Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	abate_v	flesh_n	mortify_v	32	3	10.0195	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A27017	The saints everlasting rest, or, A treatise of the blessed state of the saints in their enjoyment of God in glory wherein is shewed its excellency and certainty, the misery of those that lose it, the way to attain it, and assurance of it, and how to live in the continual delightful forecasts of it and now published by Richard Baxter ...	Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.; Herbert, George, 1593-1633.	1650 (1650)	Wing B1383; ESTC R17757	797,603	962

possessions that thou art willing to have them tryed and fearfull of being deceived that they stir up they desires of enjoying what thou hopest for and the deferring thereof is the trouble of thy heart Prov. 13.12 If thou be sure that thy hopes be such as these God forbid that I should speak a word against them or discourage thee from proceeding to hope thus to the end No I rather perswade thee to go on in the strength of the Lord and what ever men or devils or thy own unbelieving heart shall say against it go on and hold fast thy hope and be sure it shall never make thee ashamed But if thy hope be not of this spiritual nature and if thou art able to give no better reason why thou hopest then the worst in the world may give That God is mercifull and thou must speed as well as thou canst or the like and hast not one sound evidence of a saving work of grace upon thy soul to shew for thy hopes but only hopest that thou shalt be saved because thou wouldest have it so and because it is a terrible thing to despaire If this be thy case delay not an hour but presently cast away those hopes that thou mayest get into a capacity of having better in their stead But it may be thou wilt think this strange doctrine and say VVhat would you perswade me directly to despaire Answ. Sinner I would be loath to have thy soul destroyed by wilful self-delusion The truth is There is a hope such as I have before shewed thee of which is a singular grace and duty and there is a hope which is a notorious dangerous sin So consequentely there is a despaire which is a grievous sin and there is a despaire which is absolutely necessary to thy salvation I would not have thee despaire of the suffi●ciency of the blood of Christ to save thee if thou believe and heartily obey him Nor of the willingness of God to pardon and save thee if thou be such a one Nor yet absolutely of thy own salvation because while there is life and time there is some hope of thy conversion and so of thy salvation Nor would I draw thee to despaire of finding Christ if thou do but heartily seek him Or of Gods acceptance of any sincere endeavors nor of thy successe against Satan or any corruption which thou shalt heartily oppose nor of any thing whatsoever God hath promised to do either to all men in generall or to such as thou art I would not have thee doubt of any of these in the least measure much less despaire But this is the despaire that I would perswade thee to as thou lovest thy soul That thou despaire of ever being saved except thou be born again or of seeing God without Holiness or of escaping perishing except thou soundly Repent Or of ever having part in Christ or salvation by him or ever being one of his true Disciples except thou love him above Father mother or thy own life Or of ever having a Treasure in Heaven except thy very heart be there Or of ever scaping eternal death if thou walk after the flesh and dost not by the spirit mortify the deeds of the flesh or of ever truly loving God or being his servant while thou lovest the world and servest it These things I would have thee despair of and what ever else God hath told thee shall never come to passe And when thou hast sadly searched into thy own heart and findest thy self in any of these cases I would have thee despair thy self of ever being saved in that state thou art in Never stick at the sadness of the conclusion man but acknowledg plainly If I die before I get out of this estate I am lost for ever It is as good deal truly with thy self as not God will not flatter thee he will deal plainly whether thou do or not The very truth is This kinde of despair is one of the first steps to Heaven Consider if a man be quite out of his way what must be the first means to bring him in again Why a despair of ever coming to his journies end in the way that he is in If his home be Eastward and he be going Westward as long as he hopes he is the right he will go on and as long as he so goes on hoping he goes further amiss Therefore when he meets with some body who assures him that he is clean out of his way and brings him to despair of coming home except he turn back again then he will return and then he may hope and spare not Why sinner Just so it is with thy soul Thou art born out of the way to Heaven and in that way thou hast proceeded many a yeer Yet thou goest on quietly and hopest to be saved because thou art not so bad as many others Why I tell thee except thou be brought to throw away those hopes and see that thou hast all this while been quite out of the way to Heaven and hast been a childe of wrath and a servant of Satan unpardoned unsanctified and if thou hadst dyed in this state hadst been certainly damned I say till thou be brought to this thou wilt never return and be saved Who will turn out of his way while he hopes he is right And let me once again tell thee that if ever God mean good to thy soul and intend to save thee this is one of the first things he will work upon thee Remember what I say till thou feel God convincing thee that the way which thou hast lived in will not serve the turn and so breaking down thy former hopes there is yet no saving work wrought upon thee how well soever thou mayest hope of thy self Yea this much more If any thing keep thy soul out of Heaven which God forbid there is nothing in the world liker to do it then thy false hopes of being saved while thou art out of the way to salvation Why else is it that God cryes down such hopes in his word Why is it that every faithful skilful Minister doth bend all his strength against the false faith and hope of sinners as if he were to fight against neither small nor great but this prince of iniquity Why alas they know that these are the main pillars of Satans Kingdom Bring down but them two and the house will fall They know also the deceit and vanity of such hopes that they are directly contrary to the Truth of God and what a sad case that soul is in who hath no other hope but that Gods word will prove false when the truth of God is the only ground of true hope Alas it is no pleasure to a Minister to speak to people on such an unwelcome subject no more then it is to a pitifull Physitian to tell his patient I do despair of your life except you let blood or there is no hope of the cure except the gangren'd

canst heartily Accept of Christ that thou mayst be pardoned reconciled to God and so saved Dost thou Consent that he shall be thy Lord who hath bought thee and take his own course to bring thee to Heaven This is Justifying Saving Faith and this is the Mark that thou must try thy self by Yet still observe That all this Consent must be Hearty and Real not feigned or with reservations It is not saying as that dissembling son Matt. 21.30 I go sir when he went not To say Christ shall be my Lord and yet let corruption ordinarily rule thee or be unwilling that his Commands should encroach upon the interest of the world or flesh If any have more of the Government of thee then Christ or if thou hadst rather live after any other Laws then his if it were at thy choyce thou art not his Disciple Thus I have layd you down these two Marks which I am sure are such as every Christian hath and no other but sincere Christians I will add no more seeing the substance of Christianity is contained in these Oh that the Lord would now perswade thee to the close performance of this Self-trying Task That thou mayst not tremble with horror of Soul when the Judg of all the World shall try thee but have thy Evidence and Assurance so ready at hand and be so able to prove thy Title to Rest that the thoughts and approaching of Death and Judgment may revive thy spirits and fill thee with Joy and not apale thee and fill thee with amazement CHAP. X. The fourth Vse The Reason of the Saints Afflictions here SECT I. A Further necessary Use which we must make of the present Doctrine is this To inform us why the People of God do suffer so much in this life What wonder when you see their Rest doth yet Remain They are not yet come to their Resting place We would all fain have continual prosperity because it is easie and pleasing to the flesh but we consider not the unreasonableness of such desires We are like children who if they see any thing which their appetite desireth do cry for it and if you tell them that it is unwholesom or hurtful for them they are never the more quieted or if you go about to heal any sore that they have they will not endure you to hurt them though you tell them that they cannot otherwise be healed their Sense is too strong for their Reason and therefore Reason doth little perswade them Even so is it with us when God is afflicting us He giveth us Reasons why we must bear them so that our Reason is oft convinced and satisfied And yet we cry and complain still and we rest satisfied never the more It is not Reason but Ease that we must have What cares the flesh for Scripture and Argument if it still suffer and smart These be but winde and words which do not remove or abate its pain Spiritual remedies may cure the spirits maladies but that will not content the flesh But methinks Christians should have another pallate then that of the flesh to try and relish providences by God hath purposely given them the Spirit to subdue and over-rule the flesh And therefore I shall here give them some Reasons of Gods dealing in their present sufferings whereby the equity and mercy therein may appear And they shall be onely such as are drawn from the reference that these afflictions have to our Rest which being a Christians Happiness and ultimate End will direct him in judging of all estates and means SECT II. 1. COnsider then That Labor and Trouble are the common way to Rest both in the course of Nature and of Grace Can there possibly be Rest without Motion and Weariness Do you not Travel and Toyl first and then rest you afterwards The day for Labor goes first and then the night for Rest doth follow Why should we desire the course of Grace to be perverted any more then we would do the course of Nature seeing this is as perfect and regular as the other God did once dry up the Sea to make a passage for his people and once make the Sun in the Firmament to stand still But must he do so always or as oft as we would have him It is his established Decree That through many tribulations we must enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Act. 14.22 And that if we suffer with him we shall also be glorified with him 2 Tim. 2.12 And what are we that Gods Statutes should be reversed for our pleasure SECT III. 2. COnsider also That Afflictions are exceeding useful to us to keep us from mistaking our Resting place and so taking up short of it A Christians Motion Heaven-wards is Voluntary and not constrained Those means therefore are most profitable to him which help his Understanding and Will in this prosecution The most dangerous mistake that our Souls are capable of is to take the Creature for God and Earth for Heaven And yet alass how common is this And in how great a degree are the best guilty of it Though we are ashamed to speak so much with our tongues yet how oft do our hearts say It is best being here And how contented are they with an earthly portion So that I fear God would displease most of us more to afflict us here and promise us Rest hereafter then to give us our hearts desire on earth though he had never made us a promise of Heaven As if the Creature without God were better then God without the Creature Alass how apt are we like foolish children when we are busie at our sports and worldly employments to forget both our Father and our home Therefore is it a hard thing for a Rich man to enter into Heaven because it is hard for him to value it more then Earth and not to think he is well already Come to a man that hath the world at will and tell him This is not Your Happiness You have higher things to look after and how little will he regard you But when Affliction comes it speaks convincingly and will be heard when Preachers cannot What warm affectionate eager thoughts have we of the world till Affliction cool them and moderate them How few and cold would our thoughts of Heaven be how little should we care for coming thither if God would give us Rest on Earth Our thoughts are with God as Noahs Dove was in the Ark kept up to him a little against their inclinations and desires but when once they can break away they fly up and down over all the world to see if it were possible to finde any Rest out of God But when we finde that we seek in vain and that the world is all covered with the waters of instable vanity and bitter vexation and that there is no Rest for the sole of our foot or for the foot of our Soul no wonder then if we return to the Ark again Many a

then we do wilfully afflict it our selves Suppose thou be in poverty It is thy flesh only that is pinched If thou have sores or sicknesses it is but the flesh that they assault If thou dye it is but that flesh that must rot in the grave Indeed it useth also to reach our hearts and Souls when the body suffereth but that is because we pore upon our evils and too much pity and condole the flesh and so we open the door and let in the pain to the heart our selves which else could have gone no further then the flesh God smites the flesh and therefore we will grieve our spirits and so multiply our grief as if we had not enough before Oh if I could but have let my body have suffered alone in all the pining paining sicknesses which God laid upon it and not have foolishly added my own self-tormenting fears and cares and sorrows and discontents but have quieted and comforted my Soul in the Lord my Rock and Rest I had escaped the far greater part of the Afflictions Why is this flesh so precious in our eyes Why are we so tender of these dusty carcasses Is flesh so excellent a thing Is it not our prison and what if it be broken down Is it not our Enemy yea and the greatest that ever we had and are we so fearful lest it be overthrown Is it not it that hath so long hampered and clog'd our Souls and tyed them to earth and ticed them to forbidden lusts and pleasures and stoln away our hearts from God Was it not it that longed for the first forbidden fruit and must needs be tasting what ever it cost And still it is of the same temper It must be pleased though God be displeased by it and our selves destroyed It maketh all Gods mercies the occasion of our transgressing and draweth poyson from the most excellent objects If we behold our food it inticeth to gluttony if drink to drunkenness if apparel or any thing of worth to pride if we look upon beauty it ticeth to lust if upon money or possessions to Covetousness It causeth our very spiritual love to the godly to degenerate into carnal and our spiritual Zeal and Joy and other graces It would make all carnal like it self What are we beholden to this flesh for that we are so loath that any thing should ail it Indeed we must not wrong it our selves for that is forbidden us Nor may we deny it any thing that is fit for a Servant that so it may be useful to us while we are forced to make use of it But if God chastise it for rebelling against him and the Spirit and it begin to cry and complain under this chastisement shall we make the suffering greater then it is and take its part against God Indeed the Flesh is very near to us we cannot chuse but condole its sufferings and feel somewhat of that which it feeleth But is it so near as to be our chiefest part Or cannot it be sore but we must be so sorry or cannot it consume and pine away but our peace and comfort must consume with it What if it be undone are we therefore undone or if it perish and be destroyed do We therefore perish Oh fie upon this carnality and unbelief which is so contradictory to the principles of Christianity Surely God dealeth the worse with this Flesh because we so over-value and Idolize it We make it the greatest part of our care and labour to provide for it and to satisfie its desires and we would have God to be of our mind and to do so too But as he hath commanded us to make no provision for the flesh to fulfil the desires or lusts thereof Rom. 13.14 So will he follow the same rule himself in his dealings with us and will not much stick at the displeasing of the flesh when it may honour himself or profit our Souls The flesh is aware of this and perceives that the Word and Works of God are much against its desires and delights and therefore is it also against the Word and Works of God It saith of the Word as Ahab of Micaiah I hate it for it doth not speak good concerning me but evil There is such an Enmity betwixt this flesh and God That they that are in the flesh cannot please him and the carnal mind is Enmity against him for it is not subject to his Law nor indeed can be So inconsistent is the pleasing of the flesh and the pleasing of GOD That he hath concluded That to minde the things of the flesh or to be carnally minded is Death and if we live after the flesh we shall dye but if by the Spirit we mortifie the deeds of the body we shall live Rom. 8. vers 4 5 6 7 8 13. So that there is no likelihood that ever Gods dealings should be pleasing to the flesh no more then its works are pleasing to God Why then O my Soul dost thou side with this Flesh and say as it saith and complain as it complaineth It should be part of thine own work to keep it down and bring it in subjection and if God do it for thee shouldst thou be discontented Hath not the pleasing of it been the cause of almost all thy spiritual sorrows Why then may not the displeasing of it further thy Joys Should not Paul and Silas sing because their feet were in the stocks and their flesh yet sore with the last days scourgings Why their spirits were not imprisoned nor scourged Ah unworthy Soul Is this thy thanks to God for his tenderness o● Thy good and for his preferring thee so far before the body Art thou turned into flesh thy self by thy dwelling a few years in flesh That thy Joys and thy Sorrows are most of them so fleshly Art thou so much a debter to the flesh that thou shouldst so much live to it and value its prosperity Hath it been so good a friend to thee and to thy Peace Or is it not thy Enemy as well as Gods Why dost thou look so sadly on those withered limbs and on that pining body Do not so far mistake thy self as to think its Joys and thine are all one or that its prosperity and thine are all one or that thou must needs stand or fall together When it is rotting and consuming in the grave then shalt thou be a companion of the perfected Spirits of the Just And when those bones are scattered about the Church-yard then shalt thou be praising God in Rest. And in the mean time hast not thou food of consolation which the flesh knoweth not of and a Joy which this stranger meddleth not with And do not think that when thou art turned out of this body that thou shalt have no habitation Art thou afraid thou shalt wander destitute of a Resting place Is it better Resting in flesh then in God Dost thou not know that when this house of earth is dissolved

go before to prepare so glorious a Mansion for such a wretch and art thou now loth to go and possess it must his blood and care and pains be lost O unthankful unworthy foul Shall the Lord of glory be willing of thy company and art thou unwilling of his are they fit to dwell with God that had rather stay from him Must he crown thee and glorifie thee against thy will or must he yet deal more roughly with thy darling flesh and leave thee never a corner in thy ruinous cottage for to cover thee but fire thee out of all before thou wilt away Must every Sense be an inlet to thy sorrows and every friend become thy scourge and Jobs Messengers be thy daily intelligencers and bring thee the Curranto's of thy multiplied calamities before that Heaven will seem more desireable then this Earth Must every joynt be the seat of Pain and every Member deny thee a room to rest in and thy groans be indited from the very heart and bones before thou wilt be willing to leave this flesh Must thy heavy burdens be bound upon thy back and thy so-intolerable Paroxysms become incessant and thy intermittent agueish woes be turned into continual burning Feavers Yea must Earth become a very Hell to thee before thou wilt be willing to be with God O impudent soul if thou be not ashamed of this what is loathing if this be love Look about thee O my soul behold the most lovely Creature or the most desireable State and tell me Where wouldst thou be if not with God Poverty is a burden and riches a snare Sickness is little pleasing to thee and usually health as little safe the one is full of sorrow and the other of sin The frowning World doth bruise thy heel and the smiling World doth sting thee to the heart VVhen it seemeth ugly it causeth loathing when beauteous it is thy bane when thy condition is bitter thou wouldst fain spit it out and when delightful it is but sugered misery and deceit The sweetest poyson doth oft bring the surest death So much as the world is loved and delighted in so much it hurteth and endangereth the lover and if it may not be loved why should it be desired If thou be applauded it proves the most contagious breath and how ready are the sails of Pride to receive such winds so that it frequently addeth to thy sin but not one cubit to the stature of thy worth And if thou be vilified slandered or unkindly used methinks this should not entice thy love Never didst thou sit by the fire of prosperity and applause but thou hadst with it the smoke that drew water from thy eyes never hadst thou the Rose without the pricks and the sweetness hath been expired and the beauty faded before the scars which thou hadst in gathering it were healed Is it not as good be without the honey as to have it with so many smarting stings The highest delight thou hast found in any thing below hath been in thy successful labors and thy godly friends And have these indeed been so sweet as that thou shouldst be so loth to leave them If they seem better to thee then a life with God it is time for God to take them from thee Thy studies have been sweet and have they not been also bitter My minde hath been pleased but my body pained and the weariness of the flesh hath quickly abated the pleasures of the Spirit VVhen by painful studies I have not discovered the truth it hath been but a tedious way to a grievous end discontent and trouble purchased by toilsom wearying labors And if I have found out the truth by Divine assistance I have found but an exposed naked Orphan that hath cost me much to take in and cloath and keep which though of noble birth yea a Divine off-spring and amiable in mine eyes and worthy I confess of better entertainment yet from men that knew not its descent hath drawn upon me their envy and furious opposition and hath brought the blinded Sodomites with whom I lived at some peace before to crowd about me and assault my doors that I might prostitute my heavenly Guests to their pleasure and again expose them whom I had so gladly and lately entertained yea the very Tribes of Israel have been gathered against me thinking that the Altar which I built for the interest of Truth and Unity and Peace had been erected to the Introduction of Error and Idolatry And so the increase of Knowledg hath been the increase of Sorrow My heart indeed is ravished with the beauty of naked Truth and I am ready to cry out I have found it or as Aquinas Conclisum est contra c. But when I have found it I know not what to do with it If I confine it to my own brest and keep it secret to my self it is as a consuming fire shut up in my heart and bones I am as the Lepers without Samaria or as those that were forbidden to tell any man of the works of Christ I am weary of forbearing I cannot stay If I reveal it to the world I can expect but an unwelcome entertainment and an ungrateful return For they have taken up their standing in religious knowledg already as if they were at Hercules Pillars and had no further to go nor any more to learn They dare be no wiser then they are already nor receive any more of Truth then they have already received lest thereby they should accuse their Ancestors and Teachers of Ignorance and Imperfection and themselves should seem to be mutable and unconstant and to hold their opinions in Religion with reserves The most precious Truth not apprehended doth seem to be Error and fantastick novelty Every man that readeth what I write will not be at the pains of those tedious studies to finde out the truth as I have been but think it should meet their eyes in the very reading If the meer writing of Truth with its clearest Evidence were all that were necessary to the apprehension of it by others then the lowest Scholar in the School might be quickly as good as the highest So that if I did see more then others to reveal it to the lazy prejudiced world would but make my friends turn enemies or look upon me with a strange and jealous eye And yet Truth is so dear a friend it self and he that sent it much more dear that what ever I suffer I dare not stifle or conceal it O what then are these bitter sweet studies and discoveries to the everlasting views of the face of the God of Truth The Light that here I have is but a knowing in part and yet it costeth me so dear that in a temptation I am almost ready to prefer the quiet silent night before such a rough tempestuous day But there I shall have Light and Rest together and the quietness of the night without its darkness I can never now have the