Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	bless_a	jesus_n	lord_n	6,161	5	3.6174	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A04597	A spiritual chaine, and armour of choice, for Sion souldiers Which, whosoeuer weareth graciously, shall be sure of the best honour, comfort and safetie (whether he liue or die in the battell) that can come to a Christian souldier. Very necessary for these times.	Jones, Anthony, fl. 1622.	1622 (1622)	STC 14717.5; ESTC S114423	39,266	114

A SPIRITVAL CHAINE AND ARMOVR OF CHOICE FOR SION SOVLDIERS Which whosoeuer weareth graciously shall be sure of the best honour comfort and safetie whether he liue or die in the battell that can come to a Christian souldier Very necessary for these times LONDON Printed by William Iones for Robert Mylbourne at the great South doore of Pauls 1622. TO MY ESPECIAL REVEREND LOVING AND BELOVED FRIENDS BOTH Magistrates Ministers and others who loue the Sion of our God and to such friends of theirs also as vnto whom they shall thinke good to impart this booke for the end here proposed and in conclusion to all them who intend to publish any Treatise Grace and peace be multiplied from God the Father and from our Lord Iesus Christ Amen REuerend louing beloued in the God of honor loue it so pleasing his diuine Maiestie to withhold me by much weaknesse a great while of late from preaching his holy word I searched my heart wherein I might do most seruice in these my old yeares and decaying dayes to my good God and most good to his Church by any other talent which he hath bestowed vpon me Hauing a small one in writing I resolued to vse it now as called thereunto Our glorious God saith by Solomons pen Without counsell Prou. 15.22 purposes are disappointed but in the multitude of counsellers they are established I desire therefore to haue my poore labours perused by many of my iudicious friends and theirs also thereby to obteine sound counsell Heartily then I beseech you in that gracious God of ours to shew me your loue in this action herein chiefly viz. if you finde any thing in this Treatise which might dishonour our good God or do any maner of hurt to his Sion that you will admonish me of it As I ought not so I will not be iudge of mine owne workes there being nothing wherein a man may sooner deceiue himselfe Bookes in my iudgement require a greater purifying then gold yea and a more excellent fire also to purge them No materiall fire purgeth gold so well as the spirits of Gods childoen a famous kind of fire do purge those bookes which are submitted to that most true and trustie triall So I call it because such spirits doe make their triall by the word that fire of fires though I be not of his minde for the time of impression who said Nonum premantur in annum publish your bookes the ninth yeare yet am I iust of the same man minde for taking a large time both to reuise and aduise yet I desire not to tie others vnto my maner of publishing bookes or to taxe any who take lesse time and counsell in penning spreading abroad of their works if they take so much as may shew that they be not of a priuate spirit and readier to offer vnto the world nimis praecocia quam satis praeparata things rather too hastily ripened then sufficiently prepared There will be wants when the longest and best care is takē for who can say that his heart pen or tongue are perfect much more doth great haste make great waste You shall perceiue that I finde fault with such kinde of haste and here I aduise all writers to take good leisure This also I adde out of my experience from the present Treatise for inducing others the sooner and the more to rely on that old prouerb Plus vident oculi quam oculu● a great many of eies see more then one viz. that to my remembrance I neuer shewed this booke to any but I was moued necessarily to put in or take out somewhat so against the next impression if the godly experienced see cause I purpose to do And I most humbly thanke our gracious God for giuing mee the minde and the meanes to haue the iudgement of diuers godly and worthy men in this action which yet also I seeke more and more vsing the Presse as a helpe at this time to that end No more now but that I humbly beseech our blessed God to blesse you and yours and all your emploiments and studies and withall I desire your prayers for a blessing to me and my endeuours so as we all in all our purposes and actions may seeke his glorie To God our Father almightie and to his dearely beloued Sonne our blessed Lord and Sauiour Christ Iesus and to the holy Spirit three Persons and one God most wise holy iust and mercifull be all honour praise and thankes for euer and euer Amen To those patterne Captaines so I call them who are Leaders by their godly example of the Artillerie and Militarie in the Citie of London that famous Citie of the kingdome his Maiesties most strong safe and trustie Chamber and to all others there who any way haue any speciall hand for vpholding the practise of Chiualrie in what offices soeuer they be setled I wish all maner of peace from the God of peace and all holy and prouident preparation for all kinds of godly warre THe Wife whō Bethsheba described Prou. 31. hath bin is now and for euer shall be a peerlesse patterne to all vertuous wiues right so your worthy actions concerning matters of Chiualrie that the knowledge and exercise thereof may not decay in Citizens haue bin are now and I hope will be a notable example to the present age and to all posteritie Therefore as it is said of the vertuous wife A woman that feareth God Prou. 31.30 v 29. shall be praised Her children rise vp and call her blessed Her husband praiseth her her owne workes praise her So say I of you The training vp of the Cities valiant men yea youths nay very children in feates of armes being first taught to feare their God and to be armed against and fight against Satan causeth those children to rise vp and blesse both parents and Preachers and Captaines for their education yea and it maketh the whole land to reioyce in their good God for the worthie patterne which you giue to the kingdome in these right worthy actions both for bodie and soule Hereby you shew that you are not like the lazie people of Laish Iudg. 18.7 8 9. who by their carelesnesse were fit to be made a prey to any that would inuade them Go on good Citizens thus to ioyne religion and prowesse pietie by the peaceable word and policie by the preuenting sword so shall your workes continue to praise you in the gates and to cause the praise of our glorious God to sound both in earth and in heauen For your better progresse herein I haue sent you euen first of all a little Treatise touching the antiquitie and nobilitie of gracious Souldiers and concerning the holy behauiour which they ought to haue without which no science mysterie or art no not the seuen Liberall Arts no nor any other knowledge whatsoeuer are of any reckoning with our God The Lord our God blesse it to you and blesse you all and the whole Citie also

The aged who haue not bin nor are like to be speciall counsellers against God and his children it is good to shew mercie to them neuer insulting ouer the miserable but pittying their case rather Herein I would haue all Sion souldiers vtterly to abandon the horrible instructions of that infamous Florentine Machiauel who perswadeth to all crueltie esteeming Christian mercie to come from a silly simple minde vnfit for a valiant man This scorner derideth humilitie and meeknesse patience and gentlenesse esteeming that they do not become manhood but make Christians much inferiour to the Barbarians in courage and that it breedeth nothing but dastardlinesse A fit schoolemaster for Satans sonnes In particular therefore I ioyne with all good Christians in branding out this firebrand of hell and in admonishing all especally souldiers to learne of our blessed Sauiour that most meeke Lambe and gentle Doue Let his sayings be frequent in your mouthes and setled in your souls Amongst others remember these which follow some whereof proceeded from his owne most blessed mouth and all of them from his sacred Spirit Math. 5.12 Luke 6.36 Mica 7.18 Mat. 5.7 Do as thou wouldest be done vnto Be mercifull as your heauenly father is mercifull Mercie pleaseth our God Blessed are the mercifull for they shall obtaine mercie Let none thinke that mercie and manhood courage and kindnesse courtesie and chiualrie might and meeknesse cannot dwell together True courage hath pietie and pietie hath pittie Numb 12.3 This mixture was seene in Moses a most valiant Captaine yet the meekest man of that world It was seene also in noble Iosua yea and many worthy patternes there are left vs of great valiantnesse and great mercie ioyned together in Christian Emperours Kings and Captaines as Constantine Valentinian Charlemaine Charles the fift and our King Henrie the fift crowned in Paris What shall I say more Time would be too short to reckon vp many other valiant yet meeke and mercifull Christians As they who in their vocations do kill beasts to sustaine the life of man are not thereby made the more cruell to man if they be spiritually minded the fleshly I confesse may thence be fleshed to hardnes of heart no more are holy souldiers made sauage by embruing their hands in the blood of many beastly foes As they who in the old Law killed beasts continually for sacrifices were not thereby made bloody hearted no more are those Souldiers who performe an acceptable worke to our God by shedding the blood of his enemies thereby made fierce to his friends No no they continue innocent like Doues and milde as Lambes Though their banners be red their manners be white Though their swords be bloody their words be gentle and their deeds louely And thus should Sion Souldier-striue to make a difference between the Whore of whores bloodie souldiers and themselues these like our God full of mercie those like the King-killing Locusts and like Satan full of massacres So much for the fourth worthy linke Onely adding that all the matters here named concerning warlike mercie must still be weighed in the ballance of Christian wisedome with due regard first to the word of our God then to time place occasion circumstance and person each of which I leaue to the holy discretion of prudent Captains and Souldiers The fift worthy link the fift worthy thing I say 5. The fift worthy linke is Truth for sacred Souldiers to consider of and practise is Truth in all leagues cathes and promises The very heathen had great care of this how much more should Christians respect it Regulus in Tul. offic lib. 3 Students know what Tully wrote of Regulus namely how being at libertie giuing promise either to release certaine captiues or returne made choice to come backe yea to extreme torments for his promise sake Let the equiuocating dissembling double faced double dealing Whore of the world and her vassals whom she teacheth to dissemble by mentall reseruations and blasphemous abuse of that place of Scripture My sonne giue me thy heart Pro. 23.26 and it sufficeth let them be infamous as they are for breaking all bonds of truth but let Protestant souldiers binde fast and keepe fast these bonds though it should be to their great seeming losse our good God will requite it and it is no losse to gaine his fauour though with losse We may be depriued of some temporall comfort which might notwithstanding haue turned to our discomfort but the inward ioy of Gods Spirit by obeying him is of more value then any gaine especially the gaine of vngodlinesse Remember that although this truth is to be kept by all persons at all times and places and in all vocations yet specially among Princes Generals Captaines and souldiers in warre My reason is this In peace the matters betweene man and man are most commonly touching lands and houses or goods by some kind of contract bargain sale or exchange none of these do reach to the life of man directly albeit then that the breach of word in these cases may doe great harme yet I say againe it toucheth not life and withall it extends it selfe either to one person only or to one houshold onely or to some few persons or housholds but the breaches of promise in war are of so large extent as that that they stretch to the spoile of a whole armie sometimes of a whole countrie euen for all in all goods houses lands liues what not Therefore these breaches of promise are like the breaches of the sea into the maine land which carrie downe all before them and leaue no place no building no person vntoucht ouerwhelming Churches it is not thus in the breach of promise in ciuill contracts and bargaines in peaceable times at home Hereby I go not about to extenuate the least failing in common promises with the meanest sort of people for Gods children should be very wary to promise no more then they are willing and in all likelihood able to performe And though their purpose be euer so good yet if the plots faile if the paiment come short they are to be grieued for it and to endeuour by all possible meanes to giue satisfaction and not onely so but then withall they must be abundantly wary that they fall not into the like againe A deare child of God may be ouertaken in these ciuill things sometimes by his owne proiects missing sometimes by others deceiuing him sometimes by sudden losses or crosses which fall out to the sounes of men but they must take heed of wilfull defrauding any of their goods and much more of craftie cozening and deceiuing they must carefully make restitution by all good industrie and frugalitie and they must also for euer after be the more warie how they borow Consider now of the cases in warre Consider I say of the breaking of leagues vowes and oathes amongst wicked men in martiall matters You shall find that most of them are Machiauillian Ahitophel plots