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	father_n	receive_v	8,589	5	5.7408	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B06752	Man's terrene-refuge sleighted: and the excellency of celestiall concernments briefly asserted, / by Ric. Warde Gent. and directed to his worthy friend in a letter.	Ward, Richard, 1601 or 2-1684.	1651 (1651)	Wing W803; ESTC R186250	53,007	162

the Promise which is both infinite and incomprehensible 14. PARAGRAPH THus I have in some measure made it evident how advantageous the day of dissolution is to the Children of God and therefore cannot but wonder how any upon solid grounds can desire a continuance in this valley of tears especially if they consider also the many miseries and inconveniencies that a● incident both to soul and body i● this life and the irreconcileable enmity that is betwixt them in the● Conjunction As the Apostle Paul of serves in his Epistle to the Galation * Gal. 5.17 The flesh lusts against the spirit and 〈◊〉 spirit against the flesh and these 〈◊〉 contrary one to the other so that 〈◊〉 cannot do the things we would such and so many continued jarr●● are betwixt them that they are ev●● prone to exhibit Articles of impeachment against each other The soul it complaines of that Original guilt and corruption which was translated upon humane nature through Adams transgression wherewith it was not tainted nor defiled as it came only from the Immaculate hands of its pure Creator And then again the soul saies had it been single without this earthly Partner it had never had that propension to sin nor that inclination to rebellious actings against the Majesty of Heaven nor that aversnes and indisposition to good Nor had its understanding as to those spiritual things which pertain to God been so eclipsed and benighted at the noon-day of such Glorious Dispensations Nor had it been lyable to such distracting cares and such discomposing passions which bring forth stormes and terrible Tempests that dayly threaten its ruine and destruction These such like complaints hath the soul against the body the spirit against the flesh There is amongst many more another particular which we have just cause to resent with much reluctancy This burden of flesh this house of clay retards our glory and for a time secludes us from our Celestiall Mansion * 2 Co. 5.1 6. For we know saies that Great Apostle that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of GOD an house not made with hands eternall in the Heavens And a little after that saies While we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord from that Lord which inhabites that Celestiall house before mentioned to all eternity O! Of what excellent use it would be if we seriously considered that word ETERNITY It is of that extent that no men nor Angels are able to expresse being so farre beyond the reach of all conception For if all men in the world were exact Arithmeticeans and were imploied all their lives to adde number to number and multiply years the product of all their labours and the total summe of all their Accounts in respect of time would not carry the least proportion to ETERNITY Or if the mighty masse of whole earth were contracted into one heap all that translated into such sand as lies by the sea-shore one single small Bird would remove it all grain by grain before ETERNITY lookes towards an end Having already taken notice of those disadvantages that unavoidably attend us during the time that our souls and bodies are conjoined that is our pilgrimage in this world We have so little cause to keep our desires at a distance from our dissolution especially if we have any comfortable assurance of an interest in heaven that on the contrary we may justly rejoice when that day approaches and the houre drawes nigh wherein we shall be happily freed not onely from the guilt but also which to a good soul is fingular comfort the temptations and occasions of sinne Then shall that interposing veile be either made transparent or drawn quite from our eyes that we may with clearnesse and perspicuity discern the glorious sunshine of God's favour and passe under the tender appellation of dear Children and * Rom. 8.17 if children then heires heires of God and joint-heirs with Christ being freed from the spirit of bondage again to fear and filled with the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father 15. PARAGRAPH ANd that we may be capable of such a Celestiall Estate It concernes us first to be truly humble to harbour a mean esteem of our selves and to set a rich value upon every mercy we receive and let the leat mercy which is more then we deserve be an engagement upon our soules to walke in a more constant course of Holynesse to the Glory o● HIM that is the Author of all ou● good That spirit is far from Christian that stands upon termes with his maker that dare look upon the least blessing with a disdainful aspect or upon the greatest crosse with indignation It is an humble soul and a meek spirit that are highly acceptable to God and where these dwell Grace ever attends them and that in a full measure He that hath a sense of his own unworthynesse and considers sinne as it offends the mercifull God of Heaven lookes upon every exemption from evil as a mighty mercy and every chastisement for sinne as a blessing And if precept will not engage us to be humble we have the most powerful and prevailing example that ever was exposed to imitation and that 's our Saviour Christ with what abundance of humility HE endured all HIS suffering Holy Writ makes plentiful mention Who then would not be willing to tread in his Saviours steps as knowing that it is the surest way to glory He that humbles himself shall undoubtedly be exalted as in the General Epistle of St. James * Jam. 4.10 Humble your selves in the sight of the Lord and HE shall lift you up And again God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble And that which will further conduce to our happinesse is a state of self-resignation He that in the midst of all adverse conditions can cast himselfe into the hands of his God shall not faile to find support and comfort HE best knowes how to dispose of us Natural men in their exigences are prone to make application and have recourse to those which have greater Authority and power then themselves though they have no assurance of relief from them but certainly they have no sense of their own happinesse that will not trust themselves with the Lord who does not only allow but sollicit their relyance on him Witnesse that Text in the Epistle to the Philippians * Phi. 4.6 Be careful saies the spirit of God for nothing but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God There is no affliction can possibly seize on us whereof our heavenly Father takes not strict notice and weighs every dramme thereof in the scale of his Divine Providence which I have before more particularly insisted on which consideration alone is sufficient to preserve our spirits from sinking He that can steadfastly believe needs not fear for he shall have deliverance

he macerates himself through his own distemper the preaching of th● Word the performance of Prayer o● the administration of any Divine Ordinance to him is little available A Lecture to a distracted I had a● most said to a dead man is attended with as much efficacy ‖ Prov. 15.13 For through a vexatious sorrow of hea●● the spirit is broken saies the w●● man and so long as that continu● as it were disjointed and in piec● it 's altogether improbable that should receive an impression of goo● and bring forth fruit proportionably Now herein I would not be ●●staken for it is not a Godly pentential sorrow that I speak of but a petulent vexatious trouble that brings such a discomposure and barrenness with it in respect of Good For by the first it must be confessed that the spirit becomes more maleable and of a more Divine and affable Temper whereby the seed of the Word may take deeper root and produce fruits answerably In this case though the spirit may seem to be broken yet no otherwise then the superficies of the earth is when the Husband-man intends to cast in grain And as that by the influence of seasonable distilling showers is again compacted and consolidated without any prejudice to the crop so a Christians spirit when softned with a pious sorrow through the sunshine of divine dispensations becomes more firmly cemented and more fruitful then ever being then in a better capacity to conform and yield obedience to the Apostles rule in * 2 Pet. 1.5 6 7 8. adding to Faith vertue and to vertue knowledge and to knowledge Temperance and to Temperance Patience and to patience Godlinesse and to Godlinesse brotherly Kindnesse and to brotherly Kindnesse Charity and those in whom these things are and abound shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of Jesus Christ as the Apostle observes Thus having cleared my sense in this partticular I shall wade further towards the discovery of those inconveniences that attend discontent And as I said before it workes an indisposition to Good so it also layes Men open and leaves them lyable to much evil it 's deplorable to think how many through the violence of that passion have wilfully contracted the spanne of their life by an untimely death and made themselves more miserable by their distemper then the Almighty ha● done by crosses Alas how apt ● that destroying enemy of Mankin● Satan who watcheth every o● casion and attends every oportu●ty to advance his kingdome of da●nesse to seize upon a discontent spirit as being then most likely work its overthrow either by aggravation of its misery or some other insinuating suggestions And on the other hand How do those insnaring subtilties and deceitful allurements of the world make it their advantage to encounter a spirit in distraction as then supposing it to have cast off the protection of the meek spirit of patience the best armour against such assaults Nor will a third dangerous enemy the flesh be idle at such a time but fly out into rebellion and leavy war against the Law of the mind and so subject it to the law of sinne Thus we see what a conspiracy of evil Instruments there is to destroy poor souls that are involved in this malady Oh! then what a madnesse is it for contemptible clay to contend with the Potter that can fashion and mould it as he pleaseth Oh! What a senceles thing is it for a man to torment himself and harraze his own soul with the vexatious thoughts of those evils that are beyond all remedy He that spurnnes against pikes of Iron can in reason expect to gain nothing but wounds He that willingly runs against a rock not only dashes the vessel in pieces but loses all the fraught for he that entertaines or gives way to discontent not only torments the body but also casts the soules welfare into extremity of hazard What will not a man do in the midst of this passion He 'le create quarrels with men and sometimes with those of neerest Relation to him without any colour of cause and so both betray his folly and run himself into a guilt of grosse enormities And which is more sad he 'le not stick to quarrel and contend with God himself if any thing be presented contrary to his liking or offer to thwart his humour What an hanious crime was it in that discont ented Prophet so vainly and furiously to contest with his Maker about such a trivial thing as a withered Gourd And it could not but afflict good Jacob more then the sterility of his wife to hear her queratously cry out ‖ Gen. 30.1 Give me children or else I die as though Providence were confined either to grant her desire or accomplish her ruine The latter is often true if the first be inordinately sought after or unseasonably sued for and this is very observeable that those who are excessively given up to the bent of their own wills When they see it disproportionable to the Will of the most High do not only meet with grievous Troubles from within themselves but for the most part heavy Judgements from God and thus it was with the murmuring and repining Israelites who because they had not every thing they desired esteemed slightly of what they had and because they were not exactly humoured became wilfully ingrateful and therefore were justly pursued with multiplyed judgements What a detestable humour was that in Ahab who within the confines of all Israel could not sind matter enough to feed his hungry desire nor satisfy his discontented craving mind unlesse he might enjoy Naboths poor Vineyard What an high contempt of the Almighties Munificence and bounty was this that he could not content himselfe with a Kingdome but labour with so much vehemency to gratifie his corrupt pleasure with such an inconsiderable trifle And to proceed yet further discontent is the mother of disorder it devides and subdevides not onely the senses but the faculties and sets them at an irreconcileable distance and enmity one with another and through this fewd and opposition they debilitate and weaken each other whereby that naturall and inherent life and vigour whence there should proceed lively and perfect Issues being thus decayed produceth little but obliquities and effect of decrepit nature Moreover he that is perplext i● mind seldome acts any thing that either pleaseth himself or another those actions and carriages that ●● late to his own particular are for the most part looked upon with an evil eye as carrying along with them direful troubles doubts and disquieting Molestations and so being discomposed and out of frame it cannot be expected that those actings which refer to others should be any waies proportioned to their desires or suited to their pleasures But alas this is not the worst although bad enough to be opposed both to ones own and others advantage for he that discontentedly troubles himself for outward things either in respect of their miscarryage