Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	age_n	year_n	young_a	486	4	6.3661	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34880	Gospel-holinesse, or, The saving sight of God laid open from Isa. 6.5 together with the glorious priviledge of the saints, from Rom. 8.4, 5 : both worthily opened and applied / by ... Walter Cradock ...	Cradock, Walter, 1606?-1659.	1651 (1651)	Wing C6760; ESTC R23430	256,626	448

read one single Scripture it may be I have a book that will point out halfe a dozen Scriptures to open one Scripture by And it may be I have some books that take 3. To presse Scriptures on the soule some Scripture and presse it upon my soule as Doctor Prestons and other godly books But to take books and say Jerome thinks this and Austin that and fill our heads with notions they blind us that we cannot see the will of God Therefore in reading of Scriptures there should Difference in the learning of Christians and others be this difference from our reading of other Books I meane in respect of age When we are Children and young we use not Spectacles it may be at twenty or thirty or fourty yeares old we can read without Spectacles but when we come to fifty or sixty then we can see nothing but through Spectacles It should be just contrary with us when we are Christians When we are young we usually never read the Word of God but through the Spectacles of mens glosses but when we are older Christians and stronger Saints we should learne to read better without Spectacles wee should daily make lesse use of Mens Books and more of Gods Book That whereas before a man turned over twenty Authors upon a point Now he can goe humbly to God with his Bible and without Spectacles he can see what the will of God is Therefore lay aside Spectacles sometimes and onely take the spirit of God and compare Scipture with Scripture that you may come to know the mind of Christ Shall I name one thing more If you would 5. To be borne againe come to be spirituall Gospel-Saints you must be borne againe you must be borne from above A Gospell-profession is Jerusalem from above and there are none that can come into Jerusalem that is from above but those that are borne from above Therefore marke our Saviours reasoning John 3. Nicodemus asks Christ which was the way to Heaven And he tells him Verily thou must be borne againe or thou must be borne from above or else thou canst not see it Nichodemus wonders why hee must be borne from above saith he Shall I goe into my Mothers belly c. Saith Christ marvell not wonder not why should he not wonder at such a strange speech Here is the reason That which is borne of flesh is flesh therefore think it not strange that I say thou must be borne againe So I say whatsoever you do by the power of nature by your owne wisedome by your owne righteousnesse or your owne strength all comes but to this but to flesh and whatsoever comes of flesh is flesh Flesh cannot bring out the spirit no more then a thorne can bring out Grapes as Christ speak Therefore wonder not that thou must be borne from above that is thou must have the Lord from above to beget thee againe You have every one been borne once you must be borne once more you must have a new creation in you the Lord must create new strange properties and dispositions that no flesh and blood is able to comprehend Lastly take the councell of the Holy Ghost 6. To pray for the spirit of wisedome and revelation and that is in Ephes 1. 16 As Paul prayed for them so doe thou pray for thy selfe and there is all the reason in the World that thou shouldest I cease not sayth he to give thanks for you making mention of you in my Prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of glory would give to you the spirit of wisedome and revelation in the knowledge of him Pray for the spirit of wisedome and revelation in the knowledge of Christ Sleight not these words because some wicked men abuse them and others reproach them but because Paul saith so pray that the Lord would give thee the spirit of wisedome and revelation So much concerning the directions I had to give you There is one word of Information and with Vse 6. The true ground of persecutions and divisions that I will conclude From what I have said before concerning the flesh and the spirit learne this instruction more hence to see what is the true ground of all persecution nay even of all the divisions that are among us Men may pretend what they will and deceive themselves but all the strife and persecution in the World is meerly between the flesh and the spirit between the old and the new Adam There are two Princes in this World and these are contrary the one to the other The flesh lusteth against the spirit Old Adam seeks to get up and the new Adam will have him downe Therefore you shall have these two in every Towne in one Church in one Family in one soule and wheresoever they are the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these two are contrary Are contrary what is that That is there is no true contrariety between any things in the World but between the old Adam and the new between the flesh and the spirit Now by Flesh I meane not onely corruption but whole flesh fleshly wisedome The wisedome of old Adam is enmity against the wisedome of the new the righteousnesse of old Adam is quite contrary to the righteousnesse of the new this is the cause of persecution Let people pretend what they will you shall see godly men persecuted you may see Christ in their soules as clearly as the Sun and people keep a coile about Independency and Presbytery but the truth is it is old Adam in those that persecute and the new Adam in the other a man with one eye may see it There are many pretences but all the strife is between the old Adam and the new For to give a little illustration take Gospell godly Saints that have the spirit of God in them they agree well enough they will not strive sometimes they may differ a little but for the generality they live well enough together nay take some Gospell Saints that are filled with the spirit of God and the knowledge of Jesus Christ in these times and in this City which is the center of all division and they cannot attest divisions they cannot make a partie and give rayling for rayling and strife for strife they cannot but love their enemies and bless them that blaspheme them As James sayth Whence come all wars You think they come from your zeale for your way and yours for your way but it is from your lusts The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh It is from old Adam And I was going to say but I will but name it Cause of Saints weakness This is the cause also of the weaknesse generally that is among you It is not wickednesse that troubles a Saint but weaknesse it is not positive ills but weaknesse And whence is this weaknesse Because he walks after the flesh The spirit is powerfull but the