Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A85941
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The down-fall of Anti-Christ: or, The povver of preaching, to pull down popery. In a briefe treatise on 2. Thessal. 28. By John Geree, Pastour of Tewkesbury, in Glocester-Shire.
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Geree, John, 1601?-1649.
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1641
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Wing G595; Thomason E157_17
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18,755
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26
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THE DOWN-FALL OF ANTI-CHRIST OR THE POVVER OF PREACHJNG to pull down POPERY In a briefe Treatise on 2. Thessal 2 8. And then shall that wicked one be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his Mouth and shall destroy with the brightnesse of his comming BY JOHN GEREE Pastour of Tewkesbury in GLOCESTER-Shire London Printed for Thomas Vnderhill 1641. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL JOHN WHITE Esquire and to the rest of that Honourable Committee for RELIGION Most worthy Sir MAny yeares agoe a Parliament sitting I began this Treatise thereby to have added my coale from the Word which is as fire to have kindled Zeale where there was power for the promoting of Preaching which Parliament miscarrying made this birth then abortive But when the fame of this Honourable Committee in this happie Parliament came abroad I was againe encouraged to consummate that which before was inchoate and now most worthy Sir to you I send it if it may any whit encourage you to goe on with your glorious designe who have encouraged me to go on with this meane piece what greater encouragement to any worke then evidence when it is finished it will bee of worth to answer the labour This Treatise will demonstrate that if you set up Preaching you give Popery her most deadly and uncurable wound and what can be a more glorious work did you know with what joy prayers to God the designment of your Committee for this purpose did every where provoke you would easily conjecture what exultation and Hallelujahs the effecting of it would produce and that would be no small spurre to you as no Committee hath a more acceptable object so I believe none hath more or more powerfull Prayers then this of yours which I doubt not but will procure good successe this as it is the Confidence so the daily Prayers of Your Worships Servant in the Lord Iesus Christ JOHN GEREE THE DOWN-FALL OF ANTI-CHRIST 2 THES 2.8 And then shall that wicked one be revealed whom the Lord shal consume with the Spirit of his Mouth THis Prophesie is now fulfilled and so cleared Prophesies cease to be Mysteries when by accomplishment they become Histories While this wicked one was obscured so was this Text but when his person was revealed this Text was unvayled hence the difference betweene Divines ancient and modâ—rne about this wicked one they could not see him because he was hid so some of them mistooke the Cloath for the picture the let for him that should have beene revealed supposing Nero to have beene that wicked one Others of the Ancients though in the Questions quid and qualis sit Anti-christus what and what-like Antichrist should bee they spake appositely yet in the question quis sit who should be this wicked onâ— they having onely mysticall Visions not performances there they were misled and mistooke But the later Divines look't on after the Let was removed and this wicked one revealed and so to them it was as easie to know him as it was difficult to the other as a riddle is easie after it is read as a Mathematicall conclusion plaine after it is demonstrated And here by the way we see a sound reason suggested why though in other things we give a preheminence to antiquity yet in this touching the person of Anti-Christ we attribute more to ages neare us For the ancient Fathers looked on this wicked one not onely through a mist but at a great distance both impediments to sight But our Divines saw him both with clearer light and nearer they saw him coram face to face as it were not through a Mystery darkely and therefore might give more sure information according to that of Austine Prophesies are sooner fulfilled then understood Iohn the Baptist was in many things equall to the greatest yet in one thing the least in the Kingdome of Heaven was greater then he to wit in unfolding the mysteries of the Messiah because they saw all things accomplished concerning him So men farre inferiour to the Fathers in Learning and other indowments may be greater than they in this point touching Anti-Christ because what the former studied in the Revelation these saw in the exhibition of this man of Sinne. Now later Divines generally save such as have received the marke of the beast in their hands or fore-heads as they understand by this man of sin the Antichrist so by the Anti-Christ the succession of the Popes of Rome who once revealed must not endure ever that is the property and prerogative of Christs Kingdome not of Antichristian Tyranny But he shall be consumed of whom the Lord by what The spirit of his mouth and what is that in the judgement of the best interpretours but the Preaching of the Gospell Anti-Christs Revelation could not be hindred because God had decreed it nor shall his consumption be prevented because God will worke it God workes by meanes happy is he whom God vouchsafes the honour to be an instrument of this desired ruine Whosoever loves holinesse must wish and endeavour the ruine of Ant Christs Kingdome because he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the lawlesse Whosoever loves the Lord Christ as all doe who are not accurst must oppose this man of sinne because he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Antichrist but he that opposeth Antichrist must labour to use the right meanes lest he builds up while he intends to destroy And what the right meanes is this text discovers holding forth to us this spirituall truth Observ The spirit of Gods mouth that is the preaching of the Gospel is the best means bring to Anti-christ and his Kingdome into such a consumption that will afterwards end in abolition Rev. 14 6. No sooner was one Angell seene in the midst of heaven having the everlasting Gospell to preach unto them that dwell on the earth but presently there followed another Angell saying Babylon is fallen is fallen that great City c. plainely showing that the preaching of the Gospell ushers in the ruine of the Seat and so of Anti-christ himselfe Many arguments may be gathered to confirme this spirituall truth as Argum. 1 1. Gods meanes are alwayes best to effect his owne worke and is not this of his prescription God is the wisest worker he knoweth the nature of every thing and the power of every instrument and therefore cannot erre in the designment of meanes for the accomplishment of any matter Nay as Gods word is operative so is his designement His word can give beiâ—g unto things and his choice impresse vertue on the meanes to effect the end and therefore when any meanes is designed of God we cannot without detracting from God deny it to be most fit to effect the end for either he designed it because it is fit or it becomes fit because he hath designed it Gods prescription then doth certainly evince that there 's no such blast to make Anti-christ wither as this spirit of Gods mouth the preaching of the Gospell Argum.
2 2. That which is fittest to build up the Kingdome of Christ is fittest to destroy Anti-christs throne for these are Contraries contrariorum contraria sunt praedicata Now what is the essentiall pillar of Christs Kingdome what begins it upholds it encreaseth it but the preaching of the Gospell By this the Apostlâ—s planted Churches and succeeding Pastours water'd and cherisht them When David and the house of Saul had both Thrones in one Kingdome what strengthned the one eadem operâ weakned the other So it is betweene the Kingdome of Christ and Anti-christ Generatio unius est corruptio alterius The ones raising is the others ruine Argum. 3 3. What is most contrary to the efficient or producing cause of any thing must needs be most destructive of that thing For as contraries have contrary praedicates so have they contrary effects also one contrary destroying what another brings forth Now what begat or brought Popery to its height but ignorance and suppressing of the word of God this superstition raigning and domineering then most when preaching of the word was least Therefore what ignorance of the word begat viz. this monster so sin the light and plaine setting up of the word must needs be fittest to consume Argum. 4 4. Every thing hath its spheare in working and things worke best on things of the same nature Corpus non agit in animam nisi indirecte Antichristianisme is a spirituall evill and so spirituall meanes should be most operative against it Now this spirit of Gods mouth is not a carnall but a spirituall weapon 2. Cor. 10.4.5 and mighty through God to throw downe strong holds even the spirituall holds of Anti-christs and the Divells Kingdome Argum. 5 5. That which is the best meanes to destroy sin must needs be most operative in the destruction of the man of sin for esse dat nomen his name is from his nature sin gives him being as well as denomination but by the word sin is destroyed By the Law comes the knowledge of sin and knowledge of sin is a good degree to the cure For penitus seisse est penitus odisse and odium is affectus aversationis one cannot rightly know it but will truly hate it and one cannot practise what they hate Ioh. 17.17 Sanctifie them by thy truth thy word is truth To sanctifie is nothing but to cleanse from sinne Argum 6 6. And what else can be the reason why the Pope and Papists are such enemies to the word of God both read and preached Is it not because they perceive its an enemy to them doe they not confesse the reason why they suppresse it to be because it makes Heretickes as they terme them that indeed makes them leave the Ly of Popery which is discovered by that and embrace those truths which are more consonant to that blessed rule And if the word read be so terrible to for powerfull against Anti-christ what is the word preach't but much more effectuall For tho the word as it is read be of more authority yet as it preached so being expounded and applied becomes of more power and efficacy Argum. 7 7. And doth not experience confirme this what did what doth give the greatest blow to Popery was not the divulging of the Gospel of Christ by Wickliffe Hus Hierome of Prague and Martin Luther that which first wounded the Kingdome of Anti-christ and in this Kingdome hath not Anti-christ most footing where preaching hath least Papists swarming most in those Shires and parts of them where dumbe and Idoll Ministers are most rife But where the Gospell hath beene for any long time preach't there like Owles with the morning light Papists vanish being either cnoverted to the truth or averted to other places where they may be quiet D … es of darknesse need little other confutation but light a candle will doe more to them than a staffe and the Gospell is spirituall light discountenancing Popery while it discovers it This is the power this is the excellency of the spirit of Gods mouth But here it is to be observed A good Note that it is the Spirit of Gods not of mans mouth which consumes this man of sin Human preaching though it have never so much of mans wit wisedome and eloquence is too weake for this worke it s that plaine preaching which is in the demonstration of Gods spirit and power that must blast this enemy of God and goodnesse Gods owne ordinance must accomplish his owne worke Iosh 6.4.5 If the Israelites bad blowne with brazen yea with golden trumpets when God prescribed Ramshornes the walls of Iericho would never have beene overthrowne Object If Papists would heare all the Sermons which are preach't this might be likely but they will not come within the verge of this heavenly call what force can it then have against them Answ Tho Papists heare not others will who by this meanes will have an antidote to prevent infection and hereby ordinary men will be inabled so to discover their sleights and lay open the filth of their superstition that they will grow ashamed Vse 1 This is then a sound truth and very usefull to direct all those that desire and indeavour this happy consumption of this man of sin Popery is full of Idolatry by Image-altar saint and bread-worship and so pernicious to the Churches and States where it is suffered there cannot then be a better object for a good Christian or States-man than to indeavour the supplanting of Popery and to those that are so well minded here 's the way the spirit of Gods mouth consumes the man of sin then set up preaching and you pull downe massing and expell it Penalties against Papists are good and necessary but preaching is better and more usefull If penalties be executed against Popery it may be kept from audacious appearing but by the setting up of preaching it would loose its being Penalties may restraine it preaching would consume it If Jesuites be banish't that may hinder the perverting of others if preachers be set up that will further the conversion of those which they have already perverted Penalties may hinder Popery from being the sin of the Land because being punished it should not be imputed But preaching would hinder it from being a fin in the Land because it would make it vanishas a mist before the Sun Both together are now necessary and usefull but I am perswaded if every congregation in England had a learned and godly Pastour that did preach the Gospell to them constantly in the demonstration of the spirit and power in a small time Jesuites would need no Proclamations to banish them nor Papists any Law to punish them there would be no Papist in our Israel But while the ignorance and negligence of Ministers suffer them to be seduced and their lewd conversation harden them in errour Lawes and penalties will be of little availe against them Which was long since observed by that learned and renowned light of our