Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A29302
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A loving salutation to all Friends every where, in this great day of tryal, to stand faithful unto God, over all sufferings whatsoever
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Brend, William, d. 1676.
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1662
(1662)
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Wing B4359; ESTC R106
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5,495
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8
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A LOVING SALUTATION To all FRIENDS every where in this great Day of Tryal to stand Faithful unto God over all Sufferings whatsoever YOu dear and tender Children of my Fathers family Sheep and Lambs of his Fold my Brethren Sisters and Friends which are near and dear unto me in the living Virtue of the Life of the Lambs Power which I behold in the clear Light of that clear Day that hath dawned and shined from on high which hath visited us and whence the streams of the Father's Love which runneth from his pure and clean Fountain into every part of that Body of which Christ is the head which is so sweet and exceeding delightful and refreshing of Soul Body and Spirit in which you are exceeding precious unto me and the most amiablest and comeliest Family amongst all the Families in the whole Earth for you are the most blessed of the Lord you I mean that are Chosen Called and Faithful and are begotten by the Immortal Word of the Power of the Infinit God and are brought forth from the Everlasting Womb of Eternity and from the Bosome from whence all glorious Vertue doth flow and issue Who can demonstrate the Nobleness of that Off-spring from whence your Beauty doth arise It hath been upon my heart when in the sweet Repose of the Streams of my Father's Love and Life by which my heart soul and spirit hath been overcome to visit you with a loving Salutation from the place of my outward Bonds and Imprisonment for the Gospel sake which is the Power of God O right Dear and Precious Ones which are united to that which is but one in all in which alone the right Dearness and Preciousness doth consist the glorious Virtue and Power of the Eternal Son of God CHRIST JESUS our Lord which we witness alone our Saviour and Anointâ—d of the Father who hath taken his Throne in our souls hearts spirits and bodies to rule in us over all that is contrary to him O come my dear Lambs and dear Babes it is a time for us to flock together into our Father's Fold and to get into his Tent of Safety and to lie down in the Arms of his dear Love and to be covered with the Wing of his Power now the wild Boar of the Forest is abroad to make his prey and the Wolvish Devourers are seeking to scatter the Sheep of the Lord's Pasture O let us feel and know the safe Harbour in which alone is Safety whilst the boisterous Storms and Tempests are all about us and the foaming rage of the troubled Seas are casting up their waves one after another and their mire and dirt upon us as if they would devour us and also the many Rocks Shelves and dangerous Sands are seen which will split all that fall thereupon who are not wise and skilful to avoid them and know not a Refuge near to fly unto till the Indignation Storm and Gust is overpast and hath accomplished its end for which it was sent and appointed Oh! what if we be the Mark for all wild Hunters to shoot at Esau the rough spirit which is cunning in hunting for that which perisheth and must die of himself and slights that noble Birthright to be an Heir of the Promife which Jacob the plain and smooth man prizes more than the mess of Pottage Oh dear Lambs and Babes of God our Rock is sure and stedfast our Refuge and Harbour safe and unmovable and our Pilot wise and exceeding skilfull there is not a danger near that can attend us in our Voyage to our everlasting Land of Rest but he doth foresee and knows right well how to avoid them all Therefore it is now our Work and Business in this the Great Day of Tryal that we put our whole trust and confidence in him and to give up all we have and are unto him and he never failed any that trusted in him and in the Arm of his Salvation and he will make all his to feel know and witness that we cannot add one cubit unto our stature by all that we can do and not in his Spirit and Life O blessed is his Name for evermore that hath made his Arm bare for us which hath brought in and is bringing in Everlasting Righteousness into our souls and is breaking down all Man's Unrighteousness and Righteousness and is setting up the Horn of his Anointed and hath caused it to bud even the Horn of his Salvation the Eternal Power which shall break to pieces all the Potsherds of the Earth even the Corrupt Powers of the whole World and shall reign over all for ever and ever Oh! my heart soul and spirit rejoyceth in the consideration of the same of the great Work which God hath wrought and is a working and therfore I am not at all amazed nor startled at what the Enemies are a working in this their time and hour of the power of Darkness But this my soul desireth that I and all that know him may not by the subtilty of the wisdom and cunning of the Serpent be in the least shy of the Truth nor in the least stand aloof off from owning of it in the open face of all where ever they are cast by the hand of the Lord's Providence because of the furious rage of the Enemy which is and may be exceeding great but that we may all wait upon the God of our Salvation to receive the Virtue Life and Power of him by which we may endure unto the end of our race and undergo all the fiery Darts of the Devil which he shooteth at us by the most fiercest of his Instruments which may be let loose upon us to drive us from our Ground and Rock upon which we are built but that we may all stand fast and quit our selves like men and be strong in the Power of his might which will cast out all those fears which cause torment and he wil aid assist all such as are in a godly fear jealousie which may be upon the hearts of many in this the day of Trial knowing that the fleshly part is weak and cannot stand in the Trial. But this I know and am perswaded of in the holy fear of God that the strength of the Lord God will be made manifest in weakness that his Power may be magnified over all For this I know asuredly God doth not regard the strength wisdom and parts nor abilities of none of the Sons of men but the weakest and feeblest of his own he hath an eye unto to hold forth his hand of power to help the helpless and this I am perswaded and in his fear and counsel that the simplicity and lowliness of his own Seed he hath a special regard unto which lowliness and simplicity brings into uprightness with the Lord and to wait upon him in all faithfulness with the eye single unto him and that man and woman shall not want strength in the time of need to witness for God if it
be required of them even to lay down their dear lives for a Testimony to the Truth which they witness God hath made them partakers of let their measure be never so smal for that is it which the Lord looks at the gift of his own Seed Though it be but as a grain of mustard seed I say that is it which the Lord God looks at be it less or more in each particular the gift of himself but where much is given much is required and so little being given no more is required but faithfulness to that And therefore dear Lambs Babes of God in your own stand fast which is given of God which you have rceived from him that no man nor thing take your Crown from you and the desire of my heart is that you the little one may be as David and David as the Angel of God So dear Lambs feel with me a little where your strength lies is it not with you when your minds are staied and fixed in the measure of the gift of God in which you feel the Power which quieteth all which brings into calmness stilness and coldness then do not you find a secret hand of Power to arise up in your hearts which girds up the loyns of your minds and girts you about with living strength And then are not your hearts opened and your understandings cleared and your minds bent staied upon the Lord Then do not you behold the Beloved of your souls and is he not then unto you the cheifest of ten thousands And then cannot you trust in him and in the Arm of his Power revealed in you yea I know you can Then do you feel his Banner of Love to be over you then do you feel his Right hand imbracing of you and filling your souls with his swetness of Love and Life which is better than Wine and all Spices Then doth he reveal unto and give you of his sweet Counsel and open the Mystery of his Kingdom and gives you to understand the working of his Power And then can you say one unto another Did not our hearts burn while he talked with us O the precious frame of spirit that is felt when the mind in the pure Power of the Lord God is gathered up unto him in waiting to receive of his Liberal Bounty the freeness of his Grace Love the Life to spring up over all the death and darkness and the will of man overcome and subjected delighting to stand in the Will and Counsel of God that it may take place in all things over all to Reign the Righteous Power to be above all This makes glad the hearts of the upright Oh my heart is full and my cup doth overflow to you much more then words can utter at this time in writing unto you the Beloved of God and of my soul because of it O let us all sit down in the Mansion-house of God and at the banqueting Table of him for truly it is often with me that I behold in the Light of the Lamb that all you the Children of the most high God siting as Children at one Table in the comly Order and Beauty every one according to the Father's appointment where he comes to take a view of you all and to distribute and that you may receive a portion of his pure Bread and Water of Life and of the Milk and Wine which he hath mingled and that each particular Babe may have his lot and portion sutable unto his nature and growth in the Mystery of his Kingdom and according to the working of his divine Power in them that there may be no complaining in his house where there is bread enough and this is known unto such whose minds are not without but inwardly staid feeling their own gift from God and so are satisfied with their portion which he doth give and renew in due season So that the murmuring and the discontented part may be shut out and the quiet and contented mind may be known for Godliness with Content is great gain Oh dear Lambs we have a great Portion for I can say in the secrets of my Soul The Lord is my Portion and hath been and is yours also which have waited for him and in whom is your delight Oh! Do you not delight to be in his Presence which is Life unto your Souls Oh! Is there any other thing that can take away your hearts Nay I know you that have and do enjoy and witness Is Life your Love when at any time that the heart is upon any thing that is worldly You can say It is not Life unto you but death Oh the pretious Life which God hath manifested in us which believe in his Light it only can magnifie the Lord and suffer for him and his Son who is our Life All in All to us Oh! my Soul doth bow down before him who is the everlasting strength of all his People Oh! let us fight valiantly under his Banner of Love who hath lifted up his Standard in this our day and we have a glorious and victorious Captain which is gone and going before us to lead us to an everlasting and heavenly Rest that he hath prepared for us in his everlasting Kingdom there is the Wine prepared which he doth drink with his Children Oh my Friends we may drink and that abundantly Oh! we may suck and draw from those Breasts and Paps from whence our nourishment comes Oh feel the Oyl of gladness daily poured down which comes from the true Olive Tree which is full of fatness and drink of that Wine which comes from that Vine which is only full of sweetness that from the strength of which you may be fruitful and bring forth fruit unto God Oh! in the Love and Life of the Lamb look over all weakness in one another as God doth look over all the weakness in every one of us and doth love us for his own Seed sake which is the object of his Love that overcomes all the contrary and that is the object which our Love is unto in each other which will in time overcome all evil for it is the only good thing by which all evil is overcome And in so doing peace will abound in our borders and it will flow forth amongst us like a River and it will keep out jars strifes and contentions from us and so we shall be kept as a beautiful and amiable Family and in the order of God that so the fame of it may sound abroad that others that are scattered from it may be brought home that so there may be a rejoycing in their return from their Prodigal Estate and that will manifest us to be in the good order of God and to be merciful as he is merciful and to love the Good and thereby to eschew the Evil and it overcome in the patience and long-suffering and this leadeth to repentance and amendment of life So my dear Friends of the Living God feel me near unto you in that which is beyond all words for my Life lies not in words but only in that which was before words which is the Word of his eternal Power in which is my Love and Life for evermore in which I dearly salute you all and in it desire your eternal welfare and your daily growth in the Wisdom and Power of an endless Life and in the Living Vertue of him in whom all our fresh springs are to be found So the Lord God Almighty be with you all dear Babes and Children of my heavenly Father that all our strong Groans Cries and Tears may meet at his heavenly Throne in the fervency of his own Life and we may feel and know assuredly that we find acceptation with him and an answer returned into our bosoms from the bosom of his Love in which we may dwell and abide for ever and ever These few Lines do manifest something that was upon my heart towards you in the feeling of my Fathers Love as I lay in my Bed in the night season this 11th of the 9th Month 1662 from him that travels in Spirit till the Seed of God is set up to Reign over all for evermore Amen Newgate Prison in London WILLIAM BREND THE END