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	holy_a	scripture_n	6,955	5	5.9774	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B08802	Faith & experience:, or, A short narration of the holy life and death of Mary Simpson, late of Gregories Parish in the city of Norvvich: who dyed, anno 1647 in or about the thirtieth yeare of her age after 3 yeares sicknesse and upwards. Containing a confession of her faith and relation of her experience, taken from her owne mouth. To which is added a sermon preached at her funerall, upon Rom. 14. 6,7. / by John Collings.	Collinges, John, 1623-1690.; Collinges, John, 1623-1690. Life & death of a true Christian deciphered in a sermon.	1649 (1649)	Wing C5316A; ESTC R231574	44,489	160

make the word a light unto your feet and a lanthorne to your paths Let your eyes be often upon it and let it be Sit tibi vel oratio assidua vel lectio nunc cum deo loquere nunc deus tecum ille te praeceptis suis instruat ille disponat quem ille divitem fecerit nemo pauperem faciet Cypr. in Ep. 1. ad Donatum p. 9. your Eye Saint Hierome praiseth Marcella a godly woman of his age that he could never come to her but she was asking him somewhat about the Scripture and had so high an opinion of her that he sayes if himselfe had any doubt he would aske her judgement O let not much reading there be a wearinesse to your flesh They are Gods Counsels and may well be our Counsellors Walke with God in their light write your lines by that rule Read often and with judgement alwayes carrying your heart with your eye You will find a glory a majesty a mystery a depth in those lines which you will never be weary of fadoming though you shall never be able to find the bottome I here presume to offer to your hands an Example which I am sure your goodnesse cannot despise for the meannesse of it She is now more Noble than you and in this happier that she hath alreadie been in Heaven a yeare before you Noblest Lady your opportunities are more your talents of Time and Parts are greater Outstrip all Examples and goe on to be as unparallel'd a president of holinesse to others as you are of other Excellencies Now the God of Grace fill you with his fulnesse and be unto you both in life and death advantage and preserve you the crowne of your surviving Noble Parent the Glory of your Sex the Comfort of your Noble friends the continuer of the Religious name of your Family and the joy of his Saints Which is and shall be the continued prayer of him who is ambitious to be accounted Noblest Lady Your most humbly obliged and devoted servant in the Lord Jesus JOHN COLLINGS TO THE Christian READER Reader THese sheets are partly my owne and partly anothers For that part of them that is not my owne it is a Relation of the precious Life and Death of one that was lately Ours but both then and much more now Christs The Relation was brought to my hands many Moneths since but my crowd of occasions hindred me from perusing of it I shall now give thee a true account of it The Relation was penn'd from her mouth by a faithfull friend nor have I injured her or thee in the transcribing of it having only rank'd the Articles of Confession in such order as I conceived most sutable and made a supply sometimes both there and in the Relation of a word or two where was some defect through the neglect or mistake possibly of the first Pen-man and in some places where her phrase though safe if safely understood was more dark subject to ambiguitie I have given thee her sense in a clearer and lesse ambiguous terme I will assure thee I have neither added nor substracted any ●hing which I conceive materiall For what is mine in these sheets It is a short Copy of a Sermon at her Buriall it was composed in a short time and transcribed with as much haste I had rather profit thee by plainnesse than tickle thee with exactnesse I am sure the Sermon hath rather lost than got by keeping in my Study I was willing for thy good to let it wait upon her memorie who while she lived we were all so much beholden to The plainness and meannesse of the Sermon will tell thee I hope I send it not to thee to beg Honour but to serve thy soule in the meanest place Reader thou hast here a Sermon proved by a fresh Experience O adde another Proofe requite my paines by letting the truth delivered have a witnesse in thy bosome Beleeve it Reader thou hast before thy eyes in these sheets a Rule and a President It is Gods word to thy soule Goe thou and doe likewise If thou readest the Relation thou wilt see what is got by seeking God early to what a pitch of grace a Saint may reach the right frame of a sober Gospell-spirit the picture of a Saint If thou readest and gainest nothing thank thy owne base heart Here 's a description of a true Christian a sight of him in a Copy and a Picture Certainly something may be got for thy and my souls profit from either If thou gainest any thing blesse thy God and pray for him who is Norwich Nov. 20. 1648. Thine in the Lord Iesus JOHN COLLINGS Faith and Experience A short Explanation of her selfe concerning divers Articles of Faith especially such as are most fundamentally necessarie to salvation Taken from her owne mouth Concerning the God-head I. I Believe there is a God and that this God i● infinite 1. In Substance 2. In Holinesse and in Being that there are 3 Persons in the divine Being The Father the Sonne the Holy Ghost each one God and yet in being but one God Concerning the way to come to know God II. I believe that this God is made knowne to us by his Word and by his Workes That there is a way of the knowledge of God by the Scripture and that there is a way of the knowledge of God in a more speciall way wherein God by his Spirit revealeth himselfe to his people experimentally yet according to Scripture Concerning the Word of God the holy Scriptures III. I believe That the holy Scripture is the very Word of God 1. Because it declares the Wisedome of God 2. Because it discovers our vilenesse and folly 3. Because it puts us upon purity 4. Because it reveales to us the great mysteries of Salvation I believe That God by this his Word is made knowne to us 1. As he is in himselfe by his Nature 2 By his Names which are his Attributes or 2. his Names of Relation Concerning Gods works of Creation and Providence IV. I believe That this God is further made knowne to us by his Workes of Creation I believe His work of Creation was his Creating of all things in heaven and earth I believe That God did create all things in heaven and earth I put a difference between Creating and Making To make is to produce something out of something To create is to produce something out of nothing I believe that God did make all things in heaven and earth for man and man onely for himselfe and his service Concerning the Creation of man in speciall and the state of innocency in which he was created V. I believe That God made man only for himselfe and his service I believe That man was made in such an estate whereby he was able to serve God by that divine grace which was put into him by God himselfe I believe That man being thus created was infinitely ingaged to serve his God because hee had

thus made him and all things else for his use and service I believe That all that God made amongst which was man was exceeding good and whatsoever was afterward not good was through the defect of the Creature I believe That man being thus made and engaged to serve his God yet was made liable to fall Concerning the Fall of man VI. I believe That Man fell and that wholly from God and that being thus fallen God might justly have taken advantage upon fallen man and have cast him and his posterity off to all Eternity as hee did the fallen Angels Concerning Gods workes of grace 1. Of Election VII I believe There is an Election of Grace and that according to that Election there shall be but a few that shall participate of the way of recovery by Iesus Christ. Concerning the work of Redemption and Reconciliation VIII I believe That there was no cause in man being fallen to move God to recover him from that fallen estate but onely he was moved from his owne bowells I believe being moved so from himselfe hee found out a way himselfe for mans Recovery I believe That the way so found out and the meanes by which alone fallen man can be restored was by a Mediator taking upon him our Nature that so he might pacifie the wrath of God for the sinne of our Nature that wee might thereby be fit to live with God in our Nature Concerning Originall sinne IX I believe That our Nature was sinfull and that the sin of our Nature was the cause of all our sorrowes temporall and Eternall we dyed spiritually at the instant of the fall and all shall certainly dye a temporall death and only some shall be delivered from dying eternally Further. Concerning the worke of Redemption and Reconciliation the sole Redeemer the fruit of Redemption the mysterie of conveyance c. X. I believe That as the whole Trinity did worke in the Creation of the world so they did also equally worke in the worke of our Redemption God the Father and the Holy Ghost sending and the Son being sent and comming But I believe that Christ hath alone performed the worke of redemption and reconciliation fully satisfying the Iustice of God to the utmost for all his I believe also that every man in the world is beholding to God for Iesus Christ for the enjoyment of their lives and of the creatures and that for the present they are reprieved from hell and damnation I believe That Reconciliation is to be found in no other but in Iesus Christ who is the alone great Reconciler betwixt God and his people I believe That the worke of Redemption is a great mysterie for the divine Nature to take upon him the humane nature O it is a great Mysterie I believe also That it is a great Mysterie in regard of the way of its particular conveyance And that Christ hath not onely purchased this salvation but also makes a particular Declaration of it 1. By his Word 2. By the Worke of his spirit on the soule And 3. By the witnesse of the spirit I believe That in this worke Jesus Christ purchased strength for every beleever to withstand Sin Death and Hell Concerning Perseverance in Grace XI I believe That by the Lord Jesus Christ there is power purchased for every Believer to withstand Sinne Death and Hell Notwithstanding that the fallen Angels the Devils as they were the first occasion of the fall so they are great hinderers of this worke of Grace and Restauration they having us at such an advantage Concerning Death and the Resurrection and the Immortality of the soule XII I believe That all men according to Gods appointment must dye and continue in the Grave The bodies I meane of every Man and Woman that so they might be made fit for eternity some for eternall wrath others for eternall glory I believe That the soules of all immediately after death goe to God that gave them there to give an account for what they have done in the flesh I believe that the Resurrection of the Saints to grace here and glory hereafter is purchased by the Death Resurrection and Ascensian of Jesus Christ I believe That the same bodies both for substance and forme every joint and limbe shall rise againe and not a bone shall be wanting A substantiall body both for flesh and bones that I prove by Christs resurrection who was raised with the same body Object But you will say Christs body lay but three dayes in the Grave and so his body was not rotted in the dust but ours will lye so long that our bodies shall be turned into dust Ans I Answer The same power that made the body of Adam out of the dust the same power can raise our bodies again although turned to dust So that the worke of Resurrection is a curious worke and secretly wrought in the wombe of the earth as the child is secretly wrought in the womb of the mother There shall be the same matter to make the bodies of in the Resurrection at the last day that there was when God first formed the body of Adam viz. The Dust of the earth The same power shall raise all our bodies though turned to dust Concerning the day of Iudgement XII I believe That Christ shall come personally to judge the world and that with an audible voice by the word of his mouth he shall raise the dead And that at the day of judgement all the sins of the godly shall be laid upon Iesus Christ. They here in the world accuse themselves for sinne and so shall be excused at the last day It is the office of conscience to accuse here or hereafter Conscience having done its office there shall be nothing objected against them at that day But they shall heare that blessed Sentence Come ye blessed of my Father Concerning Glorification heaven XIV I believe The godly at the day of Iudgement shall heare that blessed Sentence Come yee blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome prepared for you before the beginning of the world I believe In Heaven there shall be no Infant of dayes nor old man of yeares The corruptible life of of the creature shall not inherit eternall life there shall no weaknesse no deformity what ever accompany that life there shall be no eating nor drinking in it but singing Hallelujahs to God for ever I will conclude with the Psalmist Psalm 139. I will praise the Lord for I am fearefully and wonderfully made marvellous are thy works and that my soule knowes right well Reader Thou hast thus far read her Faith now hear her Storie that was faithfully taken from her own mouth And so also was this that followes being the Relation of Gods dealings with her Psalm 34. 8. Taste and see how good the Lord is Psalm 66. 16. Come and I will tell you what God hath done for my soule I shall speake nothing but what God hath done in me and for me THe

first worke that God ever wrought in my soule was a worke of conviction He convinced my soul of the sin of Sabboth-breaking I found much opposition to that worke and it was some space of time before I could get strength against that sinne but ever and anon I was given up to the sinne againe which was yet a burthen to my soule I had no Observe Gods first worke in conversion strength against it for the present till at length the Lord was pleased to discover another strength than that I had from my selfe which was the strength of Iesus Christ to overcome this corruption A sight Conviction of sinne without a sight of Christ Note is not saving of it self But a sight of sin wrought by God God leaving not the worke till hee hath shewne the soule the sight of Christ That I conceive is a saving work One time me thought my fancy in the night presented to me sinne in a lump with a sight of that Christ which afterwards I saw more perfectly It was thus me Conviction thought I saw sin set out in a market upon a stall The commodity was vended to none but it brought shame and confusion of face to those that set it forth to Sale and me thought I saw likewise Christ comming owning the owner of the commodity which in time I saw he fully did in me and it was a refreshing for the present to my spirit that I saw he would do it for me though he came not presently The next thing I apprehended according to the truth of the word was that A Christ was come to doe such things as are declared in the word This I no sooner apprehended Illumination but I was set upon with temptations To question whether there was a Christ or no c. Satan wrought Secretly and Subtilly I being ignorant of his mysteries was for a certaine time given up to Sathans subtilty the temptation But as Satan wrought secretly and subtilly so God wrought invisibly and mightily to the suppressing of him For assoon as God delivered me out of the temptation I discovered a Christ fully according as he is revealed in the word to be the Christ the son of God my Saviour then I could see my great deliverance out of the temptation and not till then then I saw that if God had deliverd me finally up to the temptation I had denyed God and his Christ and his word and whatsoever he is necessary to be known by The next thing after I apprehended a Christ come was how he should be made knowne to his people to be their Iesus which in time by the ministry of the word God was pleased to make known unto me viz. that God gave Christ to dwell in the hearts of his people by grace and then my soule began to be panged with the desires of that grace of Regeneration I no sooner had a desire of grace but I fell to question the truth of Satans subtilty Grace where the Devill was subtill as in any temptation but the Lord by his mighty power overcame him for me where the wisedome of God appeared to me in Gods goodnesse Note wher it was she met with God the time as well as in the strait I attended much upon hearing the word by which God answered all my doubts and repelled Satans temptations Then Satan tempted me to doubt of the truth of Gods word I said Blessed be God! if that word be truth and no sooner was I from under the noise of the preacher but I was as full of doubting as before God took me out of that condition by putting me into another trouble which was Satans subtilty by Gods permission for my good The Devill implyed Instruments to taint my soule with monstrous and grosse errours But God of his infinite mercy would not suffer me to speak against the truth with those Instruments of Satan though I could not plead for it The Errours insinuated were these 1 That there is free will Observe her sanctified judgment of some of our new Truths in man to doe good 2 That there is no Electtion 3 That none are irreconcilably lost 4 That Christ was not come in the flesh 5 That most of the Scriptures were to be understood in an allegory These opinions they were very diligent to draw my soule to I being weake in my selfe had fallen from the truth had it not beene for the power of God and his rich condescention to me I told the parties if I did not give them arguments in one week that then I would not speake against but for that which they held and then the Lord set me abundantly to study the divine Scriptures which through ignorance or misunderstanding I thought some thing in the word was for them and something against them while I thought to attaine it only by reading but when I saw it was too hard then the Lord was pleased to help mee by meditation Observe the right way to profit by reading and prayer and strong cryes and then and not till then did I know what it was to pray out of an apprehension of wants I A right frame of spirit in seeking direction tooke the truth and errour with an equall hand neither cleaving in my affections to the one nor to the other till God was pleased to reveale it to me but I desired God to shew me which was the truth and he did accordingly Those Scriptures I apprehended made against the truth he shewed me they made for the truth Now when the Lord had revealed himselfe in this to me I was earnest with God that I might not only know these truths but I might be able to hold out these truths so as to stop the mouths of gainsayers 2 dayes after Gods revealing himselfe these parties came and God gave me to speak that they were not able to answer and at that time God gave me a promise Joh. 1. 50. Iesus answered Joh. 1. 50. and said unto him because I said unto thee I saw thee under the figtree beleevest thou thou shalt see greater A particular promise applyed generally things then these with which my Soule stood a little amazed what should be the greater things that should be revealed I found then that they should be these truths made known by experience to my Soule I went away rejoying in hope to obtaine it from this work of God I concluded that there was a work of grace begun which he would carry on to perfection The next thing I thought upon was to set downe to account the losse it would cost me to hold out these truths to the utmost which was the losse of the favour of friends disingagment to creatures but there was an ingagement to God which made me resolute to stick to the truth whatsoever it cost in the strength of God and then I saw a necessity of walking more close Her Progresse in Piety with God in

the wayes of his worship seeking to him for strength in every estate and condition what ever he put me into whether spirituall or temporall When Satan saw that I indeavored to be holy and strict he set before me a patterne of perfection by his shewing of me perfection I by the strength of Gods grace had such a sight of imperfection that I was Satans policy lost in my owne apprehension and concluded that there was no grace because there was so much imperfection and then God was pleased for to make me apprehend that Jesus Christ must come and take away the imperfections of our duties the defilement of sinne as well as the guilt which he did by revealing those promises which he caused me to rest upon in that 2 Cor. 5. 21. for 2 Cor. 5. 21. he had made him to be sinne for us who knew no sinne that we might be made the righteousnesse of God in him Mat. 1. 21. He shall save his Mat. 1. 21. people from their sins which I beleeved should be done for the future though they were not done for the present so that I saw Christ to be of use to clense me Sanctification seene before Justification before I saw him Iustifying my person which was a great refreshment to my Spirit then I began to make use of those weapons that the Apostle speaks of which are not carnall but mighty through God for the pulling downe strong holds c. and the Lord did give me much sweetnesse by communion with himselfe so that I could goe to him more The spirit of Adoption freely then to any creature under heaven and the more communion I had with him the more strength I had against temptation and corruption I found it to be The benefit of frequent prayer the most excellent means under heaven the more frequent the more familiar with God and now I began in some measure to apprehended what a temptation was in a time of temptation which was halfe a deliverance out of it this through the mercy of God in Christ Jesus I found by experience in prayer and about prayer I found first the subtilty of Satans temptations wherein I found him Sathans malice against the worke of prayer to be as great hinderer of that work of prayer as of any other if he cannot keep from it he will afflict and discourage in it and notwithstanding all this I was by Satan put upon it to question my Condition againe but God gave me a word at the same time to stay my Soule upon it was Gods token to know Paul by behold he prayes from which words I saw God took special notice of those that praid and waited upon him and when the Devill saw me bent upon prayer then he put me upon prayer which in time I saw was his work and in time it proved greatly to the Devils disadvantage and much for my incouragement I found by experience that he is like an Ape imitating what ever good God does in the Soule and there is need of much of God to discern his policy in this particular he hath counterfeit grace as well as God hath true grace and he hath evill Ioy as God hath Soule-refreshing reviving and sweet consolation he will have scriptures as well as God only his are to discourage from duties and Gods to incourage all the wayes of Satan are evill and all the Note wayes of God are exceeding good and his paths are very pleasant When Satan saw he could not defile my soule by one temptation he sets upon me by another and with manifold temptations all at once So that he put my Soule into a darke mist by his temptations and I walked sadly for some Dayes together to the wonderment of my friends that were about me I could not expresse my selfe in any thing because my temptations and tumults in my spirit were so high in many things but the Lord at that time did much stay and refresh my spirit with the word Isay 50. 10. whereby Isa 50. 10. I saw that my condition at that time was no other then was incident to Gods owne people and so the Lord carried me on from one condition to another in straights and revealed no more to me for the present then this that my condition was such as was incident to the Saints The next thing I saw was that Iesus More Illumination Christ was the Iustifier of his people and that Iustification was conveyed to the soule in a way of beleeving and then my Soule said oh that I could beleeve on him that Iustifies the ungodly The more understanding I had of God in that way the more I saw of mine owne filthinesse I saw filthinesse in the holy things of God as performed by me so that I found that word of the Apostle good That in me that is in my flesh dwells no good thing but to will is by the Rom. 7. grace of God present with me but how to doe good I found not which through the grace of God wrought in my Soule a restlesse desire after a Christ in a way of beleeving that so I might fetch strength from Christ for the subduing of every corruption that I might know whether I were in a state of Iustification this I found that the more Satan tempted me that his temptations were as a weapon put into my hand to fight against himselfe withall through the mighty operation of God his strength was made knowne in my weaknesse Still Faith hard God put into my Soule such a restlesse disposition that I could not be satisfied without Christ so that I said within my selfe give me a Christ or I dy and the disposition to beleeving I found very difficult and hard when God set me upon it a work too hard for me without the power of an Omnipotent God which The way of obtaining it made me the more eagarly to persue it at the hands of him who was able to give it God when his set time was come wrought every disposition in me sutable to the grace that hee was about to convey to my Soule and then I saw nothing in any thing either in heaven or earth that could doe me good but the revealing Iesus Christ to my Soule Duties would not justify no inherent grace was no Iustification in it selfe though a fruit of Iustification yet no cause of it Iesus Christ was the all in all both for Sanctification 2 Cor. 3. last and Iustification and there I saw a way to make use of Christ by way of Iustification I saw more fully then before that all my righteousnesse was imperfect but in Christ it was compleate when the love of God was thus discovered to my Soule then it did constraine me to work out of a higher principle then before I thought with my selfe were there no hell to punish nor Heaven to reward yet there was comfort enough in God and in the