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	moses_n	32	3	6.4061	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B10040	The perfection of justification maintained against the Pharise the purity of sanctification against the stainers of it: the unquestionablenesse of a future glorification aganst the Sadduce: in severall sermons. Together with an apologeticall answer to the ministers of the new province of London in vindication of the author against their aspersions. / by John Simpson, an unworthy publisher of gospel-truths in London.	Simpson, John, 17th cent.	1648 (1648)	Wing S3817A; ESTC R184177	253,105	558

of a man born of God are sin or sinfull doth overthrow the distinction which is warranted by many thousand places of Scripture between good works and bad works and doth draw a curse upon the doer of it Can evill be good or good evill Woe unto them that call evil good and good evill that put darknesse for light and light for darkenesse that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Isa 5.20 What else doe they doe who plainley averre that every good work is evill Object Doe we deny the difference betweene white and blacke because we say that in most white bodies there is a mixture of some blacknesse with the whitenesse c. Answ If it could be proved that there were a mixture of that which is of the spirit and that which is of the flesh that that which is spirituall should be made fleshly by it there would seeme to be some strength in this objection But untill that such a mixture bee proved by plaine Scriptures we shall think it sufficient to affirme that such similitudes which have not their foundation upon a principle of truth do prove nothing Arg. 21. It taketh away the difference between a sanctified and unsanctified man which is a distinction which doth stand firme upon the basis of the Scripture of truth The Apostle doth plainly lay downe this distinction 1 Cor. 6.11 Where hee informeth us of the condition of the Corinthians before conversion to wit that they were thieves adulteresses and the like such were some of you and then setteth forth their blessed condition after conversion But ye are washed but ye are sanctified And doth second this truth with his owne experience acknowledging that there was a real change wrought in himself after conversion by sanctification 2 Tim. 1. I was saith he a persecuter a blasphemer injurious but the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith love which is in Christ Jesus not with faith only but love also If God hath pulled you out of the fire of sinne and drawne you as fire-brands out of Hell and brought you into the glorious kingdome of his Son ye are able to professe the same sanctified change in your selves It is a dead faith which is not accompanied with sanctification and good works As soon may a dead horse carrie a man as a dead faith save him Object This is a slander wee doe not deny sanctification Answ If yee acknowledge sanctification and a sanctified change yee contradict your selves For how can that make a sanctified change in us which is nothing else but sin or sinfull I shall be glad if you will stand to an inward change by love and sanctification But some there are who have affirmed that the distinction between a regenerated an and unregenerated man is but a legall distinction Arg. 22. The holy Spirit which is promised to us and dwelleth in us doth plainly demonstrate this point For as the Spirit is holy formally in it selfe in its owne nature essence and being so it is effectively holy because it makes that man holy who was formerly sinfull If thou be nothing but darknesse if God convert thee thou wilt have a glorious light in thine understanding if thou have nothing but unholinesse in thy will if the Spirit of God live in thee it will be a Spirit of holinesse a Spirit that will shew thee what is of the flesh and what is of the spirit a spirit checking thee if thou step aside into the way of the flesh and a spirit leading thee into the paths of holiness As the Psalmist saith Thy Spirit is good lead me into the land of holinesse and uprightnesse Therefore those that doe not find that Spirit leading them into the paths and wayes of holinesse those men have received a counterfeit spirit to delude them and not the true Spirit of the Lord Jesus Object The spirit is good but our actions are evill by the adherence of sinne in us That holy things may be defiled is plaine by Exod. 28.36.38 Aaron having his plate upon his forehead was to beare the iniquity of the holy things Answ 1. Though sin and holinesse be in the same man yet I deny that sinne by any adhering to holinesse in us doth change holinesse into the nature of it But what is of the Spirit in us doth retaine its spirituall nature and what is of the flesh doth retaine its fleshly nature 2. The Scripture produced doth prove that in doing of holy duties we sin and that Jesus Christ doth beare those sins which wee have granted unto you before But that the fruits of the Spirit in us are those sinnes cannot be proved from this place of Scripture nor from anyother Scripture which I know this still doth remaine to be proved Arg. 23. There may bee another argument drawne from that place of the Apostle when hee saith The Spirit beareth witnesse with our spirits that we are the children of God Rom. 8.16 The Spirit cannot beare witnesse to our old darke prophane spirits for the naturall man receives not the things of the Spirit for they are foolishnesse to him therefore it must be to our spirit enlightned renewed and filled with the Spirit of God And therefore there is somthing in a Saint besides that which is sinne and sinfull Object This is true but we are not renewed perfectly which is the thing to be proved Answ Perfection in Scripture is opposed to that which is more perfect And in this sence wee doe not affirme that a man is so perfectly renewed as he shall be 1 Cor. 13. 2. Perfection is opposed to that which is sinfull Luke 1. And in this sence we say that he is perfectly renewed that is he is holily not sinfully renewed Arg. 24. I doe ground my next argument upon the words of the Apostle Rom. 14. last Whatsoever is not of faith is sinne And therefore that which is done in faith is not sin If we deny this we shall take away the difference between doing good works in faith and doing good works without faith if both of them be alike sinfull or sinne And therefore I conclude that the work of the Spirit which is done in faith is not sin Without faith it is impossible to please God and therefore by faith it is possible to please him by doing good works Arg. 25. Another argument may be drawn from that place 2 Cor. 13. where the Apostle makes the comparison betweene faith hope and love and prefers love before faith hope for this reason because love is more permanent and of longer continuance than faith and hope when a man comes to heaven hee ceaseth to live the life of faith for then he shall live the life of sight and vision he ceaseth to hope for he enjoyeth that which he hoped for but love shall continue Therefore he saith that love that is the fruit of faith is greater than faith in respect of its continuance That which remaines and endures after this life

otherwise work is no more work Rom. 11.6 Therefore God will not justifie us in doing the workes of the Law in giving us a sight of any thing that may make us more worthy of justification then other men but he makes knowne his grace to us in a way of beleeving The property of faith is to emptie the creature and to discover the fulnesse of the Creator Our owne workes they puff us up but faith empties us It wee could be justified and saved by that which we have done we might boast and rejoyce in it before God Rom. 4.2 But because God will humble us bring us low lay us upon our backs and tumble us in the dust that we may see our selves nothing and see his grace all in all to us for our justification therefore God justifies us onely in beleeving Faith layes the creature low and sets the grace of God on high that wee may goe to heaven admiring the grace of God to such sinners such base and vile wretches as wee are therefore God will not justifie and save us in the court of our owne Consciences by the sight of our owne workes but onely by the sight of his owne grace thus it is said of Abraham that he staggered not at the promise of God by unbeliefe but being strong in faith he gave glory to God Rom. 4.20 When God comes downe upon us and works faith in our hearts and wee stagger not at the promises of Grace by unbeliefe but give credit to what he hath spoken and promised God hath that glory from us that he will have from all those whom he intends to save Unbeleife robs man of his comfort God of his glory By faith the creature is comforted and the Creator exalted through faith man is emptied of selfe-confidences and filled with God and his praises therefore for this reason are wee saved through faith Againe Fourthly it is by faith because it is onely by beleeving that wee behold the grace that is in God by which he forgives sin Mans happinesse for the present doth not lye in the not having of sin but in the grace of God not imputing sin Nostra justicia est dei indulgentia Gods favour and indulgence is our righteousnesse Thus the Psalmist doth describe the Blessed man Psal 32 Blessed is the man whose iniquities are paraoned and whose sinnes are covered Hierome doth sweetly paraphrase't upon those words Quod tegitur non videtur quod non videtur non imputatur quod non imputatur non punietur that which is covered is not seen that which is not seen is not imputed that which is not imputed shall not be punished But by what is it that man beholdeth himselfe in this happinesse It is onely by beleeving and therefore wee are saved through faith Wee cannot see a nonimputation of sin by the grace of God but by the work of the spirit in an act of beleeving by which wee are assured that it shall goe well with our soules to all eternity And the great controversie is decided and determined in the spirit of a man whether he shall be saved or whether he shall be damned No other foundation can be laid then the grace of God in Jesus Christ our Lord 1 Cor. 3.11 And we cannot see this foundation that wee may be built upon it but by beleiving Moses by faith saw him that was invisible Abraham by faith saw the day of Christ and was glad As by the eye of the body wee see materiall objects so by the eye of faith wee see spirituall objects The Philosopher saith that prudence is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the eye of the Morall man so faith is the eye of the spirituall man By which alone God and the things of God are beheld 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justin Martyr The Sun was not changed when the blinde man in the Gospel that never saw before received his sight and beheld it It was the same before and after his blindnesse so Jesus Christ the Sun of righteousnesse is the same yesterday and to day and for ever in himself and unchangeable in his love in reference unto us The change is onely in us by faith whom now we see though formerly wee beheld not his beauty and because the righteousnesse and salvation of God is revealed by faith Rom. 1.17 therefore wee are saved by faith Fiftly wee are saved by grace through a worke of beleeving because if it were not onely in an act of beleeving the people of God could not have that firme constant and unquestionable assurance of their salvation which now they enjoy in a way of beleeving When a man is to goe unto a place by many severall wayes which are not found out without some difficulty he doth often doubt whether he is in the right way or whether hee is out of his way but when he is to goe in one plaine way he is confident that he is not out of his way So when a man goeth by the way of the Law and workes for justification he is in doubt whether he is in his right way for justification the Law pointing out many wayes and requiring many duties of him that would be justified under it but the Gospel pointeth onely at Christ and faith in him for jusification so that those who walke in this way for justification are confident that they are in the right way The Apostle doth lay downe this plainly Rom. 4.16 where he saith it is by grace and that by faith to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed not to that onely which is of the Law but to that that is of the faith of Abraham the Father of us all God hath not made the promise of salvation to the seed under the Law or that doe any workes of the Law But he hath made the promise to be gracious to poore sinners in beleeving without the workes of the Law to the end the promise might be sure If there had been any thing else required beside faith the soule would be alwayes restlesse and unsatisfied If God should tie justification to workes men would be unsatisfied because they would doubt whether some workes were not undone and then they would doubt of their justification Therefore God hath not promised justification to any man who doth good workes or submitts to any outward Ordinance but onely unto him who closeth with his grace in a pure act of beleeving For God knowes that so long as there is any thing joyned with faith for justification wee shall be ready to question our justification wee may observe that such professors who are not acquainted with the Gospel are unsetled in their spirits when they doubt which is the true Government or externall Ordinances of the Lord Jesus If they doubt whether they are baptized in a right way or manner they doubt whether they are justified their comforts and assurance doe vanish away when they are not fully assured that they know and are obedient unto

and shall more plainely see hereafter Our fancies and Imaginations worke beyond our eye we fancie greater things then we behold but what eye hath not seene nor eare hath heard nor hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive what they are wee darkly see here and shall fully enjoy hereafter The Poets in their fancies have fancied golden Mountaines and great things the earth doth not afford such things as they have fancied and minted in their poeticall braines but the things that shall then be discovered to us goe beyond the cogitation and thought and workings of mans heart and spirit and these things shall be gloriously revealed to us by the Spirit of God and the Spirit shall shew us that all these things are ours Wee shall see God ours and Christ ours and all the glory of Heaven ours and see our selves in the Kingdome of Heaven So that there shall be the presence of all things that shall make us happy the confluence of all good things that can bring any blisse tranquillity and joy to the spirit and soule of man So that it is evident there will be great joy if wee consider that there will be every thing wanting that may make us sorrowfull and every thing present that may make us joyfull there will be the absence of all evill and the presence of all good there will be God himselfe who is the summum bonum the chiefe good and this God will unvaile himselfe and shew forth his love and shine forth in his glorie beautie and excellency on the spirits of his people and seeing themselves in this happie and blisfull condition they cannot but sing and rejoyce at the resurrection Here the Saints in believing doe rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1.8 How glorious then and unspeakable will be the joy of the resurrection Againe you may take notice that there will be cause of great joy if you consider that all the joy which wee have here is but a shadow of that joy which the Saints shall have hereafter Nay all the joy in the world here cannot shadow forth that joy that shall be hereafter Consider for what men doe rejoyce here and you shall see that they have the same cause to rejoyce for the same things in a full manner hereafter The resurrection day is the Saints Coronation day and their wedding-day Rev. 19.7 Let us b● glad and rejoyce and give honour to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made her selfe ready It is Gods and their harvest day Among men the time of harvest i● a time of joy They shall rejoyce before thee according to the joy of harvest Isa 9.3 The resurrection is Gods harvest for the gathering in of Saints When a man sowes hi● seed he sowes it in expectation of a harvest So God sowes his seed he sowes the bodies of the Saints in the earth he layes them in the furrowes he doth it in expectation of a harvest And the people of God were commanded to rejoyce before him in the time of harvest which did typifie the spirituall joy that the Saints shall enjoy at the generall resurrection which shall be their harvest when their bodies shall spring and come out of the dust in their glory and excellency Againe that I may bring you back to remember what the worke of the day is and enlarge my selfe upon that at which I pointed even now we know that we use to have great joy for great deliverances When God hath suffered us even to come to the brinke of ruine and destruction and then doth pull us from it and save us there is joy with shouting We know how neere wee were to ruine wee had almost been destroyed by the enemies that rose up against us but the Lord hath delivered us and seriously considering this deliverance wee cannot but be thankfull and joyfull for the mercy And our joy for the mercy of this day may imperfectly shadow forth and represent unto you the joy which shall be in Saints at the resurrection For wee that were compassed about with so many enemies in the world that had all the Devills in hell against us and all the wicked men in the world holding forth their hands to draw us and lead us into the broad way that leads to destruction and a base malignant party that wee carrie about us within our selves joyning with the Devill the world wicked men against our selves by the power of God shall we be preserved from all these enemies and made more then Conquerours over all our enemies through Jesus Christ that loved us And so shall have cause to rejoyce in our preservation and deliverance Truely we are not able fully to apprehend our deliverance here and that is the reason that Saints rejoyce so little in the God of grace and his mercies We cannot apprehend fully what it is to be freed from sinne that hath layed the foundation of Hell Wee apprehend not what it is to be in the hands and jawes of the Prince of darknesse and then to be pulled out of his hands and jawes by Christ as David recovered his Lamb out of the mouth of the Lyon 1 Sam. 17.34 Wee doe not apprehend what it is to be by nature children of wrath and yet to be crowned with grace glory and immortality through the goodnesse of God but then we shall fully apprehend our great deliverances by the grace of God and the power of the Lamb and shall sing for joy In the 15. of the Rev. the 3. it is said of Saints that they sing the song of Moses wee sing it here in the spirit in part believing with Zacharias that wee are delivered out of the hand of our enemies but then we shall sing it fully in the fulnesse of spirituall joy It is called the song of Moses because it shall be a song for their deliverance out of the hand of all enemies As Moses when the Israelites were delivered from Egypt called the people to play upon Musick and sing prayse to God so that the Heavens answered and ecchoed to their singing and the joyfull noyse that they made to God for their deliverance So when wee shall apprehend that the Lord by his mighty power hath delivered us from the Egyptian Pharaoh the Devill from the house of bondage the Iron furnace of Egypt from the sting of sinne from the power of darknesse from all curses and condemnation from temporall spirituall and eternall death being fully apprehensive of this deliverance wee cannot but be filled with joy in singing prayses to him who is our deliverer When by the crueltie of Haman the people of Israel were appointed for slaughter and destruction and God had given in a glorious deliverance to them we read how they kept the day with joy Hester 9.22 The day was called a day wherein the Jewes rested from their enemies and the moneth which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy and from