Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
soul_n	body_n	life_n	word_n	14,971	5	4.3564	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61678	Deceivers deceiv'd, or, The mistakes of wickedness in sundry erroneous and deceitful principles, practised in our late fatal times, and suspected still in the reasonings of unquiet spirits delivered in a sermon at St. Paul's, October 20th 1661 before the Right Honorable Sir Richard Browne Knight and Baronet, Lord Maior of the city of London, and the aldermen his brethren : being the initial also of the Reverend Dr. John Berwick, dean of the said church, at the first celebrity of divine service with the organ and choiristers, which the Lord Maior himslef solemniz'd with his personal presence from the very beginning.	Stone, Samuel, 1602-1663.; Browne, Richard, Sir, 1602?-1669.; Barwick, John, 1612-1664.	1661 (1661)	Wing S5735; ESTC R18742	26,609	51

to work the Heavenly words of life upon the Soul or Spirit of the hearers unto Life and Righteousnesse not by whispering or privately insinuating or insufing any other sense or meaning above or diverse from the literal but by seconding backing the same meaning of the words imported in the letter with power and efficacy whereupon I inferr that by Spirit here as opposite to Letter is not meant an opposition of a Spiritual sense in the Gospell or any other part of Gods word different or above the sense of the Letter but only a lively concurrence of the Spirit of Grace with the ordinance of Gods word in the Letter of the words clauses and propositions of it to make it effectual in the hearts of the hearers for their Salvation without which work of the Spirit the Gospel it self would be as dead and killing a letter as the very Law Secondly Another opposition of Letter and Spirit is Rom. 2. the three last verses about the Jew and one of his Marks and Cognizances viz. Circumsion which the Apostle distinguisheth into outward and inward or in the flesh or in the heart and spirit verse the last resembling the outward circumcision in opposition to circumcision that is inward and spiritual of the heart by the terme or simily of a Letter which whether one or more in the composition of a word pronounced or written is but the mere outside of that word compared with its sense and signification and so it may well be put to resemble the outward circumcision of the flesh as contrary to the inward or spiritual circumcision of the heart or as the bare empty Letter of the Law is contrary to the quickning spirit of the Gospel as dead to living or old to new Rom. 7. 6. But from thence to reason a double and contrary sense or signification the one Literal the other spiritual either of the words of institution of Circumcision it self which expressely declares both Mystery and Ceremony or outward and inward of that Ordinance or of any other text of Scripture is a most fallacious and pittiful non concludence Circumcision is outward and inward exprest by the opposition of Letter and Spirit therefore there are two different senses in Scriptures Literal and Spiritual of the same words or sentence is a most absurd consequence The third Text occasioning this deception is John 6. 63. My words saith Christ are spirit the words that I speak they are Spirit and they are life therefore say the mistakers Christs words must be understood spiritually or in a spirituall sense not litterall Nay but my Brethren what an inconsequence is this For what were the words that Christ then spake they were verse 53 54 56. of eating his flesh and drinking his bloud in order to eternall life the mystery whereof they not understanding because he spake in a figure he explaines himself in the verse mentioned by a distinction of flesh and spirit the flesh profiteth nothing saith he but the spirit quickneth and my words are spirit as if he had said think not therefore that I mean you should eat my flesh and drink my bloud after a carnal or corporal manner for that would not profit you The flesh profiteth not but feed upon me in communion with my spirit by faith and so shall ye be quickened unto eternall life 'T is a spiritual eating of my flesh that my words mean my words are spirit But neverthelesse beloved not to be understood of a diverse or contrary meaning from the Letter for the Letter as of all Scripture so of this is twofold Proper and Tropical First Proper which expresseth the thing by a word signifying a meaning plainly answering the nature of the thing Secondly Tropicall which expresseth the thing by way of allusion or similitude or types and parables conversively putting a word of similitude or parable for a word proper to the nature of the thing it self Now the eating Christ speaks of here is not proper of fleshly eating but in the Trope and Similitude that is spiritual eating for as Corporal eating nourifheth the body unto life Natural so doth Spiritual feeding upon Christ by faith nourish and quicken the soul unto life eternall and so though Christs words here are spirit as he faith my words are Spirit that is import a spiritual eating yet the sense of them is never the more spiritual as if different from the Letter for the Letter of this word Spirit gives the sense of the Trope denoting Spiritual eating yet with the help of a little Logick too the Abstract put for the Concrete Spirit for Spiritual and in the Concretion the adject Spiritual connoting its subject Eating is as much as Spiritual eating and so the sense being Tropical is in that respect nevertheless Literal the sense of Scripture with this amongst the rest being of two kinds Proper and Tropical as aforesaid and both Literal You will wonder it may be I should say There is no sense of Scripture but only Literal and thereupon Object What Divines should mean by observing a distinction of the Letter from some other thing differing in the meaning of the words besides it To which I answer 'T is true as I said at the first of this passage many wise and good Christians generally mistaking these oppositions of Letter and Spirit which I have but now opened and are the only to that purpose throughout the whole book of God and all professing a Literal sense That for want of a term contra-distinct unto Literal have in that necessity allowed a sense Spiritual but unsatisfied therewith I conceive upon further disquisition have been found to understand themselves only in a sense of a Rhetorism or a Trope which not knowing what to oppose unto the Letter under the said mistakes they have called Spiritual though indeed it be in true understanding only Literal according to the common manner of speaking by Tropes and Figures which bear their part in expression of the mind in all Languages and together with Grammar make up the whole business of Utterance or the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word discovering the sense of the minde bearing a signification either plain and proper and so hath been taken for the Letter or Tropical and more mysterious and so hath been taken for Spiritual but in true judgement the literal word is common to both Proper and Tropical the Trope and Rhetorism both in word and sense being in the letter of the Scripture also as well as the Proper though not so frequent as the Proper and Grammatical yet so of a meaning literal as well as the other and in that respect all senses of words Typical Parabolical or otherwise Tropological as I humbly conceive with submission to better judgements can be thought no more then Literal and the mystery of them to be understood by endeavouring to find the extent of the Letter only Away therefore with that deception of a Spiritual sense of Scripture whereby the safety of

allowance afterward to any thing that shall appear necessary for the maintenance or carrying on of the former as a Thief assaulting a Traveller for his Purse in case of being stoutly resisted even to the hazard of captivation or life will think it lawful because necessary rather to kill the Defendant if he can than to be kill'd himself or taken Prisoner which necessity was only of his own making So the Patriarchs having sold their Brother Joseph into Egypt brought upon themselves a necessity of concealing their wickedness from Jacob with the shift of a lye the like did Gehezi to his Master Elisha so when the conspiracy of Achitophel and Absolom had broken out into open rebellion their counsel found it no less than necessary to make short work on 't and murder good King David and not long afterwards Jeroboam to make good the defection of the ten Tribes of Juda saw a necessity of changing the true Worship of God into Idolatry setting up a new mode of Worship and Priesthood at Bethel for the Peoples resort thereunto lest holding the same uniformity of Religion they might return again to the same unity of Government and affection at their anniversary meetings in their Royal City Jerusalem Such was that Doctrine of Devils taught by our English Regicides who conscious to themselves of that inexpiable wrong they had done unto their good King and that his displeasure therefore might be implacable dispairing also least every one of his friends where they met them should fall upon and kill them concluded to make a short work of it with the Mode necesse to cut off his head and for their better security in this dismal wickedness they found it further necessary to destroy the very foundations of the Righteous turning all things topsie turvie and trampling under foot all Laws both of God and Man and changeing the whole Fabrick of Government both Ecclesiastick and Civil But now what a pitiful and wretched deception is this as if there were any necessity of sinning belike then according to the Modal Aequipollence in Logick Quod necesse est esse impossibile est non esse If it be necessary to sin by consequence 't is impossible not to sin and so God should command his creatures impossibilities in commanding them to abstain from sin which grossly imposeth upon his infinite Wisdom Justice and Holiness for we all know and are well assured of a necessity of repentance in case of sin committed Go thy wayes sin no more lest a worse thing happen unto thee was the counsel of Christ himself and David's likewise God shall wound the hairy scalp of such as go on still in their wickedness as he hath wounded the hairy scalp of many of them to your knowledge already and mounted them aloft to be spectacles ofhis indignation to the world notwithstanding their pretended necessities for what they so impiously acted and therefore whosoever hereafter being warn'd by such examples shall embolden themselves under the same conceit or confidence of necessitate-lawfulness in their wicked proceedings I shall leave them under the Apostles curse 2 Tim. 3. 13. They shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived from one degree of vileness they shall grow to another sin being of a progressive and propagating nature till at last they come to induration and occaecation their hearts will be hardned through the deceitfulness of sin Heb. 3. 13. and so after their hardness and impenitency of hearts treasure up unto themselves wrath against the day of wrath Rom. 2. 5. And therefore again Let not the man of violence that hath oppressed and taken away a house which he builded not Job 20. 19. deceive his soul with a pretence of lawfulness under conceited necessity of keeping what he hath extortingly gotten for his necessary maintenance for in such a case Non minus est vitium quám quaerere parta tueri he sins as much in keeping as in getting unjustly or rather more Zachaeus his practice would better become him to restore four-fold or else for his covetousness he may gain Gehezi's advantage to boot a Leprosie both upon Body and Soul and what a sad cozenage and deceit doth he therein put upon himself in gaining the World to lose his Soul A Sixth deceitful principle or erroneous reasoning and vain imagination of wicked men is a perswasion grounded only upon a conceipt of being led forth and forward in their actions by the Spirit which they phansy betwixt a good meaning perhaps and a pang ofblind zeal and an abhorrence also of some external vices and a shew of outward austerity and a devotion of their own way that looks much like holinesse it self and whereby they conceit themselves to be the only beloved accepted and acquainted with God and consequently all the stirrings and imaginations of their vain deceitfull hearts to be the very motions and impulses of Gods holy Spirit himself the conduct whereof they do and will follow not only without the warrant but contrary unto the expresse letter of Scripture and so commit the greatest enormities in the World Murder Treason Perjury Sacriledg Persecution of the Lords anointed his Princes and Nobles his Priests and Prophets and the most wise and righteous of his people and justifie themselves therein as doing God service and furthering his Glory by seeonding the secret movings and impulses of his Spirit Counting it also their Calling extraordinary as the wretched Murderers reasoned for their fearfull execution of our late Lord and King deceiving their perverse minds by not distinguishing the motive and directive part of every morall and humane action There is the directive part of the actions of man aswell as the motive and impulsive otherwise meer motion and impulse might serve the turn but not as direction is also required Now for the direction of a man in any action of his life to be accounted for there is no other Rule but the Word of God Psal 119. 195. Thy Word is as a Lamp unto my feet and a light unto my pathes and verse 130. The entrance of thy Word giveth light and Psal 19. 8. The Commandements of the Lord are pure enlightening the eies and by them is thy Servant warned verse 11. So Isa 8. 20. To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them no light no direction no instruction no warrant measure or rule for what they do or speak if done or said contrary to this written Word which is the abstract or summary of the whole Law of God both naturall and reveald and necessary for direction in all cases of action morall both naturall and supernatural either in terms analogie or inference and therefore for any man to pretend an impulse or motion from some spirit only however fancied or conceited to be of God himself yet without allowance of this his word he acts but by half a principle to wit without the guiding and directive