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	son_n	witness_n	5,359	5	7.9501	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A08964	The tranquillitie of the minde A verye excellent and most comfortable oration, plainely directing euerye man, & woman, to the true tranquillitie and quyetnesse of their minde. Compyled in Latine by Iohn Barnarde, student in the Vniuersity of Cambridge, now lately translated into Englishe by Anthony Marten.; Oratio pia, religiosa, et solatii plena, de vera animi tranquillitate. English	Bernard, John, d. 1567?; Marten, Anthony, d. 1597.	1570 (1570)	STC 1925; ESTC S101618	90,089	234

by the inspiration of the same spirite doth regenerate quicken and renue teach rule gouerne sanctifie erect comfort and confirme vs in fayth helpeth our infirmitie maketh vs light and readie to all good workes Through which we crie with boldnesse Abba father which doth beare witnesse with our spirite that we be the sonnes of God and heyres with Christ Who béetng the earnest of our inheritaunce we are sealed to redemption of the possession purchased by him and being lightened in the ioyes of our minde we knowe what the hope is wherevnto we are called and hauing gotten the inheritaunce of the children we obtaine the riche glorie of his inheritaunce vppon the saints Wherefore seeing in all places the way to Christ is so large as he is present euerie where with his elect to their lyues ende and to the last consummation of the worlde we haue no néede eyther to include our selues in Monasteries or houses of Religion vnder a name of holinesse or to take long pilgrimages in hand for the quieting of our minde or to hide and kéepe our selues in secret wildernesse as the maner was of religious sort in olde time vnlesse like persecution of Christians should waxe hote againe as in those dayes it did But euery man abiding in that vocation whiche God hath called him vnto shall reache to the true ioye of the minde and attaine to the true solitarie contempt of the worlde purchasing to himselfe the testimonie of a good conscience if he put on Christ and laye holde of him in such sorte as he hath shewed himselfe in the scriptures and deuorsing from him all preposterous Iewish fashions he preferre the woorkes commaunded by God before mannes ceremonies and inuentions and to ende all at once if hée lyue and behaue himselfe as he ought both towardes GOD and his worde But of Christ and his worde of the maner of good liuing of the testimonie of a good conscience of the sense of eternall life and of the great comfort by learned men shall be spoken of more at large hereafter Now it is necessarie to declare the lets and impedimentes whereby the most part are so plucked from the true tranquillitie of the minde that a very fewe can attayne therevnto And first of all an excéeding number of people giuing ouer their true confidence in God depende vpon the goodes of fortune being once depriued of them they faynt in their mindes by and by and become sorowfull Moreouer others there be which stay themselues vpon the succour of great men and haue a light heart and indifferent mind so long as they are maintayned with reliefe from them But if the mainteyners themselues quaile they streightwayes runne downe hedlong and fall into most bitter mourning yea and further the greater sort themselues for a tyme vaunte and boast of their power and ryches but if they be excluded from theyr seate of honour and diseased of their flourishing fortune they streightway be at wars with themselues and spende all the rest of their life in sorrow and heauinesse All these being disappoynted of their expectation lye in miserie complayning of their crooked fortune and are woont to sing that doolefull verse The earth is full of sinfulnesse The sea is frayght with wretchednesse Some misfortune there happeneth alwayes in mans lyfe to interrupt and subuert our quietnesse vnlesse a man arme his minde to abide all misaduentures and prepare himselfe before hand to beare what soeuer shall happen vnto him Which common state and rule of life Euripides hath prettily set forth in these thrée verses following There is no worde so fearefull spoke nor fatall chaunce so glide Nor mischiefe wrested into man from wrath that tooke his seede But man by nature should put vp and paciently abide Wherfore Plato compared mans life to a Die whose best chaunce euery Dicer desireth to haue but yet howsoeuer it happeneth he must by arte remedie that which chaunceth to him otherwise than he desired For as the Bée gathereth most swéete hony out of the withered Tyme and out of other herbs of more vnpleasant iuice like so may we also out of euil and vnprofitable things picke out that which may turne to our profite and commoditie Euen as shipwracke to Zeno Citius and banishment to Diogenes gaue them occasion to studie Philosophie But let vs procéede to other perillous matters which be lettes of true tranquillitie of the minde There is seldome founde out any one that is content with his calling but thinks an other in happier case than himsefe When as the poore prefers the riche estate the rich the noble man the noble man the King and euery one hauing other states in admiration desires to be in the same case that they be in Hereof groweth so often chaunging of our trade of lyfe which séemes to bring a happie state with it when in déed they differ not much from sickmen which so often doe alter their purpose For euen as the sickeman cannot away wyth the sight of his wife blameth the Phisition is gréeued at his friende that comes to visite him and yet being gone is displeased againe at there going euen so is the wauering way and trade of life and the wandedring and inconstant mutabilitie of the minde which seldome doth ariue at the quiet and desired porte Wherefore euen as they which are quesie stomacked and are disquieted with vomiting doe leape from one ship to another that they maye finde some ease therby vntill they perceiue themselues nothing the better but to doe the same still that they did before carying their vomite as I may say still about with them where euer they go Euen so they which euer betwene whiles choose now one now an other trade of lyfe doe rather intangle themselues in cares and troubles than be discharged and rid therefrom For whilste they studie as it were to lande at next shallowes they are caryed ofttymes into a more huge déepe and as I may say into a bottomlesse poole What if we do not except out of this number the curious tellers of mens natiuities the Mathematricians and the Astronomers who after a sort doe drawe and call backe all things to a fatall lawe and suppose that mans life maners and successes are gouerned by the power of starres and in prognosticating of other mennes misfortunes cannot foresée their owne destruction With these men let vs ioyne the guessing Soothsaiers which by their deuination tell before of thinges to come Also the wicked inchaunters and detestable Nigromancers which rayse vp the soules of deade men or rather call vp Deuils of whome the Lorde doth plainly forbid to aske any question Such men putting confidence in their vnlawfull and abhominable practises and forsaking the true God being led with their owne horrible errors and ouerlong deceyued with lyes neuer remayne in a stayde and quiet minde And there be others which be so inflamed with the loue of themselues as they couet to

touching the firme promises of eternall life hath determined the heritage to vs So likewise he by his omnipotent power finisheth the worke of saluation begonne in vs if we wauer not but stande stedfast in faith Let vs therfore call vpon the Lorde to poure into our mindes the gift of fayth and daylie to increase the same being begonne in vs that in asking séeking and knocking we maye receyue finde and haue it opened vnto vs. For the iustification by faith from whence the true quietnesse of the minde doth growe and by which accesse with boldnesse to the throne of Maiestie is assigned vnto vs and by whose helpe and defence we are brought to this grace wherein we stande and boste our selues vnder the glorie of God is after Saint Barnardes opinion as it were a mid passage from eternall predestination vnto the magnification as he calles it to come by which we ascende to the heauenly Ierusalem the Citie of the lyuing God to the innumerable company of Aungels to the congregation of the first borne Sonnes which are written in heauen to the spirites of the iust and perfite men and to God the iudge of all men and to Iesus the Mediatour of the newe Testament where we being blessed shall inioye euerlasting lyfe Since all Scripture preacheth vnto vs that these things must with true and certaine perswasion be beléeued and denounceth against the vnbeleeuers payne and eternall death why are we discouraged in our mindes if miserie assayle vs why doe we lowre and lament if but easie aduersity come vpon vs why doe not excellent perswasions take so good roote in vs that we contemne and weare out afflictions of time present by conferring the same with lyfe to come which is reserued for vs why are we not so armed with the continual studie of most blessed immortalitie which is looked for and with sure hope of that most happie kingdome that whatsoeuer shall chaunce we beare it both paciently and quietly If the longest age of oures being compared with euerlasting life can scarcely be counted one minute why regarde we not those transitorie things as matters of no effect which may easily be abidden setling our minde farre beyonde afflictions vpon the good things eternall which tarie looking for vs And why waighe we not downe this light affliction that indureth but for a season euen onely with the earnest thought of the felicitie to come Of our momentany and light affliction speaketh Saint Paule iudging that it bréedeth in vs a wonderfull and excéeding waight of glorie while we haue not regarde vnto the thinges which are séene but to those things which are not séene For the things which are séene are temporall the things which are not séene are eternall For by affliction are good men throughly tryed as Iobe and Tobias were or else euill men therby are corrected and amended as Manasses and many other kings of Iuda Where should either the vertue and power of the spirite be so euidently perceyued or the noble and excellent vertue of pacience giue so splendent a shew or fayth haue any earnest exercise if the Saintes shoulde be strayned with no miserie For euen as the starres doe shyne in the night but in the day time they lie hidden euen so true vertue wering bewtifull by temptation doth as yron with vse shew in aduersitie what force it is of which otherwyse in tyme of prosperitie laye hid in secret And howe should euill men forsake their earthly desires relinquish and cast from them their wicked deuises if no such thing should happen whereby they may be ledde from loue of the worlde from generall flattering of themselues and from their naughtie and sinfull custome For as the Phisition bindeth him fast that is vered with a frensie stirres him vp that is troubled with the disease of Lytharge putteth them both to vexation and yet loueth them bothe being not onely desirous to restore health vnto them both but also applyes verie diligently his whole arte studie in curing of those things euen so God although he be sharpe in punishing yet doth he most louingly by such meanes procure saluation vnto hys elect Wherefore Moses reckneth affliction in steade of benefite when he thus speaketh to the children of Israell But thys also sayth he waigh thou within thy heart that euen as a man chastiseth his childe so doth the Lorde thy God correct thée that thou mayest walke in hys wayes and feare him After like maner doth Dauid in this sentence following extoll the chastining of the Lorde as a speciall benefite vnto vs It is good for me that thou hast humbled and afflicted me whereby I may learne thy statutes But why doth GOD many times suffer his elect to be afflicted by the euill and wicked Truely they which be most holy of all commit something euerye day worthy of punishment For not so much as in the fleshe of the very children of God there abydeth anye thing that is good but in them is concupiscence of the fleshe against the spirite and they are so chaunged into a newe creature as neuerthelesse the olde man is not vtterly shaken of They may referre that saying of Iohn to themselues as well as to others if we saye we haue no sinne we deceyue our selues and there is no truth in vs For euen the verie thought of the heart is inclyned to euyll if occasion be ministred therevnto There is no such prerogatiue giuen to the Saintes so long as they liue in this light if they remember their owne frailtie and weaknesse to make them thinke those common prayers of the Church as Lorde forgiue vs our trespasses washe me more and more And enter not into iudgement with thy seruaunt that they pertaine not as well to them as to others Wherefore the Lorde béeing a righteous Iudge by his iudgement correcteth first his owne householde bringeth them into the way againe and admonisheth them to call vpon him for helpe least they should be condemned with the reast of the worlde And euen as euery beast that is striken with lightning turneth his face towarde the lightning so likewise if the houshold of God will haue regarde to God when he pleaseth them he will compell them also to haue an eye to him when hee strykes them according to that saying when he slue them they sought him and turning back they called to remembrance that God was their rock and the high God their redéemer But and if the afflicted housholde of God will from thence forth diligently séeke after their God with sighings from their heart and with righteous and pacient mindes will abide wayting for his secrete councell their lamentation shall enter into the eares of the Lorde of Sabaoth who pluckes them out of their aduersaries handes that he may learne them to depend onely vppon him reuenges them also at length of their very enimyes if they scorne them and the rod of punishment which they execute not

lyfe so vncertaine of lyfe and of it selfe alone no life which so many yeares is a growing and so fewe houres a fading if thou be thus discharged of thy bodily trauell and of the feare of trauell by these thy two speciall friendes Howe much more circumspection and stedfast care and diligence oughtest thou to haue ouer thy soule so incorruptible a thing so eternall so heauenly and vnspeakeable a gift in so short a minute chaunged from sinne to blesse from man to an Aungell from earth to Paradice from momentanie lyfe to vnspeakable thousandes of ages from warre to rewarde from tryall of fayth to triumph for victorie from continuall vexation strife and vnquietnesse to perpetuall consolation securitie and quietnesse Howe much more prouident especiallye in this wonderfull age wherein thy mynde is so mooued and tossed to and fro to see the worlde wonder and the Deuill rage that Christ his true Religion is raysed vppe and published oughtest thou to bee in puruaying for the assured knowledge of the true Tranquillitie stay and confirmation of thy minde a matter sufficient and able to buylde thee a celestiall habitation wherein thou mayest lay vp thy heauenly treasure wherein thou shalt inioy the parpetuall fellowship of Aungelles the continuall contemplation of Gods deuine Maiestie the fruition of euerlasting ioy and felicitie and the liuely fountaine of eternall lyfe If thou with this lightnesse of hearte with this zeale of minde and with these tokens of gladnesse wilt accept and imbrace thy friends which haue shewed thee of so earthly a commoditie of so fraile a thing and as I maye terme it of such a masse of Morter With how much more feruent zeale pure loue and beneuolent minde beloued art thou to accept the Author hereof and Translator of the same who haue presented so singuler a benifite vnto thee as is this booke which may so much further and profite thee for the safetie of thy soule The one of these thy friendes nurst and educated in the beautifull lappe of liberall science the other led till he had seene this booke with delightes and trayned from youth to the intisementes of Courtly vanities The one alwayes fedde with deuine foode of Euangelicall Doctrine the other taught till ere-whilste with prophane knowledge of obscure darkenesse The one practising as well by his life as by his penne to compile and gather togither the deepe and secret wisedome of Tranquillitie of the minde the other beeing scoller to this booke and hauing put in proufe the Lessons therein learned remayneth as a witnesse to the worlde of the manifolde consolation and commoditie reaped by the same The one hauing layde vp in store this maruellous stuffe of building for the edifying of hymselfe and of all those in the vniuersall worlde which vnderstand the Latine tongue the other for the dutie he oweth to hys Countrie hath brought foorth the same and layde it readie before the eyes of all oure Englishe Nation and Countrie All the thanks and recompence which he hopeth to reape of thee is that thou and that for thine owne singuler pleasure comfort and commoditie wylt wholye reade ouer the same especially bycause it is one whole continued stile and Oration depending consequently yet playnly easily and manifestlye one poynt vpon an other And therefore thou must of necessitie so doe if thou wilt learne how to obtaine the true quietnesse of thy mynde This I will assure thee gentle Reader that if thou wylt with attentiue eares pervse this booke in such sort as I haue declared vnto thee of what state condicion or degree so euer thou bee or howe so euer thy bodie bee inclined or thy mynde affected thou shalt reape inestimable and heauenly profite thereby In such sort as if thou be high of dignitie thou wilt not become disdainefull If thou bee base of state ambicious Or if thou bee meane of calling mutable and inconstant Neyther in prosperitie thou wilt shewe thy selfe vngratefull but thankefull not prowde but lowly of spirite In sodaine sadnesse thou wilt lay holde vpon speedie merynesse In vnreasonable merinesse vpon discreete temperaunce In the leaden lethargie and disease of sinne vpon the quicke remembraunce of mercie by Christ In aduersitie thou wilt not become impacient nor pensiue but quiet and ioyfull In sicknesse not murmuraunt and waywarde but pacient and content with Gods visitation Yea such fruite mayst thou finde by some small paynes bestowed herein as I dare speake it thou shalt confesse thy selfe to stand a thousand tymes more afeard of thy three most spitefull aduersaries I meane the worlde the fleshe and the deuill when the worlde most flattreth thee with the glorious and glittering shew of hir vaine giftes bestowed vpon thee and in thy chiefest securitie of welth and happy dayes than in the most troublesome tempestes of trying thy fayth by affliction of the worlde by prouocation of the flesh or by Sathans instigation of thy minde eyther else in the time when God by his owne handes doth lay his gentle correction of sicknesse vpō thee Afeard I say in such safe prosperitie least God make small account of thee glad and ioyfull in pinching aduersity bicause he acknowledgeth thee for his naturall child and not reiecteth thee as a reprobate bastard That thou being thus mortified to the world and renued by Christ to the life to come mayest so long as the blessed will of God is that thy wretched carkasse shal yet remaine vpon the face of the earth be so light and glad of heart so firme calme quiet of minde in the true faith of Iesus Christ and so rauished with angelicall and spiritual cogitation vpon deuine and heauenly treasures as thy verie self may be alredy seperated from thy selfe and thy body no longer seme to beare rule suppresse and Prison the spirit as in euery carnall minded man it doth But the spirite altogither to direct sanctifie subdue and gouerne the bodie and the same to beare leade and carie about with it no lesse than if it were alreadie chaunged and lifted vp to the euerlasting felicitie of Gods eternall kingdome purchased for vs by hys sonne Iesus who with the father the holy ghost one eternall God be blessed praysed and magnified nowe and in the worlde to come Amen An admonition to the Reader ALthough beloued Reader this Treatise be not of those sort of Bookes vvhich are vsually deuided into Chapters eyther short or long yet asvvell by notes in the margent as also by the tytles oboue the heade of euery leafe you are no lesse plainlye directed to euery perticular matter therein than by the other you might be A godly and faythfull Oration full of comfort which intreateth of true tranquillitie of the minde compiled and gathered in Latin by Iohn Barnard englished by Anthonie Marten IT SHALL GOOD people be a thing most profitable and very godly and in all mischaunces the readiest refuge if I shall in déede performe as in hope I haue attempted to shewe with all diligence where the

away with preaching of the worde of God as a thing of naught and contemne and settes little by the threatning concourse of Kings and whisperings of Princes against the Lord and against his Christ and by no torments can they be drawne away and made with lesse will courage or chéere to professe the truth vnto their last ende Wherefore by the continuall remembraunce of such causes as mooue the Lorde to bring afflictions and troubles vpon his elect we shall be incouraged to beare all things that shall happen both with a pacient and quiet minde and eyther to reioyce if in defence of righteousnesse we be vnrighteously punished or else take occasion if we be iustly and of due desert chastised to correct our maners and amende our lyfe thereby Let it fall to oure remembraunce that as a woman which lyeth in labour féeleth great anguish in hir whole body with the trauell but after she is deliuered and hir childe come into the worlde is not onely eased of hir paine but also taketh singuler ioy and pleasure by forgetting hir former trouble euen so affliction which at first is woont to séeme sharpe and bitter yet at length it accustometh to worke ioyfull and merrie endes with delectable fruites of pacience Let vs neuer ymagine in our owne opinion that there is eyther chaunce or fortune and so suppose things happen by easualtie and at all aduenture although no religion as may appeare forbids those wordes by fortune or chaunce to be vsed in phrase of speach when thinges come to passe nay but let vs thinke and perswade with our selues that there is a God and iudge for a suretie that all things by his councell and prouidence are excellently well gouerned It is the Lorde that appointes vs to death and restores vs againe to life He carieth vs downe to hell and bringeth vs from thence againe The Lorde maketh both the poore and riche He exalteth the humble and casteth dewne the high lookes of the prowde Through him kinges doe beare rule and by him kingdomes are transtated from one Nation to another for their wrongs and contumelies and for their riches compassed by fraude and guile Without the will of our heauenly father our sauiour affirmeth in the Gospell that so much as a sparrow doth not light vpon the house top nor that a heare falleth from the heade but by his prouidence And what carefull foresight the Lorde hath towarde his elect he himselfe doth plainely signifie vnto vs in these wordes of the Prophete Esay I haue borne you sayth he from your mothers wombe and brought you vp from your birth till you were growne and the Church will I beare vp in hir last age I haue made you I will also nourishe you beare you and saue you Wherefore the Lorde is angrie when we flie to the succor of man leauing Gods helpe Which thing we may well perceyue by the saying of the sayde Prophet An Egyptian is a man and not God their horses are flesh and not spirites and so soone as the Lord shall stretch foorth his hande then shall the helper fall and he also that looketh for helpe shal perish and both togither be consumed Let vs learne therefore with great trust and confidence to wayte for the assistance of God and onely to respect what his will and pleasure is to endure also with a quiet minde whatsoeuer his heauenly prouidence most graciously shall assigne vnto vs. Let vs follow the councell of that holye Martyr Cyprian who instructeth a godly minde howe he should turne euilles aswel those which be ingraffed in the verie nature of man as those which by other accidents happen vnto him to become an instrument of glorie For thus he wryteth Is any man ransackt of his substaunce either by warre shipwracke or by robberie Let him not deuise by and by to repayre his losses by naughtie and euill practises but thus let him say with him selfe It is the Lorde that prooueth me and shall I not loue him from the bottome of my hart It is euen he himselfe that gaue me these things and he himselfe it is that hath taken them awaye againe blessed be the name of the lord Let him giue thanks for that he receyued them of Gods bountifull liberalitie and let him also giue him thankes bicause they be taken away againe for triall of his fayth If he shall thus say with the same minde and will that holy Iob did he shall with him also reape a rewarde For the Lorde regardeth not how much a man looseth but how paciently he beareth the same Like as he hath not respect to the quantitie that a man giueth to the poore but with what will and intent the same be done Hast thou one onely sonne whome thou louest and sodayne death doth depriue thée of him or doth the plague take frō thée thy best beloued spouse thy children and thy friendes take it paciently and saye So it séemed best to the Lorde and so peraduenture it was expedient for vs and ours the Lordes name be blessed therefore There be also certaine diseases whiche are of no lesse terrible paine than the crueltie of any tormentors As the Plurisie the Sciatica the Goute the Stone the Paulsie the sorenesse of the raynes and bladder If any such griefe happen vnto vs let not our mindes be mooued to impacience least our tongue also breake out into blasphemous wordes But let him that is troubled saye with blessed Dauid and with Hely the Priest It is the Lord Let him doe whatsoeuer séemeth good in his owne sight So shall we turne those euilles which are not come vpon vs for professing of Christ not onely to be a crowne of rewarde vnto our selues but also to be extended to the glorie of Christ and peraduenture bring to passe that the Lorde through our pacience will tender vs and either take away quite or else mittigate our paine and torment But and if we be not eased thereof yet by suche meanes we shall cause the thing which before was intollerable through our impacient minde nowe by our quiet induring to become more tollerable Let wicked murmurings therefore in time of aduersitie be remooued from vs which be full of desperation and mistrust and most euident tokens of peruerse opinions according to the excellent iudgement of this graue wryter Let vniust complaynings agaynst the Lorde be reiected farre from vs Let vs subiect our selues vnder the mightie hande of god Lette vs receyue his gentle correction with a quiet minde who hath neuer suffered vnpunished such wrestling as hath béene agaynst his ordinaunce and appoyntment Let enery man that is full of paine trouble and miserie say with the Prophete Micheas I will beare the wrath and indignation of God bicause I haue sinned against him And with Daniell To thée Lord belongeth righteousnesse and to vs perteyneth shame and confusion Let vs fall to heartie and earnest prayer and to continuall exercise of the