Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	gospel_n	law_n	life_n	7,267	5	5.2543	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26893	A seasonable word of advice unto all the saints in England whereby they are exhorted to beware of Satans subtilties, and hold fast the words of sound doctrine / by J.B., a lover of the truth.	J. B.	1655 (1655)	Wing B122; ESTC R32845	20,027	31

Spiritual Pride they bitterly curse and speak against those whom they looke upon to be the Enemies of Christ and such as oppose and as they conceive persecute them Neither can they by reason hereof hear any brotherly admonition although never so lovingly and friendly urged but they fly out into Impatiency Indignation Censuring uncivil gestures and perhaps bitter Expressions against those who cannot Close with their Judgement or do oppose it A fourth way by which Satan doth deceive in these Times causing many to pervert and misunderstand the Scripture is by tempting them and drawing them to put allegorical and mystical as they call them Interpretations upon prophetical and Doctrinal Scriptures This work Satan effecteth by taking Advantage of the Excellency of humane learning in many men By which they do not onely scorne to deliver themselves in their discoursing preaching praying or writing according to Scripture Language but they will finde out quaint Expressions high Rapturs and Notions admired by many which must be called the Dictates of the holy Ghost and an excellent Spirit of Utterance which doth prove in a little Time as this Age hath experienced to be onely carnal and artificiall But they will not content themselves with the abuse of Scripture by unwarrantable words but the whole Scripture and every part thereof must be looked upon as an Allegorie and so they will make of it what they please Hereupon much Confusion hath arisen by reason of many vain disputations and the divulging of phantastical Notions Every one of these men making what they please of God Angels Resurrection heaven the word divine union Anoynting Law and Gospel And hereupon the late King Charles was made God the father the then Parliament God the Son and the Lawes the Holy Spirit in a Book intituled the Leaves of the Tree of Life With many other horrid Blasphemies We should take notice of those Scriptures which the holy Ghost doth take allegorically but we ought not to allegorize any Scripture which the holy Ghost would have us to vnderstand literally Again Satan causeth men to misunderstand the Scriptures by putting a Mist before their Eyes so that they cannot see afar off And this he doth effect by causing them to look no further then their present Dispensation For although they may there discern the Truth yet if they look no further they shall never see all the Truth They look upon all things in Scripture with a Spiritual Eye but see not that those things or many of them which are prophetical shall be really accomplished And hereupon some see no Resurrection but the rising to newnesse of Life no Coming of Christ but by his Spirit no Reign nor Kingdome of Christ but by his Spirit in the heart of his Saints No Canaan but the Kingdome of heaven Satan by bringing many into this Snare although he cannot destroy their Soules yet while they lye under this Cloud he doth trouble them with vain Disputations and contentious Arguings in defence of their present thoughts and Apprehensions of the Scriptures and keepeth them in darknesse and ignorance of many excellent and comfortable Truths But Lastly Satan doth draw many to misunderstand pervert the Scripturs by holding forth the mind of God in unwarrantable Expressions and words which Mans Wisdome teacheth Therefore the Apostle said If any consent not to the wholsom words of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Tim. 6.3 4 5. and to the Doctrine which is according to Godlinesse he is puffed up and knoweth nothing but doteth about Questions and strife of words whereof cometh Envy strife railing evil surmising and vain Disputation of men of corrupt minde and destitute of the Truth And assuredly there is much in that Exhortation of the Apostle unto Timothy 2 Tim. 1.13 keep the true Pattern of the wholsome words which thou hast heard of me in Faith and Love For When Satan hath brought any into this Snare when men will not read the Scriptures that they may be able to understand the language of the holy Ghost then he Satan sendeth them to buy their knowledge at the shop of humane learning and teacheth them this Principle that is That humanity is a helpe to Divinity that Grammer causeth men to write and speake of the things of God congruously that Logick inableth men to finde out the Truths of Divinitie and to reason the more ●blie that Philosophy directeth them to the reason and Cause of things and that by the force of Rhetorick men may more excellently utter and expresse themselves when they speake of Scriptural and divine Mysteries And hereupon they will tell you it was that Isaiah a learned man wrote a more excellent Stile then the rest of the Prophets and Paul who was bred at the feet of Gamaliel was more eloquent and delivered himselfe in better Language then the rest of the Apostles Being brought into this Snare they vilifie and reproach the Scriptures and say that they are darke obscure and imperfect in themselves and therefore it is necessary that men should look upon them by the Candle of humane learning Hereby Satan taketh them off from the study of the Scriptures and setteth them upon the Search of the Knotty schoole-men the contradictory Counsels nay hereby he directeth them to heathen Poets Ethnick Philosophers and fabulous Moralists to finde among their writings what the mind of God should be concerning this or that Scripture Hereupon the world hath been filled with many larg volums of vain and unprofitable Disputations and Controversies Hereby many have been a long time learning but never have come to the knowledge of the Truth And hereby many heresies have arisen and the Scriptures have been wrested into as many formes as there are Notions or varieties of opinions among men to the delusion of some but utter destruction and irreparable and irrecoverable Losse of others And thus much shall suffice to have been written concerning the first Snare which Satan doth lay to intrap and insnare many deluded and onely formal professors of Christianity and if it were possible to deceive the very Elect. For Satan knoweth if the foundation be taken away the building must of necessity fall if the Eye be put out the whole body must be darke and if he can deprive men of light they must walke in darknesse and stumble and fall The second Snare that Satan layeth for those that professe Christianity is by his seducements to cause them to give heed to Dreames and visions And this Satan doth by moving them to apply those Scriptures which promise that men shall Dreame Dreams to their present Generation When men in these Times will desire of the Lord those things which he hath declared shall not come to passe until after Ages it is just with him to give power unto Satan to delude such by Dreames and visions These things are not to be expected in and during the time of the Kingdome of Satan If the Lord denied S. to appear unto his people the

in the Faith And Fourthly Hereby he causeth them to put private Interpretations upon the Scriptures applying them at their pleasures to particular Times Places and Persons Whereas the Scriptures and divine prophesies as they came not in old time by the will of man but holy men spake at they were moved by the holy Ghost so they are not to be interpreted according to the will of man with any private Interpretation but according to the mind and spirit of God which we can only find out by searching the Scriptures and comparing spiritual things with spiritual A Third way by which Satan bringeth many to a misunderstanding of the Scriptures and a perversion thereof is by keeping them in Ignorance of the present Dispensation they are under hereby causing them in Gospel-Times to walke chiefly by the Rule of the Law and to look for the performance and accomplishment of those things in their Daies which are not to be fulfilled until future Times This Satan doth by making use of Ignorant and unfaithful shepherds who knowing not the Scriptures themselvs or unfaithfully dispencing them somtimes contrary to the Convictions of their own hearts Light and knowledge to maintain their temporal Advantages and to keep up the principles of their artificial and scholastic Theology do impose such Doctrines upon the world that they lay the weight of a mans Justification upon his duties and performances thereby destroying as far as in them lyeth the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ And although in their Doctrines and words they will speak of Justification by Faith yet in their works and practizes they deny it Laying heavy burdens works and duties upon men which neither they nor their forefathers were able to bear And hereby Satan causeth them either to omit or pervert and wrest those Scriptures which hold forth Justification freely by Faith in Christ without the works of the Law Secondly Satan doth by his Seducements and subtile Suggestions cause many to mistake diverse prophetical Scriptures as to Time by perswading them that the accomplishment of those Promises will be in their Daies And this he doth by taking Advantage of an earnest desire which is in many professors to see the fulfilling of those things which are conteined in those Prophesies because they are perswaded that thereby the Lord would be exceedingly glorified And therefore the Saints in these Times should very carefully watch over their Zeale which in most men is rather a passion then a Grace especially if it be fixed upon a wrong Object The Jewes were Zealous of the Law of Moses but being ignorant of the Law of the Gospel of Christ their zeale was dissalowed of by the Apostle saying Rom. 10.2 they have a zeale but not according to knowledge for they being ignorant of the Righteousnesse of God went about to establish their own Righteousnesse And so far did this zeale hurry them that they persecuted the most precious Saints of Jesus Christ Thus Paul persecuted the Church Luk 9.51 to 56. Phil. 3.6 and thus Satan took Advantage against the Disciples working upon their Zeale who were then Ignorant of their present Dispensation and work which Christ was then to do in the world For when Jesus Christ was to go to Jerusalem on a certain time he sent some before him who prepared his lodging in a Town of the Samaritans The Samaritans being professed Enemies to the Jewes finding that Christ intended to go to Jerusalem to worship refused to receive him Whereupon James and John moved with Zeale taking for example Elias the prophet but being at that Time ignorant of the work which their Master then came to do moved the Lord to command fire to come down from heaven to consume the Samaritans But the Lord answered Ye know not of what Spirit ye are of for the Son of Man is not come to destroy mens lives but to save them And assuredly Satan doth work thus in the world taking advantage of a great zeale which is in many Saints who are zealous of the glory of God and tender of his honour who set before them the Examples of many Zealous Saints who were acted by an immediate hand of God and they call for fire Judgements blastings and wrath upon many whom they see do dishonour God and as they conceive do carry on the work of Satan against Christ Not considering that yet we are under the tenders of the Gospel and a door of mercy is open unto all men To all sorts of sinners excepting those who sin against the holy Ghost to whoremongers and Idolaters to drunkards and blasphemers so that he that is a persecuter of Christ and his Saints to day may be a converted Paul to morrow Not considering that the day of wrath vengeance and utter destruction is the Day of the Lord the Day of his next coming and appearing Untill which time his Disciples should be merciful as their father which is in heaven is merciful who maketh his Sun to arise on the evil and good Mat. 5.44 45 46. and sendeth Rain on the Just and unjust Wherefore the Saints in these Daies should watch over their zeale and have a Care that it be bounded with love on the one hand and knowledge on the other and be circumspect that they fix their zeale on a right Object according to that of the Apostle It is good to be zealous or earnest in a good thing Gal. 4.15 16 17 18. We should zealously love when the Lord would have us do good but we should not hate zealously when the Lord would have us to love nor Curse when he would have us to blesse nor deprecate any when he would have us to pray for all Men. Satan having caught any in this Snare that is blinded their Eyes that they are not able to know the things that belong to their present Dispensation and having wrought upon their zeale and fixed it upon a wrong Object In the first place he doth deprive the Saints who are thus deceived by him of many gospel Comforts which do arise from the apprehension of the Love of God grounded upon free Grace and applied unto us by and in Jesus Christ Secondly hereby that is by altering the nature and property of true zeale which is alwaies attended with love knowledge and humility he increaseth spiritual Pride in them which may be thus discerned when they begin to have low thoughts of all men but of themselves and of such as agree with their Judgements when they seperate themselves from their Brethren supposing them to be Low flat dead backward and lesse zealous in the worke of God then themselves when they will passe a Judgement upon others and say this man is guilty of the sin against the holy Ghost this man is faln from the Faith and his former professions this man is an hypocrite this man is a Persecuter of the Saints this man is not to be pray'd for this man ought to be cut off again by reason of this