Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	father_n	pray_v	son_n	6,693	5	5.8977	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A75414	An Answer to a scandalous paper, wherein were some queries given to be answered. And likewise, therein is found many lies and slanders, and false accusations against those people whom he (and the world) calls Quakers. Dated from Dorchester in New-England, August 17. 1655. subscribed, Edward Breck, which was directed to a people at Rainforth in Lancashire, which he calls, A church of Christ. The truth is cleared of his scandalls, lies, and slanders, and he found to bee a reproacher of the Church of Christ. His paper and quæries answered by those people called, Quakers.		1656 (1656)	Wing A3345A; Thomason E875_4; ESTC R206566	30,171	38

c. let me ask you Did that spirit ever proceed from the Father and the Son that breathed out Blasphemies in his face Judge in your selves You think it is no blasphemy but I pray consider it Christ held forth in his Ordinances he breatheth in them and walketh in the middest of the Golden Candlesticks conveying his heavenly Grace through them as through so many golden pipes Now to have Magistracy and Ministery Sacraments c. spoken against trodden underfoot and held in contempt and esteemed as very sleight and slender things and those that cleave to the Scriptures and Ordinances to be accounted as Antichristian Carnall c. I pray you whom doth this strike on whom doth it light if not on Christ the Author and is it not then Blasphemy what do you call it You may try a little what spirit it is that sets you into your trances by the effects if your spirit make you more sensible of Originall sin more sensible of your own vileness more humble you and cast you down in the sight of God and say you low so that you can cry out with Job Behold I am vile what shall I answer thee and with Isaiah cry out Woe is mee I am undone Isa 6.5 then it were considerable but if on the contrary it make the heart swell and to cry Stand apart I am more holy then thou and all that come not up to your attainments are of small value little worth just as the Pharisees who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others If I say it be thus then judge you what spirit it is I dare be bold to affirm it is the Spirit of Satan and not of God you may think this hastily and suddenly conclude and I confess I have not waded very deep into this matter yet what is not from God I can easily conclude it is from the Devil or man corruption which is no better I know no medium unless it be the Jesuits who no doubt have had a large hand this way by their sorceries to deceive the people and have been known in London to quake and speak in the Congregations these men it is little doubt might make a covenant with the Devil in the finest way of witchcraft sorceries convene it over unto others by an implicite covenant seduce men thinking no such thing but rather as though God had more abundantly declared his love to them more then to any people in the world whenas indeed the matter is nothing els but Satan transformed into an Angel of light for this purpose let me make bold to report unto you this story which is credibly reported to have been in or about Bristol There was a mans wife desired to go to one of the Quakers meetings her husband was unwilling but after importunity he gave her leave but she was so wrought upon in that meeting that when she came home againe shee was filled with REVELATIONS and spoke as though shee had spoke with the Tongue of ANGELS to admiration farre above her selfe her HVSBAND told her she was bewitched she was far enough from believing that but he could not satisfie himself but would search her body to see what tokens he could find about her arm he found a silk thred he inquired how that came there she seriously confessed she knew nothing of it well saith he this shall not remain here then they took it away and then she returned to be the same woman that shee was before she went to the Quakers Meeting If this be a true Story as I credibly believe tell me if there were witchcraft used in this Quakers meeting yea or nay Oh Beloved you may well think the Devil hath a finer way of witchcraft now then ever he had since the world began no doubt yee can very well paint men to come to the Lords Table and to preach Christ for he hath sometime been a Preacher of Christ himself you know for no good will to Christ you may be sure but who are they that are most apart to be taken Are they men who of old hath been most neer to God and walked before God as our father Abraham did and lived the life of faith and holiness and injoyed many sweet and pleasant Soliloquies peace and joy in believing and many unspeakable consolations I am apt to think few of these men are taken if any at all but rather fickle minded men unconstant and unstable in their ways such as perhaps do change their God and Religion divers times or proud persons such as affect singularity to be alone think it a brave thing to be taken up with Rapters above other men who but they in the world in the mean time who more proud more fickle and unconstant more wrathful passionate more railing blaspheming can you think the Spirit of God doth close better with those men then anyother Truly no And what can you imagine wil be the issue after a curse driven this way a certain time truly it is probable their works wil be made manifest the tree wil be known by its fruit if it be not already a little I have learned what befel Grinton a people come up to Trances and Revelations fel at last to Popery and prophaneness as I have been informed and Popery I think is the main thing the Devil drives at now rather I think because the Jesuits hath been the chief fomenters of this Quaking Religion and how do you finde it for the present in these people do you often see them upon their knees bewailing their sin fill'd with godly sorrow repenting-hearts a thing God much delights in with hearts weary and heavy laden such as Christ calls to come unto him do you finde them frequent in Familie-Duties Catechizing praying c. if you do I shall be glad to hear it and how it is I will not censure but if you find it otherwise then confider what fruit it is Oh beloved what shall I say my hearts desire is that you may be establish't in the faith of Gods elect and that those that are already deluded may be reclaimed and that all men may prevent the danger if what I have said be but slender as well it may be that which I shall say can be but of like nature Yet if I may not weary you too much I would propose some Quaeries to these men and present the matter to consideration in another view 1 Qu. By whom do you hope to be saved My charity bids me make your answer By Jesus Christ the Son of God who also in time became man and made satisfaction to divine justice for the sin of his people c. I hope you will accept my Answer 2 Qu. How came you to know there was ever such a man in the world Here also I will presume to answer for you By the Prophets which went before him and by the witness of his holy Apostles and Evangelists who have left

and by the eternall infallible spirit we ijudge it to be false judgement and of the living God of heaven and carth shalt thou be judged for thy false judgement which thou hast given of the Spirit of Truth and this thou shalt eternally witness one day when thou art arraigned at the barre of Justice as thou saith and we judge and bids stand off all unclean spirits all lying dark Satanicall Spirits which knoweth not the living God nor joins not to the living God for who is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit and this is that Spirit which we speak from which leads and guides up to God And thou that speaks of trances and quakings and humbling and confessing and Originall Sin and vileness and casting down and such like which thou hast gathered out from the Letter and speaks them with another spirit then spoke them in the Scriptures thou that hath not the same Spirit as spoke these words in the Scriptures we deny thy spirit and judg it to be the Spirit of Error by the same spirit as spoke forth the Scriptures we do try thee and know thee and we deny all false Doctrine and contradictions and rediculous and foolish things which thou mentions and all thy confusion which thou haft uttered forth in thy Paper not worthy mentioning and the Spirit that spoke it we do utterly deny and the Spirit of the living God we own and witness and cleave to which proceeds from the Father and the Son which is the judge of all unclean dark fallible lying Spirits this is our Leader and Teacher and Guider Judge and Law-giver and King Glory and Praises be to our living and powerfull God for ever And after that thou hast judged the Spirit of God to be the Spirit of the Devill thou confesseth that thou hast not waded very deep into the matter Here thou hast made manifest thy shallowness and sinfulness of Truth indeed and uttering forth thy folly and ignorance of God But thou art comprehended and the depth of thy deceit is known and seen and the bottom and foundation on which thou stands is sandy and the words thou hears but doth them not and therefore art thou likened unto the foolish man that hath built thy house upon the Sand for when the winde blows and beats upon thy house it will fall and great will be the fall of it And thou speaks of Iesuits which was known in London to quake and to speak in the Congregations and thou saith These men no doubt might make a Covenant with the Devill and by the finest way of witchcraft and sorcery convey it unto others by an implicit Covenant seducing men thinking no such thing but rather as though God had more abundantly declared his love to them then to any people in the world when as the matter is nothing else but Satan transformed into an Angel of Light and so then thou goes on to tell thy story Answer Here let all who reads thy words and hath any measure of Justice Equity or Honesty in them behold thy blindness and ignorance of God and of his Truth who hath given such a manifest lye as this is under thy hand and yet hath the boldness to judge the Spirit of Truth to be the Spirit of Satan at that very instant when thou art found in the Devils work venting and vomiting lyes and slanders upon the pure Truth of the living God which shall be found clear and pure and innocent and guiltless of all these false slanders which thou hast cast upon it God and his Truth shall be found true and all such men as thou found lyars as hundreds in London from whence thou fetcheth this lye shall witness that this which thou hast spoken to be a lie and slander and all lyes is of the Devill and he is the Father of all lyars and I do beleeve that thou wilt not finde one in London of so many thousands as there is in the same nature as thou art in that will say they saw Jesuits quake there but I am sure that hundreds there are that are convinced of the living Truth of God which will testifie against thy lyes and bear witness for the Truth against thy false slanders And those men which thou saith are seduced by witchcraft and sorcerie and an implicite Covenant Answer but those men whom thou speaks as being contemptible will quickly see thee to be a poor deceived seduced creature who utters forth thy confusion and darkness and ignorance and makes thy folly manifest And thousands there are at this day who have not come so far up to the Truth of God as to own us yet will see thee to be a dark ignorant deluded besotted spirit who knows nothing at all of God but what thou knows it is naturally as a bruit beast which Iude speaks of And thou that doth ground and raise such scandals as thou hath done in thy Paper upon such lyes and untruths as these that thou tells let all honest hearted judge what spirit it is that guides and leads thee for I am sure that hundreds will set to their hands and seals that this which thou speaks is false and yet from this ground dost thou raise thy Exhortation thou saith to the Church of Christ so now whether any Church which hath but the name and profession of Christ will receive such reports and lyes and slanders and give it under their hands as thou hast done let all the professed Churches though there be many that can talk of Christ and God as thou doth and serve the Devill as thou hath done here I say Let all the professed Churchches as thou calls them both in New-England and elsewhere blush and be ashamed of thee who hast given such manifest lyes and slanders and scandals of the pure Truth for a testimony of thy Faith which thou confesseth thou hath but by report But thou hast made thy self manifest to be a defamer of the Truth of God who saith Report and we will report it And so thou goes on with thy Report and Story which thou saith is credibly reported to be in or about Bristol There was a mans wife that desired to go to one of the Quakers Meetings her husband was unwilling but after importunity he gave her leave but she was so wrought upon in that Meeting that when she came home again she was fill'd with Revelations and spoke as though she had spoken with the tongue of Angels to admiration far above her self her husband told her she was bewitched but she was far enough from beleeving that but he could not satisfie himself but would search her body to see what tokens he could finde about her arm he found a silk thred he inquired how that came there she serious professed she knew nothing of it wel saith he this shall not remain here and he took it away and then she returned to the same woman that she was before she went to the quakers Meeting and saith thou

then for evill doing for Jesus Christ hath suffered the just for the unjust that he might bring us unto God And for this Faith do we contend which was once delivered to the Saints and are willing to lay down our lives and to seal the testimony of our Consciences with our blood and this our faith is not to beleeve lies as thou doth which is manifested in thy Paper sufficiently and this is that faith which overcomes and gives victory over the world and beleeves in the Truth as it is in Jesus And thou begins and reckons from the Maryan-times the Generations of men famous as thou saith who stood for Faith and Holiness and the profession of true Religion I answer Thou may see what thy profession of true Religion ends in who art now in thy old age beleeving lyes and false accusations which thou hast no true ground for and are accusing and slandering the pure innocent Truth of God which is clear in the sight of God of these slanders which thou hast cast upon it for which the Just God will plead with thee when thy talking of a Faith will not serve thee nor thy profession of a true Religion when thou art persecuting and detaining the pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father this is to visit the Father less and the Widow in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted of the world But thou art found in the desilement and casting thy filth of lyes and slanders upon Religion and therefore art thou found in the world one of them Therefore now repent of the evill of thy doings while thou hast time and turn thy minde to that measure of God in thee which tells thee thou should not lye nor slander nor accuse falsly there is something in thee that tells thee these things ought not to be there is that of God in thy conscience which tells thee thou ought not to beleeve lyes nor to take reports from the mouths of slanderers and to cast them upon the innocent who was ever reproached and slandered by the world and so in this thou art become one with the persecutors that ever persecuted the appearance of God where ever it was made manifest So let that of God in thy conscience now examine and search what thou art doing who art slandering those whom thou knows not nor hath nothing to lay to their charge but what thou hath by hear-say and consider whether this be as thou would be done by But in this thou hast manifested thy ignorance of God and of his pure Truth which leads to do unto all men as they would have men to do unto them and here thou art found out of the Truth and out of the Life that gave forth the Scriptures who takes the Scriptures but for a cloak to cover thy nakedness withall but art ignorant of that spirit that spoke them forth as thou makes it manifest in thy next words where thou saith Those men gave not their mindes with Balaam to look out for visions to curse Gods people Here thou hast manifested thy ignorance of the Scriptures for when Balaam looked out at the temptation of Baalack he would have cursed them but he did not look then to the vision of God which said he should not curse them And so all who wil but read that Scripture may see thy confusion and ignorance for in that Vision and Prophesie Balaam did see and know the people of God and could not curse them while he kept to it untill he did hearken and look out at the temptation of Balaack And so here read thy ignorance in Scripture Besides in this thou speaks against all the Holy-Men of God as Moses Samuel Nathan Daniel Isaiah Paul Peter Iohn c. and all that ever was taught by the immediate Spirit of the living God was taught by Vision and Revelation and this thou exhorts those whom thou calls the Church of Christ from Therefore let all that reads thy words mark thy Blasphemy and ignorance of God and of his eternall living Truth as it is in Jesus the only begotten Son which now the Father is revealing in this his day and the Son likewise is revealing the Father Glory and Praises be to the living powerfull God for ever And thou speaks of railing against Magistrates and Ministers which is a false accusation for railing we do deny but we speak the Truth in Christ and lye not our consciences also bearing us witness in the sight of God And the Ministers of Christ we own who are Ministers of the Spirit and not of the Letter for the Letter killeth but the Spirit maketh alive and those who have the Ministration of the Spirit which quickens we own and have unity with them who is made not by the will of man nor the will of the flesh but by the wil of God according to the Promise of life which is in Christ Iesus who have not received their Gospel by man but by the Revelation of Iesus this Ministry we own and this Ministry we witness But that Ministry which is received from man who teacheth for Doctrine the Precepts and Commandments of men which are found in the steps of the Scribes and Pharisees which Christ cryed wo against who sit in Moses seat who are sayers but not doers who bindes heavy burthens grievous to be born but will not themselves move them with one of their fingers but all their works they do to be seen of men love the uppermost rooms at Feasts the chief seats in the Synagogues are called of men Master who devour widows houses and for a pretence make long Prayers who are blinde guides such as Christ Jesus cryed wo against who is our Lord and Master and Shepherd of our souls but who are found acting in those things which he cryed wo against we do deny and turn from them for Christ Jesus hath left us a Rule to know them by their fruits which makes them manifest to be the ravening wolves inwardly which Christ Jesus speaks of who have the Sheeps clothing the Saints words and profession but their ravening wolvish nature appears by their persecution and tyranny which they exercise in this Nation of England as most Goals in this Nation can witness who have many of the innocent harmless people of God shut up in Dungeons and Holes for no other cause but for bearing witness for the living God against the deceit by which they keep poor people in blindness and ignorance of God who are the same as ever the Lord sent his true Prophets to cry against who bear rule by their means and commit the horrible and filthy thing which the Lord sent Ieremiah to cry against And who seek for their Gain from their quarter and preacheth for Hire which the Lord sent Isaiah to cry against who feed with the sat and clothe with the wool which the Lord sent Ezekiel to cry against And such as make the people to erre that bite with their teeth

do wrong nor to accuse falsly this will shew thee the deceit of thy heart and let thee fee thy vain thoughts that lodgeth within thee and the darkness of thy minde which thou hast made manifest by thy words who faith They depend not upon the Scriptures for a Light Here let the Scriptures try thee and judge thee who saith the Scriptures is the Light when the Scriptures saith Christ is the Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world and every one that loveth this Light walketh in this Light and bringeth his deeds to this Light to be proved and tryed by the Light and he that doth evill hates the Light and turns from the Light least his deeds should be reproved And here let the Scripture judge and try thee whether thou doth not deny Christ Jesus who saith I am the Light of the world whenas thou saith the Scripture is the Light here thou denies him who is a Light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of his people Israel Now let all see what thou hast to see or to judge with who denies the light of the body which is the eye for when the eye is single the whole body is full of Light but when the eye is evill the whole body is full of darkness And here thou art found now who art looking at the Letter without thee but thy body is full of darkness confusion and enmity against the Truth of God as thou hath manifested in this thy Paper And Christ Jesus said unto his Disciples Ye are the light of the world a city that is set on a hill cannot be bid Let your Light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorifie your Father which is in heaven But thy works and thy Light is made manifest by thy envy that thou hast uttered forth against the harmless which thou knows nothing by But thou that hath no other Light to judge with but the Scriptures without thee which was spoken forth from another spirit then thou speaketh from now thou that taketh these words and speaketh them forth from a lying spirit which was spoken forth from the Light and Life and Power of God from the just and the living Truth was the Scriptures spoken forth from But thou who hath no Light to walk or speak by but what thy dark spirit gathers out of the words without thee were not like to speak truth for they that spoke forth the Scriptures the Truth was made manifest in them they did not speak from another or by hear-say as thou doth thy spoke what they knew and what they witnessed and bare testimony to the Truth and all who cometh into the same Truth beareth witness unto them and knoweth the same Truth as they did But this thou art ignorant of who hath nothing but the Husk and the outside the Kernal and the Substance thou knoweth nothing of but blessed be the Lord God for evermore the same Life and Power as they spoke from is witnessed and they that spoke forth the Scriptures are witnessed to be true by the same life and all such as thou who hath nothing but the Declaration of that life are seen and known and weighed and all your profession which is without the life and profession denyed and here is the Lambs war betwixt you and us you have the words and Declaration which the life sple we have the Life and Substance which spoke these words and so you have the outside who are born after the flesh persecutes us who are born after the spirit And so now read where thou and you all are who are found in this persecuting nature for I am sure if you will be tryed by the Scriptures you cannot finde that ever any of the Saints of God persecuted any but were ever persecuted and ever suffered persecution by those who had a profession as Christ Jesus was crucified by the chief Priests and the Elders Scribes and Pharisees who were the strictest professors of the Scriptures which spoke of him and prophecied of him which that age and that Generation had besides all the Saints Servants Prophets and Apostles that ever suffered did suffer by a people professing Religion So let the Scriptures be judg between you and us and if you will come to be tryed by the Scriptures you will be found of the same generation of Persecutors as ever was before you And whereas thou saith VVe depend not upon the Scriptures for Light hut from what we receive from a Spirit which casteth us into a Trance and what this Spirit is thou confesseth thou knows not and yet thou lakes upon thee to judge of this Spirit though thou confesseth thou art weak c. but thou saith thou tells what thou thinks Now here thou hast uttered forth thy weakness and thy nakedness appears in these words and thy bitter spirit in slandering that which thou knows not for that which tries the Spirits is Truth and Eternall and Infallible and speaks that is knows and beleeves not every spirit but tries the Spirits whether they be of God And from this Spirit thou hart shut thy self and by this Spirit do we try thy Spirit to be a Spirit of Error and Delusion a Spirit of Darkness which hath no light in it but thy Light is without thee that thou judgeth by and thou judgeth by thinking and this is for judgement Christ Jesus said Take heed that the Light which is in thee be not darkness he doth not say take heed that the Letter without thee be not darkness and he saith again If thy Light be darkness how great is that darkness and so here thou art in the darkness and yet judgeth of the Light but thy spirit is a fallibe Spirit and so cannot give true judgement upon that which is infallible and eternall But that Spirit which is infallible and eternall gives true judgement on thee and knows thee and tries thee and thy Light which is thee Letter without thee which is none of thine but anothers and with the same spirit as spoke forth the Scriptures thou art judged and thy spirit to be a fallible lying spirit and the same good spirit of God as spoke in the Holy Prophets Christ and his Apostles which is not divided but is one and the same for evermore the same spirit do we witness not another but the same as was before ever the Scripture was written and by this Spirit which was before Scripture was written do we judge thee and thy Light which thou hath from the Declaration Here thou confesseth that if thou had had no Scripture thou had had no Light but God is Light and all who knows him knows him in the Light and all who sees him sees him in the Light for the immortallity dwols in the Light but this thou knows nothing of and we do accord with and own and witness and have unitywith the same Spirit with all that spoke forth the Scriptures the Prophets Christ and his