Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	world_n	worship_n	year_n	148	3	4.9942	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A64346	A tender visitation of heavenly love, streaming from the fountain of endless life unto the tribulated flock of Christ (whom the world in derission calls Quakers) being several epistles given forth, by the one spirit of truth, through several of the servants of the living God, who are called among men Richard Farnsworth, John Whitehead, Thomas Greene.	R. F. (Richard Farnworth), d. 1666.	1664 (1664)	Wing T680; ESTC R16615	13,111	22

A Tender VISITATION OF Heavenly Love Streaming from the Fountain of Endless Life UNTO The tribulated Flock of Christ whom the World in Derission calls Quakers Being several Epistles given forth by the one Spirit of Truth through several of the Servants of the Living God Who are Called among Men RICHARD FARNSWORTH JOHN WHITEHEAD THOMAS GREENE And the Leaves of the Tree were for the Healing of the Nations Rev. 22.4 Printed in the Year 1664. DEar Friends whom I dearly love and not I only but the Lord also you are beloved of the Lord though you be hated of the world and though you be attended with many Temptations and Tryals within and without the Lord doth support your spirits and reacheth forth of his vertue and povver unto you both to enable and refresh you to bear you above the spirit of the world that it may neither vvithin nor vvithout prevail against you or overcome you for it is by the povver of the Lord that you stand and are upheld and he hath ovvned you and joyned himself spiritually vvith you vvho is pleased to help you upon every occasion and take part vvith you to manifest his povver vertue and vvisdome unto you povver to sustain support ease help and deliver you wisdome to teach and instruct you vertue to refresh and comfort you that you may be acquainted vvith him depend upon him and give glory unto him and since he hath manifested his love unto you and shed it abroad vvithin you have you not both been dejected and comforted dejected by the buffetings of Satan and comforted by the Revivings Refreshings Encouragements and pourings forth of the Love Vertue and Spirit of God in and amongst you if the Lord have either vvith-held or hid himself from you for a trial of you hath not many strange thoughts and questions risen and abounded vvithin you hath not Satan struck greatly at you and sorely buffetted you and hath not much invvard vveaknesse faintnesse and deadnesse attended you and vvas not all called into question that ever had been manifested from God and make knovvn unto you But after you had been tryed under such an exercise the Lord vvas pleased to appear again and manifest himself unto you again and then all strange thoughts and questionings fled from you deadnesse and faintnesse vvas removed and carried avvay from you and the appearance and pourings forth of God in you did enliven ease comfort open and fill you so that sorrovv and sighing fled avvay and the joyes of heaven were manifested in you and reached unto you then was you filled with praises and could ascend over all sorrows and troubles in pure thanksgivings and give glory to the God of your mercies and manifold deliverances Oh! my dear friends you have had many troubles and also many deliverances so that you have not been killed and overwhelmed with sorrows and Satans buffettings though you have been sore struck at without as well as within but are yet kept alive in the principle and spirit of God therein to appear for him and give glory unto him that principle of Truth and Righteousnesse which God hath manifested and given unto you hath met with many oppositions within you and since you received the same and were possessors thereof you have been opposed for its sake and because Satan could not kill that good thing within you that God hath manifested and given unto you he hath struck sorely at you for it he could but either by his flatteries or threatnings dispossesse you of that principle and spirit which God hath possessed you withall to keep your hearts souls and Consciences close to the Lord and for his service and prayes in his own way of appointment then would persecutions and banishments be at an end for the cause of God as aforesaid but because you cannot be banished and driven by the spirit of the world from the principle and spirit of God and his wayes and worship into the spirit of God and his wayes and worship into the spirit and way of the world and the worship thereof you are threatned with banishment from your Native Countrey and outward Relations But as you abide true and faithful to the Lord they cannot banish or drive you from the presence of the Lord for the earth is the Lords and the fulnesse thereof and if the Lord suffer them to banish any of you it will be for good you are his and he is yours he hath owned you for his people and signified unto you that he is your God you have had many testimonies of his love and refreshings from his own presence to engage your hearts to him and to carry you forth after to do or to suffer for him he was with his people Israel when they went over the sea and in the wildernesse also and did both preserve them and prepare a table for them and he knows what is best for his people and which way to bring most glory to his name and comfort to them and therefore it is good to be with the Lord where-ever he would have us to be and to commit our cause to him whose care is over us and whose love is so greatly manifested unto us So to the Lord I commit and commend you with my self and the whole flock and family of God to be kept by his power as a people in Covenant with him to be ordered and disposed of by him as he sees good And my dear love extends it self unto you in a pure remembrance from that spirit and power which hath begot us unto it self and bound us up in it and thereby one in another to live and walk together in the footsteps of the flock and to lye down on that hill of rest where the flock meets at noon day and the blessing of him that dwelt in the bush when the bush was on fire and was not burnt be with you all Farewell South Leverton in Nottinghamshire this sixth day of the ninth Month 1664. Yours as you are the Lords Richard Farnesworth Let this be coppied fair over and sent abroad amongst Friends to be read in the fear and wisdome of God in London Bristoll Hartford Kingston Glocestershire Worcestershire Warwickshire and in them parts DEar friends and brethren called of and gathered in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ which is the word the light and the life whereby we and all men were Inlightned that we might see our deformity and be made sensible what glory dignity and felicity we lost by degenerating from the law of the life of the Creator and not only so but in the same light God hath given us again the knowledg of his glory vertue and power that by the operation thereof through faith we might be reformed or created anew regenerated restored and established in the image and glory of God wherein man was formed at first by the word of God which hath been the principal thing pressed unto by all the Prophets Apostles and righteous men which have

forth fruit be blessed for ever But they that with their hearts depart from the living God and bow down to an image invented by man and trust in the arm of flesh thinking by a corrupt compliance with the world and their own care wisdome and prudence to save themselves shall certainly find destruction in their goings Therefore let such consider whether they have an arm like the highest or can deliver themselves from the sword in the day of battel or from death in the time of plague or from hunger in the time of famine or whether they can deliver their corn from blasting and mildew or the fruits of the ground from the Palmer worm and Caterpiller and who can deliver their cattel from the hail stones shafts of lightning murrain consuming rot and other instruments of destruction which are at Gods appointment and who can deliver their houses and fields their baskets and store from Gods curse if rebelliously or treacherously they depart from him or thinkest thou O vain man thereby to make thy off-spring blessed or lay up treasure for thy children shall it not be a snare unto them untill the moth consume it Wherefore I say most blessed is the man whose help is in the name of the Lord and that puts his confidence in God who casteth down and raiseth up killeth and maketh alive as pleaseth him on whom all creatures do wait and be gives nourishment to every thing that hath life whether Vegetable or Animal O then fear not little flock but cast your care upon him and walk before him with a perfect heart and love him above all things in every thing watching that your consciences may be kept void of offence and nothing spoken nor acted against the light of the Lord Jesus Christ so in him you shall have peace though in the world you have trouble yet shall your latter end be blese sed and your off-spring inherit your substance And dear friends meet often together in the name of the Lord as he requireth notwithstanding the contradiction of Sinners and the Laws of mortal men so shall you feel the pure presence of God in the midst of you and in the day of adversity he will be your hiding place and not leave you destitute of help in time of affliction therefore diligently wait on God in all your meetings that you all may inherit the promise of the Father which the world cannot receive even the holy Spirit that in it you may worship God and exhort comfort and pray for one another and for your enemies not quenching the spirit and beware of bringing forth any thing or running into any thing but as you are led with the spirit and power of the Lord. And if any have erred from the truth let them return and patiently wait on God for mercy and forgivenesse who pitties the wandrings of his sheep and in dear compassion seeks after that which is loft though ninety and nine be left alone in the wildernesse Therefore as he is merciful dear children be ye merciful and ready to forgive one another and your enemies as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you and have perfect peace and love amongst your selves and in no wise jarr one with another lest ye be guilty of weakening one another and so drive the halt out of the way but in all lowlinesse of mind and tendernesse of heart condescend one to another in the truth that you may not grieve one another and judge that eye which is more apt to look at anothers weakness than thy own and that mind which hath a delight to spread it abroad for it is in transgression of the Royal Law left thou be judged of God and the measure which thou hast given to others be measured to thee again And you whom the Lord doth anoint with the oyl of gladness take heed of exalting above your fellows which is the heads place and beware of doing any thing whereby they that are in heaviness with the mother which yet travails to bring forth and dwell in her house of mourning may be grieved for God accepteth them therefore let your melody unto the Lord who seeth in secret be chiefly in heart and stoop low that you may mourn with them that mourn and if need be enter into heaviness with them that are in heaviness so in the pure love and sympathy one with another you may edifie one another and be comforted of God together growing unto a habitation of his delight who by his Spirit hath signified how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity And dear Lambs none of you be discouraged because of my bonds but in a pure Conscience hold fast the mystery of faith without wavering for though the Devil should cast many of Gods servants into prison yet the victory is sure to the Lambs followers who through his precious blood and the word of their testimony shall come through the tribulation of these dayes which shall have an end when it is manifest that we as naturally serve God as Job did and not for any self end but are as willing to be stript of all and embrace affliction for his names sake as to be compassed about with blessings And in the mean time the suffering of Gods lambs whether imprisonment spoiling of their goods or banishment are not only for the purifying and making them white but also for a tryal and to leave all without excuse that make mention of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ whom he will judge in righteousness according to their works in the day of seperation when the sheep shall stand on the right hand and the goats on the left Then to them on his right hand who have been as sheep given up to the slaughter he will say Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of the world for I was naked and ye cloathed me I was a stranger and ye took me in hungry and ye fed me thirsty and ye gave me drink sick and in prison and ye ministred unto me for in as much as ye did it to one of those that believe in me ye did it unto me But to them on his left hand the Lord will say Go ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels for I was naked and ye cloathed me not a stranger and ye took me not in hungry and ye fed me not thirsty and ye gave me no drink sick and in prison and ye visited me not But in as much as their eyes are without and they will not see him afflicted in his people they will say When saw we thee naked or a stranger or hungry or thirsty or sick or in prison and did not minister unto thee Then shall our Lord and King say in as much as ye did it not unto the least of these that believe in me ye did it not unto me And the Righteous shall enter into everlasting life but the Wicked into everlasting punishment O Then rejoyce ye suffering Lambs Because the day draws near Wherein God will break all Satans bonds And eke your innocency clear That all the earth may know You are his pasture sheep Whom he doth feed in vallyes low Where runs lifes fountains deep That ye therein may washed be Whiter than Snow in Salmon In beauty to exceed the fair Lilly When com'd through the great tribulation Wherein your faith and patience Your zeal your love and constancy To the Lord God omnipotent Hee 'l fully prove and try Then in the power ye shall stand On Sions holy Mountain With Psalmes in each right hand And praises springing from the fountain Of endless life in victory triumphant Wherewith God will you crown Over th' Earth Whore and Dragons power so rampant To reign in high renown Therefore in patience faith and hope Wait Gods will to fulfill And in his love your souls repose Till valleys rise above the hills Then you that with mans Judgment wronged are And for pure Conscience sake oppressed Amongst the blessed you shall have a share And at th' Lambs throne in righteousness be redressed In sight of all your foes Who at their will and pleasure By unjust decrees have you expos'd To sufferings without measure Who then shall understand and too late repent The errours of their life Being constrain'd by righteous punishment To see they have caused their own grief By kicking ' gainst the pricks In their own Consciences Whilst they devis'd new tricks To add affliction to the Innocents Who do on God depend Their righteous cause to judge And cannot seek revenge On them who life them grudge J. W. The first Copy of this was writ in the Castle of Lincoln the 22d day of the 9th Moneth 1661. Let it be carefully copied over and sent to be read in the meetings of friends amongst whom I have laboured while it was day having peace in this hour of the worlds darkness in which I rest with all the Brethren and friends that be faithful THE END

served God in their generation and been witnesses of his good will towards men who gave his eternal Son a ransome for all and to enlighten all as the spirit of God now in due time hath testified unto us which is an evident token that God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation and through regeneration to become heirs of a kingdome that cannot be shaken which stands in righteousnesse peace and joy in the holy spirit wherein yee that are faithful have an access to God and do enjoy sweet inward communion with him whose tabernacle is with us and whose bounty towards us hath been exceeding great and his goodnesse infinite of which I cannot but declare a little that posterity may know there is mercy with him that he may be feared for in long-suffering he bore the infirmities of our youth and in mercy passed by the sins of former ignorance he did also quicken us when we were dead and opened our eyes that we might see and our ears that we might hear when compassion moved him to pity us in the day of our wearisome wandrings he restored us a path to dwell in wherein he hath guided us by the skilfulnesse of his hands and chastised us when we have turned aside but loving kindnesse and mercy he hath not taken away from us but opened his ear unto our cry when we were little he carried us in his arms and in our travels and triale he hath supported us when temptations have overtaken us and the enemy compassed us about on every side he hath pitied our weaknesse and stretched out his hand to deliver us by his power we have been plucked out of the mire and clay and our feet set upon a rock out of which clean water hath flowed both to wash and refresh us Therefore I will praise the Lord with my whole heart and ascribe glory and honour unto the most high for his work is perfect and his love immeasurable to his children he hath given people for our life and will not spare Nations for our ransom they which have digged a pit have fallen therein and they which do lay snares for the innocent shall be taken therein as our eyes have seen and our fathers have told us wherefore let us hope in the Lord as long as we live for though he doth now and hath often suffered us to be distressed yet have we not been nor are forsaken and though we have been sometimes cast down yet have we not been destroyed because under us have been the everlasting arm of our God who every way hath dealt with us as a father with his children in whom he delighteth Therefore dear friends as we have tasted that God is gracious let us take heed unto the grace which he hath given us and not decline from the way that he chose for us in the day of our simplicity but bow our ears to the instruction of life that we may be kept tender towards God out of the corruptions of this world and defilements of sin which in ancient time did grieve Gods good spirit and provoke him to be wroth with his inheritance wherefore let us hold fast the mystery of faith in a pure conscience and passe the time of our sojourning here in Gods fear waiting for the fulfilling of these very precious promises which we have received that we may be partakers of the divine nature and thereby do the things contained in the royal Law of our Lord so shall we stand justiefid when the secrets of men shall be manifest and judged with his light and every man feel in himself the reward of his works whether they be good or evil for in them that have done evil shall the wrath of God burn like devouring fire but in them that have done good shall divine joy and consolation arise from the wel-spring of Gods everlasting love so these things bearing a weight upon my heart I judged it my duty to stir ye up by way of remembrance for the joy that is set before you to endure the crosse and despise the shame committing your selves wholly to the Lord in well-doing that he may keep your minds stable in the love of the truth till ye come to receive a full reward for every labour of love and for all sufferings that ye have undergone for the Lords sake And deare hearts though I am perswaded that divers of you know these things and are established in the present truth yet whilest we dwell in Tabernacles of clay and are subject to be tempted the love of God constrains me to communicate that which I have received for your good and preservation desiring that ye also in the same love may seek to preserve one another and admonish exhort and stir up that which is good in one another so much the more as we know the true light shineth and hath manifest the things belonging to our peace considering that ye must give an account to God how you improve your talents be not discouraged at the untowardnesse of such as have given way to the enemy and are drove aside by his subtilty and violence for they do most need help that are the least sensible of it and do presumptuously kick against the admonitions and exhortations of faithful friends and brethren being hardened in themselves that they feel not Gods witnesse wherein persisting they are not only beguiled of their reward but lose all tendernesse to the truth and are covered with thick darknesse and drowned in destruction and perdition Therefore as soon as ye are sensible that the enemy hath got advantage of any particular be ready to give and receive warning and exhortation to and from one another lest any be hardened through the deceitfulnesse of sin And dear friends in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ diligently meet together and suffer not your selves to be drawn out from a watchful waiting state lest ye slumbering do trifle away your precious time and grow weak and the enemy enter at unawares for they that wait on God shall renew their strength and the watchful eye shall see his Saviour and deliverer near to the refreshing of his soul which shall be cloathed with righteousnesse and filled with the glory and vertue of an immortal life whilest the soul of the sluggard is cloathed with rags and such as be carelesse intangled with many hurtful lusts wherefore dear and tender plants I say again be watchfull and obedient to God in things that are cleare and manifest so will hidden things be revealed and ye tought to avoide every thing that tends to beget doubts disputing or Contension about persons or things which are below that divine life whereby you are enlightened and to waite for the latter raine where ye have received the former raine so shall ye take deepe root in a fruitfull ground and be no more subject to coffiing whilest your hearts are tender in the Light sound Judgement shall shut out deceit false spirits and