Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	body_n	flesh_n	soul_n	20,045	5	5.6682	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A94746	Innovations of popery in the Church of Rome, calling for repentance and reformation; being as a wall of separation between Christians and Christians. : Wherein is shewed, that the mystery of iniquity, Sodom and Egypt spiritual ... are all founded in innovations. : Given forth partly to stir up our thankfulness to God for his former mercies to this nation ... / By one that loves all that fear the Lord ... W.T.	Tomlinson, William.	1689 (1689)	Wing T1848; ESTC R185373	39,994	146

Spirit now And a pretence of honouring God thereby will not excuse men to him The Jews when they had made a Calf in the Wilderness and Sacrificed to it and Feasted with those Sacrifices this was done in pretence to the Lord who had brought them out of Egypt Therefore when Aaron proclaimed a Day to do Sacrifice to the Calf he proclaimed it thus To morrow is a Feast to the Lord Exod. 32.5 You see this was pretended to be done to the Lord the people came upon that Proclamation as keeping a Feast to the Lord and did Eat and Drink and make merry and in their Sacrifice c●lebrated their deliverance out of Egypt But they would have that Calf to represent their Deliverer and therefore attributed that Title to the thing repesenting which was due only to the Lord whom they would represent For we cannot imagine that they who so lately had seen the wonders of the Lord in bringing them out with a high hand and went before them in a Pillar of a Cloud and Fire could believe that Calf to be their Deliverer both because it was made after they were delivered and also because it was made of their own Ear-Rings and Gold which they gave to Aaron to make it of but they put Signum pro re significata the sign for the thing signified which the Lord will not approve of in such case And therefore in this place and to this Innovation I may here add their Idolatry used in their Sacrifice of the Mass worshipping the Sign for the thing signified Namely their worshipping of that which their own hands have made which was always counted Idolatry in Scripture Their Land saith the Prophet Isaiah is full of Idols they worship the Work of their own hands that which their own Fingers have made And the mean Man boweth down and the Great Man humbleth himself therefore forgive them not Isa 2.8 9. And again in the New Testament it s said The rest of men which were not killed with these Plagues yet repented not of the Works of their Hands that they should not worship Devils and Idols of Gold and Silver and Brass and Stone and Wood which neither can see nor hear nor walk Rev. 9.20 Now consider is not this the Work of their own hands that which their own Fingers have made Is it not a God of their own making Do they not first make the Bread or Wasers and then make it a God by speaking a few words And is it not such a God as can neither see nor hear nor walk nor speak By which Characters Idols are frequently described and will you have Christ Jesus to come under the description of Idols and make him like them The Idols of the Heathen have Mouths but they speak not Eyes but they see not Ears but they hear not They are known to be Idols because they can neither speak nor see nor hear and will you make him like one of them Read and consider Psal 135.15 16. and Psal 115.3 4 5 6 7. Where you may plainly see not to hear not to speak not to see not to smell not to handle not to walk are made notes of an Idol to know them by And will you now make our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the World was made like a Dumb Idol Will you make that to be he which was only left for a Memorial of him Do this as often as ye do it in remembrance of me saith he He makes it but a Sign for a Memorial of him I do believe that many may be verily perswaded that the Bread and Wine are really the Body and Blood of Christ and so use it with great reverence as if it were he and that they think they do honour him thereby But it is great dishonour done to him if you well consider the thing For first it brings him under the Circumstances of the Idols of the Heathen as hath been shewed 2. To offer him up again invalidates that one Sacrifice of himself upon the Cross once for all by which he hath for ever perfected them that are sanctified But I know you stand upon the literal words of Christ This is my Body And therein I can bear with you a little because many may think that they verily obey Christ therein But if you well weigh it you will find that those words are not to be taken literally but figuratively as many other of his expressions were as for instance I am the Door I am the true Vine my Father is the Husbandman Take one more which comes near to that saying This is my Body namely this Except ye Eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and Drink his Blood ye have no life in you John 6.53 Some took that in a literal sense as you do those words This is my Body But let us mind his own exposition of them for that comes near to the Case in hand The words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life What do you talk of the Flesh The Flesh profiteth nothing It s the Spirit that quickeneth John 6.63 Whereby he shews plainly that this Eating of his Flesh he spake of was the receiving and nourishing of his Spirit in our Hearts which gives us life a Spiritual Life in him A like expression to this he used to the Woman of Samaria John 4.14 where he compares the receiving and embracing of his Spirit to drinking of Water the words are these But whosoever drinketh of the Water that I shall give him shall never Thirst but the Water that I shall give him shall be in him a Well of Water springing up into everlasting Life You see by Water he understood Spirit and by Flesh and Blood he understood Spirit which were Metaphorical expressions And so here in these words This is my Body he spake after the same manner For when as he saith The Flesh profiteth nothing to what end should we imagine that he left his Flesh to be eaten But then as for the Offering of him up by a Priest This is an intrusion into the Mediatorship of Christ who only could offer up himself to God He being both the Sacrifice and the Priest set apart by God for that work whom all the Priests under the Law typifyed And he did this himself Once for all And there remains no more Sacrifice for Sin. For by one Offering he hath perfected for ever them that are Sanctified You may read that word Once expressed many times in the 9th and 10th Chapters of the Epistle to the Hebrews whereby is shewed the Difference between the Sacrifices of the Law which were types and that one Sacrifice of Christ which was the substance How they were offered often because they could not make the Comers thereunto perfect as pertaining to the Conscience but this Sacrifice of Christ was offered but Once because it is of Efficacy at once offering to make the comers to it perfect as pertaining to the Conscience that is to clear

Eyes to see with their own Eyes and understandings the comfortable Sunshine of those pure Truths which shine forth in the plain and uncorrupted words of the Gospel left upon record This is Tyranny upon the Souls of people to which the Bondage of Egypt and Captivity of Old Babylon was but a small matter seeing that chiefly was upon the Body but this is upon the Soul. So that their enthralled people cannot say Their Soul is their own But they are the Slaves and Souls of men fulfilling that very expression of them Rev. 18.3 For how can a Man say that his Soul is his own when he cannot make use of the Faculties of it But must be wholly in things Spiritual restrained to the Sense and Will of another This is an Innovation of great consequence for it is as a Lock and Key upon all their other Innovations to keep them safe from being assaulted So that hereby they Establish themselves in their Kingdom of Darkness even as Satan holds his Kingdom in men as long as he can keep them in darkness but where light comes Satan falls like Lightning and even so where the free use of the Scriptures comes in their purity their Innovations must needs fall But what wickedness is this that for the upholding an earthly Kingdom they care not what becomes of Millions of Souls but let them perish in the darkness by their will. For Children of darkness they must be kept and not be suffered to become Children of the Light if they can help it The Holy Apostles of Christ gave this Testimony of the Scriptures That they are able to make one wise unto Salvation through Faith in Christ Jesus and that they are given forth by inspiration of God and are profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness that the man of God may be perfect thorowly furnished unto all good Works 2 Tim. 3.15 16 17. What 's the reason then that men should be envied the comfortable use and benefit of them Is there any true reason can be given for the restraint of them but this That men would by them be instructed and furnished against the Innovations of the Popedom and so run into that which they call Heresie But what desperate wickedness and scared Consciences hath God given people up unto that dare thus in opposition to the inspirations of the Spirit of God and benefit of the Souls of People deprive them of so great helps and furtherance of their Salvation This is a Robbery far greater than any earthly Robbery And yet they must be called Holy Fathers who have been the greatest Robbers in the World. May we not here greatly suspect that the Mystery of Iniquity doth here lurk where such care is taken to keep out the light of the Scriptures from men lest thereby they should discover it Yea may we not rather detect that Mystery of Iniquity to be here where so many Innovations contrary to the Holy Scriptures are found and such innovations as turn the profession of Christianity into a Stream quite contrary to its own nature To work wickedly and contrary to the Spirit of God and yet pretend therein holiness and serving of God What 's this but Iniquity under a Mystery wickedness vailed with pious pretences And what is the Mystery of Iniquity but Iniquity in a Mystery Iniquity under pious pretences which makes it a Mystery But those pretences cannot alter the nature of Wickedness but only put a fair Gloss upon it for wickedness is wickedness wheresoever it is found and the fair pretences put upon it cannot change its nature but only dazle the Eyes and Minds of men and make it mysterious to them The shedding of so much innocent Blood as hath been shed in Massacres and Fires and by other ways doth not change the nature of that wickedness by putting the name of Hereticks upon those who were so destroyed only that ignominious Title may cover it to the ignorant and make that cruelty seem to them a pious thing and so make that Iniquity a Mystery And in like manner Idolatry or bowing to Images may be made a Mystery by pretending it to be a reverencing God and thanking him for such or such a Saint or such like considerations when as the action it self is directly opposite to his command and bears no other appearance but of an idolatrous worship contrary to the second Commandment which they dare not let stand in the common sight of their people for fear of its discovering their Idolatry Now not to name the rest of these their innovations here what greater wickedness is there then these three namely shedding innocent Blood worshipping Images or Gods of their own making and robbing people of so great a Benefit to their Souls as the Holy Scriptures in their purity might be And all the pretences they can put upon these Evils can but disguise them and make them a Mystery but they cannot change the nature of them 12. Another Innovation is that invention of putting their people upon the pattering over so many Pater Nosters and Ave Maries that they need a String of Beads to number them by And here we may stand still and wonder that men that pretend themselves so profound Doctors and Fathers in the Church of Christ should shew themselves to be so blind or wicked So blind as to think that God is well pleased with Lip-labour or so wicked as to make people believe that he is so Surely they know that Christ Jesus our great Doctor or Teacher hath said When ye pray use not vain Repetitions as the Heathen do for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking Be not ye therefore like unto them Mat. 6.7 8. But these Doctors make their people like the Heathen herein The Lord requires such worship as is done in Spirit and in Truth John 4.23.24 It s not vain Lip-labour that 's acceptable to him but my Son give me thy Heart saith he He hates drawing near him with the Lips and the Heart far from him It s praying with the Spirit and with the understanding also that he requires If these great Doctors know not these things they are not fit to be Teachers or Guides in the Church of Christ and if they do know them the greater is their wickedness to teach people to do things that are so contrary to the Doctrine of Christ and thereby to make them like the Heathen thinking to be heard for much babling But to what end should they repeat so many Ave Maries with their Pater Nosters every day Is Mary at hand every Hour to be saluted by them Is she present continually all over the large Dominion of the Popedom to be saluted by them all that patter that Salutation so often over Or do they hereby worship her as a God thinking her to be Omnipresent It s hard to know for what good end this Custom was invented For my part I can see no other