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	call_v	priest_n	126	3	6.4884	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A53953	A discourse of the sacrament of the Lords Supper wherein the faith of the Catholick Church concerning that mystery is explained, proved, and vindicated, after an intelligible, catachetical, and easie manner / by Edward Pelling ...	Pelling, Edward, d. 1718.	1685 (1685)	Wing P1079; ESTC R22438	166,306	338

ant his quibus sacrum fieret c. Alex. ab Alex. genial dier l. 4. c. 17. the Heathen Festivals were so many standing Monuments of those kindnesses which their supposed Deities had done for them whether they were recoveries from Plagues or deliverances from Tyrants or the building of Cities or victories in War and the like These things they were wont to Commemorate solemnly and to rehearse them at their Sacrifical Banquets in Honour of their Gods adding divers sorts of Hymns and Praises and shewing all manner of thankfulness for them Now this Christian Mystery being a Religious Feast upon a sacrificed Saviour the very Nature and Analogy thereof doth sufficiently shew this to be one purpose and end of it that we should publish declare and commemorate the exceeding riches of Gods Grace by his kindness to us in Jesus Christ and that we should testifie the sense we have of it by all manner of Eucharistical acts and expressions of Affection For the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 importeth a great deal more than a bare Commemoration It signifies here such an outward Profession as is attended with inward Heartiness and with the intensest actions of Grateful and Fervent Souls The Apostle speaking of the Mosaical Oblations which were to be once a year upon the Day of expiation saith in Heb. 10. 3. that in those Sacrifices there was yearly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a Remembrance of sins He doth not mean a bare acknowledgment of sin but such an acknowledgement as was accompanied with Compunction with Repentance or with solemn Deprecations of Gods Wrath. Paulus Fagius hath noted In Levit. 16. the form of that Confession which the High Priest was wont to use upon that great and solemn day according to the account which the Hebrew Doctors give of it It was saith he a threefold Confession i. e. he confest his own sins and the sins of the Sons of Aaron and the sins of all the Children of Israel and it was to this effect O Lord I and my house and the sons of Aaron and all thy people the house of Israel have sinned have done iniquity have prevaricated before thee I beseech thee O Lord forgive the sins the iniquities the prevarications whereby I and my house and the sons of Aaron and all thy people the house of Israel have sinned have done iniquity have prevaricated before thee By Sins the Hebrews mean all acts of Ignorance by Iniquities all Presumptuous and willful transgressions and by Prevarications all kinds of Rebellion and Apostacy from God and with this threefold confession a general Fast was to be joyned and the Law required them all to afflict their Souls nothing that Remorse and Anguish of Spirit which Priest and People were to be under at that time and these hearty expressions of Penitence and contrition is that which the Author to the Hebrews calls the Remembrance of Sins Thus should the Commemoration of Christs death for Sin be full of Life and Vigour accompanied with such mortifications of Flesh and Spirit as are undeniable arguments both of that bitter sense we ought to have of our own Vileness and of those ravishing apprehensions of the Divine love which the Commemoration of our Saviours sufferings is apt to beget in us Briefly though the Holy Jesus was about to die when he instituted this Mystery yet his design was to live for ever in the hearts of his Disciples and because nothing is more common among men albeit nothing unbecomes men more than to let the Remembrance of Gods mercies slide away from them and to Bury his favours in Oblivion therefore to help our infirmities Christ ordained a perpetual use of this Holy Banquet that his Fathers and his own Love might be had in everlasting remembrance For nothing serveth more to perpetuate the memory of any signal and remarkeable Event than when Men assemble themselves solemnly to Eat and Drink together by Occasion and upon the Score of that Event This was the ground and Reason of all the fixt Festivals among the old Heathens that by means thereof the memory of those great atchievements which their reputed gods had done might be transmitted and handed down from one generation to another And this was one great reason why the Paschal Supper was instituted that it might be a Memorial unto the Jews Exod. 12. 14 And lest through the negligence of men the deliverance which God at that time wrought should at any time after be forgotten God added this command at the 26 and 27 Verses of that Chapter It shall come to pass when your Children shall say unto you what mean you by this service that ye shall say it is the Sacrifice in memory of the Lords Passeover who passed over the Houses of the Children of Israel in Egypt when he smote the Egyptians It is very observable that the incredulous and stiff necked Jews do now expect to be redeemed again out of all their thraldome by the Messiah just at the self same time of the year when their Fathers were redeemed of Id quod patet ex ipsorum verbis quae apud illorum Cabalistas in hunc modum leguntur in eadem die viz. quintadecima die mensis Nisan scilicet Martis redimendus est Israel in diebus Messiae quemadmodum redempti sunt eo die de quo scribitur in diebus egressionis tuae ex Egypto estendam mirabilia P. Jag. in Exod. 12. Old by God out of the house of Bondage For to this purpose saith my Author we read in the Cabalists In the same day viz. on the fifteenth day of Nisan that is in March the Israelites shall be redeemed in the days of the Messiah as they were formerly redeemed on that day at their departure out of Egypt What those fond people expect still was accomplisht long ago For it was just at that time that the Lord Jesus that immaculate Lamb of God was slain to Redeem all Mankind And as the Passeover-Feast among the Jews was instituted for the Commemoration of one deliverance out of great Bondage so was this Feast now used by us instituted for the Commemoration of another deliverance from a greater and more intollerable servitude that Christ our Redeemer may never be out of our minds tho he be gone into Heaven but that we should most solemnly celebrate a perpetual memory of his infinite Love and unspeakable Condescention Accordingly the ancient Church was wont to be very Prolix in the Prayer of Consecration For Vide Const Apost lib. having made mention first of the Majesty and perfections of God then of the Creation of Angels of Man and of the whole World then of his Providence over Adam over Seth and Enoch over Noah over Abraham over the twelve Patriarchs and over all the Children of Israel and having concluded that part on this wise For all these things glory be to thee Lord God Almighty infinite Hosts of Angels and Archangels worship thee Thrones Dominions Principalities

vel Spiritualis illa atque Divina de qua ipse dixit caro mea vere est cibus sanguis meus verè est potus vel caro sanguis quae Crucifixa est qui militis effusus est lancea S. Hierom. Comment in Ep. ad Ephes cap 1. understood in a twofold sense either for the Spiritual and Divine Flesh and Bloud of which our Lord said my Flesh is meat indeed and my Bloud is drink indeed or for that Flesh and Bloud which was Crucified and which was poured out by the Souldiers Spear So doth S. Austin distinguish the Invisible the Intelligible the Spiritual Gratian. de Consecr dist 2. cap. 148. Flesh and Bloud of Christ from that Visible that Palpable Body of his which is full of Grace and of the Divine Majestie This he calls strictly and properly the Body of Christ Donec seculum finiatur sursum est Dominus sed tamen hic etiam nobiscum est veritas Domini Corpus enim Domini in quo resurrexit unto loco esse oportet Veritas autem ejus ubique diffusa est Id. cap. 144. Quaere whether it should not be read Virtus instead of veritas Whereas in some Ancient Authors and specially in S. Austin there is mention made of Veritas Domini and Veritas corporis Dominici c. I mistrust that those Expressions are corrupt and that we should read Virtus Domini and Virtus corporis c. Albertinus observed a corruption in a passage of S. Cyril Translated out of Greek into Latin by Thomas Aquinas in the Catena There 't is thus Influit Deus oblatis vim vitae convertens ea in veritatem propriae carnis whereas it should have been rendred in virtutem propriae carnis for 't is in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at Albertinus shews out of Victor Antiochenus his Comment upon S. Mark preserved in the Kings Library at Paris Albertin de Sacr. Euchar. lib. 2. pag. 752. Here was a Palpable Trick so there might be in other such instances for ought we know the other he calls the truth of his Body meaning the Virtue of it and saith positively that till the end of the world the Lord is in heaven above nevertheless that the truth of the Lord is with us here below For that Body of Christ wherein he arose is necessarily to be in one place but the truth or Virtue thereof is diffused every where St. Ambrose speaking of that Body which is received in the Eucharist calls it the Spiritual S. Ambros de Mister c. 9. Body of Christ the Body of a Divine Spirit and this I confidently affirm of all the Ancients who have either purposely interpreted or occasionally quoted those words of Christ in the sixth of S. John that they all understand him to speak of our feeding upon him after a Spiritual manner and of Spiritual food of Spiritual Flesh of Spiritual Bloud which he doth give us from Heaven to eat and drink of Secretly and Undiscernably always distinguishing this Spritual Body not onely from the Substance of the Holy Elements but also from that Natural Body of Christ which he took of the Substance of the Holy Virgin 2. This then being manifest that our Saviour hath a Spiritual body of which and of which alone we do participate I am now in the next place to shew what that spiritual Body is Now by his spiritual body we mean the spiritual virtues of his glorified Body those Heavenly streams of Grace which flow from him those vital Powers which we receive into our Bosoms through him those Divine operations which our poor Souls depend upon him for those Coelestial and admirable influences which are derived to his whole Church from his Throne of Glory For the right understanding of this matter we must consider 1. That the Body of Christ is filled not only with the habitual Graces of the Holy Spirit where with he was anointed above his Brethren but filled too even with the Majesty of the God head so that in him all the fullness of the God-head dwelleth bodily that is really substantially and fully Col. 2. 9. 2. We must consider that of his fullness all we do now receive plentifully and Grace upon Grace as St. John tells us Jo. 1. 16. So that tho Christ be in Heaven above all Principalities and Powers and there is to remain until the restitution of all things yet is he unto every one of us the Source and principle of Life Virtue goeth out of him even now still he imparteth himself to us after an ineffable but effectual manner and the meanest Soul in his Church is no more hid from the Emanations of his Grace than the least Plant in a Garden is hid from the influence of the Sun Hence it is that we are said to be made partakers of the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. Because we do partake of those Divine Graces and Influences which flowing from Him do transform and shapen Us into his own likeness And this is that anointing which St. John speaks of 1. Jo. 2. 20. Ye have an unction from the Holy one meaning that plentiful effusion of the Holy Spirit through the Man Christ Jesus whereby the Love of God is shed abroad in our Hearts For Christ himself hath received the Spirit without measure and is anointed with the Oyl of gladness above his Brethren but this is like the Oyntment which was upon Aaron it was poured out upon his Head but it ran down even to the skirts of his cloathing and perfumed his whole Body So doth the Spirit of Christ descend from Him upon Us in streams of bliss and joy and every drop of comfort which falleth upon our hearts is a distillation from him whom God hath made the head of his Church At present I do only suppose what shall be shew'd by and by that every faithful Christian doth derive Virtues from the Blessed Jesus which do relieve and operate upon our Souls as those Virtues did upon the Bodies of such as were healed and relieved by him in the days of his Flesh For St. Luke tells us Luk. 6. 19. that there went Virtue out of him so that he healed them all And when that poor Woman had been healed of her bloody issue only by touching our Saviours Cloathes he himself said that virtue had gone out of him Mark 5. 30. which Story is related by St. Luke too who adds also that Jesus perceived that Virtue was gone out of him Luc. 8. 46. And if such wonders were wrought by the Virtues of his body in his state of Servitude and Humiliation we may well believe that he now casteth upon every member of his Church more Abundant Virtues and influences since his body now is infinitely Glorious and Vivifick by reason that the Divinity which was hid in him before abideth in it in its greatest plenitude 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Ignat. Ep. ad Ephes 3. Now these spiritual Virtues we

not Mat. 6. unto you saith he treasure upon Earth willing us thereby rather to set our minds upon Heavenly treasure which ever endureth than upon Earthly treasure which by many sundry occasions perisheth and is taken away from us And yet worldly treasure must needs be had and possessed of some men as the person time and occasion doth serve Likewise Mat. 10. he said When you be brought before Kings and Princes think not what and how you shall answer Not willing us by this Negative that we should negligently and unadvisedly answer we care not what but that we should depend of our Heavenly Father trusting that by his Holy Spirit he will sufficiently instruct us of answer rather than to trust of any answer to be devised by our Wit and study And in the same manner he spake when he said It is not you that speak but it is the Spirit Mat. 10. of God that speaketh within you For the Spirit of God is he that principally putteth godly words into our mouths and yet nevertheless we do speak according to his moving And to be short in all these sentences following that is to say Call no Man your Father upon Earth Let Mat. 23. no Man call you Lord or Master Fear not Mat. 23. them that kill the Body I came not to send Mat. 10. peace upon Earth It is not in me to set Mat. 10. you at my right hand or left hand You shall Mat. 20. not worship the Father neither in this Mount Joh. 4. nor in Jerusalem I take no witness at no Joan. 5. Man My Doctrine is not mine I seek John 7. not mine I seek not my glory In all John 8. these Negatives our Saviour Christ spake not precisely and utterly to deny all the foresaid things but in comparison of them to prefer other things as to prefer our Father and Lord in Heaven above any worldly Father Lord or Master in Earth and his fear above the fear of any Creature and his word and Gospel above all worldly peace Also to prefer spiritual and inward honouring of God in pure heart and mind above local corporal and outward honour and that Christ preferred his Fathers glory above his own Now forasmuch as I have declared at length the Nature and kind of these Negative speeches which be no pure Negatives but by comparison it is easie hereby to make answer to St. John Chrysostome who used this phrase of speech most of any Author For his meaning in his foresaid homily was not that in the Celebration of the Lords Supper is neither Bread nor Wine neither Priest nor the Body of Chist which the Papists themselves must needs confess but his intent was to draw our minds upwards to Heaven that we should not consider so much the Bread Wine Priest and Body of Christ as we should consider his Divinity and Holy Spirit given unto us to our eternal Salvation And therefore in the same place he useth so many times these words think and think not Willing us by those words that we should not fix our thoughts and minds up the bread Wine Priest nor Christs body But to lift up our hearts higher unto his Spirit and Divinity without the which his Body availeth nothing as he said himself It is the spirit that giveth life the Flesh availeth Joan. 6. nothing Thus far he Therefore when you address your selves to the Table of the great God you should be full of lofty and Divine apprehensions of that hidden Treasure of Celestial Grace and Virtue which is then to be tendred unto you how mean soever the Instruments of that Grace are in their own Nature And accordingly you should go with those Holy dispositions and affections with that Reverence dread and awe of God but withal with that forwardness and swiftness of Devotion and with those transports of pleasure and joy as if you were now going to the very gate of Heaven Men should be afraid to use this important and venerable Ordinance with respect to secular and base ends only to satisfie the Laws of the Realm to save their Places their Reputation their mammon It is a most fearful act of presumption a deadly and horrid prophanation an argument of Atheistical or debaucht minds when men dare prostitute a thing of such a sacred Nature to their carnal Lusts and take the Viands of Eternity into their hands and mouths even when the Devil is in their hearts When you prepare for this solemn occasion be in good earnest with God and with your own Souls be as considerate and serious as if you were going to die be as upright in heart as if you were to take the next step to judgment When you see the Holy Table spread call home your thoughts let your minds be as composed and your Meditations be as full of Reverence as if you saw a vision and beheld the food of Angels let down from Heaven in a Sheet when the happy hour is now come that God waits to bless you with the greatest Treasure of his love begrudge not the going to his Table for it but bless God that you may have it for fetching and when you go be as pure in heart as if your lips were touched with a live Coal from off the Altar prostrate your bodies and cast your Souls down to the lowest step of humility and adore the Almighty like those Seraphims in Isaiahs Vision who covered their feet and their Faces with their wings as they cried one unto another Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole Earth is full of his Glory Isa 6. 2 3. When the Bread and Wine are made Sacraments and those blessed Symbols of Grace are reached out unto you think and know that the Lord of Life and Glory is now coming under your roof and great is the Peace of such as receive him with the passionate desires of affectionate Penitents that bathe his feet with their Tears and lodge him in the retirements of a clean innocent and Virgin heart And when you depart let it be with Thanksgivings and Hallelujahs and with all the expressions of grateful Souls enflamed with the Love of Jesus and with a deep sense of your Honour and Felicity that God hath vouchsafed thus to visit you with his goodness that he hath taken you into his Arms that he hath covered your offences that he hath fed you with the true Bread of Life from Heaven that he hath shed his love abroad in your hearts by the Holy Ghost which is now given unto you that he hath united you to himself by the Communication of the Divine Nature that he hath cast into you the seed of immortality and given you an earnest of a blessed Resurrection and an antepast of Heaven for all these blessings you receive at the hand of God as oft as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup of the Lord after a worthy manner and as it becometh Saints