Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	acceptable_a	vengeance_n	zion_n	25	3	8.1699	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A76967	Meditations of the mirth of a Christian life. And the vaine mirth of a wicked life, with the sorrovves of it. / By Zach: Bogan of C.C.C. Oxon.	Bogan, Zachary, 1625-1659.	1653 (1653)	Wing B3441; Thomason E1486_1; ESTC R208439	202,360	374

without any discovery of God and his love any more then beasts have either like a candle blown out with the wind he leaves a filthy snuffe of a foul life to stink behind him having the love of no body or else he passeth away like the wind or a ship in the sea and leaves no signe at all his remembrance life being cut off together Ps 34.16 Now if a godly man have so much peace who will offer to question it whether he may have so much joy yea and much more then I speak of For if there be peace any where spirituall peace especially it seems to me impossible that joy should be long a comming after and so if joy be any where you may assure your selfe peace hath been there before See how joy and peace goe hand in hand Rom 14.17 chap 15.13 Gal 5.23 3ly A third cause that godly men have to be merry is Redemptiō Liberty Liberty obtained for we are not as others have been before us to use the words of the Prophet Zach 9.12 prisoners of hope we shall be so indeed when we are dead in regard of our bodyes a Why cannot the Papists in terpret the vers before this of the resu rection as well as those words in Mal c.. 4.2 the redemption whereof we must wait for But our maine captivity is turn'd already and God hath brought us out of darknesse b Rom. 8.23 the shaddew of death having broken our bands in sunder And therefore well might Moses say to us the Gentiles who partake of this mercy that which the Apostle repeats Rom 15 10. Rejoyce ye gentiles with his people Rejoyce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be merry For can a man if he be but as much as a beast and have but the use of a sensitive soule be insensible of so great a good as liberty when he enjoys it nay refraine from skipping and leaping for it when he thinks upon it Unlesse he can enjoy it without enjoying it God hath given thee rest from thy sorrow c Luk 1.17 and from thy feare and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve as he promised to doe the captive Jewes Isa 14.3 Wilt thou be so froward as not to take it or canst thou be so sencelesse as not to be glad for it That man that shall be any whit sad when he tells me he is redeemed from a miserable slavery in Turky I shall hardly believe what he sayes Certainly one that is delivered redeemed oh the sweetnes that is in the word snatcht as a firebrand out of the fire he cannot be sad if he would Saith David P 53.6 When God bringeth back the captivity of his people Jacob shall rejoyce and Israel shall be glad So Ps 71.23 My lips shall greatly rejoyce when I sing unto thee and my soule which thou hast redeemed As if there must needs be the voice of rejoycing presently where there is the least sound of redeeming Thus was it said of the redemption of the Jewes from their captivity But our redemption is more worth then theirs our liberty is greater and better and our bondage was worse And shall our joy be lesse Let us but consider We are freed from the slavery of having many masters for 't is slavery enough to have them let them use us never so well that servant who hath many masters let him be merry if he can I say many masters For many they are and many sorts and many of a sort and all that are of a sort such as if we have but one of them we shall find it hard service enough That sort I meane is our Lusts which are so numerous and various every way 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 serving DIVERS lusts saith Paul Tit 3.3 which I could easily make appeare were it not too much digression and doe purpose to speak somewhat of it in another place But we are not freed from the slavery of these masters only No we are freed from the slavery and delivered from the pow-of all the masters who had formerly the command of us whom it is not barely service but misery and slavery to be subject to I meane Sinne Death The World The Divell I may adde Our selves for if God had not been a better friend to us then we are to our selves I know what had become of us I meane not of lusts only for we hurt our selves many other waies The fourth of these whom we most feare as dreadfull as he is thought is but the Prince of this world and therefore hath no power over the subjects and heires of another Kingdome such as Christians are being translated * Col. 1.13 from his They are dead as to sinne and what then is there left for thee O thou destroyer of men to carry away captive * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Tim. 2.26 alive at and for thy pleasure They are no longer captives and gally-slaves as once they were to worke for thee and for nothing Thou mightest have heard long agoe of their releasment and their joy thereupon which thou shalt never be able to take from them no more then thou canst make them slaves againe or make the prophecy false or the promise of none effect Heare but what the Prophet's words are Isa 61.1.2.3 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek He hath sent me no bind up the broken hearted to proclaime liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound To proclaime the acceptable yeare of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God To appoint unto them that mourne in Zion to give unto them beauty for ashes the oyle of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heavinesse that they might be called trees righteousnesse the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified Behold now the time is come I tell thee again the time is come and those promises are fullfilled For we who by that malice our own were worse then bound to be sinfull and miserable even fast bound in misery an iron are now out of out bands adopted for nothing into the glorious liberty of the Sonnes of God Rom 8.21 Presume no longer upon the strength of thy associates Sin and the Lusts of our flesh For they are deposed from their regall power their dominion and strength is ended 'T is true their being is not ended but that makes so much the more for a godly man's joy as it doth for any other conquerour to have his enemy led in triumph alive or to have him lye vanquished before him more then to have him cleane removed out of the way Having sinne thus laid at our feet it may looke fiercely up upon us and threaten to bite and turne it's taile about our heeles but the danger is gone we have broken it's head and struck out it's teeth and though

2 3. Let us break their bonds asunder and cast away their cords from us But we feare not that you will take any hurt by this for we trust we have compounded you a sufficient antidote against such poyson in what hath been already said if not we have choice of many ingredients more which we doubt not will make the physick strong enough 4ly Fourth ground Accepcion of actions A fourth cause that a godly man hath to be merry may be The acceptation of his actions whereof he hath good assurance by the testimony of God's Spirit For we see amongst our selves 't is a very great cheering to a man both in and for the doing of a thing if the person for whom he does it accept's of it as the contrary must needs be a great discouragemet Goe thy way eat thy bread with joy and drink thy wine with a merry heart for God now accepteth thy work Eccles 9.7 I said By the testimony of God's Spirit for that must 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Rom 8.16 witnesse together with his spirit or else the witnesse of his own spirit or conscience is nothing worth And therefore Paul when he had commended the truth of what he was to say to the Romanes by the testimony of his conscience as if he had said nothing if he had said no more presently added 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Holy Ghost Rom 9.1 I I say the truth in Christ I lye not my conscience also bearing me witnes in the Holy Ghost When I have spent howers in prayer or hearing or meditation or fasting nay when I have well spent my whole life let me but have Enoch's testimony * Heb 11.5 Fift ground Experience of God's love that I have pleased God how will my heart rejoyce 5ly A fift ground may be Experiences of God's love which a good Christian hath a great many more then he takes notice of and that I must needs tell him is his usuall fault Is it not of efficacy think you to make a man merry to have in his mind when he is alone and to be able to talke of when he is in company such and such a mercy recieved at such and such a time How such a time God hedged up his way into sinne how at such a time he hedged up his way into misery How signally and plainly God hath carried him along in all his wayes by an overruling hand of providence so that all things even those which in his best advised judgment he thought the worst were made to worke for the best How at such a time God opened his eare for instructiō * Job 36.10 How at such a time he gave him a most gracious meeting with warming ēbracings of love at such a time with strong sealings of the righteousnesse of faith at another time with most lively quicknings of hope If these consolations be small I know not what consolation is 6ly The sixth ground The Scriptures The sixth thing that will afford the godly man matter of joy is that wherein the wicked man can take no comfort because it layes open his sin to him together with the punishment of it which he hath no assurance to avoid for want of faith and repentance The written word of God which we call the Scriptures even both the Testaments left with us for this end that we as the Apostle * Rom 15.4 saith through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope How many hundred most abundantly comfortable promises are there in those Scriptures not only of things able to make the godly joyfull for such might be and they might be never the better for they might take no joy in them but some of them even of joy it selfe The Spirit of the Lord is upon me c. To appoint unto them that mourne in Zion to give unto them beauty for ashes the oyle of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the Spirit of heavinesse c. Isa 61.1.2 3. See also Isa 51.11 ch 60.20 The whole Gospell what is it else but joyfull newes Not barely newes but joyfull newes glad tidings of great joy as saith the Angell Luk. 2.10 Now when godly men meet with such a treasure of rich treasures as the Gospell is which they never laboured nor paid for and such a large crop of mercies and benefits as are contained in the Gospell which they never sowed nor plowed for which Christ alone hath purchased for them to their hands of his own free love when instead of walking in darknesse as they have done all their life before they shall see a great light and though their lot was cast in the land of the shadow of death that even then the light shall shine upon them how can they chuse but joy according to nay beyond the joy in harvest and as men rejoyce that devide the spoyle * In that verse whereas we read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not in creased the joy it is read also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are w rds usually changed and encreased his joy and so the Sept read Isa 9.3 He that keeps continuall feasting upon such good cheare as the promises unlesse he be very stupid and absurd as it is an absurd thing to be sad at a feast his garments must needs be alwaies white his head can never lack oyntment Now in the Gospel God hath set before us the table was spread at Jerusalem Isa 25.5 though to the Jewes it became a snare Psal 69.22 a feast of fat things a feast of wines on the lees well refined Isa 25.6 Nay not only the promises benefits to come when Christ shall come nor the Gospel or the newes of their comming either before or after their coming but even all the commandements and lawes of God and Christ contained in the whole book of the Scriptures as grievous as they are to a wicked man are to a godly man matter of infinite pleasure and delight God's lawes are so just and righteous that the vertuous heart of a just and righteour man cannot but delight in them as all other things doe in that which is most suitable to them How many times does David tell you thus much The statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart Psal 19.8 And Ps 119.111 They are the rejoycing of my heart see at your leasure the 14.16 20 27 50 54 70 92 143 verses of the same psalme Indeed God's Lawes are such proper and wholsome food for a man that if the Stomack be clean and the will be not disordered with lusts and ill humours they cannnot chuse but relish them The very nature and constitution of the soule neither corrupted nor distempered with sinne and lusts will agree with it and embrace it with as much love and complacency as a healthy stomach doth wholsome food And indeed it is the maine reason why God's law is so pleasing and delightsome to a regenerated person viz