Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	heart_n	know_v	soul_n	7,408	5	4.7811	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A86878	The humble representation of the committee, gentry, ministry, and other well affected persons, in the county of Leicester: to His Excellency Thomas Lord Fairfax, and the Generall-Councell of officers of the Army. In reference to the agreement of the people, tendred to the kingdome, as touching religion.	England and Wales. Army.	1648 (1648)	Wing H3641; Thomason E545_22; ESTC R202478	5,100	16

under the sharpest lawes enacted against it yet in your third particular concerning Religion wherein you would seem to make some provision against it you have so slenderly and obscurely provided and upon the matter not at all if not held forth as the Publique Profession in the Nation that it fils us with amazement Hab. 3.1.6 makes our bellies to tremble and rottennesse to enter into our bones Eightly by the third clause all that doe professe faith in God by Jesus Christ as Papists Socinians Familists c. will pretend to do have liberty to professe their faith and exercise their Religion in any place whatsoever even in such places as are appointed for Publique worship if they may have but leave Which liberty being granted although it should not disturbe the Civill peace yet may prove infinitely pernicious and destructive to many thousands of ignorant and unstable soules as we already finde by sad and deplorable experience even now before this liberty be granted What strange and woefull issues may we then expect when not onely boundlesse liberty but as we humbly conceive most unwarrantable Protection is to be provided So that hereby Errors are under as safe powerful a shelter as truth and the most corrupting sedueers as the soundest and most Religious Christians which seemes extremely against the very current of Scriptures which tell us that seducing will eate as doth a Gangrene and overthrow the faith of some 2 Tim. 2.16 17 18. Deut. 13. And if God commanded such false Prophets to be put to death how then may we dare to give protection to them And besides all this casting our eyes further upon the Agreement we perceive that you intend not onely to settle it for the present but now at once to forme it into an Irrevocable Establishment which as farre as it relates to Religion being our businesse in hand addes heavinesse unto our spirits against which we humbly offer these ensuing reasons First some things therein appeare dangerous as hath in part been here presented others at least dubious and so not to be immutably established Secondly because many of these things were never found safe by the experience of any Church or State and to establish immutably in matters of high concernment such untried expedients we conceive cannot be so suitable to piety or prudence Thirdly because to settle such irrevocable establishments seemes to be inconsistent with a common principle of reason obliging us to endeavour and awaite the increase of light and knowledge in things both Civill and Religious in which through mercy we have found much increase of late yeeres and so have no ground to conclude that we are now growne up to such perfection in them as may not yet receive additionall and future improvement From all benefit whereof We by this Agreement conceive our selves from henceforth for ever excluded Fourthly by such Establishment we conceive we shall under the pretence of liberty but inthrall Posterity and tie them fast with a Gilded Chaine And therefore we are unsatisfied concerning the immutablenesse of the Establishment proposed And lastly although we doe exprofesso in this addresse decline such things proposed in the said Agreement as are meerely of Civil Concernment wherein we shall resigne up our selves to the determination of those in whom the great trust and supreme authority of the Kingdome doth reside as we hope your selves and others will which is our earnest desire yet forasmuch as the way proposed for setling and determining the Civil interest and also that of Religion is one and the same viz. by offering the same forme of Agreement to the People to be established or laid aside as it shall be received or disliked by the Generality of them We humbly conceive that gathering Subscriptions in the way you suggest and which as we understand is already practised may be of dangerous consequence for dividing the Kingdome especially the godly and well affected therein who being already Generally ingaged by the Nationall Covenant to maintaine the power and priviledges of Parliament in the maintenance of true Religion and the fundamentall lawes of the Kingdome must needs by such intended subscriptions for and against your Agreement be dangerously ingaged in such oppositions one of another as may greatly advantage the designes of the Common Enemy hazard the ruine of the honest party and hinder the settlement of the Nation in Peace and Safety Thus having briefely plainely and sincerely summed up our thoughts of the premises we now leave them in your bosomes with our Prayers and Teares from Hearts and Eyes lifted up to Heaven for a spirit of wisdome and holinesse to direct you in all your proceedings referring thereunto Beseeching you would not repute us among the number of those whose souls can mingle with none however Godly but such as in every point concurre in Judgement with themselves For as we know Christs owne Heart and Armes are open to weake Saints so by his grace are ours and ever shall to conscientious Brethren as farre as the word allowes though in matter of Discipline they may differ from us or in other points also that shake not the foundation of faith or enervate the power of Holinesse Nor are we such as have been backe friends to your Excellency and the Army No God knoweth we are of them that have loved and honoured you for what we have seen of God in and upon you and have often ●efended you from the strife of tongues Ye● 〈◊〉 ●●●se many prayers and praises are laid up in Heaven for you Pardon us therefore we beseech you Noble Sirs if we have been somewhat bold in this our humble addresse unto you for our businesse concernes our owne immortall soules and our Posterities yea the very foundations of precious Truth the least whereof laid in the balance is more weighty then the lives of many It is this we now plead for and God will beare us record it is truly this and not any private Interest of our owne You are Gentlemen that are tender to consciences we beg it that you will tender ours and many thousands more of the Godly in the Nation who we are confident might a true estimate be had are clearely of out mindes herein Other things might have been mentioned referring to Religion and particularly that no mention is made of the function of the Ministery which Christ hath undoubtedly established in the Church and greatly prospered in his worke which hath been ever mainely opposed by Sathan and is by many in these times But that Ordinance being so clearely founded by Christ in the Holy Gospell and hoping that your intentions are more full for that and other things then your words in that Agreement expresse we forbeare to insist further thereon In short these particulars are most considerable 1 That Christian Religion is not asserted as a fundamentall of our safety See Agreement Artic. 9. part 1. With the form of subscription in the close 2 That protection of Errors and Heresies is declared as a fundamentall Artic. 9. part 2. 3. with the form of subscription 3 That all the declared fundamentalls in this Agreement are irrevocably to be established Artic. 8. limitation 6. 4 That the fundamentalls and onely they shall be maintained to the uttermost as God shall enable See the form of subscription So that by this Agreement tendred to the People we feare naturall Liberty is endeavoured to be set up above divine prescripts and the ever-binding Lawes of God THis Humble Representation was presented to the Lord Generall his Excellency upon Thursday the 22 of Febr. 1648 by divers Gentlemen of the Committee and some Ministers in the name of many others well affected of the County of Leicester and was received with Noble Candor His Excellency promising to take it into consideration to communicate it to his Generall Councell of Officers and to endeavour the satisfaction of these and all other well-affected in the Nation Imprimatur Iob Downham Febr. 23. 1648.