Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	good_a	grace_n	lord_n	7,245	5	3.6848	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A20920	Certayne letters, translated into English, being first written in Latine. Two, by the reverend and learned Mr. Francis Iunius, divinitie reader at Leyden in Holland. The other, by the exiled English Church, abiding for the present at Amsterdam in Holland. Together with the confession of faith prefixed: where vpon the said letters were first written	Junius, Franciscus, 1545-1602.; R. G., fl. 1602.; Junius, Franciscus, 1545-1602. Christian letter.; Johnson, Francis, 1562-1618.; Ainsworth, Henry, 1571-1622?	1602 (1602)	STC 7298; ESTC S105409	64,792	60

men indeed learned and our bretheren beloved but hitherto we do not accord therein yet hope for better consent herafter by the blessing of God and throug the help of you and other godly men Finally pity the whole Church of Christ which verily it is not meet nor expedient neyther indeed ought among so many and grievous woundes of hers vniversally inflicted to be further galled with this particular wound that you should not take it in good part to have by vs the true faith of Christ publyshed and the remnants of Antichrists Apostasy discovered And thus have we wrytten freely and boldly vnto you good Sr whom we do vnfeynedly acknowledg to be godly learned and well deserving of the Church of Christ For we had rather that men should fynd fault with our boldnes then that Christ should reprove vs for leaving his cause Neyther doubt we but your self according to your wonted and commendable humanity wil pardon vs this fault whereinto we have ben drawen not with a mynd to contradict but with love of verity and affection of charity And God himself even our father which hath loved and called vs in Christ and hath given vs eternall consolation and good hope through grace fulfill in you all the gratious pleasure of his goodnes and the work of fayth with power that the name of our Lord Iesus Christ may bee glorified in you and you in him The grace of our God and Lord Iesus Christ be with your spirit Amen From Amsterdam the 19 of the second moneth called February 1599. Yours in the Lord most addicted Francis Iohson ●aniel Studley Stanshall Mercer Henry Ainsworth Georg Knyveton Christopher Bewman And the rest of the English people exiled for the Gospell sake and at this present remayning at Amsterdam Mr. Iunius his second Epistle To his beloved brethren the English people at Amsterdam Grace and peace from the Lord. YOur Letters loving Brethren I received yesterday and read If your messēger had shewed mee before to whome or whither I should have written the matter had beene other wise caried but I sought and wayted a whole moneth being vncertaine to whom I might send If any thing were done otherwise then we would it was your owne fault That ye giue no place to false suspition I did nothing without the knowledge of my brethrē and Colleagues To you I gave counsell if it please you not you may let it alone for me it becommeth not vs to be contentious for it is not our custome nor the custome of the Churches of God Now that Messenger of yours spake onely to me without letters and called not on any of my Colleages What thē is the blame you lay vpō me none forbad me to give counsel alone You asked indeed about a matter of faith but wee thought good rather to deale about giving you cōsell What if a mā answere not according to your prescript is it by and by an iniurie Give vs leave brethrē I pray you to use our own iudgement we thought it fitter to give you counsell then to make an answere to your demaundes and that this wee might doe vnto you in brotherly dutie If we might not yet will wee bee more indifferent towards yow you may for vs abstaine you may rent the Letters and we also will concele it I wrote as touching counsell because I thought ther was need of it I wrote not of the question because I thought the time was not for it Otherwise I had neuer thought of you or your matters no not so much as in my dream so greatly doe I shunne to bee a medler in other mēs matters You will say why w●s not the time for it Surely because the matter was not cleere to me to have beene handled in order and good maner Wherunto by giving you counsell I called you backe For if you kept good manner and order yow might hav shewed it if you kept it not you might have returned vnto it and observe it I knewe nothing at all either by you or by any other which I speake to the ende that you suspect none that is innocent Our manner is to make answere in order to them that aske according unto order if any aske not in order our manner is to call them backe to order as is meete yea if any vrge vs a hundred times besides order we will call him backe an hundred times vnto order or else by silence take order for our owne quietnesse and securitie Will you therefore take the thing in question for graunted Pardon me● deare brethren this is more thē either y●ririe or charitie doth teach Hee that speaketh a thing different speaketh neither this not that of the questiō but he who vppon advice dooth speake a different thing dooth deferre his iudgement giving sentence on neither side If you will not permit mee to do this which euerie man may lawfully doe I will take this one thing as my right to keepe silence that I may free my speach from cauillations Hee that shall say I cōfesse the thing shall wittingly offend against the truth Others have set forth confessions I know it and I commend it for eyther they seemed and were sayd to stagger in the hands of their persecutors or else moved of consciēce they did it orderly with the consend and approbation of the Church but he who writeth with a mind to dissent writeth against order and sifteth the soares of the Church against the law of charitie But you professe that if there be any dissention you do not dissemble it Surely in your confession I see no token wherby I may be certainely perswaded of it Haue me excused my senses are to dull to smell out things that are so secret And yet now I thāke you euē for this that you acknowledge your dissent in some things from the ministers of the Church of Amsterdam and I thanke God which moued mee to suspend my iudgement Therefore I did well who beeing altogether ignorant of your matters did yet so write that I prevented a thing by you dissembled or at least obscurely set down by whole some counsel The end which is the cleering of your selves although I knew nothing of you you shall sooner attaine in one day by dealing with the Church wherein you are then in an hundred yeare if you should live so long by writing to other Churches hither and thither You do not yet perswade me that you have dealt orderly if we sticke constantly to order and you dislike it at least beare with vs. For whereas you say that you are euery where proclaimed heretickes c. I knewe nothing of you neither should yet have knowne any thing if you had held your peace so strongly are my eares stopped against al rumors Of the fact of the English Churches I have not certaine knowledge why would you have vs speake You might have been silent as I admonished you by my letters and will you not

desyred your opinion And by this appeareth also how needfull it was for vs to set forth the Confession of our fayth as now we have done in respect of the Church of England with which we have to doe and from which for that we dissent we are accused as hereticks and schismaticks yll reported of and dryven into crile Touchinge the end fact and event they being all in our former letters discussed we will now speake no more of them agayne save this only that in the Preface besydes other thinges we noted this that we therfore publyshed the Confession of our fayth to the end the truth of God what lay in vs might be cleared from reproch of men and that others might be brought together with our selves to the same knowledg and fellowship of the Gospell Of the lyke wrytings and acts of others approved by all the godly we need say nothing Neyther will we speake more of the many and grievous afflictions which for this fayth now a long tyme we have susteyned Only we will mention because you do thus vrge vs agayne a litle booke wrytten by your self of your owne lyfe In which you relate many troubles and afflictions which heretofore you have suffered for religiō sake being pursued by the enemyes of Christ and his truth Now if any should obiect against you That many godly men knew not these things concerning you neyther should yet have knowen them if you ●ad held your peace that you have given place and have passed ouer into another Court that former injuryes if any have bene should by your self be borne in silence and hope be forgiven by Christiā charity to those from whom you received them and hid from others by Christian wisdome that there is no feare least by so doing you should be burst that every one should rather approve him self and his cause by dueryes of piety and charity then by outcryes and publyshing of wrytings that the adversaries are no● by this meanes made better but more provoked by such a grievous sting that you might if so be you knew the thing so well have the judgment of it with yo●r self and not publysh it abroade that you should not take vp burth●ens of accusations nor have judiciall confidence that it is a point of wisdome to look to the event that rash and heady judgments are not to be required not to be endured not to be heard c. If any we say should object these thinges against you which you do against vs would you not think it were vnjustly done of thē Why then do you that to others which you would not have done to your self Why vrge you these thinges so vnjustly against this Church of Christ and all the members of it which hath suffered mo afflictions of all sortes mo reproches imprisonments losses banishments deathes then your self and divers other good men yea though your troubles were tē tymes doubled whose particular storyes notwithstanding are wrytten publyshed and approved But we will let these thinges passe for neyther do we lyke this course of aunting disdayning wynding away from the point in hand so often used by you in your letters vnworthely Neyther do we deny but your aflictions were as you have related heavy and to be lamented which also if you contynew fayth full to the end the Captaine of our faith and beholder of our warfare will abundantly reward in the heavens even Iesus Christ to whome we commytt and commend this whole cause The Conclusion also hath ben debated before And now what others think of our cause we referre to themselues eyther by silence to be insinuated or other wise as they think best to be expressed In the meane tyme we cannot omit M Bezaes modest and yet confident judgment whose supposition because it is knowne to be of things most true and certa●ne it is all one as if it had b●n simply propounded And thus to collect we are perswaded is neyther to deale ●ll with good men neyther hath God reason or the tymes ever taught it to be daungerous Nay this rather do all these teach vs to be full of daunger whē as men are content to wink at the defection and remnants of Antichrist and do not so much as by way of sup●osition beare witnes to the truth of Christ against them being called into● question And here if you please ponder with your self the first originall of that Antichrist his growth his exaltation Which Beza considering judged 〈…〉 daungerous as in the same epistle he professeth that it putteth him ingreat ho●rour and feare as often as he thinketh of these things and foreseeth the same or indeed more grievous punishments to hang over the heads of many people who at first did gladly re●ive the Go●pell ●to which now by litle and litle they fall away As touchinge our selves we are not then who eyther can or will prescribe la●es vnto others We are of al men the meanest and weakest And this w● do freely and syncerely professe and by all meanes we desyre to absteyne from to much confidence and to follow after an holy modesty And now of you learned Sr. and of other lyke godly learned strong discreet men we desyre to be instructed and informed yea to be brought agayne into the way if any where we be found to erre in our fayth and cause This also do those three things which according to God and vnder him ought to be a law to all men verity charity and discretion instantly call for at your handes In which respect we exhort pray and beseech you by the most sacred name of Christ that you come to help the Lord among the mighty Religious feare which in all and every where is commendable will nothing hinder this Day it will further rather whiles we cōsider that we are so to feare least we offend as we do still remember withall that God hath not gyven vs the spirit of fearefulnes but of strength and love and soundnes of mynde that we should not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord neyther of them that be his prisoners exiles witnesses 2 Tim. 1.7.8 Pardon we pray you that we wryte thus freely vnto you The regard of the truth and love of you wringeth it from vs. For we are studious of the truth of God and also of your name and estimation If there be any thing wherein we may be serviceable vnto you without hinderance of the truth and love you shall commaund vs. And we trust you will require nothing of vs otherwise Farewell in Christ Iesus to whome we do hartely commend your holy and profitable labours and studyes Amsterdam the 18 of March 1599. Yours with entier affection in the Lord The brethren of the English Church at Amsterdam exiles of Iesus Christ Another letter of the same Church to Mr. Francis Iunius wherin their second aforesaid was included and sent vnto him HEre included learned Sir we send the answer to your second letter longe synce delyvered