Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A05464
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[Come out of her my people] or an ansvver to the questions of a gentlevvoman (a professour in the Antichristian Church of England) about hearing the publicke ministers vvhere it is largely discussed and proved to be sinfull and unlavvfull. Also a iust apologie for the way of total separation (commonly but falsely called Brownisme) that it is the truth of God, though lightly esteemed in the eyes of the blinde world. With a challenge to dispute with them publickly before King & Counsell: to prove whatsoever I said at the pillery against them. Viz. that the calling of them all is jure diabolo: even from the divell himselfe. By mee John Lilburne. Close prisoner in the Fleete for the cause of Christ.; Come out of her my people.
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Lilburne, John, 1614?-1657.
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1639
(1639)
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STC 15596; ESTC S107364
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35,511
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36
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may though all the power of darknesse set themselves against them yet that they may cleave close to God our Saviour Christ and the purity of his Gospell for we must looke for fanning and sifting and for the fiery tryall therefore let us sit downe and reckon what it will cost us and if we be not willing to lose all for his sake yea and to hate all even Father and Mother riches life c. if they stand in our way to keep us from him we are not worthy of him Math. 10.37 and 16.24 Mark 8 34. Luke 9.23.24 and 14.26.27 And for my owne part the Lord himselfe hath so firmly by his owne enlightening Spirit so fully convinced me and setled my soule so unmoveably in his truth that I assuredly know that all the power in Earth yea and the gates of Hell it selfe shall never be able to move me or prevaile against me for the Lord who is the worker of all my workes in me and for me hath founded and built me upon that sure unmoveable foundation the Lord Iesus Christ and I know if ten thousand deaths for my conscience and the cause of my God for which with courage and rejoycing I now beare witnesse to and am close prisoner in bonds lying day and night in Fetters of Jron both hands legges should be inflicted upon me I should sing rejoyce triumph in them all For my God makes me glory in my tribulation and my soule is filled so full of that sweetnesse and joy that it findes in my God alone that my tongue and penne is never able to the full to expresse utter it to his praise I desire to speake it and I doe beleeve that it is not possible for any man in any condition whatsoever whose neck in the best doth stoope to the yoake of Antichrist to have his heart and spirit elevated and lifted up above it selfe in that high degree with spirituall joy and comfort divine and heavenly strength and supportation that mine is for the Holy Ghost saith they have no rest night nor day who worship the Beast and his Image and whosoever receiveth the marke of his name And I doe beleeve it to be true as I am able to speake by my owne experience For they may have some spirit of rest and peace and sudden Flashes of joy and comfort but when a storme or Tempest doth arise they are so possessed with base and cowardly feare and distraction of spirit that they are like men without hearts and are ready to runne into every hole to hide their heads from the face of man a poore worme being ready to say when a tempest ariseth with them in the 6. Rev. 16.17 Let the Mountaine and Rock fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand When as on the contrary the Righteous is as bold as a Lyon though the wicked fly when none persueth Prov. 28.1 18.10 The name of the Lord is a strong Tower the Righteous runneth unto it and are safe And Psal 91. he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shaddow of the Almighty and he shall be safe from the feare of all danger as the Holy Ghost there doth declare So that we see the feare and terrour that possesseth the hearts and spirits of all those whose necks are either in part or in whole under the spirituall yoake and bondage of the Beast And also the rest and peace and holy security that they are in that submitt alone to the Lord Iesus Christ for their spirituall Lord and King And are willing to follow him whersoever he goes not loving their soules to the death Rev. 12. but keepe close and hold fast the name and faith of Christ even where Satan hath his Throne Rev. 2.13 for he hath said and promised unto his people that keepe close to him because thou hast kept the word of my patience I will also keepe thee from the houre of Temptation which shall come upon all the World to try them that dwell upon the Earth Rev. 3.10 And this have I found by experience since the Lord in great mercy and rich loving kindnesse by his strength and power inabled me to withdraw my soule totally and finally from the greatest spirituall yoake and bondage that ever any mortall man groaned under namely the spirituall yoake and bondage of the Beast or Roman State unto which whosoever is hated of the Lord and doth not belong unto him doe submitt yeeld Rev. 9.4 and 12.7.9 13.8 But the Lord from all eternity hath loved me with his everlasting love hath delivered my soule from it and set me at liberty and in a large place and hath given me rest and ease and hath put a song of prayer and thanksgiving into my mouth unto the Lord of glory and the Lamb that sitts upon his Throne who is blessed for ever and ever and my God hath filled my soule so full of Heavenly matter that had I but a current vent I could ex tempore write an hundred Sheetes of paper to you filled full of Heavenly expressions of the Lords goodnesse faithfulnesse loving kindnesse and Truth for my soule is ravished with that fulnesse sweetnesse aimeablenesse and beautifulnesse that I finde in my God Oh that my soule were altogether with him that I might be satisfyed with his fulnesse and might solace my soule face to face which I most confidently know I shall in his due time But Oh I say againe and againe that J were with him for he hath crucifyed the World and all things here below unto me and hath enabled me to account and esteeme all things besides himselfe as dung and durt not being worthy of casting any affectionate eye upon them Philip. 3.8.9 and he hath pitched my soule upon himselfe as a naked and a single object in whom alone the quintessence of delight beautie and satisfaction is to be had enjoyed and possessed and for my shackled condition that I am in it is most sweete and 〈…〉 I am as merry yea more chearefull then ever I was in any condition in my life and can sleepe as soundly in my Boots and Irons as Peter did betweene the two Souldiers when he was in prison who when the Angell of the Lord came to him to deliver him He was faine to smite him before he awaked Acts 12.6.7 And I doe sing Psalmes and J am as merry as Paul and Sylas were when they were in the Stocks and in prison who sung Psalmes and Prayses at midnight so that the Prisoners heard them Acts 16.24.25 for the Lord hath so strengthened me with divine power and strength for the Lord of Hosts is my confidence And in the Lord Iehovah there is everlasting strength And there is no torments that the greatest Tyrans in the World can inflict
let the stone Walls and iron grates convince him for we dare not meete him in the plaine feild in a publick dispute though he be but an unlearned youth And if it be possible keepe him in darknesse and obscuritie And if you can doe it handsomely that the World can take no notice of it starve him for we command you to let nothing be brought unto him Oh! you Satyrs Vultars Owles and Scritch-Owles for so the Holy Ghost calls you Esay 13. two last verses Esay 34.14.15 Rev 18.2 The Roman spirituall State being that Cage of filthinesse that holds you who are as the Holy Ghost there speakes a Company of Dragons Devils and foule Spirits Oh! you Night-Owles and Birds of Darknesse and uncleanes that dare not come to show your crooked faces in the bright Sun-shining light and cleare Crystall glasse of Gods sacred and unspotted Truth It sheweth demonstrateth to all the World that you are a Company of deformed Creatures and Sonnes of Darknesse impiety wickednesse ungodlinesse Or else you would lay aside your Cowardly Clubb-Arguments and come into the face of the open Sunne that there you may be seene whether you be rotten or sound or whether you be true gold or nothing but durt drosse which is good for nothing but the dunghill or whether your Kingdome be the Kingdome of Christ or the Kingdome of the Divell for of necessity it must be one of these for there is no more spirituall Kingdomes in the world but these two Or whether you your selves be servants of Christ or the servants and true subjects of the Divell But your hating of the truth and blaspheaming of it calling it the Refuge of Heritickes as you did in your open Court at the Censure of that worthy Doctour Doctour Iohn Bastwicke And also your hating and bloody persecuting of them that loue it doth vndenyably declare and manifest what you are and of whom your Kingdom doth depend For Christ saith every one that doth evill hates the sight neither cometh to the light least his deedes should be reproved Iohn 3.20 Truely you plainelie shew that you are men of darknesse and workers of wickednes and iniquitie for you cannot endure the light for it is too cleare too bright for you to come nakedlie and openlie and shew your selues before it because you are men of darknesse and evill doers and therefore you hate the light but if you were men that were workers of righteousnesse and walked in the waies of truth you would not be affraide to be tried by the light of it but would desire to be brought vnto it And in the former place Christ saith he that doth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God and therefore to conclude this point I will say no more then Christ saith you may know the tree by the fruit for a bad tree doth not bring forth good fruit nor a good tree corpupt fruit Math. 7.18 Luke 6.43 But to goe backe againe to Iohn 8. In the second place Christ saith The Divell abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him when he speaketh a ly he speakth it of his owne for he is a lyar and the father of it Here Christ shewes that the Children of the Divell abide not in the truth but haue their soules filled with lyes And whether you the Prelates be not such I appeale even to your owne writings sayings doeings the most of whose writings are stuffed with many vntruths having almost as many lies in them as pages And for the vntruths delivered in your Court Sermons Worthy Doctour Bastwicke in the third part of his Letany hath painted out in there colours yea what damnable Doctrines are there taught saving some few agreeing with the Filthy Whore Strumpet of Rome as that forenamed Doctour doth proue in the second part of his Letany with which he doth most truely paralel you that you are in a manner both of one corruption yea among all the rest he there proues that you hold and maintaine that monstrous and horrable Doctrine of Transubstantiation that is to say That the Body of Christ is reallie corperallie and essentiallie in the Sacrament of his Supper And this also may be proved out of the great Prelats speech made before the honorable Lords at the Censure of the three late worthies Yea whole Vollumes may be made of those damnable Doctrins that you hold are not ashamd to publish them to the view of the whole world Cum Privilegio especialy in your late printed Bookes By all which you proue make good this portion of Scripture that you are of your father the Divell because you do not abide in the truth but speake preach write and maintaine false lies wicked and damnable Doctrines Thus haue I by the strēgth of my God a litle deciphered you in a brief way But it may be you will be like a nest of Wasps which being stirred will flie about my eares with your Scorpion stings but if you do it will manifest you to be part of those Locusts as you are indeede and in truth that came out of the bottomlesse pitt Revel 9.2.3 of whom the Hoy Ghost saith that they had tailes like Scorpions and there were stings in there tailes and they had power to hurt men verse 10. But be it known vnto you that I am not in the least affraid of you for I neither feare an Axe at Tower hill nor a Stake in Smithfield nor a-Halter at Tyburne nor Whipping at a Carts-arfe nor a Pillary in the Pallice-yard nor Gagging nor Cutting of eares and nose nor Burning in the forehead or cheeks nor yet Banishment with Iohn to Pathmos For I verilie beleeve if you should send me thither I shall there finde Christ which by his spirit will vnfold the Revelation vnto me and then J would write it and send it abroad into the world and it would vex you as ill as Sampson did the Philistims proue as fatall to your decaying tottering spirituall Babilonian Antichristian Kingdome as his Foxes with fire-brands at their tailes were to the Philistims Corne. And therefore as you loue your almost ruinated Kingdome looke to it and knowe that the faster you kicke the harder I will spurre you the more you fling the closer will I sticke cleave fast vnto you for you are plants which I groundedly know the Lord never planted therfore vndoubtedly he will plucke you up Mat. 15.13 And therefore by the might power and strength of my God Psal 118.14 Esa 12.2 who is the worker of all my works in mee and for mee Esa 26.12 For I am resolved come life come death seeing you by force crueltie haue called me to it to shewe my selfe valiant for the truth of God Ier. 9.3 I alreadie made three Challenges to dispute with you but you are so Cowardlie that you dare not to come into the plaine and open field but you fight with tyrant-like weapons namelie with crueltie And therefore to see whether you haue any manhoode in you or noe J make send forth this fourth Challenge to you Bishops Prelates which is this That I will if you please dispute with you all face to face before the King and State for life and libertie vpon these ensueing Propositions First To proue that the Popes Power is from the Divell Secondly That your Calling Power Authoritie Iurisdiction is from the Pope Thirdly That all Gods people are bound vnder paine of eternall damnation to withdraw their spirituall obedience and subjection from your spirituall law and Kingdome Now vnpon these propositions will I dispute with you all and venter life for life before the King and State vpon these tearmes First That you shall lay aside Club-Arguments which is take him Iaylour and lay him in Irons and locke him up close Prisoner and keep him in safe custodie Secondly That the Booke of God which is an infallible truth shall be the sole Iudge of the Controversie Thirdly That J may haue libertie without being Gagged to speake my minde freelie and boldlie Fourthly That J may haue the vse of some books which I shall chuse And if you dare grāt me these 4 things if I be not able to proue all the fore said Positions by demonstrable and vndeniable arguments that you shall not be able in the words of truth to gainsay or deny thē I wil be willing to lose my head and life therefore take notice of what J haue now the fourth time said and challenged you to your faces for I intend to send you this that in the presence of the King and Nobles you will make it good and therefore if you be not Cowards fitt yourselues to come into the open pitched field face to face Also be it knowne vnto you that I will at Pauls Crosse dispute with all your Priests and Deacons vpon these Propositions First That they are all of them Servants Ministers of Antichrist Secondly That in the place and standing they are now in at this present they haue no authority from God to preach his word nor administer any of his sacred ordinances to the peole nor the people any ground or warrant out of the word of God to heare the word from or pertake with them Thirdly That the Church of England as at this day it stands is Antichristian both in Power in Matter in Ministrie in Forme and in Woshirppe Fourrhly That all Gods people are bound in duty conscience to separate away from it to haue no communion with it All which things if J be not able to proue against them all laying aside as I said before all Club law and letting the word of God be the sole Judge of the controversie I will be bound to preach a Recanting Sermon in every Citty in the Kingdome JOHN LILBURNE FINIS