Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	adoption_n	bondage_n	receive_v	7,913	5	6.1101	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A77358	The vvorks of William Bridge, sometime fellow of Emmanuel Colledge in Cambridge, now preacher of the Word of God at Yarmouth. The third volumn. [sic] Viz. 1. The spiritual life, and in-being of Christ in all believers. 2. The woman of Canaan.	Bridge, William, 1600?-1670.; Greenhill, William, 1591-1671.	1649 (1649)	Wing B4447; Thomason E471_2; ESTC R205749; ESTC R24233	115,073	169

you by instances thus If the Lord Jesus Christ have a greater hand and stroke in our Conversion in our Performance of Duties in our Obedience in the grace of our Sufferings in our Assurance than we or Beleevers have themselves then certainly this part of the Doctrine must stand cleer and firm First As for our Conversion Ye know what our Savior saies None comes unto the Son but whom the Father draws Mat. 10.22 and none knows the Father but he unto whom the Son reveals him Convert me saith the turning soul and I shall be converted As for our Performances or Duties Prayer or whatever it is Look into the 8. Chapter to the Romans and the 26. vers Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities But how doth this prove that the Spirit hath a greater hand and stroke in our Prayers than our selves have Mark what follows For we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered As for the matter of our Obedience You know what the Apostle saith both unto the Romans and unto the Galatians That we are led by the Spirit Beleevers are led by the Spirit Plus est agi quam regi He doth not say We are ruled by the Spirit but he saith a Beleever is led by the Spirit not ruled but led It is more to be led than to be ruled for when a man is ruled by another he acts himself and his own actions are seen but when a man is led and carried away by another though he may act himself the others action is more seen than his We saith he are led by the Spirit As for our grace in Suffering the deportment and demeanour of a gracious soul in the time of Suffering See what our Savior Christ saies for that in the 10. of Matthew the 19. and 20. verses But when they deliver you up take no thought how or what you shall speak for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak For it is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you So that he hath a greater stroke in the grace and carriage of a soul under his sufferings than himself hath As for the matter of our Assurance You know also what the Apostle Paul saith in that same 8. of the Romans Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again unto fear but ye have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father the Spirit it self bearing witness with our spirits that we are the children of God So that now all these Five things are clear And if the Spirit and Christ in a Beleever the Spirit of Christ have a greater stroke in a mans Conversion in his Performance in his Obedience in the grace of his Suffering and in his Assurance than himself hath then surely the Lord Jesus Christ hath a greater hand and stroke in the spiritual actions of Beleevers than themselves have now that is proved Reas To give you one Reason for it If a Beleever had a greater hand and stroke in his Spiritual actions then the Spirit of Christ then had he wherein to boast for he might say thus I have now been at Duty I confess I have had some help from Christ and from the Spirit but I had the greatest hand and stroke therein my self and therefore why should I not boast I have been now at Prayer and though I have had some help from the Spirit in Prayer yet I had the greatest hand and stroke therein my self therefore why should I not boast But saith the Apostle boasting is excluded Surely therefore the Lord Jesus Christ doth so live in a Christian as that he hath a greater hand and stroke in all the actions of his spiritual life than a Christian or a Beleever hath himself so that he may say truly I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me Object If this be true surely there are few Beleevers in the world how few are there in whom Christ lives thus I fear upon this account will some poor soul say that I have no faith in jesus Christ I thought once that I had faith in Christ and that I was a Beleever but I do not find Christ living in me thus that the Lord Jesus hath a greater hand and stroke in all my Duties than my self and therefore I fear that I never yet had faith are there not few Beleevers in the world upon this account Answ I grant it there are few Beleevers in the world few that have faith few in whom Christ lives thus But that this Doctrine may not be a stone of stumbling to any weak Christian First You must know this That it is with Christ in us living in us as it was with Christ without us living without us When the Lord Christ came into the world and lived here on earth lived without us he lived a conflicting life a life under Temptations and freedom from those Temptations Desertions and freedom from those Desertions his life here on earth was a hidden life a vailed life He came unto his own and his own received him not Joh. 1.11 and knew him not his own would not say Now our Lord Christ is among us So when Christ comes into the soul by his Spirit when he lives there he lives a conflicting life he hath his Temptations there and his freedom from those Temptations he hath his Desertions there and his freedom from those Desertions he liveth a hidden life there a vailed life there he comes to his own and many times the soul that is his own doth not receive him in a way of comfort is not able to say Christ liveth in me But who ever you are that make this Objection or lie under this Fear give me leave to propound Four or Five Questions to you First What is that in you that doth ordinarily sway the great actions of your lives When the Lord Christ comes into the soul he comes as a King presently ascendeth the Throne and takes hold of the Scepter interests himself in all that that doth sway the soul and swaies the actions of the soul now what is it that doth sway a mans actions Finis action is domin us et reginae est The end swaies the action And look what that is that doth sway your End that is it which liveth in you if Self swaieth your End Self liveth in you if Christ sway your End Christ liveth in you Now soul take all the actions of thy life since thou hast set thy face towards heaven and as for the great turnings of your life and the great actions Hath not Christ been at the end of them Secondly Do not you find a secret kind of disposition unto all the Commandements of the Gospel Where the Spirit is there Christ liveth When the Lord makes a Covenant of grace you shall observe he promiseth that he will give his Spirit and

By this justification I mean That act of Gods grace wherby through the imputation of our sins to Christ and Christs righteousness unto us God the father doth pronounce us righteous in his sight This is justification And this is done by the Righteousness and the Blood of Christ only as the Material and Meritorious cause 'T is done only by Faith as the Instrumental cause so we are said to be justified by Faith alone Yet not so as that a man is justified by faith which hath no works for all justifying faith is full of works but these works do not come into our justification As now a mans servants they have him to bed Servants have their Master and Mistris to bed tend upon them to bed but they do not go into the bed with them They are with them again in the morning they bring them water and necessary things but they do not come to bed to them Now saies Luther Justification is that bed where Christ and a Beleeving soul lies though good works Duties and Prayers tend upon Christ and where ever there is faith there are these yet this bed of Justification is kept free and entire and only for the Righteousness of Jesus Christ and they come not to bed they come not into this work Or if you will thus Ye know that when an Israelite was stung in the wilderness by a fiery biting serpent he was then to look upon the Brasen serpent and by the beholding of the Brasen-serpent he was cured the looking of his eyes cured him He had other members there was the Arms and the Legs and other members that did accompany the Eyes but though there were other members that did accompany the Eyes it was the seeing of the Eyes that did cure the person And so though works do accompany faith and there is no saving justifying faith but works accompany it yet it is only the beholding of this Brasen-serpent by the eye of faith that does cure the soul as to the point of Justification When Abraham went up into the mountain to offer up his son he spake to his servants to stay below Gen. 22.5 Stay you here till I come again at the foot and the bottom of this hill and so they did Servants he had but they stayed below And so when a man goes up into this hil of justification this high mountain he takes only his faith with him and he sayes unto all his works and unto all his duties stay you below at the bottom of the hil and there they attend So that faith justifying faith though it hath alwaies works yet they come not into this matter of Justification 'T is Faith alone that justifies This by way of Explication Quest 2 But Secondly You will say How may it appear now that this free-justification of a poor sinner by Faith alone is the original of all our Holiness and Spiritual life Answ 1 Thus it appears by contraries Contraries have contrary Consequences If the Law and Justification thereby be no friend but a real enemy unto all our Grace and Holinesse then Justification by faith alone is a friend to it But now take the Law and you shall find that justification thereby is no friend but a real enemy unto all our Holiness and the power of godliness What greater enemies had the world ever to the power of godliness than the Jews were and they sought to establish their own Righteousness and to be justified by the Law And now a dayes What more bitter more fel enemy unto the power of godliness than a Moral Civil man Why Because though he do not understand himself yet he doth secretly seek his acceptance with God by his own doing and good meaning A man can never live to God that lives in himself So long as a man seeks Justification by his own doing working he lives in himself Therefore saies the Apostle Phil. 3.9 I desire not to be found in mine own righteousness to be found in it Hope is the Spring of action The Plow-man plowes in hope he sows in hope Hope is the Spring of action Now if a man seeks to be justified by the Law or the works of the Law there is no hope for all works are imperfect and if no hope saies the soul why should I work as good never a whit as never the better That cannot be the Principle of our grace and holiness which can neither Convert a man nor mortifie his sins nor quicken one to what is good nor comfort or free him from temptation Now I pray What is it that Converts a soul to Christ is it the Law or the preaching of the Law Nay Joh. 16.9 saies our Savior I will send the Comforter and he shall convince the world of sin But where do I receive the Spirit Saies the Apostle in the next chapter the 3. of the Galatians O ye foolish Galatians this would I know of ye Received ye the Spirit by the preaching of the Law or by the hearing of Faith Not by the preaching of the Law And as for Mortification of sin Can the Law do that Nay saies the Apostle in the 8. of the Romans The Law is weak What the Law could not do being weak God sent his own Son to condemn sin in the flesh So that the Law cannot mortifie sin the Law cannot do it And as for our Quickening unto what is good Can the Law do that Nay saies the Apostle The Law is a dead letter and the Law is the ministration of death And can that which is a dead letter and the ministraction of death quicken us unto what is good certainly it cannot And as for our Temptations and freedom from them Does the Law do that Ye know the Apostle triumphs Rom. 8.33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect And who shall lay any thing to may charge shall the Anger and Wrath of God shall Satan or mine own Conscience I will not be much afflicted saies he why for It is God that justifies He does not say for it is Moses that justifies but 't is Christ that died and God justifies not Moses Sampson ye know found honey-combs in the body of the dead lyon not in hives at home or trees abroad but he found honey-combs in the body of the dead lyon So does a poor tempted soul find all the honey-combs of comfort in the body of the dead Lyon of the tribe of Judah not in his own hive I have read of a certain man that was much in prayer fasting and reading and the Devil came to him and told him Friend Why doest thou Pray so much and Reade so much and Fast so much 't is all to n purpose for thou shalt go to Hell at the last thou shalt never go to Heaven Saies he As for that I leave that to God it is not my Question whether I shall go to Heaven or Hell but my Question is How shall I serve God

from one Scripture turn ye both to the 17. of John the last vers Saies our Lord and Savior Christ praying unto his father And I have declared unto them thy Name and will declare it that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them I in them Mind the words Here are these Three things observable in them First of all Here ye have this Doctrine that I have been speaking of all this while Christ in each beleever I in them Secondly That God the Father does love a Beleever though not so much as Christ yet with the same love that he loveth Christ That the love wherewith thou hast loved me way be in them and I in them Thirdly That the way to procure this love and this In-being is To have the Name of God declared And I have declared unto them thy Name and I will declare it Why that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them So then the way for to get this In-being is to have the Name of God declared unto poor souls What is this Name the Name of God the Father that Christ declares It was the Love of God his Free-grace and Love Saies Christ Joh. 3.16 God so loved the world c. and stil Christ preach'd the love of God to poor lost man This was the Name of God that is declared Now then do any of your souls complain That you want this In-being of Christ in you or that you have not room in your souls to entertain such a guest Observe where this Name of God is declared and manifested this Free love of God is manifested and declared and there set thy soul under the spout under the declaration under the manifestation of the Name of God and look upon it as if Christ were there preaching and declaring the Name of God to thy soul and there Christ shall come in unto thee and there thy poor narrowed and straitned soul shal be enlarged and made more capacious for Jesus Christ Wherefore I beseech you then receive this Word of Exhortation and let every soul go unto Jesus Christ and say to this purpose Lord Jesus Thy work is to declare the Name of the Father to poor sinners that so thou maiest be in them now O Lord I am a poor sinner Lord declare the Name of the Father to me Lord declare the Name of the Father to me I have a straitned heart I have not room enough for thee in my soul Oh! that it were enlarged for thee now therefore declare this Name of thy Father to me that so the love wherewith thy Father hath loved thee may be in me and I in thee also Thus I say go unto Jesus Christ And study study much this In-being of Christ in your souls you that have it not labor to get it and you that have this In-being labor to be thankful for it improve it and get your souls more and more enlarged under it SERMON V. Preached at Christs-Church Aug. 25. 1648. GALATIANS 2. part of the 20. vers Nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me I Intend at this time to speak on these words But Christ liveth in me Wherein ye have these Three things First The In-being of Christ in a Beleever Christ in me Secondly The Efficacy of this In-being Christ Liveth in me Thirdly The Constancy thereof he doth not stay for a night or two but he Liveth or Abideth in me Accordingly there are Three Notes or Observations First Christ is in each Beleever Christ is in every Christian For when he saies I live yet not I he personates a Beleever all along speaks not in his own person but in the person of a Beleever one Justified by Faith alone Secondly That Christ liveth in all Beleevers Christ liveth in me Thirdly That Christ liveth more in Beleevers than themselves do I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me Christ hath a greater hand and stroke in the Spiritual actions of beleevers than themselves have I have spoken of the former of these in another place and now I will speak unto the other and therefore I shall put them both together in one Doctrine or Observation thus Doct. Christ doth so live in a Beleever that he hath a greater hand and stroke in the Spiritual actions of a Beleever than a Beleever himself hath Christ lives in a Beleever more than himself as to his Spiritual actions For the opening and clearing of this Truth First I shall labor to shew you that Christ liveth in each Beleever Secondly That he hath a greater hand and stroke in the actions of his Spiritual life then a Beleever hath himself First That Christ liveth in each Beleever A man liveth where he worketh and staieth or abideth A man doth not live where he lieth he may come and stay for a day or two and yet not be said to live there but where a man works and staies or abides there he lives Now both these ye shall find Christ doth the first in that known place the 7. of John 38. verse He that beleeveth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water This spake he of the Spirit which they that beleeve on him should receive Where the Spirit of Christ is there is Christ And this is a promise made to all Beleevers more or lesse to be fulfilled unto them Out of their bellies shall flow rivers of living water Which is to be understood of the Spirit So that the Spirit of Christ shall be in them and be working in them And as for the other you know what is said in that 14. of John and the 23. verse Saith our Savior there If any man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him It 's the same word that is used before for Mansions In my fathers house are many Mansions verse 2. We will come and take up our Mansions with him And this was so received a Principle in the Apostles time that he saies to the Corinthians in the 1 Epistle 3. chapter 16. verse Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you But if you look into the 8. chapter of the Romans you shall see all proved together verse the 10 11. And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you Here are Three or Four things observable First That Christ in you and the Spirit in you is all one And therefore having said in the 10. ver If Christ be in you at the 11. verse he saies If the Spirit of him that raised