Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	bear_v	enter_v	kingdom_n	5,396	5	6.1932	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61301	The love of God to all mankind in the glorious work of their redemption by Jesus Christ, asserted and vindicated. With a plain and sober discussion of those controversies which are the constant concomitants of it, viz. election and reprobation, God's foreknowledg, his nature, attributes, and decrees; the sufficiency of means vouchsafed to all men to believe; the use of the law to believers under the gospel. Also concerning original sin, freewill, and falling from grace. All fitted to the meanest capacity, in a way of dialogue, by Zachary Stanton.	Stanton, Zachary.	1700 (1700)	Wing S5251A; ESTC R219675	159,700	342

to walk by 't is far more safe to leave them to the Lord who will not gather where he hath not strewed than thus to censure them for where much is given much is required Mr. Baxter tells us More proof pag. 95. That as the Jews had by Promises Prophecies and Types more means to know God than other Nations so they were answerably obliged to more Knowledg and Faith than other Nations were that had not or could not have their means Yea Mr. Calvin in his Epistle to the French New Testament as quoted by Mr. Goodwin says After Adam was left in such confusion he was fruitful in his cursed Seed to bring forth a Generation like to himself vicious perverse void and destitute of all Good and abounding in Evil nevertheless the Lord of his Mercy who doth not only love but is himself Love and Charity being yet willing by his infinite Goodness to love that which is not worthy of Love hath not altogether lost and overwhelmed Men as their Sins did require but hath supported them in Sweetness and Patience giving them time and leasure to return to him and set themselves to that Obedience from which they had strayed and tho he did suffer them to go after the desires and wishes of their own Hearts without Law without Government without any correction by his Word yet he hath given them warning enough which might have incited them to seek taste and find him to know and honour him as it behoveth them for he hath lifted up every where and in all places and things his Ensign and Arms that there were none could pretend ignorance of the knowledg of so Sovereign a Lord for that in all parts of the World in Heaven and in Earth he hath written and engraven the Glory of his Might Goodness Wisdom and Eternity St. Paul therefore saith true That the Lord never left himself without Witness even towards those to whom he hath not sent the Knowledg of his Word forasmuch as all Creatures might be Witnesses and Messengers of his Glory unto all Men to draw them to seek him and having found him to welcome him and do him Homage according to the Dignity of a Lord so Good so Powerful so Wise and Eternal and also did help each other in its place to this Guest for the Birds singing sung God Beasts cried aloud to him the Elements stood in fear of him Mountains reasoned with him Rivers and Fountains cast their Eyes upon him Herbs and Flowers smiled upon him altho indeed there was no necessity to seek him very far by reason that each one might find him in his own self being that we are all kept up and preserved by his Virtue dwelling in us in the mean while for to manifest more amply his Goodness and Infinite Clemency among Men he hath not contented himself to instruct them all by such Documents as we have exprest but hath especially given to understand his Voice to a certain People Surely here Mr. Calvin hath acknowledged that God hath vouchsafed sufficient Means to all whereby to come to the knowledg of him and consequently to repent and believe in him Philet But without Christ and a Work of Grace upon the Heart and Faith in him none can be saved doth not our Saviour tell Nicodemus John 3. 5. Except a Man be born again of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God That is he cannot be saved Philad Do you think our Saviour did there mean the Kingdom of Glory Philet Yea doubtless Philad I rather think that Christ spoke it of the Kingdom of Grace or the Visible Church of Christ that none could not or at least wise ought not come into it without Regeneration and holy Baptism yet may a Person be a Member of the Universal Church yea and be received a Member of the Triumphant Church in Heaven that may not be a Member of the Visible Church of Christ here on Earth for there are two sorts of Persons that cannot in an ordinary way be regenerated and born again which yet may and shall go to Heaven to wit Children and Idiots So tho it is a truth that without Jesus Christ there can be no Salvation yet if there is no Salvation without believing on the Name of the Lord Jesus what then will become of these and all dying Infants who neither have Faith nor are regenerated and yet they shall have Salvation by him Now as God hath one way to bring Persons of Age to Heaven and another way to bring infants why may not those that never had the means to know the Mediator particularly and distinctly have Salvation by him Infants and those many millions of Heathens in some remote parts of the Earth to whom the Gospel was never preached must unavoidablely and eternally perish if God hath provided no other means of Salvation by Christ than such a way of preaching it as is vouchsafed to us We know that the Judgment of God will be according to Equity he knows what he hath laid down what he hath given and what to require and how to reward every Man according to his Works and his Mercys are infinitely extended over all his Works and he is not so severe as to exact more than frail Man is able to perform but according to what light and knowledg he hath given him and whosoever worship God and do his Will according to the manifestation which he hath given them of his Will shall be accepted of him Acts 10. 34 35. He that improves one Talent well shall be accepted as well as he that improves five for surely the Almighty will never require any more of a Man than he hath given him therefore I believe that all those that are obedient to that Light or Law which the Lord hath given them endeavouring according to their measure an exact conformity to the Divine Will shall be happy and it would be a great piece of uncharitableness to exclude them from all interest in Christ and to allow none to have any saving benefit by Christ's Death but such as own the true Orthodox Faith as it is called by some we may by this damn by wholesale not only all the Gentile Nations but also most other Christians who have erred in Judgment and have unwittingly mistaken the Truth 〈◊〉 God forbid Tho many in our days 〈◊〉 that without hopes or sense of their ●ondition exclude them from any part in Christ or the Church of God as did the Jews of old who reputed themselves the only Children of the Kingdom boasted of their Privileges as having Abraham to their Father and cried the Temple of the Lord how much soever they abused the means and neglected God and reputed the Gentiles but Castaways not being circumcised nor brought into the visible Jewish Church-state yet had the Lord a regard to them when the Visible Church-state extended it self no farther than the Familys of Abraham Isaac and Jacob as appears by the effect

that died for him and so he came to be sanctified justified and to obtain Mercy Philet I believe that Paul being an Elect Person was as much in the love and favour of God before he believed as after yea the Elect Corinthians that were Fornicators Idolaters Thieves Drunkards c. 1 Cor. 6. 9 10 11. had as much right to Salvation before they believed as after Philad I look upon this Speech of yours that Paul and the Corinthians during their unbelieving State were as much in the love and favour of God as after to be very impious and opens a gap for Men to run into all manner of Abomination for if I once fancy my self to be one of the Darlings of Heaven one of the Elected ones and that I cannot possibly sin my self out of the love of God and that I am no nearer Salvation after I believe than I was before Why may not I take liberty to commit any crime For it seems Heaven may be found in the way to Hell and in the Service of Sin and Satan I may fulfil the Lusts of the Flesh and of the Mind and be fruitful in the works of Darkness and God love me never the worse no danger of forfeiting my Sonship if this be true all the Precepts of Vertue and Holiness with all the gracious Promises of an Eternal Reward in Heaven are all in vain and all those powerful dissuasions from Sin with those severe threatnings of an Eternal Punishment as a Reward to the guilty are all invalid if the greatest sinner the most prophane Liver may arrive at Heaven as well as the most eminent Saint Did ever such Doctrines proceed from the Lips of Truth or are they to be found in the true Sayings of God No no but rather the contrary Eph. 5. 5. Rom. 2. 8 9. 1 Cor. 6. 9 10 11. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God c. so that no Man that is an unregenerate sinner is or can be said actually to be Elected till Grace comes and Faith comes and puts him into Christ Eph. 3. 17. This is evident from the Ephesians Paul calls them Elect or Chosen before the Foundation of the World and yet however Elected he tells them that during the time they walked according to the Course of this World c. they were the Children of Wrath as well as others and at that time they were without Christ and Strangers to the Covenant of Promise having no hope and without God in the World Eph. 2. 12. Surely it is impossible for any Person to be in Christ and out of him dead and alive old and new born at one and the same time so that before Conversion we are not actually justified This is so clear a thing that the Assembly in their Confession Chap. 11. say God did from all Eternity decree to justifie the Elect. Nevertheless they are not justified until the Holy Spirit doth in due time actually apply Christ unto them And so Dr. Homes in his Antidote against Antinomianism p. 56. If the Lord impute Christ to me a true Christian my sins unto him as 2 Cor. 5. ult and so reputes me justified actually in him He doth all this under the notion of Faith Rom. 4. 3. If any say we are eternally justified in God's Election or Purpose we reply just so as we eternally believe in God's Purpose for he hath purposed eternally both equally He that eternally purposed to justifie did eternally purpose to justifie by Faith Mar. But doth not the Apostle say in Rom. 4. 5. That God justifieth the ungodly Philad Yea but we do not read of those that persevere in their ungodliness that he will justifie them for as God hath never promised so he never purposed Salvation to an unregenerate heart and a loose life Persons may pleasingly dream themselves the Friends and adopted Children of God tho' they will know to their own smart that all that are under the Reign of sin are yet under wrath No Enemy to God and Holiness is actually elected nor hath receiv'd the Spirit of Adoption and if they have not receiv'd the Spirit they are none of his Now where the Spirit of God comes it convinces of sin John 16. 7 8. and witnesseth with their Spirits that they are the Children of God Rom. 8. 16. but do you think that the Holy Spirit will witness for us or bring Joy and Comfort to us if at the same time our Consciences testifie to our Face that our Deeds are Evil and that our walking is not such as to be deemed the workmanship of God created in Christ Jesus to good Works which God hath before ordained Doctor Cliffora upon the New Covenant p. 14. saith excellently Can you imagin that the Spirit seals to a Blank and witnesseth to a Lye What! teach People to cry Abba Father before they are born of God or persuade them they are justified when in a state of unbelief and the Wrath of God abides upon them or assure them they are Heirs of the Promise when they are Strangers to the Covenant or that their Estate is safe when a Curse and Death and Hell are denounced against them Is this the Spirit 's witnessing do you think or his way of sealing No he first works Grace upon the heart and then gives testimony to his own work he sanctifies first and then seals to the day of Redemption Eph. 1. 13 14. Rom. 8. 14. As many as are led by the Spirit of God are the Sons of God and those that have not Christ's Spirit Christ's Image cannot have any true Fellowship with him Can two walk together except they be agreed Amos 3. 3. Doth Reconciliation with God stand with agreement with Satan Can a League with Heaven and Hell stand together Do you think that the Judge of all the Earth will say Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom to his Enemies But Philetus what makes you think that Paul and the Corinthians were as much in the Love and Favour of God before they believed as after Philet Why because their believing and obeying the Gospel was an Effect of their Election Our Persons must first please God before our Actions can please him and when once God loves a Person he never ceaseth to love him for the Gift and Calling of God are without Repentance Rom. 11 29. and so Malachi 4. 6. I am the Lord I change not Now if Paul and the Corinthians were elected before they were born and that then God set his Love upon them and after during their Unbelief and Sin should be supposed not to love them it would argue a strange Inconstancy and Mutability in God and so according to this Notion of Election God must be supposed one while to hate a Person when wicked and another while to love him when regenerate Philad Indeed if we must needs understand that God had elected Paul and the Corinthians as Paul or as Men simply so considered

and Nations but Heaven and Earth and all shall fall rather than God will not observe Rectitude and Justice in giving to every one his due yea so just is God that he would not spare his best beloved Son yea and God is glorified by Justice as well as by Mercy and should there be any jarring and disagreeing in the Divine Being all would run into confusion yea Heaven and Earth would be a Chaos but certainly there is nothing more lovely than when Justice and Mercy do imbrace and kiss each other God hath promised in Judgment to remember Mercy and that he doth not willingly afflict and grieve the Children of Men the Divine Goodness is such that he always pities where he must punish Lam. 3. 33. and is very unwilling to strike but from mere necessity he seldom or never makes any Patterns of his Wrath but such as are despisers of his Mercy and forgetters of his Favours yea and after a long time of forbearance Isa 65. 2. So tho God hath a respect to Justice as well as Mercy and one is as much beloved as the other yet in the expressions of his Love to the Sons of Men 't is said to be above all his Works But where hath Mercy any place upon those that are made the butts of God's Displeasure yea view but the Scriptures wherein the Mercy and Goodness of God are legible to all and you will find that his love to sinful Man is truly inconsistent with the Nature of those absolute Decrees you speak of see Hos 11. 8. How shall I give thee up O Ephraim c. Here the Lord speaks as if to punish a sinful and disobedient People went to his very heart yea he is so unwilling to inflict Punishment that his very Bowels are moved as is intimated by turning within him Consider the case of Sodom when upon Abraham's earnest expostulation with the Almighty the Divine Bounty rose so high that had there been in those Five great Cities but Ten righteous the effectual Prayers of a righteous Man carry such a kind of Omnipotency a long with them that they tie as 't were God's hands from Judgments and open them to Mercy Let me alone said God to Moses nay it may be conjectured that not only Ten but Five or less might have prevailed for the saving those Citys Consider the Case of Nineveh Jona 1. likewise Mat. 23. 37. O Jerusalem c. Certainly this Scripture doth highly speak forth God and Christ's great Love to Mankind Sorrow mixt with Love and Pity and you shall find few or none commenting upon this text but say Christ shewed abundance of Love to these poor Jerusalemites Mr. Keach in his Scripture Tropes having shewed the compassion of Christ to Sinners under the similitude of a Hen saith that Jesus Christ was moved with the greatest compassion imaginable to wards the poor Jews and Jerusalemites whom he was first sent to and came to-seek and save this is signified by that wonderful passion that seized upon his Spirit c. And having shewed with what a mournful Voice the Hen calls her Chickens to her when there is danger saith so Christ calls to poor helpless and impenitent Sinners very often with a mournful Voice and tears in his eyes Luke 19. 42. And from thence doth infer it to be no better than presumption for any to dare to charge their eternal ruin upon God And a little after Who will pity Sinners if they perish at last and be damned when all is from their own vile stubborness And in his Youth's Guide he says That God's commiserating the sad estate of perishing Sinners argues there was once Mercy extended to them which could not be if Christ died not for all And in God's Love to mankind page 132. St. Austin saith Our Lord did compare himself to a Hen rather than to any other creature because of her singular expression of Love to them when out of sight Mar. But here 's a distinction which you either do not understand or have not considered as touching our Lord Jesus for he hath a Will distinct from his Will as God Now as Jesus Christ was Man he wept and as he was Man he willed Jerusalem Salvation but as he was God he wills it not for it was his determinate Will that Jerusalem should be destroyed as an effect of their Sins therefore tho Christ did weep for Jerusalem nay had he prayed for them God's unchangeable Will must take place Tho Moses and Samuel stood before me c. Jer. 15. 1. Philad I grant tho as I said before that faithful Prayer greatly prevails with God yet in some cases the most importunate Prayer of the most upright will not become effectual where Inquity is grown up to that height of malignity and desperate sinfulness that should not God punish it he would deny himself and cease to be God as he saith in Ezek 14. 14. that tho these three Men Noah Daniel and Job stand before me and would intercede their intercession for others will become fruitless where Justice calls for a cutting off but your distinction about a twofold Will in Christ I look upon to be but barely notional and nothing but to gratify Peoples pregnant fancies to say no worse and I doubt such sancies may prove of dangerous consequence for by this Christ in the Flesh had one End in his weeping and endeavouring to gather Jerusalem and in his Spirit another Christ as he was Man would have saved Jerusalem but as he was God he wills their destruction Christ as he was Man was filled with bowels of pity to their Souls and Bodys and would have gathered them under the Wings of his Grace and would have blessed them by turning them every one from their Iniquities Acts 3. ult but as he was God he had no more love for them than for Wolves and Tygers Christ as he was Man wept for the Bodys of those that should be destroyed by the Romans but as he was God he had decreed the Romans should destroy their Bodys and the Devil should have their Souls to Hell Christ in the Flesh is good and gracious seeking the Salvation of all but as God he hath consigned millions of Men Women and Children to perpetual Torments for Adam's single transgression What is Christ divided is not Christ in the Flesh and in the Spirit the same yesterday to day and for ever Was not the Word made Flesh and was it not united to the Divine Nature and anointed with the Holy Spirit above measure and did not he satisfy and bear our Sins as he was Man in our Nature did not he die as Man and rise in our Nature and hath he not carried our Nature into Heaven And from this full Christ in Flesh and Spirit God-man we receive Grace for Grace Leave off such things and draw not People into a Labyrinth of Errors by such trifling Distinctions lest you draw some to account the Blood of the Covenant wherewith they