Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	appoint_v	joy_n	zion_n	146	3	8.7487	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A03611	The soules preparation for Christ. Or, A treatise of contrition Wherein is discovered how God breaks the heart and wounds the soule, in the conversion of a sinner to Himselfe.	Hooker, Thomas, 1586-1647.	1632 (1632)	STC 13735; ESTC S120676	151,498	275

now he sees what it is to depart from a blessed and a pure God O then he will be drunke and uncleane and malitious no more because the heart is weary of it and is content to part with it From hence I reason thus true drawing is ever accompanied with true beleeving but this sense of sinne in regard of the punishment of it is not alwaies accompanied with true beleeving but a man must see his sinne further in the vilenes of it and in the abomination of it and then he shall undoubtedly beleeve The streame of the whole Scripture runnes this way as that in Matthew Come to me all y●● that are weary and heavy laden and I will ease you and this is that which Esay saith The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach glad tidings to the meeke he hath sent me to binde up the broken hearted to proclaime liberty to the captives the opening of the prison to them that are bound to proclaime the acceptable day of the Lord and to comfort them that mourne Nay the garment of gladnesse is fitted only for the broken hearted as in the third verse of that chapter To appoint unto them that mourne in Sion to give unto them beauty for ashes and the oyle of joy for mourning and the garment of praise for the spirit of heavinesse Nay the promises of largest extent in Scripture doe either expresly belong unto such as a●● broken in heart or else they doe imply so much that a man must be so before ever God can or will accept of him As in the Revelations Hoe every one that will let him come freely and take of the water of the well of life and live for ever So then some may say Object though a man were not broken hearted yet if he will take this water of life he shall live for ever Answ. Nay but except he be broken hearted and humbled he will never take it as a man must have grace so he must will the water of life now to will the water of life is this to choose grace as the chiefest good and to prize grace more then any thing else in the world and to esteeme the Lord Jesus and his grace truly pretio●s A man is said to chuse a woman when he is content to part with all for her and to have her for her grace sake so a man must part with sinne and himselfe and whatsoever is deare to him that he may haue grace now he will not part with sinne unlesse he be weary and burthened with it and therefore this wearying implyes the burthening of the heart with sinne thus much for the proofe of Scripture Now to adde some ●easons that may compell our Judgements to yeeld to this truth and they are taken First from the qualification of mans heart naturally and secondly from what he must be before he can receive Christ. I will discover my thoughts in foure conclusions and thus I reason It is a confest case I conceive that every man by nature doth entertaine sinne as his God and seekes and loves that most of all himselfe and his sinne is his God In this case it is his chiefest good and the heart will not nay it cannot be content to part with it What is the cause that we propound Christ and grace and salvation to a company of poore simple creatures and yet the counsells the promises and commandements of God prevaile not with the heart of them nor awe them but still they will have their sinnes and the offer of Christ and grace lies in the dust the adulterer will have his queans and the drunkard will have his cups they will not suffer the word to plucke away their corruptions but they will have them though they be damned for them what doth this argue but that sinne is their God Nay it is cleare not only in palpable reason but the Scripture is evident this way It is the match Christ offers to the young man if he would sell all and follow him he should have treasure in heaven he was covetous and this was fayre offer for a little trash he should have everlasting life now the text saith he went away sorrowfull he would rather have his covetousnes and his wealth then heaven The second conclusion is this there cannot be two Gods in one heart two Kings in one throne nor two Suns in one firmament you cannot have Christ and yet be an underling to sinne will Christ be a Physitian to heale you that you may have your sinnes still No our Saviour is plaine to the contrary you cannot serve God and Mammon If the adulterer will have his queanes then he must forsake the Lord and if he will not part with his lust nor have his heart circumcised nor broken then he must goe downe whole to hell as the Prophet said Why halt you between two opinions if God be God serve him God will bochiefe in the soule It is not possible to have heaven and hell together it is impossible for a man looke up to heaven steadfastly with both his eyes downe to the earth both at one time Thirdly you must of necessity cast off the yoak of corruption and rebell against that you must have your first god pride and malice and the like to be unthroned before the Lord Christ wil set up his scepter and before he can be welcome to your soules you must have your hearts divorced from your first husbands from sinne and all those abominations which you have loved and hugged as your life if ever you would have Christ make a match with you and take possession of your soules as the Lord saith Thou shalt ●e as a widdow and fit for me and as the originall hath it Thou shalt be separate from all and fit thy selfe for me and then I will mar●y thee to my selfe in righteousnesse Lastly the soule will not 〈◊〉 with his corruption and lust which are his god unlesse he be wearied with them and finde the gall and bitternesse of their evill nature I say till then it is impossible that ever the soule should be separate from that sinne wherein it hath found such contentment therefore it is of necessity that they be parted but before the soule seeth the venom of sinne it will not part with it and so he cannot come to receive the Lord Jesus Christ and hence it is that the Lord in his infinite wisedome is thus not only willing to doe for a poore sinner but to force him to it for there is such love and liking to sinne that if you pull away the adulterers queanes and the drunkards pots you had as good kill them and they begin to say It was well with the towne before the minister came there the reason is because he would have his sinne Now the Lord is pleased to lay a heavy weight upon the ●oule and to force the burthen

punishable by the Law of man were abominable and God was incensed against them but what will every wicked thought sinke the soule into hell unlesse God pardon it and is God so just and so severe and will he punish all sinners and must I answere for all my petty oathes If I shall be condemned for my words and thoughts it is a strange thing well I will inquire further of the matter it is marvelous hard if it be true Many a man hath beene thus and goeth no further for the present Well then Secondly he resolves to heare the minister againe and he fals to reading and conferring with others to try if it be so as the minister before revealed unto him and commonly he goeth to heare the same minister againe and by this meanes what with hearing and reading conferring he seeth the thing he doubted of is too certaine and that the thing be questioned before is without all doubt the Law is just the word is plaine if God be true this is true The wages of sinne is death Yea of every sinful thought and He that beleeveth not is condemned already so that now the sinner beginnes to consider that the condemnation threatned sleepes not and that God hath him in chase and that punishment that God threatens shall be executed upon him sooner or latter thus the soule from a generall amazement comes to see that it is so and by this meanes he is surprised with a sudden feare of spirit in expectation and suspition of what is discovered left God should lay it upon him in so much that the soule saith What if God should damne me God may doe it and what if God should execute his vengeance upon me the soule feareth that the evill discovered will fall upon him the nature of his feare is this he knoweth there is cause of feare and he cannot beare the evill when it is come He saith I am a sinfull wretch and God may damne me for ought I know and what if God should damne me this is the reason of those phrases of Scripture Wee have not received the spirit of bondage to feare againe the spirit that shewes our bondage and thence comes this feare Hence it is that the Apostle saith to Timothy God hath not given us the spirit of feare That is the spirit of bondage that workes feare therefore the Lord saith by Moses Thy life shall hang in doubt before thee and thou shalt feare day and night thou shalt have no assurance of thy life It is with a soule in this feare as it was with Belshazzar when he commanded the cups to be brought out of the house of the Lord that he and his nobles and his concubines might quaffe in them brave against the God of Israel then came a hand writing against him on the wall and when he saw it his thoughts troubled him and his face beganne to gather palenesse and his knees knocked one against another as if he should say surely there is some strange evill appointed for me and with that his heart began to tremble and shake Just so it is with this feare he that runnes ryot in the way of wickednesse aud thinkes to despise Gods Spirit to hate the Lord Almighty and to resist the work of his grace and saith within himselfe Let us goe heare the minister that we may cavill at him and persecute him Now it may be there comes this feare and hand-writing against him and who knowes but that it may be thus with thee whosoever thou art for this is a note of the child of the devill to hate Gods servants and ministers Now when a wicked man heares this he saith the word of God was profestly spoken against him and these are my sinnes and these are the Judgements and plagues threatned against them and therefore why may not I be damned and why may I not be plagued and thus his heart is full of feare he begins to reason with himselfe what is this the nature of sinne and are these the Judgmēts of God denounced against sinfull creatures why then what if God should lay these Judgemēts upon my soule and who knoweth but God will doe so to me this day plucke me out of the land of the living I am sure my sinnes are such and Gods Judgements are such threatned against them and therefore why may not this be and when he goeth to bed he reasoneth thus what if I never rise more and when he goeth from home what if I never returne more and God may take me with my meate in my mouth and cast me downe into hell fire for ever The soule being in this estate and the heart being thus pestered and plagued with the feare of Gods wrath that followeth a man like a Jailor he is hindred still that he cannot sinne so freely but still the wrath of God pursueth him and saith Do you not feare that God may take you away in the act of sinning and in the middest of your chambring and wantonnesse The heart being thus pestered with this feare it is not able to endure it he labours to drive away this trouble and dread from his mind and still he thinkes God is against him and he heares some behind him saying Thou must come to Judgement and be plagued Now the soule labours to drinke away and play away this Sorrow Another man haply that was a prodigall before riseth now early and will be exceedingly busied about his occasiōs all the day long that these things may take up his mind the reason is there lyeth something at the heart and he cannot tell which way to drive away his feare but he labours all in vaine For this is to make up walls with untempered morter which will presently fall downe it is as much as a man should labour to ease himself of sinne by sinning to give a man cold drinke in a hot burning feaver Thirdly in the third place the Lord pursueth the soule and when the heart cannot be rid of this feare the Lord beginnes to let fly against the soule of a sinner and discharges that evill upon him which was formerly feared and affliction enters into the heart The nature of feare is to feare an evill to come now the Lord makes the soule to see that it is not only great drunkards adulterers that are threatned but every sinfull thought and idle word The soule would faine have driven away this feare but the Lord will not let him but saith these curses shall kindle upon thee and shall continue for ever to thy perdition And hence comes this sorrow the Lord lets in some veine of his vengeance and some secret displeasure of his and makes sinne to stabbe the soule and then the curse lyeth upon him and the Lord as it were kindles the fire of his wrath upon him really and makes him see this is that which he feared Now his conscience is all on a flame within him and