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	truth_n	word_n	7,274	5	4.1793	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A35042	A defense against the dread of death, or, Zach. Crofton's meditations and soliloquies concerning the stroak of death sounded in his ears in the time of his close imprisonment in the Tower of London, anno 1661 and 1662 : digested for his own private staisfaction and support in the vale of the shadow of death, and now made publique for the advantage of such as abide under Gods present visitation in London by the pestilence.	Crofton, Zachary, 1625 or 6-1672.	1665 (1665)	Wing C6992; ESTC R24795	57,690	178

they be such things is not eternity the very formality of them is not eternity that massie substance affixed to the exceeding weight of glory which counterpoiseth weigheth down and witnesseth the levity of those afflictions which we now suffer for a moment Eternity is the sting of sorrow but the strength of joy the horror of damnation but the honour of salvation the dread the dolor of the reprobate but the desire delight of the Elect the plague the sting of the gnawing worm and tormenting not consuming fire but the pleasure the lustre of the wedding garment and of the cooling refreshing streams of the waters of life My soul Christ my Savior hath redeemed me from the one and sealed me to the other of these conditions fear not therefore to go out of this body to pass through this red Sea this dark dreadful dismaying gulf into the Ocean of thine Eternity remember consider thy Lord long since declared strait is the gate and narow is the way which leadeth unto life I will by Gods grace stoop at this strait gate I will press through this narrow way seeing life so rich so glorious so blessed life is the end thereof to be enjoyed for ever The Conclusion § MOst blessed Jesus thou art the Lord of life and glory of thine own good will in compassion and pity to lost man thou didst leave the delights of Heaven and of thy fathers bosome and wast cloathed with mans mortal nature Thou hast subjected thy self to death to the most violent shameful and cursed death that thou mightest sweeten and sanctifie this cup in which all thine elect and Saints must pledge thee thou hast tasted death for all men Thou having felt the sting and encountred the strength of death didst conquer and triumph over the grave thou hast gotten thou hast given all that beleive in thee the victory over death thou art in thy Church and to thy Saints the first fruits from the dead thy glorious resurrection is our pledge and assurance that we shall not be always held under the power and dominion of death but that we shall be raised up to raign with thee for ever § I thy weak and worthless servant am under the expectation of death and if thou restrain not the wrath that is in man it may be a violent and shameful death under the dread hereof I look unto and desire to encourage my self in thee the captain of my salvation Be not far from me my God and my Saviour in this hour of my temptation but let thy grace support me under the stroak and save me from the sting of death strengthen my faith unto the full apprehension due application of thy death and resurrection to the curbing of my passions and check of my fears that I may willingly cheerfully follow thee through the vale of the shadow of death O be my God! my God and my Guide unto under death § Death is natural to man common to all men but its nature is changed unto some and but to some of the sons of men this dreadful Executioner of thy vengeance on the wicked is but a grim messenger to fetch thy children home this thy Sheriff executing Malectours putteth the heirs of salvation into the possession of that inheritance thou hast purchased for them and appointed to them the wicked dye when thy friends do but sleep and rest in their beds Be pleased O my Redeemer to know me and make me know my self to be one of that number to whom the nature of death is changed to whom it may not it cannot be apprehended or appear so dreadful evidence and cleer up to my soul and conscience that real supernatural change of quality in my self which may convince me of and secure unto me the contranatural change of the nature and quality of death to and upon me § Union with thy glorious self can only secure against the sting and encourage under against the terrifying apprehension of the stroak of death unite me O Lord unto thy self communicate to me thy grace that only evidence of my union with thee that assurance that only that full assurance that death shall not divide between thee and me death shall not seperate my soul from thee death shall not seperate my body from thee but my dust shall be regarded by thee my death shall be precious in thy sight make O my God the graces of thine holy spirit so legible in me that I may thereby make my calling and election sure and read readily that name that none can read but he who hath it and that I may be certainly resolved in my self that my name was written in thy book of life before the foundations of the world was laid § Thy grace O Lord hath been extended to me make me to see it teach me seriously to reflect it unto thy praise and the encouragement of my soul under and against the terrors of the dread of death I am through thy grace and abundant mercy called by the name I have been born within the pale of thy Church and under the Covenant of thy salvation I was dedicated to thee and thy service as soon as I was born thy covenant was then set on my flesh by baptism and I now bear it on my flesh I dare not with prophane Esau despise this my birth-right but must and by thy grace I will rejoyce that I pertake of the fatness of the Olive and that I am a branch from an holy root sanctified by and unto God Thou didst bless me O Lord with Christian nurture and education I have known thy word from my childhood thou hast seasoned me with and sanctified me by thy truth thy word is truth it hath been the delight of my soul and the direction of my life and faith Thy spirit hath been and is in me the spirit of conviction and of burning by it I see the finfulness of sin and possess with grief shame the iniquities of my youth and the evil of my ways and doings it lusteth against my flesh and draweth disposeth my mind to serve the Law of God when my flesh is forced to serve the Law of sin Thy glorious Gospel thy gracious spirit O Lord hath convinced me of and affected my soul with mine own guilt thy fathers wrath and justice and the salvation wrought out by thee and by thee alone I do beleive there is no name by which men can be saved but thy name most blessed Jesus thou art the true Messiah the only Mediator between God and man the all-sufficient Saviour of all that come unto thee unto thee O Lord I come weary and heavy loaden with my sin Oh give me easie pressed with a dread of thy fathers wrath plead my cause satisfie for me his offended justice be the propitiation for my sins oppressed with my lusts Oh save me from my sin subdue corruptions in me change my nature be to me a perfect Saviour for to thee I run on

be dirty and dreadful tedious and tiresome shall I draw back or not drive after so many so good such excellent men as are gone before me Levius communia tangunt say men by nature how easie is a common yoke whilst then mine is the common state of men and good men abate thy fears advance thy courage follow with chearfulness and content Let the motto of the happy unhappy Lady Jane Gray give check to the admiring censures of the spectators of my death Non aliena putes homini qua obtingere possunt Sors hodierna mihi tunc erit illa sibi I tread no untroden tract I am not the first I shall not be the last that dye I go the way that many most and best have gone before me and others must daily and hourly follow after me whatsoever is my chance death is the condition common to men and the grave doth know no difference between them who run out the course of nature and those who are cut off by violence One dieth in his full strength Job 21.23 24 25 26. being wholly at ease and quiet his breasts are ful of milk and his bones are moistned with marrow another dieth in the bitterness of his soul and never eateth with pleasure these both lye down alike in the dust and the worm shall cover them without any difference or distinction Let me dye which way God hath determined by sickness or by sword in my bed or on a publique stage in old age or in the prime of my days in course of nature or by the hands of violence I can but dye and dye I must for I am a man and death is common certain and natural unto man SECT III. DEath this common state My death is decreed by God with all its circumstances is determined by the Lord whatsoever doth relate unto this condition is concluded in the councels of the most high these no man can alter or avoid God is of soveraign power his purposes must and shall prevail against all powers whatsoever what is by him decreed must stand most certainly to come to pass My time is then in the hands of the Lord he will preserve me from the force of any disease and fury of the oppressor until the date by him determined be expired my time is appointed on the earth Job 14.5 my days are determined the number of my moneths are with the Almighty he hath set the bounds thereof These I cannot I must not expect to pass nor can the distempers of nature most violent diseases or the fury malice or power of men break in upon them to anticipate their course or accelerate their period I cannot I shall not be cut down before the time nor any other way then that God hath decreed shall not I be willing to go when and how God will have me go The decrees of Heaven are unalterable and unavoidable it is mans duty to submit to them without demur or debate Shall I can I profess a filial relation to God and obedience to the will of him my Father and not resign up my self my time and my life to be disposed by God is a reluctancy in this case competible with my prayer thy will be done or consistent with that my resolved supplication in this very case not my will but thy will be done men are but like diseases executioners of Gods decree upon me they have against me no power but what is given them from above though therefore I am loath to leave my cottage and present sensible comforts shall I dare to resist or refuse chearfully to yeild unto and resign them at the pleasure of mine absolute Lord and Soveraign by which alone I hold them Consider Oh my soul it is the Lord more righteous then to do me wrong more gracious then to do me hurt who doth dispose my time and state Let him do what seemeth good unto him There is a season to every thing under the Sun Eccles 3.1 11. there is a time to every purpose un-the Heaven Gods time is the set time to all things and the best time to the Sons of men every thing is beautiful in its time so shall death be to me when my time is come when mens work is done it is fit they go to bed lye down and sleep man goeth forth to his work and to his labour Ps 104.23 until the evening When Corn is ripe it must be cut done I shall not fall without Gods determinate counsel shall I dare can I desire to contradict that I shall not be cut down until I be ripe and my cutting down be seasonable can I wish to stand longer I have lived shall I not now be content to dye according to Gods determination SECT IV. THe assaults of Death are the assaults of an enemy Death is an enemy but conquered armed with power and irresistible This is very true but yet Death is the last enemy I must encounter and cannot be otherwise conquered then by my falling under its stroak my whole life hath been a militation and my death is but a military finishing of my course my willingness to dye mine encountring this King of terrors with a Christian faith with a calm quiet and composed Spirit can onely make my dying words trumpet with triumph 2 Tim. 4.7 I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have all my life-time fought with Death as Sampson with the Philistines it often assaulteth me by hunger nakedness cold infant-weakness sickness natural diseases and the assaults of violence shall I think it strange to receive another onset and to take one turn more with my constant enemy Shall I fear by the power of grace to vanquish him whom I have by the strength of nature and help of art I many times resisted and repelled O my soul Sin my Dalilah hath deceived me and spoiled me of my natural strength I cannot now as formerly fight with and beat back this Philistine mine onely conquest of him is to fall before and with him when he hath divided my body from my soul he hath done his worst and will soon find a few such victories will waste his strength so that he shall not be able to keep the field to appear in the world or to assault the sons of men My soul consider thy present state compose thy self cry unto God for strength of faith that thou mayst by dying be at once revenged on thine enemy I shall when dead be for ever freed from that warfare with Satan Sin and the World which I have been constrained to wage all my life long I shall then no longer fight for my strength youth growth credit comforts and conscience all which I have all my time defended with much difficulty and great danger Death mine enemy shall then set me free from the Devils temptation the worlds enticements the outrage of men the arrows of the Almighty and the lustings of mine own flesh all

thee I relye thee I embrace with all my soul to be my Lord and my King refuse reject me not O God of my salvation I have resigned up my whole man to thy most holy word and will and desire to walk in thy most holy ways thy love shed abroad in my heart hath enflamed me with a love to thy name to thine ordinances thy people and thine house the zeal of thy house hath consumed me I have through thy spirit embraced esteemed thy truth in the love thereof and thy people for the truths sake which is in them For thy sake I have denied all outward comforts I have taken up my cross and followed thee Consider remember O Lord my present bonds for thy sake I am killed all the day long I am accounted as a Sheep for the slaughter the reproaches of them who reproach thee are fallen upon me all this is come upon me yet have I not departed from thee nor dealt falsly in the Covenant in which thy glory is concerned § These things O Lord I do reflect not as matters of merit in me or as engagements on thy justice to do me good for I well know they are not mine own and if they were and were perfect yet I must when I have done the best I can acknowledge I am an unprofitable servant all I can do is due to thee the best of my actions are but the debt I ow thee but alas my best actions are full of sin my righteousness is as a filthy rag a menstruous garment which needeth thy propitiation and thy fathers pardon and must be perfumed by the incense which is on the censer in the right hand of thee my high Priest Yet O my Savour I reveiw these things in me as the effects of thy grace to me of thy spirit in me and as infallible evidences of thine union to me for flesh and blood could not reveal nor work these things in me by thy grace sanctifying my nature my soul is and shall be saved ô refuse me not deny me not to be thine O let thy spirit of adoption seal up my relation to thee and mine interest in thee let me not remain in the dark or be deceived in a matter of so great concernment to me clear up to me by certain premises the truth the realty of mine inseperable union with thee else I am undon have said nothing to my soul in all that I have said against the dread of death § Grant unto me O Lord the remission of all my sins the sence of the guilt thereof doth sting my soul under the apprehensions of mine approaching death Whatsoever doth befall me in this life I beseech thee suffer me not to dye in my sin Oh convince me of humble me for and turn me from all iniquity and every reigning lust but graciously cast it behind thy back blot it out of thy remembrance that in the day it is sought for it may not be found against me sin hath passed on me and death by sin but deliver me O my Saviour from falling by under the second death from which there is no possibility of redemption Secure unto my soul thy sufferings as the full ransom of my soul and the satisfaction to thy fathers law and justice for mine offences and for my many great trangressions so shall I be able to meet death with boldness I shall then insult over that King of terrors with on O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory I shall then triumph over death and him who hath the power of death the Devil If my heart deceive me not I would not sin that grace ●hould abound but now blessed Saviour that I have sinned I do I dare not but earnestly beg thy grace may abound that I may in my death through the pardon of sin sing unto thy praise thanks be unto God who hath given met he victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. § O thou the only high Priest of my profession thou canst be touched with mine infirmities thou knowest the power the prevalency of my natural passions under the apprehensions of mine approaching death thou ever livest to make intercession for me graciously rebuke my passions restrain my fears revive my faith renew my hope and establish my heart under and against all those amazing affrighting apprehenfions of death which nature dot● conceive sence doth dictate or Satan doth suggest unto my dread Compassionately grant me the comfortable supports of thy presence grace and spirit whilst I walk in the vale of the shadow of death that I may with all patience and meekness lie down and receive that stroak of death which I cannot avoid and yet cannot be willing to receive That I may with submission drink that bitter cup thou puttest into my hand concerning which my nature not corrupted with sin could not but pray Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me give me an heart groaning to be clothed on with my house from heaven whilst I cannot desire to be uncloathed of this earthly tabernacle and seeing my presence in the flesh is mine absence from thee O Lord perswade me to be willing to be dissolved that I may be with thee which is best of all § As a man I cannot desire I cannot but fear to die be pleased O my Savior to convince me of and afflict me with the happy sequels of my death that the sence thereof may make me contrary to the power property of my nature desirous to die let not the dread of death drive me to accept on sinful terms the deliverance from the most violent and shameful stroak thereof enable me to live the last breath of this my dying life in the ways of thy truth and holiness to the praise of thy grace and in this last act to play the man couragiously evidencing my self affected with a clear sence that all the evils of death are discharged and assured that I am united to thee who art the resurrection and the life through whom though I die I shall live again and having fought the good fight of faith and finished my course of nature I shall escape the curse of death and be received into eternal life and glory with thy self thy blessed Saints and Angels for ever guide me all my days by thy counsel and at last receive me into thy glory Into thy hands I commit my spirit it is thine own thou hast redeemed it and thou wilt keep it until thy glorious appearance blessed Jesus my Lord and my Redeemer Amen Amen Amen FINIS