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
A41414	The Christian sodality, or, Catholick hive of bees sucking the hony of the Churches prayers from the blossome of the word of God blowne out of the epistles and Gospels of the divine service throughout the yeare / collected by the puny bee of all the hive, not worthy to be named otherwise than by these elements of his name: F. P.	Gage, John, priest.	1652 (1652)	Wing G107	592,152	1,064

to take away all hurtfull things and grant them all availing ones to their salvation but especially this most availing of all the rest to send them true Prophets good and holy Priests such as may teach them as well by the exemplarity of their lives as by the veritie and soliditie of their Doctrine for as the Text commands us to beware of others so the Prayer by consequence must beg for these On the eighth Sunday after Pentecost The Antiphon Luk. 16. v. 3. WHat shall I doe for that my Lord taketh from me the Bailiff-ship To dig I am not able to beg I am ashamed I know what I will do that when I shall be removed from the Bailiff-ship they may receive me into their houses Vers Let my Prayer O Lord c. Resp Even as Incense c. The Prayer GRant us O Lord we beseech thee propitiously the spirit of thinking alwayes and of doing what is right that as we cannot be without thee so we may live unto thee The Illustration O Beloved what an excellent Prayer is this How deep how sweet how alone able to save us if said with the same spirit that taught it and if performed as well as ●aid For if we neither think nor do amisse how can we ever sin and consequently how fail of being saved Again if we onely subsist by the preservation of Almighty God as is most true how can we presume to live unto our selves and not unto him As therefore our beeing is purely and onely by him so ought our living to be purely and onely to him not as it is God help us to our selves as if we had been our own makers or could for the least minute preserve our selves how daring so ever our comportment is as though we were our own and not God Almighties creatures Idolizing dayly to our selves sinning hourely and provoking God to undo his own handy work by damning not annihilating of us were not his mercy above our malice which malice onely can attempt our annihilation I need say no more of the excellency of this Prayer for whilest I strive to amplifie it by other words I do contract it rather then inlarge it which is more patheticall and significant in the short method it observes then any ampliation even by the tongues or pens of Angels can make it and shewes us That as God is but one simple essence in himself yet contains within him all the variety that is possible in infinite millions of creatures or worlds indeed so he can if he please contract into one word the sense and meaning of all the languages of the world and truly much is contracted in this Prayer above I shall therefore say no more in commends of it but onely shew how rarely well it suites with the Epistle and Gospell following how as it were eminentially it contains them both the former in begging first the spirit of alwayes thinking and doing right that so we may be and live to God as the Epistle advi●eth which you see quits us of all obligation to our selves and ties us up to the duty of a spirituall life and of a corporall death both which are petitioned in the Prayer the latter in shewing us how to prevent the danger of such like cheats to our Lord and Master which the Gospell mentions by prepossessing our thoughts with a right addresse of them to our masters pleasure and profit and consequently by preventing our actions towards him to be unjust when we acknowledge we cannot be at all but such creatures as he makes us and thence we can have no hope to be preserved by him in a wicked being which he never gave us nor can we expect he should preserve us in it so the Prayer concludes begging we may live onely to him who onely is the authour of our being The Epistle Rom. 8. v. 12. c. 12 Therefore Brethren we are debtours not to the flesh to live according to the flesh 13 For if you live according to the flesh you shall die but if by the spirit you mortifie the deeds of the flesh you shall live 14 For whosoever are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God 15 For you have not received the spirit of servitude again in fear but you have received the spirit of adoption of sonnes wherein we cry Abba Father 16 For the Spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit that we are the sonnes of God 17 And if sonnes heirs also heirs truly of God and coheirs of Christ The Explication 12. THis therefore is S. Paul's inference or conclusion upon the premises wherein he had said we were by Baptisme regenerate born again not of flesh and bloud but of Christ in whom the Baptized must live as he did in spirit not in flesh and so consequently are no longer debtours to flesh but to spirit and must no longer live to the flesh but to the spirit 13. By the spirit is here understood Christ and his grace not our own soules for though our bodies live by our souls yet our soules must live by Christ who is their life and we must by conformity to his will mortifie both our own bodies and soules too if we will live spiritually in and by him we must dye to concupiscence and inordinate desires for till then they are not mortified but live in us and we by them live fleshly not spiritually 14. To be led by the Spirit signifies that Christ should act in us not onely we in our selves and then we are true Sons of God when we are led by him by his holy Spirit who is our life as he was S. Paul's when the Apostle said Gal. 2.20 he lived now not he but Christ in him But here S. Austin playes prettily upon the word acting We must saith he act our selves and yet let our action be from him rather then from us for then we act well when he makes us act when our action is radicated in him and squared to his holy will So here to be led argues the impulse of his holy Spirit and the voluntary cooperation of our action too for then saith S. Austin we are led by his Spirit when we do as we ought to do 15. The spirit of servitude or servile fear was that which God led the Jewes withal fear of temporal punishments but we are led by a better spirit that of love and so must serve God for love of him rather then for fear of hell and as his adopted children rather then servants so much nobler is our condition then that of the Jewes And this spirit of adoption is no lesse then the holy Ghost himself communicated unto us as v. 6. was said on Sunday within the Octaves of Nativity For as God gave his own Deity to Christ when he made Christ the Son of God so the holy Ghost gives us himself to make us also the Sons of God by adoption in virtue of our Saviours Passion whence we have the priviledge

ebrieties commessations and such like as I have foretold that they who do such things shall not obtaine the Kingdome of Heaven 22 But the fruit of the spirit is Charitie Joy Peace Patience Benignitie Goodnesse Longanimitie 23 Mildnesse Faith Modestie Continence Chastitie against such there is no Law 24 And they that be Christs have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences The Explication 16. THe summe of all he aimes at in this Epistle is to advise the Galatians to walk in the spirit after the dictamen of grace and not of nature after the instinct of the holy Ghost and not of their own corrupted judgements and by this mean● he tells them they shall avoid the accomplishment of fleshly desires how ever they may be tempted therewith 17. Hence the Manicheans and some Philosophers held there were two souls in man one spirituall the other carnall this of God that of the devil But the Catholick doctrine is otherwise that by one onely rationall soul in man are performed the operations of vegetative sensitive and reasonable souls Hence we see the reason why some good men sinne because they do not what they would what their spirit desires but what their flesh prevaileth for by a greater desire And indeed man is made up of these two contraries to show his life is a perpetuall warfare upon earth between the flesh and the spirit 18 This verse hath diverse senses but the genuine is if we be so led by the spirit of God as we doe what the same spirit dictates then we are not under the Law subject unto it or guiltie of the breach thereof Not that the Law ceaseth to oblige us but that we forbear to offend the Law and so are as it were rather above then under it whilest we walke under the Law of the spirit and in so doing rather trample it under us then break the Law which is onely made against transgressours not against the Just for against those there is no law saith the Apostle by and by against those who walk according to the dictamen of the Spirit 19. By the flesh we are here to understand the concupiscence thereof which leads to the vices afterwards enumerated namely fornication which is properly simple carnal knowledge between man and woman without other circumstances of adultery rape incest or the like Uncleannesse is properly that mollities or softnesse rather easinesse indeed to carnal delight which causeth single pollution without commixture of two bodies Impudicity is properly immodest kisses or touches between two persons Le●hery is properly any unlawful carnal delight which is extraordinary and so mortal This may be called also Lasciviousnesse which for the excesse transcends and passerh over all the special kinds of lust that are above named or can be indeed imagined and this excesse may be committed even between man and wife by undue knowledge of one another or by intemperance even in the due wayes of their mutual knowledge 20. By this verse enumerating acts of the soul amongst the works of the flesh we are taught that concupiscence resides as well in the soul as in the body of man and was left as a perpetual punishment of Adams sin in b●th parts of humane nature thereby to shew the whole masse of pure man was corrupted not onely every individual of mankind but every essential part of man as well his form as his matter his soul as his body from which Christ was free being God as well as Man and this punishment may not be unproperly called concupiscence which is indeed the fewel to the fire of all sort of sins burning perpetually in mankind and being by concupiscence perpetually fed so that concupiscence leades not onely to corporal but even to spiritual vices and therefore as well these as others are called works of the flesh and are here numbred by the Apostle among them namely Idolatry which is serving false Gods Witchcraft which is working by help of the devil Enmity which is a permanent and professed breach of friendship Contention which is perverse opposing one another in words or opinions out of a spirit of contradiction Emulation which is a repining at others well doing Anger which is a height of passion seeking revenge and this is mortal or venial according as it is greater or lesser Brawles which is breach of brotherly charity by giving provoking language Dissention which leades to strife or war Sects which are all Heretical opinions or choyce of religions by the conduct of private sense or spirit contrary to the known and common doctrine of holy Church 21. The three first vices mentioned here speak themselves plain enough in their names Commessations are all riots or gluttonous excesses in eating or drinking feasts or banquets hereunto are reduced all excesses of wantonnesse at such feasts as idle songs and light womens company or unchaste talk The close of this verse prohibiting from heaven these who do those works of the flesh above enumerated is to be understood onely when mortal habit is contracted in all or any of these works or when any dies in a mortal act of any of these vices 22. See how contrary the works of the Spirit are to those of the flesh and note that the Apostle speaks not here in the same stile as formerly for he calls corporal deeds works of the flesh but spiritual acts he calls the fruits of the Spirit and why because they are more indeed the fruits of the holy Ghost then of man and therefore are called fruits rather then works though they are the works or acts of our soul yet in regard they are done by the vertue of grace not of nature hence they are imputed to be rather fruits of the holy Ghost then acts of our soul whilest that holy Spirit operates more towards them then our own soules do which since Adams fall are still more propense to evil then to good works Note here are principally understood the acts not the habits of those vertues for an act is properly a fruit of the agent and the chief agent in these being the holy Ghost they though produced by us are called the fruits of the Spirit that is of the Holy Ghost in us And the first of these is called Charity as the prime and principal fruit of the Holy Ghost in us because it is indeed the highest of all other virtues insomuch that it partakes in a manner of the Deity it self since God is called Charity 1 Joh. 4 8. and therefore this is indeed the main and special fruit of the Spirit and all other virtues are not improperly called the fruits of this because it is this gives life to the soul and to all her virtues whatsoever And by this are produced in us these following namely Joy the fruit indeed of a serene conscience guilty of no adulterate affection to creatures but ravisht wholly with the pure love of God Peace the tranquillity of mind upon the serenity of a conscience not troubled with any