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
A39879	For the King and both houses of Parliament being a short relation of the sad estate and sufferings of the innocent people of God called Quakers for worshipping God and exercising a good conscience towards God and man.		1661 (1661)	Wing F1435; ESTC R29850	12,638	14

and dirt and shout and raise Heaps and Tumults against an Innocent People that lifts up a hand against no man that seeks the Righteousness and Good and Peace of all People And for Ministers and Teachers to have their People to do so is not of good report but a reproach and doth not grace a Magistrate which is to keep Peace and to lay the just Law upon Transgressors and Offenders and to distinguish betwixt the Peaceable and the Tumultuous and Offenders and Transgressors and such as the Law was made for and it was not made for And again All the Christian Magistrates and Ministers do know that Christ saith Let the Wheat and the Tares grow together till the Harvest and this was Christs Doctrine and Command to his Ministers And the Apostles which were Ministers of Christ said Their weapons were Spiritual and not Carnal and they did not wrestle with flesh and blood therefore they that wrestle with flesh and blood with carnal weapons Are they the Ministers of Christ and do these follow the Apostles Examples Doth not Christ rebuke such as take the Brethren by the throat whom he had forgiven in his Parable and said how that all should forgive one another And doth not Christ rebuke them that did not visit him in Prison Therefore what will become of them that cast him in Prison where he is manifest Therefore we would have you in the Wisdom of God to consider these things and in the feeling of Gods Spirit for every one must give an account at the day of Judgment to God for every idle word and all things done in the body And doth not Christ rebuke his Ministers and his Disciples who would have had fire come down from Heaven to consume them as the Prophet did that were contrary-minded to them and told them that he came to save mens lives and not to destroy them Therefore mind him his Doctrine and Practice and let him be your Example in all things by whom Grace came but the Law came by Moses which Christ ended which put men to death about Religion And this is my beloved Son Hear ye Him saith God who is the Prophet raised like unto Moses whom we do hear and have done these many years who is our Way Truth and Life And Friends if you will not set our Friends at Liberty which lye in Holes and Dungeons and some without Straw and some hardly have Air and many can hardly get Meat and many have died through the Cruel Sufferings and Abuses of the Goalers and others we offer unto you of our selves that be out of Prison as many as lye in Prison to go into their Holes Dungeons stinking Vaults and Places where some of our Friends have lain two three and some four or five years That they may go out of Prison and not dye there as many have done whose innocent blood we leave to the Lord And this is but our Duty in love to God and our Brethren and to such as do persecute and afflict us to stop innocent Blood from coming upon You and the People And this is in Love to your Souls from the People of God called QUAKERS VVe subscribe in behalf of our selves and the rest of our Brethren Thomas Coveney Ger. Roberts Edward Brush Char. Collins William Gosnel Richard Pinder Edward Brooke Gilbert Laty. Humphrey Bache Ellis Hooks John Lawrence John Rous. VVe are such as do fear the God of Heaven and delight to serve him with all the heart and we worship him in Spirit and Truth and do walk in his Light and VVay and are followers of Christ Jesus and are taught by his Spirit so far as he hath blessed us with the gifts of Grace and Knowledge And we desire to be found such as may serve the Lord God in uprightness of our hearts all our dayes keeping a good Conscience towards God and all men That we may be to him a People and he our God and that we may possess and inherit Eternal Life with the Father when this VVorld shall be no more And we have alwayes been a suffering People under every Authority that hath been over us since we were a People and the Rulers of these Kingdoms have persecuted us by cruel and hard Imprisonments Scourgings false Judgments and much evil dealing exercised towards us And all this for and because only of our Religion and good Conscience sake to God-wards and not for any Rebellion Sedition or wrong doing towards them or our Neighbours for it hath been our only care how to walk justly and innocently in the sight of God towards Rulers and People and have been peaceable towards all And herein we have desired to approve our hearts in much Integrity and Sincerity that we might be found blameless before the Lord as himself doth bear us witness And we are at this very day the same towards you innocent and peaceable and clear from all Rebellion Plots or Actions and Intentions of Evil we desire not your hurt but your good even that ye may walk in the VVay of Peace and your souls may live and not perish and that ye may fear the God of Heaven and may walk in his VVisdom and Counsel and not be destroyed And such is our Innocency of heart towards you that we can say VVho is the man that can truly accuse and detect us of the contrary for such hath been our peaceable deportment ever since the King's arrival that no guilt of Rebellion in action or intention is found with us But we are clear of all these things however otherwise falsly suspected or judged And we desire nothing of you but that we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all Godliness and Honesty under the King and that we may be permitted to serve the Lord our God and worship him in the true exercise of a pure Conscience according to the teachings of his own Spirit in the matters of Faith and VVorship and Duty towards him This we only desire That we may serve the Lord and render all due Obedience to them that have Rule over us And seeing ye have now our Case before you If yet it be in your hearts and purposes to afflict us yet more and to enact against us to our Imprisonment Banishment or whatsoever for and because of our Religion and good Conscience we are resolved in the Lord in much patience to bear it and not rendring evil for evil but innocently to submit to whatsoever the Lord suffers to be done unto us And we shall leave it to the Just God of Heaven to plead our Cause and to determine the Controversie between You and Us in his day VVe say if you yet cause us to suffer greater things than these it is as we are Christians and Servants of Christ for we are Innocent towards you and we are perswaded in the Lord to be faithful and never to renounce our good Consciences nor to deny Christ before men but to confess him and professe him and follow him in the sight of all men notwithstanding whatsoever Sufferings may come upon us for the same and if we perish in this World for so doing our Blood will be upon our Persecutors and we shall have Peace with the Lord our God even while the Guilt of our Destruction resteth with such as seek our hurt And therefore our desire is That ye would truly weigh and consider these things in the Fear and VVisdom of God and how dangerous a thing it is both to Us and Your selves to enact the Banishment of so many thousands of Persons and Families upon the account of difference in Religion Oh! do not put us upon such a sad Extremity by making such a Law by which we are concluded either to disobey Christ Jesus and his Law and so to deny Christ and renounce our good Consciences and so to expose us to the VVrath and Anger of God perpetually or to break your Law and disobey your Authority and so to expose us to utter ruine in this VVorld Consider of this and let the Law of God teach you To do to others as you would be done unto in the like case THE END

cause aforesaid Two thousand weight of Tobacco all that he had both of his own and others and he and the aforesaid Thomas Owen were kept in such a stinking Hole in the Winter season and not suffered to go forth to ease themselves and their Friends denyed to come at them to minister to their Necessities by which Cruelty their bodies were brought so low that John Cox was near death and lay speechless for many hours and when they thought he was past recovery they opened the Door And this Cruelty they inflicted on him only for not putting off his Hat as it was exprest by some of them that persecuted him And Twelve other Friends were Imprisoned for meeting together to worship God William Colburn for having a Meeting in his house was fined an hundred pound Sterling David Cuffin for the same cause was taken and four more with him and severely whipt and sent to Prison and fined an hundred pounds And several others that are not here mentioned have greatly suffered in Virginia for the worshipping of their God and for serving of him in Spirit and Truth These Friends following were Banished from the Island of Nevis for Keeping their Consciences voyd of offence towards the Lord and had no Legall Tryall Mary Fisher Peter Head John Rous. William Robinson Christopher Holder Thomas Harris Richard Clark banished from his VVife being an Inhabitant there Richard Pinder Robert Malins Josiah Coale George Rofe Thomas Clarke Jane Gore Justinian Holliman whipt and banished Robert Hodgshon It was their constant course that when they heard any Freinds were come to the Island to never leave hunting after them till they had found them out and then to banish them off the Island and force the Master of the ship to carry them from the Island that brought them thither and most of these Freinds a fore mentioned were banished off the Island without any legall Triall Evidence brought against them Crime or breach of Law laid to their charge which might occasion justly their Banishment and few Freinds were ever called before the Governour or Magistrates but being taken by the Marshall were forced off the Island by a verball Order only from the Governour Justinian Holliman Banished off from Christophers Therefore in the Love Patience Wisdome and Meekness we would have you to Consider these things in Justice true Judgment and Equity for our Friends be innocent not lifting up a hand against any one and own that which is just which Establisheth a Kingdome And the Lord Suffered Adam though he disobeyed to have Liberty in the Earth and Cain and wild Ishmael and Prophane Esau whom God hated And the true Christians in the Primitive times did not Compell nor force any about Maintenance nor Ministry for we do not read that the Christians did imprison any for not Swearing for not Paying Tythes or for not going to their Publick places of Worship Therefore these things came up since the Apostles dayes for which they had no Example from them nor Christ which Christians should be more Moderate then all people upon the Earth in the gentle and peaceable Wisdome that is pure from above but the Just allwayes suffered and the Sufferings of the Just is by them that live not in the Power of God Therefore with the witness of God Consider these things And if there be not liberty for Husband-men and Tradesmen it will be the Cause of ruining many Families and will not be for Gods Honour nor your profit to hinder people from going about their Lawful occasions and from Meeting together to Worship God And we being Peaceable and seeking the peace of all men and not lifting up a Hand against any one to the revenging of our selves though we have Suffered therefore it is but reasonable that we should have Our Meetings and it is not against the Apostles Doctrine nor Christs for Christians to meet together to Edifie one another and Build up one another in the holy Faith and to Exhort one another daily and not to forsake the Assembling together one with another This was the Command and Example of the Apostles who met together from house to house and Christ who met on Hills Mountaines and in the Wilderness and houses and Inns And the Apostle Paul was Suffered to meet at Rome where the Seat of the Emperour was and the Prophet said They that feared the Lord met often together whom the Lord heard which were as his Jewels Therefore Christians should not be straitned from the Practice of the Apostles for if there was more Love among Christians where there is a great deal of Profession there would be more Edification And not to be against such as do Edifie one another according to the Practice of the Apostles for Christ and the Apostles Meetings were lookt upon to be Seditious and tumultuous as ours are but our Innocency and theirs hath and doth manifest it self And this we desire that you all had the mind of Moses who said would all the Lords people were Prophets for there was some in Moses dayes that would have limitted the Spirit and Christ said to the Jewes Is it not Written you shall all be taught of the Lord. And as Concerning Swearing Christ hath Commanded not to Swear at all And the Apostle James said My Brethren above all things Swear not at all but in all your Communications let your yea be yea and nay nay this is Christs Doctrine and the Apostles who sayes Swear not at all least you fall into Condemnation Now these are the true Christians who obey Christ and the Apostles Doctrine of whose Doctrine and Commands we are tender and cannot Swear least we Commit sin and evill and fall into Condemnation Christ and the Apostles hath commanded us in all our Communication to keep to yea and nay And now if our yea be not yea and nay nay in all things to you and all Magistrates and all people then let us Suffer if we break that as them that break their Oaths And let all the Prison Doors be Set Open for the Innocent Men and Women that many that have long lain in Prison in Straw and Holes and wanted Food and where many have dyed and this is that we would not have their Innocent Blood brought upon you And let Armed men with naked Swords and Pistols be stopt who comes among naked Men and Women and Children that be innocent when they are met together to wait upon the Lord which is a thing below the very Humanity of Men and contrary to the Kings Proclamation which saith Souldiers should not come into any house without a Civil Officer and a VVarrant And all these Afflictions and Sufferings upon tender Consciences in matters of Religion are contrary to the Kings Declaration at Breda and his Speeches and Promises since And Friends It 's a dishonour and not an honour to Christian Religion that Boyes Girls Fellows and People and Armed-men with Swords and Pistols should strike beat cut and throw stones