Selected quad for the lemma: water_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
water_n	blood_n	john_n	spirit_n	3,921	5	5.9402	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54035	The flesh & blood of Christ, both in the mystery and in the outward briefly, plainly, and uprightly acknowledged and testified to, for the satisfaction and benefit of the tender-hearted, who desire to experience the quickning, healing, and cleansing vertue of it : with A brief account concerning the people called Quakers in reference both to principle and doctrine : whereunto are added some few other things which by the blessing of God may be experimentally found useful to the true pilgrim and faithful travellers out of the nature & spirit of this world / written in true love and tenderness of spirit by Isaac Penington.	Penington, Isaac, 1616-1679.; Hicks, Thomas, 17th cent. Continuation of the dialogue between a Christian and a Quaker.	1675 (1675)	Wing P1168; ESTC R7890	24,794	63

putting on Christ the Flesh and Blood of Christ c. is very plain to him that reads singly But to make it manifest particularly concerning the Flesh and Blood of Christ I shall recite one Query it is the 33. Query page 29. The Query is thus Is not the true Church Flesh of Christs Flesh and Bone of his Bone Is not the false or Antichristian Church Flesh of Antichrists Flesh and Bone of Antichrists Bone What is the Flesh of the spiritual Whore which is to be stripped naked and burnt with fire Shall ever the Church which is of Christs Flesh be stripped naked and burnt with fire Nay doth not his Flesh make able to abide the devouring fire and to dwell with the everlasting burnings Can this possibly be understood of outward Flesh and Bone is it not manifestly intended of Flesh and Bone in the Mystery yea that I did relate to the Mystery in that very Query out of which he takes the four first words and no more is very manifest by the following words of the same Query It is the 17. Query page 25. The Query runs thus Can outward Blood cleanse the Conscience ye that are spiritual consider can outward water wash the Soul clean ye that have ever felt the Blood of sprinkling from the Lord upon your Consciences and your Consciences cleansed thereby did ye ever feel it to be outward It is one thing what a man apprehends in the way of notion from the letter concerning the things of God and another thing what a man feels in spirit Is it not manifest by the express words themselves that I spake of the inward feeling of the Blood in the mystery Fourthly This Query Can outward Blood cleanse the Conscience c. doth not necessarily nor indeed at all infer that the Blood of Christ as to the outward was but a common thing or useless If I had been to answer this Query my self he doth not know what my answer would have been It was put to Professors to answer inwardly in their hearts who I did believe upon serious consideration could not but confess in way of answer thereto that outward Blood it self or of it self could not cleanse and purge away the filth that was inward but that must be done by that which is inward living and spiritual Then hereby they had been brought to see the necessity of the mystery the spirit the power the life of the Son to be inwardly revealed in them and then had I obtained my end Nor was I their enemy in desiring or aiming at this for them or in setting Queries before them which to my eye as in the sight of God seemed proper and conducible in themselves however they might fail as to them towards the obtaining of this end And if they could once come to this to own the Flesh and Blood in the mystery and so come to partake of its cleansing and nourishing vertue and not fix and appropriate that to the outward which chiefly belongs to the mystery I say if they could but go thus far with me in owning the inward life and power in the sensible feeling and operation thereof I could meet them a great way in speaking glorious things of and attributing a cleansing or washing vertue to the outward in and through and with the inward For I do not separate the inward and outward in my own mind but the Lord opened my heart and taught me thus to distinguish according to the Scriptures in love to them and for their sakes For that was not my intent to deny the outward or make it appear as a common or useless thing There was never such a sense in my heart nor was ever word written or spoken by me to that end which to make more manifest I shall now plainly open my heart how it hath been and is still with me in this respect since it pleased the God and Father of mercies to reveal the mystery of himself and of his Son in me In the first place I freely confess that I do own and acknowledge as in Gods sight Our Lord Iesus Christ his Flesh Blood in the mystery The Apostle Paul speaks of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ Colos 2.2 The Son was revealed in him Gal. 1.16 and so he knew the mystery of Christ and Preached the mystery of Christ Colos 4.3 He was made an able Minister of the new Covenant not of the Letter but of the Spirit or mystery and so he Preached the wisdom of God in the mystery or Spirit 1 Cor. 2.7 2 Cor. 3.6 Colos 1.25 26 27. and he had great conflict to bring people to the rich knowledge and acknowledgement of the mystery Chap. 2.1 2. He was sent to turn men from darkness from the power of Satan which is a mystery and works in mens hearts in a mystery to the light to the Spirit and power of God which is a mystery also and remission of sins is received in and through this mystery Act. 26.18 And I desire every serious and tender heart to consider whether this knowledge of Christ in the mystery was not that which he called the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ his Lord Phil. 3.8 Certain I am that the knowledge of God and Christ in the mystery is the most excellent knowledge and no less then life eternal inwardly revealed and felt from God in the heart And here no legal righteousness no self-righteousness can stand but the vertue and power of Christs Death and Resurrection inwardly revealed and felt in the mystery subdues and destroyes it all Indeed self-righteousness may be given up in way of notion or seemingly destroyed as to mens apprehensions without the revealing or working of the mystery but it cannot be destroyed in reallity but where this is felt But where the mystery is known is received and throughly works self-righteousness can have no place there Now the Apostle who was acquainted with the mystery of Christ he speaks of his Body Flesh and Bones in the mystery Eph. 5.30 And if there be Flesh and Bones in the mystery is there not also Blood in the mystery yea the Apostle John speaks of Spirit Water and Blood 1 John 5.8 Now consider seriously are all these of one and the same nature or are they of a different nature the Spirit of one nature the Water and Blood of another nature Blessed be the Lord the birth which is born of the Spirit and is spiritual knoweth the nature of the spirit which begat it and knoweth water which is inward and heavenly and blood which is not at all of an inferiour nature to it And Jesus Christ our Lord and Teacher speaketh of Flesh which came down from Heaven which Flesh is the Bread of life which he that lives feeds upon and none can feed upon but they that live And by this it is manifest to all to whom God hath given understanding in the mystery that his Flesh and Blood in the

mystery is intended by him in that he saith He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood dwelleth in me and I in him John 6.56 This dwelling in each other is an effect of the mystery and is witnessed by none that know not the mystery And to this effect Christ himself expresly expoundeth it ver 63. It is the spirit that quickneth the Flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speak to you they are spirit and they are life As if he had said I am speaking of the Souls food I am speaking of the Heavenly bread I am speaking of spirit and life I am speaking of the mystery which ye look upon and understand as outwardly intended by me and so miss of the mystery of the spirit wherein is the quickning vertue and look only at the outward Body or Flesh which without the spirit profiteth not nor ever can profit any man Secondly I confess further that I have the sense experience and knowledge of this also that in the mystery is the quickning vertue the cleansing vertue the nourishing vertue unto life eternal The spirit the water the blood inwardly sprinkled inwardly poured by God upon the Soul inwardly felt and drunk in by the thirsty earth do cleanse do feed do nourish do refresh Doth not God promise to sprinkle clean water upon his Israel in the new Covenant and they shall be clean and to pour water on him that is thirsty and Floods upon the dry grounds is it not by the spirit of judgment and burning that God washeth away the filth of the Daughter of Sion c. Esay 4.4 Doth not the live coal from the Altar purifie and take away the iniquity Esa 6. O read inwardly O wait to be taught of God to read inwardly that ye may know what these things mean Why should ye quarrel at the precious and tender openings of truth in love to your Souls Thirdly I have likewise this sense and have also had this knowledge and experience that the outward without this cannot avail A man is not cleansed by notions or apprehensions concerning the thing but by the thing it self Let a man believe what he can concerning the blood of Christ and apply to himself what promises he can yet this will not do O how grievously do men mistake herein but he must feel somewhat from God somewhat of the new Creation in Christ Jesus somewhat of his light shining from him the Son into the heart somewhat of his life somewhat of his power working against the darkness and power of the enemy in him Now a man being turned to this joyned to this gathered to this standard of the Lord translated in some degree out of himself into this here somewhat of the mystery is revealed and found working in him and so far he is of God and hath some true sense and some true understanding from him And here also he hath right to Christs Flesh and Blood in the outward and to all the benefits and precious effects that come thereby For by owning the mystery and receiving the mystery we are not taught of God to deny any thing of the outward Flesh and Blood or of his obedience and sufferings in the Flesh but rather are taught and enabled there rightly to understand it and to reap the benefits and precious fruits of it Fourthly The Lord hath shewn me this also very manifestly and clearly That in former times in this Nation as well as elsewhere before Professors ran so into heaps I mean into several wayes and forms of Church fellowship so called they had more inward sense of the Mystery than now they have and were a great deal more tender both unto the Lord and one towards another than now they are For then grace in the heart and the inward feeling was the thing that was most minded among the stricter sort They did not mind so much bare reading or hearing or praying or any outward observation whatsoever as what they felt therein Let men have spoken never so many glorious words concerning the things of God yet if they had not been spoken warmly and freshly by him that spoke them there was little satisfaction to the Soul that hungred after that which was living but rather an inward grief and dissatisfaction felt So that in that day there was an inward sense of the mystery though not a distinct knowledge of it which was pretious in the eye of God and very savoury inwardly in the heart But now in so long time by looking so much outward and beating their brains and disputing about the outward many have very much if not wholly lost the sense of the inward and are found contending for the outward against the very appearance and manifestation of the inward and so are in danger of being hardned and sealed up in that which is dead and litteral out of the limits of that which is living and spiritual It is a dreadful thing to fight against the living God and his living appearance in the hearts of those whom he chuseth in any Age or Generation The Lord hath been pleased to bring us a poor despised remnant back to that which first gave us life in the dayes of our former profession O that ye were brought thither also that that might remove the vail hardness darkness and deep prejudices from you which can never be removed while ye stick in litteral apprehensions without the light and teachings of Gods spirit Now as touching the outward which ye say we deny because of our testimony to the inward I have frequently given a most solemn testimony thereto and God knoweth it to be the truth of my heart and that the testifying to the inward from which the outward came doth not make the outward void but rather establish it in its place and service God himself who knew what vertue was in the inward yet hath pleased to make use of the outward and who may contradict or slight his wisdom and Council therein Glorious was the appearance and manifestation of his Son in Flesh pretious his subjection and holy obedience to his Father his giving himself up to death for sinners was of great esteem in his eye It was a spotless Sacrifice of great value and effectual for the Remission of sins and I do acknowledge humbly unto the Lord the Remission of my sins thereby and bless the Lord for it even for giving up his Son to death for us all and giving all that believe in his name and power to partake of Remission through him And seeing it is thus with me seeing the Root of the matter is in me O how can any man that hopes to be redeemed by my Lord and Saviour reproach me for speaking of the mystery without the least Derogation to the outward or what was done by him in the outward But if I should speak vehemently concerning mens neglecting the mystery and setting up that which is outward instead of it and without it I should not be condemned but

contention about Christianity who is the right Christian it behoves every man to take care as to himself that he be really such that he receive that from God and be that to God which none but the right Christian can be or can receive This is the use I would make of these things in my own heart even to be sure I be such an one as God hath made and will accept and own as a Christian And having had some experience of this thing and truly understand what the Christian-state is and what doth attend it I shall set down some few things which he that inwardly knoweth witnesseth and enjoyeth is without all controversie a true Christian what ever men may account of him First He that is a new Creature is without doubt a true Christian He that is Regenerated he that is renewed in the Spirit of his mind by Christ Jesus he that is New-Created in the Holy Heavenly Image he has felt the power of Gods Spirit begetting him anew forming him anew out of the old nature and Image of the first Adam into the nature and Image of the second Adam who is the quickning Spirit and that which is begotten and born of him is Spirit Secondly He that is in the new Covenant is a true Christian He that hath thirsted after the living waters and hath heard the call to the waters of life hath heard the voice of him who gives life and hath received life from him who giveth life to all that come to him and who maketh the new and everlasting Covenant with all that hear his voice take up his Cross and follow him he is without doubt one of Christs Sheep whom the Shepherd owneth and taketh care of Thirdly He that is inwardly circumcised with the circumcision made without hands he is a Jew inward a Christian inward in the sight of God who hath felt the Spirit and power of Christ Jesus and rejoyceth in Christ Jesus and is one of those Worshippers whom God hath sought out and taught to Worship him in the life and spirit of his Son Fourthly He that is inwardly washed with the clean water with the inward water he is the inward Jew the inward Christian God promised to pour out clean water upon his Israel and they should be clean He who hath the clean water poured upon him inwardly which inwardly washeth and cleanseth he is without controversie of Gods inward Israel Fifthly He that feeds on the Bread of life within and drinks the water of life out of his own Well or Cistern he without doubt is living He that is invited to the Marriage-Supper of the Lamb and comes and Sups with the Lamb he is one of the same nature and spirit with him He with whom Christ Sups who hath heard Christ knocking at his door hath opened to him and received him in to purifie his heart and dwell in him and Sup with him and to give him to Sup with himself so that he eats Bread in the Kingdom and drinks Wine in the Kingdom and partakes of the Feast of fat things which God makes to his Israel in his holy Mountain he is without doubt one of Christs and partakes of this in and through him Sixthly He that lives the Christian life who walks not after the Flesh but after the spirit who doth not fulfill the lusts of the Flesh but hath the law of God written in his heart and his fear put within him and his holy Spirit given to instruct him and to guide him to answer the holy law written in his heart which the carnal mind is not subject nor can be subject to without doubt he is spiritual without doubt he is a true Christian Seventhly He that lives by faith who knows the faith which is the gift of God hath received it and lives by it who can do nothing of himself but only by faith in that holy power which doth all in him so that he lives and believes and obeys from an holy Root of life which causeth life to spring up in him and love to spring up in him and the Lambs meekness and patience to spring up in him and all grace to spring up in him I say he that lives thus without doubt is engraffed into the true Vine into the true Olive-tree and the Root bears him and Ministers sap unto him and he is a true fresh green living branch of the true Vine of the holy Olive-Tree Many more things might be mentioned as they are experimentally known and felt amongst us who are true Christians though the Baptists and others have represented us to the world as if we were no Christians but that toucheth us not their saying so is no more to us than the professing Jews of the same Spirit who said Christ had a Devil but these are to give a Tast And he that knows and feels these may also know and feel the rest and he that doth not know nor feel these would not know or feel the rest if never so many more should be mentioned Now the way to feel these and to become a true Christian and to grow up in the Christian life is to feel the Seed of the Kingdom which is the beginning of the Kingdom the beginning of true Christianity and then to feel the Seed abiding the Seed which is of the Spirit and which is Spirit here 's the constant Seal of Christianity in my heart here are true and certain evidences day by day of the Christian nature and Spirit manifesting themselves undeniably inwardly And now having the witness in my self the Testimony of him that begat life in me testifying to his own work and to his own Birth of what value are any Testimonies of men without against this Christianity is a mystery and he only can truly see who is a Christian indeed who hath the inward eye opened and with that inward eye is taught of God to peirce into that wherein Christianity consisteth There have been many Christians of mens making there are also some Christians of God and Christs making which Christians God and Christ will own but not the other O let men have a care that when God cometh to distinguish between Cattle and Cattle between Christian and Christian they be found such as God will make up as his Jewels and own as the Sheep of his fold such as shall be able to bear the Tryal of his searching judgment and pure impartial eye and not such as still notwithstanding all their profession of Religion and Christianity are found workers of iniquity and so not created anew in Christ Jesus unto good works and therefore not truly of him nor true Christians in his eye The End ERRATA PAge 13. l. 4. read ground p. 19. l. 21. r. Sun p 24. l. 2. ibid. p. 20. l. 25. r. Enemy p 31. l 7. r. man p. 36. l. 13. r. here p. 46. l. 11. r. 〈◊〉