Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	aaron_n	bear_v	holiness_n	22	3	7.7291	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A92190	Jacobs ladder, or The protectorship of Sion, laid on the shoulders of the Almighty; in a description of the sufficiency of providence, suitable in these times of tentation. With Jacobs wrestling. / By Francis Raworth of Shoreditch.	Raworth, Francis, d. 1665.	1655 (1655)	Wing R373; Thomason E1507_2; ESTC R209489	136,597	367

a Dwarf standing on the shoulders of a tall man sees further than the tall man on whose shoulders he stands So I am perswaded in some things that the men of knowledge in this age will be but children in understanding in the next Jer. 31.34 They shall not teach one another saying know the Lord. Then farewell preaching No the Saints shall need to be built up but they shall not so much need to be taught the Principles of Religion saying Exprimere non valet experimento opus est Cathedram in coelo habet qui corda docet Know the Lord What is God the new nature shall teach them that which is not the impression of Man but of God They shall say Our Father and I Beleeve by roat It is observable that under the Law the Girdle was about the Loyns Ezek 23.15 But in Gospel times it is about the Paps Rev. 1. ●3 to signifie how knowledge shall rise h gher in the last ages of the world than in former ages Young men shall see visions and old men shall dream dreams The old world did but dream the knowledge of the Jews is more dark but in Gospel-daies there shall be Visions a clearer knowledge and Revelation of the mind of God Antichrist hath brought a cloud into the Temple and the Gospel Sun-shine must expel it Providence is picking quarrels with the painted windows of Antichrist and the Lord will set up clear glass windows that shall not keep out the light Not that we are to expect new Truths but new Vnderstandings not the printing of a new Gospel ☜ or making any more additions but new eye-sight and the downfal of old error How is it possible that amongst us any should plead for Revelations when we have the revealed Word Revelations were more suitable to the days of the Law we have a compleat copy of the Lords mind for the Government of his Church in the Word but it is as with man the older he grows the more inclinable he is to dreams Mundus senescens patitur phantasiam the old world begins to doat and we are ready to neglect our watch in this dreaming age Second Prospect from this Ladder we may foresee the encrease of holiness Now many can profess and be drunk profess and swear and lie now men are more careful for new Lights than new Lives new Notions Gnostici simal Borboritae than new Motions of the Spirit Care more to have a Library of Divinity in their brains than a Catechism of Divinity in their hearts Have the light of the Sun for Knowledge whereas they have not the heat of a candle for Holiness like the Toad that has a precious pearl in the Head but poyson in the Bowels or like the Lapwing that hath a Coronet on her head but always feeds on dunghils But there is a time a coming when men shall more visibly honor God All the pots in the Lords house shall be holy and holiness shall be wrote on the bels of the horses Zech. ult Counterfeit holiness vanisheth the more real holiness appears At Rome there was a Pantheon or Temple for all gods but the Heathen would not suffer Jehovah to be worshipped there for he is a jealous God and if he had been honored then down with Mars and Jupiter The Kingdom of Christ shall prosper I wish none have Kingly thoughts of that Kingdom the Kingdom of Christ and holiness and humility and Mortification It is not the throwing down of prophane Ministers and oppressing Magistrates onely will be this Kingdom for they may be thrown down and yet Christ never be set up the new Creature Self-denial will after all this be necessary for otherwise we should have rather Plato's Common-wealth or Tully's Offices than Christs Kingdom Moral Prophaneness indeed lays the Gospel on the dunghill but Moral Holiness simply will never set Christ in his Throne There shall be an high-way and it shall be called the way of holiness and no unclean thing shall pass therein Isa 53. If any demand how this can be I answer no disease is incurable to an omnipotent Physician Third Prospect from this Ladder we may see Hypocrisie defeated and many Apostates recovered Now many desire rather to appear than to be holy they account the form necessary but the power of Religion burthensom Now many like Rowers in a Boat look one way and row another Now many have no greater ends by Religion than in the end to be great in Religion But Providence is a pulling off the vizard and making the hearts of men to appear in their faces Many shal not only not dance in a net unseen of heaven but not in a net unseen of men Their folly shall be made known to all men God will light up candles in Jerusalem and enkindle a fire in Sion and Hypocrisie shall not indure either the light or heat and God will also make professors like Moses Act. 7.22 Not onely mighty in words Crassiani non Christiani that are no bodies in deeds but also mighty in word and in deeds like Aarons rod not onely to bring forth blossoms of profession but Almonds fruits of holiness Like the High Priest not onely to have Bels but Pomegranates not onely to bear away the bell for knowledge but to give a sweet scent of the Spirit in their conversations Many poor sinners of late have left their Fathers house and because of their guilty consciences would for the present if they could run out of their Fathers eye as well as his house and who shall return the Prodigal to his Father Hagar to her Mistris Jonah to his God again how do many Professors fly like spiritual malefactors from one form to another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and disguize themselves with Opinions and all to avoid the Hue and Cry of Conscience that God is raising and if it were possible to tear the Records of the Gospel in peeces and burn down the Tribunal Bar they have run into such arrearages in sin Now who shall set up the broken Professor or awaken the sleepy Virgin Though Might and Power cannot do it yet an Almighty Power can do it Zech. 4.6 The remnant of Jacob shall be as a dew from the Lord as the showres on the grass that wait not for the Sons of men Mic. 5.7 It is true says God Gardeners dig and delve and water their ground and so have herbs but I le turn the Wilderness into a Pool I le work without work-men sinners shall not be watered by man but by God with the dew of Heaven When the day dawns the dew fals thick on the ground and till the Lords powre dawn all the world cannot make dew nor thaw the hearts of men Fourth Prospect from this Ladder hence we may see the reconciliation of Divisions Now Ephraim is against Manasseh and Manasseh against Ephraim and both against Judah now divisions are not onely between Wolves and Wolves but between sheep and

Jacobs Ladder OR THE Protectorship of SION LAID ON The Shoulders of the Almighty In a Description of the sufficiency of Providence Suitable in these times of Tentation WITH JACOBS WRESTLING By Francis Raworth of Shoreditch Watchman what of the night the Watchman said the morning commeth and also the night if ye will enquire inquire ye return come Isa 21.11 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 T●ismeg l. de Provid London Printed by R. I. for L. Chapman and are to be sold at his shop at the Crown in Popes head-Alley 1655. To the Professors of the glorious Gospel My Friends IF ever there were an hour of tentation it is surely at this day when so few follow Christ when so many stand still and most go backward When those that once would not have been hired to neglect a duty now think it their duty not to pray at all When those that have tasted much sweetness in Gospel-Truths should now cry out as those ingrateful Israelites of old what have we nothing but this Manna that have suffered much reproach for Christ should at present in their lives be a reproach to Christ that formerly avoided the appearance of evil and now condemn those as ignorant of their liberty who are afraid of prophaneness that those that seemed to mortifie the flesh should now after all their Profession and visible repentance even deny the resurrection of the flesh Our Nazarites were purer than the Snow whiter than Milk in their Profession for their heavenly zeal more ruddy than Rubies and as for their Conversations they were not only Saphires but polished Saphires the very carved workmanship to us of the Spirit shining and sparkling in every angle and corner of their lives with Wisdom Patience Holiness and Sincerity But O Lord How is their visage blacker than a coal How do those that of old were brought up in Scarlet and did wear Christ like the Courtiers of Heaven in their conversations imbrace the stinking Dunghills of the Pleasures and Profits of this world thy Professors that were even marked out for thy Glory among men and concerning whom not long since it was familiarly said There goes a Saint there walks an Heir of salvation now are not known in the streets that there is little difference between a Professor and an Apostate between a Professor and a prophane man nay between a Professor and a persecutor It is in this age too remarkable that some Professors of the Gospel are the great if not the greatest hindrances of the profession of the Gospel How plainly doth the Providence of God comment on that Text The first shall be last and the last shall be first What loud alarms by the falls of those that once seemed to stand doth God make in your ears that stand to take heed lest you fall In the seventh of Matthew the foolish build as well as the wise the difference lay not in their Buildings but in their Foundations the one built on the Sands the other on the Rock The house of the foolish builder might possibly glister as gloriously when the Sun shone as the house of the wise builder and have as many Stories and as great Window-lights but all that glisters is not gold though all that is gold doth glister It is not he that professeth but he that possesseth Christ is happy not he that is a gided but he that is a golden Christian in this brazen and iron age The lord is a coming not so much with a pair of Scales to weigh as with a Touchstone to trie the truth and sincerity of your Graces Jerusalem is a lighting with candles Providence will light up candles in France in Holland in Denmark and though now it seem midnight with us yet ere many glasses of Providence are run out I am perswaded it will be Candlemas day in England Now most care not to be living Saints so they may but be imbalmed with a name to live and covered over as a dead corps with Roses and Lillies and Flowers of a Profession care not to have Religion at their fingers ends ad unguem to be indeed Christians or Christians indeed so they may but have Religion at their tongues end and talk of the Spirit the Gospel the new Jerusalem But how shortly will many that want the Power and Life wish they had not the Form and vizard of Grace and cease to appear to be what they really are not the paint of Profession will neither indure the water or the Sun How monstrous is it that our Tongues should be bigger than our hands For these twelve years our Lord Jesus hath been burying the Designs of his more publique Adversaries under ground now God is coming to Jerusalem to purge his gold to prune his Vine Professors look within you and look about you Ah Lord what blushing will there ere long be in England when thou wilt wash off the paint of our profession and that thy followers shall wear their hearts in their faces How much better will a dram of grace be than a talent of gifts when as the greater our lights and Links of Knowledge are the more unawares we discover our darkness If we cannot endure the Spirit going up and down with a Candle and Lanthorn to search our hearts how can we abide the day of Christs coming and stand when that Sun of Righteousness shall appear for he is like Refiners fire and like Fullers soape Justice Humility Mortification Repentance though now they be but poor and low things with man yet when the Judge shall take the Bench more visibly how high will they be with God Sincerity though it be a silent Grace at this time and dwels in obscurity ere long I hope will carry the day and bear away the bell Though we sin at a greater rate yet we cannot sin at so cheap a rate as our Fore-fathers it were better that God did forthwith lay down his Basket and take up his Ax than that we should be further unfruitfull better that God should remove his Candlestick which he can do without breaking it and say to us sinners if you will play play in the dark if you will break Vows and Covenants break them in the dark c. than suffer us to sin against Gospel-light For his silence increases our guilt The Almighty is more displeased with sin than ever his hand is as just to revenge and his eies are q d. wider to espie it There are some that having assurance that Christ reigns in their Consciences desire the inlargement of his Kingdom long to see the Crown of Glory shine on his head and his Subjects to multiply in the world And notwithstanding the many false Pretenders to that Noble Interest yet there are some Followers of the Lamb indeed that follow him not for his Fleece but for his blood who having past the work of Regeneration humbly and patiently de●ire to do the work of their Generation and probably the reckoning of Sion is wel nigh at

they Govern the Flesh draws one way the Spirit draws another here is no reconciliation of differences or taking up the quarrel by Arbitration the Flesh gives no quarter to the Spirit nor the Spirit to the Flesh the Quarrel is to last till Death puls down the Stage either kill or be killed No man can serve these two Masters the Flesh and the Spirit he that hath served the Flesh may list himself under and serve the Spirit but at the same time no man can war for the Flesh and for the Spirit these are two contrary Principles two contrary States and they can never match together though they always meet together in the regenerate Every age hath its peculiar temptation Fleshly lusts assail a man most in his Youth in his middle age Ambition and vain glory in his old age covetousness though the Soul kill one Souldier of the flesh yet another Souldier takes the field The Flesh like Hagar will dwel with Grace with Sarah till death beat it out of doors the flesh is an ill Inmate that will not out till the house fall on the head of it Vnum Duellum necessarium quod nobis semper gerendum est Deus ipse duos adversarios commisit inter se Vet. videl hominem novum carnem et spiritum hoc non unius horae aut mensis aut anni sed totius vitae est non coronabitur hic nisi qui legitimè certaverit Mart. Clas IV. Loc. com l. XIIX Fifthly We have the Effect of the Duel That ye cannot do what you would Sometimes we stand sometimes we fall sometimes we go forward sometimes backward sometimes we foil sometimes we are foiled even as it was between the two Houses of Saul and David so it is between these two Land-Lords the Flesh and the Spirit when the House of Saul grows stronger then the house of David grows weaker and when the house of David grows stronger the house of Saul and sin grows weaker as in a Well while one Bucket comes up the other Bucket goes down so in the Regenerate as the Flesh decays the Spirit gathers strength the full Bucket always ascends and the empty descends The Apostle was entred this Conflict Universa hominum vita palaestra est ut vivere non videatur qui se in virtutum palaestra non exercei Bas Rom. 7.15 What I do I allow not as if he had said I am proud but I would be humble I am carnal my love is carnal my joy is too much carnal but I would be spiritual I fall in my race to heaven but saith Paul I dare not stand in my falling I dare not justifie my falling And what I would that do I not ah says the Apostle I would never dishonor my God but I do dishonor him I would not grieve the Spirit but I do grieve it I would always have my heart where my treasure is I would always have my conversation and my carriage in Heaven but I am sometimes as worldly as others as sensual as others But it is not I but sin that is in me Here we have Paul against Saul nay Paul against Paul these are contradictions to Flesh and Blood The second Duel is between the Soul and the Devil And you have a famous example of this Warfare Ephes 6.11 12 13 14.15 c. where you have the Combatants ver 12. We the Spiritual man and the Powers of the Air and Principalities Secondly We have the Field and that is in the World or in Heavenly places in the Conscience as well as in the Air. Thirdly We have the Nature of the fight it is by wrestling we wrestle against negatively Not against flesh and blood positively But against spiritual wickednesses and the Rulers of darkness of this world as far as the Air extends so far doth Satans Kingdom extend the Devill hath the hill of us It is observable here that God gives his adversary the Devil his Titles they have their Dignities they are called not onely Powers but Principalities Fourthly We have the Weapons the Devil hath his weapons fiery Darts violent Temptations furious and filthy Suggestions temptations to sins on the right hand temptations to sins on the left temptations to Pride temptations to Prophaneness temptations to Presumption temptations to Despair Sometimes he appears as an Angel of darkness sometimes as an Angel of light but always a Devil and worse when as an Angel of light than when as an Angel of darkness Satan et si semel videatur verax millies est mendax semper fallax This enemy is numerous powerful a Lyon Politick a Fox Secondly on a Beleevers side there are weapons that are offensive The Sword of the Spirit Prayer and Supplication which is not mentioned as a peece of Armor but as that which assisteth and manageth all beleeve and pray wait and pray c. 2. Defensive Here is the Girdle of Truth for the Loyns Sincerity against Lust the Brest-plate of Righteousness Holiness to secure the Heart against Prophaneness the Shooes of Peace for the feet peace of Conscience against doubts the Shield of Faith against Despair the Helmet of Salvation the hope of Eternal life Thus the Apostle presents a Christian armed Cap-a-pe from the Crown of the head to the soal of the foot And it is observable here is Armor for the Breast Armor for the Head c. but no Armor for the Back surely to shew in this fight there is no place to fly if we run we are overcome Christians are wrestlers and Warriors or Souldiers now we know they wrestled naked and fought armed how can a man be naked and cloathed together the Apostle will answer we must not intangle our selves with the affairs of the world so we are naked we must take this Panoplia put on the whole Armor of God so we are cloathed The Devil methinks enters the Lists or Ring as a Challenger and throws q. d. over his glove his temptation and dares any to take him up he ranges and walks round and round who dares meet me in the field or look me in the face so the Apostle presents him as walking up and down like a roaring Lyon seeking whom he may devoure Like Goliah he views the Camp of Israel and sends a Challenge to the Champions of God come Diabolus circumeit non quarens quem mordeat sed quem devoret Alap says this Goliah who will incounter with me I le give his flesh to the Fowles of the Air come says this Rabsheka who will contend against me how many thousands have I slain by my might and my power Meet me says the Devil to David meet me said the Devil to Peter you beleeve you repent you obtain a pardon you might says the Devil have hoped for Salvation ten or twenty years ago your strength to serve God is now gone your heart is hardened your glass is run your door is shut now who shall be able to conquer this Adversary and repel