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
A08832	The benefit that Christians receiue by Iesus Christ crucified translated out of French into English, by A.G.	Paleario, Aonio, 1503-1570.; Golding, Arthur, 1536-1606.	1580 (1580)	STC 19116; ESTC S926	54,090	122

who by al meanes seeketh to rob vs of that faith and confidence that springeth of faith assureth vs of Gods good will towardes vs. He laboureth to strip our soule out of this precious garmēt for he knoweth y ● none is a true Christian except he beléeue Gods woorde which promiseth forgeuenesse of all sinnes and peace too all them which accept the grace of the Gospel Uerily I say that he which vpon these promises of God perswadeth not himselfe assuredly that God is a mercifull and louing father vnto him nor with stedfast confidence looketh to receiue the inheritance of the heauēly kingdome at his hand is not faithful in déed maketh himselfe vtterly vnwoorthy of Gods grace In respect whereof S. Paule saith that we be the temple of God so farfoorth as we firmely mainteine the confidence and glory of our hope vnto the ende And in another place he exhorteth vs that we shoulde not geue ouer our trust which hath great reward of recompence And therfore my brethren let vs geue our whole indeuour to doe the will of God as it becommeth good children and beware that wee sinne not as neere as wee can And although wee fall oftentimes intoo sinne through our owne frailtie yet let vs not by by surmise that we be vessels of wrath or that we be vtterly forsaken of the holy Ghost for we 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 S. Augustine who saith that none of the Saints is righteous and without sinne and yet notwithstanding that he ceaseth not to be righteous and holy so farfoorth as he retaine his holinesse with affection And therfore if we haue afflictions and tribulations let vs not think that God sends thē because he is our enimy but bicause he is our most louing father The Lord saith Salomon chastiseth him whome hee loueth and scourgeth euery childe of his whō he receiueth Wherfore if we haue receiued the grace of the gospel wherby man is receiued of God for his childe me must not doubte of Gods grace and good will towardes vs. And when wée perceiue our selues too delight in Gods word and to haue a desire to folow the life of Iesus Christ we must stedfastly beleue that we be the children of God the temple of the holy Ghost For those thinges cānot bee done by the power of mans wisedome but are the giftes of the holie Ghost who dwelleth in vs by fayth and is as it were a seale of authoritie which sealeth vp Gods promises in our heartes the certainly wherof is printed aforehād in our minds and is geuen vs as a pleadge to stablishe confirme the same Assoone as you beléeue saith the Apostle S. Paule ye be sealed by the holy spirit of promise who is the earnest peny of our inheritance Beholde how he sheweth vs hereby that the heartes of the faythfull are marked with the holie Ghost as it were with a seale in respect● whereof he calleth the holy Ghost the spirit of promise forasmuch as he cōfirmeth the promise of the Gospel the which as I haue oftentimes tolde you is a happy tidinges that promiseth forgeuenesse of sinnes and euerlasting life to all such as beléeue that all their misdoings are blotted out in Iesus Christ. All we that beléeue in Iesus Christ saith Saint Paule are become the children of God and because we bee his children he hath sent the spirit of his sonne into our heart which crieth Father Father And to the Romaines those saith he that are guided by the spirit of God are the children of God for ye haue not receiued again the spirite of bondage in feare but the spirit of adoption whereby me cry father father For certeinly the same spirite beareth our spirite recorde that we be the children of God Now then if we be children we be also heires And we must mark wel that in these two places the Apostle Saint Paule speaketh plainly not of any speciall reuelation but of a certayne record which the holy Ghost doeth commonly yéelde too all such as receiue the grace of the Gospel Then if the holy Ghost assure vs that wee bée Gods children and heires why shoulde we doubt of our Predestinatiō The same man saith in the same Epistle Whome hée hath predestinated them hath hee also called and whom he hath called them hath he also made righteous and whom he hath made righteous them also hath he glorified What shall wee then say too all these things if God be on our side who can bee against vs And therefore if plainly perceiue that God hath called mee by geuing me faith and the fruites of fayth 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 shoulde I doubt that I am not predestinated And moreouer we say with Sainte Paule that all true Christians that is to wit all such as beleeue the Gospel receiue not the spirite of this worlde but the spirit that commeth from God by the inspiration whereof they discerne the thinges that God hath geuen them What maruel then is it if we know that God hath certeinly geuen vs euerlasting life But there are some which say that no man ought to presume so farre as to boast humselfe to haue the spirit of God They speake in such wise as if the Christian should glory of y ● hauing of it for his owne desertes and not by the onely and méere mercy of God and as though it were a presumptuousnes to professe himselfe a Christian or as though a man coulde be a Christian without the hauing of Christes spirite or as though wee coulde without flat hipocrisie say that Iesus Christ is our Lord or call God our father if the holy Ghost moued not our harts and toungs to vtter to sweete wordes And yet notwithstanding euen they that count us presūptuous for saying that God hath geuen vs his holy spirite with faith forbid vs not to say euery day Our Father but rather commaunde vs. But I would haue them to tell me how it is possible to separate fayth and the holy Ghost asunder séeing that faith is the peculiar worke of the holy Ghost If it be presumption to beléeue that the holy Ghost is in vs why doeth S. Paul bid y ● Corinthiās try thēselues whether they haue faith or no affirming them to be reprobates if they know not y ● Iesus Christ is in thē But in very déed it is a great blindnes to accuse the Christiās of presumptuousnes for taking vpon them to glory of the presence of the holy Ghoste without w t glorying there cannot be any Christianity at al. But Iesus Cherist who cānot ly saith y ● his spirit is vnknowē to y ● world and that they onely doe know him within whom

he dwelleth Then let them begin to become god Christians and put away their Iewish mindes and imbrace the grace of the holy Gospel in good earnest then shal they know that the good and true Christians both haue the holy Ghost also acknowledg ethēselues to haue him But some one may say to me that the Christiā cannot by any meanes know that he is in Gods fauour without some speciall reuelation and so consequently that he cannot know whether he be predestinated or no. And he may specially alledge these wordes of Solomon A man knoweth not whether he be worthy of hatred or of loue and also these wordes of the Apostle S. Paul to the Corinthians I féel not my selfe guilty of any thing and yet féele I not my selfe iustified for all that It séemeth to be sufficiently declared by the textes of holy scripture that the sayde opinion is false and now remayneth onely to bee shewed briefly that these two textes wherevpon the same opinion is chiefly grounded ought not too bee taken in that sense As touching Solomons sentence although it be scarce wel faithfully translated in the commontranslation yet is there not any man so dull who in reading Solomōs whole discourse may not plainely perceiue that by saying so he ment that if any man will take vpon him to iudge by the casualties that happen in this life who is loued or hated of God Hée laboureth in vain● considering that the selfesame chaunces which light vppon the righteous light also vpon the vnrighteous vpon him that sacrifizeth aswell as vpon him that sacrifizeth not and as soone vppon the good man as vppon the sinner Whereof it may be gathered that GOD doeth not alwayes shew his loue towards those whome hée indueth with outwarde prosperities and contrariwise that hée sheweth not his displeasure towards those whome hée punisheth Then my ryght deare brethren in Christe Iesus our Lorde doe you thinke it reason to conclude that a man cannot bee sure of Gods fauour because the same surenesse cannot bée perceiued by the sundry chaunces that happen euery day in these transitory and temporall thinges A little afore Solomon saith that a man cannot discerne any difference betwéene the soule of man and the life of a Beast for it is séene that both man and Beast dye after one manner Shall wée then conclude by this outwarde accident that the perswasiō which we haue conceaued of the immortality of y ● soule is grounded but only vpon coniecture so surely and it were a great folly to stande vppon a thing so notably knowne And as for S. Paules wordes I say that forasmuche as he was speaking of the administration of the Gospell hee ment that his hearte misgiues him not of any misdealing therein and yet for all that that hée is not sure hee hath doone his whole dutie to the full and therein obteined the prayse of righteousnes to Godward as if he had done all that perteyned and was conuenient to be done by a faithful Steward and therefore in speaking of his office like a iust and discrete person he durst not iustifie himselfe nor auow that he had discharged his dutie to the uttermost and satisfied his Lords wil but referred all thinges to the only iudgement of his Lord. And verily whosoeuer readeth these wordes of the Apostle S. Paul and considereth the wordes going afore them with some iudgement and likewise the wordes that folow wil not doubt but this is the true sense of them I know well that some men in expounding these woordes of the Apostle S. Paul say that although hée knew himselfe to be without sinne yet hée knew not whether hee were righteous to Godward or no according as Dauid affirmeth that no man can perfectly know his owne sinnes But these men perceiued not that S. Paul groundeth not righteousnes vppon woorkes but vppon faith and that he vtterly refuseth his owne righteousnes to imbrace onely the righteousnesse which God hath geuen vs through our Lord Iesus Christ. Also they cōsider not y ● he was most certaine to be accepted for righteous in mainteining the soundnesse purenes of the Christian faith and that hee knewe well how the crowne of that righteousnes was laide vp for him in heauen and also that he was fully assured that no creature in heauen earth nor hel was able to separate him from the loue of God and that he longed to die because he knew for a trueth that after his death he should bée with Iesus Christ. All which things should be false if he had not béen well assured that he was righteous I meane by faith and not by works therefore my dearely beloued brethren let vs ceasse to speake y ● thing of the Apostle S. Paul w t he neuer once thought of himself but fircely fought against it continually in answering suche as measured righteousnesse by workes and not by faith in our Lorde Iesus Christe But beside● these two authorities of Solomon and S. Paul a man myght alledge some other places of Holy Scripture which wheras they warne and encourage men to feare GOD séeme too bée contrary too the assurance of this our Predestination And if I would declare them all particularly I shoulde be ouerlong But I say generally that the feare of punishment was proper to the old Testament and childly loue too the newe Testamente according as Saint Paul witnesseth when hée saith to the Romans yée haue not receiued the spirite of bondage too feare but yée haue receiued the spirite of adoption whereby wée crie father father And likewise vnto Timothie he saith that GOD hath not geuen vs the spirite of fearefullnes but rather of power and loue which spirite Iesus Christe hath geuen vs according too the promise made by the mouth of the Holy Prophetes and brought to passe that wèe being deliuered out of our enimies handes may serue him without feare before his holy presence in all holynesse righteousnesse all the dayes of our life By these and many other places of the holy Scripture a man may playnly gather that the paineful and slauish fearefulnesse agréeth not with a Christian and this is already confirmed by this that such manner of fearefulnesse is vtterly contrary to the spirituall chéerefulnesse and ioy which is peculiar to the Christian as the Apostle Saint Paul sheweth openly to the Romanes saying that the kingdome of God is righteousnesse and peace and ioy in the holy Ghost that is to say that euery man which entereth into the kingdome of the grace of the Gospell is become righteous through faith and afterwarde addeth peace of conscience which consequently bréedeth such a spirituall and holy rest and gladnes in respect wherof the same Saint Paul doth oftentimes incourage the Christians to liue meryly And Saint Peter sayth that all they which beléeue in Iesus Christe doe continually reioyce with an unspeakeable and glorious ioy notwithstanding that they be afflicted