Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	body_n	member_n	soul_n	7,274	5	5.4826	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A50495	Two sticks made one, or, The excellency of unity being a sermon preached by the appointment of the Congregational and Presbyterian perswasion at their happy union on the sixth day of April, 1691, which was a day set apart by them, partly to bewail former divisions and partly as a thanksgiving to God for Their present agreement and now at their unamimous request made publick / by Matthew Mead ...	Mead, Matthew, 1630?-1699.	1691 (1691)	Wing M1562; ESTC R3764	27,269	42

Heaven will quickly fall upon her But whatever the effect of this Dispensation of God be without I am perswaded it will be great within And therefore look for some glorious appearance of Christ both in your Churches and Ministry as the result and blessed fruit of it For 6. It shall be attended with great Church Mercies So it is said ver 26 27. I will set my Sanctuary in the midst of them my Tabernacle also shall be with them What is this Sanctuary the Septuagint render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my holy things It imports Purity of Gospel Worship That in Ezek. 43.11 explains it Shew them the form of the house and the fashion thereof and the going out and the comings in thereof and all the ordinances thereof and all the Laws thereof and write it in their sight that they may keep the whole form thereof and all the ordinances thereof and do them This is setting his Sanctuary and Tabernacle in the midst of us And this receives farther light from that of John Rev. 21.2 3. When he saw new Jerusalem coming down from God then he heard a voice out of heaven saying Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them Are not these great Mercies 7. Nay it is such a Union as shall have its effect in a great increase Division is a scattering judgment Gen. 49.7 I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel But union and concord are blessed with increase When were the Churches multiplied but when they were at peace and walked together in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the holy Ghost Acts 9.31 Therefore God here doth not only promise to make them one but so to make them out that they shall thereby be many ver 26. I will multiply them And therefore sing O barren thou that didst not bear Isa ●4 1 3. for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left and thy seed shall make the desolate Cities to be inhabited And this is another Mercy here promised O the many Mercies that are the birth of this one Mercy And therefore if the two sticks are made one give the glory to him who hath made them one and hath said they shall be one in his hand Psal 118.23 For it the Lords doing and should be marvellous in our eyes And that the wonderful work of God may be to you matter of lasting joy give me leave to direct about it a little 1. Labour to manifest this union If God hath made the two Sticks one let it appear that they are one Make it evident by seeking each others welfare rejoyce in the gifts and graces and successes of others as if they were our own contributing your counsels assistance sympathy and prayers for the common good When we live and act as they that have but one Essence and Interest this makes the union manifest and shews that we are in a sense one as God and Christ are one 2. Use all means to preserve the union God hath made the two sticks one and he looks you should preserve the oneness You come hardly by it Non minor est virtus c. don t let it go it hath cost many prayers to obtain it and therefore we should spare no cost to preserve it What is hardly got should not be easily lost It is as much a Duty to endeavour to keep it as it was to seek it Indeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace Eph. 4.3 Need I use any Motives to press this Motive 1. How many unities doth the Apostle urge as Arguments for the maintaining this Unity All things in Religion are reduced to one that the people of God may be one and abide one Eph. 4 4. There is one body and one spirit one hope of your calling one Lord one faith one baptism one God and father of all who is above all and through all and in you all How many Ones are here to move the People of God to be one 1. There is one Body As Christ had but one natural Body so he hath but one Mystical Christ hath many Members but he hath but one body and all that believe in Christ are that one body Now how monstrous is it for the Members of the same Body to fight one against another to rend and tare one another for the Hand to pluck out the Eye the Mouth to tear the Hand c. What nearer then Members of the same Body Brethren that have been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of the same Womb have been divided in Interest and Affections and have defaced all feelings of Nature You have instances of this in Cain and Abel Jacob and Esau 1 Cor. 12.25 But it is not so with Members of the same Body They care one for another and perform their several Offices for the common good Now ye are not only Friends and Brethren but Members of one Body 2. There is one Spirit As all the natural Members of the same Body have but one and the same Soul so all the Members of the Mystical Body of Christ have one and the same Spirit One Spirit to inlighten and teach one Spirit to sanctifie and one Spirit to direct and lead Why then should they not have one heart and one way when they are taught and led by one Spirit Is he not the Spirit of Love and Meekness 3. There is one hope of our Calling i. e. One Heaven our hoped for Glory to which all are called There is one Inheritance for all the Saints and why should theer not be one Heart in them that have one Inheritance 4. There 's one Lord and that is the Lord Christ whom we all worship and serve And shall fellow Servants differ that have the same Lord Is Christ divided 1 Cor. 1.13 5. There is one Faith One Systeme of Christian Doctrine and if their be but one Faith why should we not be united therein in one judgment 6. There is one Baptism This is that Sacrament whereby we are distinguished from the unbelieving World and incorporated into the Body of Christ As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. And shall we by our discords unbaptize our selves by dividing from that Body into which we were baptized 7. There is one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in all All these are to be restrained to the Church Father of all by Regeneration above all by his Dominion through all by his Presence and special Providence in all by his Spirit and Grace And shall not we be one that have one God Shall he be over us and through us and in us and should not this be an Argument to preserve Union among us Motive 2. This is one great end of all Christs undertakings It was one end of his coming into the World That in the fulness of time

dunghil And 1 Revel 19.14 the Saints are said to follow Christ cloathed in fine linnen clean and white their cloathing shows their holiness and their following him shews their oneness and when they follow him thus cloathed then you read of his sharp sword and his iron rod and his treading the wine press of the wrath of God upon his enemies v. 15. all which is explained in the following words to the end of the Chapter where you have the Battle of Armageddon fought and the Beast and false Prophet and all the rest of the Churches Enemies destroyed And if the destruction of the Churches Enemies be a consequent of their Union then when God makes the two sticks one it is a great Mercy I might add 3. The notice that God would have to be taken of it speaks out the greatness of the mercy That they may know from the rising of the Sun to the West that there is none besides me I am the Lord and there is none else I make peace and create evil Isa 45.6 4. The blessings and prosperity that flow from this Union speak the greatness of the mercy Psal 122.7 When peace is within Jerusalem 's walls there will be prosperity within her Palaces But I pass these and shall insist only on this one thing which will sufficiently set forth the greatness of this Mercy and Union and that is 5. The Evils and Divisions among God's People Their Name is Legion they are so many Nothing thrives where this Wolf sets his foot Where envy and strife is there is confusion and every evil work James 3.16 It is the root of many bitter fruits We read Gen. 38. that Pharez was the Son of Tamar Pharez signifies Fraction and Division Tamar signifies a Palm-Tree Ab amaritudine say some from bitterness Pagnine Division comes from bitterness and brings forth bitter fruits Deut. 32.31 The grapes of it are grapes of gall the clusters are bitter For instance Your Divisions are very dishonourable to Jesus Christ they cause his Name to be blasphemed in the World Rom. 2.24 Nay it is an implicite denying him to be come in the flesh For when he comes this is to be one effect of it Isa 11 6. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb c. It is one Argument the Jews have against Christ's being come because this Prophecy is not fulfilled My Brethren Is the Lord Christ come into the World or is he not If not why do ye own it If he is why don't ye manifest it It is your Union that must prove Christ's Mission Christ prays for the Oneness of his Disciples for this very end John 17.21 That they all may be one that the world may believe that thou hast sent me And again v. 23. Let them be perfect in one that the world may know that thou hast sent me As if Christ should say the World will never believe that thou hast sent me that my Doctrine is true if they that profess it live not in the power of it and are not made one by it Thou art Love and what shall convince the World that I came out of the Bosome of the Father's love when my Disciples hate one another Oh how dishonourable to Christ must this be 2. Divisions are a great grief to the Spirit of God and we are commanded not to grieve him Eph. 4.30 Grieve not the holy spirit of God Have ye not your light and life from the Spirit Did not he convince and convert and draw you to Christ Was it not he that lead you into the Secrets of God that revealed the Mysteries of the Kingdom the deep Things of God and Eternal Life to you Your Calling had never been effectual if the Spirit had not been in it to make it so Are not your Parts 2 Cor. 12.4 and Gifts and various Attainments all from the Spirit And is not every Grace and every Degree of Grace in you the Workmanship of the Spirit And is it not the Spirit that quickens you in Duties and maintains in you a frame of heart for communion with God Who is it that comforts your Souls in troubles 1 Cor. 1.4 and that teaches you to comfort others that helps you against Corruptions within and Temptations without that conquers your Difficulties and inables you to rejoyce in Tribulation Is it not the Spirit Is not he the earnest of your inheritance Eph. 1.14 Eph. 4.30 Hath he not sealed you to the day of redemption and will you grieve this Spirit Oh what an evil is this 3. There is nothing more contrary to Christianity and yet we cover our Divisions under the cloak of Religion the very Name whereof carries Union with it Religio à religando It is the Bond of God upon the Soul that binds us all to himself and one to another As God is the God of Peace Christ the Prince of Peace Eph. 6.15 the Holy Ghost the Spirit of Peace his Children the Children of Peace so the Gospel you profess and preach is the Gospel of Peace full of Precepts of Peace you are Rom. 12.18 Mark 9.50 if it be possible and as much as in you lies to live peaceably with all men much more to have peace one with another else you violate your Baptismal Covenant 1 Cor. 12.13 For by one spirit we are are all baptized into one body whether we be Jews or Gentiles bond or free And what an evil is this It is Death to force a Virgin what is it then to defile a pure and holy Religion 4. Divisions are the causes of much sin Shake a Glass of Water that hath dregs in the bottom and the shaking stirs it and spreads it all over I have often thought of that Counsel of the Apostle Eph. 4.26 Let not the sun go down upon your wrath It must be speedily suppressed for if we lie down in our heats we shall be apt to burn all the Night It was a Custom formerly in this Nation that every Night at the 8th hour a Bell was rung and then every Family was obliged to put out their Fire and this was called the Curfew Bell. We have need of such a Monition every hour to cover the Fire of our Passions least they kindle and burn up all Behold how great a matter a little fire kindles Jam. 3.5 5. Divisions are against Love as Error is against Faith It 〈◊〉 asunder the bond of Peace Amos 6.11 The great house is smitten with breaches and the little house with clefts Not only Kingdoms but Churches are destroyed when their Guides and Leaders are divided in opinion and affection One carps at anothers Gifts decries anothers Ministry stands in the way of anothers Honour like men in a Boat one justies another till among them they sink the Boat it self O the evil of Divisions It was not therefore without most cogent Reason that Christ prays for his own Apostles Joh. 17.11 that they may be one 6. Divisions