmament is Overseer But this is onely to give Mr. Goodwin a running-rap but you could not reach him You procee 8. Mr. Lamb. I found the unregenerate world naturally falling in with childrens baptism which is a shrewd sign is a de●ice of her own the world loveth her own c. SECT XLVIII YOU finde the unregenerate world no more naturally falling in with childrens baptism Reply then you found it naturally falling in with the profession of Christ For they are baptized and do baptize their children in no other name nor into the profession of any other Saviour then Jesus Christ And is not this a shrewd argument that this Doctrine of the Messiah the unregenerate world so naturally falleth in withall is a device of her own the world doth love her own Your 9th particular is summ'd up in this Mr. Lamb. infant-Baptism is unlawfull because baptism being the initiating Ordinance into the Church it letteth in a sort of Members which the New-Testament knoweth not namely such as cannot worship God inspirit God now seeking onely such to worship him The whole bedy must be fitly framed together and every part must effectually work And can these things be affirmed of children SECT XLIX First you affirm that baptism is the innitiating Ordinance into the Church I suppose you mean not the Church generall but dejure it is the initrating Ordinance into particular Churches If that be your meaning Baptism not proved to be the initiating Ordinance into Church-fellowship this then is such a conclusion as you can hardly make good no not by any ifs may-bee's and why-nots gatherable from any place or places in the Holy Scriptures that is to say that baptism did make any person ipsosacto a member of any particular Church But it is proveable that many and many were baptized of whom it is impossible to prove that by baptism or any other way they were ever immembred into any particular Church And it is a difficulty too hard for you or I or any other in the world to undertake namely to prove that all and every particular member of particular Churches were ever baptized at all 2. It is true Gad seeketh such and onely such now to worship him as can worship him in spirit and in truth Iohn 4.23 that is as I conceive according to the context Now the time of reformation approacheth God will be worshipped and obeyed neither in the Iudaicall rites consisting in external performances as some among you so much contend for nor according to the Samaritans false worship who worshipped their Idol Gods together with God 2 King 17.26 27 28 29. but in a pure spirituall manner extending to the very heart such as was typified by those shaddows and the Son of God comes now to draw all men unto this way of worship from the Iudaicall from the Samaritan way This text indeed with severall others renders men uncapable of Church-worship in an acceptable manner that content themselves only with outward forms and yet leading a vitious life But what is this to the exclusion of children As for them here is the grace of the Gospell that he accepteth of little children and would not have men forbidden as you do to bring them to Christ He accepteth according to what any person hath and not according to what he hath not 3. Again God was alwayes a spirit as well as now and he did alwayes seek for such to worship him as should worship him in spirit and in truth as well as now He alwaies loved-truth in the inward parts he alwayes required of all his Sons to give him their hearts in his worship he alwayes commanded the Jews to love the Lord their God with all their hearts and minds and soul and strength Did this under the Law any way hinder that children might not be admitted members of the Iewish Church because they could not perform inward heart-worship and spirituall service did God upon their circumcision accept of them as if they did perform all those spirituall services and heart-duties untill they came to an actuall and personall capacity actually and personally to perform the same And will he not now accept of children baptized as if they did actually and personally perform those services unto him which under the Gospell he requireth untill they likewise come to an actuall and personall capacity so to do And then wil he accept or reject them as they are found faithfull or unfaithfull in these things 4. Whereas you say that the New-Testament knoweth us such member of Churches as infants c. I answer that tho I will not say or deny that the New-Testament knoweth not any infant-members of Churches yet the New Testament knoweth and hath taught others also to know that children are due subjects of Baptism And that it never knew not taught any to know where ever they were or ought to be rejected and denyed the participation thereof Our controversie is not about infant-Church-member-ship but infant-baptism Your tenth Argument for your beliefe in the business of Baptism viz. against Infant-Baptisme and for your separation Mr. Lamb. c. is taken from your observation of the righteous hand of God who causeth the sharpest and most able Adversaries to you in this point to let fall such expressions as justifie what they go about to oppose and condemn as Mr. Richard Baxter saith the aged are 1. the most fully capable subiects 2. the most excellent subiects 3. the most eminent subiects 4. of whom Scripture fully speaketh 5. the greater part of the world when Baptism was instituted who were to be partakers of it But on the contrary for infant-baptism he Mr. Baxter acknowledgeth it so dark in the Scripture that the controversie is thereby become not onely hard but so hard c. SECT L. YOU needed indeed to have written this in Capitall Letters that every one that runs may read the profundity thereof Reply The aged are the most capable subjects of Baptisme Ergo Children are no subjects thereof The aged are the most eminent subjects Ergo Children are no subjects Mr. Lambs miserable inferences from Mr. Baxters words the Scripture speaketh fully of them Ergo not at all of Children The aged were the greater part of the world that did partake of Baptisme Ergo Children were no part of the world that did partake