Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A02584
|
The reconciler: or An epistle pacificatorie of the seeming differences of opinion concerning the true being and visibilitie of the Roman Church Enlarged with the addition of letters of resolution, for that purpose, from some famous divines of our Church. By Ios: Exon.
|
Hall, Joseph, 1574-1656.
|
1629
(1629)
|
STC 12709A; ESTC S103708
|
25,794
|
138
|
Hosea said of Ephraim Ephraim is ioyned to Idols let him alone So Christ saith vnto vs Come out of Babylon my people that yee be not partakers of her sinnes and that ye receiue not of her plagues Her sinnes are a spirituall leprosie And we run away from leprous men though true men and our neerest and dearest friends crying what they are loth to cry Vncleane vncleane lest their breath should infect vs Her sinnes are infidelitie not negatiue but priâ—atiue not in whole but in part As Saint Paul a beleeuing lew was in vnbeliefe when he persceuted the Church And Saint Paul saith vnto vs Be ye not vnequally yoked together with vnbeleeuers c. Come out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord and touch not the vncleane thing and I will receiue you and will be a Father vnto you and yee shall bee my sonnes and daughters saith the Lord Almightie A faithfull subiect will not take a traitour though a subiect by the hand nor I a Papist in matter of his Religion Neither will honest women 〈…〉 with the greatest Lady thogh shee be a great ones wife This I haue euer taught priuately Preached publikely published in Printed Bookes against Papists during these thirtie three yeares of my Ministrie in the French Churches without any aduantage to our Aduersaries without any contradiction of our diuines without any acception taken against it by our Churches or any particular among the brethren which all in their name Preach and publish that they are of the same mind calling themselues The Reformed Churches and our Religion The reformed religion For as the good Kings of Iuda did not build a new Temple call to God a new people set vp a new Religion but repurge and clense the old Temple restore the ancient Religion exhorted Gods people to shake off the new inuentions of the new patched Religion and to returne to the Lord their God by the olde way which their fathers had beaten and Moses had traced vnto them in the Law And as Zorobabel Esdras Nehemiah Ieshuah builded the Wals of Ierusalem vpon the ancient foundation euerie man building next himselfe Euen so the Protestant Diuines haue euerie one next himselfe not builded a new Church vpon a new foundation but repurged the auncient Church of idolatrie superstition false interpretations of the Scriptures and traditions of men whereof shee was fuller then euer Augeas his Stable was full of mucke but beaten downe and burned with the fire of Gods word the Wals of Wood Hay Stubble which the Babylonian builders had raysed vpon the old foundation which is Christ Iesus and edified vpon it a faire Palace of Siluer Gold precious Stones This same is the opinion also of my Collegues of the French Church of this Citie of London If any selfe-conceited Christian thinketh this an aduantage rather then a disparagement disgrace to that punke the Romane Church and taketh thereby occasion to perseuere to be her Bawd or Stalion and to runne a whoring with her I say with the Psalmist The wicked hath left off to bee wise and to doe good And with the Angell Hee that is vniust let him he vniust still And he which is filthy let him be filthy still For neither must an honest heart speake a lie for the good that may come of it Nor conceale in time and place a necessarie truth for any euill that may insue of it If it harden more and more the flintie hearts of some vnto death it will soften and melt the iron hearts of others vnto life that seeing among vs the mudde and dirt of humane traditions wherewith the Pope and his Clergie had furred and soyled the bright-shining glasse of the Gospel wiped away from this heauenly mirror of Gods fauor they may come vnto vs and beholding with open face as in a glasse the glorie of the Lord may be changed with vs into the same image from gloire to glorie euen as by the Spirit of the Lord. Which last effect I pray with my heart your Reconciler may haue with those that are children of peace And so recommending your Lordship with all your learned eloquent sound and vsefull labours to GODS most powerfull blessing and my selfe to the continuance of your godly Prayers and old friendship I remaine for euer Your Lordships most humble and affectionate Seruant Gilbert Primrose From London the 26. of Februarie 1629. ¶ To my VVorthy and much respected Friend Mr. H. CHOMLEY MAster Cholmely I haue perused your learned and full reply to Master Burtons answere wherein you haue in a iudicious eye abundantly righted your self and cleared a iust cause so as the Reader would wonder where an Aduersarie might find ground to raise an opposition But let me tell you Were it a Booke written by the pen of an Angest from Heauen in this subiect I should doubt whether to wish it publique How true how iust soeuer the plea be I find such is the selfe-loue and partialitie of our corrupt nature the quarrell is inlarged by multiplying of words when I see a fire quenched with Oyle I will expect to see a controuersie of this nature stinted by publike altercation New matter still rises in the agitation and giues hint to a fore-resolued opposite of a fresh disquisition So as we may sooner see an end of the common peace then of an vnkindly iarre in the Church especially such a one as is fomented with a mistaken Zeale on the one side and with a confidence of knowledge on the other Silence hath somtimes quieted such like mis-raised brabbles neuer interchange of words This very question was on foot some fortie yeares agoe in the hote chase of great Authors but whether through the ingenuitie of the parties or some ouer-ruling act of Diuine Prouidence it soone died without noyse so I wish it may now doe Rather let the weaker title goe away with the last word then the Church shall bee distracted For that Position of mine which occasioned your vindication you see it sufficiently abetted and determined by so reuerend authoritie as admits no exception I dare say No learned Diuine of our owne Church or the foraine can but subscribe in this our sense to the iudgement of these Worthies To draw forth therefore this cord of contention to any futher length were no lesse needlesse then preiudiciall to the publike peace Hee is not worthy to bee satisfied that will yet wrangle As for those personall aspersions that are cast vpon you by malice be perswaded to despise them These Westerne parts where your reputation is deseruedly precious know your Zeale for Gods truth no lesse feruent though better gouerned then the most fierie of your Censurers No man more hateth Popish Superstition only your fault is that you doe not more hate errour then iniustice and cannot abide wrong measure offered to the worst enemie Neither bee you troubled with that idle exprobration of a Prebendary retribution who would
that knoweth God heareth vs hereby know wee the Spirit of truth and the spirit of errour Againe the Lord saith By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye haue loue one to another pointing out the concord and holy agreement which is among the brethren as another marke of the orthodoxe Church As likewise when hee saith Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good workes and glorifie your Father which is in Heauen hee sheweth that good workes are the visible mark of the true orthodoxe Church The true preaching reuerent hearing of the Gospel is a visible mark of our faith and hope Our concord in the Lord is a marke of our Charitie Our good workes are reall and sensible testimonies of our inward Faith Hope and Charitie Where wee finde these three signes we know certainly that there is Christs true Church and iudge charitably that is probably that euery one in whom wee see these outward tokens of Christs true and orthodoxe Church is a true member of the mysticall body of the Lord Iesus I say charitably because outward markes may be outwardly counterfeited by Hypocrites as it is said of Israel They did flatter with their mouth and they lyed vnto him with their tongues for their heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Couenant And of many of these that followed our Sauiour Many beleeued in his Name when they saw the miracles which he did But Iesus did not commit himselfe vnto them because he knew all men Therefore when the people of Israel departed from the Couenant and by their Idolatrie brake as much as in them lay the contract of marriage betweene them and God they ceased in that behalfe to bee Gods true Spouse and people though still they called him their Husband and their God When they made a molten Calfe in the Wildernesse and worshipped the works of their owne fingers God said to Moses Thy people which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt haue corrupted themselues and not my people And Moses to shew that on their part they had broken the Couenant broken the Tables of the Couenant when vnder Achaz they did worse Isaiah called them children that are corrupted their Prince and Gouernours Rulers of Sodome themselues people of Gomorrah their holy Citie an Harlot And God about the same time cried vnto them by Micah Thou that art named the house of Iacob Thou that was â—â—late my people And to the teh Tribes by Hosea Yee are not my people and I will not bee your God After the same manner Christ said to the Iewes which gloried and made their boast that God was their Father If God were your Father yee would loue me Yee are of your father the Deuill And the lusts of your Father yee will doe If we speake of the Romish Church according to this distinction defining the Church by the keeping of the Couenant in purenesse of doctrine and holinesse of life God himselfe hath stript her of that glorious Name calling her spiritually Sodome Egypt and Babylon Sodome in the pollution of her most filthy life Egypt in the abominable multitude of her filthy Idols Babylon in the cruell and bloudie oppression and persecution of the Saints And because she was to cal her selfe as falsly as arrogantly the mother Church the Angell calleth her THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH Because also shee was to bring and magnifie her selfe in the multitude of her Saints hee saith that shee is drunke with the bloud of the Saints and with the bloud of the Martyrs of Iesus And taking from her the name of the Church which she challengeth priuatiuely to all other Christian congregations hee nameth her as I haue already said the habitation of Deuils the hold of euerie foule spirit and a Cage of euerie vncleane and hatefull bird In the first sence Moses said to God why doth thy wrath wax hote against THY people because although they had broken the Couenant on their part by the workes of their hands God had not as yet broken it on his part Ieremiah in the greatest heate of their monstruous I dolatries prayed after the same maner Doe not abhorre vs for thy Names sake doe not disgrace the Throne of thy glorie Remember breake not thy Couenant with vs. And Esaiah Thou art our Father we are ALL thy people For so long as God cals a people to him by his word and Sacraments and honoureth them with his name So long also as they consent to be called by his name professing it outwardly they remaine his people although they answere not his calling neither in soundnesse of faith nor in holinesse of life Euen as rebellious Subiects are still true Subiects on the Kings behalfe who looseth not his right by their Rebellion Nay on their owne also in some maner because they still keepe and professe his Name and giue not themselues to any forraine Prince Did Dauid loose his right by the Rebellion of the people vnder his sonne Absalom And therefore when the King subdueth these traitours hee carrieth himselfe towards them both in forgiuing and in punishing as their lawfull and naturall Prince and not as a Conquerour of new Subiects So as a strumpet is a true wife so long as her husband consents to dwell with her and shee is named by his name And as Agar when shee fled from her mistresse Sarai was still Sarais maide as shee confessed saying I flee from the face of my mistresse Sarai In like manner a rebellious fugitiue and whooring Church is still a true Church so long as God keeping the right of a King of a Master of a Husband ouer her giueth her not the bill of Diuorcement but consents that her Name bee called vpon her and shee still calleth her selfe his kingdome his maide his wife Thus God calleth the Iewes His people euen then when he said they were not his people because hee had not broken the band of marriage with them and put them away by diuorcement Therefore he said vnto them Where are the Letters of your mothers diuorcement whom I haue put away Meaning he had not giuen vnto them a writing of diuorcement but did still acknowledge them to bee his spouse notwithstanding their manifold and most filthy Whoredomes with false Gods which he charged them with saying vnto them by Ieremiah Thou hast polluted the land with thy whooredomes and with thy wickednesse Thou hast a whoores forehead and refusest to bee ashamed wilt thou not for this time cry vnto me my father thou art the guide of my youth Turne O backsliding children saith the Lord for I am married vnto you Or according to the French translation I haue the right of an Husband ouer you So after hee had called the ten Tribes Lo-ruhama and Lo-hammi saying hee would no more haue mercie vpon them