Linguistic DNA - Concept Modelling Demonstrator

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	faith_n	heart_n	work_n	7,151	5	5.4540	4	false

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09436	A graine of musterd-seede or, the least measure of grace that is or can be effectuall to saluation. Corrected and amended by W. Perkins.	Perkins, William, 1558-1602.	1611 (1611)	STC 19725; ESTC S113662	16,143	72

willeth that his grace should bee earnestly desired This doeth faith which iudgeth it a pretious thing and therefore greatly hungreth and thirsteth after it and so obtaines it For God is delighted to fill the hungrie with good things to send the rich emptie away Theodore Beza saith If thou finde not thine heart inwardly touched pray that it may bee touched for then must thou know that this desire is a pledge of the fathers will to thee KeÌ„nitius saith When I haue a good desire though it do scarcely shew it selfe in some little and slender sigh I must be assured that the spirit of God is present and worketh his good worke Vrsinus saith Faith in the most holy men in this life is imperfect and weake Yet neuerthelesse whosoeuer fecles in his heart an earnest desire and a striuing against his naturall doubtings both can and must assure himselfe that he is indued with true faith Againe Wicked men doe not desire the grace of the holy spirit whereby they may resist sinne And therefore they are iustly depriued of it for hee that earnestly desireth the holy Ghost hath it alreadie because this desire of the spirit cannot be but from the spirit as it is saide Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousnesse for they shall bee satisfied Bradford saith Thy sins are vndoubtedly pardoned c. for God hath giuen thee a penitent and beleeuing heart that is an heart which desireth to repent and beleeue for such an one is taken of him he accepting the will for thee deede for a penitent and beleeuing heart indeede Taffine saith Our faith may be so small and weake as it doth not yet bring forth fruits that may bee liuely felt of vs but if they which feele themselues in such estate desire to haue these feelings namely of Gods fauour and loue if they aske them at Gods hands by praier this desire and praier are testimonies that the spirit of God is in them and that they haue faith alreadie for is such a desire a fruit of the flesh or of the spirit it is of the holy spirit who bringeth it forth onely in such as hee dwells in c. Then these holy desires and praiers being the motions of the holy Ghost in vs are testimonies of our faith although they seeme to vs small and weake As the woman that feeleth the moouing of a childe in her body though very weake assureth her selfe that shee hath conceiued and that shee goeth with a liue child so if wee haue these motions these holy affections and desires beforementioned let vs not doubt but that wee haue the holy Ghost who is the author of them dwelling in vs and consequently that we haue also faith Again he saith 1. If thou hast begun to hate and she sinne 2. If thou feelest that thou art displeased at thine infirmities and corruptions 3. If hauing offended God thou feelest a griefe and a sorrow for it 4. If thou desire to abstaine 5. If thou auoidest the occasion 6. If thou trauailest to doe thy endeauour 7. If thou praiest to God to giue thee grace all these holy affections proceeding from none other then from the spirit of God ought to be so many pledges and testimonies that he is in thee n Masterknockes saith Albeit your paines sometimes be so horrible that you finde no release nor comfort neither in spirit nor bodie yet if they heart can onely sob vnto God despaire not you shall obtaine your hearts desire And destitute you are not of faith for at such a time as the flesh naturall reason the law of God the present torment the diuell at one doe crie God is angrie and therefore there is neither helpe nor remedie to be hoped for at his haÌ„ds at such time Isay to sob vnto God is the demonstration of the secret seede of God which is hidden in Gods elect children and that onely sob is vnto God a more acceptable sacrifice then without this crosse to giue our bodies to be burnt euen for the truthes sake More testimonies might be alleadged but these shall suffice Against this point of dotrine it may be alleadged that if desire to beleeue in our weakenesse be faith indeede then some are iustified and may be saued wanting a liuely apprehension and full perswasion of Gods mercie in Christ. Ans. Iustifying faith in regard of his nature is alwaies one and the same and the essentiall propertie thereof is to apprehend Christ with his benefites and to assure the very coÌ„science thereof And therefore without some apprehension and assurance there can bee no iustification or Saluation in them that for age are able to beleeue Yet there bee certaine degrees and measures of true faith There is a strong faith which causeth a full apprehension and perswasion of Gods mercie in Christ. This measure of faith the Lord vouchsafed Abraham Dauid Paul the Prophets Apostles and Martyrs of God It were a blessed thing if all beleeuers might attaine to this height of liuely faith to say with Paul I am perswaded that neither life nor death nor any thing else shal bee able to separate vs from the loue of God in Christ but all cannot therfore there is another degree of faith lower then the former and yet true faith called a litle or weake faith and it also hath a power to apprehend and applie the promise of saluation but as yet by reason of weaknes it is infolded as it were and wrapt vp in the heart as the leafe and blossome in the bud For such persons as haue this weake faith can say indeede that they beleeue their sinnes to be pardonable and that seriously in their hearts they desire to haue them pardoned but as yet they can not say that they are without all doubt pordoned And yet the mercie of God is not waÌ„ting vnto them For in that they doe and can desire and indeauour to appreheÌ„d they doe indeed apprehend God accepting the desire to doe the thing for the thing done This which I say will the better appeare if the groundes thereof be considered Faith doth not iustifie in respect of it selfe because it is an action or vertue or because it is strong liuely and perfect but in respect of the obiect thereof namely Christ crucified whom faith apprehendeth as he is set forth vnto vs in the word and Sacraments It is Christ that is the author and matter of our iustice and it is he that applieth the same vnto vs as for faith in vs it is but an Instrument to apprehend receiue that which Christ for his part offereth and giueth Therefore if faith erre not in his proper obiect but follow the promise of God though it doe but weakely apprehend or at the least cause a man onely to Endeauour and Desire to apprehend it is true faith and iustifieth Though our apprehension be necessarie yet our saluation stands rather in this that God apprehends vs for his owne then that we

thou hast loosed thy sinne And Ambrose saith If he said I will confesse and obtained pardon before he confessed how much more when he had confessed saying I know mine iniquitie was his sinne pardoned Gregorie on this Psal. saith Marke how speedily pardon comes and how great is the commendation of Gods mercie in that pardon comes together with the desire of confession and remission comes to the heart before confession breake forth in speech II. Conclusion The first materiall beginnings of the conuersion of a sinner ar the smallest measure ofrenewing grace haue the promises of this life and the life to come The Exposition THe beginnings of conuersion must be distinguished Some are beginnings of preparation some beginnings of composition Beginnings of preparation are such as bring vnder tame subdue the stubbernes of mans nature without making any change at all of this sort are the accusations of the conscience by the ministerie of the law feares and terrours arising thence compunction of heart which is the apprehension of Gods anger against sinne Nowe these and the like I exclude in the conclusion for though they goe before to prepare a sinner to his conuersion following yet are they no graces of God but fruits both of the law being the ministery of death as also of an accusing conscience Beginnings of composition I tearme all those inward motions and inclinations of Gods spirit that follow after the worke of the law vpon the conscience and rise vpon the meditation of the Gospell that promiseth righteousnes and life euerlasting by Christ out of which motions the conuersion of a sinner ariseth and of which it consisteth what these are it shall afterward appeare Againe grace must be distinguished it is two-fold restraining grace or renuing grace Restraining grace I tearme certaine common gifts of God seruing onely to order and frame the outward conuersation of men to the Law of God or seruing to bereaue men of excuse in the day of iudgement By this kind of grace heathen men haue bin liberall iust sober valiant mercifull By it men liuing in the Church of God haue beene inlightned and hauing tasted of the good word of God haue reioyced therein and for a time outwardly conformed themselues therto Renewing grace is not common to al men but proper to the elect it is a gift of Gods spirit whereby the corruption of a sinner is not only restrained but also mortified and the decaied image of God restored in righteousnes and true holines Now then the conclusioÌ„ must only be vnderstoode of the second and not of the first for though a man haue neuer so much of this restraining grace yet vnlesse he haue the spirit of Christ to create faith in the heart and to sanctifie him he is as farre from saluation as another Thus then the sense and meaning of the conclusion is that the verie lest measure of sauing grace and the verie beginning or seedes of regeneration doe declare and after a sort giue title to men of all the mercifull promises of God whether they concern this life or the life to come are therefore approoued of God if they be in truth and accepted as greater measures of grace That which our Sauiour Christ saith of the worke of miracles Math. 17. 20. If ye haue faith as a graine of Musterd-seede ye shall say vnto this mountaine remooue hence to yonder place and it shall remooue must by the law of equall proportion be applied to sauing faith repentance the feare of God and all other graces if they be truly wrought in the heart though they be but as smal as one little graine of Musterd-seede they shall be sufficiently effectuall to bring forth good workes for which they are ordained The prophet Esay 42. 3. saith that Christ shall not quench the smoking flaxe nor breake the bruised reede Let the comparison be marked fire in flaxe must be both little and weake in quaÌ„titie as a sparke or twain that cannot cause a flame but only a smoke specially in a matter so easie to burne Here theÌ„ is signified that the gifts and graces of Gods spirit that are both for measure strength as a sparke or twaine of fire shal not be neglected but rather accepted and cherished by Christ. When our Sauiour Christ heard the young man make a confession of a practise but of outward and ciuill righteousnesse he looked vpon him and loued him Mark 10. 21. and when he heard the scribe to speake discreetely but one good speech that to loue god with all the heart is aboue all sacrifices he said vnto him That he was not for from the kingdome of heauen Therefore no doubt he will loue with a more speciall loue and accept as the good subiects of his kingdome those that haue receiued a further mercie of God to be borne a new of water and the spirit III. Conclusion A constant and earnest desire to be reconciled to God to beleeue and to repent if it be in a touched heart is in acceptation with God as reconciliation faith repentance it selfe The Exposition LVst or desire is two folde naturall supernaturall Naturall is that whose beginnings and obiect is in nature that is which ariseth of the naturall will of man and affecteth such things as are thought to be good according to the light of nature And this kind of desire hath his degrees yet so as they are all limited within the compasse of nature Some desire riches honours pleasures some learning knowledge because it is the light and perfection of the minde some go further seeke after the vertues of iustice temperaÌ„ce liberality c. and thus many heathen men haue excelled Some againe desire true happinesse as Balaam did who wished to die the death of the righteous because it is the propertie of nature to seeke the preseruation of it selfe But here nature staies it selfe for where the mind reueales not the will affects not Supernaturall desires are such as both for their beginning and obiect are aboue nature For their beginning is from the holy Ghost and the obiect or matter about which they are coÌ„uersant are things diuine and spirituall which concerne the kingdome of heauen and of this kinde are the desires of which I speake in this place Againe that we may not be deceiued in our desires but may the better discerne theÌ„ from flittering and fleeting motions I adde three restraints First of all the desire of reconciliation the desire to beleeue or the desire to repent c. must be constant and haue continuance otherwise it may iustly be suspected SecoÌ„dly it must be earnest serious though not alwaies yet at somtimes that we may be able to say with Dauid My soule desireth after thee O Lord as the thirsty land And as the hart braieth after the riuers of water so panteth my soule after thee O God my soule thirsteth for God euen the liuing God Thirdly it must be in a touched heart for when a

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