Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	account_v	act_v	action_n	25	3	6.9409	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A89645	A little starre, giving some light into the counsels and purposes of God revealed in the Scriptures. Or A catechisme, wherein these ensuing principles. 1. What God is, and how he manifests himselfe. 2 Why he made the world and man. 3. Mans condition, what, 1. by creation. 2. By his fall. 3. By being restored by Jesus Christ. 4 The uses and ends of the law. 5. What the Gospell is. 6. Justification what it is. 7. Sanctification what, and how it is wrought. 8. What repentance is. 9. The use and ends of the Scriptures. 10. What true prayer is. 11. Baptisme, and the Lords Supper, why, and how used. 12. Generall redemption what, and how to be adjudged of. 13. Resurrection and judgement what. 14. Heaven and Hell what, in truth and misterie. All which are briefly by way of question and answer opened and explained. / By VVilliam Mason.	Mason, William, Anabaptist.	1653 (1653)	Wing M948; Thomason E1505_1; ESTC R208669	86,553	204

to them through sanctification of the Spirit that thereby they might believe or be obedient and be sprinkled with the bloud of Jesus Now what can be added to good things or how can good things believe or be sprinkled with the bloud of Jesus or have remission of sins Againe if gods anger be not against the persons of men as well as against sin in the person then why did he so severely avenge himself upon sin in the person of Christ Was it sin or Christ that cryed out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me And for that Jacob and Esau are brought in to be a type of this great mistery being both in the wombe of one Rebecca it makes nothing to this purpose that God should elect the good things in a man and not the man Jacob and Esau were men and both of the seed of Abraham and both of them the sonnes of Isaac and both in Rebeccas womb at one and the same time and yet one of them elected and the other rejected to shew that the purpose of God in election was not out of any fleshly or carnal respects But meerly according to his own good pleasure For all are not Israel that are of Israel neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all Children True it is that there is flesh and Spirit both in the Saints yet that is no ground to conclude that God will destroy the flesh and save the Spirit and not the person but rather that God will save the the Saint or person and destroy the flesh And whereas it is said that the persons of men are but outward formes and act not but are acted and therefore salvation and damnation belongs not to them I hope then that if it be made to appeare that mens persons do act then it will be also granted that salvation and damnation belongs to them And for the word person or man it is all one and that by person or man is meant the whole man and so to be understood is already shewed Now that sin is acted by the whole man is very clear in Scripture In the third of Genesis 1 2 3 4. It is there declared at large how the Serpent begiuled the woman First he is dealing with her understanding and the thing must needs have passage through her eares for the devill was yet without doors Next she looked upon it with her eyes for she saw the fruit that it was good Then her affections were wrought upon And she desired it At length the will consented and she took it with her hand and did eat yea and gave her husband and he did eat Who doth not see here an act of the whole man And it is just so in every actual sin for though Satan be gotten within yet he can force no man to sin but is dealing with the understanding to deceive that and the understanding being deceived cannot force the Will no● the will the outward man For though the body cannot act in good or evill without the soul yet those very actions of the soul performed by the outward man are accounted actions of the body both in good and evill things And though mens persons be acted either by a good or evill Spirit the good Spirit is God and the evill Spirit is the Devil and neither of these do force the person of a man For man being a reasonable creature even that good Spirit or God deales with him according to reason and though it be said that the love of God constraineth us Yet it is not meant of using violence to any mans person but such a constraining as Lydia used towards Paul even a perswading or intreating for so saith the Apostle God doth beseech you by us And we pray you in Christs stead c. Again every man is transformed into the same nature of that spirit which bears rule in him They in whom Satan bears sway they partake of his Image and nature and it is as natural yea as delightful unto them even the whole man to obey Satans commands in committing of sinne as to performe any natural actions which are civilly good And is it not then just with God to render to every man according to his workes Q. But Christ is Gods elect and he in whom his soul delighteth and it is said Eph. 1. 10. That he will gather together all things in Christ And Col. 1. 16 17. All things were made by him and for him and by him all things consist and in him dwels all fulnesse Christ shall come forth as a refiner and purifier of silver and shall purifie the sonnes of Levi and purge them as gold c. And the light of Israel shall be for a fire and his holy one for a flame and shall burn up his briars and thorns in one day c. And if any mans work burn he shall suffer losse yet he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire From all which Scriptures it is manifest that Christ will come forth in all men and destroy and consume all sin and wickednesse and unbelief and gather all the good and the believeing part which is himself into himself God is the fountaine from whence all things proceed and into the same fountaine shall all things return God will come forth in consuming fire and separate between the precious and the vile and gather the good into himself and destroy the evill For Christ and the Saints make but one elect and God by electing of Christ elects all that is good and by saving of Christ saves all that is good for he is the chief good and sin is the chief evill and he onely is elected and sin destroyed thus election and salvation meet in one Christ who is the onely elect and relate not to mens persons for how can it be that God should be so unjust as to make man and afterward damne him first to love him and afterward to hate him A. That Christ is the elect of God and he in whom his soul delighteth cannot be denied But how is Christ Gods elect As touching his deity or divine nature so he is the mighty God the everlasting Father who of his rich and infinite grace and love doth elect and choose to salvation Then surely as he did partake of our nature and our flesh so he was Gods elect and as he was thus Gods elect so all the Saints are elected in him he being the first fruits of election in him the whole lump even all the Saints are sanctified to God and so presented by him Christ was elected of God but not that one person or man in whom the God-head did so wonderfully appear and shine forth should be saved But that all the Saints in all ages and in all nations in whom the divine nature or Christ should appear and sh●ne forth according to their several measures should be brought home to

truth which is to be perfected by degrees in this life though not fully untill the life to come Neither is there any outward ordinance or observation that can hold proportion or correspondence with this Spiritual Kingdome it being exalted above all the Hills and infinitely above all significations Now Water-Baptisme can no way shew forth our union with Christ for that is a Spiritual union and Water-Baptisme is a Carnall ordinance and holds no proportion with the former Againe we are not made one with Christ as we are one flesh with him but as we are one Spirit with him Christ by taking our flesh became Immanuel or God one with us in the flesh but now the Lord who is that Spirit takes us into the same Spirit and so we are made one Spirit with him To this very end the glorious God did abase himself and clothed himself with our flesh and took it into union with himself that so by this meanes he might also receive all them that do truely believe in him into union with himself by the same Spirit So that it is not the Baptisme of Water that can ingraft us into Christ or make us one with him But by the Baptisme of the eternall Spirit are all the Saints united to him and partake of the same Divine nature with him And further Water-Baptisme can give us no true fellowship with the Saints for where the Saints have true fellowship one with another they have this fellowship together in Christ So that this fellowship consists not in being of the same opinion or forme one with another But in partaking of the same Spirit are united into one body together in Christ For by one Spirit are we all Baptized into one Body whether we be Jewes or Gentils So that it is not water-baptisme that can give any true fellowship with the Saints but onely a carnall admission into an outward fellowship with men of the same form which may hold for a time and afterward come to nothing Ananias and Saphira may have for a time an outward fellowship with the Apostles and Simon Magus with Phillip and the rest of the Saints in Samaria Q. What say you then of the Lords Supper is not that an Ordinance of Christ to be used now in the time of the Gospel A. That our Saviour Christ did give Bread and Wine unto his Disciples in remembrance of his death which he was now suddenly to accomplish is not denied but that he left it with them as an ordinance to be performed by all believers in the dayes of the Gospel is to be enquired into Our blessed Lord a little before his suffering told his Disciples that he had a great desire to eat one Passeover more with them before his death and being come into the house as they were eating together he tells them plain that one of them should betray him into the hands of the chief Priests and Elders c. and that he was to undergoe great sufferings yea and death also and that all this was no more than what was written of him though they were ignorant of it and that they must now enjoy his company but a very little while for as he came forth from the Father into the world so he must now leave the world and goe to the Father upon this heavy and sad and indeed unexpected newes his poor weak Disciples who looked for better things from their Master at least in their own conceits were so presently filled with sorrow that they knew not what to say much lesse what to doe whereupon our Saviour seeing them take the matter so to heart and knowing that his death was of so great advantage unto them takes occasion to instruct them in the knowledge and ends of the same that as his departure from them was cause of great grief and sorrow unto them so the remembrance of the great benefits which should redound unto them thereby might a little stay and comfort their hearts untill he did appear to them more fully To this end he took bread and brake it saying This is my body which is given for you as if he had said as I break this bread and give it unto you so my body is given and must be broken for you even for your sinnes And taking the cup he saith drink yee all of it for it is the New Testament in my bloud or a signification of the bloud of the New Covenant which is my bloud that must be shed for you and many others also or else yee cannot have remission of sinnes And for a help to their weak faith and comfort in their sad condition he said also unto them doe this in remembrance of me as if he had said I know that for the present you are almost overwhelmed with grief and sorrow because I say such things to you yet let this be a little comfort to you make use of Bread and Wine in-remembrance that my death is of great advantage to you and though I goe away in the flesh yet it shall not be long ere I see you again in the Spirit for I will not leave you comfortlesse but will come to you in the comforter which is the Spirit of truth and then your hearts shall rejoyce and your joy shall no man be able to take from you so that from hence it may appear that this action of Christ and likewise his command was rather to comfort and stay the hearts of his poor sorrowrowfull fainting then Disciples than to be a standing Ordinance for all believers afterwards Q But it is not said in many places in the Acts of the Apostles that this Ordinance was in use even among the Apostles themselves and many other Saints after the Ascension of Christ and sending down of the holy Ghost A. The Apostles indeed are said to break bread and that from house to house but every breaking of bread there spoken of cannot be said to be the Lords Supper for it is said that they did eat their meat with gladnesse and singlenesse of heart whereby it may appear that by breaking of bread in that place is rather meant the Saints mutuall love in receiving and entertaining one another into their houses with feasting and rejoycing than eating the Lords Supper for it is said that the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul neither said any man that the things which he possessed were his own but they had all things common The preaching of the Apostles was of such power and efficacy that it wrought great effects there was none that lacked they that were poor were provided for out of the goods of them that were rich But if by breaking of bread in this or other places be meant the eating the Lords Supper yet it was used as a thing indifferent and of christian liberty rather than a binding Ordinance for the Apostles

any man as he is a man as he is a Jew nor as he is a Gentile as he is rich or as he is poor bond or free but as he is in Christ and Christ in him In this sence the Lord doth accept persons for he accepts of these in Christ and as for others who are not in Christ he regards them not be they Jew or Gentile high or low noble or base he accepts of none but in whom he appeares and manifests himself by Jesus Christ Q. But is not God in all men Is not he one and the same and doth not he infinitely comprehend all things in himself All come from his fulnesse and he dwells in all and every one in his fulnesse for he cannot be divided a piece in one and a piece in another but he is all and in all and to all onely there is not the same manifestations in some he lies hid and in others he shines forth and we are said to be the off spring of God and to live move and have our being in him How then can it be but that all must be saved seeing God is in all and all are in him A. That God doth infinitely comprehend all things in himself and that all things even the whole creation proceeded from his fullnesse is a truth yea that God is in all men in some sence or respect is also granted Man being created in the Image of God was thereby able to act according to God but having by sinne defaced this Image he was now become more like Satan than God And though he had lost all his wisdome and strength to act according to the will of God in things spiritual yet there remained so much of the light of nature in him namely his natural understanding and reason which served him and whereby he was enabled to act in moral and civill things and to leave him without excuse For without understanding and reason he could not be able to glorify God as God in the outward creation Now this natural understanding and reason as it is purely natural so God ownes it as a sparke of his Image but as it is corrupted and defiled with sinne so he disowns it and this is that which doth accuse or excuse When naturall men led on by the light of nature did act according to reason or judgement then their conscience did excuse them But when they acted contrary to reason even from corrupt and carnal principles then their naturall conscience was against them and accused them And this naturall principle hath many names even in Scripture somtimes it is called a knowing of God or a knowledge of God Sometimes mans righteousnesse Rom. 10. 3. And sometimes mans wisdome and the spirit of the World c. And by this spirit or principle of nature God is in all and acts in all rationall men yet in some in a higher and in others in a lower degree For it is by this spirit or principle that all natural and civill men act lawfully in all natural and civil things For there is not any action in the world that is naturally and civilly good but in this respect it is of God Neither can God ly hid in this respect in the most wicked or carnal men For even they many times do act things in themselves that are naturally and civilly good And thus all men may be said to be the off-spring of God not onely because they all came from him as their original but also as they are acted by him through a spirit or principle of nature to walk honestly and civilly in things of outward concernment But now there is a more special and spiritual in-dwelling of God in the Saints namely the eternal in-dwelling of his love in Jesus Christ wherely he hath from all eternity chosen them and made them one with himself in Christ And in due time in their several generations hath manifested and doth manifest and reveal this love which is Christ in their hearts which doth assure them of their adoption and of their union with him And whereby they are carried forth to live up to him yea to live in him being transformed more and more into his own glorious Image even by his spirit dwelling in them Now that God is not thus in all men namely in his love in Jesus Christ is clear both from Scripture and common experience The Apostle in the eighth Chapter of the Romanes and the first Verse layes this down as a firme conclusion That there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus But who are they Such as walk not after the flesh but after the spirit Now to walk after the spirit is to be led forth by the same to mortifie the deeds of the body that henceforth they might not serve sin For Jesus Christ who is in them a law of the Spirit which is a law of Life doth free them first from sinne and then from death But there are some that walk after the flesh and mind or are led onely by a naturall principle and this tends onely to death because this spirit or carnal principle is at enmity against God and neither is nor can be subject or obedient to Christ who is the Law of life or power of God to salvation in all that do believe but is full of self-righteousnesse acting by legall and fleshly performances for life and happiness And being thus earnal in their minds cannot please God because partaking not of Christ or of that spirit wherewith he is annointed they are not nor cannot be any of his But walk in the vanity of their own minds having nothing but darknesse in their understandings and by reason of that ignorance are estranged from the glorious Light and Life of God even Jesus Christ and being hardned by continual custome in sinne become at length insensible and give themselves over unto lasciviousness and wantonness to act all manner of uncleannesse and that with greedinesse But the Saints have better learned Christ for they being annointed with and receiving of his Spirit do therefore mind the things thereof and are led forth thereby into all well pleasing actions Christ who is the Life being risen in their hearts the old man or body of sinne is destroyed mortified and put off by little and little even as he is pleased to manifest himself But the wicked even the children of disobedience or unbeliefe they have no fellowship in Christs Kingdome which is Spiritual nor no inheritance in the Kingdome of God which is in glory eternal though they deceive themselves For the wrath of God cometh and abideth on them And thus it is clear from Scripture that God is not in all men in his love in Jesus Christ for he is where he comes in Christ both Light and Life and where he is thus he acts like himself And