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	quicken_v	5,491	5	10.4511	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A15824	A modell of divinitie, catechistically composed Wherein is delivered the matter and method of religion, according to the creed, ten Commandements, Lords Prayer, and the Sacraments. By Iohn Yates, Bachelour in Diuinitie, and minister of Gods word in St Andrewes in Norvvich.	Yates, John, d. ca. 1660.; Yates, John, d. ca. 1660. Short and briefe summe of saving knowledge. aut; Richardson, Alexander, of Queen's College, Cambridge.	1622 (1622)	STC 26085; ESTC S103644	253,897	373

it will be farre more easie to fill the belly of faith then the eye of reason That faith may therefore be as the elbow for a heauy Soule to leane on wee will vnder prop it with both these pillars I know that as the Sea receiueth all streames and yet hath proper water in farre greater abundance so in God there is a confluence of the perfections of all creatures and yet his owne perfection doth infinitely exceed them Wee are to meddle with the first with the presence whereof all the powers of the minde shall be filled all the senses of the body shall be satiated in so much as they shall neither in desire seeke nor in hope aspire nor in imagination faine any greater pleasure Q. What is God A. God is a spirit hauing life in himselfe or of himselfe He is as wee haue heard both being and Act Ioh. 4.24 With 5.26 2. Cor. 3.17 now wee see both in our definition not that hee is compounded of them but expressed by them In euery creature there is a composition of matter and forme out of which it hath his essence and action so in God spirit is as the matter life as the forme I say expressing not compounding his nature And the reason is liuely for God must be the most excellent nature and the most eminent act Spirit is the purest nature and life the quickest act Obserue but in nature and you shall find that much matter and little forme make things grosse and corporall much forme and little matter fine and spirituall Earth is more grosse then water water then ayre ayre then fire bodies then soules men then Angels Angels then God There is no creature free from matter for then should it be as spirituall as God He onely is without matter and therefore most spirituall and consequently most actiue as if he were all forme Hence he is stiled the liuing God Ier. 10.10 1. Tim. 4.10 Deut. 32.40 Iudg. 8.19 Ruth 3.13 Ezek. 33.11 Dan. 4.37 by whose life wee are to sweare as hauing most intelligence of the truth and greatest power to punish the liar Being a spirit hee must needs be strong and subtile to enter where he will being life it selfe he must needs quicken and quiet all desires and appetites Act. 17.28 Ioh. 1.4 And 5.21.26 Alas then how miserable are all those that want this God or haue prouoked him by their sinnes As one that floateth halfe choaked and wearied in the middest of the Sea ceaseth not to wrestle with the waues to cast forth his hands euery way although he graspeth nothing but thinne and weake water which continually deceiueth his paines so they that both swim and sinke in this depth of death shall alwayes striue and struggle therewith although they neither finde nor hope for any helpe O deadly life O immortall death if the paine were no greater then the stinging of Ants or of Fleas eternitie were enough to make it intolerable Ioh. 5.21.24 2 Cor. 4.11 Gal. 2.19.20 Lord quicken me from this death and make me by faith to passe from it vnto life purposed and promised in thine owne beloued Happie are all they that beleeue and in beleeuing serue this spirit of life in spirit and truth Ioh. 4.24 Luk. 1.75 all the dayes of their life Q. What are the attributes that shew vs who he is A. His essentiall properties And here the field is large for the describing of God Simonides being asked of Hiero the King what God was demanded a dayes respite then two dayes afterwards three and being asked the reason answered that the longer he thought what God should bee the lesse he vnderstood of him And another heathen said It is hard to find a God Plato but to vnderstand him impossible No wonder these men had but the light of Nature yet thus farre they aymed right Quò enim prius eo notius naturâ and shot neere that God the most intelligible was least vnderstood of vs and that the infinite vnderstanding was not within the compasse and fadome of the finite but in helping that default by their owne imaginations went themselues exceeding wide and came not neere the marke which I ascribe not to any defect of eye sight in those sharpe sighted Eagles of Nature but onely to the want of fixed contemplations in the book of the world and more especially their vtter ignorance of the word of God Wee therefore that enioy the sacred Scriptures may see farre further into this mystery Remembring alwayes that Divinitie as the Mistresse taketh vpon her to direct her hand-mayd and that the Bible is the best man of counsell for the greatest Clarke in the world containing more then all the Divines of the Heathen ever saw the shadow of All which will best appeare by the opening of this rich Cabinet of Gods Attributes and viewing the severall Iewels in it by this torch-light or rather Sunne of the little world And it should be a shame for Christians if it were not better knowne of them then Lipsius his Bee-hiue or Machiavels Spider-web about which many wits like a Dor end their flights in a Dung-hill Rom. 3.4 Exod. 23.19 Psal 46.1 With 70.5 Exod. 34.6 And here I might enter an ample harvest of properties affirmatiue negatiue proper and figuratiue absolute and Relatiue But here such properties are to be handled as appeare by themselues as no wayes flowing from the essence of the creatures as all negatiue figuratiue and relatiue properties doe Onely one thing I cannot but mention in admiration of Gods goodnesse vnto vs which is that God is content to take properties most improper as a body in respect of all the members of it head face eyes eye-lids apple of the eye mouth eares necke hand arme right hand fingers feete heart bowels c. Dan. 7.9 Exod. 33.20.23 2. Chron. 16.9 Psal 11.4 Deut. 32.10 Iosh 9.14 Psal 31.2 2. Sam. 22.9 Ier. 18.17 Act. 4.28 Exod. 6.6 and 15.6 and 31.18 Psal 110.1 1. Sam. 2.35 Ier. 31.20 So likewise a soule coupled with the body and members Isa 1.14 so the senses that rise from the vnion both inward and outward as memory forgetfulnesse hearing seeing smelling c. Psal 136.23 Isa 49.14 Psal 14.2 and 5.1.2 Gen. 8.21 In briefe he assumeth the very affections and passions of the soule as ioy sorrow anger zeale Ielousie c. Iudg. 9.13 Gen. 6.6 Rom. 1.18 Nay yet hee goes lower and by the wings of birds hornes of beasts the Sunne the light their very shadow the fire rockes and stones he speakes vnto vs. Psal 91.4.2 Sam. 22.3 Psal 84.11.1 Ioh. 1.5 Psal 91.1 Deut. 4.24 Psal 71.3 yea and to goe to the lowest by the works of mans hands as shields and bucklers c. Psal 2.3 and 144.2 yet we are to vnderstand that all these are attributed vnto God improperly and by way of his gracious condiscending vnto and sympathizing with mans nature because being literally taken they are derogatory vnto his

Father had none to speake vnto but his Sonne let there be is that the word spoken might be done by the Spirit who finisheth what is spoken by both And here we see by what kind of motion the world was made by the least stirring for what is lesse then to effect all by a word And yet what greater then to effect by such a word and spirit Iob 26.13 The Spirit is said to garnish the worke of creation Ioh. 14.26 and 15.26 All that the word hath said or Father promised shall bee taught testified and remembred vnto vs by Gods spirit Rom. 8.10.11 13.14.15.16.26 c. A Spirit of life quickens those mortall bodies that are redeemed by Christ by whom they liue againe and are led in prayer as children of adoption c. 1. Cor. 12.11 All gifts and graces wee haue from the Spirit Rom. 8.9 1. Cor. 3.16 the Spirit is said to dwell for as the Father makes choice of his house and the sonne purchaseth it so the holy Ghost takes possession in casting out Satan and sinne and in keeping and holding the same in spite of all Satans assaults Act. 5.3 A lie against the truth is a speciall sinne against the holy Ghost whose proper worke is to testifie of the veritie he hath receiued from the Father and the Sonne And hence it comes to passe that sinning after the knowledge of the truth is most dangerous because it is opposite to the last act of God further then which he will not goe in the addition of any new supply of grace and goodnesse Q. What may wee learne for conclusion of all this A. That to him the worke is especially giuen in whom the manner of working doth most appeare as Creation to the Father Redemption to the Sonne and Sanctification to the holy Ghost This may a little be manifested vnto vs out of man who is said to doe all things by his wit will and power The first mouer of man to action is will then by wit and wisedome he proceeds and by his power concludes The will workes by wit and power wit workes from the will by power and the power workes from them both Will begins wit dispenseth and power doth finish the action Onely here is the difference that they are not alwayes able to worke inseparably for sometimes a man hath more wit then will Agrippa Act. 26.28 had more wit to be perswaded to be a Christian then will to imbrace so dangerous a profession Sometimes he hath more will then wit as Peter Mat. 16.22 Master spare thy selfe loue made him blind in seeing what was fit for Christ to doe Sometimes againe more will and wit then power as the Devill Mat. 4. in the temptation of our Sauiour he shewed all his wit and will to trap our Sauiour but he had not power thereunto somtimes also there appeares more power then eyther wit or will as in the Legion of vncleane Spirits Math. 8. who carried the whole Herd of Swine head long into the Sea By this wee may see the inseparable co-operation of the three persons as through a crevis or lettice a little glimmering light of their distinct manner of working The Father wills the thing to be done hence in Scripture will is oftner giuen to the Father then any other person Mat. 11.26 Ephes 1.11 Secondly the Sonne being the wisedome of the Father dispenseth what the Father hath willed And here wee vsually call the Sonne the wisedome of the Father and so indeed we finde him to be in our redemption 1. Cor. 1.30 Thirdly the holy Ghost as the power of both doth finish and consummate their works and so the Scripture stiles him the power of the Highest Luk. 1.35 For as the Father did will that his Sonne should take vpon him our flesh and as it was proper to the second person to assume so the finishing of this worke in the last act of it was due to the Spirit for as there is a naturall spirit to vnite the body and soule together so is there a divine spirit equall to the worke to vnite the divinitie and the humanitie of Christ together God wills that his sonne assume and his sonne will not assume but by the worke of the Spirit To conclude nothing is done no not in their most distinct manner of working but they will all haue an hand in it what more proper to the sonne of God then to take our flesh and become our wisedome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption And yet he can doe none of this but from the will of his Father and by the power of his Spirit CHAPTER XII Of the Creation of things immediately made perfect Question HItherto of Gods efficiencie in generall what are the kinds Answere A. Two Creation and providence In the one we see the orderly production of the creatures in the other Gods carefull administration and preservation of them See for this Psalme 104. Of creation to the tenth verse of government to the 27. verse of preservation to the end Nehe. 9.6 Thou hast made the heauen with all their host c. Thou presoruest them all and they worship thee in regard of their Government Q. What is Creation A. It is the first part of Gods externall efficiencie whereby he made the world of nothing originally good Gen. 1.1 In the beginning God made Heb. 11.3 of things which did not appeare Gen. 1.3 and they were very good Psal 33.6.7.8.9 and 146.6 Ier. 10.11.12 Act. 17.24 All which places testifie of a Creator and his power wisedome and discretion in framing them so excellently and that minimo motu by his word and breath Q. What is here generally to be obserued A. That because things here originally had their beginning therefore the Fathers manner of working doth here pruicipally appeare to whom the originall of all things is giuen 1. Cor. 8.6 All are said to be of the Father so are they of the Sonne as God but as a person he is not the originall for in the same place it is said by the sonne And so in the Creed we giue all personally to the Father vntill wee come to the worke of redemption and here we are to learne that the Apostasie of Adam was especially against the Father and therefore could not he by way of satisfaction be our Redeemer for the person properly offended cannot satisfie himselfe by himselfe but by some other that must come betwixt the Father and vs and thus agrees it with the iustice of God that we should be reconciled by a second person Q. Did God make the world all at one instant A. No but in the space of sixe times 24. houres that wee might more distinctly consider all his workes And Aquinas giues a good rule Successiverum non simul est esse perfectio God could haue created all at once but in his wisedome he tooke daies for it Some glimps of reason hereof we may aime at thus as some creatures were to begin with the first instant

the body into his due course See how the first sinne put all out of ioynt and displaced the whole image of God First man neglected his ordinary calling when carelesly he suffered the Serpent to enter Secondly heabused his eare standing betwixt God and the Devill when he left God and listned vnto his enemy Ever since which time he hath beene dull of hearing Gods word They are not made more deafe of hearing that dwell by the fall of Nilus then Adam and all his posteritie of harkning what God sayes Thirdly his eye wandered when he saw that to be desired which was so plainely forbidden Fourthly his feeling was perverted touching where it was sure to be tainted Fiftly he tasted with delight that which he should haue spit out as bitter and poysonfull Sixtly his smelling which is set over the mouth to giue intelligence to it whether our meat be sweet or no was here trecherous to the palate in suffering it to swallow downe so stincking a morsell Thus the fiue senses were as Cinque-ports for temptations where sinne began first to trafficke and at length Satan became Lieutenant of them all and by them not long after gained custome-tribute of Soules From all these wheeles running wrong Satan creepes neerer the Soule and gots possession of all the interior senses While the Crocodile sleepes with open mouth the Indian Ratt shoots himselfe into his belly and gnawes his gutts in sunder so entred mischiefe at the open gates of this securitie A watchfull providence would haue prevented this eminent danger Now the fancy begins plausible inventions here is a tree for wisedome the cogitation takes it for a truth and the memory hath forgotten both the loue and law of God Vnderstanding thus blinded with sense never calls this sophistry to her tribunall but taking one argument for another teacheth the will to conclude amisse and so the Devill is imbraced for God and man being thus subverted sinned being condemned of himselfe Tit. 3.11 And by this disobedience are we all made sinners both actually and originally Rom. 5.19 Q. What is originall sinne A. An exorbitation or swarning of the whole man both inwardly in himselfe and outwardly in the government of the creatures Psal 51.5 Rom. 3.10 and 5.12.18.19 and 7.24 and 8.5 Eph. 4.17.18 1 Cor. 2.14 Col. 3.9 Tit. 1.15 Heb. 12.1 Gen. 6.5 and 8.21 Isa 57.20 First originall sinne is not the wheele or man himselfe but the exorbitation or swaruing of it Secondly it is come in the place of originall righteousnesse and so is a privation of that and an evill habite in the Soule Thirdly It is not a sleeping habite but an inward act ever stirring in man as doth the first act of the soule which is never quiet Fourthly in this inward motion it hath alwayes an inclination to evill Fiftly It most especially possesseth the will and therefore by the auncients is called concupiscence which is the wills motion where now all sinne beginnes and by a kinde of imperious command drawes all other wheeles about with it By this sinne the whole man is in evill and whole evill is in man as the Chaos had the seeds of all creatures onely wanted the spirits motion to bring forth so this wants nothing but Satans heat to hatch even Cockatrices and such like poysoned monsters Q. What note we from hence A. That mans wit and will are exorbitant and therefore he hath no freedome of will to any good that is that may be pleasing vnto God but wholly is carryed vnto evill Ioh. 8.34.35 Rom. 3.11 2 Pet. 3.5 Heb. 11.6 Gen. 6.5 Ier. 8.21 and 13.10.23 and 17.9 Psal 14.1.3 Math. 7.18 and 12.34 Iob. 3.3 and 6.44 and 12.39 Rom. 7.18 Without the principle of life it is impossible to liue therefore originall sinne being in the place of originall righteousnesse and now no new principle of faith as yet infused man is euery wayes dis-inabled to liue well liue he may and that freely but it must be in sinning The Chariot of the soule is cleane carried out of the way of holinesse and man runnes quite beside the line of the law It is left to God to worke both that which is first to will and that which is last to worke Phil. 2.13 To will and to runne is mine but without God I can doe neither well Without mee sayes Christ you can doe nothing no not thinke any thing sayth Paul Alas what can they doe that are not lame but dead in sinnes Eph. 2.1 The first bond is broken and therefore God and man are parted as really and truely in regard of spirituall life as when the naturall spirits are extinguisht body and soule flie asunder By the influence of Gods Spirit alone must a new life be created in vs that was not and not some former life excited yea further wee are not pre-disposed and prepared of our selues for the receiuing of it As there is no vacuitie in nature no more is there spiritually Euery vessell is full if not of liquor yet of ayre and so is the heart of man though by nature it is empty of grace yet it is full of hypocrisie and iniquitie neither can it be filled with grace except it be emptied of these evill qualities and as in a vessell so much water as goes in so much ayre goes out so in the narrow mouth'd vessell of the heart so much grace as comes in by drops so much sinne is expelled and the first expulsion is violent man not co-working at all for he is imformed as it were with sinne and is contrary to the worke of grace the very wisedome of his flesh is enmitie not secret but publicke in resistance neither doth nor can subiect it selfe Rom. 8.7 One hupotassetai ou dunatai two words that cut the very throat of our free-will It subiects not there is resistance and where there is resistance there is contrarietie and contraries suffer violence of one another And the corrupt will is turned againe to God by violence I say not the will for that is a subiect of both and passiue in conversion suffering grace by violence to cast out sinne As farre as it opposeth by corruption so farre is it constrained to yeeld by grace and in the first motion will not-subiect nay because of sinne cannot but the wheele once turned againe by grace is as ready to doe well as ever it was to doe evill Onely Lord I know that by reason of this opposition my soule will take a long time to emptie and fill and that the best vessell cannot be quite full while it is in the body because there will be still these remainders of corruption Though I must not be impatient of Gods delay yet will I never rest cōtent with any measure of grace in this world but will euery day endevour to haue one drop or another added to my small quantitie so shall my last day fill vp my vessell to the brim Q. What is actuall sinne A. The continuall iarring of man vpon outward

neither any to heare it but such as are taught of him There must be a putting in of the rule before there will be any putting forth of man to obey it Ier. 31.33 and 32.40 the noyse of the word Ephes 5.4 shaking of afflictions Ob 33.16 or day light of the Gospell Rom. 13.11.12 are but secundary helping causes and doe nothing without the principall He that is asleepe awakes not till his naturall heat returne hauing digested all those foggie mists and vapours that did bind vp the senses no more is there any awaking of the sinner till there be a returne of that supernaturall heat of grace whereby the vapours of fleshly lustes may bee dissolved within vs which darken the cogitation and oppresse the heart 1. Pet. 2.11 Ephes 4.18 Luk. 21.24 onely here is the difference that this is a dead sleepe whereby the hear of creation is vtterly extinguished so that a new spirit must be put within vs or else wee never crucifie the flesh with the lusts and affections thereof which would keepe vs in a perpetuall sleepe far surpassing the seuen sleepers in the time of Decius the Emperour or Epimenides the Cretian which slept fourescore yeeres in a Caue so sayes the Author of fables and take his word alone I am not his suretie but this is no forgery that many a man out-sleepes his naturall life It is reported of Dionysius the Herocleote that he felt not when men thrust needles into his fat belly so sinners whose hearts are as fat as grease Psal 119.70 feele not their misery Nay like the Fencer that laughed to see his wounds lanched by the Surgeon The beares spoken of in Plinie that could not be stirred with the sharpest prickles come short of a thicke skinned sinner Alas how many shutt all their senses that they may not be troubled with the terrible threats of the Almightie Euen as the old Italians in the time of thunder shot off their greatest Ordinance and did ring their deepest bells to drowne the noyse of the heauens so wretched offenders know how to out-cry and out-roare the highest But they that thus harden and hearten themselues against Gods word shall one day be taught to cry to the hills and mountaines to cover them from the presence of him whom so often they haue despised The Lord teach vs to listen to him here least neglecting the light of his word wee feele the heat of his wrath in hell and be made to finde that to our cost which neuer had our care and to sinart with paine for what we neuer heard with patience But if I should insist vpon euery head as I might well and with profit I should write a Salmeron-like Commentary vpon Petrarches remedies yet doubt whether so this worke would be perfect sure I am a life would bee too little to write it and but enough to read it I will hereafter goe on with the heads as shortly as I may and giue as much good counsell in a narrow roome as I shal be able Brevitie where it is neither obscure nor defectiue is very pleasing even to the daintiest iudgements I will as neere as I may in so large an Art imitate those that draw great personages in little tablets and describe worlds of Countries in the compasse of small Maps I hope if wee haue speciall care of matter and methode wee shall make this Doctrine more portable for memory and readier for vse If our precepts as nailes driue out one another you may iustly impute it to want of Art I shall follow him that is now with God and which I confesse hath broken the Ice before me The forme of the Art is to liue well There is a naturall life which we liue by the vnion of body and soule and there is a spirituall life which we haue by the knot spoken of to wit our vnion with God by Religion Now all men in that they will haue some Religion may be said to liue spiritually but they cannot liue well because they want a true rule of life The follies of the Heathen are baits for babes no bookes for Christians which onely depend vpon God and his word to teach them truely how to liue but let vs cleare our definition by Scripture 1. Tim. 6.3 A doctrine according to godlinesse Tit. 1.1 The acknowledgement of the truth which is after godlinesse First this Art is in God Secondly wee receiue it from him as the paterne and patent of his will Thirdly our examples are to accord with it Hence godlinesse in the example must answere godlinesse in the rule and godlinesse in the rule must bee according to that which is in God God plots the rule then he publisheth it as his will and command and lastly lookes for obedience at our hands A king first plots his government in himselfe then by Proclamation makes it knowne vnto his subiects and lastly vnder penaltie enioynes the keeping of it A Scrivener first makes letters in his head then pens them downe with his hand and guides the Scholler accordingly So God is the Author of Religion then he publisheth it and wee are to liue after it To liue well in practise is to liue well by precept and precept that brings vs to the Prince of our happinesse Pro. 2.5 it is called the feare and knowledge of God Iam. 3.15 It is sayd to be wisedome from aboue 2. Pet. 1.3 through this knowledge wee receiue of God all things that pertaine vnto life and godlinesse To conclude giue thy selfe wholy to learne this Art and deferre it not to thy last wilt thou charge this greatest burden vpon the weakest beast If thou canst not passe over the foord when the waters are low how wilt thou doe when they are risen Twigges at the first will bend to euery hand which afterwards will not be bowed with all thy might Sparkes are sooner quenched then flames and greene wounds sooner cured then festred sores he that driueth a naile first striketh easily and afterwards redoubleth in strength in so much as the more blowes he striketh the more it is fastened and the harder it will be to draw it forth againe so betimes breake the bands shake off the shakles of sinnes and be daily labouring to saue thy poore soule CHAPTER II. Of Faith in God Question VVHat are the parts Answere Faith in God and obedience towards God In the old Testement is devided into feare and seruice Deut. 6.13 Iosh 24.14.1 Sam. 12.24 Ob 28.28 Psal 2.11 Eccl. 12.13 Feare is the head or beginning of this wisedome Psal 111.20 Pro. 9.10 and therefore to serue God without it is a head-lesse Religion Yet on the other side what comfort can we haue in such an head or Masculine disposition if with the Israelites brood it should be smoothered in the birth or recoile like Zarah in Thamars wombe So perfect is this Art that wee must haue cleane fingers as well as cleane hearts It is the plea of Ignorants in doing euill to sy they

doings Luk. 10.21 Christ Iesus reioyced in the good pleasure of his Father as the onely cause of revealing or hiding the mysteries of mans saluation Phil. 2.12.13 Worke out your owne saluation with feare and trembling now least wee should follow the Popish dreame of free-will that man could merit life and happinesse if God would but beare halfe the charges we are reduced to a more full cause It is God which worketh in you both to will and to doe we bring not so much as a will disposed for our owne good that is most slauish till grace free it and it is freed by the most free cause which is the good-pleasure of our God Q. What doe you obserue concerning Elohim or the persons A. Two things their cooperation and distinct manner of working the one is necessary in regard of this that they haue the same essence and therefore cannot but co-worke in euery thing the other is likewise as necessary because each person hath his distinct manner of subsisting All operation flowes from their essence cooperation from their vnitie in it and distinct manner from the distinct manner of their subsisting One essence one operation and three being one must needs worke inseparably and one being three must needs worke in a distinct manner Gen. 1.1 In the beginning Elohim made Gen. 2.26 Let vs make Mat. 12.31 Blasphemie is aggrevated in regard of the three persons and against the last it is made vnpardonable because a sinne against the Father is remitted by the action of the Sonne who redeemes from wrath and so is a sinne against the Sonne by the worke of the Spirit who applies the merites of Christ to euery guiltie soule but if the sin be against the holy Ghost all hope is cut off for there is no fourth person to helpe and the worke cannot goe backward for the Spirit workes neither by the Father nor the Sonne and so no meanes of remission is left for this sinne Q. What is the divine co-operation A. Whereby the three persons worke the same thing inseparably Ioh. 5.17.19.21 My father worketh hitherto and I worke whatsoeuer things he doth the same doe I he raiseth and quickneth the dead even so doe I quicken whom I will c. Ioh. 1.3 Nothing was made without the sonne And here wee are to vnderstand the same of the blessed Spirit Q. What is hence to be learned A. That all the persons worke of themselues 1. Ioh. 5.7 Three beare record and yet they are all one in essence in respect whereof they worke from themselues To be and to act is all one in God therefore as each person is God of himselfe so doth he worke of himselfe Q. What will further follow from this A. That there is no preheminence or dignitie in this their co-working For as they are equall in essence so are they equall in their actions Ioh. 14.1 Yee beleeue in God beleeue also in mee Ioh. 16.15 All things that the father hath are mine Ioh. 5.18 It was no sinne for Christ to make himselfe equall with his father in euery worke The same is as true of the Spirit Q. What is the distinct manner of working A. Whereby each person worketh according to the manner of his subsisting Hence it comes to passe that the second person being mentioned with the first it is said Not of him but by him were things made for as the sonne workes from the father so the father workes by the sonne Ioh. 1.3 Col. 1.16.17 Heb. 1.2 The like is to be vnderstood of the Spirit who being from both hath both to worke by him Ioh. 16.13 and doth nothing of himselfe I meane as a person Q. What is the Fathers manner of working A. To worke all things by the Sonne and the holy Ghost 1. Cor. 8.6 One God which is the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Iesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him So that the first person workes from himselfe not onely as God but as a person and continues his worke by his sonne Math. 10.20 Ioh. 15.26 1. Cor. 3.10 By the Spirit the Father revealeth teacheth and testifieth and the reason is because they are both from him who worketh of himselfe Q. What from hence A. That the originall and beginning of all things is from the Father For he that is first in subsisting must needs be first in working Hence some manifest notable ignorance in this point who place the worke of the Sonne and the holy Ghost before the action of the Father and that in the greatest and weightiest mystery of our salvation I meane our eternall predestination who placing redemption and application before election set the worke of the second third person before the first for according to their wandering Doctrine they teach that man is redeemed and by faith applied to Christ before he bee elected of God the Father This is cleane contrary to S. Paul Eph. 1.3 to 15. Where election being an originall worke is giuen to the Father who dispenseth the same by his sonne and applies it by his spirit So that the Father doth elect vs before the Sonne redeeme vs or the Spirit sanctifie vs. Read the Bible and you shall finde creation and election more frequently attributed to the first person then either the second or the third And our Creed teacheth vs to call the Father Creator c. Q. What is the Sonnes manner of working A. He worketh from the Father by the holy Ghost Ioh. 5.19 The sonne can doe nothing of himselfe saue that which hee seeth the Father doe c. Ioh. 16.15 The Spirit shall take of mine and shew it vnto you And the reason is the Sonne is from the Father but the holy Ghost is from them both Q. What learne wee hence A. That the dispensaetion of all things is giuen to the Sonne as there is an entrance into euery worke so must there bee a proceeding in it and the Father in all things proceeds by his Sonne as in the revelation declaration of his will Ioh. 1.18 and the execution of all things in himselfe which may prepare for the worke of the spirit in vs. Ioh. 16.17 For till the Father haue done the Sonne can doe nothing neither is it for the Spirit to worke vntill he take it from them both Q. What is the holy Ghosts manner of working A. To worke both from the Father and the Sonne Ioh. 16.13 The Spirit shall not speake or doe any thing of himselfe but whatsoeuer he shall heare from the Father and the Sonne as the two next verses make it plaine And the reason is that he subsisting from them both must needs worke accordingly Q. What followes from hence A. That the consummation of all things is giuen to the holy Ghost who ends the worke of the Father and the Sonne Gen. 1.3 Let there be is rather a word of consummation then commandement The whole worke is carried by word and deed God said the

hope of better in reversion and shall we sticke at any worldly pelfe for the gaining of heaven Fie on such children as with Esau would sell this birth-right for a messe of this worlds pottage Lord make mee one of thy heires and I will be content to waite thy leisure for my pleasure in inioying Q. Hitherto of our being in Christ what is our coalition or growing vp with him A. It is our daily putting off of the old man with his corruptions and the putting on of the new man with his daily renewing in righteousnesse and true holinesse Ephes 4.22.23.24 2 Cor. 5.17 Gal. 2.20 and 5.24 They that are in Christ cannot but be new creatures and such as are daily crucifiers of sinne Q. What are the parts or rather degrees of this our coalition A. Regeneration and glorification Being adopted of the Father it is fit wee should come forth as his children therefore it pleaseth the Father of his owne will to beget vs with the word of truth Iam. 1.18 1 Pet. 1.23 First there is a divine conception of the adopted Sonnes of God and secondly a bringing forth of that worke Christ was conceiued in the wombe of the Virgin by the worke of the Spirit so must his brethren be conceiued in the wombe of the Church by the same Spirit Psal 110.3 Christ told Nicodemus that he was to be re-borne or else hee should never see glory Ioh. 3.3 Regeneration is as the conception Glorification as the nativitie or happy birth day The passion dayes of the Martyrs were called of old Natalitiasalutis the birth dayes of their salvation and that as well for festivitie as the nativitie it selfe Thus from an obscure conception we come to a glorious birth 1 Ioh. 3.2 Q. What is Regeneration A. It is as it were a new conception of vs in the wombe of the Church by the spirit of God and that of the incorruptible seed of the Word whereby our corrupt nature is begotten againe or restored to the image of God 1 Pet. 1.3 2 Pet. 1.4 Tit. 3.5 Gal. 4.6 2 Cor. 3.17 Colos 5.9.10 Eph. 4.23 Which is of the whole man and in this life is perfect in the parts though imperfect in the degrees as a child is a perfect man before he come to his full age And this may be called our sanctification whereby of vnholy wee are renewed by the holy Spirit to the image of our heauenly Father And here we are to consider two degrees of our sanctification the first is the inchoation or beginning of it the second is the processe or passing forward to greater perfection hence Rom. 8.30 our glorification followes our iustification sanctification being no other thing then a degree thereof still proceeding profiting and perfiting in true holinesse which is the greatest reward of godlinesse for as to doe ill and continue therein is the greatest misery so to doe well and persevere therein is the greatest felicitie Glory is the reward of vertue and God cannot crowne his servants better then with an increase of grace Now this progresse is orderly and begins in the Soule even in the very marrow and spirit thereof and so proceeds to the outward man and the actions thereof Ier. 4.14 Eph. 4.23.25.26.27.28 First conversion then conversation And here alas how many set the Cart before the Horse and beginne to change their liues before their lusts their hands before their hearts to purge the channell when the fountaine is corrupt and apply remedies to the head when the paine is caused from the impuritie of the stomacke What is this but to loppe off the boughes and never lay the Axe to the roote of the tree to prune the Vine that it may sprout the more Miserable experience shewes how such disordered beginnings come to miserable endings Many seeme to abstaine from sinnes which they never abhorre and leaue some evils which they loath not and so like swine wallow in them againe or like dogs follow their former vomit she wing plainly they did never inwardly distast those sinnes which for a time outwardly they neglected Againe as wee are to obserue order so wee are to labour for a thorow change 1 Thess 5.23 Holinesse as a dram of Muske perfumes the whole boxe of oyntment or is placed in the Soule as the heart in the body for the conveying of life to all the parts Some turne from one sinne to another others like Aethiopians are white onely in the teeth that is in verball profession else-where cole blacke in conversation they speake well and that 's all Others thinke it is well if they turne their mindes from error though they never change their wills from evill as a reformed Papist but an vnreformed Protestant as wanton in truth as ever he was wilde in error others againe thinke they haue done God good service if they giue halfe the turne as prostrating their bodies to Idoles when God shall haue their hearts or on the contrary when God hath their bodies they suffer the Devill to haue their Soules When mens bodies are in Sacello their hearts as Augustine complaineth are at home in saccellis suis Many by their looke and language out-face the congregation whiles their hearts are running and roving after covetousnesse If wee will beleeue eyther Phylosophy or experience wee shall finde our hearts where they loue not where they liue Lastly others resolue to giue all to God yet haue a leering eye and a squint respect vnto some of their sinnes with Lots wife casting a longing looke after their old Sodome Know the rule of the Schoole to be most certaine that as vertues so vices are coupled together and though in conversion to temporall good they looke diverse wayes yet in regard of aversion from eternall good they beare all one face Yet this must be added for the comfort of the weake that vnperfect sanctification if it be vnpartiall is accepted of God Onely let vs as the aire from darke to light in the dawning of the day proceed by degrees to our noone in grace or as the water from cold to luke-warme and then to heat so let vs haue our soules benummed with sinne warmed with grace and then further heated with true zeale and ferveneie Q. What are the affections or properties of Regeneration A. They are either from the death of Christ our mortification of sinne or his resurrection our vivification in righteousnesse and from hence our spirituall warre betweene corruption dying in vs and righteousnesse rising and growing in vs. Mortification is a daily dying to sinne by applying Christs death to our selues 2 King 13.21 The dead body no sooner touched the bones of Elisha but it was revived againe so wee no sooner touch Christ but he crucifies sinne in vs and reviues vs in the spirit Rom. 6.2.11 and. 7.4 Colos 3.3 Rom. 6.6 Vivification is a dally rising to newnesse of life by the vertue of Christs resurrection Ioh. 5.11 Eph. 2.4.5 The spirituall battell is waged betweene the part corrupted and