Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A60616
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The banner of love, under which the Royal Army is preserved, and safely conducted being a clear and perfect way out of wars & contentions : with a short testimony unto the way of peace, given forth for the edification and comfort of all that truly fear God / written by ... William Smith.
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Smith, William, d. 1673.
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1661
(1661)
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Wing S4288; ESTC R3922
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13,186
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26
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God and to Love all the Children of God and this Flows out of a pure Heart servently and truly loves the least Babe and Succors and Relieves the Weak and Feeble And with this Garment are the Humble Cloathed and are very Beautiful and amiable and the Lord keeps them in his saving strength so that in Love they do abide and it increases more and more in them and in it they grow up to Perfection and when the Love is perfect all Fears with their Torments are cast out So that to Endure Afflictions is Joy and not worthy to be compared to the Glory of Innocency Revealed And this keeps close with God and girds up the Mind into perfect Union with him where the Life is felt and sed upon which doth truly satisfie the Desire of the Hungry and in this State there is Contentment and in Content there is perfect Peace and Joy So the Way of the Humble is the Sweetest Path and in Choosing of it there is great Reward for in it is Innocency found and there doth Love spring and abound and the Life is tasted in which Innocency is Increased and the growth of it is in a sweet pleasant valley where the streams hath their Constant Course and is alwayes touching and nourishing the Root which causes every Branch that partakes of the Sap to become Exceeding Fruitful and the Vesture is then made Glorious with which the Kings Daughter is Beautiful within and when the Darkness at any time works to draw out of the Humility and to betray the Innocency the Watch discovers it and the secret workings of it and in the Light it is seen to be of that nature which will defile the pure Innocency and near the Beauty of its holy Image so with the Light it is Judged and is not touched and from it Innocency is Preserserved and still springs in it s Purity and spreads it self more in its tender Life and beautifies the House of its Holiness and the Image of it is Love and in its holy Life is Unity and Peace The Mind that keeps Low feels it and waiting in the Humility it is Known in the Enjoyment of it and the Unity is with it and with all that are born of it Then the Love is like a fresh stream that cannot cease its Course nor stop its Flowings but must shed it self abroad and Embrace its own in the Unity and there is no habitation that yields the like Peace Blessed are they that are Born into the Love and Life of the Innocent Immortal Seed for they are Children of the Kingdom without End and are bound up in Unity and keep the Bond of Peace And here was the holy Order of Gods Creation before Transgression and it was Very Good in his fight and into this Order of Unity and Peace is the Lord God Restoring by the Resurrection of Life in which the Seed is known and its holy Order in the Unity and in its own Innocency it Creates Peace and hath its Ministration in its self and gives forth 〈…〉 requires whereby every Member is Supplied and the whole Body in Unity Nourished and Comforted and so grows up unto an holy Temple in the Lord which He fills with his Glory and hath the Preheminence and is the Head unto whom all the Members are subject and He binds them up in the Bundle of Life and makes them partakers of his Divine Nature in which they are truly One and his Love constrains them to love Him and to love one another and hereby they are perfectly known to be his Disciples and his Chosen Inheritance and He ordains Peace for them and gives it to them and men cannot take it away from them and they in the Love and Life and Peace of the Seed Rejoyce together and are comforted one in another So in the Humility the Seed of Honour springs and reveals its Innocent Life and spreads abroad the Glory of its Renown and all the little Babes it covers with its own Innocency and cloathes them with a Garment of Righteousness whereby they are translated into the Heavenly and stand adorned with Purity and Chastity and profess the Treasure of Wisdom and Life And this is the Cause that the Lord God will plead and who abides faithful in it shall receive their Reward and shall come to the End of their Testimony in Peace and Joy and shall meet with a Portion to answer their Tribulation and this Testimony doth truly spring from the Innocency and in Meekness and Humility is given forth and unto the Innocent reacheth in the Love and Life of Unity that unto it the Gathering may be and every one may feel it in the Increase and therein grow up into the measure of the statuâ—e of the Fulness of Christ for as the Fear abides upon the Heart so is the Mind kept down and low and walks in the Humility in which 〈…〉 there is safety and when at any time it is lifted up and exalted by any Wile of the Enemy and that there is a departing out of the Fear and a going from the Path of Humility then comes Trouble and Sorrow and as the Light is minded the particular state is opened and it is seen what is uppermost and bears Rule in the Heart and by diligent waiting the present Condition opens more and more so that the Book of Conscience and the things that are written therein are made manifest and they are discerned with an Understanding and it is seen what the Union is with and if it be not Innocency in the True Love and Unity the Light Reproves it and Judges it and the Judgment being waited in the Innocency springs and encreases and in the midst of Judgment Mercy reaches to it and in the Mercy it grows and comes into Dominion then is His Mercy known over all His Works and in the Mercy Love and Unity is preserved So nothing is more safe than for every one to be minding their own House and see how their own Family is provided for that every Particular may in themselves feel Good Order and their own Habitation keep in Peace and Quietness which gives true Satisfaction and Contentment and every one will then feel the Good Order of the Body in Unity and will Enjoy their Peace and daily Consolation and this is Exceeding sweet and precious and more to be desired than whatever is beside it that the Innocent Life of the Holy Seed may reign and that it may be the Garment of all that this day bear Testimony unto God's living Truth So will the Glory of its Renown spread over the Nations and the Beauty of its Holiness shall still ravish the Hearts of many and the Lord God Everlasting whose Love is without End He will certainly plead with all that stand in the way and break down the High Mountains that are proudly exalted and He will feed the innocent Babes and increase their strength and make each one stronger than the strength of Enemies and who walks in the way of the Humble they do know that God will not spare the Proud neither withhold his Grace from the Humble but He will lay down the one and exalt the other for he will have the Seed to Reign and in this holy Birth of the Immortal Seed an Immortal Inheritance is possessed wherein the Blessing and Joy and Peace is obtained which doth constrain to give up the Body and Spirit to glorifie God and all that abide Faithful with God and walk in their own measures received He will Replenish them with his Goodness and satisfie them with Marrow and Fatness for He will bless the Humble and crown the Innocent with Glory and Renown for ever The Day of the Lord is glorious in which He hath gathered a People to walk in his Fear and to follow Him in the Path of Humility where He teacheth them and makes them to understand His Precepts and He fills them with his Love and spreads it over them and keeps them under the Shadow of it where they rest in the Feeling of his Presence and thereby their Hearts are Enlarged to Him and His Love Constrains them to keep a Conscience void of Offence and neither to sin against Him nor to do any Violence unto Men but to walk soberly and peaceably and to behave themselves in Love and Tenderness unto All People and in the One Spirit hath the Lord gathered them and in the One Spirit He hath bound them up and they are His People and He is their God and dwells amongst them and walks in them and the Prince of Peace orders them and they are His Royal Army in whose Love and Life they stand in Unity and give up their Bodies and Spirits unto God that his own Will may be done and the Intents of his own Heart performed and his own Name therein glorified WILLIAM SMITH From Worcester County Goal being there a Prisoner for Obedience to the Command of Jesus Christ Second Month 1661. THE END
and Killing one another and let them mind the thing that concerns their own Peace and follow that pure Principle of Light in their own Conscience which will teach them to put up their Swords and to live Peaceably with all men And it will purge out that Revenging Blood-thirsty Spirit which provokes hastily to commit Cruelty and it will not suffer one man to Kill another for it commands the contrary and he that Kills transgresseth against it and is not of the Lamb 's Royal Army who have put up their Swords and cannot learn War any more And unto such it is said Be Faithful still that a clear Deliverance may be wrought out and let the Patient be Patient still that Patience may have its perfect Work and that there maybe an Intireness so will the Lamb Lead up his Royal Army unto the Fountain of Living Waters and there reward them with Fulness of Joy and crown them with Glory and Immortality and this is his Day and with his Royal Army he goes forth before whom the Nations must tremble and the glory of all Flesh must be stained for His Work is New and he will not piece it to the Old but the Old must pass away before the glory of his Rising And now is the Lord God Crowning his Seed and giving unto it the Power and Glory and Dominion and the Righteous Rejoyce and the Royal Army are Glad For He is Come whose Reward is with him and his Power he takes unto him and Reigns and thus is his Kingdom come and the Joy and Peace therein is Known and the Banner of Love is Spread over the Flock and they are gathered in the One Spirit and are the One People of the One only True God and with one heart they offer a Sacrifice upon the holy Altar which is for a Praise throughout the whole Earth Stand still ye Aliens and see the Salvation of God Go on ye Free-born Children for great is your Reward A Short TESTIMONY unto the WAY of PEACE THe Life of Christ is sweet it is the Substance of whatever can be spoken To Inherit a measure of it is Joy and Peace and the Desire of the Simple is abundantly Satisfied therein It is the One Thing Needful to be Chosen and being Chosen to be Watchful in it to abide for the Erring from it goes down to Death and without it is Distress and Sorrow It is abundantly Revealed in this Day and the Breasts of it are layd Open to the Weary It hath its Course in the Valleys and Flowes in the Channel of Lowliness The Humble meet it in the Way and in the pure Streames they receive their Portion To be Low and Humble is the Way of Life and therein do the Lambs enjoy their Pasture As it is Tasted it Draws still after it and the more it is Tasted the more it is Beloved and as it is Beloved the more it Springs and Flows to that which Thirsteth and in Patience Waiting the Virtue of it is Felt and the Mind sinks down more into it and the Delight is in the Sweet Savour of it This is the Way of the Humble and this is the Path of the Lowly Mind Hither do all the Lambs resort and here do the Babes Receive their Consolation It is the Endless Fountain that Ministreth to the Thirsty and Releives the Weak and Feeble in their Travel In it are All things done without it Nothing Life is the strength of all and in the Humility it is Possessed and in the Meekness the Riches of it are Felt The Lowly Feel the Way of its Passage and in the Path of Humility it Runs exceeding Sweetly They that Abide in their measure Receive their Consolation and Feel their Gathering into Union with Life and in it are Translated out of the Earthly and so an Undefiled Birth is Born which in the Chaste Mind is Retained and truly Beloved and unto it alone belong the Issues from Death it is not to be Contained in any one Place nor Comprehended in any one Vessel There is no Limitation of its Breaking forth but when and where and in whom it pleaseth it Prepares the Vessel for its use and makes it Honourable in its own Holiness It Springs and Fills according to its Pleasure and the Vessel must be New that doth Contain it This is the day of its Renown and many Partake of its precious Virtue The Low Estate is exceeding Sweet and to be truly Humble is the Way of Life To keep Self in the Nothingness brings in Joy and Peace and to be Abased makes truly Contented for in that Path the Streams do Run and in the Savor thereof is Sweet Consolation The Patient Waiter knows it and the Humble in Heart can Seal unto it And this is a Birth of Innocency born of Immortality and as it doth Arise it humbles the Mortal unto the Death of the Cross and makes self of no Reputation and in the Believer it works its own Freedom and Purges out the Corruptible and makes Way into the Believers Heart and puts Joy and Gladness therein whereby a Supply is Ministred unto that which stands in Need and with this are the Babes Nourished and the Lambs Refreshed and herein is Joy and Peace obtained and truly possessed and as the Mind in the Lowness sinks down to the Life so doth the Life Exalt it self into Honour and Spreads abroad its Renown in the Heart and becomes exceeding Glorious in the Beauty of its own Holiness and fills the Vessel with its perfect Life whereby the Adoption is wrought and a Child brought forth that is an Heir of God and a Joynt-heir with Christ who in the Believers Heart reveals his Innocency and in the Humility brings forth his Glorious Image where he is Felt in the Covenant of his Grace and Enjoyed in the Power of his Endless Life And then he is truly Touched and his Vertue Received in which Strength is perfectly Renewed and an Increase and Growth Witnessed and the Innocency Springs and Brings to God the Father and the Heart unto it is Joyned and United and is made One with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ And so he that Begets and he that is Begotten are truly Loved and in the Lowness this comes to be Attained and the Glory of it Revealed where he is beheld who is the only Begotten of the Father Full of Grace and Truth For through the Judgement that comes to be Separated which cannot be united and then the Innocent is Raised and the Meek quiet Spirit springs and thereby Life is given and there is a partaking of it and a Living by it and this is sure Bread that Nourishes and Strengthens with his Living Virtue and Ministers Sweet Consolation to the Worthy Receiver and many are made Partakers of it and thereby are Strengthened in their Testimony for God And though many Exercises come upon them yet they are Upheld to stand Faithful and as the Mind keeps down and Abides