Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	faith_n	grace_n	life_n	8,752	5	4.5674	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A56453	More than conquerour a sermon preach't on the martyrdom of King Charles the I, Jan, 30, at Christ-church, Dublin : before his Excellency Arthur Earl of Essex, lord lieutenant general and general governour of the Kingdom of Ireland / by B.P.	Parry, Benjamin, 1634-1678.	1673 (1673)	Wing P555; ESTC R31070	13,763	42

delight above toyes and trifles storms or misfortunes but divine love and a victorious faith a firm piety and a constant devotion these are the miracles of the world the joy and glory of mankind without which we had been still in darkness and the shadow of death heirs of sin and slaves to the Devil And therefore it is indeed a higher act of omnipotence and love to restore the soul than the body to redeem from hell than the grave to rouz the sinner than Lazarus from his tomb a greater miracle of goodness and power to be renewed for Heaven than awakened from our dust it cost more to ransome us from our selves and the Devil and renew the divine image than to make us live or form us out of earth and nothing But thus did God unlock his treasury and display the riches of his grace to let us fee That as nothing is too great for his power so nothing should be too dear for his love astonishing the heavens and amazing the earth and making the powers of hell shake at the wonders of our Redemption whilst the Angels sing and the Seraphims renew their flames and brightness at our Conversion and glory as if they themselves were made happier thereby Stand still ye Righteous and behold the salvation of the Lord the wonders and rewards of his Servants Piety through the World The 11 chapter to the Hebrewes is a Catalogue of all the Worthies that lived and dyed in Faith and the beginning of the next is a Trumpet to Rouze us up to the same glory Enoch walked with God the onely solitary Saint of his time that conversed with Heaven by the purities of a transcendent Devotion the first Hermit that went out of the way the common ordinary road of the World to walk with God and because there was no fit company for him on Earth the World not being worthy of him God was pleased to translate him up alive to himself that we might see what are the fruits of a Holy life the rewards of Piety and the raptures of Divine love Noah was a Preacher of Righteousness and when they who regarded not his Doctrine were buried with their Sins and Riots in silence together God provided him a Sanctuary to preserve his name and vertue and perpetuate his Memorial with his Church for ever Abrahams Faith renewed his years and made him fruitful in his posterity as well as his Graces he became the founder of Monarchies and Kingdoms but his noblest title of Honour was his being Father of the faithful that was indeed a blessing which Crowns and Scepters could not give he believed and it was imputed to him for Righteousness and that was Throne and Glory enough He staggered not at the promise and that establisht him for ever he enjoyed his Maker here on earth and conversed so familiarly with heaven before he came there that his very bosome hath been reckoned a place of Paradise ever since Such is the priviledge and happiness of the just who lives by Faith he cannot dye even when he is breathless for his life is hid with Christ in God and being dead unto the world he is alive unto God and speaks eternity in his graces he lives here by faith a life of secret and invisiible joyes for the life of nature is but a sleep and that of sense a Dream but that of grace is truly Vital made up of the choicest Spirits and a never-dying composure This is the life of a true Christian and the greatest glory of heaven upon earth when we become conformable to the Death of Christ Death hath no more dominion over us but we can triumphantly with our Apostle in another place cry out O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy Victory A heart replenisht with divine grace is not easily frightned with stripes and imprisonment hardship and want peril or the sword or whatever else may scare a meer animal or Coward but prepares to meet his God in what way soever he shall be pleased to call him 'T is true it is no mean talent no small gift to bear our afflictions with a chearful and pious submission to God's will It is not for every palat to endure the bitterness of this Cup but his that with David hath tasted how good the Lord is and that the end and fruits of his Cross are deliciousness and peace Storms and thunders are the tryals of a Christian he that can endure these and not be shaken or overthrown at Root is sit for Paradise and the regions of peace To follow Christ for the loaves and miracles in time of prosperity and triumph is no news they that crucified him did so but to keep him company in the desart or more formidable Garden and not shrink at the approach of Lanthorn and Souldiers the Traytor and the Trainband a midnight-terrour or an open distress To fall when we are in our Spring and be sacrific'd in the pride and strength of nature to submit to flames and Axes and be tormented at every Tirants pleasure to take up our heaviest cross and thus dye for the name of Christ is a temper as Rare as it is Happy the results of an invincible Piety and Faith the highest strength and glory of a Christian And therefore Secondly It is a mighty proof and argument of the Divinity of the Gospel That the Doctrine of the Cross should find so many worshipers and followers That men should at first be converted onely to afflictions and made Regenerate that they might suffer grow in love with their persecutions and rejoyce in nothing more than imitating the example of their Holy Lord. 'T is true we read of some Heathens That brag'd of their Valour and Courage in the midst of their misfortunes that they had acquired a temper of being above storms and could defie lightning and thunder by Lawrels of their own making and though nothing be more noble to Conquer our passions and be armed against the Casualties and Calamities of this World Yet examples in this kind are very rare few or none amongst them have ever done it for even the prowdest Stoicks and they that spoke biggest of themselves and vertue were Cowards to their own Rules and fainted under the flourish of their fine discourses and whatever their seeming bravery might be yet their hopes were vanishing and shallow neither satisfactory to the Soul nor durable in themselves and though some of them are said to have endured death rather than violate or falsifie their word and trust they are to be commended for so doing and it is no error or mistake to say that God might Crown them with more strength than ordinary as well to justifie a good cause as for the encouragement even of moral vertue in this life but yet these instances and whatever else can be produced in this kind are nothing to the List of diviner Heroes in the Church the multitude of victorious Sufferers of every Age and Sex who cannot

possibly be thought owners of such strength of body and mind as to endure the torments to which they were exposed without a secret arm an invisible power and a mighty irresistable grace subduing all before it And if it shall be further urged that even amongst Christians as Sectaries and others if they may be called Christians that are out of the Church there are some so stout that no penalties almost can force them to recant or renounce their errours and return to their wits and duty again we must say first That they are few for the number and much fewer for their worth Secondly That the obstinacy of bad men in a bad cause as it doth not justifie their crimes so neither doth it disparage the piety and virtue of good men in a good for a notorious Malefactour is not less a Criminal for being obstinate and unrelenting and therefore it does not at all disparage or evacuate the power of Gods grace that even wicked and carnal men may seem to have a share sometimes of the same fortitude and courage for hypocrisie is no stranger in the World The best things have their Counterfeits and it is the Devils constant work and choicest master-piece to imitate as much as he can the gifts and graces of Gods Spirit and Transform himself into an Angel of light to delude the World but as no man in his witts will say there is no such thing as Truth because some have writ Fables and Romances so neither can we deny the mighty operations of Gods Holy Spirit in his Church and Servants because there are so many lyars and pretenders to the same Spirit since we have a sure rule left us by which we are to walke our selves and judge of others In a word if it be true That it is the cause alone which makes a Martyr than they who have no other certificate from Heaven but that which is common to Brutes also are not Saints and Conquerours but Cheats and Deceivers and they are Children in grace as well as knowledge that will be thus baffled and trepann'd from their Holy faith by such Tricks and Impostures There is no man living without his Cross in this World one way or other but he that bears it piously and bravely and endures to the end he shall be saved and he that suffers for Righteousness sake is blessed for ever What man is he that would see good dayes in spight of all his Enemies and Oppressors keep thy Soul from evil and thou shall be happy in the midst of thy Troubles and what ever the World may rob thee of yet Heaven is thy portion and its refreshments thy comfort and reward no adversity can deprive thee of that since the more thou art afflicted the greater is thy Crown and therefore no good Christian will murmur or repine at the various methods of Gods providence in this World that thus exerciseth the faith and patience of his Servants that their joyes and his glory may be the greater For what ever the frailty of our natures and the weakness of flesh and blood may be he that sincerely makes God his hope shall not want a deliverance from or Consolation in his distress which they that carnally and Sceptically deride are not worthy to receive which brings me to the next particular The happy fruits the victorious consequences and effects of this spiritual warfare with the rewards and triumphs that attend it in making us more than Conquerours Crowning us with peace strength and joy in the Holy Ghost in this life and eternal glory in the next When God told St. Paul That his grace was sufficient for him he triumphantly declares He could do all things through Christ that strengthened him for having made it his constant exercize and study to have alwayes a conscience void of offence he feared not the face of man but thirsted to behold that of Gods and could with more zeal and pleasure lay down his life than other men could preserve theirs so vast so admirable a change can the Spirit of God make in the soul of man with such glory display his Omnipotence in our weakness His Majesty in our infirmities and make humane misery and distress a Theam and Theatre to display the strength and riches of his power and love Our Blessed Lord could have armed his Apostles with a word to have crush't the Earth to nothing given them legions of Angels to prepare their way and gather Captives or with storms and lightning have blasted the World into submission and Homage and made Kingdoms tremble and bow down before them But he took another course which though not so outwardly pompous or seemingly powerful and prevailing was yet more wonderfully and unexpectedly glorious and successful making weak things to confound the mighty and foolish things to confute the wise and Babes and Children to disarm Caesars and their legions baffle their strength and their Philosophy together and by humility and patience faith and perseverance gain more Triumphs then by Arms and Banners teaching us thereby neither to trust in nor make use of an arm of flesh in His service that His Gospel was not to be propagated by violence and blood force or murder Treason or Compulsion but the nobler Warfare of Obedience and Peace Vindicating also his Providence by bringing good out of evil defeating the malice of his Enemies and the arts of the Devil making good the Truth of his promises in the faith and courage of his Saints and Martyrs that his Holy Spirit was indeed the Comforter the Lord and giver of life both in the Tryal and the exaltation the exercise and establishment of their hopes and graces not onely in supporting and sustaining their infirmities but by inspiring them above all the horrours of Mortality rejoycing that they were counted worthy to suffer for his name sake An honour greater I may say then that of Angels who live but not by dying are Ministers of his will but not Martyrs for it They stand before the Throne but their voice is not heard from under the Altar they afford not their Maker cause or occasion to display such variety of wonders And therefore for man frail man dust and ashes not to fear death is more wonderful and glorious than to be above it and to expire for Gods Truth more noble than their immortality Wherefore our Holy Lord hath pronounc't a double blessedness to them that suffer for Righteousness sake the honour and the reward of persecution Their Memory shall be sacred and their name precious their sufferings eterniz'd and their very dust immortal and the Kingdom of Heaven being their assured portion they shall at the Resurrection of the just exchange their Purple for a Robe of light and their Crimson dye for a Crown of Glory and shine for ever as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father And truly were it not for this what would the life of a Christian be but a miserable and empty nothing the

More than Conquerour A SERMON Preach't on the MARTYRDOM OF King Charles the I. Jan. 30. at CHRIST-CHURCH Dublin Before his Excellency ARTHUR Earl of ESSEX Lord Lieutenant General and General Governour of the Kingdom of IRELAND By B. P. D. D. Published by Command DVBLIN Printed by Benjamin Tooke Printer to the KINGS Most Excellent Majesty And are to be Sold by Joseph Wilde in Castle-street 1673. TO THE Right Honourable and Excellent ELIZABETH COUNTESS of ESSEX c. MADAM WEre not my obedience to your Ladyships Commands much greater than any ambition of being in Print I should not have troubled your Ladyship or the world with so mean an Offering and performance for which I should according to Custom have made some solemn Apology but that your Ladyships Name and Patronage will be its best Vindication a Favour which as it transcends all that my merit or abilities in this kind can pretend to so I cannot but be the more sensible of it for having given me the honour though unexpected of paying my poor little loyal humble Mite to the never dying memory of the Best of KINGS and thereby of publickly acknowledging likewise those Obligations and particularly the happiness of attending his Excellency and your Ladyship since my coming to this place which subscribes me in all gratitude and zeal Your Ladyships most devoted humble Servant and Oratour B. PARRY ROM VIII xxxvii Nay in all these things we are more than Conquerours through Him that loved Vs THese words are the Christians Victory the Believers Conquest his Tryals and his Triumphs his Outward Cross and his Inward Grace his Temptations and his Glory Can there be any thing more bitter than Persecution Famine nakedness and distress or more terrible and amazing than Peril and the Sword Skin for skin and all that a man hath will he give for his life and yet a good man will not stick to part with that too when it shall please God to call for it that he may hasten to his presence and be partaker of his Glory St. Paul had run through a whole stage of miseries every Sermon he Preached was turned into an Inditement against him and afforded his malicious Persecutors fresh argument and matter to torment him with he Travailed through as many misfortunes as Countries and found every place beset with Thieves and Murderers to dispatch him no where safe almost but in Prison fain to be guarded from one death to another from the fury of the Jewes to the Roman Tribunal and make his appeal from the rage of Zealots for Sanctuary to Nero. Shipwrack't by the Waves in one place and the madness of the People in another no where safe from Storms and Dangers but made a Sufferer in every Element Such was the condition of this Great Saint who filled every place with his Name and Memory the wonders of his Faith and Courage under all his Pressures and Afflictions And yet it was no more than what might justly be expected from those mighty graces of the Spirit that strengthned and adorned his Soul that the World might see our Blessed Lord when he ascended up on high and led Captivity Captive took not away his Miracles and Graces but left his Apostles to continue and enlarge the wonders he hath done to Propagate his Truth and Instruct us for Heaven That as many as through them should believe in his name might have power also to become the Sons of God Heirs of the promise and joynt Heirs with Christ and more than Conquerours through him that loved them In which words not to insist on that obvious Doctrine which springs from them That crosses and afflictions are the usual lot and portion of the Righteous and that all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution I shall consider these Two particulars 1. The power and excellency of Gods grace goodness and love manifested in the faith patience and perseverance of his servants their invincible courage and resolution in all their highest dangers and temptations and the infallible testimony and assurance he hath thereby given the World of the Divinity of his Truth and Gospel 2. The happy fruits the victorious consequences and effects of this spiritual warfare with the rewards and triumphs that attend it in making us more than Conquerours doubling and advancing our glory heightning and augmenting our felicity and honour in this life and that which is to come I begin with the First the excellency and power of Gods grace goodness and love manifested in the faith patience and perseverance of his servants their invincible courage and resolution in their highest dangers and temptations and the infallible testimony and assurance he hath thereby given the world of the Divinity of his Truth and Gospel How poor and perishing a thing man is once left unto himself without assistance from above the whole Creation which groans and travails to be delivered from the burden of our corruptions sufficiently declares the very sense and consideration of it extorted sighs from the soberest and wisest heathens and they have filled their Books with remonstrances and complaints of the frailty and folly of their natures the jarrs and discord of their own frames being greater than the wars of Elements and more destructive to the Universe the Contemplation of it turned one Philosopher into an universal mourner making his whole life one constant and continued Epitaph weeping out his eyes and time at the misery and infirmities of mankind and though they endeavoured with all the arguments of reason and wit to prescribe a remedy for their misfortunes yet they were too hard for themselves and found That the strictest Philosophy the severest Discipline and the highest Morality could never perfectly reform or refine the man so blind is every man and the very best of men without the aids and illuminatious of a divine light from above Brag not then of thy intellectualls or thy parts thy activity or thy skill thy old maxims or thy new discoveries thy fortunate reaches or thy subtilest inclosure Let thy Ancestours be dwarfs and pigmies to thy vaster improvements and the Anakims but shrubs and mushromes to thy mighty productions Let thy Cedar plantations outdo their quickset and let them be but brambles to thy olive tree and its fertile issues Let the old Theatre and its pomp the lofty Platonick and the wandring Peripatetick bow down to our new Academies and Models and exploded atoms be brought back with new pomp and splendour to adorn the world and make up its beauty What are our Virtuoso-triumphs or their richest accomplishments and improvements without sublimer perfections in grace and virtue but a golden dream or glorious apparition an elaborate shadow or a studied delusion and which is far worse our damnation too Nothing can truly chear the soul or enliven the mind advance our prospect or our progress give life or Sun-shine to our hopes and desires and enrich the heart with a solid ravishing and unchangeable contentment and