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

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62592	A sermon preached before the King, Febr. 25th, 1675/6 by John Tillotson ...	Tillotson, John, 1630-1694.	1676 (1676)	Wing T1229; ESTC R10103	13,508	40

very much upon their repentance especially if they set solemn times apart for it And there is no doubt but that a sincere repentance will put a man into a good condition But then it is to be considered that no repentance is sincere but that which produceth a real change and reformation in our lives Others satisfie themselves with the exercise of some particular graces and virtues as Justice and Liberality and Charity And is it not a thousand pities that thy life is not all of a piece and that all the other parts of it are not answerable to these that thou shouldest lose the reward of so much real goodness out of thy fondness to any one vice or lust Hast thou never heard what the Scripture saith that he who offends in one point is a transgressour of the whole Law To make a man a good man all parts of goodness must concurr but any one way of wickedness is sufficient to denominate a man bad Lastly Some comfort themselves in the good opinion which perhaps others have of them But if we know our selves to be bad it is not the good opinion of others concerning us which can either alter or better our condition They may have reason for their charity and yet thou none for thy confidence Trust no body concerning thy self rather than thy self because no body can know thee so well as thou maist know thy self These and such as these are the hopes of the hypocrite which Job elegantly compares to the spiders web finely and artificially wrought but miserably thin and weak so that we our selves may see through them and if we lay the least stress upon them they will vanish Secondly We will consider in the next place the causeless doubts and jealousies of men really good concerning their bad condition 1. Some are afraid that they are reprobated from all eternity and therefore they cannot be the children of God This is so unreasonable that if it were not a real cause of trouble to some persons it did not deserve to be considered For no man that sincerely endeavours to please God and to keep his commandments hath from Scripture the least ground to suspect any latent or secret decree of God against him that shall work his ruine But whatever the decrees of God be concerning the eternal state of men they can certainly be no rule either of our duty or comfort And therefore for men to judg of their condition by the decrees of God which are hid from us and not by his word which is near us and in our hearts is as if a man wandring in the wide sea in a dark night when the heaven is all clouded about him should yet resolve to steer his course by the stars which he cannot see and neglect the compass which is at hand and would afford him a much better and more certain direction 2. Good men are conscious to themselves of many frailties and imperfections and therefore they are afraid of their condition But God considers the infirmities of our present state and expects no other obedience from us in order to our acceptance with him but what this state of imperfection is capable of And provided the sincere endeavour and general course of our lives be to please him and keep his Commandments the terms of the Gospel are so merciful that our frailties shall not be imputed to us so as to affect our main state and to make us cease to be the children of God 3. They are afraid their obedience is not sincere because it proceeds many times from fear and not always out of pure love to God For answer to this It is plain from Scripture that God propounds to men several motives and arguments to obedience some proper to work upon their fear as the threatnings of punishment some upon their hope as the promises of blessing and reward others upon their love as the mercies and forgiveness of God From whence it is evident he intended they should all work upon us And accordingly the Scripture gives us instances in each kind Noah moved with fear obeyed God in preparing an Ark Moses had respect unto the recompence of reward Mary Magdalen loved much And as it is hard to say so it is not necessary to determine just how much influence and no more each of these hath upon us It is very well if men be reclaimed from their fins and made good by the joint force of all the considerations which God offers to us To be sure Love is the noblest and most generous principle of obedience but fear commonly takes the first and fastest hold of us and in times of violent temptation is perhaps the best argument to keep even the best of men within the bounds of their duty 4. Another cause of doubting in good men is from a sense of their imperfect performance of the duties of Religion and of the abatement of their affections towards God at some times They have many wandring thoughts in prayer and other exercises of devotion and they cannot for their life keep their minds continually intent on what they are about This we should strive against as much as we can and that is the utmost we can do but to cure this wholy is impossible the infirmity of our nature and the frame of our minds will not admit of it And therefore no man ought to question his sincerity because he cannot do that which is impossible for men to do And then for the abatement of our affections to God and Religion at some times this naturally proceeds from the inconstancy of mens tempers by reason of which it is not possible that the best of men should be able always to maintain and keep up the same degree of zeal and fervour towards God But our comfort is that God doth not measure mens sincerity by the Tides of their affections but by the constant bent of their resolutions and the general tenour of their life and actions 5. Another cause of these doubts is that men expect more than ordinary and reasonable assurance of their good condition some particular revelation from God and extraordinary impression upon their minds to that purpose which they think the Scripture means by the testimony and seal and earnest of the Spirit God may give this when and to whom he pleases but I do not find that he hath any where promised it And all that the Scripture means by those phrases of the testimony and seal and earnest of the Spirit is to my apprehension no more but this That the Holy Spirit which God bestowed upon Christians in so powerful and sensible a manner was a seal and earnest of their resurrection to eternal life according to that plain Text Rom. 8.11 If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you But then who they are that have the