Selected quad for the lemma: law_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
law_n	job_n	prophet_n	psalm_n	42,044	5	11.0080	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A53720	Pneumatologia, or, A discourse concerning the Holy Spirit wherein an account is given of his name, nature, personality, dispensation, operations, and effects : his whole work in the old and new creation is explained, the doctrine concering it vindicated from oppositions and reproaches : the nature also and necessity of Gospel-holiness the difference between grace and morality, or a spiritual life unto God in evangelical obedience and a course of moral vertues, are stated and declared / by John Owen ...	Owen, John, 1616-1683.	1676 (1676)	Wing O793; ESTC R16093	721,250	620

and the using of them to his own Glory 6. The Case of Saul is plain The Spirit of the Lord who departed from him was the Spirit of Wisdom Moderation and Courage to fit him for Rule and Government that is the Gifts of the Holy Ghost unto that purpose which he withdrew from him And the Evil Spirit that was upon him proceeded no farther but to the stirring up Vexatious and disquieting Affections of Mind And notwithstanding this molestation and punishment inflicted on him the Spirit of God might at a season fall upon him so as to cast him into a Rapture or Extasie wherein his Mind was acted and exercised in an extraordinary manner and himself transported into Actions that were not at all according unto his own Inclinations So is this Case well resolved by Augustine And for the old Prophet at Bethel 1 Kings 13. although he appear to have been an evil Man yet he was one whom God made use of to reveal his Mind sometimes to that People nor is it probable that he was under Satanical Delusions like the Prophets of Baal for he is absolutely called a Prophet and the Word of the Lord did really come unto him v. 20 21. Sect. 19 The Writing of the Scripture was another Effect of the Holy Ghost which had its beginning under the Old Testament I reckon this as a distinct Gift from Prophesie in general or rather a distinct Species or kind of Prophesie For many Prophets there were Divinely Inspired who yet never wrote any of their Prophesies nor any thing else for the use of the Church And many Pen-men of the Scripture were no Prophets in the strict sence of that Name And the Apostle tells us that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Scripture or Writing it self was by Inspiration from God 1 Tim. 3. 16. as David affirms that he had the Pattern of the Temple from the Spirit of God in Writing because of his guidance of him in putting its Description into Writing 1 Chron. 28. 19. Now this Ministry was first committed unto Moses who besides the Five Books of the Law probably also wrote the Story of Job Many Prophets there were before Him but he was the first who committed the Will of God to Writing after God himself who wrote the Law in Tables of Stone which was the Beginning and Pattern of the Scriptures The Writers of the Historical Books of the Old Testament before the Captivity are unknown The Jews call them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first or former Prophets Who they were in particular is not known but certain it is that they were of the Number of those Holy Men of God who of old Wrote and Spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost Hence are they called Prophets For although they wrote in an Historical manner as did Moses also concerning things past and gone in their Dayes or it may be presently acted in their own Times yet they did not Write them either from their own Memory nor from Tradition nor from the Rolls or Records of Times although they might be furnished with and skilled in these things but by the Inspiration Guidance and Direction of the Holy Ghost Hence are they called Prophets in such a Latitude as the Word may be used in to signifie any that are Divinely Inspired or receive immediate Revelations from God And thus was it with all the Pen-men of the Holy Scripture As their Minds were under that full assurance of Divine Inspiration which we before described so their words which they wrote were under the especial care of the same Spirit and were of his Suggestion or Inditing Sect. 20 There were therefore three things concurring in this Work 1. The Inspiration of the Minds of these Prophets with the Knowledg and Apprehension of the things communicated unto them 2. The Suggestion of words unto them to express what their Minds conceived 3. The guidance of their Hands in setting down the words suggested or of their Tongues in uttering them unto those by whom they were committed to Writing as Baruch wrote the Prophesie of Jeremiah from his Mouth Jer. 36. 3. 18. If either of these were wanting the Scripture could not be absolutely and every way Divine and Infallible For if the Pen-Men of it were left unto themselves in any thing wherein that Writing was concerned who can secure us that nihil Humani no Humane Imperfection mixed it self therewithal I know some think that the Matter and Substance of things only was communicated unto them but as for the words whereby it was to be expressed that was left unto themselves and their own Abilities And this they suppose is evident from that variety of Stile which according to their various Capacities Education and Abilities is found amongst them This argues as they say that the wording of their Revelations was left unto themselves and was the Product of their Natural Abilities This in general I have spoken unto elsewhere and manifested what mistakes sundry have run into about the Stile of the Holy Pen-Men of the Scripture Here I shall not take up what hath been argued and evinced in another place I only say that the variety intended ariseth mostly from the variety of the Subject Matters treated of nor is it such as will give any countenance to the prophaneness of this Opinion For the Holy Ghost in his Work on the Minds of Men doth not put a force upon them nor acts them any otherwise than they are in their own Natures and with their present Endowments and Qualifications meet to be acted and used He leads and conducts them in such Paths wherein they are able to walk The words therefore which he suggests unto them are such as they are accustomed unto and he causeth them to make use of such Expressions as were familiar unto themselves So he that useth divers Seals maketh different Impressions though the guidance of them all be equal and the same And he that toucheth skilfully several Musical Instruments variously tuned maketh several Notes of Musick We may also grant and do That they used their own Abilities of Mind and Understanding in the choice of Words and Expressions So the Preacher sought to find out acceptable words Eccles. 12. 10. But the Holy Spirit who is more intimate unto the Minds and Skill of Men than they are themselves did so guide act and operate in them as that the words they fixed upon were as directly and certainly from him as if they had been spoken to them by an audible Voice Hence that which was written was upright even Words of Truth as in that place This must be so or they could not speak as they moved by the Holy Ghost nor could their Writing be said to be of Divine Inspiration Hence oft-times in the Original great Senses and Significations depend on a single Letter as for instance in the change of the Name of Abraham And our Saviour affirms that every Apex and Iota of the Law is under the

which he gives unto his Wisdom Love and Grace with the excellency and certainty of the way of Salvation of Sinners by Jesus Christ which is to make God a Layar 1 Joh. 5. 10. Joh. 3. 32 33. 2. A Contempt of Love and Grace with the way and means of their communication to lost Sinners by the Blood of the Son of God which is the highest provocation that can be offered unto the Divine Majesty 4. In the Declaration of the Gospel the Lord Christ is in an especial manner proposed as crucified and lifted up for the especial Object of our Faith John 3. 14 15. Gal. 3. 1. And this Proposition of Christ hath included in it an Invitation unto all Convinced Sinners to come unto him for Life and Salvation Isa. 45. 2. Chap. 65. 1. 5. The Lord Christ being proposed unto Sinners in the Gospel and their acceptance or receiving of him being urged on them it is withal declared for what end he is so proposed And this is in general to save them from their Sins Mat. 1. 21. or the Wrath to come whereof they are afraid 1 Thess. 1. 10. For in the Evangelical Proposition of him there is included 1. That there is a Way yet remaining for Sinners whereby they may escape the Curse of the Law and the Wrath of God which they have deserved Psal. 130. 4. Job 33. 24. Acts 4. 12. 2. That the Foundation of these Wayes lies in an Atonement made by Jesus Christ unto the Justice of God and Satisfaction to his Law for Sin Rom. 3. 25. 2 Cor. 5. 21. Gal. 3. 13. 3. That God is well-pleased with this Atonement and his Will is that we should accept of it and acquiesce in it 2 Cor. 5. 18 19. Isa. 53. 11 12. Rom. 5. 10 11. 6. It is proposed and promised that through and upon their believing that is on Christ as proposed in the Gospel for the only way of Redemption and Salvation Convinced Sinners shall be pardoned justified and acquitted before God discharged of the Law against them through the imputation unto them of what the Lord Christ hath done for them and suffered in their stead Rom. 8. 3. 10. 3 4. 1 Cor. 1. 30 31. 2 Cor. 5. 21. Ephes. 2. 8 9 10. 7. To prevail with and win over the Souls of Men unto a consent to receive Christ on the Terms wherein he is proposed that is to believe in him and trust unto him to what he is hath done and suffered and continueth to do for pardon of Sin Life and Salvation the Gospel is filled with Arguments Invitation Incouragements Exhortations Promises all of them designed to explain and declare the Love Grace Faithfulness and good-Will of God herein In the due management and improvement of these parts of the Gospel consists the principal Wisdom and Skill of the Ministers of the New Testament 8. Among these various Ways or Means of the Declaration of himself and his Will God frequently causeth some especial Word Promise or Passage to fix it self on the Mind of a Sinner as we saw it in the Instance before insisted on Hereby the Soul is first excited to exert and act the Faith wherewith it is endued by the effectual working of the Spirit of God before described And by this means are Men directed unto Rest Peace and Consolation in that variety of Degrees wherein God is pleased to communicate them 9. This Acting of Faith on Christ through the Promise of the Gospel for Pardon Righteousness and Salvation is inseparably accompanied with and that Faith is the Root and infallible cause of an universal Ingagement of Heart unto all Holy Obedience to God in Christ with a Relinquishment of all known Sin necessarily producing a through-Change and Reformation of Life and Fruitfulness in Obedience For as upon a discovery of the Love of God in Christ the Promises whereby it is exhibited unto us being mixed with Faith the Soul of a poor Sinner will be filled with Godly Sorrow and Shame for its former Sins and will be deeply humbled for them so all the Faculties of it being now renewed and inwardly changed it can no more refrain from the Love of Holiness and from an Ingagement into a watchful course of Universal Obedience unto God by such free Actings as are proper unto it than one that is new born can refrain from all Acts of Life Natural In Motion desire of Food and the like Vain and foolish therefore are the Reproaches of some who in an high course of a Worldly Life and Profane do charge others with Preaching a Justification by Faith alone in Christ Jesus unto a neglect of Holiness Righteousness and Obedience of God which such Scoffers and fierce Despisers of all that are good do so earnestly plead for Those whom they openly reflect upon do unanimously teach That the Faith which doth not purifie the Heart and reform the Life which is not fruitful in good Works which is not an effectual Cause and Means of Repentance and newness of Life is not genuine nor pleadable unto Justification but empty dead and that which if trusted unto will eternally deceive the Souls of Men. They do all of them press the indispensible necessity of Universal Holiness Godliness Righteousness or Obedience to all the Commands of God on surer Principles with more cogent Arguments in a more clear compliance with the Will Grace and Love of God in Christ than any they pretend unto who ignorantly and falsly traduce them as those who regard them not And as they urge an Obediential Holiness which is not defective in any Duty either towards God or Man which they either plead for or pretend unto so it contains that in it which is more Sublime Spiritual and Heavenly than what they are either acquainted with or do regard which in its proper place shall be made more fully to appear Sect. 38 10. Those who were thus converted unto God in the Primitive Times of the Church were upon their Confession or Profession hereof admitted into Church-Society and a Participation of all the Mysteries thereof And this being the common way whereby any were added unto the Fellowship of the Faithfull it was an effectual Means of intense Love without dissimulation among them all on the account of their joynt Interest in the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I shall shut up this Discourse with one Instance hereof given us by Austin in the Conversion and Admission into Church-Society of Victorinus a Platonical Philosopher as he received the Story from Simplicianus by whom he was Baptized Ut ventum est ad horam profitendae fidei quae verbis certis retentisque memoriter de loco eminentiore in conspectu populi fidelis Romae reddi solet ab eis qui accessuri sunt ad gratiam tuam oblatum esse dicebat Victorino a Presbyteris ut secretius redderet sicut non nullis qui verecundia trepidaturi videbantur offerri mos erat illum autem maluisse salutem suam in

for the Abomination that is in it is required of us And this is the Work of the Holy Ghost belonging to that peculiar Conviction of sin which is from him alone Joh. 16. 8. I mean that self-abhorrency shame and Confusion of Face with respect unto the Filth of sin which is so often mentioned in the Scripture as a Gracious Duty as nothing is an higher Aggravavation of sin than for men to carry themselves with a Carnal Boldness with God and in his Worship whilest they are unpurged from their Defilements In a sence hereof the Publican stood afar off as one ashamed and destitute any Confidence for a nearer Approach So the Holy Men of Old professed to God that they blushed and were ashamed to lift up their Faces unto him Without this Preparation whereby we come to know the Plague of our own Hearts the Infection of our Leprosie the Defilement of our Souls we shall never make Application unto the Blood of Christ for Cleansing in a due Manner This therefore in the First place is required of us as the First Part of our Duty and First Work of the Holy Ghost herein 2. The Holy Ghost proposeth declareth and presents unto us the only true Remedy the only Means of Purification When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound then went Ephraim to the Assyrian and sent to King Jareb yet would he not heal you nor cure you of your wound Hos. 5. 13. When men begin to discern their Defilements they are apt to think of many Wayes for their purging What false Wayes have been invented to this Purpose hath been before declared and every one is ready to find out a Way of his own every one will apply his own Sope and his own Nitre Though the only Fountain for Cleansing be nigh unto us yet we cannot see it untill the Holy Ghost open our Eyes as he did the Eyes of Hagar He it is who shews it unto us and leads us unto it This is an Eminent Part of his office and Work The principal End of his sending and consequently of his whole Work was to Glorifie the Son as the End and Work of the Son was to Glorifie the Father And the great Way whereby he Glorifieth Christ is by shewing such things unto us Joh. 16. 14. And without his Discovery we can know nothing of Christ nor of the things of Christ for he is not sent in vain to shew us the things that we can see of our selves And what is more so of Christ than his Blood and its Efficacy for the purging of our sins We never therefore discern it spiritually and in a due Manner but by him To have a true spiritual sence of the Defilement of Sin and a gracious View of the Cleansing Vertue of the Blood of Christ is an eminent Effect of the Spirit of Grace Something like it there may be in the Workings of an awakened Natural Conscience with some Beams of outward Gospel-Light falling on it But there is nothing in it of the Work of the Spirit This therefore Secondly we must endeavour after if we intend to be cleansed by the Blood of Christ. 3. It is he who worketh Faith in us whereby we are actually interested in the purifying Vertue of the Blood of Christ. By Faith we receive Christ himself and by Faith do we receive all the Benefits of his Mediation that is as they are tendred unto us in the Promises of God He is our Propitiation through Faith in his Blood as offered and he is our Sanctification through Faith in his Blood as sprinkled And particular acting of Faith on the Blood of Christ for the cleansing of the Soul from sin is required of us A renewed Conscience is sensible of a Pollution in every sin and is not freed from the shame of it without a particular Application unto the Blood of Christ. It comes by Faith to the Fountain set open for sin and Uncleanness as the sick man to the Pool of Healing Waters and waiteth for a season to be cleansed in it So David on the Defilement he had contracted by his great sins addresseth himself unto God with that Prayer Purge me with Hyssop and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter than snow Psal. 51. 7. He alludeth unto the purging of the Leprous person the Ordinance whereof is Instituted Levit. 14. 5 6 7 or that more general Institution for the Purification of all Legal Uncleanness by the Water of Separation made of the Ashes of red Heyfer Numb 19. 4 5 6. which our Apostle hath respect unto Heb. 9. 14. For both these Purifications were made by the Sprinkling of Blood or Water with Hyssop It is plain I say he alludeth unto these Institutions but it is as plain they are not the things which he intendeth For there was not in the Law any purging by Hyssop for Persons guilty of such sins as he lay under And therefore he professeth in the close of the Psalm that Sacrifice and Burnt-Offering god would not accept in his Case v. 16. It was therefore that which was signified by those Institutions which he made his Application unto namely really to the Blood of Christ by which he might be Justified from all things from which he could not be Justified by the Law of Moses Acts 13. 39. and so likewise purifyed In like manner do all Believers make an actual Application unto the Blood of Christ for the purging away of their sins which untill it is done they have a Conscience of sin that is condemning them for sin and filling them with Shame and Fear Heb. 10. 1 2 3. Sect. 6 And this Actual Application by Faith unto the Blood of Christ for Cleansing the Mystery whereof is scorned by many as a thing Fanatical and unintelligible consists in these Four things 1 A spiritual View and Due Consideration of the Blood of Christ in his Sacrifice as proposed in the Promises of the Gospel for our Cleansing and Purification Look unto me saith he and be saved Isa 45. 22. which respects the whole Work of our Salvation and all the Means thereof Our way of coming unto our Interest therein is by Looking to him namely as he is proposed unto us in the Promise of the Gospel For as the Serpent was lifted up by Moses in the Wilderness so was he in his Sacrifice on the Cross lifted up Joh. 3. 14. And so in the Gospel is he represented unto us Gal. 3. 1. And the Means whereby they were heal'd in the Wilderness was by looking unto the Serpent that was lifted up Herein then doth Faith first Act it self by a spiritual View and due Consideration of the Blood of Christ as proposed unto us in the Gospel for the only Means of our Purification And the more we abide in this Contemplation the more Effectual will our success be in our Application thereto 2 Faith actually relyeth on his Blood for the real effecting of the great Work and End for which