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	flesh_n	water_n	5,183	5	7.3915	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B05977	The map of the little world, illuminated with religion being a practical treatise, directing man to a religious scope, and right measure, in all the periods of his life; with devotion suitable. To which is added an appendix, containing a gospel ministers legacie, in some sermons, upon 2 Pet. 1. 12, &c. / By Patrick Strachan minister of the gospel at St. Vigeans.	Strachan, Patrick, fl. 1693.	1693 (1693)	Wing S5775A; ESTC R184656	117,746	314

GOD that gave it He gave it not as He doth many things by the use of means but peculiarly GOD no● man gave the spirit Ecc. 12. 7. And our Saviour in proving the Resurrection assert● that Abraham Isack and Jacob Yet live in a separated state from the Body and such as believe the immaterality and immortality of the Soul which is the common belief of al● most the whole World cannot but acknowledge this so St. Paul reasoneth with Philosophers at Athens Acts 17. How long it is ere the Embryo in the Womb receive the soul is something quisquus to determine tho some of the Ancients have been positive as the following distich doth declare Sep in lacte dies ter sunt in sanguine terni Bis seni carnem ter seni membra figurant That is Seven dayes in milk and n●ne in blood Twelve dayes the flesh thrice 6 the rest conclude § 3. But leaving this to Philosophy to discuss as to Religion since our spirit or soul is the daughter of an high house no lower than Heaven and the product of the Father of Spirits it is fit that we labour as much as we may in the use of the means to deliver her out of the bondage of corruption she groans with the load of flesh 2 Cor 5 3 In this Tabernacle we groan being burthened And the natural body hath an Animal spirit to lust after sin as St. James sayeth the spirit in us lusteth to Envy Jam. 4. 5. But this spirit evaporateth in pleasure and that sore must be mortified that our soul may be saved in the day of the LORD 1 cor 5. 5. But the rational tho it be hugely darkned and alienated from the life of GOD Eph 4. 18. Yet hath it reason tho much master'd by the brutall part and by that Reason and the faculty even of a natural conscience it cannot but groan under the burden of sin § 4. Now that the soul is contaminate and participant of original sin with the Body and how it is propagated and corrupted are purposes that we should rather yeild to with humble Faith then with canvassing Curiosity labour to comprehend Since the Scripture is positive in the thing That the imaginations of the heart of man are evil and only evil a pu●●tia Gen 6. 5. The thoughts of his heart 〈◊〉 only evil continually And without wre●ing that of Psal 51. 3. and 5. Verses 〈◊〉 must confess Original Sin And our Saviour Joh. 3. 6. sayeth That which is born of the flesh is flesh and inferreth the necessity of Regeneration from this Disease If we Compare this then with that of Gen. 6. 3. My spirit shall not strive with Man for that 〈◊〉 is flesh We may easily perceive that Man in his whole Compositum is Corrupt and Carnal And the Apostle St. Paul Concludes the whole World under sin And guilty before GOD Rom. 3. 9. and Rom. 7. 23. he descrives unto us a Man inter Regenerandum convinced by the Law and entering the doors of a new Life groaning under the power of sin and death wretched under that corrupt Body of sin and death till he be delivered This is also the Doctrine of the Orthodox and primeval Church and what has been said against it by the Manicheans and Pelagians is fully refuted by that great Dr. Aug concluded against by General Councils and the Current of the Catholick Church all along Yea the sensible amongst the Heathens as Pliny and Tully have acknowledged this and found out the Disease by their own Sentiments Confessing that Nitimur in vitetum c. Now to Dive into that deep Gulf how original sin comes in since no sin is of GOD whether by the breath of Eve corrupted by the Serpent or by the poisonous quality of the Tree of Knowledge whose fruit thô sweet possibly was Venemous which GOD forbad Man to eat of under the pain of Death And GOD may make poison to be in Nature for good and Holy Ends. Whether by these wayes or any other Way or by permissive providence leaving Man under the facultie of Free Will to make his own Election or whether the Soul was infused void of Original Righteousness Or by the first Contact with the Body as our Countryman Dr. Baron De prop pecc doth very pertinently clear is a businesse improper for this Treatise to enlarge upon Yet it is best for thee O Man humbly to believe and sensibly acknowledge what thou feel's that thou may Cleanse thy self from all filthiness of flesh and spirit 2 Cor 7. 1. And that You may be sanctified throughout Soul Body and Spirit as the Apostle prayes for the Church of the Thess 1 Thes● 5. 23. And labour by all means to dig out this root of bitterness from thy Soul and Heart and make use of the salutary means thy Saviour hath prescribed for this end § 5. Now this gets an excellent open Entrance by early Baptism and bringing the Children from the Womb to the Font to be washen in this saving Flood in the Laver of Regeneration from the guilt and filth of sin Which mercy according to the Tenor of the new Covenant is allowed of GOD to Infants For as Circumcision in old which was a seal of the Covenant Rom 4 11. was conferred on Infants so Baptism upon that same ground may be thought to belong to Children of believing Parents Or at least reputed to be so or if one of the Parents believe they are federally holy as St. Paul sayeth 1 cor 7. 14. Else were your children unclean but now they are holy And St. Peter tells the Jews that the promise belongs to them and their children Acts 2 39 CHRIST himself took little Children and blessed them and said suffer Little Children to come to me for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven and he laid his hands on them and blessed them If his blessing belong to such Why not Baptism Which is among the first of his Blessings And we find from Scripture that GOD hath sanctified some in the Womb and from the Womb why may he not than sanctifie His own institution of Baptism to Infants and the sooner the better this Antidote be applyed against the poyson of the Serpent it doth also much inhanse this Truth that it is and hath been the practice of the Universal Church in and since the Apostles times For we read that some have been baptised and their whole house of which probably Children were a part And altho' some Sectaries have opposed this and have denyed Infant Baptism yet neither is their grounds nor practice to be laid against the General Vote of the Church well instructed by the word of GOD and it is no small defence and war●and for Infant Baptism that it is not now a question in the Church and it is so fully asserted and proved that it were superfluous and like lighting a Torch at Noon to add any thing upon the head since none but Phanaticks that follow the fume of

their phansie who deny CHRIST's Offices Ministers Ordinances and Institutions will be so bold as to contradict it And therefore it concerns Parents Religiously to go about the Baptism of their Children and remember the great obligation they stand under for their pious Education And of Children baptized to reflect upon it when they come to any Knowledge and to improve it well by the Instruction of their Parents and Tutors whose serious Instructions grave Example and earnest Prayer for Young Ones may help to instill and drop in such Counsels into their easie and blank minds as may leave some Relish as a Vessel may still keep something of the tast and smell of the first liquor according to that Ancient observe quo semel est imbuta c. and this stage of our life may be reckoned to the fourth year of our Age. STAGE Second The Contents Of the particular care of Parents and Governours as to Children from four years old to twelve of studying their nature and genious and the in●●●ling and droping in some clear and common principles of Religion with the consideration of Regeneration and when the Children come to be about twelve years of age of their solemn Confirmation § 1. As the Children grows so should the care of their Parents increase towards them its dangerous to suffer the evil of their Nature to take rooting for then it will turn tenacious and obstinate it 's better to take the little Foxes that hurt their tender Gardens Cant. 2. 6. and by Religious conduct use the best means to Eradicate the corruption of their Nature and to correct that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and disorder that is naturally in them by frequent and gradual dropping of good counsel into their hearts especially by fixing in them the common notion of a GOD and fearing of Him of honouring their Parents And withal to acquaint them with their Baptismal Dedication and in as much as is possible to open up unto them the m●sterie of their redemption through Jesus Christ and that not only they know to Repeat the Law the Creed and Lords Prayer But also to make them according to their capacitie to understand these Thus entereth Knowledge into their Hearts as a little Drop by frequent falling makes a cavity and hollowness in the stone § 2. Although the Spirit of GOD the Author of Regeneration like the wind bloweth when where and how he pleases Joh. 3. v. 8. And calleth some sooner some later yet is it not improper to set it down here for that same LORD that Blessed Babs can Sow the Seed of Grace in their Hearts And of this Regeneration I shall only remember Man of the Necessity Nature and Evidence thereof First as to the necessity Our Saviour is very positive Job 3. v. 2. and 3. Except a man be Born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of GOD and no outward exercise of Religion can avail us without the New Creature the Old-man must be Crucified and the New-man formed and Nurished ere we can be fit for the Kingdom of GOD. And 2ly We cannot better take up the Nature of it than by considering the Author and the manner of his Operation in producing this Work It is only the Spirit of GOD that doth it so is every one that is born of the Spirit John 3. 8. Of His own Will begatt He us that we should be a kind of first Fruits of His Creatures Jam 1. 18. This New Creature then is clearly the Product of the Spirit of GOD Who doth this work mediatly by the use of means especially by the Word o● Truth and other holy Engines that he is pleased to make use of Yet is not this Work produced of any means but by the concurse of the principal Agent the Word illuminats and perswads but there 's more then Moral Swasion in this Work for GOD's promise in the Covenant is to put his Laws in our inward parts Jer 3. 33. They receive by their Conversion a heavenly seed which abideth in them that will not suffer them to sin as the wicked do John 3. 9. Whosoever is born of GOD doth not commit sin for His seed remains in him and he cannot sin because he is born of GOD. Yet as to the production of this new Creature it may be so secret for a time like the Infant in the Womb so clouded and over-powr'd by Temptation and Corruption that it doth little appear and it takes a long time ere it become perfect in degrees and visibly compleat as to parts althô the Child tho little and weak is potentially a perfect man Parents then and Governours should with St. Paul travel in birth till Christ be formed in their Children 3ly As to its Evidence the Apostle manifests it fully 2 cor 5. 17 Behold all things are become New The man is wholly renewed in Quality tho not in Substance so that he may very well say Ego non sum ego He hath a more generous spirit with Caleb a better heart with David a more shinin● face with Moses and the lips of the Righteous feed many And tho no man ca● make this Change yet is he exhorted to make him a new heart Ezek. 18 31. Th●● is to use the means and well to consider that the spirit of GOD begets this ne● Creature by the word of Truth Jam 1 18 That such may be a kind of first fruits of H●● Creatures and for himself to show forth● His praise Who hath called them from darkness to Light § 3. It is very promotive of Grace also when Children comes to this state of Life that they be Confirmed after they can give any account of their Creed and of their Prayers according to the Blessed Pattern The LORDS Prayer For we read frequently in the Acts of Confirming the Disciples after they were Prose●●ted to the Christian Religion whereby the new Plantation was fixed and by a sort of personal Covenanting with GOD they were Engaged to His Service by their Voluntar Consent This is the practice of the Universal Church Which if simply done and not elevated unto a Sacrament is laudable and promotive of the Ends of Religion And tho it be quarrelled with by some in this Nation Yet if it could be got well done in every particular Parish Since the Bishop may not be alwayes Vacant it may be thought no Disorder for the Parish Minister every year as Occasion offers to do this in the presence of the Parents and famous Witnesses personally and particularly to joyn them to the LORD And if there were not alas too great incuriousness about matters of Religion a mean so helpful to the ends thereof may be put in use So to conclude this Point I shall Reinforce my earnest Exhortation to Christian Parents in behalf of their Children for this particular instance of their Care for their Souls and to remember Gospel Ministers of their duty as to this And since through the unsetledness of the Times it can

br●ken and Strangers shall not meddle with our J●ye● nor the Impure eat the Childrens food This shall confute all such as decry Religion and comfort all that have the Real Life of it and make them say with St. Paul The Life we now live is by Faith in the Son of GOD. 4ly This will open a door and Entrance to the Kingdom of O●r LORD JESUS CHRIST and will prove a more solid way to make us Draw near to GOD with full assurance of faith and be a more sure ground to us than all the heats and heights of Religion which are but transient and perhaps flow from humour and Complexion but this makes the spirit of G●ory dwell in us Gives us a clean conscience washt with pure water Heb 10. end to draw near to GOD So that a trembling humble Gh●istian that with St. Paul cryes ●ut O wretched man that I am Rom. 7. end May be neerer the Joy of the Lord than the other So that whoever seek a proof of Christ sn us We shall prove it best by Works and Fruits and the New Creature is the most infallible mark of bein● in Christ 2 Cor 5 17. and True si●●cere Obedience is the great specifick and genuine propertie of true Christianism And further to clear you in all this let us confront the privilidges and properties of the Christi●n if any separate them he is like a Man catching the Crown with out the Conquest but the true Christian reacheth one hand in the Crown and wi●h the other holds his W●apon to fight for the Prize that through ●aith and p●tience and unwearied W●ll ●●ing he may inheri● the Promises What more excellent then the precious Promis●p●ut we must add Vertue to our faith 〈◊〉 th●se Promises the Christians Claim is ind●ed great for all are yours sayeth 〈◊〉 But such as are Christs sayeth he have crucified the flesh with its lusts and effections But to come nearer the con●●xt from 2. ver to this 12 the Apostl● speaks of beleivers attaining like precious faith with the Apostlesfor their is but one faith which the Apostles Beleived pr●pagated once delivered to the Sa 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 J●de sayeth and this faith Acts 15. 9. purifi●th the heart and life And having that same faith of the Apostles we should live according to our measures as the Apostles then should the Pure and Primitive Church revive But alas Were St. Paul now at Rome he should find it much more Heathen than in his time and very unlike these whose faith was spoken of through the World O then if people would walk suitably to that noble Gift of Faith which is given us 2ly The full Instructions the Christians have All things sayes the Apostle that pertain to Life and Godliness Glory and Veri●e We want nothing to furnish us for every good Work The whole Council of GOD Acts 20. 27. All things to make us Godly and Glorious we have the Word of GOD to make us wise to Salvation and the Spirit of GOD to lead us into all Truth Improve then your priviledges For if ve know these things happy are ye if ve do them 3ly We have the great Gift of the Promises as the Apostle sayeth here But yet having these Promises let us cleanse our selves from all silthiness of flesh and spirit 2 Cor. 7. 1. and take head least a promise being made thus of entering into his Rest we fall short But if Piety be joyned with the Promises then we partake of the Divine Nature and have another Spirit a new Heart Lif● and new Affections and thus the Sai●● are in their measure Divinized and sp●ritualsed and Created after GOD 〈◊〉 Righteousness and true Holmess And so to conclude this truth 〈◊〉 would warn you not ha●ilv to catch a● the Promises but labour to lay hold on them by a lively Faith and Well-doin● Be not too ●aring least ye presume prove your title first And then glory in your priviledges make your selves meet for the Inheritance and then you are sure of it and let the glory of that great Claim indeer your Hearts to Duty to jo●n your selves in a perpetual Covenant with the LORD never to be forgot Jer. 50. Sermon II. The Duty and Diligence of the Apostolick C●rate or Gospel Minister described With the Matter and manner of his Preaching and the Quality of Christians in the time of the prime of Christianity Vpon Verse 12. THe Apostle falls now to a closs Application of the Doctrin formerly mentioned in this Chapter wherein he relates the Duty of the Minister that he should not be negligent but busie in the exercise of his holy Office 2ly The great Subject of his D●ctrine these Things 3ly The way of his I●culcating the said Doctrine upon the Hearts of People And 4ly The Qualification of People in these Times I begin with the First b●th negatively and positively described Doct. 1 which teacheth us That a Gospel Minister should be very intent upon his great and weighty Work This St Peter declares of himself and St. Paul also frequently mentions his great business These two Pillars of the Church the Apostles of the C●rcumcision Uncircumcision follow the the great Luminary their Blessed Master and stand as eminent Examples to all the Officers of the Church of Christ And this Apostle describeth his Duty 1st In his care for the Good of Souls to whom he wrote 2ly That he was not negligent but Diligent in his Imployment First His great care for the Church and the good of Souls The care of Souls is worthy to ●e fined from the most intensive affections of the H●art It is such 〈◊〉 Pious and Divine Affection that GOD Himself describs His ea●nest Compassion● to His People thereby As our Saviout sh●ws us in His Sermon upon the Mount Upon which account St. Paul bids us be careful for nothing but by Prayer and Supplication make our request known to GOD And St. Peter so exhorts also casting all your ca●es upon GOD who careth for you It was our Saviour's care for Souls that brought Him from Heaven to us and when on Earth made Him so diligent to Preach Pray and Weep for his Church This care of Souls went nearer St. Pauls Hea●t than all his troubles for beside all things that are without said he that which comes upon me dayly the care for all the Churches The true natural Father hath a great care for his Children and the Spiritual Parent no less for I have no greater Joy sayeth St. John than to see my Children walking in the Truth F●r such is the subtility and labour of the evil one ●o seduce and corrupt our Flock And alas such is the carelesness and incuriousness of the most as to Spiritnol Matters like Gallio careing for none of these things and such are the many incumbrances anent the World and what is worst of all even a careful Contrivnance of many to prosecute their sinful ends that a faithful Minister shall find great Reason of serious