Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	apostle_n	zeal_n	zealous_a	88	3	9.4994	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59599	Adam Abel, or, Vain man a discourse fitted for funeral occasions, but serviceable to men in all ages and conditions of life to make them humble and heavenly-minded / by Samuel Shaw ...	Shaw, Samuel, 1635-1696.	1692 (1692)	Wing S3034; ESTC R9572	39,662	130

the false Heart itself will not be convinc'd of them And as for Idolatry though the foreign Reformed Churches do all put it off from themselves to the Heathen and Antichristian Nations yet I fear concerning some of them one may take up Samuel's words to Saul If ye have indeed destroyed Idolatry utterly what means this bleating of the sheep and lowing of the oxen which I hear If any one should answer as Saul did we have reserved these innocent safe and significant Ceremonies to sacrifice to the Lord to adorn and grace the Worship of God it will perhaps be replied as Samuel replies Obedience is better than Sacrifice or as another Prophet expresses it Quis ne quisivit hoec I answer further What man is there upon Earth in whom these Sins are not found in some degree or other And so far as they are found they do pollute the Worship and subject it to the denomination of Vanity But I answer thirdly That the word Tselem in the Text does not signifie a vain shew properly but a shew a resemblance a representation or image in opposition to substantial as the Picture which we see in a Looking glass is the representation or resemblance of the Face that looks into it And so every man without exception may be said to walk betselem in imagine in a shew as to his religious acts which I shall further explain under the next Head viz. his inward religious acts The internal actings of Grace are but a shew a resemblance of some such thing in comparison of what they were in Man innocent or shall be in Man glorified The inward pious acts of our Minds do make us approach the nearest to Substance of any thing that we have or do For as a man thinketh in his heart saith Solomon so is he If any thing will denominate a man a substantial Christian it is these inward Acts of the Mind the Acts of Faith Hope and Love the Acts of Self-denial and Contempt of the World and of the whole Creation in comparison of the Creator And yet even these are but a shew a resemblance of something rather than any thing substantial The Love that the most affectionate devout and refined Soul exercises towards GOD in this mixt state is but a shadow a resemblance of Love in comparison of the Ardours of another World I love thee said Peter I love thee yea Lord thou knowest that I love thee John 21. 15 16 17. Poor Peter I believe in a degree he did love him yet I believe he was grieved that he could love him no better Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soul with all thy mind with all thy strength Mark 12. 30. This is the first and great Commandment a great one in deed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And who is able to perform it How many All 's are here All and All and All and All. Lord what mortal man can with any Modesty pretend to such a generous Love as this is Every man that has his Senses exercised to discern between Good and Evil will confess that this Command is just equal and reasonable yea and very pleasant too for what is what can be sweeter than a Life of Love But yet the most devout the most amorous and ardent Soul that this day inhabits a mortal Body must needs confess his Straitness and bewail his Unaffectionateness and though he may seem to be drench'd in this holy Passion yet has cause to pray Lord shed abroad the Love of God in me Perfect love says the loving and beloved Apostle casts out fear 1 John 4. 18. Alas Where is this perfect Love then for Fear yea some degree of slavish Fear is found in every Heart of Man yea though he love GOD sincerely and ardently too yet he is apt to fear he does not love him enough The hottest of our Love is cold the strongest is weak and faint in comparison of what Adam's once was and Abraham's now is We call it Love indeed but it is rather Liking than Love rather hankering than either It is but a going Fire a Glow-worm at best but a Blaze or a Blazing-Star in comparison of the Fervors the Delights the Complacencies of the Spirits of Just men made perfect The greatest zeal of mortal Man for GOD which yet is the Flower of Love is in comparison of the angelical Ferver but as a Fire painted upon the Wall in comparison of that which burneth upon the Hearth The Apostle Paul was as zealous for his Lord and did and suffer'd as much for him as any of his Disciples whatsoever so that in nothing was he behind the chiefest Apostles yet he esteemed himself as nothing which is not so much as a shew 2 Cor. 12. 11. How weak and tottering is the Trust and Confidence in GOD which the most steddy Soul can pretend to in this World in comparison of the unmixt and unshaken Affiance in him which constitutes the Joy and Security of the other World The three unmartyr'd Martyrs in Dan. 3. are renowned for their Faith and firm Dependance upon their GOD ver 17. He will deliver us out of thy hands O King This was their Confidence in GOD but it had its If for all that ver 18. But if not be it known to thee O King c. But the Affiances and Assurances of the other World are above all Buts and Ifs The stoutest of our Confidence here is but a shadow of that Confidence which shall have no shadow of turning What fear of miscarrying can there possibly be to him who perpetually walks in the light of God's Countenance what Danger what Suspicion can there be of being pluckt from thence to a Soul folded in the Arms and wrapt up in the Bosom of the Almighty And what is our Hope in this mortal state A poor languid thing a faint Velerity a dull yawning rather than a greedy gasping a lifeless stretching forth the Hands towards rather than an eager laying hold upon Eternal Life It ought to be an earnest and vehement Longing and alas it scarce amounts to a sincere Desire or Expectation And what are our Acts of Self-denial in comparison of the exinanition of the glorified Saints who cast down their Crowns before the Throne Rev. 4. 10. What is our Contempt of the World in comparison of that Disdain with which refined and glorified Souls behold all earthly Possessions eying and enjoying all things in GOD alone Alas what mortal man can oculo irritorto spectare acervos with an Eye altogether undazzled or with a Heart altogether unaffected and disengaged contemplate the Bravery and Grandeur the precious and glistering Possessions of this World whether his own or other mens perfectly free from Enchantment I mean who can do it and neither dote nor envy But they that are got above the Sun and look down with the Eyes of Angels do see all things under the Sun to be a contemptible Vanity a sore