Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
lord_n	abide_v	heart_n	zion_n	98	3	8.6639	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01028	A letter first written and sent by Io. Forbes, pastour of the English Church at Middelburgh vnto certen of the companie of marchands adventurers at Stoade, at their earnest desire, for resolving this question: how a Christian man may discerne the testimonie of Gods spirit, from the testimonie of his owne spirit, in witnessing his adoption. And now againe renewed and enlarged by the authour, at the desire of divers good Christians, for the comfort of their troubled co[n]sciences, and published by those of his flocke, to whom he did dedicate it for the publike vse of the Church.	Forbes, John, 1568?-1634.	1616 (1616)	STC 11131; ESTC S118027	27,622	94

to teach him that that testimonie was not the testimonie of his owne heart but by the spirit of God did tell him that flesh and bloud had not reveyled that to him but his Father that is in heaven This I speake not to make men carelesse in trying whether they have the spirit or no but to comfort weake Christians who although they have the livelie effectes of the spirit yet have not come so farre as to bee able to discerne them to be from the spirit as sometimes they will bee taught to vnderstande and can not tell how at the first and to repent and can not tell how and to reioyce and can not tell how and to love God and his Saints and can not tell how and to beleeve and cannot tell how which all notwithstanding are the proper workes of the spirit Neither speake I this to shunne the answering of your question touching the discerning of the spirites testimonie which I pray the Lord to teach vs all seeing there can indeed no solide ioy possesse our mindes till we feele the spirit of Adoption sealing vp the certaintie of our electiō in our harts for if we bee sonnes as saieth the Apostle the Lord hath sent forth the spirit of his sonne in our heartes which crieth Abba Father and therefore if any mā hath not the spirit of Christ the same is not his Seeing then it is even by the spirit which he hath givē vs that we know our selves to bee the sonnes of God and that God as our Father abydeth in vs as saieth Iohn It is a most necessarie studie and most commendable in a Christian to trie if he hath the spirit Now therefore to come to your question I will speake of it in all sobrietie accordinge to that measure of faith which the Lord hath given me First in generall it shall not bee amisse to know what is the Testimonie of the spirit Secondly after what maner the spirit doth give testimonie And lastly we shall cleerlie see how to discerne it from the testimonie of our owne spirit In generall the whole word of God is the testimonie of the spirit For whatsoever is therein contayned the spirit doeth witnes it and nothing els doeth the spirit witnes but that which is contayned in the word therefore is the word of God called his Testimon The testimonie of the Lord is sure And againe God established a Testimonie in Iacob And oft times in the 119. Psalme the Lords wordes are called his Testimonies because everie sentence of the word is a testimonie of Gods will Therefore is it that the Prophet commands vs to goe to the Lawe and to the Testimonie For nothing can we know of Gods minde towards vs except we hearken what the spirit speakes in his worde and therefore Christ willeth vs to search the Scriptures because they witnes of him So whatsoever the worde doeth perswade our hearts touching GOD and his love in Christ that is the Testimonie of the spirit and therfore when hearing the worde of God our hearts receyves anie assurance or perswasion of redemption remission of sinnes c. that same is and must be the spirits testimonie As for example whē by the word a man is made to knowe Christ to be the Lord the Redeemer c. doubtlesse that is a testimonie of Gods spirit by the word witnessing to the heart that trueth and causing the heart to beleve it But heere wee must carefully take heede that our hearts bee not deceyved touching that which you most disire to know that is touching our Adoption by mistaking the spirits testimonie For eschewing this danger we have to vnderstande that the spirit by the worde perswades two maner of wayes to wit generallie and speciallie generallie when that which is reveyled out of the worde is generally beleeved as Gods truth speciallie when it is speciallie beleeved The generall is no warrant of adoptiō For in that sort the very Divells beleeve and tremble saieth Iames a reprobate may beleeve generally all to be true which is in the word of God and yet never have anie testimonie of the spirit of his particular adoption hee may beleeve that Christ is a Saviour of sinners and yet not beleeve that hee is a Saviour vnto him he may beleeve that God in Christ will forgive sinners and yet no wayes have assurance of the remission of his owne sinnes yea hee may bee a Preacher and be witnes of all the promises of God in Christ to others yet have no parte in them him selfe Therefore leaving this generall testimonie of the spirit I come to the speciall testimonie which wee must discerne before our Adoption bee sealed to vs. And in discerning this there is also great wisedome required for therein also may a man be deceyved For there is some sort of speciall testificatiō that witnesseth not adoption For vnderstanding hereof we must consider that the spirits testimonie in speciall maner is of two sortes The first is when hee witnesses and reveiles grace particularlie to a man but imprints not the thing reveiled in the heart neither seales it in his soule The second is when not onely he reveyles and witnesses the promises in speciall manner to a man but also writeth them in his heart and seales them in his soule Now to make this more plaine we must consider what are the wordes of Gods covenant in Christ with the elect After these dayes saieth the Lord I will put my Lawes in their minde and in their heart I will write them If we waye these wordes aright we shall see that which I have spoken cleere GOD in giving his Lawe spake to his people and by his spirit witnessed his will to them but this word which was spoken was not written in their hearts but in tables of stone therfore the Iewes did not abyde in that covenant The peculiar promise of God to the elect in Christ is that he shall write his wordes in their hearts When thē the Lords spirit witnesseth in witnessing writes the thing witnessed in the heart it is an assurance of Gods effectuall speaking but when hee witnesses to the heart yet writes not that testimonie in the heart it is no testimonie of adoption To make this plaine it is certaine there can be no true faith in the heart where the worde of GOD abydeth not Christ shewes this in the fift chap. of Iohn speakinge to the Iewes His worde sayeth hee have ye not abyding in you because yee beleeve not in him whom he hath sent declaring that the abyding of the worde in man and beleeving doe still accōpanie one the other And if we will consider his speech in the sixt chap. of Iohn wee shall see that the cause why his worde did not abyde in them was because they were not taught of God that is they had not hard nor learned of the Father according to his promise I will put my lawes in their

so that hee is dead Wherevpon it comes to passe that God therein is so terrible to man that hee cannot abyde him nor heare him but is compelled to runne from him as is cleere by the 12. chapt of the Hebrues verse 19. 20. 21. compared with Exod. chapt 20. verse 18. 19. 20. 21. Thus our former blindnes is turned into bondage and the fruit of blindnes that is securitie is turned in the fruit of bondage which is feare Therefore the ministerie of the Lawe is called the ministerie of death and condempnatiō And in the first act of Gods calling the spirit that speaketh in the Lawe and is given by the ministerie of the Lawe is called the spirit of bondage vnto feare Because the sight and knowledge of our selves and of God which the spirit gives vs by the Lawe workes these effectes And therefore by that name is distinguished from the spirit of Adoption which is given by the Gospell and this will the Apostle signifie to the Galathians when he comparinge the two Testaments to the two by whom Abraham begot Ismael Isaack doeth shewe that the one which is from Mount Sinai doeth beget vnto bondage This being the estate of man both by nature and by the Lawe it is manifest that these effectes of the spirit which witnesse adoption are not in man neither by nature neither by the Lawe But when the free spirit of the Lorde commeth then commeth libertie to the heart And this spirit of the Lord otherwayes called the spirit of promise comes to vs by the preaching of faith and not of the workes of the Lawe as witnesseth the Apostle to the Galathians and the historie of the Actes of the Apostles Nowe then when the man who first by nature was vnder blindnes and next by the Lawe was vnder sinne and death kept in bondage and feare findes him selfe first delivered frō that blindnes and ignorance of minde and next from that bondage of sinne and death and so consequentlie frō his feare which was wrought in him by his bondage then may he knowe that the spirit of adoption grace and libertie hath spoken to his heart and hath taken possession of it because he findes that promise accōplished in him whereof Zacharias speaketh in the Gospell according to Luke to wit that God would grant to vs that we being delivered out of the handes of our enemies should serve him without feare all the dayes of our life in holynes and righteousnes before him For this was the ende of Christes death sayeth the Apostle to the Hebrewes to witt that hee might deliver all them who for feare of death were all their life tyme subiect to bondage Thus therefore the mā who can discerne in his hearte which once was filled with the spirit of bondage vnto feare the ioyfull libertie of the sonnes of God whereby hee that was the bondman and seruant of sinne by the Lawe is now by the Gospell made the free man of Christ the bandes of iniquitie being broken and so freed both from the guiltines and also from the power of sinne being iustified by faith in Iesus Christ and having grace in the superabondance thereof reigning through righteousnes vnto eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord even in the soule wherin sinne in the aboūdance thereof had reigned through vnrighteousnes vnto death this mā I say may easilie discerne the spirit witnessing his adoption by this his libertie from the slauerie of sinne First in his iustification next in his sanctification and so consequentlie from the feare of death following thereon In place whereof succeeds a ioye vnspeakeable glorious the hart iustified reioycing in the hope of the glorie of God For this cause is it that the Apostle Peter willeth vs by ioyning vertue to our faith and to vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance c. to make our calling and election sure Because our sanctification being the worke of the spirit of adoption is a sure seale of our election And therefore doeth the Apostle Peter give this reason of his threatning and rebuke against Simon Magus to wit that albeit he was baptised yet the Apostle did see that he was in the gale of bitternesse and in the band of iniquitie wherein Simon being still captive could have no assurance of adoption albeit hee had outwardly embraced the Gospell and therefore is said to have beleeved And because this worke is the great worke of Christ in the elect and chief ende of his comming Therefore doeth the Prophet Esaie describe the worke of his comming and effect of the spirit of the Lord in him in these wordes The spirit of the Lorde is vpon mee the Lord hath annointed me that I should preach the Gospell to the poore that I should heale the broken hearted that I should preach deliverie to the captives and receyvinge of sight to the blinde that I should set at libertie them that are brused and that I should preach the acceptable yeare of the Lord to appoint vnto them that murne in Zion and to give vnto them beautie for ashes the oyle of ioye for mourning the garmentes of gladnes for the spirit of heavines that they might be called trees of righteousnes the planting of the Lord. Which Prophesie Christ sheweth to bee fulfilled by him selfe in the Gospell accordinge to Luc. in the which it is manifest that the work of the spirit in preaching the Gospell is to worke knowledge and libertie in making vs trees of righteousnes planted by God and by libertie to worke ioye and gladnes in place of mourning heavines Therefore is it by good reason that the Apostle forbiddes vs to let sinne reigne in our mortall bodies that we should obey it in the lustes therof in respect wee are made free from sinne in Christ and are made the servants of God having our fruit in holines And also biddeth vs reioyce alwayes in the Lord for there is no condempnation to vs that are in Christ seeing we are freed from the lawe of sinne and death by the lawe of the spirit of life which is in Christ Iesus This is then that great effect of the spirit of Adoption in our heartes whereby as by a most sure testimonie wee discerne the spirit sealing our Adoption Because this spirit of adoptiō which is given vs by the preaching of the Gospell takes away both these miseries to witt the blindnes wherein we are by nature next the bondage reveiled by the law and feare caused thereby Havinge thus spoken of the worke of the spirit it followeth that we consider the voyce of the spirit This voyce of the spirit is of two sortes The first is when the spirit within vs speaketh to God for vs. The second is whē the spirit in vs speaketh from God vnto vs. The voice of the spirit to God is when we by the spirit call vpon God as our Father And this voice of the spirit is