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	son_n	word_n	22,511	5	4.8766	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61430	A kind invitation to the people called Quakers, to the due consideration of some important truths in a letter and twenty questions, sent long since to their second-days meeting, and now to them all. To both which, an answer from their present yearly meeting, 1697. is desired.	Stephens, Edward, d. 1706.	1697 (1697)	Wing S5428; ESTC R222006	6,893	9

in general at present And Hopes I say grounded upon the Mercy of God and Power of God which no Good Being would oppose nor no Evil Power can stand before And in His Name I come unto you knowing assuredly that neither I nor any Humane Ability is able to prevail against the Power that is amongst you notwithstanding the Truths that I have mentioned already and shall endeavour by the Grace and Assistance of God Almighty through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ more fully to explain unto you in due time But as I said if it be a good Power it will favour me and assist me in it and rejoyce in it too and if it be an evil Power commissioned it must cease and submit to that Victorious and All-conquering Name Its Enchantments must be dissolved and its Sophistry and Fallacies detected I therefore as an Ambassador of Christ in the Spirit and Meekness of Christ beseech you Be ye reconciled to the Truths of God and receive them with that Reverence and Gratitude that is meet without Cavelling or regard to any Temporal concern I do not invite you to return to the Abuses and Corruptions which you have forsaken but to those Truths and to the due use of those Holy things against which you have been Scandalized by those Abuses and Corruptions Nor do I invite you to dissolve your Society or to leave off your Meetings and drown your selves in a promiscuous Multitude No you have in part born a good Testimony and I would have you do so still But I invite you only to make your Testimony more Compleat Illustrious and Irrefragable by bearing your Testimony to the whole Truth and not any longer a Testimony like the Feet of Daniel's Image partly strong and partly weak by a mixture of Truth with Falshood for that cannot stand long together but to strengthen the things that remain and set in order the things that are wanting that ye may stand for otherwise ye will be certainly Broken to Pieces I invite you but to what I am doing my self with a small Company of Poor People that is bearing a Testimony for God and manifestly under his Conduct But it is neglected by them to whom it hath been offered for a sufficient Time and in a sufficient Manner considering their Learning and pretence to Knowledge And now it is offered to you a despised People that God may humble the Proud and High-minded and confound the Wisdom of the Wise by mean and despicable things in the sight of Men. Be Wise and neglect not the Opportunity and you who were last in the Worlds account shall be first Whatever you do you will find there is solid Truth in the Proposal and I wish you may receive it to the Honour and Glory of God and your own Comfort and Salvation and you will then find me to have been Your Sincere and Cordial Friend E. S. 31 August 1696. The Twenty Questions I. WHETHER there be not a great Party of fallen Angels and wicked Spirits which are Enemies to Mankind and with all the Power Activity and Subtilty they can do continually endeavour to hinder their Salvation and Communion and Union with the Father Son and Holy Spirit II. Whether the Word which in the beginning was with God and was God was not made Flesh and dwelt amongst Men being born of the Virgin Mary and called Jesus which signifies a Saviour and Christ the Messiah the anointed of God and Jesus Christ of Nazareth III. Whether his Appearance in Mortal Flesh was not to destroy the Works of the Devil the Prince of the Party of fallen Angels and wicked Spirits to be a Prince and a Saviour to Mankind and the Captain of their Salvation to all who receive him and subject themselves intirely to his Teachings by his Example and by his Doctrine and Precepts and Orders recorded in the Holy Scriptures and by the Motions of his Holy Spirit upon and in their Hearts and Minds IV. Whether he be not the Only Mediatour between God and Man so that Man can have no Communion with the Holy God or Participation of the Spirit of Holiness but by and through Him V. Whether that Party of fallen Angels and wicked Spirits knowing this do not above all things endeavour by all means to withhold People from closing and uniting with that Holy Mediatour and to withdraw as many as they can as much as they can from Him VI. Whether their most dangerous and subtile Actings in this Opposition be not principally by Way of Deceit under the Appearance and Pretence of Good to Man and of Good Spirits VII Whether it hath not been foretold that in the latter times especially there should be many false Teachers who with such specious Pretences and secret Energy should endeavour to draw away People from the Faith as to deceive if it was possible the very Elect and Warnings given to beware of them by Christ and by his Apostles VIII Whether the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ be not the same and a Holy and Pure Spirit a Spirit of Truth and Righteousness leading into all necessary Truth and from all Fraud Deceit and Fallacy Cavils and shuffling Evasions IX Whether it be not reasonable that Christ Jesus who had done so much for Man should prescribe what Manner he pleased for his Peoples engaging with Him and for their recognizing Him and making their Solemn Address to the Father by Him and what Orders he pleased and would have observed and continued in his Church X. Whether to oppose such Appointments Prescriptions or Orders or to cavil at them seek Evasions or Pretences to neglect them and yet pretend to be Christians be not a great Evidence of Insincerity and of a subtile Antichristian Spirit of Satan transformed into an Angel of Light XI Whether Jesus Christ besides his General Command to his Apostles after his Resurrection to go to the Gentiles and teach all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost c. did not for forty days shew himself to them speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God until the day in which he was taken up after that he through the Holy Ghost had given Commandments unto them and in or with those Commandments give them sufficient Instructions and Directions for the Constituting his Church which he purchased with his Blood XII Whether the Apostles did not in all things faithfully pursue his Commands and Directions XIII Whether besides his express Commands and Directions they did not also receive the Holy Spirit according to his Promise in an extraordinary manner and had the same residing in them and manifesting his Presence with them by extraordinary Operations to guide and assist them in their Work XIV Whether they having received the Command to make Disciples in all Nations whether Jews or Gentiles baptizing them as aforesaid and teaching them to observe all things whatsoever he commanded them did not in

A KIND INVITATION To the PEOPLE called QUAKERS To the due Consideration of Some Important Truths In a Letter and Twenty Questions sent long since to their Second-days Meeting and now to them all To both which an ANSWER from their present Yearly Meeting 1697. is desired To William Penn the rest c. 〈◊〉 Second-Days-Meeting WILLIAM with the rest of 〈…〉 with thee MY Hearts desire and Prayer to God for you all is that ye may be Saved for I am perswaded that you have a Zeal of God at least many of you though not according to Knowledge in some things Nevertheless whereto ye have attained in that I desire ye may be established and that God will be graciously pleased to reveal the rest to you that ye may be perfect and intire wanting nothing For which purpose I come I trust by the Grace of God with a Message of Grace and Peace to you I am well satisfied that it is no meer Humane Project or Artifice that at first raised you up and hath conducted you hitherto but a Supernatural Power and that it is of the Lord some way or other as was the Separation of the Ten Tribes from Rehoboam 1 Kings 12. for Correction and Reformation of something amiss in this Church And therefore I dare not presume either upon my own head or by my own Ability to intermeddle in it But my Heart is inlarged towards you upon these Considerations 1. That ye do assert one of the Great and Chief Principles of the Christian Religion which I have observed to be very unworthily and even despitefully treated by too many who have gotten into or seek Preferments and Imployment in the Church without Check or Reproof and so unworthily deserted by most for fear of Reproach or Disgrace or hindrance in their Preferment that I have not known it generously asserted by above two or three in the Pulpit but those great Men indeed though it be plainly a Doctrine most authentickly and solemnly professed and declared in the Church of England 2. That ye do bear a good Testimony against other Abuses connived at or tolerated amongst us 3. I am moved with Pity towards you that you should have so great Causes of Offence or Scandal given you against the Holy and Established Institutions and Ordinances of Christ for the Ministerial Office for the Admission of Proselytes and for the great Solemnity of the Christian Worship which hath been so long abused with Controversies that I know very few Persons now amongst us who do rightly and compleatly understand it and even against the Person Satisfaction and Merits of Christ himself But when I consider your Notions and Sentiments concerning these things though I am well satisfied that you are under the Conduct and Energy of some Spiritual Power yet What that Spirit is and Whether One or Divers in my Judgment doth deserve very good Consideration Ye know what Spirit it was which God sent between Abimilech and the Shechemites Judg. 9.23 and what that was that was sent from the Lord to Saul 1 Sam. 6.14 and what that was that was commissioned by God in the case of Ahab 1 King 22.22 23. and what that was in the midst of the Princes of Noph Isa 19.14 which was from the Lord too And that such a Spirit hath been among some call'd Quakers is manifest both by their Actions Speeches and Writings nay the very Spirit of the Devil and of Antichrist is apparent and undeniable from the Indignities offered both in word and deed to Holy things But that is not the thing now to be considered what Spirits may have appeared among them For even among the Apostles Satan had power to enter into Judas and it is not improbable but those whom our Saviour told Ye know not what Spirit ye are of and even Peter himself when our Saviour said to him Get thee behind me Satan might not at the time be free from some Impressions of Evil Spirits That 't is likely was a Peculiarity of our Saviours for the Prince of this World to have nothing in him But the thing to be considered is What Spirit that is which at first excited and hath now the Conduct of the whole Body of this People And not whether it be sent or commissioned from God but Whether it be one of the Ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be Heirs of Salvation or One of those Seducing Spirits to whom in the latter times that some would give heed was in the times of the Apostles expressly said by the Spirit of God And great Reason there is to take this into very deep Consideration 1. Because of the many and weighty Cautions given by our Saviour and his Apostles and left upon record in the Sacred Scriptures for our warning in these latter times to beware of them and not to go out after them with Admonitions concerning their Subtilty their Energy or Power and their strong Delusions to deceive if it were possible the very Elect and that even Satan himself is transformed into an Angel of Light that is puts on the Appearance of an Angel of Light 2 Cor. 11.14 and lastly that we should try the Spirits 1 Jo. 4.1 2. Because if the Tryal be by Agreement or Disagreement with the Doctrine Institutions and Ordinances of Christ and his Apostles authorized by him they may seem to have apostatized and gone off or at least fallen short of them in matters of great moment and special concern those before-mentioned and therefore to be Seduced by some Spirit of Error For I doubt not but the Devil himself hath that Malice and Envy against the Man Christ Jesus by whom he hath been Conquered and Vanquished and against the Solemn Memorial of that Victory that could he but keep People from engaging in that Holy Covenant with Him by Baptism and from the Solemnity of that Memorial he would be willing himself to lead them into all other Truth upon that condition rather than fail Yet notwithstanding since they are a Sober People have received retain●● and do act upon one of the chief Principles of Christianity and have divers commendable things in them and what Errors they have fallen into have been occasioned by the Scandals and Offences given by those of the Church who will have a sad account to answer for it I do hope in the Mercy and Goodness of God that if it be a good Spirit which hath the Conduct of them he shall lead and dispose those who are Sincere amongst them to the acknowledgement of the Truth in those things whereto they have not yet attained and if it be otherwise he shall be forced to resign the Conduct of them to a more powerful and better Guide and that we shall see such a Society of Compleat Christians come out of this despised People as are at this time hardly to be found in any part of the World as I know of These are my Thougots and Hopes concerning this People