Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	flesh_n	heart_n	sin_n	6,104	5	4.6269	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A90288	A sermon preached to the Honourable House of Commons, in Parliament assembled: on January 31. A day of solemne humiliation. With a discourse about toleration, and the duty of the civill magistrate about religion, thereunto annexed. Humbly presented to them, and all peace-loving men of this nation. / By John Owen, pastor of the Church of Christ, which is at Coggeshall in Essex.	Owen, John, 1616-1683.	1649 (1649)	Wing O805; Thomason E540_25; Thomason E549_1; ESTC R203104	74,810	103

errors and false doctrines we finde them appointed and a lawfull Judge as to the determining concerning them divinely instituted so that in such wayes they may be warrantably proceeded against Revel. 21. 3. But now for any Judge that should make disquisition concerning them or proceed against them as things criminall to be punished with civill censures I conceive the Scripture is silent And indeed who should it be The custome of former ages was that some persons of one sort should determine of it as to right viz that such or such a thing was heresie and such or such a one an Heretick which was the work of Priests and Prelates and persons of another sort should de facto punish and determine to be punished those so adjudged by the former and these were as they called them the secular Magistrates officers of this world And indeed had not the God of this world blinded their eyes and the God of the spirits of all flesh hardened their hearts they would not have so given up their power to the Man of sin as to be made so sordidly instrumentall to his bloody cruelty We read Jer. 26. 10 11. that the Priests and Prophets assemble themselves in judgement and so pronounce sentence upon the Prophet Jeremy that he should dye for a false Prophet v. 12. Jeremy makes his appeal to the secular Magistrate and all the people who taking cognizance of the cause pronounce sentence in the behalf of the condemned person against the Priests and Prophets and deliver him whether they will or not v. 16. I spare the Application of the story but that Princes and Magistrates should without cognizance of the thing or cause proceed to punishment or censure of it upon the judgement of the Priests condemning such or such a man for an heretick or a false prophet blessed be the Lord we have no warrant Had this proceeding been regular Jeremy had dyed without mercy for a false prophet as thousands since standing before the Lord in his spirit have done This course then that the civill Magistrate should proceed to sentence of corporall punishment upon others judging of the fault is vile sordid unwarrantable and exceedingly unworthy of any rationall man much more such as are set over the people of the Land that the same persons must determine of the cause and appoint the punishment is clear Now who must these be are they the Ministers of the Gospel of all others they are the most likely to be the most competent Judges in spirituall causes let it then be so but then also they must be the determiners and inflicters of the punishment upon default now let them powre out upon obstinately erring persons all the vengeance that God hath betrusted them withall The weapons of our warfare are not carnall but mighty through God c. By this course Admonition Avoiding Rejection Excommunication will be the utmost that can be inflicted on them which for my part I desire may be exercised to the utmost extent of the rule 2ly shall the Magistrate be made Judge of the cause as well as of the person is he entrusted to determine what is error what not what heresie what not who is an Heretick who not and so what punishment is due to such and such errors according to the degrees wherein they are Why first I desire an institution of this ordinance in the Church where is the Magistrate entrusted with such a power where are rules prescribed to him in his proceedings 2ly is not a judiciary determination concerning truth and error I mean truths of the Gospel a meer Chruch act and that Church power whereby it is effected must not then the Magistrate quâ talis be a Church officer will men of this minde tolerate Erastianisme 3ly if there be a twofold judicature appointed for the same person for the same crime is it not because one crime may in divers respects fall under severall considerations and must not these considerations be preserved immixed that the formall reason of proceeding in one Court may not be of any weight in the other We proved before and it is granted of all that the Church is Judge in case of heresie and error as such to proceed against them as contrary to the Gospel their opposition to the faith delivered to the Saints is the formall reason upon which that proceedeth to censure if now this be afterwards brought under another sentence of another Judicature must it not be under another consideration Now what can this be but its disturbance of civill society which when it doth so not in pretence but really and actually none denyes it to be the Magistrates duty to interpose with his power 4ly if the Magistrate be Judge of spirituall offences and it be left to him to determine and execute judgement in such proportion as he shall think meet according to the qualitie and degrees thereof it is a very strange and unlimited arbitrarinesse over the lives estates of men and surely they ought to produce very clear testimonies that they are entrusted from the Lord herewith or they can have no great quiet in acting 5ly it seems strange to me that the Lord Jesus Christ should commit this Architechtonicall power in his house unto Magistrates foreseeing of what sort the greatest number of them would be yea determining that they should be such for the tryall and affliction of his own View the times that are past consult the stories of former ages take a catalogue of the Kings and Rulers that have been since first Magistrates outwardly embraced Christian Religion in this and other Nations where the Gospel hath been planted and ask your own consciences whether these be the men to whom this high trust in the house of God is committed The truth is they no sooner left serving the Dragon in the persecution of the Pagans but presently in a very few yeers they gave up their power to the beast to set up another State in opposition to the Lord Jesus Christ and his Gospel in the supportment whereof the most of them continue labouring till this very day Hae manus Trojam exigent What may be added in this case I refer to another opportunity 2. Gospel constitutions in the case of heresie or error seems not to favour any course of violence I mean of civil penalties Foretold it is that heresies must be 1 Cor. 11. 19. but this for the manifesting of those that are approved not the destroying of those that are not I say destroying I mean with temporall punishment that I may adde this by the way for all the arguments produced for the punishment of hereticks holding out capitall censures and these being the tendance of all beginnings in this kinde I mention onely the greatest including all other arbitrary penalties being but steps of walking to the utmost censures Admonitions and Excommunication upon rejection of admonition are the highest constitutions I suppose against such persons Waiting with all patience upon

from hence name and pursue other Observations but I shall only name one and proceed When false worship with injustice by cruelty have possessed the Governours of a Nation and wrapt in the consent of the greatest part of the people who have been acquainted with the mind of God that People and Nation without unpresidented mercy is obnoxious to remedilesse ruine Those two are the Bell and Dragon that what by their actings what by their deservings have swallowed that Ocean of blood which hath flowed from the veines of millions of millions slaine upon the face of the earth Give mee the number of the witnesses of Jesus whose soules under the Altar cry for revenge against their false worshipping murtherers and the Tale of them whose lives have been sacrificed to the insatiable Ambition and Tyranny of blood-thirsty Potentates with the issues of Gods just vengeance on the sons of men for complyance in these two things and you will have gathered in the whole Harvest of blood leaving but a few stragling gleanings upon other occasions And if these things have been sound in England and the present administration with sincere humiliation doe not runne crosse to vnravell this close woven webb of destruction all thoughts of recovery will quickly be too late And thus far sinne and providence drive on a parallel 3. The inevitablenesse of the desolation threatned and the inexorablenesse of God in the execution of it v. 1. is the third thing considerable Though Moses and Samuel stood before mee yet my minde could not be toward this people Should I insist upon this it would draw me out unto Scripture evidences of a Nations travelling in sinne beyond the line of Gods patience and so not to be exempted from ruine but instead thereof I shall make it a part of my daily supplications that they may be to our enemies if Gods enemies and the interpretation of them to those that hate us In briefe the words containe an impossible supposition and yet a Negation of the thing for whose sake it is supposed Moses and Samuel were men who in the dayes of their flesh offered up strong supplications and averted many imminent judgements from a sinfull people As if the Lord should say All that I can doe in such a case as this I would grant at the intercession of Moses and Samuel or others interceding in their spirit and zeale but now the state of things is come to that passe the time of Treaty being expired the black flagge hung out and the decrree having brought forth Zeph. 2. 2. that upon their utmost intreaty it cannot it shall not be reversed There is a time when sin growes ripe for ruine For three transgressions and for foure the Lord will not turne away the iniquity of a people Amos 1. 9. When the sinne of the Amorites hath filled the cup of vengeance they must drinke it Gen. 15. 16. England under severall Administrations of civill Government hath fallen twice yea thrice into Nation-destroying sinnes Providence hath once more given it another bottome If you should stumble which the Lord avere at the same blocke of impiety and cruelty there is not another sifting to be made to reserve any graines from the ground I doubt not but our three transgressions and foure will end in totall desolation the Lord be your guide poor England lyeth at stake The greatest difficulty that lyeth in bringing of totall destruction upon a sinfull people is in the interposition of Moses and Samuel If Moses would but have stood out of the gap and let the Almighty goe he had broken in upon the whole Host of Israel Exo. 32. 9 10. And let it by the way be observed of the spirit of Samuel that when the people of God were most exorbitant he cryeth as for me God forbid that I should sinne against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you 1 Sam. 12. 23. Scarce answered by those who if their interest be no served or at best their reason satisfied will scarce yield a prayer for yea powre out curses against their choisest Deliverers The Lord lay it not to their charge For us seeing that praying Deliverers are more prevalent then fighting Deliverers it is though Moses and Samuel not Gideon and Sampson stood before me as some decay let us gather strength in the Lord that bee may have never the more rest for their giving over untill hee establish mount Zyon a praise in the earth 4. Come we now to the fourth thing in this Chapter the Prophets state and condition with the frame and deportment of his heart and spirit under these dispensations and here we find him expressing two things of himselfe 1. What he found from others v. 10. 2. What hee wrestled withall in his owne spirit v. 15 16 17 18. 1. What he found from others he telleth you it was cursing and reproach c. I have neither lent on usury nor have men lent to me on usury yet every one of them doth curse me v. 10. Now this returne may be considered two wayes 1. In it selfe Every one saith he of this people curse me 2. In reference to his deportment I have neither borrowed nor lent on usury yet they curse me From the First Observe Instruments of Gods greatest workes and glory are often times the chiefest objects of a professing peoples curses and revenges The returne which Gods Labourers meet withall in this Generation is in the number of those things whereof there is none new under the Sun Men that under God deliver a Kingdom may have the Kingdoms curses for their paines When Moses had brought the people of Israel out of Bondage by that wonderfull and unparallel'd deliverance being forced to appeare with the Lord for the destruction of Corah and his Associates who would have seduced the Congregation to its utter ruine he receives at length this reward of all his travell labour and paines All the Congregation gathered themselves against him and Aaron laying murther and sedition to their charge telling them they had killed the people of the Lord Numb. 16. 41 42. A goodly reward for all their travels If Gods workes doe not suite with the lusts prejudices and interests of men they will labour to give his instruments the Devills wayes Let not upright hearts sink because they meet with thanklesse men Bona agere mala pati Christianorum est A man may have the blessing of God and the curse of a professing people at the same time Behold I and the Children wbom God hath given me are for signes and for wonders in Israel Isa. 8. 15. Cum ab hominibus damnamur à Deo absolvimur Mans condemnation and Gods absolution doe not seldome meet upon the same persons for the same things If you labour to doe the worke of the Lord pray think it not strange if among men curses be your reward and detestation your wages 2. In reference to the Prophets deportment he had neither lent