Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	holy_a	lord_n	speak_v	10,182	5	4.8194	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61436	A plain relation of the late action at sea between the English & Dutch, and the French fleets, from June 22 to July 5 last with reflections thereupon, and upon the present state of the nation : together with A preparation for death and a perswasive to criminals to do right to their countrey, and a specimen of a bill for reformation of manners, drawn for the bishops, and mentioned in the folowing reflections.	Stephens, Edward, d. 1706.	1690 (1690)	Wing S5434; ESTC R13699	53,677	77

and Disturbers of the Peace of his Country so that the Person who conceals what he knows of that nature becomes accessary even after his Death to all the Evils which are afterward committed and might have been prevented by his Discovery Bendes an obstinate and wilful Concealment even to the Death is not only a Confirmation of that particular wicked Confederacy wherein the Person is engaged or any way concerned or acquainted but tends mightily to harden others and so to support all such wicked Confederacies in general Whereas did such Persons at least when apprehended in their Affliction become serious and not suffer themselves to be longer abused and imposed upon by such a vulgar Error and Diabolical Delusion but consider well judge rightly and act accordingly such wicked Confederacies could not subsist for want of mutual Confidence Nor is such Concealment only injurious to divers other particular Persons and a Violation of that Faith and Love which all Men owe to their Country but very pernicious and of evil consequence to the Partners and all other such Criminals because it encourageth them to venture upon and persist in such Courses as involve them more and more in Sin whereby they treasure up Wrath against the Day of Wrath and expose them to all those temporal Evils which usually first or last over-take them Whereas by such a Discovery as I have recommended the Persons discovered might possibly be reclaimed and brought to Repentance at least might be hindered from so much increasing their Score which were better for them though by an unnatural and otherwise untimely Death than that they should longer protract a miserable Life here to the increase of their Misery hereafter Nor is it less pernicious to the Malefactor himself For as without true Repentance no Pardon can be expected with God So whoever doth not all he can to make Restitution and repair all the Evil and Damage he hath done and to prevent all he can for the future can be no true Penitent holding still an implicit Confederacy at least with wickedness And as he can expect no Favour from God so is he to be looked upon by Men not as a Man of Honor in any respect but as a reprobate deluded and hardned Wretch an Enemy to Man-kind and a Confederate with Death and Hell and the Kingdom of Darkness an odious and detestable Creature insted of being in the least honourable as he vainly fancied That which only is Honourable or Commendable in such Case and the only true Wisdom is 1. To consider seriously the unreasonableness and wickedness of the Crime till such consideration hath produced a just Indignation and Abhorrence of it 2. To acknowledge ingenuously his own Folly and Impotence to yield to and be overcome by such a Temptation what-ever it was which induced him to it and not rather more manly to have born any hardships of a transitory human Life than so basely to have violated the Order of the Divine Providence which assigned those hardships for his Exercise and the Laws of his Country 3. To give Glory to God acknowledging the Justice of his Punishment and the special Providence of God who hath brought him to it not only in Justice but in Mercy too to cut off his Sin for Correction of his Miscarriages and that he may not be condemned with the World if he truly and effectually repent as is before directed 4. To endeavour as far as possible he can to break all such Confederacies and prevent all the Mischief which might otherwise be committed by a plain Discovery of all he knoweth This indeed would be an Evidence of such a Change and Disposition of Mind as is really valuable in the Judgment of all Good and Wise Men and acceptable in the sight of Almighty God and therefore truly Honourable with others and the truest wisdom for himself What I have here said to Criminals is fit to be considered by all who have any knowledge of any such Crimes That which they may fancy to be Faithfulness or Charity or Pity to Criminals is a great Mistake and Delusion and in truth Unfaithfulness and want of due regard to their Country That Malefactors be brought to condign Punishment both Justice and Charity to our Country require which is to be preferred before the Consideration of any particular Person And therefore to hinder or resuse ones Assistance to it is to prefer a Malefactor and desert the Duty he ows his Country But in other respects Chatity and Humanity requires more to be done for them than usually is with us THE END AN ACT FOR The more effectual Restraining and Suppressing of divers notorious Sins and Reformation of the Manners of the People of this Nation WHereas the Advancement of the Honour and Service of Almighty God and of the Protestant Religion which by his wonderful Providence hath been Established and Preserved in these Nations ought at all times to be the Chief Part of the Care as well of the Legistative as Executive Power of this Kingdom but more especially at this time after so admirable a Deliverance from so great and apparent Danger as lately threatned us And for that End a General Reformation of the Lives and Manners of all degrees of People of this Nation is earnestly desired by all good men and by all Means to be endeavoured as that which must Establish both the Church and State and secure to all their Religion Happiness and Peace All which seem to be in great Danger at this time by reason of the Overflowing of Vice which is too notorious in this as well as other neighbouring Nations and more particularly the Sins of Blasphemy Prophane Swearing and Cursing Perjury Prophanation of the Lords Day Adultery Fornication and Drunkenness Therefore for the better carrying on of so good a Work and for the more effectual preventing correcting and suppressing of the Horrid and Hellish sins of BLASPHEMIE and prophane Swearing and Cursing Be it Enacted by the King and Queens Majesty the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in this present Parliament assembled and by the Authority of the same That if any Person not disturbed in Brain by Sickness or otherwise shall at any time hereafter presume in word or writing to Blaspheme or speak or write contemptuously or scoffingly of God blessed for ever his Providence our Blessed Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus the Holy Spirit the Sacred Scriptures the Christian Religion or any of them the Person and persons in whose presence or hearing such Offence shall be committed shall and are hereby required presently to set down the Words expressing the said ●●sence or so much thereof as he or they can remember and the manner thereof in writing and to give notice and testifie his and their Knowledge thereof upon Oath within the space of ten dayes unto some Justice of the Peace of the County or Place where the same shall be committed who is hereby authorized and required to administer the said Oath and to

not the first Fault and there being great Complaints to the Privy Council of the frequent Crimes that are committed of that kind insomuch that the Judge who is a very good Man and as tender of the Life of a Man as is consistent with his Duty cannot shew you that Favour that otherwise he would the greatest Kindness that I can do you is to instruct you how to improve your present Circumstances which if you accordingly do it will be ten thousand times better than Life it self You must therefore know that the Great Business and End of our mortal Life in the Flesh is to work the Creature by various Exercises to an entire Subjection to the Great Glorious and most Excellent Creator who is the Father of Spirits and hath not only a just and absolute Right and Dominion over us by Creation Sustentation and Redemption but is in himself of so transcendent Excellence and so unconceivably Good and Gracious to his poor despicable ●reatures whereof the Love of Parents to their Children is but a little Representation that even Prudence and Gratitude if it was well considered would effectually prevail with a Man of Sense to seek his Favour though by the most Absolute Subjection that can be conceived were we not obliged to it by his Absolute Dominion and subject to his Irresistable Power And so that this entire Subjection be but effectually wrought in us it matters not whether our Life be long or short Be it never so short if the Work be but perfectly done it is the same thing as if it was longer nay in some respects better for then it is secure whereas till then it is in danger only we are in the Hands of a Faithful Creator and have continual Occasion of Exercise of our Dependance upon him Now to come to your particular Case It seeems you have ran a Course directly contrary instead of exercising your self to this Subjection you perhaps have never in your Life been sensible of any such Work you had to do and not only not done any thing toward it but done the quite contrary instead of subjecting your Sensual Appetites to your Reason which is the first part of this Exercise and what all Mankind must account for you have subjected the Man to the Beast in you and abused your natural Faculties and Powers to serve and satisfie your Animal Affections and instead of subjecting your Will to the Holy and Righteous External Declarations of the Will of God you have yielded to the secret Motions of the Apostate Spirits in your Animal Affections in Disobedience and Rebellion against that Holy Will of God And by this means instead of promoting the great Business of your Life you have run your self into a worse condition than when you were born and first began to live so that thus much of your Life is not only lost but mis-spent to your own Damage And now to recover all again and perfect this great Work for which you had a longer Life assign'd you in so short a time as is now allowed you you may think very hard if not impossible But be of good comfort Where Sin hath abounded Grace hath much more abounded God is able to do greater matters than this if he be graciously so pleased in less time but then you must seek to him and do what you can to prepare your self for his Grace and to be ready to cooperate with it faithfully To this end you must endeavour to banish all thoughts of this World and even of your Temporal Life it self and enter into serious Consideration of the Great and Glorious Majesty of God who by his Wisdom and Power hath Created and Governs the whole Universe whereof the whole Earth in respect of the rest is but as a drop of a Bucket and in respect of him as nothing and then consider with your self what a despicable thing you are in comparison of the Earth and all its Inhabitants which yet altogether is so little as I have said in respect of Almighty God so despicable if you were innocent and righteous and therefore that you should be so infatuated as to dare to transgress the least of his Commands doth justly deserve not only Temporal Death and to be cut off from the Children of Men to whom you have been an Enemy and Confederated with the Enemies of their Peace and Quiet but Eternal Damnation and to be for ever separated from his Glorious Presence against whom you have rebelled and to have your part with those Apostate Spirits whose Motions you have obeyed in eternal Misery And never cease musing and considering these great and plain Truths and lifting up your Heart to God with fervent Desires and Prayers that he will condescend to give you Grace to enlighten your Mind and mollisie your Heart with a deep Sense of your miserable Condition till you find your self so affected and concerned for the Favour of God and the Salvation of your Soul that all Concern and Thought for your Temporal Life as an inconsiderable thing in respect of that may wholly cease and that your Soul be mightily humbled with a deep Sense of your utter unworthiness that that Great and Glorious and most Holy Majesty should have any regard to so despicable and so sinful a Wretch with great Indignation against your Sin and Madness and against those cursed Apostate Spirits which by their secret Impressions have pressed you on into all this Wickedness and Mischief When you have gotten thus far those wicked Spirits when they find they can no longer keep you in Darkness and Impenitence will strive to thrust you headlong into Despair and possess you with dreadful Apprehensions of the Holiness Justice and Severity of God And therefore you must further know that this Great and Glorious Majesty though most Holy Righteous and Terrible to the Impenitent and Incorrigible yet is of unconceivable Mercy Clemency and Goodness to truly humble and penitent Sinners And though he be a God of such Holiness and Purity that there is no immediate Access to him for such despicable and polluted Creatures as the Children of Men yet hath he in his great Mercy and Wisdom provided a most admirable Expedient whereby we may have access to him at all times with Confidence and Assurance of Acceptance and not only Pardon of Sin but Grace also and Divine Power to serve him acceptably And this is by Christ Jesus God and Man united in one Person who having run the same Race and Exercise of Subjection by Obedience even to Death and the most shameful Death the Death of the Cross and thereby obtained Favour for us with the Father him hath God exalted to be Judge both of Quick and Dead and to be a Prince and a Saviour to all that obey him and are united to him by his Spirit residing and ruling in their Hearts Him hath God proposed to be a Propitiation for us by his Passion and Death and raised up to be a Mediator