Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	father_n	heart_n	son_n	17,006	5	5.6134	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A08830	The benefite that Christians receiue by Iesus Christ crucifyed. Translated out of French into English, by A.G. 1573; Dal beneficio di Christo. English	Benedetto, da Mantova, fl. 1534-1541.; Flaminio, Marco Antonio, 1498-1550.; Golding, Arthur, 1536-1606, attributed name.; Paleario, Aonio, 1503-1570, attributed name.	1573 (1573)	STC 19114; ESTC S120980	53,945	119

word which promiseth forgiuenesse of all sinnes peace to all them which accept the grace of the Gospel Uerely I say that he which vppon theis promises of God perswadeth not himselfe assuredly that god is a mercifull and louing father vnto him nor with stedfast cōfidence loketh to receyue the inheritance of the heauenly kyngdome at his hand is not faythful in dede maketh himself vtterly vnworthie of gods grace In respect whereof sainct Paule sayeth that we be the temple of God so farforthe as we firmely mainteine the confidence and glory of our hope vnto the ende And in another place he exhorteth vs that we shuld not giue ouer our trust which hath great rewarde of recompence And therfore my brethren let vs giue our whole indeuer to do the will of God as it becommeth good children and beware that we sinne not as néere as we can And although we fall oftentimes into sinne through our own frayeltie yet let vs not by and by surmise that we be vessels of wrath or that wée bee vtterly forsaken of the holy Ghoste for wee haue our Aduocate Iesus Christ before God the father and he is the attonement maker for our sinnes Let vs bethinke vs of the opinion of Saint Austin who fayeth that none of the Saincts is rightuouse and without sinne and yit notwithstanding that he ceasseth not to be rightuous and holy so farforth as he retaine his holynesse with affection And therefore if wee haue afflictions and tribulations let vs not think that God sends them bicause he is our enemie but bicause he is our most louing father The Lord sayeth Salomon chastiseth him whom hee loueth and scourgeth euery child of his whom he receyueth Wherfore if we haue receiued the grace of the Gospel whereby man is receiued of GOD for his childe wee muste not doubt of Gods grace and good will towards vs. And when wee perceyue our selues to delight in GODS woord and to haue a desire to followe the life of Iesus Christe wee must stedfastly beleeue that wee bee the children of GOD and the temple of the holy Ghost For those things cannot be done by the power of mans wisedome but are the gifts of the holy Ghost who dwelleth in vs by faith and is as it were a seale of authoritie which sealeth vp Gods promises in our hartes the certeinty wherof is printed aforehand in our mindes and is giuen vs as a pledge to stablish and confirme the same As soone as you beleeue sayth the Apostle Sainct Paule yee be sealed by the holy Spirit of promise who is the earnestpenny of our inheritance Behold howe he sheweth vs heereby that the hartes of the faithfull are marked with the holy Ghost as it were with a seal● in respect wherof he calleth the holy ghost the spirit of promis for so much as he confirmeth the promis of the Gospell the which as I haue oftentimes told you is a happy tydings that promiseth forgiuenesse of sinnes and euerlasting life to all suche as beleeue that all their misdooinges are blotted out in Iesus Christ. All we that beléeue in IESUS Christ sayeth Sainct Paule are becomme the children of GOD and bicause we bée his children hée hathe sent the Spirit of his Sonne into our hart which cryeth Father father And to the Romanes those sayeth he that are guided by the spirit of GOD are the children of God for ye haue not receyued again the spirit of bondage in feare but the Spirite of adoption whereby wee crie father father For certeinly the sam● spirit beareth our spirit record that wée bée the children of god Now then if we be children wée bée also heires And we must marke well that in these twoo places the Apostle Saint Paule speaketh plainly not of any speciall reuelation but of a certeine recorde which the holy Ghost doth commonly yéelde to all such as receyue the grace of the Gospell Then if the holy Ghoste assure vs that we be Gods children and heires why should we doubt of our predestination The same man sayeth in the same Epistle whom hée hath predestinated them hathe hee also called and whō he hath called them hath he also made rightuouse whom he hath made rightuouse thē also hath he glorified What shal we thē say to al these things if god be on our side who can be against vs And therefore if I plainly perceiue that God hath called me by giuing me fayth and the fruiets of faith that is to wit Peace of conscience mortification of the flesh and quickening of the spirit whether it be in whole or in parte why should I doubt that I am not predestinated And moreouer we saye with Sainct Paule that all true christians that is to wit all such as beléeue the Gospell receyue not the spirit of this world but the spirit that commeth from god by the inspiration wher of they discerne the things that God hath giuen them What maruell then is it if wée know that god hath certeinly giuen vs euerlasting life But there are some which saye that no man ought to presume so farre as to boast himselfe to haue the spirit of god They speake in such wyse as if the christiā should glory of the hauing of it for his owne desertes not by the onely mere mercie of God and as though it were a presumptuousnesse to professe him selfe a christian or as though a man could be a Christian without the hauing of Christes spirit or as though we could without flat hipocrisie say that Iesus Christ is our Lord or call God our Father if the holy ghost moued not our hartes tungs to vtter so swéete wordes And yit notwithstanding euen they that count vs presumptuouse for saying that God hath giuen vs his holy spirit with faith forbid vs not to say euery day Our Father but rather commaund vs But I would haue them too tell me how it is possible to separate faith the holy gost asunder séeing that faith is the peculiar work of the holy ghost If it be presumption to beléeue that the holy ghost is in vs why doth sainct Paule bid the Corinthians try them selues whither they haue faith or no affirming them to be reprobats if they know not that Iesus Christ is in them But in very déede it is a great blindnesse to accuse the christians of presumptuousnesse for taking vppon them to glorie of the presence of the holy ghost without which glorying there cannot be any Christianitie at all But Iesus Christe who cannot lye sayeth that his spirit is vnknowen to the worlde that they only do know him within whome he dwelleth Then let them begin to become good christians and put away their Iewish minds imbrace the grace of the holy gospell in good earnest and then shall they know that the good and true christians both haue the holy Ghost and also acknowledge themselues to haue him But

some one may say to mée that the christian can not by any means know that he is in gods fauour without some speciall reuelation and so consequently that he cannot knowe whither he be predestinated or no. And hée may specially alledge these woordes of Salomon A man knoweth not whither he be worthy of hatred or of loue and also these wordes of the Apostle Sainct Paule to the Corinthians I féele not my selfe gilty of any thing and yit féele I not my selfe iustifyed for all that It séemeth to be sufficiently declared by the textes of holy Scripture that the saide opinion is false and now remaineth onely to be shewed briefely that these two textes whereuppon the same opinion is chiefly grounded ought not to be taken in that sence As touchinge Salomons sentence although it bée scarse well and faythefully translated in the common translation yit is there not any man so dul who in reading Salomons whole discourse may not playnely perceyue by saying so he ment that if any man will take vppon him to iudge by the casualties ▪ that happen in this lyfe who is loued or hated of GOD he laboreth in vayne considering that the selfesame chaunces which light vppon the rightuouse light also vppon the vnrightuouse vppon him that Sacri●●zeth as wel as vpon him that sacrifizeth not as soone vpō the good mā as vpō y sinner Wher of it may be gathered y god doth not always shew his loue towards those whō he indueth with outward prosperities contrariewyse that he sheweth not his displeasure towards those whom hee punisheth Then my right deere brethren in Christ Iesus our Lorde doe you thinke it reason to conclude that a man cannot be sure of Gods fauour bycause the same surenesse cannot bee perceyued by the sundrie chaunces that happen euery day in theis transitory temporal things A litle afore Salomō saith y a man can not discerne any difference betwene y soule of a mā the life of a beast for it is seene that both mā beast die after one maner Shal we then conclude by this outward accident y the persua●iō which we haue conceiued of the immortality of the soule is groūded but only vppon coniecture No surely and it were a great follye to stande vppon a thing so notablye knowen And as for Saincte Paules words I say that for asmuch as he was sp●aking of the administration of the gospell hée ment that his hart misgiues him not of any misdealing therin and yit for all that that he is not sure he hath done his whole duetie to the full and therein obteyned the prayse of rightuousenes to Godward as if hée had done all that pertained and was conuenient to be done by a faithfull Steward and therfore in speaking of his office like a iust and discrete persone he durst not iustifie himself nor auow that he had discharged his deutie to the vttermost and satisfyed his lords wil but ●eferred all things to the only iudgemēt of his lord And verely who soeuer readeth these words of the Apostle Sainct Paule and considereth the wordes going afore them with some iudgement and likewise the woordes that folowe will not doubt but this is the true sence of them I know well that some men in expounding these words of the Apostle sainct Paule say that although he knewe himself to be without sin yit he knewe not whether he were rightuouse to Godward or no accordinge as Dauid affirmeth that no man can perfectly knowe his owne sinnes But these mē perceiue not that Saint Paule groundeth not rightuousenes vppon woorks but vpon faith and that hée vtterly refuseth his own rightuousenesse to imbrace only the rightuousnes which God hath giuen vs thorough our Lord Iesus Christ. Also they consider not that he was most certein to bée accepted for rightuous in maynteining the soundnesse and purenesse of the christē faith and that he knewe well howe the crowne of that righteousnes was layd vp for him in heauen and also that hee was fully assured that no creature in heauen earth nor hell was able to separate him from the loue of God and that he longed to dye bicause hée knew for a truth y after his death he should be with Iesus Christe All which thinges should be false if he had not bin well assured that he was rightuouse I meane by faith not by works Therfore my déerbeloued brethren let vs cease to speake that thing of the Apostle Sainct Paule which he neuer once thought of himself but féersly fought agaynst it continually in answering such as measured rightuousenes by woorks not by faith in our Lord Iesus Christ. But besides these two auctorities of Salomon and sainct Paul a man might alledge some other places of holy scripture which wheras they warne and incorage men to feare God séeme to be contrarie to the assurance of this our predestination And if I would declare them all particularly I should be ouer long But I say generally that y feare of punishment was proper to the old Testamēt and childly loue to the new Testament according as S. Paule witnesseth when he sayeth to the Romanes ye haue not receyued the spirit of bondage to feare but ye haue receiued y spirit of adoptiō wherby we ●rye father father And likewise vnto Timothie he sayeth y god hath not giuē vs y spirit of fearfulnes but rather of power and loue which spirit Iesus Christ hath giuen vs according to the promis made by the mouth of the holy Prophets and brought to passe that we being deliuered out of our enemyes handes may serue him without feare before his holy presence in all holinesse and rightuousenesse all the dayes of our life By theis many other places of the holy Scripture a man may plainly gather that y peynfull and slauish fearfulnesse agreeth not with a Christian and this is alredie confirmed by this that such maner of fearfulnesse is vtterly contrarie to the spirituall cherefulnes and ioy which is peculiar to the christian as the Apostle Sainct Paule sheweth openly to the Romanes saying that the kingdome of God is rightuousenesse peace ioy in the holy ghost that is to say y euery man which entereth into the kingdome of the grace of the gospel is become rightuouse through fayth and afterward addeth peace of conscience which consequently bréedeth such a spiritual and holy rest gladnesse in respect wherof the same Sainct Paule doth oftentimes incorage the christians to liue merily And sainct Peter sayeth that all they which beleeue in Iesus Christ do continually reioyce with an vnspeakable and gloriouse ioy notwithstanding that they be afflicted with diuerse temptations And therfore whē the holy scripture threateneth and frayeth the christians they must vnderstand that it speaketh to such as are so licenciouse that forsomuche as they kepe not the thankfulnesse and honestie that belong to GODS children they must