Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	believe_v	faith_n	heart_n	7,913	5	5.2011	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09981	A liveles life: or, Mans spirituall death in sinne Wherein is both learnedly and profitably handled these foure doctrines the spirituall death in sinne. The doctrine of humiliation. Mercy to be found in Christ. Continuance in sinne, dangerous. Being the substance of severall sermons upon Ephes. 2. 1,2,3. And you hath he quickned, who were dead in trespasses and sins, &c. Whereunto is annexed a profitable sermon at Lincolnes Inne, on Gen. XXII. XIV. Delivered by that late faithful preacher, and worthy instrument of Gods glory, Iohn Preston, Dr. in Divinity, chaplaine in ordinary to his Maiesty, master of Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge, and sometimes preacher of Lincolnes-Inne.	Preston, John, 1587-1628.	1633 (1633)	STC 20235; ESTC S122552	73,904	134

Thy words were found and I did eat them and thy Word was unto mee the joy and rejoycing of mine heart It is joy and rejoycing to those that have a broken heart as the Prophet had nay the sharper it is the more they delight in it The seventh signe of our love to Christ is this It causeth meeknesse of spirit The spirit that dwellethin us before we are humbled lusteth after envy Iam. 4. 5. now every naturall man is so but he that is of a broken heart envieth not he spends his ●nger on himselfe and lookes to his owne offences so much that he regards not others But some man will here bee ready to object and say My nature is hasty and I cannot suppresse it To this I answer It is true every one by nature is a Lion but grace when that comes it tur●s us into Lambs and meeke Sheepe Luk. 3. 4. Iohn cryes in the wildernesse Prepare the way of the Lord c. but how by Humility Every high mountaine and hill shall be digged downe and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough wayes shall bee made smooth Humility which prepareth for Christ diggeth downe those high mountaines and maketh plaine those rough wayes I deny not but that somtimes Gods child may haue a passion of anger yet the peace of God rules in his heart although that sometimes breakes out as a rebell but it dwels not in him Christ is meeke and so are all his And so much for the third question Now to proceed further in the explication of Humiliation and come to the fourth question which is this Whether this Humiliation must be in all men as well in those which are well educated and have fallen into no grosse sinnes as in others I answer yes it must be in all even this great Humiliation here spoken of else let them goe never so farre they will in the end fall away and that is the very reason why so many Professors that have given up their names to follow Christ fall away because they were never humbled soundly for sinne Yet there is this difference betwixt the humiliation of one brought up well and a grosse sinner 1. The filth of sinne is not so suddenly revealed to those that have beene well brought up and have some knowledge and therefore they are not so suddenly smitten as to those that lived in ignorance all their life long those that have a light on the sudden it presently amazeth them even so God strikes downe suddenly the grosse sinner and amazes him with a more violent sorrow and humiliation than he doth the other 2. The Joy is not so sudden nor flashing nor sensible in him that hath more knowledge the medicine is knowne to him as soone as the wound he knowes Christ a Saviour offered up for all that are wounded for sinne and so as soone as he feeles the wound he applies the medicine so is not his trouble so irkesome neither being delivered hath he such sensible joy For instance Suppose a man be in the way wounded among theeves and almost killed so that he saw no meanes of life if one a friend of his on the sudden should steppe forth and helpe him hee would be more sensible of it than such an one as knowing before he shall be robbed getteth company to goe with him and so escapes the danger And so much for the fourth question The fifth question is this What is the least degree of Humiliation that must be in one that will be saved I answer it is so much as will bring us home to Christ that is so much as will make us apprehend sinne to be the greatest evill in the world and Christ to be the greatest good so much as will enable us to make sinne our chiefest sorrow and Christ our chiefest joy when wee doe so then whatsoever is offered we neglect for Christ and preferre him Thence is it that the Churches are said to rejoyce in Christ with joy unspeakeable and glorious 1 Pet. 1. 8. For when we apprehend sinne to be the greatest evill and by Christ to beefreed from it we must needs rejoyce unspeakably For wee are to know that our conversion consists in threethings 1. In being soundly humbled so that wee see sinne to be the greatest evill in the world 2. In stedfastly laying hold of Christ and beleeving in him so that wee will not part with him for any thing in the world 3. In a newnesse of life walking in obedience to all his Commandements and therefore Christ saith Iohn 16. Hee will send the Comforter to convince the world of sinne and righteousnesse first to humble for sinne and in this also there are degrees for here one may be humbled more than another and so thirst after Christ more but the more wee are humbled the better we are humbled it is a signe God hath a greater worke to doe by us when we are thus humbled It is a great fault in us that we are prone to thinke that we are humbled enough and that our humiliation at our first conversion was enough no beloved our humiliation must not be like a land-flood that runnes but for a little time but like a spring running continually for all degrees in grace depending on God mortification of our lusts c. depends on the degrees of our humiliation and hee that is the most humbled would be much more if he saw himselfe to be the better And so much for the fifth question The sixth question is this How shall we come to be thus humbled I answer By the Law for though the whole act of our humiliation is wrought by the Law and the Gospell Rom. 6. yet that humiliation which I now urge is that legall humiliation which is wrought by the Law by the Law I meane not onely the ten Commandements but the rectitude of our persons to the whole Scripture which is the exposition of them First consider therefore how much perfection Gods word requireth then how short you come of that perfection this is one meanes I but some man will bee ready to say I have done what I could and yet I am not humbled To this I answer it is not the Law alone that must humble us but it must be joyned with the spirit of bondage for as to make the Gospell effectuall there is required the spirit of consolation and a faith to beleeve it so to make the Law effectuall there is required the spirit of bondage and faith proportionable The spirit of bondage is that which enlightneth us to see the bondage wherein we are by reason of our sinnes and then is required a faith to beleeve the threats against those sinnes for faith is required to beleeve Gods threats as well as his promises faith in the generall being nothing but a lifting us up to see what nature cannot for when the uncleane person is threatned

But such repentance as will save thy soule is a sorrow for they sinne that is past and a purpose for the time to come to endevour to leave all sinne arising out of a love to God for all repentance ariseth either out of a love of God or else from selfe-love if it be out of a love of God thou wilt presently give thy selfe unto his service and forsake thy sinne if it be not out of love to God but out of selfe-love that thou purposest to forsake thy sinne then it is not true repentance b●● false and riseth from by-respects Repentance is hard to be had it is not in thine owne power except God breathe a new life into thee thou canst not repent thou art as the red clod of earth before God of which he made Adam it had no life untill he breathed into it so while the spirit breatheth in us we are dead A Beast may desire his owne life so may a man his owne salvation but hee can doe nothing without the spirit blowes When then the spirit blowes why wilt thou be so foolish as to deferre thy repentance unto another time If a man upon paine of death were within twenty dayes to be beyond the Seas if the wind should blow well for his purpose the first second or third day would hee bee so foolish as to neglect it and deferre his journey and say it may bee it will blow againe tenne dayes hence and then I will goe No he will not be so foolish for hee knowes the winde bloweth where and when it listeth and therefore he will take it when it blowes least it blow there no more In these earthly things men are not so foolish why therefore are they so ignorant in this point of spirituall wisdome Let every one of us then hereby be perswaded to learne wisedome when the spirit bloweth neglect it not certaine it is that except it doth blow in thy heart thou art damned therefore when it doth blow suppose it be at 17. or 18. yeeres of age neglect it not omit it not neither deferre it it may be it will never blow againe and thou canst not make it blow when thou wouldest for it is free There are none which live vnder the Gospell but at some time or other have had some blasts of the Spirit but in some it vanisheth as bubbles in the water but let us take heed of that and unlesse we could have them againe when we would let us not let them passe when thou hast but the least sparke let it not goe out leave it not till it is become a slame to purifie thy heart Francis Spira neglecting these comfortable blasts at the last wished that hee might have had but one drop of that comfort which once he despised and so till his last breath cryed out I am damned God not therefore still on in thy sinnes falsly perswading thy selfe saying thou shalt bee saved Remember what God threatneth unto such men Deut. 29. 19. He that hearing the words of this curse shall blesse himselfe saying I shall have peace though I follow my sinnes the Lord will not bee mercifull to that man Sit downe therefore but one halfe houre and consider with thy selfe that thou art but a dead man and that thou canst not quicken thy selfe but it is God onely that is able to quicken thee and the quickeneth whom hee will and those whom he quickeneth are but very few as the gleaning after the harvest or the grapes after the vintage and thou knowest not whether thou art in that small number Consider I say but this with thy selfe and surely this will make thee never to give thy selfe rest untill thou findest life in thee and never be quiet untill thou art sure thou art quickened Another Use which wee will make of this point is If naturally all men are dead in trespasses and sinnes this should teach us how to esteeme of civill men and such like wee should esteeme of such men as of dead men and therefore 1 We should not overvalue them 2 We should not make them our companions First We should not overvalue them For their beauty they have none that is true beauty what beauty have dead men in them they are dead let us not regard their seeming beauty Esteeme the poore Saints for they though never so meane are better then those though never so brave Grant your civill men bee as Lions then which no irrationall creature is better and that your Saints are but as dogges then which no creature is worser yet a living dogge is better than a dead Lion It 's a signe of a new life to esteeme no carnall excellencie so saith Paul 2 Cor. 5. 16 17. Wherefore henceforth know wee no man after the flesh yea though wee have knowne Christ after the flesh yet now henceforth know wee him no more Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things are past away behold all things are become new hee that is a new creature will not regard these things but they will bee dead in his account They account us but dead men therefore let us account them so also Secondly Make them not your companions Wee may and ought to love them with the love of pitty but not with the love of delight and complacency if thou love them and delight in them it is a signe thou art dead also yet in this we are to blame that wee doe not more pitty them and seeke their salvation but wee must not delight in them and make them our familiar acquaintance for wee can never thrive in grace till we leave them for although they bee dead yet they have a leaven which wil infect thee although thou perceivest it not Wee use to say wee will make use to our selves of the good in them but let the hurt goe but wee cannot doe so for wee are insensibly hurt when we thinke we are furthest from it Even as a man is tanned when he is working in the Sunne and hee never perceives it so doth their company infect us insensibly when wee thinke least of it It 's therefore but a folly to purpose to serve God and not to breake off their company yea it is a plaine contradiction Every man is compared to a coale he is either living or dead if he be a living coale hee will kindle him that is next him but if hee bee a dead coale hee then will blacke and fully thee Even so it is with company if it be good and zealous it will kindle our affections but if bad it will bee sure to infect us therefore from such company thou must either gaine good or harme but for good certaine it is that thou canst receive none and therefore thou must receive harme If thou walke with the wise thou shalt be more wise if with the foole thou shalt learne folly Pro. 13. 20. The third Use wee will make of this point is this

like iron which while it is hot in the fire you may fashion it which way you will but when it is once out it is presently stiffe againe So Pharaoh as long as Gods hand was on him hee would let the people goe but as soone as the fire of affliction was removed his heart was hardned so was Ahab and Saul But in true humiliation God takes away the iron heart gives an heart of flesh so that although it may be brawnie a little yet still it is flesh Hypocrites so long onely as they are under the judgement are soft but the heart of the godly is alwaies soft Thirdly by the signes of brokennesse of heart Now brokennesse of heart 1. Heales our sinnes First the beloved the master sinne and then all the rest other humiliation skinne over but cures not it stops the streame for a while but it breakes out againe it may cause you to make many purposes to leave the sinne yea and to leave it awhile but you will returne to them againe whereas if one bee truly humbled he is stronger against that beloved sin than against any other not but that hee hath strong inclinations to that sinne but hee is more shye of it and shunnes the occasions of that sinne because hee hath fully felt the smart of it and hath by his humiliation seene that sinne more than any other Now after the beloved sinne is once healed then the other sinnes will soone be healed as in a cloth by washing out a deeper staine the same labour doth wash out lesser staines 2. It causeth love of Christ So Mary Magdalen because she was humbled much and saw that Christ had forgiven her much therefore she loved much So Paul who was much humbled ever expressed a servent love to Christ as we may see Acts 21. 13. where hee saith having beene perswaded by his friends not to goe to Jerusalem I am ready not to bee bound but also to dye for the name of the Lord Iesus as who should say I feare nothing because I care for nothing but Christ So also 2 Cor. 5. 14. he saith The love of Christ constraineth mee and therefore when by humiliation we see what Christ hath done for us we thinke we can never doe enough for him Now you may know if you love Christ or not by these signes The first signe to know the love of Christ is obedience Hee that loveth Christ keepeth his Commandements and they are not grievous unto him The second signe is this If you love him you shall finde in your heart that you love him your heart will be carried towards him as I can tell if I love a man for then my heart is carried towards him The third signe to know the love of Christ is this It causeth me to esteeme of spirituall things to prize them at an high rate and other things little worth for when a man is soundly humbled aske him then what he desires most he will answer Christ and Grace and that his corruptions may cease in him as for outward things hee passeth not for them as a man that sees he must dye hee cares for no outward wealth take you that give him onely the pardon of his sinnes The fourth signe of the love of Christ is this It maketh him content with the meanest condition The prodigall Sonne when he was humbled so he might be in his fathers house he was content he liked the meanest condition even to be a servant I am unworthy to be thy sonne make mee as one of thy hired servants Luk. 15. 21. So Paul after hee was humbled thought himselfe unworthy for the Saints company and that not for a fit onely but even ever after he still cryes out I am unworthy to be an Apostle Thus Naomi returning home to her Countrey said she went out full and yet had nothing but her selfe sonnes and husband she accounted any thing too much for her If a man once come to be verily perswaded that he is worthy to be destroyed hee can with patience beare any losses and crosses for these are nothing to death which he knowes he hath deserved therefore what impatience soever thou hast so much art thou short of true humiliation The fifth signe to know we love Christ is this It makes us fearefull of offending God tendernesse of conscience is ever according to the measure of true humiliation for by how much the more we are humbled by so much doe wee feare to offend God and labour to walke obediently unto him Esay 66. 2. the Lord saith To him will I looke that is poore and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word If thou art of a contrite heart thou wilt tremble at his words that is at his Commandements such an one feares to breake any Commandement he is sensible of the least sinne Hence it is that Prov. 28. 14. feare is opposed to hardnesse of heart Happy is the man that feareth alway but he that hardneth his heart shall fall into mischiefe Now the opposite to hardnesse is brokennesse of heart but feare is opposed to it because it is a signe of brokennesse of heart Now this fearfulnesse stands in two things 1. In a facility to be convicted of any sinne for he that is not thus broken in heart stands out with God and will not yeeld unto him 2. In a feare to offend God for when hee is once convinced he labours to doe according to his knowledge and then is afraid to displease God either 1 In committing the least sinne as Moses would not leave the least hoofe behinde him and as Iob feared lest his sonnes should have sinned in heart Iob 1. 4. He was so truly humbled that hee would not sacrifice for owne sinnes onely but even for his sonnes also and that the least the thoughts of their hearts 2 In omitting the least good duty or doing it formally which thing the hypocrite cannot doe because he hath not this tendernesse of conscience The sixth signe of the love of Christ is this It makes Gods Word sweet unto us as it was to David Sweeter than the honie and the home-combe Crummes are sweet to an hungry man so if a man hunger after the Gospell it will be sweet unto him Indeed if the Word be sweetened with humane Eloquence it may bee sweet to one that is carnall for so it is pleasing to nature but if the purer it is and the more it is seperated from those gaudy flowers if the more piercing it is the sweeter it is to us then it is a signe of a broken heart for it is a reproach to those that have not a broken heart and so it cannot be sweet as wee may see Ier 6 10. where the Lord saith Behold their eare is uncircumcised and they cannot hearken behold the Word of the Lord is unto them a reproach they have no delight mit And againe the Prophet saith Ier. 15. 16.