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	holy_a	jesus_n	13,652	5	5.8822	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A39934	Grace and mercy to a sinner in a time of afflictions, or, The serious meditations of M. Tho. Ford of Rochester during the time of his imprisonment, before his execution, faithfully delivered from his own copie : together with his funeral sermon, preached by Mr. Wil. Sandbrook, P.M. Rochester / set forth for the strengthning of our faith in Jesus Christ ... ; published for the satisfaction of his friends ... by John Plasse.	Ford, Thomas, d. 1656.; Sandbrooke, William.; Plasse, John.	1657 (1657)	Wing F1513; ESTC R40949	26,591	84

Grace and Mercy to a Sinner in a Time of Afflictions OR The serious Meditations of M. Tho. Ford of Rochester During the time of his Imprisonment before his Execution Faithfully delivered from his own COPIE Together with his Funeral Sermon Preached by Mr Wil. Sandbrook P. M. Rochester Set forth for the strengthning of our Faith in Jesus Christ and to arm our selves against Satan Published for the satisfaction of his Friends and conviction of his Enemies By Iohn Plasse LONDON Printed by Ioseph Moxon for Francis Cossinett and sold at his shop in Tower street at the sign of the golden Anchor at Minsin lane end 1657. To the Reader Courteous Reader I Having the Original of this Coppy committed to my hands by the Author thereof it being a grand part of his serious meditations during the time of his imprisonment in Rochester was desired by many of the Inhabitants and others adjacent to transcribe the same that it might be committed to Presse thereby to come to the publique view The Peece it self is but small yet full of many precious Truths and altho penned by a Person statned with the guilt of the blood of his own Sister yet in it thou shalt find so much of Gods glorious Countenance shining out upon him after so long a time of Gods with-drawing which thou shalt find fully discovered in his last Speech annexed to this Treatise that thou maiest conclude with me doubtless he is now at rest in the arms of a faithful Redeemer Iudge charitably accept of it kindly and walk thank fully with God for a● his mercies These are the only desire of him that is Margarets Rochester Ian. 26. 1656. Thine John Plasse Several Notes and Observations collected by me Tho. Ford for the strengthning of my Faith in my Saviour the Lord Iesus Christ and fealing of the assurance of my everlasting salvation Dedicated to any tender eye that will pardon the mistakes and correct the Errors My entrance by Prayer MOst high and mighty Lord God that didst create Man after thine own image but he fell from thee and by his fall made himself despicable and most vile in thy eyes O Lord we are in his loyns and are corrupted in him so that our original corruptions are enough to sink us into Hell without any actual transgressions But ever blessed be thy Name thou didst not leave us in this condition but didst provide a Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ to randsom us from the thraldom of sin and death that whosoever beleeves in him should not perrish but have everlasting life Strengthen me O Lord the greatest of sinners that I may by sure evidences from thy good spiri● working in me a lively faith receive some crums of mercy from thy Table Take away O Lord the hardness of my heart the blindness of my understanding the deadness of my affections Create in me O God a new heart and renew a right spirit within me Make me to hear joy and gladness Rebuke the Tempter that hath been too strong for me and while I live here let me live to thy glory and before I depart hence receive that blessed and comfortable sentence from thee Thy sins are forgiven thee And this I begg of thee for the sake of Jesus Christ my alone Saviour and Redeemer Amen Of God He is glorious in his Essence and glorious in his Persons In his Essence of an eternal being by himself without beginning and without end Iehovah Elohim He is glorious in his Persons Father Son and Holy Spirit The Father is glorious in his great work of Election The Son is glorious in his great work of Redemption The Holy Ghost is glorious in his great work of Application The Father is glorious in choosing the House The Son is glorious in buying the House The Holy Ghost is glorious in dweling in the House To apply this to my self Is God so full of glory and Majesty with what an awfulness and dreadfull reverence of his Majesty should I come before him to beg pardon for my sins for my sins that have been so sinfull beyond measure the whole course of my life hath been nothing else but a continual act of sin and to all my sins have added Murder and that not of a stranger but of my own Sister Well Where shall I rest for Comfort In the Father He is full of Majesty and Glory I cannot But here must I rely upon Jesus Christ my Redeemer that by true repentance for my sins principally as they have been an offence against the Majesty and dishonour to his Name joyned by a lively Faith in Jesus Christ Here must I cast Anchor and upon this Rock must I be preserved from dispair of Gods mercies But how shall I come to Christ that I may find mercy 1. Come to him mourning and loathing thy self for thy long continuance in sin and refusing of him come with a broken and lamenting heart for all thy sins but especially for thy sleighting of Christ for the shedding of his blood the renting of his bowels and if thou canst not come as well as thou shouldst yet come as well as thou canst come to him and make thy moan of thy unbeleef and inability to come 2. Come with this assured confidence ●hat those that come unto him he will in to wise cast away and thou being come he will not cast thee away Let us draw neer with full assurance of Faith having ●ur hearts sprinkled from an evil Consci●nce and our bodies washed with pure water 3. Come gladly and willingly glorifying the grace of God but abasing thy ●elf Come with gladness that thou shalt ●e brought and enter into the Kings pre●nce receive not the grace of God as ● common thing but thankfully and with all thy heart for the end why the Lord gives Christ to a man is the glory ●f his Grace If the Lord attain his end he desires no more For why should ●e when he hath his end The only way and means to obtain pardon from God the Father by his ●on Jesus Christ is set down briefly by S. Iohn thus If we acknowledge our sins he is faithfull and just to forgive us our sins Make therefore a diligent search of ●hy heart by the Law of God arraign thy self in thine own thoughts before God Supposing this were the day o● reckoning rip up thy heart and lay open all thy known sins without lesning them without excusing them without hiding them without taking upon thee to defend them thus did David Psal 51 3. 4. thus did Ezra 9. 6. and then go on to give Iudgement to thy self I say Iudge thy self that thou be not Iudged Thus did Daniel in the 9. and the 7 Thus did the Prodigall Luke the 15 21. One thing is very observable in the Prodigals return to his Father and that on the Fathers part the Text saith His Father went and met him intimating unto us the goodness and infinit● mercy of God

in the Lord Jesus Christ to humble and penitent sinners that by hearty repentance come home unto him He is very ready and willing to meet them to imbrace them in the arms of his mercy to kill the fatted Calf to provide delicates heavenly delicates for his the bread of life the food of immortality ushered in with the most delightfull Musick for there is joy in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth That by the way When thou hast judged thy self then earnestly beg of God pardon for Christs sake and never leave him off untill he give this blessed answer to thy Conscience that thy sins are pardoned The unjust Judge by reason of the importunity of the Widdow granted her request how much more shall the just God grant the request of his that pray day and night unto him Thus did David Let thy good spirit lead me c. These things are necessary if we would be saved we must not be Cowards in a business of this nature if we intend to win the field but we must work our best endeavours and still hold out wrestling with God if we intend to win the Victory Some Captives amongst men are redeemed by price only some by power without price but such is the lamentable captivity of all men under sin and the severity of Gods Justice that without the price of Christs blood and the power of his spirit there is no deliverance from sin and misery the Lord Jesus Christ having paid the full and absolute price of our deliverance Ioh 8. 32. Yet it is with us as with a company of Captives in prison our sins like strong chains holds us Satan our Keeper will not let us go the Prison doors through unbeleef are shut upon us and thereby God and Christ are kept our from us what power now can rescue us that are held fast unto such a power even after the price is paid The spirit of God speaketh of a power in Christ Thou hast destroyed thy self but in me is thy help As Christ hath redeemed us so we must go unto him For strength and power that we may make application of this Redemption to our selves that by his spirit we may find the fruits of it on our own souls and here consists our comfort that as Christ was abased to purchase redemption for us so now he is exalted at the right hand of God the Father to apply this redemption unto us Four causes of mans misery joyned with four acts of Christs power Mans misery 1. The ignorance of his own misery 2. Security and unsenceableness of it 3. Carnal confidence in their own duties 4. Presumption or resting upon the mercy of God by a Faith of their own forgeing Christs Act 1. Conviction of sin 2. Compunction for sin 3. Humiliation or self-abasement 4. Faith These are the works of Christ on the soul There must be an actual deliverance in man wrought by the efficacy and power of the spirit of Christ as well as a purchased deliverance wrought by the blood of Christ therefore untill we can find the former wrought in us we can lay no claim to the latter until we can see sin in its own colours with the several aggrevations thereof and the wages of sin which is eternal death we cannot truly hate it and not truly hating it we cannot repent of it and not repenting of it we cannot with a true faith lay hold on the Lord Jesus Christ Shew me thy Faith without thy work saith S. Iames and I will shew thee my Faith by my works He that repents and beleeves shall be saved but he that beleeves not shall be damned Thus you see where our rest and rock of comfort for salvation is only in our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ You see the manner how we must come to Christ so that we may be accepted we must come loathing and abhorring our selves out of our selves into Christ come humbly come willingly to Christ as with all thy might and power as to the only spring fountain and head of comfort of wisdom of excellency come even as the Bride to the Bridegroom as the members to the Head as the branches to the Vine and let thy confidence when thou comest inwardly perswade thee that Those who come to him he will in no wise cast away for we have his promise for it Behold saith our Saviour I stand at the dore and knock c. Let every beleeving Soul then say with Thomas My Lord and my God Objection may arise Is God such a merciful God and is Iesus Christ so willing to imbrace us when we come unto him and seek to him by those we 〈◊〉 which he hath appointed us in his Word ●hen what is the reason that he hears ●t the Prayers of his People that they ●t up unto him to be delivered from sin ●om some particular sin which it may is more predominant than any other against hardness of heart It may be thou art not humbled e●ough in thy self thou dost not pray as ●ou oughtest to pray in Faith or if thou ●st God may for present not answer ●ee according to thy desire for the try●● of thy Faith and Patience to make ●ee the more earnest suitor unto him ●oahs Dove returns not presently with 〈◊〉 Olive branch of Peace in his mouth ●rayer sometimes that speeds well re●●rns not presently for want of compa●● enough to fetch away that abun●nce of mercy that God hath to give the Lord ever gives them that ask in ●aith their asking in mony or monies ●orth God is long many times before ● gives but pays them well for their ●aiting Approve thy self to God in all thy ●aies for he is an omniscient God no ●atter what he world saith of thee God is thy Spie taking notice of all actions and they are in print in Hea●● which that great spectator and Ju●● will open at the great day Fear the●●fore to sin in secret unless thou canst a dark hole to sin where God cannot thee Have a care of playing the Ath●● in practice although thou be not so thy profession to confesse there is God yet by thy works to deny hi● even if it were possible to unthrone ●●●sus Christ they that pluck the 〈◊〉 from his throne are as bad or as vile they that say there is no King But that we may the better understa●● how sin is remitted by Christ and him Consider that in him there 〈◊〉 three things that makes Sin exceed 〈◊〉 Sinfull 1 The Crime of Sin 2 The Guilt of Sin 3 The Stain and blot or pollution Sin The Crimes by which God is offen●ed The Guilt by which we are liable punishment The blot or stain which the 〈◊〉 ●ommitted leaveth in the offender These three are taken away by the ●erits of Christ 1 The Crime is taken away by his Obedience 2 The Guilt is removed by his suffer●ngs 3 The blot stain and coruption is

hard and ●tony heart and give you a heart of ●lesh pray continually pray without ●easing and pray in Faith with a confidence that God hears your Prayers and will in his good time answer them not for thy sake but for his sons sake 4. Attend upon the means of Grace in the ministry of the word which is the only way and means God hath appointed for begetting of Faith in us and search the Scriptures the Word of God they ●are they that testifie of me saith our Saviour and as you love your souls take care of disrespecting or sleighting the Word of God and laying it aside as a thing not worth the looking into fo●● sleighting of it you sleight God himself you are the greatest enemies to you● selves in the world in being ignorant o● the word of God you are utterly disarmed against the temptations of Sata● when he assaults you When we go to war against a potent Prince or person we will not go without our arms bu● in a posture of defence I beseech you let us consider the strength and power of our adversaries we have to deal withall the World the Flesh and the Devil three potent enemies therefore labour to be well armed out of the Magazine the word the Word of God which is for doctrine reproof instruction c. and then to your armor that you may be compleat in the principal bag the sword of the spirit of God we know a souldier is no body without his sword no more are we spiritual souldiers without the sword of the spirit for a man may read and hear all his lifetme yet if the spirit of God go not along with him in accompanying him in his reading and hearing it is all in vain unless the sword of Gods spirit cut asunder our corrupt hearts and affections so as to understand the mistery of the word of God as well as the history of it barely The use of this doctrine should be for exhortation to all sorts of men and women in the world to beware of sin and to shun it as the greatest evil in the world and more especially of those sins which draw away our hearts and affections and likewise to consider the dangerous consequences of sin and how dangerous a matter and thing it is to let loose our hearts and affections to Satan Then it may serve for to admire the wonderfull and unspeakable love of our heavenly Father in Christ that he will accept of us upon our unfained return unto him by repentance that our pardon is already sued forth if that we can by faith lay hold on it and esteem of the favour in some measure according to the worth of it It lets us see the miserable condition of them that claim no interest at all in this pardon Of the comfort of those that can experimentally conclude and by the spirit of God witnessing with their spirits say This pardon is sealed unto me I shall have the benefit of it tho notwithstanding my sins reach up unto heaven and cry mightily for vengeance against me yet my whole alliance and sole comfort and confidence is in the merrits of Jesus Christ applyed by faith I shall find mercy for he that confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall find mercy but he that hideth them shall not prosper I am one of them that confesse my sins and earnestly desire of God that he would break my stony and hard heart for them and do without hypocrisie if my heart deceive me not unfainedly resolve to forsake my sins therefore I though the worst and greatest of sinners shall accordingly find mercy Tho. Ford Collossians the 2. and the 6 verse The words are these As ye have therefore received Christ Iesus the Lord so walk ye in him THe blessed Apostle Paul after Christ had awaked him from his sleep of security and unscaled the eys of his understanding which were before darkened with that mistiness which the Devil like a Jugler cast before him did immediately after the Holy Ghost had enlightned him preach Christ and so like a principall work-man in Christs Church and as a chosen vessell to bear the name of Christ amongst the Gentiles did with all vehemency and ardency of spirit and affection endeavour to build up a spiritual Church to Jesus Christ and in this Epistle to the Colossians amongst the rest of his Epistles he dischargeth his trust as a faithfull Ambassador of Jesus Christ The whole chapter is as it were a glasse wherein we may see the fruit of Pauls M●nistery the words being a perswasive part moved from a good priniple For the better explanation of them consider in them First the guift received Secondly the congratulation thereof 1. The gift received Jesus Christ 2. The congratulation of the Gift walk in him The words contain a serious exhortatation and the reason thereof The exhortation Walk in Jesus Christ The ground and reason thereof For you have received him As if the Apostle Paul should have said you had Jesus Christ preached amongst you by me and others of my brethren you are not ignorant of that eternal weight of glory which Jesus Christ hath purchased for you therefore walk not according to the rudiments of this world but walk according to the rules of Jesus Christ for this is all that Jesus Christ requireth of you that you would manifest your love unto him in walking obediently before him If you love me keep my commandments so that the words are in themselves a Proposition and do speak plainly thus much unto us That the incomparable love of the Lord Jesus Christ declared unto us in the word and laid open more abundantly in the Ministery of the Gospel should be a strong perswasion unto us to walk according to the rules of the Gospel Or thus That Christs exceeding love unto us in redeeming us from death and hell should be a strong ty upon us to love Jesus Christ Every one that hears me cannot deny but must needs confess and acknowledge that the point is very reasonable and I may say very seasonable in these apostatizing dayes of ours that Love deserves Love Our Saviour speaks of a deserved love as a thing not to be looked on not worth any reward For if ye love them that love you what thanks have ye saith our Saviour Do not even the Publicans the same denoting unto us that true love is of such an extensive nature that it sheweth it self even to our enemies this is perfect and true love Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect Now the greatness of Jesus Christs love is shewn in that he loved us when we were enemies unto him strangers and aliens from the common wealth of Israel And how did Christ love us was his love an ordinary love That Christ the Son of God co-equal with his Father should become man even the meanest of men although by Ioseph he was next heir

speakes Paul an Apostle of Iesus Christ by the will of God c. and as Christ doth set some apart for this service so he furnisheth them with gifts suteable to the service as for example Zacharias is apointed to prophesy the business is a weighty business therefore he is filled with the Holy Ghost that he may be able to performe that great work God imploys Moses upon a service of great concernment I will send thee to Pharoah saith God I my Lord saith Moses I am not eloquent the Lord presently upon Moses seeing his own insufficiency I will be with thy mouth Isaiah being in a vision in the presecne of God and seeing the nature of the service unto which he was called cryethout woe is mee for I am undon after his one of the Seraphins touched his mouth with a Coal from the Alter which gave the prophet a full supply of grace the same we see in Ieremiah God ●alling him he began to complain of his ●nsufficiency O Lord behold I am a ●hild and cannot speak well the Lord ●ook away his fear in bestowing a com●etency of gifts upon him I have put ●●y words in thy mouth Christ set apart ●is Disciples for that office and gave the Holy Ghost unto them promi●ng to make them Fishers of men So that you plainly see it hath bin Gods way thorough the whole course of the Scripture to furnish them which he did ●mploy with gifts sutable for the service ●ake care therefore I pray you of sleight●ng the Ministers of God or of the Am●assadge which they bring for in con●emning them you contemn and dispise God himself for what contempt you ●hew to an Ambassador which represents the Kings person you shew to the King himself This is a Sin which our Land stands guilty of in a hight nature we are grown to such a heig●t of pride and insolency amongst us that Gods word and his Ministers are had in least estimation A faithfull Minister of God is no more countenanced then a thing of nothing which plainly appeares from our detaining from them their right and just due even that which the law of God hath alotted and set apart for them we have every Tradesman now even meanest of the people take upon them the high and great work of the Ministery fomenting and prateing out their nonsence to the great dishonnor of his word and ministery No wise man will send a fool of an errand who will set a fresh Souldier over an army or intrust a dumb man with an Ambassadge it were an odious imputation to the wisest God to think him lesse carefull in the business and discipline of his Church then men are in their temporal affairs yet these intruders these busie-bodies in Gods business go on with such boldness and impudency and the rather because they are cherished and maintained as not thinking that God will ever call them to an accompt or tax them with that heavy sentence Ieremiah 2. 21. I have not sent them yet they ran Or with Friend how camest thou hither The Lord awaken such sleepy-headed intruders that they may know what it is to meddle with the great things of the Law of God Thirdly Christ is pleased to make known himself unto us by the graces of his spirit which he workes in us the spirit of God witnessing with our spirit ●hat we are the sons of God the spirit of God is the key which opens the Ca●enet of the Scriptures and present it unto us as the Mistery of Godliness men by nature are stone blind in the ●hings of God therefore untill they be ●egenerated and new born by the spirit of God in the inward Man it is impossible they should discern the things of God that which is born of the flesh ●s flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit Man by nature of himself ●ath nothing in him but corruption I was born in iniquit● saith David and sin was I conceived we are all unpro●table servants all the Children of di●●bedience and the sons of wrath all 〈◊〉 imaginations of mans heart are 〈◊〉 evill and that continually Now eve●● regenerate man is by virtue of his ne● birth a spirituall man and the new bir●● is the gracious working of the spir●● therefore such are called spiritual me● the whole scociety of the regenerate a spiritual house the regenerate man said to be born after the spirit and to 〈◊〉 after the spirit of God being the apli●● of those precious Promises written 〈◊〉 the Word of God unto the Soul Take care I beseech you of que●ching the spirit of God or stifleing 〈◊〉 motions of his good spirit within yo● Thus you see the manner how Chri●● communicates himself unto us 1 By his Word 2 By his Ministers 3 By his Spirit Let us now proceed to the last clau●● of the doctrine and let it serve for exhortation in the fear of God to exho●● and perswade us to walk according t● the rules of the Gospel to have a more close communion with Iesus Christ then ever we had doe not reject so great salvation Hath Jesus Christ purchased heaven for Believers doth he continually knock at the door of our hearts for entrance and shall we not let him in Shall we still persist and go on in sin in our drunkenness prophaness contempt of Gods word of his Ministers certainly if we do if we will take no warning but go on in the waies of the wicked we shall receive the reward of the wicked every man shall be judged according to his works he that soweth righteousness shall receive a sure reward we must use diligence and care in the way to heaven Who more laborious than the Husbandman that doth desire to reap the fruit of his sowing Who ought to be more diligent than a Christian who intends to reap the hoped for fruit of eternal happiness we must not be loyterers in the way to Heaven ways are for travellers and not for gazers therefore go on and see to your steps let the word of God be your conducter and leader estrange not your selves from the word let it precious unto you And the good spirit of God help your infirmities and assist you in your spiritual warfare that you may like good Souldiers under the banner of Jesus Christ fight the good fight of faith so that you may attain the end of your faith even the salvation of your souls Amen The last Speech of Thomas Ford being penned by himself and delivered to me Iohn Plass his own Brother by the Mother GEntlemen and Friends I am yet a living object of your pitty ere long my soul will be seperated from my body by an untimely yet a wel-deserved death Bloud must be recompenced with blood the Law of God commands it the law of Man in subordination to Gods Law hath brought me to the period of execution But that I may not minde