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	son_n	witness_n	5,359	5	7.9501	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26796	The harmony of the divine attributes in the contrivance and accomplishment of man's redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ, or, Discourses wherein is shewed how the wisdom, mercy, justice, holiness, power, and truth of God are glorified in that great and blessed work / by William Bates.	Bates, William, 1625-1699.	1674 (1674)	Wing B1113; ESTC R25864	309,279	511

in the flaming Bush to Moses but 't is never said with respect to those Apparitions that the Word was made Flame or Man But when He came into the World to save us He assum'd the compleat Nature of Man into an Hypostatical Union with himself That admirable Person possesses the Titles Qualities and Natures of God and Man In that ineffable Union each of the Natures preserves its proper form with all the necessary consequents proceeding from it The Humane Nature is joyn'd to the Eternal Word but not chang'd into its Divinity 't is not infinite and impassible The Deity is united to Flesh but not transformed into its Nature 't is not finite and passible But although there is a distinction yet no separation Although there are two Natures yet but one sole Jesus In the same Subsistence the Creator and the Creature are miraculously allied Now this is a work fully responsible to Omnipotence and expresses whatever is signified by that Title The Apostle mentions it with an Attribute of excellency Without controversie great is the Mystery of Godliness God manifest in the Flesh. 'T is as sublime as holy In this the Divine Power appears in its Magnificence and in some respect more gloriously than in the Creation For there is incomparably a greater disparity between the Majesty Greatness and Infiniteness of God and the Meanness of Man than between the whole World and Nothing The degrees of disparity between the World and Nothing are not actually infinite but between the most excellent creature and the Glorious Creator they are absolutely infinite From hence it is that that which in other things resolves our doubts here increases the wonder and in appearance makes it more incredible Ye do erre saith Christ to the Sadduces who denied the Resurrection not knowing the Power of God But the more raised thoughts we have of his immense Power the more unlikely his conjunction with a nature so far beneath him will seem to be 2. The Divine Power was magnified in our Redeemers Supernatural Conception 'T was requisite his Body should be miraculously form'd of the substance of a Woman by the operation of the Holy Ghost not only in respect of its singular Dignity and that he might be the pattern of our Regeneration that is performed by the Efficacy of the Spirit not of the Flesh but in respect of his Office For he was the Heavenly Adam and therefore allied to us and absolutely pure from the stain of Sin Heaven and Earth concurr'd to form that Divine Man the King of both the Earth furnishing matter and Heaven the principle of his conception Accordingly the Angel told Mary who questioned how she could be a Mother not having known a Man The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee therefore also that Holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God This was foretold many Ages as an admirable Effect of God's Power When Judah was opprest by two potent Kings despair'd of an escape to raise their drooping Spirits the Prophet tells them the Lord himself would give them a sign of their future Deliverance Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call his Name Immanuel The Argument is from the greater to the less for 't is apparently more difficult that a Virgin without injury or blemish to her purity and integrity should conceive and bring forth Immanuel than the defeating humane forces how great soever If God will accomplish that Stupendious unheard of wonder much more would he rescue his People from the fury of their adversaries 3. The Divine Power was eminently declar'd in the Miracles our Saviour wrought during the time of his publick Ministry to verifie his Divine Mission that He was the great Prophet sent from God to instruct Men in the way of Life In discoursing of this I will briefly shew that Miracles were a convincing proof of his Celestial Calling and that the performance of them was necessary in order to the conviction of the World and consider particularly those He wrought 1. A Miracle is an extraordinary Operation of God in Nature either in stopping its course or in producing some effects that are above its Laws and Power So that when He is pleased to work any they are his Seal to authorise the Person and Doctrine to which they are annext By them Faith is made visible The Unbeliever is convinc'd by his Senses the only witnesses above reproach in his account From hence Nicodemus addresses himself to Christ Master we know that thou art a Teacher come from God for no man can do those Miracles that thou dost except God be with him That is No inferiour Agent can perform them without the special assistance of the Divine Power And 't is not to be supposed that God will lend his Omnipotency to the Devil to work a real Miracle to confirm a falsity and thereby necessarily induce Men into errour in a matter of infinite moment f●r such is the Doctrine of Salvation that Christ Preach'd 2. The working of Miracles was necessary to convince the World that Jesus Christ was sent from God whether we consider the Jews or the Gentiles To convince the Jews upon a double account 1. Because the performance of them was one of the characters of the promised Messiah For this reason when two of Johns Disciples came to inquire whether he were the expected Prophet he returns this answer to the question Go and shew John those things which ye do hear and see the Blind receive their Sight and the Lame walk the Lepers are cleansed and the Deaf hear the Dead are raised up and the poor have the Gospel preach'd to them Thus he described his Office and verified the Commission he had from God by representing his Miracles in the Words of the Prophecy 2. Our Saviour came to alter the Religion of the Jews that had been confirmed by many illustrious Miracles therefore to assure them that he was Authoris'd from Heaven he wrought such and so many that for their greatness clearness and number exceeded all that were done before his coming Our Saviour tells the Jews If I had not done among them the Works which none other man did they had not had sin that is in rejecting him For if he had exercised only a Power like unto that of Moses and the Prophets in his Miraculous Actions they had been obliged to have honoured him as one of their rank but not to have attributed an incomparable Dignity to him But he did those which neither Moses nor the Prophets had performed and in those that had been done Christ excell'd them in the manner of doing them This the Jews could not contradict and from hence their infidelity was made culpable Secondly Miracles were necessary to convince the Gentiles 1. For the Gospel forbids the various Religions among them and commands all to worship God alone in Jesus

that are made he hath upon the compleating our Redemtion by the rising of Christ from the Dead made the First-Day Sacred for his Service and Praise there being the clearest illustration of his Perfections in that Blessed Work God is more pleased in the contemplation of the new World than of the old The latter by its extraordinary Magnificence hath lessen'd the dignity of the former as the greater Light obscures the less Therefore the Sabbath is changed into the Lords-Day And what a just reproach is it to Man that he should be inobservant and unaffected with this glorious Mercy wherein he may alwaies find new cause of Admiration O Lord how great are thy Works and thy Thoughts how deep a brutish man knoweth not neither doth a fool understand this The admiring of any other thing in comparison of this Mystery is the effect of Inconsideration or Infidelity 2. It produces the most sincere and lasting pleasure As the taste is to meat to allure us to feed for the support of our bodies that is delight to Knowledge to excite the mind to seek after it But it s vast capacity can never be satisfied with the knowledge of inferior things The pleasure is more in the acquisition than in the possession of it For the mind is diverted in the search but having attained to that knowledge which cannot fill the rational appetite 't is disgusted with the fruits of its travel and seeks some other object to relieve its langour From hence it is that variety is the spring of delight and pleasure is the product of novelty We find the pleasure of the first taste in learning something new is alwayes most sensible The most elegant compositions and excellent discourses which ravisht at the first reading yet repeated often are nauseous and irksome The exercise of the mind on an object fully known is unprofitable and therefore tedious whereas by turning the thoughts on something else it may acquire new knowledge But the Apostle tells us that the Mystery of our Redemption contains all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge to intimate their excellence and abundance the unsearchable riches of Grace are laid up in it There is infinite variety and perpetual matter for the inquiry of the most excellent understanding no created reason is able to reach its height or sound its depths by the continual study and increase in the knowledge of it the mind enjoys a persevering pleasure that far exceeds the short vehemence of sensual delights 2. It excels other Sciences in the certainty of its Principle which is divine Revelation Humane Sciences are built upon uncertain maximes which being admitted with precipitation and not confirm'd by sufficient Experiments the Mind can never fully acquiesce in them Those Doctrines which were esteemed in one Age the vanity of them is discovered in another Modern Philosophy discards the Antient. But the Doctrine of Salvation is the Word of Truth its original is from Heaven it bears the characters and marks of its Divine descent 'T is confirmed by the Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power 'T is alwaies the same unchangeable as God the Author and Christ the Object of it who is the same yesterday to day and for ever And the knowledg which the sincere and enlightned Mind hath of it is not uncertain opinion but a clear solid and firm apprehension 'T is a Contemplation of the Glory of God with open face This appears by the effects it produces in those that have received the true tincture of it in their Souls they despise all things which carnal Men admire in comparison of this inestimable Treasure 2. The Doctrine of the Gospel exceeds all practic Sciences in the excellency of its end and the efficacy of the means to obtain it The end of it is The Supreme Happiness of Man the restoring of him to the Innocence and Excellency of his first state And the means are appointed by infinite Wisdom so that the most insuperable obstacles are removed and these are the Justice of God that condemns the guilty and that strong and obstinate aversion which is in corrupted man from true Felicity Here is a Mediator reveal'd who is able to save to the uttermost who hath quencht the Wrath of God by the Blood of his Divine Sacrifice who hath expiated Sin by the value of his Death and purifies the Soul by the vertue of his Life that it may consent to its own Salvation No less than a Divine Power could perform this work From hence the superlative excellency of Evangelical Knowledg doth arise all other Knowledg is unprofitable without it and that alone can make us perfectly blessed This is Life eternal to know thee and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent I will briefly consider how ineffectual all other Knowledge is whether Natural Political or Moral to recover us from our Misery The most exact insight into Natural things leaves the Mind blind and poor ignorant of Happiness and the way to it Solomon who had an extraordinary measure of Natural Knowledg and was able to set a just price upon it tels us that the increase of knowledg was attended with proportionable degrees of sorrow For the more a man knows the more he discerns the insufficiency of that knowledg to supply his defects and satisfie his desires He was therefore weary of his Wisdom as well as of his Folly The Devils know more than the profoundest Philosophers yet their Knowledge doth not alleviate their Torments 'T is so far from directing how to escape misery that it will more expose to it by enlarging the Faculties and making them more capable of Torment 'T is the observation of St. Ambrose that when God discovered the Creation of the World to Moses He did not inform him of the greatness of the Heavens the number of the Stars their Aspects and Influences whether they derive their light from the Sun or have it inherent in their own bodies from whence Eclipses are caused how the Rainbow is painted how the Winds fly in the Air or the causes of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea but so much as might be a foundation of Faith and Obedience and left the rest Quasi marcescentis sapientiae vanitates as the vanities of perishing wisdom The most knowing Philosopher though encompast with these sparks yet if ignorant of the Redeemer shall lie down in sorrow for ever And as natural so political Knowledge in order to the governing of Kingdoms and States hath no power to confer happiness upon man It concerns not his main interest 't is terminated within the compass of this short life and provides not for Death and Eternity The Wisdom of the World is folly in a disguise a specious Ignorance which although it may secure the temporal state yet it leaves us naked and exposed to Spiritual enemies which war against the Soul And all the moral knowledg which is treasur'd up in the Books of the Heathens

as to violate the Fidelity of Marriage without the wounding of Chastity or to poison a Parent without failing in the duty that is owing to them And to express his indignation he tells them Sic ergo ipsi salva venia in Gehennam detruduntur dum salvo metu peccant Let them expect that God will cast them into Hell without prejudice to their Pardon as they pretend to Sin without prejudice to the respect they bear him To sum up all Jesus Christ as by his Doctrine and Life he clearly discover'd our Duty so he offers to us the Aid of his Spirit for our assistance by which the Commands of the Gospel are not only possible but easy And to enforce our obligations he hath threatned such Vengeance to the rebellious and promised such a Reward to those that obey the Gospel that it is impossible we should not be deeply affected with them if we seriously believe them and He hath given such evidence of their truth that 't is impossible we should not believe them unless the God of this world hath blinded our minds 'T is matter therefore of just astonishment that Christians should not express the efficacy of the Gospel in their actions How can a reasonable Creature believe that eternal Damnation shall be the Punishment of Sin and yet live in the wilful practice of it The Historian speaking of Mushroms that somtimes prov'd deadly to whole Families asks with wonder What pleasure could allure them to eat such doubtful Meat Yet they may be so corrected as to become innocent But when 't is certain that the Pleasures of Sin are mortal Can any one be tempted by those attractives to venture on that which will undoubtedly bring Death to the Soul Let Sense itself be Judg and make the comparison between whatsoever the present Life can afford for delight in Sin and what the future Death will bring to torment it Let the Flesh see into what torments all its delights shall be changed and with what other fire than of impure Lust it shall burn for ever Besides We are encouraged to our Duty with the assurance of a Happiness so excellent that not only the enjoyment of it in the next World but the just expectation of it here makes us truly blessed If the Reward were small or the Promise uncertain there might be some pretence for our not performing the Conditions to obtain it but when the one is infinitely great and the other as true as the God of truth what more powerful motive can be conceiv'd to make us holy 'T is the Apostles chosen Argument that We should walk worthy of him who hath call'd us to his Kingdom and Glory The Heathens were in a great measure strangers to the Secrets of another World they had but a shadow of probability we have the Light of Truth brought down from Heaven by the Son of God that reveals to us a Blessedness that deserves our most ardent active Affections But if Men are not wrought on by natural Reason nor divine Faith if neither the Terrours of the Lord nor the blessed Hope can perswade them from Sin to Holiness their condition is irrecoverable In this the Rules of Natural and Spiritual Healing agree Where neither Corrosives nor Lenitives are successful we must use the Knife if cutting off be unprofitable we must fear the part if the Fire is ineffectual the Ulcer is incurable If the threatning of Hell-fire through Unbelief and Carelesness is not fear'd and hath no efficacy to correct and change Sinners what remains but to make a presage of eternal Death that will unavoidably and speedily seize on them And if so clear a discovery of the Heavenly Glory doth not produce in men a living Faith that works by Love and a lively Hope that purifies the Heart and Conversation what can be concluded but that they are wholly sensual and senseless and shall be for ever deprived of that Blessedness they now despise and neglect CHAP. XX. The Divine Power is admirably glorified in the Creation of the World in respect of the greatness of the effect and the manner of its production T is as evident in our Redemption The Principal Effects of it are considered The Incarnation of the Son of God is a work fully responsible to Omnipotence Our Redeemers Supernatural Conception by the Holy Ghost The Divine Power was eminently declared in the Miracles Jesus Christ wrought in the course of his Ministry His Miracles were the evidence of His Celestial Calling they were necessary for the conviction of the World their Nature considered The Divine Power was Glorified in making the Death of Christ Victorious over all our Spiritual Enemies The Resurrection of Christ the effect of Glorious Power The Reasons of it from the quality of his Person and the nature of his Office that he might dispense the Blessings he had purchased for Believers His Resurrection is the foundation of Faith It hath a threefold reference to his Person as the Son of God to his Death as an Alsufficient Sacrifice to his Promise of raising Believers at the last day THE Divine Power is admirably glorified in the Creation of the World not only in regard of the greatness of the Effect that comprehends the Heavens and Earth and all things in them but in regard of the marvelous way of its Production for He made the great Universe without the concurrence of any material cause from nothing For this reason the raising this glorious Fabrick is produc●d as the distinctive character of the Deity from the troop of false gods The Psalmist declares The Lord is to be fear●d above all gods for all the gods of the Nations are Idols but the Lord made the Heavens And as He began the Creation by proceeding from nothing to real existence so in forming the other parts He drew them from infirm and indisposed matter as from a second nothing that all his Creatures might bear the real testimonies of Infinite Power Thus He commanded Light to arise out of Darkness and sensible Creatures from an insensible Element He created Man the accomplishment of all his Works from the lowest and grossest Element the Earth Now although at the first view we might conceive that the visible World is the greatest Miracle that ever God performed yet upon serious reflection we shall discover that the works of Grace are as wonderful as the works of Nature and that the Power of God is as evidently exprest in our Redemption as in the Creation For the fuller understanding of this I will consider some of the principal Effects of the Divine Power in order to our blessed Recovery 1. The Incarnation of the Son of God in accomplishing whereof such Power was exercis'd as no limited Understanding is able to comprehend The Word was made Flesh. This signifies the real Union between the Humane Nature and the Divine in our Redeemer Before his Incarnation he appeared in an humane form to the Patriarchs and

pretended Hero rather than have given his Life for a Lie Now the Apostles endur'd the most cruel Deaths to confirm the Truth of their Testimony And what could possibly induce them to it if they had not been certain of his Resurrection Could love to their dead Master animate them to suffer for the honour of his Name This is inconceiveable For He promis'd that He would rise the third Day and ascend to Heaven and make them partakers of his Glory So that if He had lain in the rot●enness of the Grave What charm what stupidity was able to make them preserve so high a Ven●ration for a Deceiver Nothing could remain in them but the memory and indignation of his Imposture Now if it be the dictate of natural Reason that the concurrent Testimony of two or three credible Persons not weaken'd by any exception is sufficient to decide any Cause of the greatest moment that respects Life Honour and Estate how much more should the attestation of the Apostles put this great Truth beyond all doubt since they parted with their Lives the most precious possession in this World for it and which is infinitely more if Deceivers they would certainly be deprived of Eternal Life in the next In short Since the Creation never was a Testimony so clear and authentick the Divine Providence so ordering the circumstances that the Evidence should be above all Suspicion Neither did it ever happen that any thing affirm'd by so many and such worthy Persons was ever suspected much less found to be false 'T is the most unreasonable stifness not to yeeld an intire Assent to it For there would be no secure Foundation of determining innumerable weighty Cases if we should doubt of things reported by the most credible circumspect Persons since we can be certified by our own Senses but of a few Objects I shall only add That the Apostles did many and great Miracles in the Name of Christ which was the strongest demonstration that He was rais'd to a glorious Life They were invested by the Spirit with the habits of various Tongues This kind of Miracle was necessary for the universal Preaching of the Gospel For how difficult and obstructive had it been to their Work if they must have return'd to their Infant-state to learn the Signification of forrein Languages to pronounce the words in their original Sound and the Accents proper to their Countrey Therefore the Holy Spirit according to the promise of Christ descended upon them and became their Master and in a moment imprest on their Memories the forms of discoursing and on their Tongues the manner of expressing them Where-ever the Doctrine of Jesus was preach'd God bare them witness both with Signes and Wonders and with divers Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will When St. Peter pass'd through the streets fill'd with persons diseased and half dead he caused an universal resurrection by touching them with his reviving shadow They tamed Serpents and quencht the malignity of their Poison they commanded Death to leave its prey and Life to return to its mansion that was not habitable for it And that miraculous Power continued in their Successours so long as was requisite for the conviction of the World Justin Martyr Irenaeus Tertullian Origen Cyprian mention divers Miracles perform'd by Christians in those times Tertullian offers to the Emperour to whom he addrest his admirable Apology to compel the Devils that possest Humane Bodies to confess themselves to be evil Spirits to constrain the Prince of darkness to enlighten his own Slaves And Cyprian assures the Governour of Africa that he would force the Devils to come out of the Bodies they tormented lamenting their ejection Now we cannot imagine they would so far discredit their Doctrine and Reputation as to pretend to such a Power without they had it In short To deny the Miracles wrought by the Primitive Christians were as great rashness as to deny that Caesar conquer'd Pompey or that Titus succeeded Vespasian For we have the concurrent Testimony of the gravest and best Men of Understanding and Conscience who were Eye-witnesses and which was not contradicted by those of the same Age. Briefly There are such clear characters of the Divine Hand to render the Gospel authentick that to deny it to be true is to make God a liar The Conclusion is this We see how reasonable it is to give an entire assent to the truth of Christianity The Nature of the Doctrine that is perfecty Divine declares its Original 'T is confirmed by Supernatural Testimonies The Doctrine distinguishes the Miracles from all false wonders the illusions of Satan and the Miracles confirm the Doctrine What doubt can there be after the full deposition of the Spirit in raising Christ from the Grave in qualifying the Apostles who were rude and ignorant with Knowledg Zeal Courage Charity and all Graces requisite for their great enterprise and in converting the World by their Ministry and Miracles If we believe not so clear a Revelation our Infidelity is desperate When our Saviour was upon the Earth the Meanness and Poverty of his appearance lessen'd their Crime who did not acknowledg and honour him in the disguise of a Servant Therefore they were capable of favour Many of his bloody Persecutors were converted and saved by the Preaching of the Apostles But since the Holy Ghost hath convinc'd the World by so strong a Light of Sin Righteousness and Judgment viz. That Jesus whom the Jews most unworthily Crucified was the Son of God that in dying He purchased the Pardon of Sin since He is risen and received to Glory That all power in Heaven and Earth is given to Him the effect of which is most visible For spiritual Wickednesses trembled at his Name were expelled from their Dominions and sent to their old Prison to suffer the Chains and Flames due to them To refuse his Testimony is a degree of Obstinacy not far distant from Malice of of the Devils and puts Men without the reserves of pardoning Mercy And 't is not a slight superficial Belief of this great Truth that is sufficient but that which is powerful in making us universally obedient to our Glorified Redeemer who will distribute Crowns to all his faithful Servants We cannot truly believe his Resurrection without believing his Doctrine nor believe his Doctrine without unfeigned Desires after the eternal Felicity it promises nor desire that Felicity without a sincere compliance to his Commands in order to the obtaining it In short 'T is Infidelity approaching Madness not to believe the Truth of the Gospel but 't is Madness of an higher kind and more prodigious to pretend to believe it and yet to live in disobedience to its Precepts in contempt of its Promises and Threatnings as if it were a meer Fable CHAP. XXII The Honour of God's Truth with respect to the Legal Threatning was preserv'd in the Death of Christ. The Divine Truth with respect to the Promises and