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	work_v	7,291	5	7.3947	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A64967	The perfect man described in his life and end In a funeral discourse upon Psalm XXXVII. 37. Occasioned by the death of that pattern of uprightness Mr. Edward Lawrence. By Nathanael Vincent, M.A. minister of the Gospel. Whereunto are added some passages out of two letters, written by two excellent ministers concerning Mr. Lawrence; who were well acquainted with him, and with the worth of him.	Vincent, Nathanael, 1639?-1697.	1696 (1696)	Wing V416; ESTC R218124	22,953	36

Cor. 4. 16. 2. The perfect Man is made pertaker of every Grace Moral Philosophers have observed a Concatenation of all moral Virtues that they are inseparable where one is indeed there are all of them There cannot be truly any Vertue in any man where any one Vice is allowed to be predominant 'T is a great truth concerning the Graces of the Spirit that they are all linked together There is no Grace insincerity in that man who ordinarily and presumptuously does what he knows to be evil in God's sight and willingly suffers tho it be but one Iniquity to have the dominion over him The Spirit of God works like himself and all Grace he works where he works any The Stone or Kernel of the Fruit tree has vertually the whole Tree in it and if it be sown in the Ground a Tree with Leaves and Fruit at length grows up from it We read of the seed of God 1 John 3. 9. and this Seed vertually has all Grace in it And this Seed does remain and Grace of every sort as there is occasion in some degree or other is produced into act and exercise In the perfect man's breast plate or if you will in his breast there is Faith and Love and Righteousness It is Hope that is his Helmet It is Humility that is both his Cloathing and Ornament and Zeal is not so much one single Grace as an high degree of all The Spirit of the Lord dwels in the perfect man and where the Spirit is and abides all his Graces are with him This is plainly intimated John 1. 16. Of his fulness we all have received and grace for grace There are several Interpretations of these Words but the truest is this Of Christ's fulness all sincere believers have received 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Grace answerable to every grace that is in Christ himself as the Child receives Limb for Limb from the Parent How truly Rich and Happy is he who has no Grace wanting and what a satisfaction is it to perceive plainly in himself that every Grace is growing 3. The perfect man prises all the promises of the New Covenant and esteems himself highly favoured in being Heir unto them all Hypocritical Professors and Wicked Men may put a value upon some promises as when the Lord promises to bless in the City and in the Field to bless in the fruit of the Body and of the Cattle and of the Ground to bless in the Basket and in the Store Deut. 28. 3 4 5. when he promises length of days and long life and that peace shall be added Prov. 3. 2. Nay one that is ungodly designing to die the death of the Righteous may put a value upon the promises of deliverance from the wrath to come and from eternal condemnation But the perfect man though he sets an estimate upon any Blessing which God has promised and values Temporal Mercies and Salvation from the Vengeance of eternal Fire Yet there are also other kind of promises he gladly embraces as the promise of an heart to know the Lord. Jer. 24. 7. I will give them an heart to know me that I am the Lord and they shall be my people and I will be their God for they shall return to me with their whole heart That promise also of an heart circumcised to love God is much valued and rested on by the perfect man Deut. 30. 6. The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul that thou mayst live So is that promise Ezek. 36. 25. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness and from all your idols I will cleanse you There is good reason that the promises of sanctification should be look'd upon as exceeding great and precious for by these the perfect man is made a partaker of the divine nature and escapes the corruption that is in the world through lust 2 Pet. 1. 4. 4. The perfect man hath a respect unto all God's commandments he does not chuse some and pass by others but readily receives every precept Psal 119. 6. Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy commandments He looks upon every Law with an eye to the Authority of the Lawgiver who has a right to rule him and has power to save and destroy John 4. 12. He looks upon the Law delivered on Mount Sinai as in force upon Mount Zion and that by faith the law is established Rom. 3. 31. The Apostle's manner of Expression carries in it a strong motive to Obedience 1 Thess 4. 2. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus Commands are given by his Authority who is Lord of all and Obedience is urged for his sake who himself has obeyed and suffered for us and who is so ready to strengthen us to obey and to make what we do acceptable The perfect man has his eye upon God and Christ and cannot find in his Heart to cast any Command of theirs behind his Back that 's his perpetual wish that 's his daily groan Oh that my ways were directed to keep thy Statutes Oh let me not wander from thy Commandments Psal 119. 5 10. Whereas the unsound Professor is not reconciled to every Command nor indeed to any Though his Obedience seem exact in many respects yet offending in one point or other he is guilty of violating the whole law James 2. 10. His partial Obedience to the Commands shews he is not sincere in keeping any one of them If any were kept upon a right ground then every one of the Precepts would be kept upon the same ground 5. The perfect man keeps judgment and does righteousness at all times Psal 106. 3. He sticks to the Lord's testimonies and cleaves to the Lord himself with an unshaken purpose of heart even in times of great Apostacy and falling away He will not leave the Ship of the Church and put to shore when a storm of Persecution arises 't is better to be in the Vessel where Christ is though the Tempest be never so fierce and sore than trust to a sinful compliance with the men of the World The perfect man's goodness is not like the morning Cloud and the early Dew that goes away but his Righteousness is like a River Labitur labetur in omne volubilis aevum It holds on its course and keeps running continually He shews himself a Disciple indeed by still following his Master and abiding in his word John 8. 31. If ye continue in my word then are ye my Disciples indeed 6. The perfect man wishes and longs for a sinless perfection He really and earnestly desires to be as good as the Law would have him to be every whit as Righteous as the Commandment requires and when through Infirmity he breaks the Law he is troubled When the Apostle says This we wish were

and that is his end Fifthly His end is remarkable as well as himself for his end is peace An upright Life and a peaceful Death how truly desirable are they and the former is the way to the latter whereas there is no peace saith the Lord to the wicked while he lives and when he dies and his Soul is required at his hands he will perceive how foolish he was in crying peace and safety to himself These Particulars I shall insist on and then conclude with the Application In the first place I am to speak of the remarkable Man in the Text and he is the perfect Man It is a wonder considering the general Corruption and Depravation of Humane Nature and how full of Snares and Temptations this World is that there should be ever a perfect Man upon Earth But see what the powerful Grace of God can do It can renew and alter Nature it self and change it from contrary to contrary from wickedness and deceitfulness to holiness of truth That the perfect Man may be the better understood you must know that there is a threefold Perfection spoken of in Scripture Legal Coelestial Evangelical 1. There is a Legal Perfection This was in Adam before the Fall he was made perfect and upright but being made mutable he quickly sought out many inventions Eccles 7. 29. and made himself quite and clean another Creature from what he was at first created When other things were made God's bare word of command that they should be gave them a Being but when Man was to be formed it was not done without some kind of Solemnity and Consultation Gen. 1. 26. And God said Let us make man in our image after our likeness And how did Man shine with this Image upon him when he came first out of his Maker's hands If all things were very good in their kind how perfect was Man's Goodness in his kind not the least moral Evil was to be found in him What a clear light was there in his mind How exactly conformed was his Will to the Divine Will How regular were his Affections Not the least Evil was in him either in Action Thought or Inclination He had a Power to keep the whole Law of God in every Part and Point of it and a Will most free and forward in it He could and for a while did come up to the terms of the first Covenant Do this and live And thus perfect he did remain till through the Temptations of the evil One he let go his primitive Righteousness and Integrity 2. There is a Coelestial Perfection and that is the Perfection of glorified Saints in Heaven we cannot aspire unto or desire any thing for our selves higher than or so high as this This the Apostle speaks of 1 Cor. 13. 9 10. For we know in part and we prophecy in part but when that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall he done away This Perfection is preached of and heard of at present and they who attain to the greatest measure of Grace and Holiness can best give a guess at it Our Brother who is lately taken away from us now understands and experiences to his Joy what Heavens perfection is We read Heb. 12. 23. of the general Assembly and Church of the first-born which are written in Heaven and the spirits of just Men made perfect How clear is that light in which God who is light is seen How perfect is that Purity which is consequent upon this Vision of him how have they all been transformed into the Image of him whom they do behold fully resembling him in Righteousness and true Holiness 1 John 3. 2. We know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is The separated Spirits of Saints having left their Earthly House and Tabernacle have put off their sinful Infirmities nothing that makes them in the least unlike to God or that he dislikes remains in them The great Physician began the Cure of those blessed Souls in this World and now in the other World 't is perfected that Scripture is applicable to every one of them Cant. 4. 7. Thou art all fair my love there is no spot in thee And as the Spirits of just Men in Heaven are perfect so their vile bodies will be changed and made like unto Christ's glorious body Heb. 3. 21. this corruptible will put on incorruption this mortal immortality Adam's Body before the Fall was of an admirable Make and Constitution not the least peccant Humour in it And if he had stood the Tree of Life the Sacrament of the first Covenant was to assure him of Immortality yet that Body was much inferior to a Spiritual Body at the Resurrection Oh how illustriously perfect as to their whole Man will all Saints be when Christ their life shall appear and they appear with him in glory Col. 3 4. The perfection of Heaven which Christ is the Purchaser of will be found by many degrees to be beyond that Perfection which was in the first Paradice 3. There is an Evangelical Perfection and the Man spoken of in the Text is in this Sense perfect Legal Rigour is abated in the Gospel the Gospel does not curse every one that continues not in all things required in the Law Legal exactness is not expected from Believers God does not mark iniquities nor enter into judgment with them A sincere Saint is evangelically a perfect Man tho in strictness of Law there is some Imperfection in his Holiness The Apostle without Self-contradiction affirms himself to be perfect and not perfect almost in the same breath Phil. 3. 12. Not as tho I had already attained or were already perfect and yet he says ver 15. Let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus indeed He had a perfection of sincerity but unto a sinless perfection he had not attained The Evangelically perfect Man I am now to describe The perfect Man is renewed in all his Parts and Powers The whole Man is corrupted by Nature and the whole Man is renewed by Grace This the Apostle expresses by Sanctification throughout in body soul and spirit 1 Thes 5. 23. Tho in degree Sanctification be put in part yet every part is truly and really sanctified When the Lord makes a perfect Man he works a change in the whole Man Nothing in the Soul but has some gracious Alteration wrought in it No one Power or Faculty is let alone to be altogether as it was The Mind is enlightned the Conscience awakened the Will and Affections have a new byass and the Memory retains things necessary and worthy to be remembred and the heart being purified the members are yielded as Instruments of Righteousness unto Holiness The new Creature lacks not any parts and degrees of Grace are still to be added In this Sense all things are become new 2 Cor. 5. 17. and yet the inward man is further to be renewed day by day 2