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
A41575	An antidote against the common plague of the world, or, An answer to a small treatise (as in water, face answereth to face) intituled Saltmarsh returned from the dead and by transplacing the letters of his name, this is Smartlash : ascend into the throne of equity, for the arraignment of false interpretours of the word of God : summoned out of all ages to appear, under the penalty of death, challenging the consent, or forbidding to gainsay the common approved priesthood of this age.	Gorton, Samuel, 1592 or 3-1677.	1657 (1657)	Wing G1305; ESTC R24349	253,337	351

themselves for the mind without knowledge is not good Our Apostle therefore concludes by transferring this wo unto himself in a figure as he saith in another case of himself and Apollo thereby teaching the proper state of the false apostles in their practise I say herein he concludes that salvation doth consist only in the preaching of the gospel as necessarily and absolutely as it doth consist in faith for there is nothing that is a grace of the gospel but hath in it the compleat and full estate and condition of Jesus Christ without which no salvation For as the whole law in all points is fulfilled in one word namely love so is salvation comprehended in every virtue that is in Christ whereof the revelation and opening of the mind of the Father is one And as it is true that he who breaks one commandment is guilty of all even so he that excludes any Christian from any one grace or virtue that is in Christ he excludes him from all for as it is true that with the heart man believes unto righteousness even so with the mouth confession which is preaching is made unto salvation and the one is as necessary unto life as the other for he that confesseth not or he that preacheth not that Christ is come in the flesh is Antichrist and Antichrist is that son of perdition or destruction and not of salvation Every Christian therefore is to witness a good confession or is to witness a good preaching as befnre Pontius Pilate or else no attaining unto salvation that is every Christian must with boldness and courage oppose the virtue and power of the Son of God against all the rulers of the darkness of this world which is of that evil one This wo therefore pronounced against false apostles in this figurative speech of the Apostle as transferring it unto himself rests upon all such in its real abode as either preach not the gospel according as the truth is in Jesus and simplicity thereof in the rest or else neglect it or forbid it to be preached by others or in themselves for they may as well neglect or deny to themselves or others the faith of Gods elect or any virtue and grace appertaining to life and salvation therefore our Apostle in whom is personated all true and faithful Saints of God is necessitated hereunto and doth it by constraint even as the love of Christ constraineth him to deal faithfully and plainly in the cause o● God according to the demonstration and evidence of the Spirit of God in the salvation of his chosen though the false apostles judged him to be besides himself in so doing therefore it follows Vers 17. For if I do it willingly that is if I do it voluntarily of my own accord by any will or law of a creature constraining and urging me thereunto then I have a reward that is suitable to the fountain from whence it comes which is the will of a creature which Christ never came to do nor to be in motion thereby but only to do the will of the Father and from that to receive motion in all his enterprizes Or thus then I have my reward or my end as the word imports that is if I preach from a humane will my end is also humane if I preach from the learning and abillities of a creature it is the obtaining of the things of the creature which I propound as my aim and end therein and not the things of God my main scope and intent is so fading and perishing Mammon of unrighteousness and not the durable treasure consisting in that righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus For according to the nature of the spirit which goeth forth such is the nature of the thing expected and looked for in the return and such it ever proves to be for he that sows to or in the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that sows in the spirit shall reap everlasting life a carnal ministry ever expects carnall things and an expectation of carnal things for preaching the word of God is an evident demonstration of a carnal and corrupt ministry not acceptable in the house of God or in any Christian heart for it never knew what the liberties and priviledges of the gospel are and therefore can never utter them But if I do it against my will that is against the will and proper law of man which is at enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be as this our Apostle affirms in another place for Christ is not brought forth or born of flesh nor of bloud nor of the will of man but of God as the Scriptures teach then is the dispensation committed unto me as if he should say then the ordering and disposing of all the whole matter of the gospel is committed to me in trust as to a Steward and so the glory excellency and virtue in point of the dispensation and disposure thereof in its going out as also the return of praise honour and all due deserts appertains and belongs solely unto my Lord or unto that Lordship derived unto me which is never abstracted from the steward and not unto me as a man nor to any mortal creatures who or whatsoever Vers 18. What is my reward then or as the word is what is my end then in preaching the gospel what do I propound unto my self in so doing or expect to be the return of my work verily or in truth upon my serious asseveration or engagement as upon oath that when I preach the gospel I may make the gospel of Christ free that is my end in preaching is this that when or in what respect or relation soever I publish and declare salvation and manifest wherein it consists in Christ my intent and full reward stands in this to make it of such fulness and perfection as that it stands not in need nor is it beholding nor ingaged to any earthly or transitory thing either to give it its being add to its form perfection or virtue for no earthly thing can contribute thereunto no more then dust in the beginning could contribute to the Image of God in any respect which is immortal and eternal nor can humane nature contribute to the death of Jesus Christ for it is a death which holds proportion with the Son of God and in all points according to the truth and reality thereof is infinit and eternal because its virtue consists in the eternal word and not in any thing proper to a creature though the creature doth really communicate therein none therefore can ever say I have been his counsellour to contribute unto his wisdome neither to any thing that is proper to Jesus Christ neither can any thing of the creature say I have given unto him first that I may be recompenced no more then it can be said that God is ingaged or indebted unto man for taking him into the unity of eternal

doth eternize the spirit of the creature which by its own nature and property is momentany and mortal So that in this inocculation of the wisdome or word of the creature all the motions and operations springing up in the Creatour as being the stock which in it self is eternal are all translated and changed into temporallity and mortality and so the power of God works effectually in the way of death as the wisdome of God implanted in the weakness of man the creature comes to work effectually in that way of eternal life and that whole state or tree is but one eternal Son and Saviour And in that implanting of the wisdome of man in the power of God that whole state or tree is a state of mortallity and destruction and is but one son of perdition and law of sin and death because all that spring up and what fruit it yields is of the nature of the science and doth not savour of the stock at all but is become mortal and diabolical even as a man in that way of Christ is become eternal and the real son of the immortal God So long therefore as an eternal wisdome abides to draw forth the stock in whatsoever it yields according to the nature of the science so long shall the fruits of righteousness and delight appear upon the Saints in a blessed estate and condition And so long as the power and plenty of an eternal stock yields any motion or matter of growth so long shall that graft or science of the wisdome of the flesh mortalize it and change it into corruption in it self then the which greater indignity cannot be done unto a pure and immortal word or spirit so long shall that unhappy guilty and accursed condition of the wicked abide and remain so that both estates have their pereminency arising from the eternity of the holy word of God though the one be a state of the eternal life and the other a state of eternal death and the stock of each is no proper cause of the fruit which the whole tree yields and forever brings forth Take in also Christs inference and conclusion in these words therefore you shall receive the greater damnation Mat. 23. 14. The word damnation implies a disinheriting and binding over to distruction and by greater here we are not to understand it comparatively with respect to others damned but superlatively as the greatest measure of distruction so that false interpreters are in the grand condemnation that is they receive no less then damnation of the devil who is a murtherer from the beginning and abode not in the truth or inheritance Iohn 8. 35 44. a false interpreter therefore is the grand sinner and therefore receives the damnation of the devil for as the serpent set himself nearer to God then the woman as knowing more of God then she did Gen 3. ● 2 3 4 5. So do those false interpreters these hypocritical pra●ers as though their calling were nearer to God then others of their brethren wherein they act the part of the serpent and are in the grand condemnation of the devil so in Scripture Language the eldest is said to be the greater Gen. 25. 23. the Hebrew word Rab whereof great men are called Rabbies as first or chief in place and office is translated by the holy Ghost in Greek the greater Rom. 9. 12. so that whilst men talk of Original sin speaking they know not what for mans sin cannot be Original if there was sin in the devil before they are in the very progress thereof and are in that act of false expounding of the law of God as truly the first bringers of sin into the world as the continuation thereo● for a spirit cannot be devided though the kingdome wherein it works may and they have the proper spirit of the serpent which is only to make false repo t of the word of God whether to a mans self or to others which may be comprehended in this bud namely that one Saint or Son of God is nearer to God and in more f●vour and respect with God then another or that God was ever or at any time or in any thing at one with himself out of mankind For a man to conclude that any Saint of God fails or falls short of the grace of God in any particular wherein another hath interest is that root of bitterness or gall of wormwood which springs up to the trouble of all the world for it is that which springs up as the Greek translates en cholee with gall Dent. 29. 18. and enochlee with trouble Heb. 12. 15. having both the bitterness of death in it being the bond iniquity Acts 8. 23. and the trouble and vexation of disinheriting in the loss of the first birthright therefore the Apostle brings in the fornication and profaneness of Esau thereupon as under the guilt of sin Heb. 12. 16. as also the trouble of his being disinherited as seeking a blessing too late with tears for there is no place of repentance found in the father Heb. 12. 17. or way to change his mind forever the Apostle concludes this to be the defilement of many that is to say of all the world for so the word many is taken Rom 5. 18. We would think that man a fool that went about to teach any humane art to another if he did not conclude that the principles thereof were wrapt up as in a bud in the disciple and he only indeavours the drawing of them out in their proper luster and use otherwise a man might as well set hims●lf awork to teach a dog or a horse humane arts who are altogether destitute of that proper nature in which they are only found and if we understand the bud we see the whole tree therein and wrong the bud if we give it not the glory of it And though a grain of mustardseed be one of the smallest seeds yet it hath branches for the fouls of heaven to make their lodging in the branch or under the shadow of it Matt. 13 31. unto which Christ compares the kingdome of heaven So that if we give not the whole glory of the kingdome unto the seed in which it is involved we give not the seed its proper right and due which belongs unto it but are fa●sifiers of the word of God And no man can look upon a Saint destitute of the seed of God 1 Iohn 3. 9. nor void of the Spirit of God Rom. 8. 9. he therefore that gives not the seed the glory of the whole off-spring of God he wrongs the kingdome and is a false interpreter and he that denies the Spirit of God the compleat life and virtue of the Son of God he is a false expounder of the work and operation of God and so is under that grand condemnation Matth. 23. 14. of the devil That ministry therefore that spends its time study and care in seeking and hoping for the transfusing of the Spirit of Christ into such hearts

of God or any good man And as it is with man chiefly to look to the inside of vessels unto which things of worth are committed so it is Gods chief principal and first intent that the mystry of God in Christ into which all the chief things of his kingdome are consigned should be preserved and kept in purity without all stain or putrifaction and this is such a secrecy or inside of all things as no mortal eye can see into Iob 28. read the whole chapter to know how to cleanse it for as the seed of which the Saints are conceived and born is not mortal but immortal seed 1 Pet. 1. 23. even so the light by which the Saints do see is not a mortal but an immortal light Psalme 36. 9. 1 Cor 2. 9 10. Observe from this point that whosoever hath a form of teaching holding a certain residency of sin for a time and stain of corruption in the mystical body of Christ or any of the vessels of mercy appertaining thereunto Rom. 9. 23. Acts 9. 15. unto that man the Lord Jesus utters these words and in him to all of that spirit thou blind Pharisee the chief and only thing is to cleanse the inside of the cup and platter 2. The second thing thing to be noted in this point is this that in what term or phrase soever the word of God doth utter it self it is a sharp and severe rebuke unto all false interpretours of the Scriptures here is an exhortation uttered as a sharp and bitter rebuste of blindness in them to whom it was given even as Christ said to Judas when he had given the sop with which Satan entred what thou dost saith he do quickly not as approving Judas his act but to declare his restless and instant spirit through the instigations of the devil to work wickedness It is not as vain men think that the word of God only rebukes men when they sommons in a use of reproof no in what manner or form soever the word of God is uttered in way of true interpretation whether in way of exhortation revelation counsel comfort a word of wisdome or knowledge in promises covenant sonship or right of inheritance rightly explained and faithfully and seasonably set forth they are all rebukes reproofs sentences of death and just acts of execution unto and upon all wicked men for they are still wandring in the wayes of Cain and with Balaam they ever love the wages of unrighteousness 2 Pet. 2. 14 15 Iude 11. Therefore the whole word of God as it contains the curse either expressed or inclusive appertains and belongs unto them for the word of God cannot be divided no more then God himself can be divided 1 Cor. 1. 13. Therefore in whatsoever the word of God expresseth it self in unto the Saints they find a most sweet and comfortable intelligence therein all and every sentence becomes Gospel unto them testifying unto them from what they are delivered and into what they are delivered in which twain consists that harmonious mellody of the kingdome of God Psalme 16. 10 11. 7. The last particular noted in this Wo is what would inevitably follow in case the mystery of the Gospel were kept pure if the inside were cleansed in these words That the outside may be clean also wherein observe that there is nothing can keep men from defiling and being defiled in the sight and according to the judgement of men but only the conservation of the hidden mystery of God in Christ in its native original and eternal purity which only consist in the faith of the Gospel a secret hid from the world from the foundation thereof only made manifest in the Saints Coll. 1. 24 25 26. Observe in this point that the mystry of the Gospel is never kept pure when the word of God is terminated in any thing whatsoever that is inferiour unto or below the Son of God for as Jesus comes forth from God and goeth to God John 13 3. even so the word of God which word he is Iohn 1. 1. Revel 19. 12 13. comes forth from the wisdome of God and terminates it self in nothing but in that wisdome of God which is not found elsewhere but only in Christ Job 28. 12 28. for that wisdome he only is 1 Cor. 1. 24. For in whatsoever we terminate the word of God which is the proper character and form of his mind and will from which himself can never depart unto that thing what ever it be we necessarily assign a Deity and so bind over our selves to the worship of it in way of love or fear desire hope trust in it or delight therein or the like and it being a thing inferiour to the Son of God it is nothing else but bowing down to an Idol and thence it is that men are taxed for worshipping the Sun the Moon and the whole host of heaven Deut. 4. 19. Deut. 17. 3. 2 Kings 21. 3. Amose 5. 25 26. because they lodge the word of God in such inferiour things as being the scope and drift thereof do not take all things below the Son of God as meer plankerings or pavements upon which our minds may pass unto Christ For there is nothing in the visible heavens and earth wherein Gods proper intent is terminated in the framing thereof nor have they or any of them either the good or the evil in them which holds proportion with the mind and intent of him that formed them but become either good or evil according to the mind that passeth upon them for unto the clean all things are clean but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving nothing is clean but even their minds and consciences are defiled Titus 1. 15. So that to terminate the word of God in any thing short of Christ is to attribute a certain divinity unto that thing setting that in the place of Christ which is not he and that is Idolizing the creature which is that spirit of fornications and uncleanness so detestable unto God in all ages for it gives that to the creature which appertains to the Creatour therefore the Apostle saith there are gods many and lords many which men according to the letter and outside of the cup and platter impute power and authority unto but unto us there is but one God even that father or fountain of all things which we count upon and we in him as being made a fountain together with him and one Lord Jesus Christ as being the end of all things and we in him as being made the end of all things together with him 1 Cor. 8. 5 6. If the mystery of the Gospel be kept pure as Christ being the proper end of the law that is of all things relations and respects whatsoever and elsewhere we lodge not the word of God as in its sphere or center then is the letter rightly managed and all things become clean unto us But if we lodge the word of God as having its scope

the sight of all good men making it clear and manifest unto whom they belong and of what brood and off-spring they are 5 The fifth conclusion is that the word of God is of like concernment in all men and takes hold of them with like force whether it be laid in the way of the blessing or of the curse for it is of like concernment to maintain and uphold the principles of the Creature that it is to maintain and uphold the principles peculiar to God for if the principles of the Creature were not upheld to their height which argue themselves into the place office and seat of God 2 Thes 2. 3. 4. then there were no place for the curse and then the redemption of Christ were without vertue in that it delivered from no wretched nor cursed condition and then praise-worthinesse due unto God should cease having no matter nor cause from which to take place Again if mans principles were not maintained as well as the principles peculiar to God the word and work of God should faile and be extinct for the word of God never uttered it self nor did the work of God exist but in order to Gods wisdom framing the Son of man into its own likenesse making him in conformity with it selfe which is the state of the Son of God Iesus Christ as also the wisdom of man framing the Son of God into its own similitude and likenesse conforming him into the proportion of naturall and earthly principles which is the state of Antichrist that son of perdition and if either of these should fail the word and work of God should faile which are as durable as God himself Psal 119. 89. 90. The word of God therefore takes hold of all men yea of whole mankind with like authority and force both in way of the curse as also in the way of blessednesse for each maintains its own proper principles as upon life and death for in case mans principles and reasonings should take place and beare sway in a Saint the life and spirit of God should be extinct and if the wisdom and argument of the Son of God should take place and bear sway in any wicked man then the spirit of Satan whereby he lives would be extinct so that each of them hath the fo●ce and authority of life and death upon them than the which a greater bond cannot be for if the force and authority of the word of God were not of like power in point of wrath in the way of the curse as to hold proportion with the word of blessing and peace then could not the word of God hold proportion with it selfe which must of necessity be in all things of an infinite and illimited force and authority 6 In the sixth place we conclude that the word of God hath ordained necessitated it self to come unto all men in way of interpretation and that in all its expressions and intimations whatsoever because it speaks and utters it self in mankind from divers principles and therefore the word must be interpreted or translated ●ut of one into another that is out of one proper speech or language into another and the very formings and fashionings of the heart is the proper speech or language of man therefore the abundance of the heart is that which he speaks Mat. 12 34 Now God hath taken up all things of man as he hath respect to all Creatures to utter and reveal his secret wisdom and counsel by in Christ the spirit of God therefore in the Saints takes out the minde and meaning of God from that originall Copy naturally written in the Tables of stone in all mens hearts and translates it according to that wisdom of God in Christ into the fleshy Tables of the heart fitted to receive the impressions of God by the removal of those stony strong and earthly apprehensions and conclusions which man naturally conceivs and concludes within himselfe from the word of God so that Gods true intent according to the dictate of his spirit being taken out of that husk or shell wherein it is expressed is no more the language of the flesh but of the spirit and this is of necessity to be done in the conservation of the Spirit and life of Iesus Christ the Son of God Again the spirit of errour and false interpretation takes out of that originall copy of the wisdom of G d that law of the spirit of life in Christ and translates it into principles and conclusions humane proper to the thoughts device and invention of a Creature terminating the mind and will of God in things limited by time place and person things transitory which cannot hold proportion with the Son of God and by means of this translation it is no more the language of the spirit but the language of the flesh and so the dictates of the Serpent the mind and will of Satan who captivates man by the lusts of his own heart 2 Tim. 2. 26. Furthermore the word of God is not the word of life without interpretation as it is translated out of death into life therfore he saith Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see Corruption Psalm 16. 10. Neither is the spirit of God a spirit of Revelation nor hath the honour of opening the mind of the father in any without this grace of interpretation whereby man is conformed unto the image and similitude of the Son of God Add further that man cannot lay claime to his proper being and prerogative as he is wicked namely to be wiser than the beasts of the field or to have dominion over the inferiour Creatures but as he translates the excellencies of God into his own humane principles and thereby exalts himself as Lord over all the works of Gods hand and by this his translation he interprets the word of God in direct opposition unto Gods true intent and proper meaning in that originall Copy of Gods wisdome in Christ presented unto the world and hereby are the principles of humane wisdom set up to bear sway in the world in the vilifying of the wisdom of God in Christ by which means the life of Satan is continued in the sons of mortall men And this interpretation is by translating one tongue and language into another which cannot be done but by presenting the originall Copy which by this means is cast aside and vilified as to be no more imbraced nor accepted and in this presentation of the original Copy of the wisdom of God which cannot but be acknowledged by all men ought to be magnified and submitted unto by all doth the answer of the question propounded consist for in this representation of the wisdom of God unto mankinde contained in such yea the same expressions written upon every mans heart herein doth the spirit of the Prophet the Wise-men and Scribes visit all the wicked of the world yea there where never good man bodily appeared a d in their rejection