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 holy_a sin_n 6,419 5 4.3368 3 false
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A09388 A declaration of the true manner of knowing Christ crucified Perkins, William, 1558-1602. 1596 (1596) STC 19685; ESTC S114522 18,203 44

There are 2 snippets containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

bleede for thine owne offences casting downe and humbling thy selfe with Ezra saying O my God I am confounded and ashamed to lifte vp mine eyes unto thee my God for mine iniquities are increased and my trespasse is growen vp into heauen c. When thou readest that Christ was taken and bounde thinke that thy very sinnes brought him into the power of his enemies and were the verie bondes wherewith hee was tyed thinke that thou shouldest haue beene bounde in the very same manner vnlesse he had beene a suretie and pledge for thee thinke also that thou in the selfe same manner art bounde and tyed with the chaines of thine owne sinnes and that by nature thy will affections and whole spirit is tyed and chained to the will of the deuill so as thou canst doe nothing but that which he willeth lastly thinke and beleeue that the bondes of Christ serue to purchase thy liberty from hell death and damnation When thou hearest that hee was brought before Annas and Caiaphas thinke it was meete that thy surety and pledge who was to suffer the condemnation due unto thee should by the high priest as by the mouth of God be condemned and wonder at this that the very coessentiall eternall sonne of God euen the very soueraigne iudge of the world stands to be iudged and that by wicked men perswading thy selfe that this so great confusion comes of thy sinnes Whereupon being further amazed at thy fearefull estate humble thy selfe in dust and ashes and pray God so to soften thy stony heart that thou maist turne to him and by true faith lay holde on Christ who hath thus exceedingly abased himselfe that his ignominy may be thy glory and his arraignment thy perfect absolution When thou readest that Barrabas the murderer was preferred before Christ though hee exceeded both men and angels in holinesse thinke it was to manifest his innocency and that thy very sinnes pulled upon him this shamefull reproch and in that for thy cause he was esteemed worse then Barrabas thinke of thy selfe as a most heynous and wretched sinner and as Paul saith the head of all sinners When thou readest that he was openly and iudicially condemned to the cursed death of the crosse consider what is the wrath and fury of God against sinne and what is his great and infinite mercy to sinners and in this spectacle looke upon thy selfe and with grones of hearte cry out and say O good God What settest thou heare before mine eyes I euen I haue sinned I am guiltie and worthy of damnation Whence comes this chaunge that thy blessed sonne is in my roome but of thy unspeakeable mercy Wretch that I am how haue I forgotten my selfe and thee also my God O sonne of God how long hast thou abased thy selfe for mee Therefore giue me grace O God that beholding mine owne estate in the person of my Sauiour thus condemned I may detest and loath my sinnes that are the cause thereof and by a liuely faith embrace that absolution which thou offerest me in him who was condemned in my stead and roome O Iesu Christ Sauiour of the worlde giue me thy holy and blessed spirite that I may iudge my selfe and be as vile and base in mine owne eyes as thou wast vile before the Iewes also vnite me unto thee by the same spirite that in thee I may be as worthy to be accepted before God as I am worthy in my selfe to be detested for my sinnes When thou readest that he was clad in purple and crowned with thornes mocked and spitt vpon behold the everlasting shame that is due unto thee be ashamed of thy selfe and in this point conforme thy selfe to Christ and be content as he was to be reproched abused and despised so it be for a good cause When thou readest that before his crucifying he was stript of all his cloathes thinke it was that he being naked might beare thy shame on the crosse and with his most pretious and rich nakednes couer thy deformitie When thou readest the complaint of Christ that he was forsaken of his father consider how he suffered the pangs and torments of hell as thy pledge and suretie Learne by his vnspeakable torments what a fearefull thing it is to sinne against God and beginne to renownce thy selfe and detest thy sinnes and to walke as a childe of light according to the measure of grace receiued When thou commest to die set before thine eyes Christ in the middest of all his torments on the crosse in beholding of which spectacle to thy endles comfort thou shalt see a paradise in the middest of hell God the father reconciled vnto thee thy Sauiour reaching out his hands vnto thee to receiue thy soule vnto him and his crosse as a ladder to aduance it to eternall glorie Whereas he cried aloud with a strong voyce at the point of death it was to shew that he died willingly without violence or constraint from any creature and that if it had so pleased him he could haue freed himselfe from death and haue cast his very enemies to the very bottome of hell When thou readest that he commended his soule into the handes of his father consider that thy soule also so be it thou wilt beleeue in him is deliuered vp into the hands of God and shall be preserued against the rage and malice of all thine enemies and hereupon thou maiest be bolde to commend thy spirite into the hands of God the father When thou readest of his death consider that thy sinnes were the cause of it and that thou shouldest haue suffered the same eternally vnlesse the Sonne of God had come in thy roome againe consider his death as a ransome and apprehend the same by faith as the meanes of thy life for by death Christ hath wounded both the first and second death and hath made his crosse to be a throne or tribunall seate of iudgement against all his and thine enemies When thou readest of the trembling of the earth at the death of Christ thinke with thy selfe it did in his kinde as it were groane vnder the burden of the sinnes of men in the worlde and by his motion then it signified that euen thou and the rest deserued rather to be swallowed of the earth and to goe downe into the pit aliue then to haue any part in the merit of Christ crucified When thou readest of his buriall thinke it was to ratifie his death and to vanquish death euen in his owne denne Applie this buriall to thy selfe and beleeue that it serues to make thy graue a bedde of downe and to free thy bodie from corruption Lastly pray to God that thou maiest feele the power of the spirite of Christ weakning and consuming the bodie of sinne euen as a deade corps rots in the graue till it be resolued to dust When thou hast thus perused and applied to thy selfe the historie of the Passion of Christ goe yet further and labour by faith to see Christ crucified in all the workes of God either in thee or vpon thee Beholde him at thy table in meate and drinke which is as it were a liuely sermon and a daily pledge of the mercie of God in Christ. Beholde him in all thine afflictions as thy partner that pitieth thy case and hath compassion on thee Behold him in thy most daungerous temptations in which the deuill thundereth damnation behold him I say as a mightie Sampson bearing away the gates of his enemies vpon his owne shoulders and killing more by death then by life crucifying the deuill euen then when he is crucified by death killing death by entrance into the graue opening the graue and giuing life to the dead and in the house of death spoiling him of all his strength and power Beholde him in all the afflictions of thy brethren as though he himselfe were naked hungrie sicke harbourlesse and doe vnto them all the good thou canst as to Christ himselfe If thou wouldest behold God himselfe looke vpon him in Christ crucified who is the ingrauen image of the fathers person and know it to be a terrible thing in the time of the trouble of thy conscience to thinke of God without Christ in whose face the glorie of God in his endlesse mercie is to be seene 2. Cor. 4. v. 6. If thou wouldest come to God for grace for comfort for saluation for any blessing come first to Christ hanging bleeding dying vpon the crosse without whome there is no hearing God no helping God no sauing God no God to thee at all In a word let Christ be all things without exception vnto thee Coloss. 3. 11. for when thou praiest for any blessing either temporall or spirituall be it whatsoeuer it will be or canbe thou must aske it at the hands of God the father by the merit and mediation of Christ crucified now looke as we aske blessings at Gods hand so must we receiue them of him and as they are receiued so must we possesse and vse them daily namely as gifts of God procured to vs by the merit of Christ which gifts for this very cause must be wholly imploied to the honour of Christ. FINIS Esai 53. 11 Ioh. 17. 2. 1. Cor. 2. 2. Gal. 6. 14. Phil. 3. 5. ●d 15. 19. 2. King 4. 34 2. King 13. 21. Coloss. 13. Eph. 1. 4. Eph. 1. 17 cap. 1. 9. Consider Colost 3. 11. 2. 10. b Calvin 〈…〉 Gal. c. 6. 2. Ezra 9.
And that thus much is required in knowledge it appeares by the common rule of expounding Scripture that vvordes of knovvledge implie affection And indeede it is but a knowledge swimming in the braine which doth not alter and dispose the affection and the whole man Thus much of our knowledge Now followes the second point how Christ is to be knowne He must not be knowne barely as God or as man or as a Iewe borne in the tribe of Iudah or as a terrible and iust iudge but as he is our Redeemer and the very price of our redemption and in this respect he must be considered as the common Treasurie and storehouse of Gods Church as Paul testifieth whē he saith In him are all the treasures of knovvledge and wisdome hidde and againe Blessed be God which hath blessed vs vvith all spirituall blessings in Christ. And S. Iohn saith that of his fulnesse we receiue grace for grace Here then let vs marke that all the blessings of God whether spirituall or temporall all I say without exception are conuaied vnto vs from the father by Christ and so must they be receiued of vs and no otherwise That this point may be further cleared the benefits which wee receiue from Christ are to be handled and the maner of knowing of them The benefits of Christ are three his Merit his Vertue his Example The merit of Christ is the value and price of his death and Passion whereby man is perfectly reconciled to God This reconciliation hath two parts Remission of sinnes and acceptation to life euerlasting Remission of sinnes is the remoouing or the abolishing both of the guilt and punishment of mans sinnes By guilt I vnderstand a subiection or obligation to punishment according to the order of diuine iustice And the punishment of sinne is the malediction of curse of the whole law which is the suffering of the first and second death Acceptation to life euerlasting is a giuing of right and title to the kingdome of heauen and that for the merit of Christs obedience imputed Now this benefit of reconciliation must be knowne not by conceit and imagination nor by carnall presumption but by the inwarde testimonie of Gods spirit certifying our consciences thereof which for this cause is called the spirit of Revelation And that we may attaine to infallible assistance of this benefite we must call to minde the promises of the Gospel touching remission of sinnes and life euerlasting this being done we must further strive and indeauour by the assurance of Gods spirit to apply them to our selues ●nd to beleeue that they belong vnto vs and we must also put our selues often to all the exercises of invocation and true repentance For in and by our crying vnto heauen to God for reconciliation comes the assurance thereof as scriptures and Christian experience makes manifest And if it so fall out that any man in temptation apprehend and feele nothing but the furious indignation and wrath of God against all reason and feeling he must hold to the merite of Christ and know a point of religion hard to be learned that God is a most louing father to them that haue care to serue him euen at that instant when he shewes himselfe a most fierce and terrible enemie From the benefit of reconciliation proceede foure benefits First that excellent peace of God that passeth all vnderstanding which hath sixe parts The first is peace with God and the blessed Trinitie Rom 5. 1. beeing iustified vve have peace vvith God The second peace with the good Angels Ioh. 1. 51. Ye shall see the Angels of God ascending and descending vpon the sonne of man And that Angels like armies of souldiours incampe about the seruants of God and as nources beare them in their armes that they be neither hurt by the deuil and his angels nor by his instruments it proceeds of this that they being in Christ are partakers of his merits The third is peace with all such as feare God and beleeue in Christ. This Esay foretold when he said that the vvolfe shall dvvell vvith the lamb and the leopard lie vvith the kidde and the calfe and the lyon and a fatte beast together and that a little child should lead them c. 11. v. 6. The fourth is peace with a mans owne selfe when the conscience washed in the blood of Christ ceaseth to accuse and terrifie and when the wil affections and inclinations of the whole man are obedient to the minde enlightened by the spirit and word of God Coloss. 3. Let the peace of God rule in your hearts The fifth is peace with enemies and that two waies First in that such as beleeue in Christ seeke to haue peace with all men hurting none but doing good to all secondly in that God restraines the malice of enemies inclines their hearts to be peaceable Thus God brought Daniel into loue and fauour with the chief of the Eunuches The last is peace with all creatures in heauen earth in that they serue for mās saluatiō Psal. 9● 13. Thou shalt walk vpon the lyon and the Aspe the young lyon and the dragon shalt thou tread vnder foot Hos. 2. 18. And in that day vvill I make a couenant for them vvith the beasts of the fielde and vvith the foules of heaven Nowe this benefite of ●eace is knowne partly by the testimonie of the ●pirit and partly by a daily experience thereof The second benefit is a recoverie of that right and title which man hath to all creatures in heauen and earth and all temporall blessings which right Adam lost to himselfe and euery one of his posteritie 1. Cor. 3. 22. Whether it be the world or life or death whether they be things present or things to come all are yours Now the right way of knowing this one benefit is this When God vouchsafeth meate drinke apparrell houses lands c. we must not barely consider them as blessings of God for that very heathen men which know not Christ can doe but we must acknowledge and esteem them as blessings proceeding from the speciall loue of God the father whereby hee loues vs in Christ and procured vnto vs by the merite of Christ crucified and we must labour in this point to be setled and perswaded and so oft as we see and vse the creatures of God for our owne benefite this point should come to our mindes Blessings conceiued apart from Christ are misconceiued whatsoeuer they are in thēselues they are no blessings to vs but in and by Christs merit Therefore this order must be obserued touching earthly blessings first wee must haue part in the merite of Christ and then secondly by meanes of that merit right before God and comfortable vse of th● things we enioy All men that haue and vse th● creatures of God otherwise as gifts of God but not by Christ vse them but as flat vsurpers and theeves For this cause is it not sufficient for vs generally and