Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	deed_n	flesh_n	mortify_v	5,880	5	10.8136	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A37035	A commentarie upon the book of the Revelation Wherein the text is explained, the series of the several prophecies contained in that book, deduced according to their order and dependance on each other; the periods and succession of times, at, or about which, these prophecies, that are already fulfilled, began to be, and were more fully accomplished, fixed and applied according to history; and those that are yet to be fulfilled, modestly, and so far as is warrantable, enquired into. Together with some practical observations, and several digressions, necessary for vindicating, clearing, and confirming many weighty and important truths. Delivered in several lectures, by that learned, laborious, and faithfull servant of Jesus Christ, James Durham, late Minister of the Gospel in Glasgow. To which is affixed a brief summary of the whole book, with a twofold index, one of the several digressions, another of the chief and principall purposes and words contained in this treatise.	Durham, James, 1622-1658.	1658 (1658)	Wing D2805; ESTC R216058	1,353,392	814

because they are such Again pag. 226. he illustrateth it by this comparison of eating much and little to shew that the moral good of an action consisteth in the degree thereof Now none will say that simple shunning of extreams of eating and drinking too much or too little will constitute an act to be sincerely gracious and acceptable to God except it be considered as qualified with its motive and end to wit Gods Glory c. And elsewhere gold saith he is to be tried by weight at by the touchstone now this is true that the quantity of gold is to be tried so but not only to be tread by the weight and then also Grace is not only to be tried by the degree yet certainly the reality and truth of it is to be tried by the touchstone and it is here the sincerity and truth of Grace that we are inquiring for and saith he Ibid. it is not the wrestling but the overcoming that the promise is made to which is true in respect of the promises of full fruition for these do presuppose a full and total victorie but can it be said that no wrestler may be said to have true Grace or may conclude that he hath it till he have in this sense fully overcome That would directly thwart the Authors scope which is to presse the making of our election and calling sure and by this debate to help therein for upon this ground none in this life could attain assurance because this victory that is mentioned in these Scriptures Rev. 2.3 c. He that overcomes c. is the result of all that therefore which he asserts pag. 243. cannot be granted to wit that fighting is the same action naturally in both to wit in these who overcome and these who are overcome 1 Jo● 4.5 with 2 Pet. 2.19 20. For both fight but the valiant strong and constant do conquer when the feeble faint and cowardly and impatiently do turn their backs and are overcome It may be observed that though fighting be the same possibly Physically understood yet it 's one thing to fight valiantly and stoutly another to do it cowardly and faintingly or to fight for respect to their Captain or for love of wages c. and so there is a great difference morally between fighting and fighting and also in respect of the positive qualifications thereof and thus the difference is admitted here Beside that word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the present sheweth that the Lord doth reckon a difference before this victory be obtained And saith he the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence and violence is no distinct action but a different degree of action These things I say may serve clearly to illustrate what we asserted for here fighting is contradistinguished from the victory that followeth it Now can it be said that there is no true Grace in the person that fights or in fighting that he may overcome And if there be then the sincerity and truth of Grace consisteth not in this actual overcoming only nor can it be said that the renewed fighter wrestleth in the same manner or that his fighting is in the same kind considering that he fighteth by his faith 1 Ioh. 5.4 that he mortifieth the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit Rom. 8.13 that he putteth on the whole armour of God Ephes. 6. c. And seing an unrenewed man neither hath such weapons or spritual armour nor hath a life or dexterity to use them nor such arguments inducing him to the fight or such an end before him or such a principle as is capable so to be wrought upon c. can it be said that his fighting is the same with the former And that other expression of offering violence to the Kingdom of God is but a borrowed expression and therefore ought not so to be made use of here as if there were stronger and weaker assaults made at Heaven indeed and as if there needed no more to the weak assault but a further degree only when at least there must be new conveighed skill and strength and a new way must be followed for attaining it For the scope of that place is to shew the necessity of taking hold of Christ by Faith notwithstanding of what ever impediments and discouragements would scare one in the way and so it proves that the Faith of a Believer is far different from the Faith of a Hypocrite because the one steps over difficulties upon the consideration of Gods faithfulnesse and by taking hold of Jesus Christ doth prevail in the conquering of Heaven as if by violence and might they did carry it whereas others who never took hold on Him or by their Faith improved His offices for the upmaking of their own needs have no ground of expectation to be admitted to Heaven and nothing they can do can be of force to do violence to the Kingdom of God without this And so in this respect the fighter prevaileth and overcometh and gaineth Heaven because as the Apostle saith he striveth lawfully 2 Tim. 2.5 and because he fighteth in the right manner and his fighting is not not to be accounted sincere till he overcome but he overcometh because it is sincere and so it 's sincere before that Beside the native exposition of that place looketh to a violence peculiarly called for in that time for since the dayes of John Baptist saith the Text which will concern this nothing For indeed then there was a great difficulty to get the Messiah closed-with as already incarnate and to lay by all Types as now having their accomplishment By all which we think it is more agreeable to Truth to continue the received Doctrine of inquiring for the Truth and sincerity of Grace in the kind thereof and not in the degree only For further confirming whereof beside what is said we shall first shew that there is a real difference between the habites of saving Grace in the Regenerate and the common dispositions that may be in hypocrites 2. We shall shew that there is such a difference also in the acts of saving Grace in respect of these former qualifications beside the consideration of the prevalency of the degree and the acts that may be in hypocrites And 3. That this new opinion hath no more advantage with it than the former but that it hath the same inconveniencies if they be inconveniencies which are alleged against the former waiting upon it and others also besides these 1. That the infused habits of Grace which are called the new nature seed of God the unction and spirit c. do differ from the habits and dispositions that are in unrenewed men and hypocrites and that by a real and Physical difference even in kind may thus be made out 1. If the Flesh and Spirit c. be different in kind having different originals and different effects c. Then Grace thus considered in a renewed person must be different in kind from what is or can be in any hypocrite

exceedingly presse a man Now both these are here a golden Candlestick there is its excellency in it self and thy Candlestick there is the Angels interest and propriety in it Both are set down to affect him the more And indeed a Church being in its blossoming and rising condition and all things seeming to go well therein even then to be threatned thus cannot but greatly affect the heart of a faithfull Minister To the third How can People be punished for Ministers faults Answ. If they were altogether innocent it might seem hard but when they also are guilty yea and it 's like here under the same guilt there is no wrong but it 's the correcting of two by one whip both Minister and People for their formality and resting in outward forms without power 2. Though People in one particular be innocent yet a Ministers fault may occasion a plague on the People who are guilty by other sins even as the fault of a Magistrate as we may see in Davids numbering the People and Gods plaguing him in the People for it though they were in much free from that particular sin and as sheep what had they done So when a Peoples outward profession or observance to the Ministery and Ordinances become the ground of a Ministers pride or boast they may by some confusion be put through other and so his pride and glory is stained and their hypoc●isie and formality punished even as on the other side a Peoples vanity of their Minister may have influence on the Lords blasting of him that it may be seen all flesh is grasse Which consideration ought to make Ministers and People walk respectively one to each other yet soberly left the Lord be provoked against both From this threatning Observe 1. That no Church or Minister hath a lease of a Church-state and the Gospel if they abuse it Ephesus is now no Church yea Israel was broken off 2. It 's one of the greatest threatnings that can be to be un-Churched Sword and Pestilence are not like it 3. It may surprise a Church in a very flourishing outward condition if love be wanting 4. Nothing hath more influence in procuring of judgement than coldnesse in love to God and others 5. The estate good or ill of Gods own People hath most influence on the continuing or removing of the Gospel It 's not for the guilt of Nicolaitaus or false Prophets that this is threatned but for their sin who once had love 6. Repentance and diligence hath great influence to prevent such a threatning 7. Ministers and People may have much influence on one anothers good or ill condition and sometime we may read our own distemper and scourge in the distemper of one another LECTURE III. Vers. 6. But this thou hast that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans which I also hate 7. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God THe sixth verse containeth the last thing that is comprehended in the body of the Epistle to Ephesus and it 's a kind of mitigation of the sharp reproof and threatning going before as He began with a word of commendation so he will close with it and will let them see that though He had marked their sin and reproved them for it yet He was the same in His love and had the same thoughts He began with towards them and it is in sum this for as much wrong as is in you and for as much as ye are fallen from your first love yet there is some sparkle of zeal in you ye have this good thing that the corrupt doctrine of the Nicolaitans which began soon to corrupt the simplicity and purity of the Doctrine of Christ is hated and abominated by you even as it is by Me. To clear this a little more we shall speak to these three things 1. What these Nicolaitans were 2. What this hatred was 3. How it was commendable or what is the ground on which it is commended For the 1. We shall consider first what the Nicolaitans were 2. What was the occasion and rise of their error or erroneous Doctrine For the first what they were There is not much recorded of them in Scripture yet it seemeth from all that is written of them being compared with what is written of them in this Chapter that they were such a sort of Schismatical Hereticks as had corrupt Doctrine in their mouths and corrupt and licentious practices in their conversations Therefore their deeds are spoken of in this verse and their Doctrine vers 15. both which are said to be hated of Christ there being a suitablnesse between their Doctrine and their deeds For the particulars of their Doctrine and deeds many are asserted by the Ancient but two things mainly are pitched on 1. In their Doctrine they opened a door to licentiousness and maintained that fornication and adultery were no sin and they cried down Matrimoniall chastity though called for and approven of God 2. In their practice without all respect to offence and scandal they lived as they lifted eating things Sacrificed to Idols a thing much stumbled at in those dayes abusing their Christian liberty to licentiousnesse and lousnesse taking advantage of and abusing the decree of the Apostles Acts 15.20 that Christians would abstain from pollutions of Idols and from fornication and from things strangled and from blood as if all these things had been of one and the same nature as indeed at that time they were all necessarily to be abstained from as if they had been of one nature These are granted by all to be the two main things that these Nicolaitans were guilty of though there be that add many moe as Epiphanius doth and if we look to the 14. and 15. vers of this chapter it is not unlike that the Lord points at these two faults for in the 14. verse He tells Pergamos that she had them that held the Doctrine of Balaam who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things Sacrificed unto Idols and to commit fornication and in the 15. verse So hast thou also them that hold the Doctrine of the Nicolaitans which thing I hate Where they that maintained the Doctrine of Balaam and the Nicolaitans are the same and He meaneth as Balaam taught Balac to ensnare the Israelites by drawing them to their Idol feasts and commit fornication with the daughters of Moab So saith the Lord ye have the Nicolaitans that follow the same footsteps and teach the same Doctrine 2. There is more difference concerning the occasion and rise of this Heresie It is commonly and by the most part if not by all attributed to that Nicolas that Acts 6. is mentioned among the seven Deacons that were chosen to wait upon the tables and who gets there a testimonie that he was a man