Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A65942
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To King William and Queen Mary, grace and peace The widow Whitrow's humble thanksgiving to the Lord of Hosts, the king of eternal glory, the God of all our mercies, unto whom be glory, glory, and praise for the king's safe return to England.
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Whitrowe, Joan.
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1692
(1692)
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Wing W2036; ESTC R217355
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13,739
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18
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Victory over all his Enemies both within and without And further I assirm in the Name of the LORD that whosoever follows this Way which I by the Spirit of GOD have directed to having the holy Scriptures the Life of Christ His Prophets and Apostles bearing me Record thereunto whosoever puts this Way into Practice shall quickly be without care and shall have no need to go to the best of men for Teaching or Counsel much less to the worst But this I humbly Advise the KING and QUEEN as my own Soul to keep down all Self all your own Knowledge Wisdom and Parts and come before the LORD as a little Child as Christ said This is the state you must come to before you can enter the Kingdom of GOD and this is the state Adam was in before his Fall before he Eat of this forbidden Tree the tree of Knowledge which was never given for Food for saith GOD In the day thou eats thereof thou shalt Surely dye But had he stood in the Will of GOD where he was placed and not have Entred into his own Will and Imaginations there had been no need for the Flaming SWORD to have been placed to keep the way of the Tree of Life The Flaming Sword that turns every way to seperate you from your Lovers and all your Delights before you can Eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of GOD. And this flaming Sword is the Cross of Christ and the holy Cross of Christ is the Power of GOD which must crucifie you to the world and the world to you And when all this is done you must be in the profoundest Humility that ever man or woman was in turning your selves into the very Dust from whence you came and there to be nothing for ever For if You are any thing then GOD the Eternal BEEING cannot be All who is the Alpha and Omega the first and last blessed for ever Amen Yet in this Blessed state are you a drop of that Ocean from whence Endless Blessings flow for saith our LORD and Blessed Saviour Blessed are the Poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of GOD. And if you continue loving the LORD with all Your Hearts and with all Your Souls with all Your strength with all Your might But take notice I beseech you HE must have All All your Love and Affection for if any thing else whatsoever hath it besides the LORD you rob GOD of his Right and this is that which will stop the Springs from flowing from this Endless Fountain of Life and Love Therefore I humbly Beseech You in the Bowels of the Love of GOD that Above all things and at all times with all the strength of Your Souls in all Your Thoughts Words and Works that you purely love and intend for the Honour and Glory of GOD who is the Eternal Happiness and Blessedness of all men and your own portion for ever And that you may this the better do you must most strictly Observe your selves within Keep thy Heart saith the Prophet with all diligence for out of it comes the Issues of Life Therefore sink you down into the innermost parts of your Souls and there stop all the out-goings of your minds to any thing but to GOD alone And in silence hear what the LORD saith within you and with JESUS depart from the multitude avoiding all Imployments and multiplicity of Business as much as is possible you shall rest with GOD in unity shutting up all your Sences in quietness continually Praying and calling upon GOD your Eye being fixed on Him as David's was in all your actions you shall enjoy His presence in every Place Time and Thing admitting nothing within your selves but GOD continually that you may continually receive the Heavenly Influence of His divine love into your Souls And as I have the Life and Doctrine of Christ my LORD and all his Holy Ones in former Ages to bear Witness to this my true and faithful Testimony of a holy retired Life so I shall instance one of late years Abraham Cowley who as its reported was a man of sweet and singular Wit great Learning and an even Judgment that had known by large experience what Cities Universities and Courts afford and that not only at home but in divers Nations abroad wearied with the World he broke through all the intanglements of it and which was hardest innumerous Friendship and a perpetual Praise and retired to a solatory Cottage near Barn-Elms whence he gives us this following Doctrine of Retirement and may serve for an account how well he was pleased in his Change The first Work saith he that a man must do to make himself capable of the good of Solitude is the very Eradication of all Lusts for how is it possible for a man to enjoy himself whilst his Affections are tyed to things without himself The first Minister of State hath not so much business in publick as a Wise man hath in private If the one hath little leasure to be Alone the other hath less leasure to be in Company The one hath but part of the Affairs of One Nation the other all the Works of GOD and Nature under his consideration The next I shall instant is Marcus Aurilius Antoninus a good and famous Emperor he first treats how he ought to behave himself in his Empire And after that saith he As for GOD and such Suggestions Helps and Inspirations as might be expected nothing did hinder me but that I might have begun long before to live according to Nature or that even now that I am not yet pertaker and in present possession of that Life And he gives the Reason why In that saith he I did not observe those inward Motions and Suggestions yea and almost plain apparent Instructions and Admonitions of GOD was the only cause of it And so he goes on most Excellently I that understood the Nature of that which is good said he that it is to be desired and of that which is bad that it is odious and shameful And further saith They are idle in their Actions who toil and labour in this Life and have no certain scope which to direct all their Motions and Desires to And then treating of some that busied themselves in diving into things of Philosophy Yet saith he of this is not sensible that it is sufficient for a man to apply himself wholly and confine all his Thoughts and Cares to the tendence of that Spirit which is within him truly really to serve him For saith this worthy Prince Philosophy doth consist in this for a man to preserve that Spirit which is within him from all manner of Contumelies Injuries and the sacred Mysteries of Virtue which issufrom it carefully solidly and shall not intermix any other business but shalt study this to preserve thy Spirit unpoluted and pure and as one that were even now ready to give up the Ghost shall cleave unto Him