Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A93882
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Pantalogia. The saints abundance opened. / By Thomas Sterry preacher of the gospel. Published at the earnest intreaty of some friends. Imprimatur John Downame.
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Sterry, Thomas.
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1646
(1646)
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Wing S5488; Thomason E355_28; ESTC R201127
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14,218
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28
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otherwise they wait in vain But for what for a rising Sun a superexcellent glory to be reveal'd in them in their souls after this life in their bodies after this world This is the highest fullest greatest manifestation of that glory which shall in that day sweetly fully certainly satisfie all patient desires that have been exercised in the expectation of it This is the glory the Saints wait for The third is the Spirits work Of this what more can be said what more can be thought than is summ'd-up in the 26. verse Likewise the Spirit helpeth our infirmities c. This hath two parts A Person and His work First a Person The Spirit of glory It appears he is ingaged in a Saints sufferings by those conjunctive particles Likewise also But how Not simply but in reference to his work Secondly His work To help our infirmities * Piscat Divines say to help our infirmities is Auxiliari nobis infirmis quum prae infirmitate non sufficimus oneri crucis portando The Spirit strengthening weak men to hear the burthen of the Crosse The Spirit bearing as it were the burthen that man faint not So that sufferings may load a Saint not hinder his glory The fourth is the Fathers love A royall attribute which hath its floods in persecutions hottest climate It is seen In the Fathers heart By the Fathers hand First in his heart Have you ever observ'd in the relation or action of private of publick differences how the auditors the spectators have inclin'd or sided as affection led them to the one party or with the other So sides yea far more this person of glory with all his Saints He sees he hears their sorrows their cries his heart earns and he takes their parts ver 31. If or * Ponitur autem si pro quia c. Pisc because God be with us Beza renders it on our side who can be against us The glory prepar'd therefore shall in them be reveal'd All sufferings cannot hinder in all the Father of glory sides with them is for them is with them Secondly By his hand A loving heart is open handed Can any thing be thought too much too dear to expresse a heart fully indeared to one The Scriptures tell us This Person so intirely loved that he gave his Son his onely begotten Joh. 3.16 He gave him as his rich rare love-token to the Saints A gift implies propriety and possession and this the greatest the sweetest What hindrance then can sufferings be to Saints Christ the brightnesse of the Fathers glory and all things are theirs theirs as a Right a right Peculiar to them a right injoyed by them after the sweetest the fullest way How shall he not with him also freely give us all things v. 32. This Text by some is read How doth he not c referring as it were to the particular moment of each Soul's conversion wherein the Father in the act of giving his Son doth instate them in the inheritance of all things in him By others How Hath he not c as it were pointing at the Saints present injoyment of that inheritance This seems most harmonious in the literall sound the word Hath being expressed in every Translation either silently or visibly twise before But the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 most properly signifies How shall he not c. This thwarts not the other two but according to the manner of expression a question carrying it's answer in it which is He shall with him freely give us all things renders the text as a gracious promise of continuing the Fathers bounty to the Saints begun in them at their houre of conversion Now with out any longer stay the parts of this Teat are two viz. A free giver His great gift First a free giver How shall He not freely give Who this is appears by the demonstrative particle He. A person easily known by his paternall relation 'T is He in the beginning of the verse Who spared not bis Son c. and freely to bestow this gift is His proper act Secondly His great gift But who or what is this great gift It is mark'd with a double character A Person All things How shall he not WITH HIM give us ALL THINGS First a Person a Divine a Distinct person in the Trinity Jesus Christ He is spoken of as of a Person Him as of a Divine person Him in reference to Son as of a Distirct person in the Trinity Him as Another besides this He the Father Secondly All things Some say such onely are these All things which are necessary to salvation Others These and Created things too It is true All things whether Paul or Apollo or Cophas or the world or life or death things present or to come are the Saints 1 Cor. 3.21 22. But I will not here anticipate my purpose My Doctrine from the text is this Doctr. Such as have receiv'd Jesus Christ Saints by calling injoy by his Fathers liber all hand all things with him By comparing two places I will at once prove and explain it Rom. 8.32 wherein Paul speaks as a Saint to Saints when he saith Shall be not give us all things with 1 Corinth 2.12 we know the things that are freely given us of God These places have this sence with this Difference The Father freely upon his Saints bestows all things This all things he bestows with it's distinction By things therefore he explains All things both which in sence are terms equivalent A Saints All things then are but all some things but such as in themselves are truly All things Of things the Scriptures thus distinguish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Things whose depths are fathom'd onely by the Spirit of God things Divine Things apparent to the sencitive to the rationall soul things Huntaine 1 Cor. 2.11 For what knows the THINGS OF A MAN save the spirit of man which it in him even so the THINGS OF GOD knows no man but the Spirit of God If the latter Things humain be here meant then a Saints All things are those which St. Paul cals the world this life things visible and temporall 1 Cor. 3.22 David the portion of the wicked Psal 17.14 And Solemon Things equally common to good and bad Eccl. 9.2 In such gifts in such injoyments what comfort peculiar to beleevers what difference essentiall can there be between the righteous and ungodly Their All things therefore must be Peculiar Dinisive Constitutive Things onely theirs distinguishing them constituting them Such as the naturall man hath no part in Such as differenceth them from him Such as makes them to be what they are men effectually call'd Such as these are onely the deep things of God These are the Fathers gift and these from St. Paul's mouth are call'd All things 1 Cor. 2.10 But God hath revealed which is his hidden free way of giving them unto us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth All things
yea the Deep things of God Take now that your souls may suck at the breasts of Consolation two questions of worth from this Doctrine Quest 1. Wherein doth the ABVNDANCE of a beleeving soul which is these Deep things of God ALL THINGS given fully consist or what more particularly these deep things these all things Answ The holy Trinity one God blessed for ever bestowing himself upon a creature in those sweet relations mentioned in his Word is these deep these All things in whose inward injoyment after this way which is a mysterie hid to the world consists as theirs the Saints abundance From this Answer take three notes The first is the Father is All things the Son is All things the holy Ghost is All things yet not three divided but one All things so that the beleevers abundance is to be conceived not onely to lie in the unity of the Godhead but also in the distinction of persons The second is the relations of the Father of the Son of the holy Ghost downward to the creature are equally common to each of them as one God but distinctly peculiar as three persons The Father bestowing therefore of these All things upon the creature is not onely the free manifestation of community in relation in the unity of the Godhead but also of peculiarity in the trinity of persons The third is a beleevers propriety in this gift so as he can sencibly say My abundance is by an inward relative sence of this Vnity in Trinity Thus God is All things thus he is Given thus as the abundance to the Saints Here 's wine and marrow a misterious peice of heaven displaid in each person in the Godhead which not many wise not many mighty can perceive but is freely reveal'd to tender babes First God the Father is All things abundance Ephes 3.19 That ye might be filled with all the fulnesse of God These words for their conexion their explication refer you to vers 14. viz. For this cause I how my knees to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus that is he prayeth to God the Father and for what besides other things for this as one that the beleeving Ephesians might be fill'd with his own fulnesse which may sound thus That they might have abundantly of him even all things that might make them perfect before him This person therfore freely bestows himself upon such as he bestows his Son that together with him they might have this abundance this all things A mans gift saith Solomon maketh room for him Prov. 18.16 Jesus Christ is the gift of this person and wheresoever he is there is his Father too He is there by deed of gift after the same way as Jesus Christ is So that a beleever may lay claim to him yea as truly to him as to Jesus Christ He may challenge him for his own and all that he hath as freely truly really as any thing that he injoyes in the world For the right that he hath in himself is not more firm proper unquestionable than that which a beleever hath in him it being a way of undeniable propiety which is the deed of gift in which he hath past himself over to his creature By this act and deed he makes himself over in a double relation As a Father to them God in Covenant with them First as a Father It is that which he speaks of himself 2 Cor. 6. ult I will be a Father to you Here as to behold both let your eye equally fall but with a distinct look upon the person I and the relation Father for this latter onely serves as a respective accident under which the first is referr'd and made over to the creature justified Which is done by deed of gift freely giving himself over to them I will be to you thus this person of glory becomes a Father But what is it for him to be thus related or what to give over himself as a Father A sublime mistery swelling with sweetnesse thus opened The reference of himself to them according to a mutuall objective coexistent dependance Here vulgar thoughts of Dependancie are apt but suffer them not to grow over rank This persons is only paternall such as is an inseparable conjunction of a Father and his child in their relative Existencies in their Diffinitions The one which of them soever it be cannot be so nor so call'd but by this dependance Ask what is a Father how comes he to be so Do we not answer One that hath a child and because he hath a child Transpose the termes what is a child how comes it to be so One that hath and because it hath a Father Thus he depends thus mutually Objectively as directly pointing each to other the Father to his child and the contrary in a distinction from all things subjectively depending on their substance in which they inhere Contemporarie are they too neither thus existing before or after each other but both together The Father indeed as a man the agent begetting is said to be the cause and so is in Nature before the begotten but a father the one is not till the other is a child and so he depends coexistently Of this person and a beleever as thus allied according to adoption is all this affirmed Inseparately are they for ever conjoyn'd yea so as abstract the one from the other and neither can be what thus they are neither can be thus call'd passe by our Saviours sonship of eternall generation Come to a beleever's by free adoption and he is their Father he comes to be so as they are his children adopted and because they are so His paternity their sonship have for their basis a mutuall dependance Between these to hinder the object of each others eye flies no gloomy cloud but both like the eye of day darting its beams upon the centure of the Creation are still looking upon still pointing each to other One thought of either excludes darkens neither but takes in both For touching a beleevers sonship what mind can passe a thought and in the same not include this persons paternity They are children as he is because he is their Father And which is more both relations in priority claim an equall priviledge His paternity to them precedes not their sonship neither is first or last they co-exist He is not to them a Father till they are children by adoption to him Secondly as a God in Covenant Of this way too of giving himself himself speaks Hebr. 8.10 I will be their God one article and that on Gods part are these words of a Contract a Covenant everlasting new between God and man For matter it is himself God for manner â—…deed of gift I will be theirs In the first unbound your thoughts and in some particulars inclose not him who hath in one word God given over himself without limits He will be their God not in some one attribute onely or in more but he in All gives himself