Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	ghost_n	gift_n	holy_a	21,083	5	5.7385	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A38744	The abridgment of Eusebius Pamphilius's ecclesiastical history in two parts ... whereunto is added a catalogue of the synods and councels which were after the days of the apostles : together with a hint of what was decreed in the same / by William Caton.; Ecclesiastical history. English	Eusebius, of Caesarea, Bishop of Caesarea, ca. 260-ca. 340.; Caton, William, 1636-1665.	1698 (1698)	Wing E3420; ESTC R1923	127,007	269

will lead a Life agreeable to the Gospel I being of late at Ancira in Galatia found the Church through Pontus not with Prophets as they call them but rather as it shall be proproved with Fal●…e Prophets where through the Lord as much as in me lay I disputed in the Chuhch the space of many Days against them and their several Objections so that the Church rejoiced and was thereby confirmed in the Truth but the contrary Part yet repined and the Gainsayers were very sorrowful It is written of Montanus that he was puffed up with an immoderate Desire of Primacy i. e. Chief Authority opened a Gap for the Adversary to enter into him and being mad and estranged suddenly and bereft of his Wits waxed furious and published strange Doctrine contrary to the Tradition and ancient Custom of ancient Succession now received under the Name of Prophecy they which then were Auditors of this unlawful Preaching some chastised and checked him for a Lunatick i. e. one possed with Lunacy who at certain times of the Moon is distracted in his Wits and one that was possessed with the Spirit of Errours and forbad him to Preach being mindful of the Forewarnings and Threatnings of our Saviour tending to this end that we should take diligent heed of False Prophets Others waxed insolent i. e. proud and boasted and bragged of him not a little as if he had been endued with the Holy Ghost and Gift of Prophecy so that through disobedient Persons he came to be more honoured than his Merit did require And two Women being possessed of a foul Spirit spoke fond foolish and fantastical things even as he had before and they gloried and rejoiced in that Spirit which pronounced them happy and puffed them up with infinite fair Promises yet sometimes by Signs and Tokens he rebuked them to their faces so that he seemed a chastising Spirit There were few of the Phrygians seduced notwithstanding that bold and blind Spirit instructed them to blaspheme and revile generally every Church under Heaven because they neither did Homage i. e. a servile Ceremony of some Tenants which by Duty they owe to their Lords neither courteously received among them that false Spirit of Prophecy Those things he wrote in his first Book and in his second Book he writeth thus of their Ends These say they are the Prophets which the Lord promised to send his People Let them answer me I charge them in the Name of the Living God O ye Good People Is there any of the Sect of Montanus and these Women which have been persecuted by the Jews or put to death by any Tyrant Not one of them bearing the Name was either apprehended or crucified neither was their any Woman of them in the Synagogues of the Jews either scourged or stoned at all but Montanus and Maximilla are said to die ' another kind of Death Moreover when the Bishops went about to rebuke the Spirit which spoke in Maximilla they were hindred by others that wrought by the same Spirit saying Let not the Spirit of Maximilla say I am chased as a Wolf from the Sheep I am no Wolf I am the Word the Spirit and Power but let him manifestly express the power by the Spirit and prevail Apollonius against the Montanists He wrote in this manner saying But what kind of New Doctrine this is his Works and Doctrine do declare This is he which taught the breaking of Wedlock i. e. Marriage this is he which prescribed Laws of Fasting This is he which called P●…puza and Tymium pelting Parishes of Phrygia Jerusalem to the end he might entice all Men from every where to frequent thither This is he which first ordained Tollgatherers and Taxers of Money this is he which under pretence and colour of Oblations hath cunningly invented the Art of Bribing this is he who giveth great hire unto the Preachers of his Doctrine that by feeding of the Paunch his Prophecies may prevail Moreover he addeth saying Doth not the whole Scripture forbid that a Prophet should receive Rewards and Money When I see a Prophetess receive gold and silver and goodly Garments how can I chuse but detest her Again of another he saith And besides these Themison also inflamed with the burning Thirst of Covetousness tasted not of the tart Cognisance of Confession before the Tyrant but shuffled himself out of Fetters with much Money And whenas therefore he should have humbled himself yet he all in bragery as if he were a Martyr i. e. one that died for Righteousness sake after the example of the Apostle wrote a Catholick i. e. Universal or General Epistle very presumptuously to instruct them which believed better than himself and to exhort them to strive with him for this New Doctrine and to revile the Lord and his Apostles and his holy Church Again speaking of one of their highly esteemed Martyrs he writes in this sort And that we trouble not our selves with many let the Prophetess tell us touching Alexander who called himself a Martyr with whom she hath banqueted whom also many do adore i. e. worship whose Thefts and other heinous Crimes which he suffered for I will not presently rehearse for they are publickly known and registred Whose Sins hath he pardoned Whether doth a Prophet yield theft unto a Martyr or a Martyr an immoderate Desire of gathering unto a Prophet For as when Christ commanded You shall not possess Gold neither Silver neither two Goats these on the contrary seek after the Possession of unlawful Substance for they whom they call Prophets and Martyrs have extorted Money i. e. wrested it from people per force not only of the Rich but of the Poor the Fatherless and Widows But if they plead innocency let them stay and join with us in the issue in the matter upon this condition that if they be overthrown at leastwise from henceforth they will cease to commit the like Sin again The Fruits of the Prophets are to be tried the Tree is to be known by its Fruit. And that the case of Alexander may be known of such as desire it he was condemned at Ephesus by Aemilius Frontinus not for his Profession but for his presumptuous and bold enterprised Theft being a lewd Person And then with a false pretence of Christian Profession seducing the faithful of that place he was pardoned and set at liberty Again in another place he writeth of their Prophets thus If they deny their Prophets to have been Bribers let them affirm it conditionally that if it be proved they be no longer Prophets For all the Works of a Prophet are necessarily to be proved Tell me I beseech ye Is it seemly for a Prophet to painthimself in Colours Is it seemly for a Prophet to smooth himself with the white glittering Stibi●… i. e. A certain Stone which maketh the Skin look very fair when it is rubbed with it Is it seemly for a Prophet to pinch and gingerly to

the Righteous yea before the coming of the Messiah of whom the Prophets that were slain testified and it is manifest that it was his persecuting Power and Spirit which appeare in Cain in Joseph's Brethren in the Sodomites in the Sons of Belial in the Egyptians in Saul in Jezabel and in the Jews And the same Enmity hath often appeared in the same persecuting Power and Spirit of this old Adversary against the True Christians since the coming of the Messiah which may more clearly appear from that which followeth WHen the Jews had crucified the Lord of Glory then did they raise a terrible Persecution against the Apostles and that under pretence of Religion yet they sought to conceal their Blood-thirstiness through their carrying on their wicked Design by the Romish Authority for they said expresly It was not lawful for them to put any Man to death yet in the mean time they could hale them before their Councils where the High-Priest was President and there did they Judge and Condemn the Christians as they had done Christ and afterwards they delivered them to the Earthly Powers to be punished according to their Sentence calling the Christians the Sect of the Nazarites and said they set the whole World in an uproar and sought to annihilate i. e. to bring to nothing the Law of Moses whereupon they presently got the help of the rude Multirude to persecute the Christians and that under Pretence of defending of Religion Note Are not the true Christians now called a Fanatick Sect And are they not accused for making uproars and tumults when they are as free from such things as the Christians were in the Days of the Apostles who were not only accused for making Uproars but also for setting the Law of Moses at nought even as true Christians now are falsly accused for making void the Scripture and of setting it as nought whereupon many now suffer about their Religion by such as pretend to defend and propagate it even as the ancient Christians did then under the Jews who resisted the Spirit of Truth and the holy Men that spoke as it gave them utterance and being filled with an evil Spirit of Malice and Enmity against the Lord and his Truth they whipped the Apostles and haled Stephen before their Council and procured false Witnesses against him And when Stephen in his Answer laid open their Wickedness they were pricked at the Heart and gnashed their Teeth at him and stopped their Ears and run forceably upon him and stoned him to death And after that a mighty Persecution of the Christians arose insomuch that they came to be scattered throughout the Land of Judah and Samaria After that the Jews did bring much suffering upon the Christians against whom their indignation was great and especially against Paul whose life they earnestly sought after and sometime did they stone him and sometime they did whip him and often were they moved with envy against him and the Brethren and upon a time took unto them certain lewd Fellows of baser sort and gathered a company and set all the City upon an uproar and assaulted the House of Jason and drew him out with others of the Brethren unto the Rulers of the City crying They that have turned the World upside down are come hither also and these all do contrary to the Decrees of Caesar. Note Hath it not been so of late in England that when the true Christians have come to one of their Friends Houses in a City some evil affected person or other hath gathered a company of Rude People and have haled the Innocent out of their Friends Houses when they have been edifying and building up one another in the most Holy Faith So that oftentimes the Anti-christians have behaved themselves like the Unbelieving Jews and through their Tumultuous Uproaring have they caused the peaceable and harmless to suffer when they who were Guilty have gone free Moreover the professing Jews manifested their envious Spirit against Paul when they stirred up the People and laid hands upon him crying out Men of Israel help this is the Man that teacheth all Men every where against the people and the Law and this place And all the City was moved and all the People ran together and they took Paul and drew him out of the Temple and had him before their Council and accused him to the Governor but when they could not prevail neither by Righteousness nor by Violence then did a Company of them bind themselves by an Oath neither to eat nor to drink until they had killed Paul Thus much concerning the Jews Note Since that the Gospel hath been preached again in the Power and Demonstration of the eternal Spirit some Cities in England have been as in Uproars where the true Christians have so preached the Gospel as before mentioned and at the same time they have been accused for teaching People against the Scripture and for incensing of them against Magistracy and Ministry yea against their Laws and Discipline and thereby have some Professing Antichristians stirred up the rude Rabble shamefully to intreat the good Christians who at this day are found in the footsteps of the ancient suffering Christians Object But some will say Who dost thou call the True and Good Christians whom thou dost at this time parallel with the Ancient Christians We know not whom thou meanest nor do we know whom thou callest the Anti-christians thou mightest do well to inform us a little Answ. I call them the True or Good Christians who walk in the Light of the Lamb who follow him through Honour and Dishonour through evil Report and good Report who bear his daily Cross without murmuring who do unto others as they would be done unto who renounce the vain Customs of the World and forsake the frivolous Traditions of Men tógether with the hidden things of Dishonesty who are truly contented in suffering when they are therein exercised and that for the exercise of their Conscience in matters pertaining unto Religion who for Conscience sake cannot Swear because their Master forbids them nor pay Tithes because their Lord is come who ends the first Priesthood that took Tithes and is become their Priest unto whom they could freely give Tithe Sacrifice Oblations c. But these that be external he wills not therefore do they freely offer that unto him which they are sure he will not reject nor despise to wit a clean contrite and broken Heart c. And they who live godlily and unreprovably as becometh right Christians such I do call Good and True Christians And foras much as I find the People who in contempt are called QUAKERS oftner than Christians in the Light of the Lamb in his Doctrine and in the Practices in which the antient Christians were exercised therefore it is meet that they now should be called The Good or True Christians And for the Anti-Christians i. e. Opposers of or Adversaries to true Christianity

Schools of Learning but brought up to a Trade to catch Fish and mend Nets most of the Apostles being taken from the meanest Trades and all of them Paul excepted unfurnished of all Arts of Learning and the advantage of liberal and ingenious Education and yet these were the Men that were design'd to rund down the world and to overturn the Learning of the Prudent certainly had humane wisdom been to manage the business it would have taken quit other Measures and chosen out the profoundest Rabbins the accutest Philosophers the smoothest Oratours such as would have been most likly by strength of Reason and Arts of Rhetorick to have triumphed over the Minds of Men to Graple with the stubbornness of the Iews and baffle the the finer Notion and Speculation of the Greeks but it being otherways it is plainly evident that they taught Christianity by a Divine Power the sum of the discourse is in the Apostles words 1 Cor. 1. 27. 28. that God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise the weak to confound those that are mighty In the Enumeration of the Apostles all the Evangelist constantly place Peter in the front and Matthew expressly tells us that he was the first that is he was the first Called to be an Apostle his Age also and the gravity of his person more particularly qualifying him for a Primar of Order amongst the rest of the Apostles Yea our Lord chose him to be his more intimate Companion whom he admitted more familiarly than the rest in all the most secrets passages and transactions of his Life Peter Preached such a Sermon in the Name of Iesus of Nazareth the effect of which was so strange and wonderful there being that day added to the Church no less then Three thousand Souls a quit and plentiful Harvest and though the Converting so vast a multitude might justly Challenge a place amongst the greatest Miracles yet the Apostles began now more particulars Acts 3. 1 to exercise their Miraculous power and Peter and Iohn going up to the Temple about the hour of prayer they found a poor impotent Criple who though above forty years old had been lame from his birth lying at the beautiful Gate of the Temple and asking an Alms of them Peter carelessly looking on him told him he had no mony to give him but that he would give him that which was much better restore him to his health and lifting him up by the hand commanded him in the Name of Iesus of Nazareth to rise up and walk the word was no sooner said than the thing was done while Peter was this working Miracles and discoursing to the People in one place we may suppose that Iohn was Preaching to them in another and the success was answerable there being by this means no fewer than five thousand brought over to the Faith Acts 4. 4. Whilest the Apostles were thus Preaching the Priests and Saduces who hated Christianity intimated to the Magistrates the danger thereof seized on the Apostles and cast them into Prison Acts 4. 1. the next day they were brought before the Jewish Sanhedrims and being asked by what power and authority they had done this Peter resolutely answered in the Name of Iesus of Nazareth whom they themselves had Crucified and God had raised from the dead and made head of the Corner and that there was no other way to expect Salvation but by him c. Great was the boldness of the Apostles admired at by the Sanhedrim it self especially when this was the very Court that had so lately Sentenced and Condemned their Master the Council commanded them to Preach no more in the Name of Iesus but Peter and Iohn replied that they could by no means yeild Obedience thereunto appealing to themselves whether it was not more fit that they should obey God rather than them and that they could not but testifie what they had seen and heard The Church exceedingly multplied by these means and that so great a company most whereof were poor might be maitained they generally sold their Estates and brought their mony to the Apostles to be by them disposed in one common Treasury and thence distributed according to the several exigent of the Church which gave occasion to the dreadful instance Ananias and his wife Acts 5. 1. Saphire having taken upon them the profession of the Gospel according to the free and generous Spirit of those times and had Consecrated and Devoted their Estates to the honour of God and the necessity of the Church and accordingly sold their possessions and turn'd them into mony but as they were willing to gain the reputation of Charitable Persons so were they loth wholy to cast themselves upon the Divine Providence by letting go all at once and therefore privately with-held part of what they had divoted and bringing the rest laid it all at the Apostles feet hoping thereby they might a deceived the Apostles though immediately guided by the spirit of God Peter at his first coming in treated Ananias with these sharp inquiries Why he should suffer Satan to fill his heart with so big a wickedness as by keeping back his Estate to think to dceive the holy Ghost that before it was sold it were holy at his one disposing and after it was perfectly in his own power fully to have performed his Vow so that it was capable of no other interpretation then that herein he had not only abused and injured Men but mocked God and what in him lay lyed too and cheated the holy Ghost who they knew was privy to the most secret thoughts and proposes of his heart This was no sooner said but suddenly to the great terrour and amazement of all that were present Ananias was Arrested with a stroke from Heaven and fell down dead to the ground not long after his wife come in whom Peter entertained with the same severe reproofs wherewith he had her husband adding that the like sad fate and doom should immediately seize her who thereupon drapt down dead as she had been Copartners with him in the sin becoming sherer with him in the Punishment an instance of great severity filling all that heard it with fear and terrour and become a seasonable prevention of that hypocrisie and dissimulation wherewith many might possibly think to have imposed upon the Church this severe case being extraordinary the Apostles usually exerted their power in such Miracles as were more useful and beneficial to the world curing all manner of diseases and disposessing Devils Acts 2. 12. Insomuch that they brought the sick into the Street and laid them upon Beds and Couches that at least Peter's shadow as he passed by might come upon them these aftonishing Miracles could not but mightily contribute to the propagation of the Church and convince the world that the Apostles were more considerable Persons than they took them for Poverty and Meanss being no bar to true worth and greatness thus Peter who converted the world not by power