Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	angel_n	jesus_n	zion_n	247	3	8.5358	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61639	Naphtali, or, The wrestlings of the Church of Scotland for the kingdom of Christ contained in a true and short deduction thereof, from the beginning of the reformation of religion, until the year 1667 : together with the last speeches and testimonies of some who have died for the truth since the year 1660 : whereunto are also subjoyned, a relation of the sufferings and death of Mr. Hew McKail ...	Stewart, James, Sir, 1635-1713.; Stirling, James, 1631-1672?	1667 (1667)	Wing S5683; ESTC R3435	226,444	388

of all his hearers As 1. he inquired How should he going from the Tolbooth through a multitude of gazing People and guards of Souldiers to a Scaffold and Gibbet overcome the impression of al these To which he answered By conceaving a deeper impression of a multitude of Angels who are also on-lookers According to that we are a gazing-stock to the VVorld Angels and Men For the Angels rejoycing at our good confession are present to convey and carry our souls as the soul of Lazarus unto Abraham's bosom Not to receave them for that is Iesus Christ's work alone who will welcome them to Heaven Himself with the songs of Angels and blessed Spirits But the Angels are ministring Spirits always ready to serve and strengthen all dying believers 2. As Stephen saw the Heavens opened and Iesus standing on the right hand of God VVho then said Lord Iesus receave my Spirit so said he do I believe that Iesus Christ is also ready to receave the souls of his dying sufferers 2. He enquired VVhat is the way for us to conceave of Heaven who are hasting unto it seing the Word saith Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him Whereunto he answered that the Scripture helps us two wayes to conceave of heaven The first is by way of similitudes as in that Rev. 21. where heaven is held forth by the representation of a glorious City there described but in the same place it is also termed the Bride but O how unlike are these two a Bride and a City which doth clearly evidence the insufficiency and vast disproportion of all such similitudes and therefore he addeth the Scripture furnisheth yet a more excellent way to conceave of heaven and that is 1. by conceiving the love of Christ to us even what is the breadth and length and depth and hight and the immenseness of that love of Christ which passeth knowledge which is also the highest and sweetest motive of praise unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and His Father to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever Amen 2. By holding forth the love of the Saints to Jesus Christ and teaching of us to love him in sincerity which is the very joy and exultation of heaven Rev. 5.12 Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receave power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing And no other thing then the soul breathing forth love to Jesus Christ can rightly apprehend the joyes of heaven The last words which he spoke at supper were in the commendation of Love above knowledge saying O but notions of Knowledge without Love are of small worth evanishing in nothing and very dangerous After supper his father having given thanks he read the 16 Psalm and his first words thereafter were If there were any thing in the World sadly and unwillingly to be left it were the reading of the Scriptures I said I shall not see the Lord even the Lord in the land of the living but this needs not make us sad for where we go the Lamb is the book of Scripture and the light of that City and there is life even the river of the water of life and living springs To this he added many excellent observations and making mention of the 23 v. of the 31 Psal O love the Lord all ye his saints he added that where love was it was so operative that it made flesh spirit and where it was not there spirit was made flesh thereafter he sung a part of the same Psalm Supper being ended he cals smilingly for a pen saying it was to write his Testament wherein he only ordered some few books which he had to be redelivered to several persons He went to bed a litle after eleven of the clock and having slept wel till 5 in the morning he arose and called to his Camerade Iohn Wodrow saying pleasantly up Iohn for you are too long in bed you and I look not like men going this day to be hanged seeing we lye so long Thereafter he said to him in the words of Isaiah ch 42. v. 24. Who gave Iacob for a spoil and Israel to the robbers did not the Lord he against whom we have sinned for they would not walk in his ways neither were they obedient unto His Law c. and I think Iohn said he I have not known it nor do I lay it to heart as it is't said in the end of the 25 verse But John said he for all this be not affraid but read the 43. ch v. 1.2 for all will go well with us Iohn said to him you and I will be chambered shortly in heaven beside Mr Robertson He answered I fear Iohn you bar me out because you was more free before the Council then I was but I shall be as free as any of you upon the Scaffold Before break-fast he said he had got a clear ray of the Majesty of the Lord after his awaking but it was a litle again over-clouded Thereafter he prayed and attested the Lord that he had devoted himself to the service of God in the Ministry of the Lord Jesus and the edification of souls very early adding albeit I have not been so with my God yet thow hast made vvith me an Everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure this is all my desire joy and salvation albeit thovv make me not a house to grovv Novv Lord vve come to thy throne a place vve have not been accquainted vvith earthly King's thrones have dvocats against poor men but thy Throne hath Jesus an Advocate for us Our supplication this day is not to be free of death nor of pain in death but that vve may vvitness before many vvitnesses a good confession His Father coming to him that morning to bid him ●arewel his last words to him were after prayer and a litle discourse that his suffering vvould do more hurt to the Prelates and be more edifying to God's people then if he vvere to continue in the Ministry for tvventy years And then he desired his Father to leave him else he would but trouble him I desire it of you said he As the best and last service you can do me to go to your chamber and pray earnestly to to the Lord to be vvith me on that Scaffold for how to carry there is my care even that I may be strengthened to endure to the end About tvvo of the clock in the Afternoon he vvas carried to the Scaffold vvith other five that suffered vvith him vvhere he appeared to the conviction of all that formerly knevv him vvith a fairer better and more stayed countenance then ever they had before observed Being come to the foot of the Ladder he directed his speech North-vvard to the multitude And premising That as his Years in the

all things but loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ MY LORD for whom I now suffer the loss of all things that I may win Him and be found in Him and that I may not only know the fellowship of His sufferings but the power of His resurrection and attain unto the resurrection of the dead And as for yow my dear Friends as I pray for you that the God of all grace who hath called us unto His eternall glory by Christ Jesus after ye have suffered a while may make yow perfect stablish strengthen and settle yow so I recommend to you the same truth that you be not soon shaken in mind but that ye hold fast the profession of your faith without wavering And as you have receaved the Lord so walk in Him Warning and obtesting you by all manner of obligations and by the hope and joy of that crown which I wait for that ye keep your selves unspotted with the abominable courses and practices of these times whereunto ye may be tempted by the extremity of suffering and particularly that ye beware of unlawfull Oaths and Declarations against the Cause and Covenant of God that ye have no complyance with nor give consent unto this Prelacy which ye have abjured And that you be afraid and aware of Popery which by Connivance doth so visibly abound and dayly increase But by fighting the good fight and keeping of the faith you may finish your course as I do in the assurance of the crown of Righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge hath laid up and shall give unto me and not to me only but to all them that love His appearance ALEXANDER ROBERTSON The Testimony of JOHN NILSON of Corsack who died at Edinburgh Dec. 14. 1666. BEing made a spectacle to the World to Angels and to Men I found it necessary for vindication of the Truth of my self for undeceaving of some encouraging of others to leave this line behind me which with my innocent blood may speak when I am gone I am condemned I shall not say how unjustly as a Rebell against Man but the Lord God of Gods He knoweth all Israel shall know that it is not for Rebellion against God but for endeavouring to recover the blessed work of Reformation and particularly for endeavouring to extirpate Prelacy which hath been the cause of so much sin and suffering within this Land and for renewing of the Covenant from the obligation whereof seing I made my Vow and Promise to the Lord neither I my self nor any humane Authority can absolve me And if any account this Rebellion I do plainly confess that after the way which they call Heresy I worship the God of my fathers Although the insupportable oppression under which I and many others did groan were enough to justify our Preserving and Defending of our selves by Armes yet know that the Cause was not Ours but the Lord's for we suffered all our grievous Oppressions not for evill-doing but because we could not in conscience acknowledge comply with and obey Prelacy and submit unto the Ministery of Ignorant Light and Profane men who were irregularly and violently thurst upon us Neither did we only or mainly designe our civil Liberties but the Liberty of the Gospel the Extirpation of Prelacy the Restauration of our faithful Pastors the Suppression of Profanity Promoving of Piety the saving of ourselves from unjust violence untill we had presented our Grievances and Desires And in a word the Recovering of the once glorious but now ruined Work of Reformation in Doctrine Worship Discipline and Government according to the Nationall Covenant and Solemn League and Covenant to which I declare my adherence and through grace shall seal the same with my blood My Advocate drew up a Supplication for me wherein was acknowledged that I had been with the Rebels but let none offend thereat for ● do hereby declare that I was so far from accounting that course Rebellion that I judged and still do judge it was my duty to joyn therein and my honor to suffer therefore Otherwise I should have counted my self accessary to the blood of the Lord's People which is shed And cannot but regret that others of the Lord's People when they heard of us did not come forth with speed to help the Lord against the Mighty much more let all mourn that not only many have appeared as Enemies but also conjured themselves against the Lord the same Covenant which they so solemnly sware And as for the Petition it self I knew not that expression was in it Being conscious to my self of so much weakness so many hainous sins which predomine in me of unfruitfulness under the Gospel and unsutable walking thereto I confess my self the vilest of sinners and desire to mourn for the same and pray that the Lord for Christ's sake may freely forgive me as I have forgiven them that have wronged me and hope through the righteousness of Jesus Christ to obtain the same And I do exhort all and every one of my friends to more holiness Prayer and stedfastness alwayes abounding in the Work of the Lord And above all things to detest shun that wicked Declaration against the Covenant the apparant temptation of the time and the very mark of Antichristian Prelacy All that I have is but little but if I had many Worlds I would lay them all down as now I do my life for Christ and His Cause nothing doubting but the Lord will abundantly provide for my Wife and my six Children whom I commit to the Lord's care and recommend to the Kindness and Prayers of the faithful And do lay an express charge on my Wife that she shew all my Children that I have bound them all to the Covenant for which now I lay down my life and that She lay it upon them as my last command that they adhere to every Article thereof The Work and People of God are brought very low It may be because they were not ripe for a deliverance And for the greater triall and filling up of the cup of the Adversaries Or because there was litle or less prayer then should have been amongst these who appeared at this time that the Lord hath made this late breach But dear Friends be not therefore tempted to call in question the Work of Reformation or to think the worse of Christ and His Cause because of sufferings Nor be discouraged because these few who took their lives in their hands fell before the Adversary For as sufferings are often sweetned by the Spirit of God and Glory that resteth upon the sufferers and afterward bring forth the peaceable fruits of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby So the Lord will arise in due time and have mercy upon Zion and plead the cause which is his own And this Testimony as I am this day to seal with my blood so I subscribe with my hand JOHN NILSON OF CORSACK The Testimony

VVorld had been but fevv so his VVords at that time should not be many He spoke to the People the speech and Testimony vvhich he had before vvritten and subscribed Having done speaking to the People who heard him with great attention he sung a part of the 31 Psal and then prayed with such povver and fervency as forced many to vveep bitterly Having ended he gives his cloak and hat from him And vvhen he turnned himself and took hold of the Ladder to go up he said vvith an audible voice I care no more to go up this Ladder and over it then if I were going home to my Fathers House And as he went up hearing a great noise amongst the People he called dovvn to his fellovv-sufferers saying Friends and Fellow-sufferers be not affraid every step of this Ladder is a degree nearer Heaven Then having seated himself thereon he said I do partly believe that the Nobles Counsellors and Rulers of the Land would have used some mitigation of this punishment had they not been instigated by the Prelates so our blood lyes principally at the Prelats door But this is my comfort now that I know my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth and though after my skin worms destroy this Body yet in my flesh shall I see God vvhom I shall see for my self and mine Eyes shall behold pointing to his eyes and not another though my reins be consumed in me And novv I do vvillingly lay dovvn my life for the Truth and Cause of God the Covenants and VVork of Reformation vvhich vvere once counted the Glory of this Nation And it is for endeavouring to defend this and to extirpate that bitter root of Prelacy that I embrace this rope the Executioner putting the rope about his ncek Then hearing the People weep he said Your vvork is not to vveep but to pray that vve may be honourably born through and blessed be the Lord that supports me Novv as I have been beholden to the prayers and kindness of many since my imprisonment and sentence So I hope you vvill not be vvanting to me novv in this last step of my journey that I may vvitness a good Confession And that you may knovv the ground of my encouragement in this VVork and vvhat my hope is I vvill read to you the last Chapter of the Bible And having read it he said Here you see the Glory that is to be revealed upon me a pure river of vvater of life and so forth read the place vvhere the Throne of God is and the Lamb is in it vvhere his Servants serve Him and see His face and His Name is in their foreheads and the Lord God giveth them light and they shall reign for ever and ever and here you see my access to my Glory and revvard Let him that is a thirst come and vvhosoever vvill let him take of the vvater of life freely And here you see also my vvelcome the Spirit and the Bride say Come Then he said I have one vvord more to say to my Friends looking dovvn to the Scaffold vvhere are you You need neither lament me nor be ashamed of me in this condition for I may make use of that expression of Christs I go to your Father and my Father to your God and my God to your King and my King to the blessed Apostles and Martyrs and to the City of the Living God the heavenly Ierusalem to an innumerable company of Angels to the General Assembly and Church of the First-born and to God the Iudge of all and to the Spirits of just men made perfect and to Iesus the Mediator of the new Covenant And so I bid you all farevvell For God vvill be more comfortable to you then I could be And he vvill also novv be more refreshing to me then you can be farevvel farevvel in the Lord. Then the Napkin being put on his face he prayed a space vvithin himself after vvhich he put up the cloath from his face vvith his ovvn hand and said he had one vvord more to say and that vvas to shevv them the comfort he had in his Death saying I hope you perceaved no alteration or discouragement in my countenance and carriage and as it may be your vvonder so I profess it is a vvonder to my self and I vvill tell yovv the reason of it Besides the justness of my Cause this is my comfort vvhich vvas said of Lazarus vvhen he dyed that the Angels did carry his soul into Abraham's Bosom so that as there is a great solemnity here of a confluence of People a Scaffold a Gallovvs and People looking out at vvindovvs so is there greater more solemn preparation in Heaven of Angels to carry my soul to Christ's bosom Again this is my comfort that it is to come in Christ's hands and He vvill present it blameless and faultless to the Father and then shall I be ever vvith the Lord. And novv I leave of to speak any more to creatures and turn my speech to thee O Lord and novv I begin my entercourse vvith God vvhich shall never be broken off Farewel Father and Mother Friends and Relations Farevvel the VVorld and all Delights Farevvell meat and drink Farevvel Sun Moon and Stars VVelcome God and Father VVelcome svveet Lord Iesus the Mediator of the nevv Covenant VVelcome blessed Spirit of Grace and God of all consolation VVelcome Glory VVelcome Eternal Life VVelcome Death Then he desired the Executioner not to turn him over untill he should put over his ovvn shoulders himself vvhich after praying a little vvithin himself he did saying O Lord into thy hands I commit my Spirit for thou hast redeemed my Soul Lord God of truth Thus in the 26 Year of his age he died as he lived in the Lord. FINIS Some Instances of the Sufferings of Galloway and Ntthisdale BEcause in the former Deduction mention is made of a Paper containing some of the Sufferings of Galloway and Nithisdale it is not inconvenient for more Particular Information to subjoyn a few instances out of the same Paper And first at three several inroads which the Souldiers have made into that Countrey in the Years 1663 1665 and 1666. they exacted from the People there for adhereing to their old faithful Ministers and not submitting to the Ministry of those whom the Prelates violently obtruded upon them the Summes of Money underwritten viz.   Lib. S. d. From 49 Families in the Parish of Carsphairn 4864 17 0 From 43 Families in the Parish of Dalray 9577 16 8 From 49 Families in Balmaclelland 6430 10 0 From 9 Families in Balmacghie 425 11 8 From 2 or 3 Families in Tungland 166 12 0 From some poor Persons in Tuynham 81 4 0 From 20 Families in Borg 2026 17 4 From 9 poor Families in Girton 525 10 4 From some poor Families in Anwith 733 6 4 From 34 inconsiderable Families in Kirkpatrick-Durham 2235 6 0 From some few Fam. in Kirkmabrek