Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	dead_a	life_n	live_v	7,322	5	6.0283	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45357	The excellency of moral vertue, from the serious exhortation of St. Paul to the practice of it in several discourses upon Phil. 4. 8. : to which is added, A discourse of sincerity, from John i. 47 / by Henry Hallywell ...	Hallywell, Henry, d. 1703?	1692 (1692)	Wing H463; ESTC R18059	47,683	182

Spirit of God 1 Cor. 2.14 There is a Divine quickness and sagacity that springs up in a purified Soul whereby it readily apprehends and has a Vital Sense of Heavenly and Divine Things which they that are sunk and lost in Bodily Lusts and Passions are perfect strangers to And not only Philosophy but Christianity tells us of Two distinct Principles in Man which St. Paul calls by the Name of the inner and outer Man And these Two have their different Motions Tendencies and Designs The outer Man is the Inheritance we derive from Adam which he elsewhere Rom. 6.6 stiles the old Man which is to be Crucified with Christ That the Body of Sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve Sin Now this outer Man or old Adam is only the Corrupt Life of the Body which leads to all manner of Impurity and Vice and is to be Mortified and Destroyed But the inner Man is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Plotinus calls it the true Man whose very Form and Nature consists in pure and unspotted Righteousness and Holiness it is the Image of the Lord from Heaven and as is the Heavenly Adam such are they that are Heavenly Now each of these Two Principles of Life is very diligent and industrious to Diffuse and Propogate it self and therefore is never wanting to offer all fit and insinuating Arguments to promote its own Interest Hence the Apostle St. James Chap. 3.15 tells us of a Wisdom that is Earthly Sensual and Devilish Now this Wisdom is the Genuine Production and true Offspring of the Bodily Life 't is the Thoughts and Projects of the Old Adam and is said to be Earthly because all its Designs and Purposes are laid out and contrived merely for this Earth and World wherein we live And it is Sensual because it studies only for the Gratification of Sense and the Animal or Brutish Life And Devilish being such as only upholds the Devil's Kingdom and promotes his Reign and Empire throughout the World But then he says Verse 17. that there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Wisdom that descends from above from the Father of Lights and as it derives from Heaven so it is still endeavouring to attract and lift up the Soul thitherward This is that Wisdom which is communicated to the Soul from the Spirit of Christ and being it self so Pure and Holy will not dwell in a Body that is Polluted with all Carnal Excesses and Defilements And if we should look upon the Effects of Sensuality and Debauchery as they are Daily visible before our Eyes we shall find that nothing does more Corrupt and Spoil our Rational Powers There are none that spend their whole Time in Gratifying their Carnal Lusts but their Understandings grow Dull and Heavy and lose their Briskness and Liveliness their Memories are Treacherous and Decayed and their Fansies and Imaginations serve only as a Stage to Represent and Act over again their past Filthiness and Pollutions 3. Without this Purity of Flesh and Spirit there is no Union of our Souls with God Union and Communion with God are the greatest Blessings the Soul of Man can partake of But none can think that God will dwell in a Charnel-house or take up his Habitation among Dead Bones And those that are given up to Bodily Pleasures and drown themselves in Sensual Delights in St. Paul's sense are no better than Dead even while they Live an Earthly Life 1 Tim. 5.6 We Read indeed of Spirits conversing among the Tombs but God will have no Society with the Dead It is the Living alone that praise him and declare his Truth There can be no Intercourse nor Communion between God and such a Man's Soul that has no Life stirring in it but what is the very Life and Nature of the Spirits of Darkness who are the most of all alienated and estranged from him He that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 6.17 that is there is such an intire Consent and Agreement between such an One and God that he wills nothing and desires nothing but what God wills and desires But there is is no Harmony Consent or Concord between God and that Person that is joined and tied to his Bodily Lusts and Corrupt Affections The pure Virgin-Chastity of the Soul is Violated and Defiled by Prostituting it to the Foul Embraces of Corporeal Pleasures so that it is a kind of Spiritual Fornication or Adultery Now to the intent we may all endeavour to attain this Purity that God requires and which it is our Interest to pursue let us 1. Abstract our Souls as much as we can from Sense and Sensible Delights Pleasures Even a Heathen could say Simpl. in Epictet p. 257. 78. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is That there is nothing more Destructive and Pernicious to the Soul than to give it self up to Bodily Pleasures because they do as it were nail and bind it fast to the Earth that it hath no might nor strength to lift up it self towards Heaven Therefore our Blessed Saviour requiring us to pluck out the Right Eye and cut off the Right Hand would have us do Violence to the Unruly Affections of the Body and bring them low and abate their Power by such a due Moderation that they may never betray us to Act against Reason and Conscience If we would endeavour to set a little loose from our Bodies and withdraw our Hearts from Sensual Pleasures and deny the Cravings of our Carnal Appetites we should not only find a mighty Peace and Satisfaction within our own Breasts but be more fitted to Converse with the God of Purity 2. Let us frequently represent to our selves that pure state of Angels in the upper Regions and that such a state cannot consist with Carnal Impurities Heaven is no Mahumetan Paradise filled with Carnal and Sensual but Divine and Intellectual Joys and Pleasures The time will quickly come when we shall be stript of these Earthly Bodies which we now so fondly Dote upon and Caress and Pamper to the fulfilling all their Impure Lusts And therefore it were our Wisdom to separate and disjoin our Minds from their too near Intimacy and Familiarity with them and to dwell often and much in our Thoughts upon that Future State in which all these Corporeal Pleasures will be at an end Then we should not be so unwilling and uneasie to leave our Bodies but should put them off with a full Assurance that we should not be left Naked but Clothed upon with our House from Heaven 3. Consider how infinitely Bodily Lusts and Affections debase our Souls and render them Brutish Every Christians Body is or ought to be God's Temple wherein he dwells and makes his Residence and it is a great Abuse and Profanation of this his Temple to make it a place for nothing but Carnal Debaucheries and Pollutions and in our Saviour's Language Turning it into a Den of Thieves and which is all one