Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	flesh_n	live_v	mortify_v	7,524	5	11.3904	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26199	The suffering condition of the servants of the Lord at this day vindicated and some reasons given why the people called Quakers do own the doctrine of Christ, to continue in it, and to meet together in the name and fear of the Lord, to wait upon him, and worship him in spirit and truth, not withstanding they meet with sufferings in this present time for so doing : Bristol, the 6th month, 1662 / John Audland.	Audland, John, 1630-1664.	1662 (1662)	Wing A4198; ESTC R22605	21,740	31

The Suffering Condition OF THE Servants of the Lord At this day Vindicated And some Reasons given why the People called Quakers do own the Doctrine of Christ to continue in it and to meet together in the Name and Fear of the Lord to wait upon him and worship him in Spirit and Truth notwithstanding they meet with sufferings in this present time for so doing Bristol the 6th Month 1662. JOHN AUDLAND Hearken unto me ye that knew righteousness the people in whose heart is my Law fear ye not the reproach of men neither be ye afraid of their revilings for the Moth shall eat them up like a Garment and the Worm shall eat them like Wool but my righteousness shall be for ever and my salvation from generation to generation Isa 51.7 8. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect it is God that justifieth Rom. 8.33 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword as it is written For thy sake we are killed all the day long we are counted as sheep for the slaughter nay in all these things we are more than Conquerors through him that loved us for I am perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord Rom. 8.35 36 37 38. LONDON Printed in the year 1662. The suffering condition of the Servants of the Lord at this day vindicated c THe good and blessed Day of the Lord is come and the Heavenly Visitation of Life wherein the Light of Righteousness is springing up unto many people and many have received the blessed Visitation of the Lord and are made partakers of his Heavenly Power by which they are quickened and raised up unto newness of life to serve him and to follow him in truth and righteousness and the blessed day wherein the Lord visited us and the notable works which the Lord hath wrought and his noble acts which he hath done are not by us to be forgotten but are recorded in our hearts as things remarkable and considerable to be remembred by us while we have a being upon the earth and that with fear and reverence in our hearts unto the Lord our God who is great and mighty whom we have known to execute Judgement in righteousness to the judging and bringing down of that which was once exalted for when the acceptable Year of the Lord came unto us Judgement was laid to the Line and the Lord did arise to shake terribly the Earth the loftiness of man was bowed down and the haughtiness of man was laid low that the Lord alone might be exalted and the Earth reeled to and fro and was removed like a Shepherd's Tent and the Light of Israel was as a fire and the holy One as a flame to burn up the thorns and the thickets in a day many faces gathered paleness and hearts grew weak and knees feeble and many had their hands upon their loins because of the great travel that was upon them because of the mighty Power of the Lord which was made manifest in them for the bringing down of that which had been exalted against him and for the restoration of the oppressed Captive that deliverance be known from the power of Satan and from the bondage of corruption that we being set free wherein we were held might serve the Lord in truth and singleness of heart and wait upon him and follow the leadings of his Spirit in the exercise of our hearts and minds in serving and worshipping the Lord our God And so the God of Heaven hath revealed and made manifest the way of Life and Peace the way wherein comfort and satisfaction to the soul is found the Gate of Mercy even the entrance to the everlasting Kingdom of Rest and Joy for evermore which although it be strait and narrow and a cross to the fleshly part and earthly ground and wisdom yet it is easie pleasant and delightful living in the Spirit and becoming little even as a Child for so must he become that enters in at the strait Gate to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradice of God So we have found the way of everlasting peace through the rich mercy and tender visitation of the Lord walking in the Spirit and living in that which mortifies the deeds of the flesh being subject to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ Here is rest to the soul here is the sweet visitations of the Lord known which are as the former and latter rain to refresh the lowly in heart and poor in spirit Here waiting upon the Lord the strength is renewed and here the Lord speaks peace to people even as they are in Christ the Power of God growing up in him who is the truth and the life they are possessors of lasting peace which God speaks not to the wicked which is the portion of the upright in heart and as the Lord hath made manifest the way of peace life and everlasting happiness he hath also discovered the contrary even the way of misery darkness and destruction the way which is broad and many in the lusts of the flesh takes pleasure in it following the motions of the flesh and the desires of the carnal mind resisting the motions of Gods good Spirit and hating the blessed Light of the Lord Jesus Christ and so spends away their precious time and in this state that is to say in the flesh resisting the Spirit of the Lord they cannot serve God nor please him nor worship him in truth though they may professe him in words and draw near him with their mouth yet being in the flesh contrary to the Spirit of Truth the ear turned away from hearing of God's Law their prayers are abomination their plowing is sin their sacrifice is as Cains not accepted by the Lord no peace from God no true rest no satisfaction no beholding the countenance of the Lord nor no assurance of the Eternal Inheritance which never fades away but an earnest of wrath pain misery anguish and trouble which will come upon all who live and dye in disobedience of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ And so we see the Way of Life to all that believe in the Name of the Lord Jesus and the way of death to all who live in unrighteousness and are not changed by the power of God and translated from death to life and from the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of the dear Son of God And these things are of great concernment unto us and we see it is very needful to wait upon the Lord and to follow the motions of his Spirit that we may feel his power to preserve us in his will out of the evil of the World that so

that thy faithful people do unto thee true and laudible service Now then if it come onely by the gift of God that the faithful do true service unto God then they that would force people from serving God according to his gift given them would force them from the true and laudable service of God and to make them act contrary to the gift of God and unavoidably lead and force people from the true Worship of God into hypocrisie and a false feigned lifeless and heartless Worships in which the Lord takes no pleasure And so this being truly considered we can put it to the Consciences of all that fear the Lord to judge whether we can with a safe Conscience leave our Religion which God hath led us into and the exercise of it according to the gift of God by which onely true service is done to God in which also we find acceptance with God through Jesus Christ and go to a Religion in the will of man contrary to the gift of God by force and compulsion where we could not act affectionately with our hearts nor yet find the blessing and presence of God with us acting contrary to the gift of God Truly it is in our hearts and consciences as the truth of the Lord that we may not ●affly do it But if any should object and say Your Religion is but new or of a late standing ours is a hundred years old or thereabouts since Popery was brought from having the upper hand in this Nation for they forced but they were out of the way but ours is a reformed Church 'T is answered That though the name or denomination by which we are distinguished from other people be but of late years which was cast upon us by some that mocked us because of the Power of the Lord which caused many to quake and tremble yet the Life in which we live and the truth which we profess is ancient and the practice in which we are exercised in the worship of God is according to the truth and practise of the Saints of old And so it might be said of the Saints and of Paul when he was converted and turned from the Jews Worship that it was a new Religion but it was the mighty Power of God that changed them though many in that day opposed them And so we say Force now with Prisons and carnal Weapons is of the same nature as it was formerly in the Papists and others for they said they had a Law and they were the true Church and they forced about Religion and killed many and now here is but the same Argument The Law saith so and so Therefore we see the same Nature forcing now as formerly as it 's said He that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit even so it is now And for being of a hundred years standing this adds no strength to it at all for the Jews Religion was far more ancient and yet being in the persecuting nature and resisting the Holy One and the Just though they professed God with their mouth yet that would not cover them nor will it cover people now to profess God with their mouth while they are found in the Nature steps and practise of them who persecuted the Saints and Servants of God in ages past And for that which is said That we are but of late years We say Men are not true Christians by Generation neither by an outward Profession but by an inward change in the heart wrought by the Power of God in the Regeneration And so if it be but a few years in comparison since we or any of us were changed and turned to the Lord yet it was in the time when the Lord was pleased and saw good to visit us and we can truly say it was an acceptable day and time when we were turned from darkness to the true Light and from the Power of Satan to God And we are glad of it and can say Blessed be the Lord for it if it had been but yesterday that any of us were renewed in the Spirit of our minds to God for it is matter of joy to us that the Lord hath gathered us in our day and time from off the barren Mountains into his Fold to wait upon him and to receive teaching and satisfaction from him This is far more to us to know the Lord changing us in our day and bringing us to know the things that pertaineth to our everlasting peace than to have a large Profession of the Saints words and yet to be out of the Saints Life and out of the way where true peace and rest is found to the soul and so the Lord having manifested his Truth to us and brought us into the Religion in which he manifests his presence to us we are content to wait in the Will of the Lord and may not forsake our Religion nor the assembling of our selves together because man saith to the contrary but walk according to the gift of God by which onely it is that true and faithful service is performed unto him 4. Again we meet together to wait upon the Lord that our Consciences may be kept clear towards him that we may have the answer of a good Conscience towards God which if we should walk contrary to that which the Lord hath made manifest here would be shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience for so it was formerly if any forsook the Lord and his Truth after they had tasted of his good Word if they fell away from that which they had once known and professed of the Truth and Gospel of Jesus they made shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience and then they could not have the answer of a good Conscience neither had they peace with God and what remained if they continued so but a certain fearful looking for of Judgement and fiery indignation which will devour And therefore we knowing the preciousness of the answer of a good Conscience towards God do prize it and esteem it as a Jewel of great worth and we may not forsake the way of the Lord wherein we have the answer of a good Conscience because of outward force go into that in which we should suffer anguish have a certain fearful looking for of judgment and a sting in our own consciences therefore we can put it to all who fear the Lord to judg of if it be not safe for us to abide in the way of the Lord and to be faithful to him though we may meet with sufferings in this world 5. Again we meet together in the fear of the Lord and own the doctrine of Christ to live in it because we are perswaded in the fear and power of the Lord God of life who is our strength that nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which we have in Christ Jesus our Lord the love of God is so comfortable and his favour is so refreshing to