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

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A74993	Certain select discourses on those most important subjects, requisite to be well understood by a catechist in laying the foundation of Christian knowledge in the minds of novitiates viz., First discourses on I. The doctrine of the two covenants both legal and evangelical, II. On faith and justification / by William Allen. Secondly, Discourses on I. The covenant of grace, or baptismal covenant, being chatechetical lectures on the preliminary questions and answers of the Church-Catechism : II. Three catechetical lectures on faith and justification / by Thomas Bray, D.D.	Allen, William, d. 1686.; Bray, Thomas, 1658-1730.	1699 (1699)	Wing A1055A; ESTC R172154	614,412	564

of a fleshly Appetite with such Meats and Drinks as are Unlawful in respect of their Quality It does infinitely become Christians utterly to Renounce that sinful Epicurism which seems to study nothing so much as by new invented Dishes to Fare deliciously every Day Christians should relish better things than these and are not therefore thus to make Provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof Rom. 13.14 Nor Secondly II. As they desire 'em in Immoderate Measures must we Christians gratify the Cravings of our Appetites in Eating and Drinking but we must indeed take heed to our selves least at any time our Hearts be overcharged with Surfeiting and Drunkenness and so the Day come upon us unawares Luk. 21.34 But above all Lastly It behoves Christians to Renounce those which are peculiarly call'd the Lusts of the Flesh whether it be 1. The Lusting after strange Women the Neighing after the Neighbour's Wife as the Prophet expresses it Or 2. Even that Immoderation practiced by many in the Married State there being a Chastity and Modesty which ought to be preserv'd even in Wedlock it self which the Carnal part of Mankind may perhaps but little think of And indeed this Renouncing of these Fleshly Lusts of Concupiscence is perhaps what the Composers of our Catechism as taking the Form of Renunciation from the Ancient Baptismal Vow did particularly intend for as the Gentiles did scarcely make any account of Fornication nor think it an Irregularity and Vice so the Scripture and the first Christians did particularly lay it upon all that should take upon 'em the Christian Name and Profession to Renounce those kind of Sinful Lusts But Fornication and all Vncleanness let it not be once named amongst you as becometh Saints for this know you that no Whoremonger nor Vnclean Person hath any Inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God Eph. 5.4 5. And thus I have fully considered these several Faculties and Powers both of Soul and Body as they are so many Sinful Lusts of the Flesh moving downwards from God and Heavenly Things Immoderately towards the Creature II. And now I come to consider some of 'em viz. The Affections Lastly The Inferiour and Bodily Powers viz. The Affections Lusts and Appetites to be Renounc'd as they Rebel against Right Reason Lusts and Appetites as so many Sinful Lusts of the Flesh under another Notion and that is as they do disorderly Rebel against the Superior Faculty of the Vnderstanding and Reason and do carry the Will into Slavery to 'em and to shew how they must be Renounc'd upon that account also What the Frame and Constitution of Humane Nature originally was and how it is now broken I have already shew'd you as also how that instead of the Harmonious Subordination of the Inferiour Faculties to the Superiour that the Affections Lusts and Appetites do absolutely Reign and that Reason and Conscience are in the Unregenerate drag'd into miserable Slavery And now I am only to shew you that it is the proper Business and Employment of Religion to Reduce Man as far as is possible in this State of Weakness and Infirmity to his Primitive State of Innocence and Integrity The Business of Religion is to reduce Man as near as possible to his primitive State of Innocence and Integrity to rescue him out of Slavery to restore him to himself to put Right Reason and Religion again into the Throne and to subject his Affections and Passions his Lusts and Appetites and every inordinate Inclination within him to the Dictates and Laws thereof refusing to Gratify any of those in any thing that is Sinful and Unlawful This is to wrestle against Flesh and Blood And thus we must wrestle till we overcome and bring it under into an Entire Subjection to Right Reason as ever we expect to be Friends of God or ever hope to be Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven There is nothing more plain in Scripture than the utter Inconsistency of a carnal Temper and Disposition to a State of Grace and Reconciliation with God The Carnal Mind is Enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be so that to be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace Rom. 8.6 7. and therefore let me add with the same Apostle ver 12 13 14. Brethren we are Debtors not to the Flesh to live after the Flesh for if ye live after the Flesh ye shall die but if you through the Spirit do mortify the Deeds of the Body ye shall live for as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God and so Heirs of Eternal Life so necessary it is as ever we expect the Favour of God and future Happiness to subdue the Flesh and all its Lusts and Appetites its Passions and Affections all our fond and foolish Imaginations and false Prejudices and whatever else within us which savours of Carnality to the Power and Conduct of Right Reason enlightned by the Word and Spirit of God To this purpose of keeping under our fleshly Lusts it was that our Reason was given us And to this purpose it is that our Reason was given us That Excellent and Divine Faculty was not certainly bestowed upon us to such Vile and Base Purposes as to purvey for a filthy Carcass which shall consume e're long in Stench and Rottenness but to nobler and better Purposes you may be sure viz. to Govern and Manage the Animal part of us our Flesh and to render it serviceable and useful to Reason and Religion The best Philosophers amongst the Heathens the Platonists do call the Mind that Divine Part of us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Charióteer and compare it to a Rider and the Body or Flesh and all its Troop of Affections or Passions of Lusts and Appetites they compare to so many rude and wild Horses that must be Manag'd and Tam'd and kept in good order and render'd Serviceable and Useful to the Mind and Reason Now so it is as a Well-order'd and Manag'd Horse may sometimes stumble and start aside tho' his Rider keep a very strait Rein and a wary hand upon him So in this corrupt and depraved State of our Natures our Fleshly Lusts will sometimes at least-wise even in the most Regenerate have some small Tendencies some imperfect Velleities and Wouldings towards Evil Things But if we shall take due care to keep so watchful an Eye and wary an Hand over 'em as presently so soon as we perceive any evil Motion and Tendency to curb and restrain it and not willingly nor wilfully to indulge any Evil Inclination we shall by the Gracious Acceptance and Favour of God be accounted good Managers of that hard Province the Renouncing or Subduing of our Fleshly Lusts If in the general course of our Lives we act like Men endow'd with Reason and Grace we shall be pardon'd all our Unwilling and Unavoidable Infirmities III.

a Conclusion we must not content our selves in this great Work of Renouncing ALL the sinful Lusts of the Flesh that we have our Minds enlighten'd so as to know what we ought to do whilst our Affections and Bodily Powers do remain Rebellious against the Dictates of our Minds and Consciences But we must have our whole Natures possest with an Aversion an Antipathy from the very Heart against all Sin and we must have both the Mind Will and Affections nay the very Lusts and Appetites fully bent against it And we must have on the contrary a hearty Love and Disposition to all Vertue wrought in all the same Faculties both of Soul and Body We must be Renewed in the Spirit of our Minds and put on the New Man which after God is Created in Righteousness and true Holiness Eph. 4.23 24. And when a Person is thus inwardly Chang'd throughout in all the Faculties and Powers of Soul and Body it is then only that he can be truly said to be a New Creature a New Man And this indeed This the hard Part. to become thus Renew'd in the Spirit of our Minds so as to have the Heart and Affections set against Sin and sinful Pleasures as well as the Mind convinc'd of the Evil of 'em is the hard Work This is certain that it is not possible for any Man to work so great a Change in his Nature of himself but it is the Spirit of God that must assist wonderfully in the doing of it And indeed That we may be said sincerely and throughly to Renounce the Flesh and ALL its sinful Lusts that Renovation of our Corrupted Nature wherein this Renunciation does consist must be such as is wrought in us by the Spirit and Grace of God This I say because it is very possible for a Man to be Chang'd from some sensual Courses to an utter Hatred thereof and yet remain in God's Eyes a Carnal and Vnregenerate Man and the reason is because his Change proceeds not from any Inward Vital Principle of Vertue but from some prudential Methods in the management of his Pleasures as some the most sensual Epicures that live shall become at length temperate and sober because their Constitutions will not bear a Debauch but as the Spirit of God had nothing to do in the Change so in their Hearts and Minds they remain still to be sensual And others again you shall meet who have a full Conviction in their Minds and Consciences through the Preaching of the Word of the Evil of Sin and yet in their Affections they Love it and their Lusts and Appetites Rebelling against the Reason of their Mind will have it and their Wills do finally chuse it so that these Persons with the Mind do serve the Law of God but with the Flesh the Law of Sin as St. Paul in that much mistaken Chapter Rom. 7.25 does represent as was now shew'd you the Case of the Carnal Jew abiding only under the Conviction of the Law But where the Spirit of God works the Change that Person is Sanctify'd wholly and the whole Spirit and Soul and Body will be preserved Blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Thes 5.23 So that such a Person shall effectually Renounce the Flesh and all its sinful Lusts both of the Inward and of the Outward Man And accordingly as we will draw nigh to God and have him draw nigh to us we must cleanse our hands and purifie our hearts and not be double-minded Jam. 4.8 We must through the Help of his Grace Cleanse our selves from all Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God 2 Cor. 7.1 We must be always I say in the perfecting of one Degree after another our Holiness and that Image of God which we lost by our Fall for the subduing of All our Lusts must be the Work of Time and it is not of a sudden that we can get an entire Conquest over 'em ALL. But if in our Strivings against 'em we find our selves still more and more to get ground upon 'em we are in a hopeful Condition In a Word therefore Brethren we are Debtors not to the Flesh to live after the Flesh for if ye live after the Flesh ye shall die but if through the Spirit ye do Mortify the Deeds of the Body ye shall live for as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God Rom. 12.13 14. The Reason of having enlargd so much upon this one Article of Renouncing the Devil c. And so I have at length done with this no less Important than Copious Subject the Renouncing of the Devil the World and the Flesh It may seem indeed as if I have been too long upon the Explication of one single Article of our Covenant viz. the Renouncing the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanity of this wicked World and All the Sinful Lusts of the Flesh But if it be considered that half the Business of our Christian Religion is performed in Resisting the Enemies of our Salvation it will not be a Matter of Blame that I have been so long upon this Point especially in Instructing of Youth about it who ought to be very well fore-arm'd in order to their coming off Conquerors The truth of it is this Renouncing of the World the Flesh and the Devil that is the Resisting and Overcoming of all their Numerous Host of Temptations is the Christian's Warfare and great Work For as the Holy Scriptures do in a multitude of Texts Represent our State as a State of Warfare Fight the good Fight of Faith lay hold on Eternal Life for hereunto ye have been called before many Witnesses 1 Tim. 6.12 That is we Listed our selves in this Warfare at our Baptism in the Presence of the Church of Christ As our State I say is a State of Warfare against all these Spiritual Enemies so it does infinitely concern all of us to know as far as is possible All their Arts and Stratagems to deceive us and this I hope will be a sufficient Apology that I have been so improportionably long to what I have and shall be upon other Heads in shewing you what it is and how far you must Renounce the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanity of this wicked World and all the sinful Lusts of the Flesh THE XXII Lecture Secondly That I should Believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith HAVING largely Explain'd the first Condition of Life and Happiness and shew'd you what I conceive is meant by Renouncing the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanity of this wicked World and all the sinful Lusts of the Flesh I come now to do the like as to the Second Condition upon which we are to expect to be Justify'd to have our Sins Pardon'd and Eternal Life and Happiness conferr'd upon us and which we have also Covenanted with God to do and that is that We Believe all

36.26 A new heart also will I give you and a new Spirit will I put within you Men are called upon to circumcise their own hearts Deut. 10.16 And God is said to circumcise the heart Deut. 30.6 Men are required to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and Spirit 2 Cor. 7.1 And they are also said to be washed and sanctified by the Spirit of God 1 Cor. 6.11 Men are commanded to repent Acts 17.30 And God is said to give them repentance 2 Tim. 2.35 Acts 5.31 It is by reason of this Co-operation of God's assistance and Man's endeavours that St. Paul expresseth himself as he doth once and again Gal. 2.20 I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me 1 Cor. 15.10 I laboured more abundantly than they all yet not I but the grace of God which was with me He doth not by these last words so deny what he had said in the former as if he had not spoke true for he speaks the same things in effect in another place without any such correcting himself as here he useth 1 Cor. 3.9 For we are labourers together with God And therefore by his so correcting himself saying Not I but the Grace of God which was with me he only intends to magnifie God's Grace as having the principal stroke in the work It is a phrase of like import with that 2 Cor. 3.10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect by reason of the glory that excelleth So Man's endeavour though it be somewhat in it self considered yet comparatively and in respect of the work of God's Grace by his Spirit which excels it is nothing Therefore in fine as Men are said through the Spirit to mortifie the deeds of the Body Rom. 8.13 So they may be said through the same Spirit to Believe Repent Obey that is through the assistance of the Spirit who is said to help our Infirmities Rom. 8.26 Considering then that there is promise of divine assistance to Man using his endeavours in doing what he may and can do towards the performing the condition of the Covenant we may well conclude that there is no Man under the Gospel doth perish but through his own fault and neglect It is true God doth sometimes for special reasons meet with and convert sinners with a high hand of Grace whilst they are pursuing their sins in a full career and using no endeavours at all towards their own Salvation as he did Saul before he was Paul But such extraordinary instances are no Rules to us by which to judge of God's ordinary proceedings in converting Men Nor hath the Lord put Men in expectation by any promise of his of their being converted after that manner and upon such terms And therefore it will in no wise be safe for any Man to expect to be converted by such extraordinary workings of Grace and to neglect to do what he can do and what God requires he should do towards his own conversion There are many things which Men may and can believe and do without any Supernatural Grace and by vertue of God's common Grace It is no Supernatural Act to believe the Being of God and the Immortality of the Soul or future state Or to know that we are sinners against God and consequently that we stand in need of his Mercy Nor is it a Supernatural Act for a Man to desire the future happiness of his own Nature or Being or to hear the Word of God which directs the way to that happiness no more than it is to hear any other Doctrine that only pretends to do so Nor is it a Supernatural Act to consider the Doctrine of the Scriptures with as much seriousness as Men do or may the contents of any other Books Nor is it a Supernatural Act to consider how we are concerned in the Doctrine of the Scriptures in case it should prove true No more is it a Supernatural Act seriously to consider the strength and force of those Reasons that tend to perswade Men to believe that Doctrine to be true Nor under the natural desires which Men have to be happy in another world is it a Supernatural Act for them to pray to God to direct and assist them in the use of means that they may be happy These I take to be no Supernatural Acts in Men. For though the depraved VVill of Man needs Special or Supernatural Grace to do these so seriously and effectually as is needful to true Sanctification yet in some sort and measure they may be done by common help And if Men would but go thus far as they can out of a real desire to be happy I should make no question but that the Spirit of God would yield them his assistance to carry them quite through in the Work of Conversion And whither our Saviour doth not by the Hearers resembled by the good Ground mean such Men as before their Conversion have some such Working of Heart about their future state as doth incline them to hear and consider what with any fair probability may be said about the way to be happy in that state and not to hear out of Curiosity or for fashion-sake or to carp I submit to consideration It is doubtless then Mens Inconsideration Carelessness and Negligence in those things which they do Believe and which they can do that undoes them It is because seeing they see not and hearing they hear not which is the reason why more is not given but rather that taken away from them which they had That is The reason why God with-holds his special Grace and many times with draws common Grace and Assistance from Men is because though they have understanding and considering Faculties which they could if they would use and imploy about their being happy in another World as well as they do about their happiness in this yet they will not though they are frequently called upon and excited thereto Whereas those that take heed or consider what they hear and how they are concerned in it to them more shall be given God will come into such with Supernatural Aid Mark 4.24 And therefore God to put Men upon a holy necessity of complying with his Grace in acting diligently towards the working out their own Salvation hath wisely made the obtaining of the great Benefits of the Covenant Remission of Sin and Eternal Life Conditional so that Men can have no farther assurance of pardon of Sin and Salvation than they are sure they sincerely endeavour to perform the condition on their part upon which they are promised Wherefore we are greatly concerned to be awakened by such Sayings as these Strive to enter in at the strait gate So run that ye may obtain Vse all diligence to make your calling and election sure Work out your Salvation with fear and trembling Let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entring into his Rest any of you should seem to

and consequently when the Divine Image which is now defac'd is in some good measure restor'd when thus we shall have Put on the New Man Eph. 4.24 Partake of the Divine Nature 2 Pet. and Be conformed to the Image of his Son Rom. 8.29 then can we be truly said to Renounce the Flesh 2. To Renounce the Flesh is to be Converted in the whole Bent and Inclination of the Soul toward God II. To Renounce the Flesh is to be Converted in the whole Bent and Inclination of the Soul towards God Smith 's Select Disc p. 374. 430. This is the true Property of the Regenerate Nature to be exalted above all Worldly Things and to be carried out in Love and Affection towards God The Soul says a Learned and Pious Author is a more vigorous and puissant thing when it is once Restor'd to the possession of its own Being than to be bounded within a narrow Prison of Sensual and Bodily Delights but it will break forth with the greatest Vehemence and Ascend upwards towards Immortality For it is only true Religion that teaches and enables Men to die to this World and to all Earthly Things and to rise above the Sphere of Sensual and Earthly Pleasures which darken the Mind and blind it that it cannot enjoy the brightness of Divine Light so that whereas the Fleshly Mind never minds any thing but Flesh and never rises above the Outward Matter but always creeps up and down like Shadows upon the Surface of the Earth and if it begin at any time to make any faint Essays upwards it presently finds it self laden with a weight of Sensuality which draws it down again Holy and Religious Souls being touch'd with an Inward Sense of the Divine Goodness and Beauty are mov'd swiftly after God and as the Apostle expresses himself forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to those things which are before they press towards the Mark for the Prize of the high Calling of God in Christ Jesus that so they may attain to the Resurrection of the De●d In short therefore whereas there is now a continual Conflict betwixt the Flesh and the Spirit the Flesh Lusting against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh we must never cease Mortifying and Subduing all the Motions of Corrupt Nature tending downward towards the Creature till they be brought in Subjection to the Power and Influence of God's Holy Spirit which alone can lift up our Hearts and Affections to God and Heavenly Things THE XXI Lecture First That I should Renounce the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanity of this wicked World and all the sinful Lusts of the Flesh IN order to the full Explication of these Words the sinful Lusts of the Flesh The sinful Lusts of the Flesh what Having already shew'd you First what is meant by the Flesh and in what Sence and how far we must Renounce the Flesh 2. I am now to give you in like manner the full Meaning and Importance of the sinful Lusts of the Flesh and to shew you in what sence and how far we are to Renounce them And as by the Flesh is meant the whole Unregenerate Nature of Man Soul as well as Body in its State of Corruption and as it acts contrary to the Holy Will and Spirit of God so proportionably by the sinful Lusts of the Flesh must be understood all the Faculties and Powers of this corrupted Nature as they carry us out to commit Sin as well the Faculties of the Soul the Understanding and Will as the Bodily Powers viz. the Affections Lusts and Appetites These are all of 'em in their own Nature the Effects of God's Workmanship and were Pure as they came forth of his Hands But ever since the Fall of Adam they are wofully Corrupted and there is none of these Faculties or Powers either of Soul or Body but may be call'd a sinful Lust of the Flesh Every Faculty and Power of Soul and Body is properly enough term'd a Lust as it Craves and Desires its Object And they are all of 'em sinful Lusts of the Flesh just as the whole Unregenerate Nature was said to be Flesh that is either First as those several Faculties of the Soul do move downwards from God and Heavenly Things Immediately and Inordinately towards the Creatures Or Secondly as the Inferior and Bodily Powers the Affections Lusts and Appetites do disorderly Rebel against the Superior Faculty of the Understanding and Reason and do carry the Will into Slavery to ' em I will take the whole Frame of this our depraved Nature in Pieces that so viewing that Corruption which residing in every of the Faculties and Powers thereof renders all of 'em so many sinful Lusts of the Flesh we may be better able to Renounce each of those sinful and fleshly Lusts And First The Sinful Lusts of the Fleshly Mind what Let us consider that Corruption which Resides in the Mind and renders it Fleshly and consequently the Motions even of the Intellectual part of our Nature no better than Sinful Lusts of the Flesh And our Understanding alas which should be full of Divine Knowledge such as may be a Lamp unto our Feet and a Light unto our Paths is in the Unregenerate Man full of Vanity Ignorance of and Prejudice against Divine Truths The Unregenerate Man neither understands nor seeks after God Rom. 3.11 He likes not to Retain God in his Knowledge or to consider any thing concerning him but is vain in his Imaginations having his foolish heart darkned Rom. 1.21.28 Nay the best Habits of the Mind in the Unregenerate Man are Corrupt having the Vnderstanding darkned being Alienated from the Life of God through the Ignorance that is in them Eph. 4.18 And hence it comes to pass that whereas the great and proper Appetite of the Mind is after Knowledge an Appetite which God hath put into the Soul of Man and so a thing Beautiful and Good This very desire of Knowledge becomes a sinful Lust of the Fleshly Mind in several Cases particularly in these following viz. when either we misplace our Desires of Knowledge upon wrong Objects or when we do immoderately study to be exquisitely skill'd in Humane tho' Lawful Arts and Sciences to the Neglect and Contempt of Divine Knowledge And lastly when out of Pride Prejudice and Contradiction to all sacred Truths we set up our own Fleshly Imaginations and Reasonings against the Spiritual Notions that are dictated to us And accordingly such our Appetites or Desires even of Knowledge it self must be Renounced as so many sinful Lusts of a Fleshly Mind And first we must Renounce the Desires of Knowing wrong Objects that is we must not Gratify but Mortify our Desires of Knowing such things which are either Hurtful to be known I. When we are curious to to know things which are either Hurtful to be Known or are not proper for Man to know Now as to this we are to consider

Image of God in the Soul namely that Righteousness and Purity which we had lost by our Fall This I mean by the Divine Assistance The Measures of it proportionable to the necessity of the Church And as to the measures of this Assistance every Member in Christ's Body in what Station soever he be shall have sufficient Supplies of Grace derived down from Him our Head proportionable to his Necessities by those means of conveying it which Christ has appointed for that purpose I say every Member in Christ's Body in what Station soever he be For as we have many Members in one Body and all Members have not the same Office so we being many are one Body in Christ and every one Members one of another Rom. 12.4 5. that is there are different Members in the Church of Christ Some are to be Governours and Teachers of others and accordingly must be endow'd with a Spirit of Government and Gift of Teaching and others are of a more private Capacity in the Church of Christ whatever they be in other Respects and their Business is to keep a Conscience void of Offence both towards God and Man and faithfully to discharge their Duties to God their Neighbour and themselves And whatever I say those several Duties are which arise from their several Stations in the Church they shall have a competent measure of Divine Grace enabling 'em to discharge the same They have not a Promise of those Gifts that are necessary to the Discharge of other Persons Offices but are distitute of those necessary for their own that is a private Christian call'd to no Office in the Church is not to expect nor ought to pretend to have receiv'd Gifts of Government and Teaching in a publick Ministerial way for God is not the Author of Confusion but of Peace in all the Churches of the Saints 1 Cor. 14.33 But every Member of the Mystical Body by keeping himself united to the Head in such ways as has been shew'd shall have such Graces and Assistances derived down to him from Christ who is that Head as are necessary and proper for him Extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit in the first Ages And that too in such Measures and Proportions as according to the different Times and Occasions in the Church are wanting Thus in the first Plantation of the Gospel when the Work was so extraordinary that there was need of Miracles to convince the Jews of the Insufficiency of Moses's Law And the Gentiles of the Falshood of the Pagan Superstition then did Christ bestow upon his Apostles divers Extraordinary Gifts viz. of Miracles Prophecy discerning of Spirits divers kind of Tongues and the Interpretation of Tongues 1 Cor. 12.10 And as to all Christians in general as the Malice of Satan did then most violently rage against the Church Persecuting to the Death those who would not Renounce Christ and his Religion So all the Christians in those Times were very extraordinarily strengthned no doubt to resist such strong Temptations But now that the Church is establish'd Ordinary in succeeding Times and the Truth of Christianity already prov'd and Believ'd God does assist the Ministers of Religion only with the Ordinary Graces of his Spirit in the discharge of their Ministry And as to Lay Christians therefore except it be when the Orthodox are call'd out into any part of the World as sometimes they are to this day to suffer for the Truth they receive no other than ordinary Assistances But this both Ministers and People are sure to do in the use of those Means which Christ has appointed in his Church for that purpose And yet even these ordinary Assistances Even the ordinary Assistances extensively very large so as to repair all the Powers of Nature deprav'd by Sin Blessed be the Infinite Mercies of God towards us therein are extensively very large and diffusive so as to reach to all the Parts and Powers of our Nature which are Evilly Affected Corrupted and Deprav'd by Sin and Intensively very powerful in working a blessed-Change within us And First the Grace of God is extensively very diffusive and large in the Change and Reformation it works within us in that there is no Power and Difficulty in our Natures which by Sin is Corrupted but by his Grace and Assistance is Renew'd I do mean that the Assistances which God does afford us to enable our Weakness to perform the Conditions of the Covenant is so apply'd to us by the Goodness of God that every Power and Faculty within us which is render'd weak by the Corruption of our Nature is strengthned by his Grace to perform its proper part and Duty Are our Understandings dull to apprehend and conceive of Spiritual things as they ought His Grace does enlighten our Understandings Thus we read Luke the 24.45 that our Saviour opened the Vnderstandings of his Disciples that they might understand the Scriptures And to this purpose St. Paul Eph. 1.18 did earnestly Pray That God would give unto 'em the Spirit of Wisdom that the Eyes of their Vnderstandings being enlighten'd they might know what is the Hope of their Calling and what are the Riches of the Glory in the Inheritance of the Saints Are our Wills backward in performing the Conditions of the Promises why God by throwing good Suggestions into our Souls and by Imprinting important Considerations upon our Minds does perswade and bend our stubborn Wills and by degrees works us into a ready Compliance with the Divine Will Thus is God said to work in us both to will and to do of his good Pleasure Phil. 2.13 And upon this account also all our Christian Virtues are call'd the Fruits of the Spirit Gal. 5.22 Are our Affections listless and lukewarm to Spiritual things particularly Are they dull and heavy in our Devotions Why the Holy Spirit helps to raise in us Holy Desires Lise and Quickness in our Prayers Thus the Apostle the Spirit helps our Infirmities making Intercession for the Saints according to the Will of God by Inspiring 'em with such Desires and Groanings that cannot be utter'd Rom. 8.26 27. And Lastly Are our Lusts and Appetites violent to carry us out to gratifie them in unlawful things Why If by the Spirit of God we shall mortifie the Deeds of the Body we are Promis'd that we shall Live Rom. 8.13 which implies that by the Grace and Assistance of God's Holy Spirit we shall be able to subdue those unruly Lusts within us and so shall live Eternally And Intensively very powerful to renew our corrupt Natures And Secondly The Divine Grace and Assistance even in its ordinary Distributions is Intensively powerful and strong enough to Renew our Corrupt Natures This secret Power of the Holy Spirit does not indeed so forcibly and Irresistably work a Change in us as that it will be impossible to Resist this Divine Grace and Efficacy and to render it ineffectual to our Renovation The Grace of God may be resisted and his

Establish'd and the Truth of Christianity already Prov'd and Believ'd God does assist the Ministers of Religion only with the ordinary Graces of his Spirit in the discharge of their Ministry And as to Lay Christians therefore except it be when the Orthodox are call'd out in any Part of the World as sometimes they are to this Day to suffer for the Truth they receive no other than ordinary Assistances But this both Ministers and People are sure to do in the use of those means that Christ has appointed in his Church for that Purpose so very considerable on many accounts are the Priviledges that do belong to the Members of Christ's Church THE Seventh Lecture Wherein I was made a Child of God THE Preliminary Questions and Answers of your Church-Catechism as I have already told you do give you a general Account of the whole Covenant of Grace And these Words Wherein I was made a Member of Christ being the First of those invaluable Priviledges made over to us in this Covenant on God's Part I have already explain'd and open'd to you what they do Import The next of those Priviledges made over to us in the Covenant of Grace is exprest in these Words Wherein I was made a Child of God in order to make you sensible of the Vastness of which Priviledge also First I will shew you what is meant in Scripture and here in your Catechism by a Child of God Secondly What an inestimable Priviledge accordingly it is to be a Child of God What is meant in the Catechism by a Child of God And first let us Enquire What is meant both in Scripture and here in your Catechism by a Child of God To understand which we must Enquire into the several meanings of this Phrase in the Holy Scriptures and then in which of those Sences it is to be understood here in your Catechism when every Catechumen is taught to Answer that In his Baptism he was made a Child of God And as to the several Acceptations of this Phrase in the Holy Scriptures I. Not the Son of God by an Eternal Generation First In the highest most natural and most proper meaning of the Word there is He who is the Son or Child of God by an Eternal Generation viz. Our Saviour Jesus Christ who being Begotten of God the Father from all Eternity in a peculiar inconceivable and inexpressible manner so as to be Co-equal Co-eternal with the Father himself is call'd the Onely Begotten Son of God Joh. 3.16 But then being he is in so peculiar and high a manner the Son of God as infinitely to exceed that wherein any one else whether Angels or Men can be call'd his Sons he cannot in any measure be meant here by a Child of God which signifies a Priviledge common to many as will be presently shew'd Not every Son by Temporal Creation which is a Sence too wide Secondly There are those who are the Sons of God by a Temporal Creation and such are Reasonable Creatures both Angels and Men both being call'd the Sons of God as you will see Job 1.6 and Luk. 3.38 And that both upon the account of the manner of their Production which was by the immediate Power of God and because of their Spiritual and Immortal Natures in which both do so immediately resemble God But this is an Acceptation too wide That which is meant here by a Child of God is a Priviledge which all Men in the World do not enjoy but is the Favour which is granted to a selected Body of Men who are separated from the rest of the World Behold what manner of Love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God 1 Joh. 3.1 Thirdly There are those III. Nor sachonly who are Children of God by spiritual Regeneration which is a Sence too narrow who are the Children of God by Spiritual Regeneration by being Renew'd in the Spirit of their Minds and by being Created anew in Righteousness and true Holiness And these are such Who have put off concerning the former Conversation the Old Man which is corrupt according to the deceitful Lusts and who have put on the New Man which after God is created in Rightousness and true Holiness Eph. 4.22 23 24. They are such who are Born not only of Water but also of the Spirit that is who have not only been Baptized into the Christian Church but have been Sanctify'd by the Holy Spirit and have their whole Natures and Dispositions so altered for the Better that from Vicious and Ungodly they are chang'd to Vertuous and Holy Dispositions and Inclinations And such a vast Change wrought in our Natures by the Word and Spirit of God may very justly give those who Enjoy it the Title of the Children of God for if in the way of Natural Generation the Communicating of a Principle of Life and of suitable Operations does found the Relation and Title of a Father there is as good Reason why in Regeneration the deriving such Holy and Heavenly Dispositions and Powers from the Word and the Spirit of God to the Soul as give to a Man a Divine Nature whereby he is a Partaker of the Life and Likeness of God himself should Entitle God to be also a Father and such who are so Regenerated and Renew'd his Children And accordingly in the Holy Scripture we find that such a Derivation of Strength and Grace from the Word and Spirit of God does Entitle those who are Renew'd thereby to be Children of God St. Paul not only attributing to the Ministry of the Word a Power of Begetting in Christ 1 Cor. 4.15 But withal expresly assuring us that As many as are led by the Spirit of God are the Sons of God Rom. 8.14 So that he is undoubtedly a Child of God whoever giving himself up to the guidance of God's Word and Spirit is thereby Sanctify'd wholly in his own Spirit Soul and Body 1 Thess 5.23 so as to subdue and mortify every Lust and every naughty inordinate and worldly Desire And indeed every truly Regenerate Child of God does do so such a One does by the Power of the Word and in the use and strength of that Grace that God does afford him subdue and mortify every Lust and every naughty inordinate and worldly Desire So we are expresly told 1 Joh. 3.9 Whosoever is Born of God doth not commit Sin for his Seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God that is a sanctify'd Child of God does really hate Sin the very Temper and Bent of his Soul is against it and as to living in any gross and wilful Sin he cannot without much Reluctancy force himself to it his renew'd Nature is so much contrary thereto Such I say is every Regenerate Child of God and such indeed in a peculiar manner Such indeed are in a peculiar manner and in the highest sence the Children of God and in the highest