Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	worship_n	worship_v	writing_n	32	3	8.4284	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A94750	A vvord of reproof to the priests or ministers, who boast of their ministery and ordinances, and yet live in pride, disdain, persecution, &c. Shevving what such are; and how little cause they have to exclaim against those who separate from them. As also a word to the papists discovering their foundation to be carnal and sandie. In a letter sent to some supposed priests or Jesuites in the north, by William Tomlinson.	Tomlinson, William.	1653 (1653)	Wing T1855; Thomason E691_9; ESTC R206966	29,084	49

of them and yet men cry them up for the Ordinances of Jesus Christ the Spirit of the Lord arises up in indignation against them as they are so abused If you say where are those gifts of singing which are spoken off there 's no such thing to be found I Answer you They are not to be found with you you are the Land of Captivity you are Babylon we may sit down by the Rivers of Babylon weeping in remembrance of Zion while we are held captive by you for how should any sing the Lords songs in a strange Land The shadowes are not yet fled away the winter is not yet over and gone and therefore we cannot say to you that the time of singing is come we cannot tell you that the voice of the Turtle is to be heard in your Land It may be it is heard somewhere though you hear it not Lastly you have that among some of you which you call Communion But where that Communion lies I cannot tell If it were Communion with God and Christ then the Nature of God and Christ which they have communion with at that Supper as you call it though it be a dinner would put forth it self in the partakers of it They would walk as children of light and not as children of darkness in the works of darkness If any man say he hath fellowship or Communion with God and walk in darkness he lies and doth not the Truth 1 Joh. 1.6 But your Communion shewes forth no such thing accompanying it For men come to it proud and they go away proud They come covetous and they go away covetous They come persecutors and they go away persecutors They come worldly minded ones and they go away worldly minded Now they who are such know neither the the Father nor the Son nor have Communion or fellowship with them Yea it may be they come Extortioners Oppressors hard hearted task masters of Egypt liars cheaters Over-reachers defrauders drunkards swearers whore-mongers full of malice and revenge and such like Thus they come and thus they go as they came having no participation or Communion of the Divine nature in their Spirits to alter them But thus come and go in their sinfull nature having Communion with the spirit of darkness and unrighteousness while they pretend Communion with God and thus go on eating and drinking unworthily they know not what and you suffer them to do so and do it with them eating and drinking judgement to your selves while you thus take the Name of God and Christ in vain 1 Cor. 11.29 This is not to eat the Lords Supper This is not to eat the flesh of Christ and drink his blood for then would ye become dead to this world with him and Christ would live again in you Take notice of the words which Paul the servant of the Lord spake 1 Cor. 10.16 The Cup of Blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the blood of Christ The bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ Now the right Communicants are one bread and one Body being all made partakers of that one bread vers 17. which bread is Christ But ye cannot be partakers of this bread nor have Communion with it so long as you are in your Gentilisme or heathenish Nature living in Pride Covetousness Persecution oppressing over-reaching uncleanness lies and such like For saith Paul v. 21. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of Devils ye cannot be partakers of the Lords Table and of the table of devils Now the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to Devils and not to God vers 20. Gentiles are every one in their Gentilising nature and what ever they sacrifice that is what ever worship they offer in pretence as to God it is to Devils and not to God Though they say it is to God as the Athenians did Act. 17.23 Yet God ownes it not such as worship him in Spirit and in Truth those are they whom he seekes to worship him As for those who walk in the works of darkness he hath not Communion with them nor they with him For what Communion hath light with darkness 2 Cor. 6.14 Further you have not so much as Communion one with another in that which you call Communion for which of you imparts to the rest of the Communicants as every one hath need You are so far from Community in these outward things that you will go to Law for your propriety one with another if you apprehend your selves but a little wronged therein contrary to the minde and counsell of Christ Mat. 5.40 Thus it is apparent for all your boasting of the Ordinances of Christ I say it is apparent that you have but a counterfeit image of the form of some of them and not the very true image of those which you have If you had the very expresse image of all the outward forms of Ordinances of Christ or practises of the Apostles and Beleevers yet these were poor things to boast of and to be exalted with Laodicean-like for if you had all these in form nearer then they are among any people in this Nation yet if your spirits fall downwards and become earthly the Lord would leave them and slip away from you to another people who arise in their spirits casting off every weight and the sins which beset them or hinder them that they might run with patience the race set before them Yea let me tell you that if you had not onely a true image and form of Ordinances but also a form of godliness in words and sayings of Christ and the Apostles alwayes in your mouthes Yet all this could not binde or hold the Lord with you But still he would slip away from under all these leaving these as huskes and chaffe for you who are disobedient and earthly to feed upon and boast your selves in while in the mean time another people should enjoy his presence for it is not any form of godliness that the Lord takes pleasure in but the Power the Truth the life the spirit And therefore he doth not binde us his servants to abide in Communion with any that live in any form of godliness without the Power But commands us by his Apostle to turn away from such 2 Tim. 3.5 And this is no unwarrantable Schisme or separation So that whether we look at the form of Ordinances or at the Power of godliness we have warrant enough to turn away from you and to have no fellowship in your holy things For as I said you have but an image of some Ordinances onely and that without the life and Power of them Others traditions of Christ you do altogether disown for they will not stand with your profit as namely to deny your selves to take up his Crosse daily and follow Christ which is a great Ordinance of Christ for without this one cannot be his Disciple Again you disown the liberty which Christ hath

his appearings in that weak flesh and so you stumble at that stumbling stone Yea you speak evil of that which God approves of If one come to you in meekness and calmnes of spirit using gentleness and patience towards you over-mastering you with reasonings out of the Scriptures Oh then you clamour such a one is a dangerous fellow He is as ill as a esuite It s as dangerous to come in his company as to go into an house infected with the plague such like railing accusations proceed from you to scar the people and to turn them away from trying the Spirits whether they be of God contrary to command 1 Joh. 4.1 On the other side if one come in the true severity of the Spirit as Paul and Steven and others yea as Christ the Prince of meekness himself sometimes did and tell you what you are warning you of the judgements that shall come upon you then such are cryed out against as judging censorious railing persons Let the innocent nature of the Lamb come to you in what way he will whether mourning or piping and dancing whether in Austerity or more liberty yet you will attribute it all to the Devill Let us tell you that the Lord teaches us inwardly by his Spirit you say that 's the spirit of delusion Let us say nothing of that but onely bring the writings of the Scriptures then you say the Devill can put Scripture into mens mouths T is true the Devil can put Scripture into mens mouthes but consider into whose monthes he doth put Scripture whether into the mouthes of those who would destroy his works or of those who uphold them Indeed where a Kingdom of Fride and vain glory and covetousness and pomp of the world and such like works of the Devil is upheld by Scripture there its likely that the Devill doth put Scripture into mens mouthes teaching them to wrest it to their own destruction But it s strange that the Devill should put Scripture into mens mouthes to destroy his works therewith shall we say that Christ is become now an upholder of the works of darkness and the Devill a destroyer of them This is the consequence of such Doctrine when you say It s the Devill that puts Scripture into the mouthes of such as would destroy his works You call your selves The Ministers of Jesus Christ But if you be not so and yet say you are consider in calmness of minde what you then are Some called themselves Jews and were not and this was Blasphemy So to say that you are Ministers of Jesus Christ if you be not so what 's this but Blasphemy For do not you Blaspheme that holy Name when you ascribe to him such Ministers as love the world and the things of it But hate his children whom he hath chosen out of the world Them whom he hath made as signes and wonders in the world by some appearances of his in them them ye hate Yea though words have faln sometimes from your own mouthes which have driven some of them from you yet you hate and oppose them for obeying that which your own mouthes have uttered When you have told the People that they worship God in vain if they have but the traditions of man for their ground yet if any of them hereupon have left your traditions you have been their greatest enemies Thus you hate the practise of Christianity though you sometimes speak of it You hate to deny your selves and to take up your Cross and follow Christ You hate to condescend to those of low degree and to make them your equalls lest your familiarily bring you to contempt You hate the way of Christs allowance for his Ministers namely to receive onely what 's freely given and of them onely who receive spirituall things of you You hate the way and manner of Christs Ministration and chuse rather the manner of the Oratory of the Nations Paul reasoned with them in the Synagogues he suffered others to speak to him and reason with him in the Synagogues This you hate Christ and his true Ministers Preached without Praying before and after as you do and this you hate In the Churches or assemblings of Beleevers they might all Prophecy as they received the gift and power one by one but this you hate In these and in many other things you hate to be reformed Shewing forth to every one your dislike of the things of Christ and yet you blush not to boast your selves to be the Ministers of Jesus Christ Consider if this be not to Blaspheme his name and again consider it Lay aside Passion and consider also whether that spirit of Jezebel Rev. 2.20 Do not rather act in you who called her self a Prophetesse and yet taught the servants of the Lord to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto Idols Do not you keep the People in that spirituall fornication which all Nations have been drunk with even to worship God after the traditions of men and so to eat things sacrificed to Idols things dedicated to your Idols of Honour and covetousness and your bellies I say things dedicated to these and upheld for the honour of these such things such sacrifices must the People feed upon But you shall not long continue to feed the flock with such things no nor your selves neither for the Lord will deliver his flock from your mouth that they may not be meat for you as he hath promised Ezek. 34.10 The Lord hath made me and others as examples among you for many years and hath made our lives a speaking voice to call out from your Ministry and by his strength hath held us as by an Anchor from returning to you making us to abide in this our Testimony And now I must also declare further against you with the rest of my fellow servants then yet I have uttered and discover to the People what you are You are that Antichrist as I said before spoken of in the Scriptures Because you deny Christ comming in flesh Some of you have been convinced of some things and seemed to make out after them untill the world stole upon your hearts and then you have sought to quench and smother those motions both in your selves and others Others of you have been at continuall defiance against the breakings forth of truth in every degree and thus you stand in opposition against the truth You neither enter in your felves nor suffer those who are entring to goe in You are the false Prophets which are spoken of and although you come in sheeps clothing yet inwardly you are ravening Wolves and now the day is breaking and discovers you plainly to be so by your works Mat. 7. v. 16. By their works yea shall know them saith our Lord you are easie enough to be discerned when men look upon your works Indeed when men look upon your devotion your prayers your lifting up of your hands and eyes to heaven your sighings and faigned tone and expressions your