Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	life_n	see_v	word_n	6,113	5	4.0840	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34735	The counter-plot, or, The close conspiracy of atheism and schism opened and so defeated and the doctrine and duty of evangelical obedience or Christian loyalty thereby asserted / by a real member of this most envy'd as most admired, because, best reformed Protestant Church of England.	Real member of this most envy'd, as, most admired, because, best reformed Protestant Church of England.	1680 (1680)	Wing C6522; ESTC R10658	41,680	44

nay it seems next to a contradiction or moral impossibility that it should be otherwise for how can his knowledge admit such doctrines as are pointblank opposite to the sence and reason of Mankind or how can that be Faith which embraceth such as are inconsistent with the nature and rule of Faith Besides that the Supposition as first made would fitly serve which can never be thought of without horror to justifie the Effusion or stain the Innocence or elicit an Ominous Ebullition of the yet fresh and purest bloud of that ROYAL MARTYR But to return from this unacceptable digression Tell him therefore the lawful King must be obeyed whatever he is otherwise and you confound him away he cry's I see you are a disguised Protestant Tell another Schismatick God has given us a Natural Law distinctive of good and evil and such Faculties as duely exercis'd are sufficient to discern it c. he readily agrees to the words only he must reserve a sence for his own practice He is ashamed not to say as you do whilst resolved never to do what you say and the next news you hear of him he has transverst those very Faculties he is either Transubstantiating Bodies or Gelding Oaths or Deposing Kings or a sad pretty thing Absolving Subjects from the Law of their own Natures or to say all in a word he is Covenanting against his own Vows and so breaking the bonds blasting the dignities and consuming the persons of all men and things Sacred or Civil by the breath of that Fiery-flying-Serpent Good God! what Babels of Opinion and practice does the pride and ignorance of men erect against Thee every man is building like mad and every man will be a master and lay his own foundation One makes it of the smallest sifted particles of Atomical dust which he found by that same good luck that they had to meet there Another lays it only with dry loose stones thrown together by the withered and tremulous hands of some decrepit and uncertain Traditions doating enough to be thought old and old enough to be found rotten Another works it with hewn and squar'd and polish'd stone but joynted with the most untemper'd mortar of perverse reasoning and vain Philosophy a deal of good stuff spoil'd and worse than lost Another that saith he sees the vanity of these foundations yet builds such an irregular Superstructure as is only fit to stand upon these and worthy for whose sake these foundations themselves should be razed and overthrown Such mad work is there made by the lusts and interests of men with the most holy Religion and laws of God! But 't is well for us that in these confusions and against these extreams we are sufficiently directed and forewarn'd not to believe every spirit Joh. 4.1 therefore we are sure there are Spirits and that some are true and many are false and all must be try'd and that they may be tryed we have given us from God the Spirit Cor. 12. ● 10 the gift of discerning Spirits or distinguishing those glisterings among us which are not gold which pretend the Commission or Inspiration of God for the impulse or impetus of lust which make good and evil true and false to be but empty names or words that signifie nothing or nothing but the Will of the Supreme Magistrate and so necessarily infer this contradiction that the same things in several places are true and false and our Lord Christ must have been a false Prophet ●●viathan 250. because condemned by the Roman Governour and Mahomet a true Prophet because allowed by the chief Sultan which teach us that the Soveraign power beyond whatever hath yet been arrogated by any Pope may null the old Ibid. and make a new Canon of Scripture or none at all Now for these and a thousand more the like Spirits of error we may if we will find a plain rule of tryal in the word of truth where we see the genuine characteristick properties of the Spirit of God It is a Spirit of Truth therefore a good life with an erroneous judgment in Essential and Fundamental points necessary for Faith or Practice as in the great doctrine of Obedience to Governours which runs through the whole body of the Gospel if he allows or abets resistance in any case or if he ascribes infallibility to frail and sinful man or priviledgeth a Priest to do a greater Miracle than ever Christ did by Transubstantiating a piece of bread to make and eat his Saviour he must needs be led by a Spirit of error It is a Spirit of Holiness therefore to be Orthodox and yet immoral to have good opinions with bad practices to think right and to do wrong is to be led by the unclean spirit It is a Spirit of Vnity therefore to Reform by Schism to dissolve the Bond of Peace wherein the Vnity of the Spirit is to be preserv'd to separate or Absolve Subjects from their Obedience to teach them to swear to be forsworn or to lye for Gods sake is to be led by the Spirit of division whose name is Legion It is a Spirit of meekness and order therefore to despise dominions to excommunicate Kings or subvert Kingdoms is to be led by the Spirit Abaddon or Apollyon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rev. 9.11 the Spirit of mischief or destruction always working in the children of disobedience It is a Spirit of Sincerity working in us simplicity and singleness of heart therefore to lift up the Left hand to God and the Right against his Vice-gerent to hate Idols and love Sacriledge to declaim against the Prelacy of Conforming and Vote up the Papacy of Nonconforming Ministers is to be acted by the Spirit of Hypocrisie or the father of Lyes It is a Spirit of Knowledge or understanding therefore to level the Canon of Scripture with the Apocrypha to make the Word of God truckle under Tradition to advance Jesus against Christ or to propagate Religion by the Sword is to be led by the Spirit of Slumber the God of this world that blindeth the minds of men Thus let us Try the Spirits and by the fruits of Love Joy Peace Gal. 5.22.19 Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness c. or of hatred variance wrath strife seditions heresies c. we shall easily know them Yet because Vice borders close upon Vertue and is never without some colour or probability to set it off we are not to make our last judgment upon the Acts till we be first acquainted with the habits of men till we know the general current of their lives as well as the particular conduct of their designs and the means they use as well as the end they pretend to and when this is done let the Forms of godliness be never so artificially drawn the fire of Zeal and the light of Sanctity never so well painted let the Colours be never so fine ground and laid on with never so delicate a Pencil we shall see the

rash bold furious inconsiderate but the very natural indeed most unnatural fool The Virgins that had no oyl were manifestly akin to this fool by their supine negligence and improvidence yet not nearer sure than the half bloud of gross and woful imprudence not the whole of stark staring madness Those fools would have beg'd or borrow'd what they had not this fool will not so much as need what he wants He hath he will have no Sacrifice for God which even the Heathen themselves have always made to be the due and necessary acknowledgment of a Deity But let us bray this fool no longer Our Liturgy not corrupted by the Missal Say Schismatick what is our Liturgy Oh! most abominable filthy noxious childish confused tedious improper literal Book-service c. a most blind lame yea a dead Sacrifice c. Hold a little is it all this yet methinks if it be a Sacrifice of Praise to God it matters not through what hands it past e're it came to us What can the Missal if it were the Alcoran of Rome concern us or defile it We say of our Liturgy just as we do of our Religion it is not New but Reformed What ails you now unless you love Schism for it self it should offend you no more than it troubles us that our Faith and Worship are all of a piece No impediment to the Spirit of Prayer Rom. 8.26 Nor can set and stinted Forms as such possibly in any degree quench or hinder the Spirit of Prayer for that as this is not ty'd to or with words so neither doth it supply any defect in them It helpeth our infirmities indeed but not with words but with supplies that cannot be worded with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sighs and groans unutterable It consists in those fervours of Soul that will put life into any Form not in forms of my own making or borrowing as you lamentably affirm and so cheat the people and eadem opera blaspheme the Holy Ghost You complain of ease whilst you tell us a child might perform this Service for that is both our advantage and obligation Not childish because a child can read it Gods Service being not to be weighed by the labour of doing but by its relation to him for whom 't is done else we know a Butcher could have kill'd and drest a Lamb better than a Priest under the Law and now the child that can read the book is not therefore fit to offer the Sacrifice under the Gospel He can read Take eat c. but may he therefore Administer c. You could never be so much troubled with our confused Antiphona's if your Ears were not as tender as your Consciences Antiphona's no Confusions for I pray tell us is it not a publick Sacrifice a joynt Confession 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which for ought we know yet must be made by Speech and therefore we pray God to open our lips and you teach the people to shut them Is this well done or is not that better Neither could you think it impertinent if you considered it to be a publick Sacrifice of Praise The Service not impertinent not only for Blessings immediately upon our selves but upon others or upon us by the means or intervention of others Might not you may not we partake of the Grace vouchsaf'd to the Blessed Virgin in her Magnificat or may we not all with Simeon in his Song rejoyce at the sight of that Salvation So 't is much any man should think those Prayers too long not tedious wherein we are begging for Eternity or quarrel them for justling out Preaching which as they do not necessarily so if they do it accidentally or by surprize of some occasion yet then which do you think may better be spared the Prayers which are a Sacrifice to God and for his Honour or the Sermons which are to us and for our benefit But how is it that you call it a dead Sacrifice what not a dead Sacrifice does it want that life of affection which is necessary Truly this must be a fault lay it where it may but can the Forms be guilty can we justly require that in or of the Sacrifice which only belongs to them that offer it must the Church create the affection because she compos'd the Forms If we come without our hearts is not the fault our own can Repetition deaden Affection or cannot our sense of the same wants or can words shifted and not the same keep life in it did the Jews ever complain of their Sacrifice the Type of ours because there was a Lamb in the Morning a Lamb in the Evening a Lamb every day in the year Mat. 26 4● Luk. 22 4● did our Lord think you want ability or affection to pray when he thrice used the same words Nor lame How is it defective or lame in its parts its Confessions Petitions or Thanksgivings Is not the end and use of it to be a Sacrifice of Praise rather than a storehouse for every duty otherwise than to serve for that Sacrifice why do you not consider that if particulars were named all could not say Amen And when general words are used all that are acquainted with their own Souls can reflect upon particulars and so make a private advantage of the publick service Nor blind How is it blind or not edifying Is it because it edifies us not in Faith or Knowledge as a Sermon doth or should why then it seems it is to be blamed because it is not a Sermon But how then shall Sermons escape because they are not Prayers nor a Sacrifice for the praise of God as this is And now I hope well that if this edifies it will be enough to supersede the complaint Tell us therefore do not Hymns and Anthems with Musick too edifie the Praise of God even in Christian worship disprove it and continue an enemy or grant it and become a friend to this Holy Service Never be so bold hereafter as to dare to say there 's nothing but porridge Prayers Ps 69.30.71.20 Rom. 15.8 c. Or if thou wilt remember thou saist also there 's nothing but Honouring or Praising God Consider likewise thy obedience is a Sacrifice of righteousness but it is not this Sacrifice of Praise that 's a metaphorical but this is a proper Sacrifice For though that word Sacrifice imports something to be slain or destroyed yet that is but accidental to its notion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and rather distinguishes the kind than constitutes the nature of it which consists in offering something to God in acknowledgment of him and which is as properly done now by the fruit of our lips as of our flocks or our fields before Therefore we rob God if we deny him the honour of this Sacrifice which as it is distinct from all other acts of obedience so is it of a special intendment and of a different obligation though he hath