Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	eternal_a	life_n	word_n	7,737	5	4.3626	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54028	Concerning the sum or substance of our religion, who are called Quakers, and the exercises and travels of our spirits therein	Penington, Isaac, 1616-1679.	1667 (1667)	Wing P1158; ESTC R18265	13,091	18

Christ the Seed Here 's the Covenant the new Covenant That which is said or those things which are said concerning the Covenant in the Scriptures are but descriptions of the new Covenant but Christ within the Hope of glory the Spirit within the Fear within the Power of Life within breaking down and reigning over the power of sin and death so that the Lord is served in the dominion and power of his own Life in righteousness and holiness before him out of the fear of sin and death all the dayes of our lives so that captivity can lead captive nor break the Souls peace no more nay not so much as make afraid those that keep their Habitation on Gods holy Mountain Here is the Covenant indeed the strength and vertue whereof is witnessed in the Soul as the Soul feels the power of Life revealed in it and is made subject by the power to Christ who reigns in righteousness love mercy and peace in the hearts of those whom he redeems out of the earthly nature and spirit up to the Mind and Spirit of his Father And here the Psalms Hymns and spiritual Songs the pure Songs the Song of Moses the Song of the Lamb are sung to the Father of Spirits to the Redeemer of Israel which never were sung nor can be sung in any part of Babylon but all those Songs are but Dreams of the night which will be turned into howling and bitter lamentation when the Whore that which hath whored from God and is not in the Wisdom of his Spirit what ever she may pretend is stripped and the nakedness of her Profession and Religion with all her Duties and Ordinances as she calls them made manifest Concerning the Gospel Ministration IF the Gospel be not a Ministration of Words or Letter but of Spirit Life and Power and if it was the intent of God that men should not stick in Words or Testimonies concerning the thing but come to the thing it self and live in the Sons Life and Power and feel the Son living in them Then they are greatly mistaken who think to gather a Rule to themselves out of the Testimonies and Declarations of things in the Scriptures and do not wait upon the Lord to receive the Spirit it self to become their Rule Guide and Way For these are all one The Truth is the Way The Truth which lives and abides in the heart where it is received and entertained is the Way the Rule is the Guide For God is one There are many names but the thing is one The Life the Power the Wisdom in the Father Son and Spirit is all one yea they themselves are one perfectly one not at all divided or separated but where the Father is the Son is and where the Son is the Spirit is and where the Spirit is there is both the Father and the Son who tabernacle in man in the day of the Gospel And where these are there that is which is to be preferred before all words which was afore them and is in Nature Spirit and Glory above them He that hath the Son hath Life even the Life Eternal which the words testifie of He that hath the Son hath him which is true and he that is in the Son is in him that is true and abiding there cannot be deceived but he that is not there is deceived let him apprehend and gather out of the Scriptures what he can O how is God glorified and how is Redemption and real Salvation of the Soul witnessed in this dispised Dispensation of Truth which God hath held forth in these latter dayes Blessed be the Name of the Lord who hath hid this pure Dispensation of Life from the eye of the prudent worldly wise part in every man revealing it only to the babish simplicity which is of his Son and which lives in him and by him Concerning Christs being manifested without and his being also manifested within and how both are owned by them that know the Truth IT is objected against us who are called Quakers That we deny Christ and look not to be saved by him as he was manifested without us but look only to be saved by a Christ in us To which this is in my heart to answer to such as singly desire satisfaction therein We do indeed expect to be saved yea and not only so but do already in our several measures witness Salvation by the revelation and operation of the Life of Christ within us yet not without relation to what he did without us For all that he did in that Body of Flesh was of the Father and had its place and service in the Will and according to the Counsel of the Father But the knowledg and belief of that since the dayes of the Apostles hath been very much held in the unrighteousness and in the separation from the inward work of the Power and Life of Christ in the heart which as so held cannot save any But whoever feels the Light and Life of Christ revealed in him and comes into union with God therethrough he feels the work of Regeneration of Sanctification of Justification of Life and Redemption and so comes to reap benefit inwardly and to partake of the blessed fruits of all that Christ did outwardly Yea he that is thus one with Christ in the Spirit cannot exclude himself nor is excluded by God from the advantage of any thing nor every thing Christ did in that Body of Flesh This indeed is the main thing to witness Salvation wrought out in the heart to witness the eternal Power and Arm of the Lord laying hold on the Soul to save it and not only laying hold on it to save it but to witness the working out and the effecting of the Salvation as really in the Substance as Israel of old did in the shadow For as they witnessed Moses and Joshua outwardly so the true Israelite the inward Israelite the spiritual Israelite is to witness that which is the Substance of these even the Son of God revealed inwardly Now they were not saved outwardly by a bare outward believing that Moses and Joshua were sent of God to save them but by following them in faith and obedience to what from God they required So to the inward Israel Christ is given for a Leader and Commander who appears to the distressed embondaged Soul in Egypt brings out of Egypt and so leads on towards the good Land and into it Now as the Soul follows as the Soul believes in his Appearances and obeys his voice in the holy pure Covenant of Life so he works out the Redemption thereof But as unbelief and disobedience gets up and the heart is heardened at any time against his Voice and Counsel and the ear open to the temptations of the Enemy the Redemption thereby goes backward and the distress and captivity returns again This is witnessed known and experienced by every true Traveller towards Sion therefore the main thing requisite is to abide in the sence

and so walk in him the Way in him the Truth in him the Life if ever he come to the Father He must not rest in the description of things but feel and know receive and walk in the thing which by the Spirit of the Lord hath been often formerly and is still described in what words and by what means the Spirit pleaseth But to receive all the descriptions of him that were formerly given forth or all the descriptions that are now given forth that will not do but the soul that will live by him must receive him and feel the ingrafting into him the holy Root the living Word of Gods eternal Power and must feel this Word ingrafted into his heart so that there be a real becoming one in nature and spirit with him And then he is truly in the Vine in the Olive-tree and partakes of the vertue and sap thereof he abiding therein and walking in the Spirit Life and Power thereof Now here a man walks not nor cannot walk in the oldness of the Letter but in the newness of the Spirit only Paul notwithstanding all his knowledge of the Scriptures walked but in the oldness of the Letter before Christ was revealed in him And those in the Apostles dayes who had got the form of godliness but turned from and denied the power they walked but in the oldness of the Letter Yea the Church of Sardis for the most part and the Church of Laodicea who had received the right order and ordinances and the true descriptions of things and thought they were full and rich and wanted nothing they walked but according to the oldness of the Letter and not in the newness and power of the Spirit of Life But alas how far are many who pretend to Christ in this day from this state who never came so far as to walk in the oldness of the Letter from a true understanding thereof but have only learned and continued to walk in the oldness of their own apprehensions and conceivings upon the Letter Can these in this state possibly understand Truth or know the inward spiritual precious appearances thereof either in their own hearts or others Surely no. Why so Why this is the reason because the measure the appearances of Truth either in themselves or others by their own old apprehensions and conceivings upon Scriptures concerning Truth which is not the proper measure of it Now all such are yet in darkness let them pretend what they will and grow never so high in knowledg exercises and experiences after this manner and so the best zealousest and most knowing of them in this state are but blind leaders of the blind and thus going on shall most certainly fall into the Ditch of perdition O that men could feel that which makes rightly sensible and might lay it to heart For no man can confess Christ how then can he receive him and walk in him but by the holy Spirit And he that knoweth not the Spirit rightly knoweth not Christ rightly and he that doth not know him rightly doth not confess him rightly and none can know him rightly but by the revelation of the Father inwardly The mystery must be opened within or there is no true knowing The mystery of deceit is discovered within and the mystery of Life is discovered within also And though the heart of man in the unregenerate estate is deceitfull above all things and desperately wicked and no man of himself can search or know it yet that is not the state of the true Israelites whom God hath cleansed and taught to deny themselves daily but they have boldness before that God who hath searched them and removed from them the iniquities which he found therein Yea whoever witnesseth Christ revealed within shall find him revealed within for this very end to destroy the works of the Devil there and he is a powerfull Saviour of the Soul from sin and a powerfull Destroyer of the works of the Devil within Now concerning reading the Scriptures mind this It is said of the Jews that when they read Moses or in reading the old Testament the vail was upon their heart which vail is done away in Christ 2 Cor. 3.14 15. O consider seriously is the vail done away from thee Dost thou read the Scriptures with the unvailed eye dost thou read in the Anointing in Christs Spirit in the pure heavenly Wisdom of the divine Birth It was promised of old that God would take away the face of the covering cast over all people and the vail spread over all Nations Dost thou witness this Promise fulfilled to thee Dost thou know the difference between reading the Scriptures with the vail on thee and with the vail off Are the Scriptures opened and unlocked to thee by the Key of David so that thou readest and understandest them in the Light and Demonstration of Gods holy Spirit or is thy own understanding and will at work of it self in searching into the Scriptures If the wrong birth the wrong wisdom the wrong understanding be at work it can gather but that which will feed and strengthen it self and if thou beest not in Christ and dost not read in Christ the vail is not taken away from thee for the vail is only done away in him but thou readest and walkest in the oldness of thy apprehensions upon the Letter and not in the newness of the Spirit and so knowest neither the Scriptures nor the Power of God what ever thou professest to men or dreamest concernning thy self For it is no other indeed Thy knowledge thy apprehensions thy faith thy hope thy peace thy joy being out of the compass of the pure living Truth in which the Substance the vertue the kernel of all is comprised and comprehended for ever are but as so many dreams O that men that are any whit tender and have any sincere desires in them towards the Lord could read that one Scripture Psalm 43.3 4. sensibly and experimentally O send out thy Light and thy Truth let them lead me let them bring we unto thy holy Hill and to thy Tabernacles what did not David know how to go to the Hill and Tabernacles of God without a particular sending forth of Light and Truth from God to lead him thither Then may men go unto the Altar of God unto God their exceeding joy and witness his Hill and House their dwelling-place when God by his Light and Truth send forth from him into them leads them thither The Scriptures are words whose chief end drift and service is to bring men to the Word from which the Scriptures came And when men are there then they are in the Life of the Scriptures and witness the fulfilling of the Scriptures even the executing of the righteous judgments of God upon that spirit mind and nature in them which is contrary to his image and the fulfilling of the Promises and sure Mercies which belong to Christ the Seed and to them who are gathered into and abide in