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	soul_n	whole_a	13,673	5	5.8632	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A36020	A sermon at the funeral of the Lady Elizabeth Alston, wife of Sir Thomas Alston, Knight and Baronet preached in the parish-church of Woodhill in Bedford-shire, Septemb. 10, 1677 / by William Dillingham ...	Dillingham, William, 1617?-1689.	1678 (1678)	Wing D1487; ESTC R10439	20,890	43

assured that he had fought a good Fight I shewed before briefly now He knew that he believed that he had fought and run and kept the Faith by reflecting upon the Operations of his own Soul as a Man that thinks may be assured that he thinks by a kind of rational Sensation whereby the Soul is conscious of its own Acts. But that his Faith and other Graces were true and genuine he might gather from the effects and fruits of them as here we see he doth from his Fighting and Running and from observing his own Sincerity in the answer of a good Conscience and Faith unfeigned while the Spirit of Grace doth by shining upon its own work in his Heart illuminate the Object and by enlightning the eyes of his Soul enable the Faculty to apprehend and discern that Object that it is indeed the genuine Work of the Spirit in his Soul And thus the holy Spirit of God by making us to know the things that are freely given unto us of God 1 Cor. 2.12 doth bear witness with our Spirits that we are the Children of God Rom. 8.16 I will not deny but that this Assurance which Paul had was a special Priviledg not common to all nor to many true Believers All true Believers have not Assurance some have not yet attained to it others may have lost it yet all must endeavour after it and all may attain to it seeing the Grounds and Arguments whence it may be inferred are common to all in some degree But they being eminent in St. Paul his Knowledg clearer his Love stronger his Zeal hotter his Obedience greater than those of others hence his Assurance was fuller and few can arrive to his pitch Yet since all true Believers have like kind of Evidence in suo quisque modulo according to their several measures and have the general Promises do believe and endure to the end and are faithful unto the death therefore all true Believers may possibly attain to be assured of their present state of Salvation and that they shall persevere therein and so in the end enter into the Kingdom of Glory and receive the end of their Hopes the Salvation of their Souls No danger that this Doctrine of Believers being assured of their Salvation should encourage them in the least to indulge themselves to commit Sin seeing it ariseth and is cherished ex intuitu from the beholding of the actings of Grace in our hearts and lives Holiness of life is the ground of Assurance if that once flag this must needs also fail for if upon reflexion we find our lives unholy this cuts the sinews of Assurance by taking away the Argument by force whereof it is and without which it cannot be inferred or concluded Extra studium Sanctitatis usum Mediorum non potest in actum exire haec Fidei persuasio was the Suffrage of our Divines concerning assurance of Perseverance But I am call'd away to consider the other particulars which yet remain to be spoken to and I shall do it very briefly 3. The Bestower of this Reward The Lord the righteous Judge By the Lord here is meant the Lord Jesus Christ as appears by that which is added the righteous Judge for unto Him hath God the Father committed all Judgment even to the Son The Person of CHRIST God-Man shall execute and actually exercise the Acts of Judging at the last Day Hence it is said Act. 17.31 God hath appointed a Day wherein he will judge the World by the Man CHRIST JESUS And Christ himself saith Mat. 7.23 I will profess unto them I never knew you depart from me And Rev. 2.10 I will give thee a Crown of Life There is one in the World who undertakes to dispose of earthly Crowns and Scepters to whomsoever he pleases yea and of the Crown of Righteousness too and the Kingdom of Heaven wherein yet he falls short of the modesty of him whose true Vicegerent he is for He pretended no further than to give all the Kingdoms of the Earth and the glory of them Luke 4.5 6. All this is delivered unto me and to whomsoever I will give it But what ever others may pretend unto The Lord Jesus Christ is the only dispenser of this Crown of Righteousness the Crown of heavenly Glory Jesus Christ he is Judge Which speaks infinite Comfort unto all true Believers their Advocate shall be their Judge and therefore they may promise themselves all lawful favour But he is a Righteous Judge this affords further comfort He is faithful who has promised His Promises are Yea and Amen By his free Promise he hath made himself a debtor though not so much to us as to himself and his own truth So that it is now but a righteous thing with God to recompence rest unto his persecuted Servants 2 Thess 1.7 4. The last thing to be considered in the words is the time when this Crown of Righteousness shall be given to Paul At that day viz. when 〈◊〉 the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels as we have it in the place last cited Which time our Saviour points out by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mat. 7.22 in that day by way of emphasis And so St. Paul loves to call it as he doth three several times in this Epistle Chap. 1.12 He is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that Day And Vers 18. The Lord grant that he may find mercy at that Day The Day of the General Judgment lay uppermost in Paul's mind and his thoughts ran much upon it and no wonder if his eye was always upon his Crown for that is the time when he shall receive this Crown of Righteousness It is true indeed that at the day of Death when the faithful Soul shall return to God that gave it and be resigned up into the hands of Jesus Christ it shall be perfected in Holiness and enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but the glory shall not be perfect and compleat until such time as the Body which has been the Souls yoke-fellow and companion in doing and suffering for Christ here shall be redeemed from the Grave for which we are said to wait Rom. 8.23 Hence the Souls from under the Altar cry how long Rev. 6.10 and hence it is that the Spirit and the Bride say Come Rev. 22.17 Come quickly v. 20. Then shall the Soul and Body now again united be presented to Jesus Christ at his appearing and so the whole Man shall be rewarded and be for ever with the Lord. At the day of Death shall be a privy Sessions for every particular Soul but the general Assize shall be at that Day that great Day of Universal Judgment The believing Soul at the day of Death shall enter into the Heavenly Kingdom but the Solemnity of its Coronation shall be deferred till that day then and not till then shall its Glory and Happiness be compleated And thus much briefly be spoken concerning St. Paul's

painful and industrious couragious and undaunted in the Work and Cause of Christ not only as a Christian but also as an Apostle and Minister of the Gospel He had encounter'd with Elymas at Paphos Acts 13. With the Retrivers of Jewish Ceremonies at Antioch Act. 15. With Stoicks and Epicureans at Athens Acts 17. With beast-like Men such as Demetrius and his Followers at Ephesus 1 Cor. 15.32 With Alexander the Copper-Smith with Hymeneus and Philetus And in all these Conflicts the Gospel still prevailed and carried the Victory And for his Sufferings the Instances of his Christian Patience and passive Fortitude take that Inventary which himself had drawn up sometime before in his second Epistle to the Corinthians chap. 11. v. 23 c. Where he hath with great Eloquence described his Adventures to us In Labours abundant in Stripes above measure in Prisons frequent in Deaths oft V. 24. Of the Jews five times received I fourty Stripes save one 25. Thrice was I beaten with Rods once was I stoned thrice I suffered Shipwreck a night and a day I have been in the Deep 26. In journeying often in Perils of Waters in Perils of Robbers in Perils by mine own Country-men in Perils by the Heathen in Perils in the City in Perils in the Wilderness in Perils in the Sea in Perils among false Brethren 27. In Weariness and Painfulness in Watchings often in Hunger and Thirst in Fastings often in Cold and Nakedness These and such like were the Scars and Marks of Honour which he had received for the Cause of Christ and the Gospel for the Truth of which he vouches the God of Truth for witness v. 31. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which is blessed for evermore knoweth that I ly not Briefly his Conscience told him that he had run his Race well in the ways of God's Commandments with Zeal Industry and which is the Crown of all with Constancy 1 Cor. 9.26 I therefore so run not as uncertainly so fight I not as one that beateth the Air. His Conscience told him that he had kept the Faith committed to his charge and as Jesus Christ had counted him faithful putting him into the Ministry 1 Tim. 1.12 So he had obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful 1 Cor. 7.25 But to wave the Metaphor I shall shew you plainly these two things 1. What it was that Paul's Conscience did testify 2. What use he made of that Testimonial 1. What it was that Paul's Conscience did testify what was the Answer of a good Conscience to him which may be reduced unto these two Heads 1. Faith and Love and other Graces unfeigned 2. A sincere and constant Indeavour of universal Obedience 1. By reflecting upon the Actings of his own Soul he could discern that he did firmly assent and cleave unto the Truth of Christ with all his Heart that he did rely upon and trust onely unto the Righteousness wrought by JESUS CHRIST for his acceptance with God the pardon of his Sin and his right to the heavenly Kingdom that he had the other true saving Graces wrought in his Heart by the Spirit of God whereby he was enabled to side with the Law of God in Judgment and Affection 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to vote with and to delight in the Law of God and to overbear the Ebullitions and Insurrections of the Flesh and to mortify it by the Spirit or renewed Part and Principle of Spiritual Life that was in him which is called the inward Man Rom. 7.22 These Principles Habits and Acts he knew he had for upon reflexion he by a rational sense might feel them enabling him and proceeding from him and so be conscious of them And that his Faith and Love and other Graces were unfeigned and genuine he knew by the Light of the Spirit of God shining through the written Word upon its own work in his heart and by its special Concourse and Assistance enabling his gracious Soul to exert and put forth such vigorous and lively Acts as might easily be observed by a diligent Reflexion The holy Spirit of God is called a Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation Eph. 1.17 A Spirit of Revelation in respect of the Object a Spirit of Wisdom in regard of the Faculty The visible Object must be enlightned else it cannot verge or send forth its visible species without which it cannot be seen and the Eye must be enlightned also by an internal Light else it cannot see the Object though never so conspicuous in it self Thus also is it here the Spirit of God doth discover to us the things that are freely given to us of God the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the things of the Spirit not only Truths which it propounds to us from without but also the Graces which it works within us and thus it may be said to reveal the Object to us But then it doth also inlighten the Eye of the Mind with a spiritual Wisdom a Spirit of discerning whereby it distinguishes and discerns the Work of Grace to be true and genuine by the Characters which are given of it in the written Word 2. St. Paul by examining his own Conscience concerning the discharge of his Duty in the whole Course of his Life there recorded could observe in the latter part of it viz. ever since his Conversion a sincere and constant Purpose and diligent Indeavour of universal Obedience to the Will of God in pursuance of that resignation of himself mentioned Acts 9.6 Lord what wilt thou have me to do His Obedience was sincere though not sinless and perfect though not legally yet with the allowance of the Evangelical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 According to which aliquid fieri dicitur quando quod non fit ignoscitur when Obedience is sincerely indeavoured and the Failings of it pardoned And these Fruits gave Letters credential to his Faith that it was a living Faith Hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his Commandments 1 John 2.3 And we know that we have passed from Death to Life because we love the Brethren Love is argumentative to prove that we are in a state of Grace and the Fruits of Love bear witness unto that 1 John 3.14 Paul's Conscience told him that in his Actions he had not dissembled with God but that he acted out of a Principle of unfeigned Love to him and in Conscience of his Command and that he directed his Actions to God's glory as his chief end Thus much he might be well assured of from the Records of his Conscience which he had made it his care to keep clear and legible and though it gave him notice also of his Sins and Failings yet at the same time it represented them as expiated and cancelled in the Blood of Christ apprehended by his Faith And thus you have seen what the Testimonial was which Paul's Conscience gave him Now let us come to see 2. What Use St. Paul makes of this Testimonial A double Use 1.