Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	blood_n	flesh_n	life_n	8,602	5	5.1948	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A12361	Iacobs ladder, or The high way to heauen Being the last sermon that Master Henry Smith made. And now published, not (as many forged things haue beene in his name) to deceiue the Christian reader, but to instruct and prepare him with oyle in his lampe, ioyfully to meete the Lord Iesus in his second comming.	Smith, Henry, 1550?-1591.	1595 (1595)	STC 22677; ESTC S122459	18,803	31

seruant which receiued a print in his eare after the manner of the Iewes in token that he would serue his master for euer like the vestures which bare their owners marke Therefore the holy Ghost crieth so often Be faithfull euen vnto the death Be not wearie of well doing Take heede lest ye fall for when thou art weary of thy goodnes God doth not count thee good but wearie of goodnes and when thou declinest from righteousnes GOD doth not count thee righteous but reuolted from righteousnes therefore Paul sayth Pray continually as though prayer were nothing without continuance Iacob did not ouercome God so soone as hee began to wrestle with him but when hee had wrestled with him al night And it is said that Christ tooke pittie of them that stayed with him I will not leaue thee saith Elisha to Eliah so wee should not leaue God some came into the vineyeard in the morning and some at noone but none receiued any rewarde but they which stayde vntill night As Gods mercie indureth for euer so our righteousnes should indure for euer Euery thought and word and deede of a faithfull man is a step towards heauen in euery place he meeteth Christ euery thing puts him in minde of God he seekes him to find him and when hee hath found him he seekes him still hee is not satisfied because at euery touch there comes some virtue from him Iacob serued seuen yeares for Rachel and after them he serued seuen more and yet hee was content to serue seuen more and when hee had serued so many yeares they seemed vnto him as nothing because he loued hee which serued so long for Rachel serued all his life for heauen and if he had liued till this day he would haue serued God still and thought it nothing because be loued him to haue the Arke but a while doth more hurte to the Philistins than benefite them so to serue God but a while dooth more damage vs then helpe vs for happier is the Childe which neuer began than Iudas whose end was worse than his beginning What a lamentable thing is it to heare this plainte of him which was once the strongest in the worlde Sampson hath lost his strength for Dalilah for the loue of Dalilah that doth not loue him to shew what a shame it is to end worse than we begin Christ shewes what a reproach it was vnto him which began to builde and coulde not set vp the roofe the passingers by poynted with their fingers and saide this man began a foundation but hee could not couer it so they will say this man thought to bee holy but hee could not keepe promise What shal I say saith Iosnuah when Israel turneth the back when Israel turnes the backe this astonished him and this makes the whole Temple shake when the pillars tremble What an offence is it to the Church to see Peter to denye Christ which saide euen now that hee would neuer forsake him To see Lot committe incest with his daughters in the mount which striued so to preserue them chaste in Sodome to see Solomon worship Idols which erected the Temple for the worship of God to see Noah mocked of his sonne for drunkennes for whose righteousnes his sonne escaped as if the starres should fall from Heauen and light goe from the sunne Wisdome is angrie with him which leaueth his righteousnes to become worse the Vine would not forsake her grapes the Oliue would not forsake his fatues the figge tree would not leaue his sweetenes but the bramble did hee is not the Vine nor the Oliue nor the Figgetree but hee was a bramble made for the fire which leaueth the ioyes let the dogge turne to the vomit and the swine to the wallowe but you like Abraham holde on thy sacrifice vnto the euening in the euening of thy life and a full measure shall be measured vnto thee This is a long sleppe and man is like a horse which loueth short iourneyes therfore how can hee hold out so farre when one tolde Socrates that hee would very faine goe to Olympus but hee feared that he should not be able to endure the paynes Socrates answered him I know that thou vsest to walke euery day betweene thy meales which walke continue forward in thy way to Olympus and within fiue or sixe dayes thou shalt come thither how easie this was and yet he sawe it not so is the way to Heauen if men doe bende themselues asmuch to doe good as they beate their braines to doe euill they might goe to Heauen with lesse trouble than they goe to hell Our idle houres are enough to get wisdome knowledge and faith till we were like saints among men if thou looke onely to the stoppes tell all the thornes which he in thy way thou shalt goe fearefully wearilie and vnwillingly euery thing shal turne thee aside and euery snaile shall step before thee and take thy crowne from thee but then lift vp thine eyes from the earth and looke to Christ calling the spirite assisting the Father blessing the Angels comforting the word directing the crowne inuiting and thy fetters shal fall from thee thou shalt rise like the Sunne maruaile how the thing could seeme so hard and bee so easie when ye doe well remember that ye change not for the worse and doe as ye doe then and ye shal continue to the ende Now I haue encouraged you like souldiers and taken away your feare I will bring you to the sight of your enemies and will set them before your face not to weaken you for that were want of charitie but to make you wary which is true loue indeede To number them surely I cannot they are so many and exactlie to describe them it is beyond my skill they are so subtill Howbeit to giue you a little taste I may say as Elisha saide to his seruant and you shall see it if you haue your eyes open seare not for they that be with vs are more than they that be with them and he that is on our side is stronger then all But if you will heare what the holy Apostle saith touching them I can tell you Hee affirmeth and that by the very spirite of God we wrestle not against flesh and blood onely but against principalities powers worldlie gouernours the Princes of the darkenes of this worlde euen spirituall wickednesses in the high places And S. Iohn saith they are the lustes of the flesh the lust of the eyes the pride of life let other men thinke of them what they list they that heare them thus described and haue felt the force of them in their owne soules could not chuse but confesse that they haue been many in number mightie in power subtill in practise and what not who knoweth not this that the more enemies wee haue the more need we haue both of force outwardlie and of care inwardly as againe the more powerfull they are and the more weake wee

The time past is gone and thou canst not recall that to repent in the time to come is vncertaine and thou canst not assure that to repent in the present time is onely thine and thou maiest repent in that but anon that will bee gone too Therefore when Christ wept ouer Ierusalem hee sayd O if thou hadst knowne in this thy day calling none their day but this day if none can bee called thy day but this day then this is thy day of repentance or els thou hast none at al. Therfore one resembleth the mercy of God to the Poole in Iurie where the sicke and leprous lay for at one time of the day an Angell came and stirred the water and then he which stept in first was healed of his disease he which stept in first was healed none but he which stept in first so he which taketh time is sure but hee which foresloweth time oftener faileth thā speedeth for when golden opportunitie is past no time will fit for it yet as when Christ went about to cast out diuels they sayd that hee tormented them before the time so whensoeuer thou goest about to dismisse thy sinnes and pleasures though thou stay till thou beest sicke and old and readie to dye yet they will say still that thou dismissest them before the time but then is the time when the diuell saith the time is not yet for the diuell is a lyar and knoweth that what licour our vessels be seasoned with at the first they will tast of the same euer after Therefore linger not with Lot for if the Angell had not snatched him away he had perished with Sodom for his delay They were not wise virgins but foolish virgins which sought not for oyle before the Bridegroome came Samuell began to serue God in his minoritie Timothie read the Scriptures in his childhood Iohn grewe in spirite as he ripened in yeares so whether thou be old or yong thy repentance cannot bee too soone because thy sinne is gone before If thou lackest a spurre to make thee runne see howe euery day runneth away with thy life youth commeth vpon childhood age commeth vpon youth death commeth vpon age with such a swift sayle that if our minutes were spent in mortifying our selues yet our glasse would be runne out before wee had purged halfe our corruptions Thus much of the first step The second step in your iourney is to keepe the way as God taught the Israelites a way to Canaan sending a fierie pillar before them which they did follow wheresoeuer it went so when he ordained a heauen for men hee appointed a way to come vnto it which way he that misseth shal neuer come to the end As Herod sought Christ ouer all Iurie but none founde him but those which followed the starre so there is something still that leadeth men to Christ which we must follow or els we cannot come where hee is There bee many wrong waies as there be many errors but there is but one right way as there is but one trueth And therefore Iacob did not see many but one Ladder which reached to heauen and Iohn Baptist is sayd not to prepare the waies of the Lorde but the way shewing that there is but one right way in this life which Salomon vnderstandeth for the meane and therefore he saith Turne not to the right hand nor to the left implying that wee may erre aswell of the right hand as of the left as if hee should say some are too hotte as other are too cold some are too superstitious as other are too careles some are too fearefull as other are too cōfidēt there is as zeale without knowledge a loue without singlenes a prayer without faith and a faith without fruites Therefore the Apostle doth warne vs to examine whether we be in the faith not whether we haue a kind of faith but whether we be in the faith that is the true faith Therefore Paule saith Runne so it is not enough to runne but wee must know how we runne it is not enough to heare but we must care how to heare it is not enough to beleeue but we must care how we beleeue it is not enough to pray but we must care how we pray it is not enough to worke but wee must care how wee worke for we cannot doe good vnlesse wee doe it well as wee may see in this example Cain offered and God abhorred because he cared not for the manner God cared not for his offering Simon Magus beleeued Herod listened Foelix feared Saul obeyed Iesabell fasted the Pharisees prayed but because they did not beleeue so heare so feare so obey so fast so pray so as he which saith Learne of me whē they say that they haue fasted prayed and obeied Christ he will answer them as hee doth in Mathew I know you not Therefore if ye aske like the scribe how ye shal come to heauen the right way to heauen is the word which came from heauen But here some will say the word indeed doth containe the right way but many cannot finde that way without a guide Therefore I haue picked out of the worde that way which God calleth the right way the way which the word doth set thee in to heauen is to doe vnto other as thou wouldest haue other doe vnto thee to exercise good workes and yet beleeue that Christs works shal saue thee to pray without doubting and yet be content that thy prayer be not graunted to keepe within thy calling and doe nothing by contention to bring thy will vnto Gods will and suffer for Christ because he hath suffered for thee to repent not onely for thine open and grosse faultes but for to count euery sinne great to apply all things to the glory of God and of euery thing to make some vse Thus the worde goeth before vs like the fierie pillar and shewes vs when we are in and when we are out or else the broad way would seeme the best way and therefore all which care not for the word go like blinde men to hell for heauen looke but to the Papists which haue the word in an vnknowne tongue some clamber to heauen with merites some by Angels some by penance and some by pardons and euery man hath a way by himselfe and all out of the way As Naaman answered Elisha whē he was commaunded to wash himselfe in Iorden are not Abanah and Pharpar riuers of Damascus better then Iorden may I not wash there and be healed so they say are not pardons as good as works are not pilgrimages as good as prayers is not sacrifice as good as obedience is not reading as good as preaching may I not goe to heauen this way and that way as well as by the word No as no water but Iorden could clēse Naamans leprosie so no way but the word can bring to heauen For which cause the lawes of God are called the waies of God and the word of God