Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	corruption_n	flesh_n	reap_v	5,289	5	10.9811	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09971	Grace to the humble· As preparations to receive the Sacrament. Preached by the late famous preacher Iohn Preston, Doctor of Divinity, and chaplen in ordinary to his Mtie. Master of Immanuel Colledge, and sometimes preacher in Lincolnes-Inne.	Preston, John, 1587-1628.	1639 (1639)	STC 20228; ESTC S106423	39,427	175

because if wee doe not deny our selves wee destroy our selves because when we yeeld to our selves wee yeeld to the disease and when wee yeeld to the disease wee destroy our selves this disease is the flesh every man is aeger inter morbum medicum now which is better for a a man to hearken to the Spirit the Phisitian or to the flesh the disease This reason is taken out of the sixt of the Galatians he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reape corruption but hee that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reape life everlasting He that yeeds to his flesh doth destroy himselfe for all the wayes of sinne leade downe to the chambers of death that is they bring death at the latter end that is the fruit and wages of it at the last but he that doth deny himselfe doth best provide for himselfe for he hath not onely the generall promise but also the particular promise there is noe man that hath left house or brethren c. Both in regard of our selves and in regard of God there is equity for it nothing is hard to a reasonable man when hee sees a reason that it is best for him to doe it hee is easily perswaded to it besides it is the greatest folly in the world to goe about to joyne God and our selves together God and sinne God and other respects for you loose both by this for God hates such an one and you finde no content in minde neither can you serve your selves perfectly if you joyne your selves with God and therefore you can have no absolute content and there will bee a reluctancy which way so ever you turne Againe suppose they should both bee joyned yet the more you gaine in the flesh the more you loose of God and the Spirit Now hee that hath any union desires more union with God and this cannot bee unlesse you have lesse union with the flesh Againe it is needelesse to joyne God and your selves together you may have enough in God you adde but a candle to the Sunne and water to the Ocean and then you goe about an impossible thing for you cannot serve two masters all your labour will be lost Amaziah walked in the wayes of God but hee lost all his labour because his heart was not perfect with the Lord. But now it will bee objected how is it possible that a man should deny himselfe In shunning sin may he not have an eye unto hell and in walking the wayes of God may he have an eye to heaven To this I answer that we deny not but that a man may love himselfe for its impossible that he should do otherwise for i●s impossible but that the will should bee carried to that which is good or apprehended to be good and it is a sinne for a man to hurt himselfe it is a sinne for a man to kill himselfe and every hurt is a degree to that and God would not command that which is sinfull and againe useth those as motives to seeke salvation Repent for the kingdome of God is at hand If you will come in behold here is a kingdome for you feare not him that killeth the body c. The wayes of wisedome are wayes of pleasure And lastly it is a plant that God himselfe hath planted in the hearts of men and such plants as our heavenly father hath planted no man ought to plucke up This is the worke of nature and that which is opus naturae est opus authoris naturae And grace doth not take away nature gratia non tollit naturam sed attollit it doth not take it away but it reformes it it doth not extinguish it but sets it in order it doth not dry up this streame but turnes it into the right channell it doth not extirpate these plants but as the horse rider takes not away the nature frō the horse but doth guide him so it takes not the desire of nature away but guides it aright and if wee doe it in all desires of nature wee must needs doe it in the chiefest desire in the desire of salvation but we would have a man to deny himselfe no further then the want thereof doth hurt him Now the way to hurt your selves is to make your selves the end but the way for a man to doe good to himselfe is not to follow his owne will nor to seeke himselfe but to seeke God when his will comes in opposition with any command of Gods for that is the difference betweene a regenerate and an unregenerate man the unregenerate man thinkes his best way to get comfort is to rely on himselfe and the creatures not to seeke it from God but the regenerate man seeing the vanitie of the creature and the fulnesse of God rejects these things and onely followes God and serves with a willing heart and minde Both seeke their owne good but a diverse way Is it so then that none can have interest in Christ without selfe-denyall then first wee make this use of this Hence wee see that both cannot stand together seeking a mans selfe and following Iesus Christ. Hee that will follow mee must deny himselfe there is an necessitie chuse you which you will have if you will follow mee you must you must deny your selves and if you will follow your selves you must not have me the words are put in a necessary disjunction therefore deceive not your selves in this to thinke you may follow your selves and yet follow Christ. To deny a mans selfe is if there bee any thing pleasing to him to part with it for Christ if there bee any thing pleasing if a man be not willing to part with it for Christ hee cannot have Christ and salvation If any thing bee evill and hurtfull which hee most shunnes and avoydes if hee cannot undergoe it he must goe without Christ. But if you aske what neede there shall bee of so generall denyall I answer these very words to deny a mans selfe shewes us so much for to deny himselfe is to deny the whole body of himselfe wee must not deny some part of our selves as pleasure and profit which are but some branches but we must deny all And therefore you see in Peter that was the profession that hee made Lord wee have forsaken all and followed thee If wee hold any thing betweene our teeth wee must let goe our hold of Christ. Hee that will seeke praise and credit among men must not have interest in Christ. How can yee beleeve which seeke honour of one another and seeke not the honour that commeth from God onely it will make him st●ll bee out of the way when any such thing comes in competition So the rich man in the Gospell because hee had set his heart upon his wealth Christ told him that time that he could not follow him The light of the body is the eye if the eye be single

GRACE TO THE HVMBLE AS Preparations to Receive the SACRAMENT Preached by the Late famous Preacher IOHN PRESTON Doctor of Divinity and Chaplen in Ordinary to his M tie Master of Immanuel Colledge and sometimes Preacher in Lincolnes-Inne LONDON Printed by Tho. Cotes for Michael Sparke Iunior and are to be sold at the signe of the Blue Bible in Greene Arbour 1639. GRACE TO THE HVMBLE The fourth SERMON LVKE 9.23 And he said to them all if any will come after me let him deny himselfe and take up his Crosse daily and follow me IN the receiving of the Sacrament our choise businesse is to remember the Covenant betweene God and us and that hath two Parts First The Promise on Godspart Secondly the Condition on our part The Promise on Gods part and that is the gift of Christ whom hee gives as freely as a man gives his Lands to his heire now Christ he comes not naked but he comes accompanied with these three blessings First Iustification and all that followes upon that Secondly Sanctification to whom hee gives Christ them he sanctifies with his Spirit Thirdly all outward things Now there is a Condition required at our hands and it is exprest by divers words in the Scriptures sometimes by the name of repentance Repent for the kingdome of heaven is at hand Sometimes by the name of Beleeving Beleeve me and you shall be saved And here it is set downe by following of Christ. All these are joyned together for if you Repent you Beleeve and follow Christ and none can follow Christ without Faith and Repentance Now the occasion of these words is this Our Saviour had told them a little before That hee must suffer many things he must die rise againe and then tells them the consequent of this that they must not looke for a temporall kingdome my Disciples follow me and I goe rough wayes So that the maine duty that hee gives them here is to follow him to this hee addes two Conditions or two causes without the which wee cannot by any meanes follow him First Hee must deny himselfe that is If a man will come to follow me the flesh will propound to him many things that are pleasing and profitable it will be as a rough byas to turne him aside and therefore he must deny himselfe and his owne flesh And againe he will meete with many afflictions and for those hee must not looke out of the way but hee must goe through these crosses hee must take up his crosse dayly The Doctrine is this That no man can have interest in Christ without selfe-deniall If any man will will be my disciple let him deny himselfe Although before you come to Christ there is nothing required but a simple and bare desire It is no matter for Sanctification yet when we do come he must then be our Lord and Master and wee must follow him denying our owne lusts and this cannot be without selfe-deniall and therefore it is that that those that have failed in this point have not followed him Demas followed him a great way but when he came to this selfe deniall then hee left him and embraced this present world and this was the reason why Paul followed him because hee was willing to deny himselfe What was the reason that Caleb followed God so constantly because hee denied himselfe and resolved whatsoever he saw to sticke close to God and his Commandements and so Abraham hee left his country and friends cleaving to God Indeede if our will and Christs Will were coincident then this might be without selfe-deniall but being at oddes we cannot goe together for wee cannot walke together not being agreed and therefore wee must conforme our selves unto Christ his Will must not be brought downe to ours but our will is out often and therefore it must be wound up to his Now the Question will be what selfe-deniall is To deny a mans selfe is not to make himselfe his end but God onely and to renounce himselfe as sorry hee is opposite to God and his wayes So that to deny himselfe ' is to deny the aversement the corruption illnesse of nature w ch is called the flesh the body of death and the old man and the old leaven which are a mans selfe and this the Apostle meaneth Wee preach not our selves but Iesus Christ that is I preach not for applause and vaine-glory to please my selfe by my selfe here he meanes his flesh which hee will not satisfie for when the Apostle had told them of his Vision and Revelation of such a man said he I would rejoyce of my selfe I would not rejoyce Why should hee not rejoyce of himselfe Because himselfe was nothing but a bundle of corruption in himselfe was no good but of such a man so renewed hee would rejoyce But why is flesh called a mans selfe Because it is so spread over all the faculties and powers of a man and is predominant as the forme over the matter for a man loves it as himselfe and fights against all things that oppose it and nourisheth all that nourisheth it But how is it possible that a man can deny himselfe for in denyall there must be one to aske and another to deny there must be one denying and one denyed himselfe must be denyed how can himselfe deny himselfe To this I answer that there is in every man that is in Christ a double selfe and the regenerate man hath three natures First a common nature neither good nor bad in it selfe Secondly a spirituall and renewed condition Thirdly the flesh and corruption The meaning then is this common nature guided by the spirit and renewed nature is to deny the flesh that is the corrupt natures petition when both stand in competition the flesh is to be denyed if the flesh desires honours riches and preferments beside the rule then the flesh is to be denyed but the Spirit is to be heard in all his requests and this is that that every man must doe if he will be saved and there is not onely necessity but much reason why wee should deny our selves as in every command of God there is much reason if wee could see it so here is great reason for this First in regard of God God hath no causes therefore hee may thinke himselfe the end but every creature hath an efficient and finall cause therefore it must not make it selfe its order it is against the order of nature and rule of things that the creature which is not of it selfe should make it selfe its end being mans efficient cause is out of himselfe therefore his end must needes be out of himselfe hee should make himselfe God and God an Idoll For if a man will set up himselfe that is will not deny himselfe he sets himselfe above God and makes a God of himselfe We doe not worship God as wee as wee ought without wee deny our selves In regard of our selves