Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	abide_v	abode_n	place_n	27	3	4.6100	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A05517	[A comfortable treatise for the reliefe of such as are afflicted in conscience]	Linaker, Robert, 1550 or 51-1618.	1595 (1595)	STC 15638; ESTC S100280	35,666	76

worldly things but dung in comparison thereof did that word I say neuer speake peaceablie to your conscience by the holy ministerie did 〈◊〉 neuer giue you assurance and ioy in the holy Ghost did it neuer worke such sweete comfort as no worldly ioy could be like vnto it did you neuer heare such a sermon from your owne godly and carefull pas●or or from any other that you haue said at your comming home you would not for all the worlds good but you had heard it because it was so sweete and comfortable did you neuer speake that worde from the true feeling of the heart which might warrant your soule that you are in Christ Iesus If this worde hath had this gracious and powerfull worke in your soule as I am fully perswaded it hath Ephes 4.30 and your selfe cannot denie it for if you doe beside the great wrong you offer your own soule you trespasse against that spirit whereby you haue bene sealed vnto the day of redemption then know assuredly you are so gra●●ed into that body of Christ Iesus Gods loue is euerlasting and ●●changeable as nothing shall be able to seperate you from that loue which the Lord your God beareth you in his deare Sonne in whome hee hath so loued you once Iohn 13.1 as hee must needes loue you for euer And that bicause the Euangelist saith whome hee loues he loues to the end For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance Againe Rom. 11.29 God is not as man that hee should lie Num. 23.19 neither as the sonne of man that hee should repent Hath he saide and shall he not do it and hath he spoken it and shall hee not accomplish it No be you well assured and write vpon it 1. Sam. 15.29 that the strength of Israel wil not lie nor repent For as the apostle Iames saith Iam. 1.17 with him there is no variablenesse nor shadowing by turning Let these and such like places be alwais in your remembrance and giue your selfe vnto the continuall meditation thereof For they shall stand you in great stead if you can call them to minde when your temptations shal assaile you with greatest strēgth And forget not Therefore reade them often and continually that you may alwayes haue them at your fingers end often to thinke of such excellent places as that is which you find written in the eight chapter of the Epistle written to the Romanes and the sixe and thirtieth verse after this manner What shal separat vs from the loue of Christ shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakednesse or peril or sword c. No I am persuaded that neither death nor life angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any creature shall be able to separate vs from the loue of God which is in Iesus Christ our Lord. And full sweet to this purpose are those words of the holie prophet Dauid Psal 34.18 19. The Lorde is neere vnto them that are of a contrite heart and will saue such as be afflicted in spirit Great are the troubles of the righteous but the Lorde deliuereth him out of them all Psal 30.5 Againe weeping may abide at euening but ioy commeth in the morning But you finde no such matter you saie for this trouble of minde hath holden you not onelie nights and daies but weekes and moneths yea and yeeres and yet you can finde no ease nor comfort Be it so yet bee not therefore out of heart for the longer it bee before you haue ease the more welcome it shal be when it commeth And to this purpose are the wordes of the Wise-man where hee saieth The hope that is deferred is the fainting of the heart but when the desire commeth it is a tree of life Lastly let the words of Eliphas the Temanite be fast bound vnto your soule which you shall find thus reported in the booke of Iob the fist chapter 17 18 19. verses Beholde blessed is the man whome God correcteth therefore refuse not thou the correction of the Almightie For hee maketh the wound and bindeth it vp hee smiteth and his handes make whole Hee shall deliuer thee in sixe troubles and in the seauenth the euill shall not touch thee The summe drift of all that which hath bin set downe from the beginning to this present place is to encourage you concerning the maner of your affliction which though it be very sharp bitter to the flesh because no chastisement for the present seemeth to be ioyous but greeuous Hebr. 12.11 A principal co●fort for the afflicted soule yet there is a time when it shall bring the quiet fruit of righteousnesse vnto them that are exercised thereby In regard hereof Moses the man of God saith Deut. 8.16 that the Lord humbled his owne chosen people and prooued them that hee might doe them good at their latter ende And truely in my poore iudgement you may gather more vndoubted assurance of Gods euerlasting fauour towards your soule by these inward afflictions Afflictions better tokens of Gods loue then riches and prosperitie then by any outward prosperitie of anie worldly blessing whatsoeuer whether it be of health of riches or such like And that because in these your afflictions you are most like vnto your head Christ Iesus Hebr. 1.2 who though hee were the right sonne and heire of the whole world yet had hee not a house to hide his head in Matth. 8.10 as himselfe confesseth Hebr. 2.10 But it pleased the Father seeing hee would bring manie children vnto glorie to consecrate the prince of their saluation through afflictions Now as the holy Apostle reasoneth ● Tim. 2.11 12. This is a true saying if we be dead with him we shal also liue with him If we suffer with him we shal also reigne with him To be short the Holy ghost saith Act. 14.22 That we must by many afflictions enter into the kingdome of God And once againe Rom. 8.28 Those whom he knew before hee also predestinated to be made like to the Image of his Sonne that he might be the first-borne among many brethren So that you may wel perceiue you are not thus farre forth any whit out of your way but you keepe the rode Afflictions the highway to heauen euen the good way which leaveth you as streight as a line vnto the kingdome of heauen And therefore as no traueller who keepes his right way and knowes it wil be sory but very glad because he trusteth to come to that place where his desire is to abide so no more cause haue you to be grieued but rather to reioyce because you know you walke in the streight path which shal bring you to that place of your abode where you would so faine be and where you shal abide most blessed and happie for euer Thus much haue I thought good to offer

vnto your godlie meditations to encorage you concerning the maner of your afflictions The Lord grant you a rich portion of his spirite that your soule may reape a gratious blessing Now you shall further vnderstand in few wordes what shall be the substance of all the matter which foloweth in the remainder of this poore treatise The substance of the whole Treatise follo●ing I purpose so neere as I can to gather together those obiections which you and others doe obiect against your selues and so farre as the Lord shall affoord me his grace I entend in order to answer them The first and principall obicetion so far as I can conceiue learne by conference with you The first obiection and answere and with so many as I haue any acquaintance is this The troubled minde doubts of Gods fauour That you doubt much of Gods fauour towards you that you feare it greatly you are not the child of God and if you be yet can not you be thereof certainely perswaded This obiection hath aireadie beene answered in part not withstanding because it is as the foundation of al the other obiections I will in hope of Gods gracious assistance indeuor my selfe to answere it more fully for your better contentmēt First therfore I would gladly learne this one thing of you or of anie other who is your partner in these temptations who it is that beareth you so greatly in hand A needefull point therefore marke it well you are not the child of God If you answer your conscience through the greatnesse of your sinne doth tel you so then do I againe demaund of you who it is that sets your conscience a worke to vrge this point to what end Harken to Gods 〈◊〉 for he seckes 〈◊〉 God If it be Gods spirit you may be right glad because then it is for your good namely the you may go out of your selfe secke the forgiuenesse of your sinnes and euerlasting saluation in Christ his death and obedience to the full assurance of Gods fauor and the euerlasting peace of your conscience Hearken not to sathan for he hath vowed your destruction But speake the truth is it not rather a strong temptation of Sathan your deadly enemie to trouble the peace of your conscience and if it be possible to driue you to desperation If it be so as I feare it greatly then say I vnto you there is no cause why you should beleeue him First because he is a lyer Ioh. 8.44 Secondly because he is your enemie who meanes you no good at al. That he is a lyar it is manifest because he hath beene so from the beginning And he cannot nowe chaunge his nature It is as much against his nature to speake the truth as it is possible that God should lie Heb. 6.18 Rom. 3.4 who is onely euer true Therefore there is no cause why you shoulde beleeue such a common liar as the Deuill who will lie as fast as a dogge can trot as wee vse to say in our common speach You haue iust cause therefore to except against him in this respect Againe you neede not doubt that hee is your enemy Reuel 12.10 1. Pet. 5.8 and that to the death because hee is the common accuser of the bretheren and like a roaring Lion goeth about continually seeking whom he may deuoure In regard whereof you are not to hearken to him No credit to bee giuen to the deuil though he speak the truth bicause his meaning is badde or beleeue anie thing he shall saie vnto you no although he speake the trueth And my reason is because he will not tell you the trueth to helpe but to hinder you not to cheere but to choake you not to saue but to spill your bloud And whereas you will replie you cannot denie but hee saieth the trueth concerning the greatnesse of your sinnes and that iust condemnation which you haue deserued for them I answere thereto after this manner That you are not to take the knowledge of your sinnes from Sathan because he will not tell you the trueth and the whole trueth as it is in deede Marke thed euils cunning For either he will pare your sins and make them lesse thē they be to make you altogether carelesse or else hee will make them greater then they be to throw you headlong into despaire But you are to take the persit knowledge of your sins The holy vse of the Ministerie from the true vnderstanding of the Lawe of God Rom. 7.7 fast girded to your conscience by the holie ministerie which GOD hath ordained for this purpose Regard and re●erence the ministerie if you loue your soule that you maie thereby come to true and vnfained repentaunce of all your sinnes and bee saued through faith in Christ his blood For the blood of Christ doth clense you from all sinne 1. Iohn 1.7 And if you will yet reason against your selfe that your sinnes are so great that you can gather no assurance of Gods fauour towards you Examples of notorious sinners who repented and were pardo●ed then let mee offer to your cōsideration some one or two examples of such notorious knowne sinners as the world cried shame of and yet repenting had their sinnes forgiuen them I meane of set purpose to make choise of those persons and people who in the scriptures are noted to be most infamous Because you and such as are so exercised as you are doe indeed charge your selues further than you ought No easie matter to comfort a troubled mind For you make your selues so bad as though none were to be compared vnto you or as though God had no mercie in store for you And hereupon it comes to passe that almost there is not any word of God which can bring peace vnto your troubled consciences I intend therefore to match you so and with such as you shall be forced to confesse you are outmatched The end shal be this to bring glad tidings to your heauie and sorrowful soule that God both is and will be more fauourable to you then you can as yet be persuaded For if God haue shewed mercie to those Reasons to persuade the afflicted who by reason of their knowne sins were in all mens iudgement further from mercie how can he denie you mercie The Lord persuade your heart who neuer brake into that outrage of sin and yet doe most humblie sue vnto him for mercie That good master who forgaue his bad seruant at his owne intreatte ten thousand talents would not haue beene hard vnto him who ought but a hundred pence if he had sued vnto him as he did to his cruell and vnmercifull fellowe seruant who by no meanes would bee entreated to shewe that fauour in a little debt which was shewed him in a verie great summe Remember I pray you that you haue to deale with a God who is farre more mercifull and therefore you