Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A Word B Word C Word D Occurrence Frequency Band MI MI Band Prominent
spirit_n bear_v flesh_n kingdom_n 6,050 5 7.3681 4 false
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A62898 A position concerning persecution That religion that persecutes a righteous people for their conscience towards God, is not worthy to be joyned to, but to be had in abomination by all sober people, as a religion abhorred of God, and of all that truly know him. This is manifest by that which follows. Tomlinson, William. 1660 (1660) Wing T1849; ESTC R219740 7,415 11

There is 1 snippet containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

A POSITION CONCERNING PERSECUTION That Religion that persecutes a Righteous People for their Conscience towards God is not worthy to be joyned to but to be had in Abomination by all sober People as a Religion abhorred of God and of all that truly know him This is manifest by that which follows 1. FIrst Its Pedigree or Race is thereby made manifest to be of the Evil one and of affinity with Cain and the persecuting Pharisees Cain was the first of that Race that slew his Brother about Religion and wherefore slew he him even because his own works were evil and his Brothers righteous saith the Scripture 1 Joh. 3.12 And even so it is now The persecuting spirit seeks to slay a People more righteous than it self So it hath been so it is and so it will be as long as that spirit is permitted to act its part and when it hath done it must be turned out with its first father Cain and be a vagabond from the Lord and from the off-spring of his People Therefore consider and fear all ye that are tainted therewith The Pharisees they gave place in themselves to the same spirit under a pretence of Zeal and Holiness as if by persecuting they would root out abominable Doctrines and Heresies contrary to Godliness and contrary to established Traditions delivered them of God and his holy Prophets But they perceived not in themselves that rotten root of enmity from whence this spirit sprang and was influenced and stirred up And therefore instead of rooting out what they would have rooted out they rooted out themselves out of the Inheritance of God and cut off their Names from being the Disciples of Christ And as it was with them so will it be with all that follow them in the same spirit of Persecution And a short time will henceforth manifest it The Pharisees thought to preserve themselves by rooting out and suppressing others but the Wisdom of God turned it quite otherwise They said If we let them alone all men will believe on this man and joyn to him and the Romans will come and take away our place and Nation therefore they thought Persecution was the way to prevent that But mark the Counsel and Wisdom of God That way which they took to prevent their ruine and scattering even that thing provoked the Lord to send the Romans to take away their place and Nation And so that which they feared came upon them because they would not suffer the innocent Seed nor imbrace it as the off-spring of God And these things were written for examples to them that come after them that they may be wise by others falls and may learn to kiss the Son and his little ones lest he be angry and they perish out of the way when his wrath is but a little kindled Psal 2. 2. Consider that this Spirit that persecutes be it in whom it will it 's but of the flesh not of the Spirit of the Lord for so the Scripture witnesseth Gal. 4.29 But as it was then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit even so it is now But mark the event What saith the Scripture that whereof one tittle shall not fail till all be fulfilled Cast out the Bond-woman and her son that is he that is born after the flesh and persecutes for the son of the Bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of the Free-woman Mark The portion of this Spirit that persecutes is to be cast out it shall not be Heir with Christ in his Kingdom 3. Again The Root of this Persecuting spirit is in that evil one which is called Apollyon not in the saving Spirit which hath its name JESUS Apollyon is Destroyer Rev. 9.11 the Spirit hath given that name to that nature as he hath given the name Saviour or Jesus to the contrary nature Thou shalt call his name JESUS for he shall save c. And saith he The Son of man is not come to destroy mens lives but to save Therefore the Destroyer can find no place in him he hath no root nor foundation there but the Persecutors Root from whence he springs is in Apollyon that spirit that is contrary to Jesus and shall go into Perdition 4. The Persecutors of the Innocent for Conscience-sake have not the knowledge of God and of Christ Joh. 16.3 These things will they do unto you because they know not the Father nor me The reason why men persecute is because they are ignorant of God And their Persecution of others is a manifest demonstration of their ignorance of God He that knows all mens hearts and comprehends all their knowledge hath spoken it A prate or talk of God and his Attributes he accounts not the knowledge of God for so many Persecutors can talk largely enough But he that knows the Father and the Son is by that knowledge according to the measure of it sunk into the Nature of him known and his Image renewing thereby will appear in that person that knows him For the knowledge of God is not a dead fruitless knowledge but it 's Life eternal and raises up life in man that he begins to live in the Image of God whom now he begins to see and know As he sees God who is Light so he begins to walk in the Light and becomes a Child of Light not of darkness As he sees God who is Love and feels him so so he receives the Image of his Nature by Impression upon his spirit from that Spirit of God that gives the knowledge of God and so he begins to live in that Nature also and now being come to the feeling of the true Love and beginning to spring up in that which indeed is the true knowledge of God who is Love he will now do no harm to his Neighbour Persecution now ceaseth in him being slain from the right ground even from his knowing feeling what God is But while this persecuting spirit remains in any unslain and unsubdued it s an evident token that they are not yet come to the true Knowledge of God and of Christ how highly soever they account of themselves or are accounted of by others for Christianity he that denies this must oppose the Words of the Son of God who came to set Truth in the Earth and wo will be to him that is found in the gainsaying of the Truth that he witnessed from the Father So then all Persecutors being destitute of the Knowledge of the Father and the Son what Religion can they set up out a persecuting Religion which hath not the Knowledge of God and of Christ in it Therefore let all that joyn themselves to Persecutors consider to whom they joyn themselves It 's not to God but to his enemies that know Him not nor his Children though they think they do God service in persecuting 5. Again Persecutors do not stand in wholsome counsel as among men Gamaliel will rise up in Judgement against