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	teach_v	5,964	5	6.2816	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A08833	The benefite of Christs death, or the glorious riches of Gods free grace which euery true beleeuer receiues by Iesus Christ, and him crucified. First compiled and printed in the Italian tongue: and afterwards translated and printed in the French tongue: and out of French into English, by A.G.; 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.	1633 (1633)	STC 19117; ESTC S107303	48,174	106

me To answer to these doubts of thine I say my right deare brother that thou must assure thy selfe that all these are but temptations of the diuell who by all meanes seeketh to rob vs of that faith and confidence that springeth of faith and assureth vs of Gods good will towards vs. He laboureth to strip our soules out of this precious garment for he knoweth that none is a true Christian except he beleeue Gods Word which promiseth forgiuenesse of all sinnes and peace to all them which accept the grace of the Gospel Verily 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 heauenly Kingdome at his hand is not faithfull in deed and maketh himselfe vtterly vnworthy of Gods Grace In respect whereof S. Paul saith that we be the Temple of God so far forth as we firmely maintaine the confidence and glory of our hope vnto the end And in another place he exhorteth that we should not giue ouer our trust which hath great reward of recompence And therefore my brethren let vs giue our whole endeauour to do the Will of God as it becommeth good children and beware that we sin not as neere as we can And although we fall oftentimes into sin through our owne frailty yet let vs not by and by surmize that we bee vessels of wrath or that we be vtterly forsaken of the holy Ghost for we haue our Aduocate Iesus Christ before Gud the Father and he is the atonement-maker for our sinnes Let vs bethinke vs of the opinion of S. Austin 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 farreforth as he retaines his holinesse with affection And therefore if we haue afflictions and tribulations let vs not thinke that God sends them because he is our enemy but because he is our most louing Father The Lord saith Salomon chastiseth him whom he loueth and scourgeth euery child of his whom he receiueth Wherefore if we haue receiued the Grace of the Gospell whereby man is receiued of God for his Child we must not doubt of Gods grace and good will towards vs. And when wee perceiue our selues to delight in Gods Word and to haue a desire to follow the life of Iesus Christ we must stedfastly beleeue that we be 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 authority which sealeth vp Gods promises in our hearts the certainety whereof is printed aforehand in our minds and is giuen vs as a pledge to stablish and confirme the same As soone as you beleeue saith the Apostle S. Paul ye be sealed by the holy Spirit of promise who is the earnest peny of our inheritance Behold how he sheweth vs hereby that the hearts of the faithfull are marked with the holy Ghost as it were with a seale in respect whereof he calleth the holy Ghost The Spirit of promise forsomuch as he confirmeth the promise 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 such as beleeue that all their misdoings are blotted out in Iesus Christ All we that beleeue in Iesus Christ saith Saint Paul are become the children of God and because we be his children he hath sent the Spirit of his Sonne into our heart which cryeth Father Father And to the Romanes Those saith hee that are guided by the Spirit of God are the children of God for yee haue not receiued againe the spirit of bondage in feare but the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Father Father For certainely the same Spirit beareth our spirit record that we be the children of God Now then if we be children we be also heires And we must marke well that in these two places the Apostle S. Paul speaketh plainely not of any speciall reuelation but of a certaine record which the holy Ghost doth commonly yeeld to all such as receiue the grace of the Gospell Then if the holy Ghost assure vs that we be Gods children and heires why should we doubt of our predestination The same man saith in the same Epistle Whom he hath predestinated them hath he 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 we then say to all these things If God be on our side who can be against vs And therefore if I plainely perceiue that God hath called me by giuing me faith and the fruits of faith that is to wit Peace of conscience mortification of the flesh and quickning of the spirit whether it be in whole or in part why should I doubt that I am not predestinated And moreouer we say with S. Paul that all true Christians that is to wit all such as beleeue the Gospell receiue not the spirit of this world but the Spirit that commeth from God by the inspiration whereof they discerne the things that God hath giuen them What maruell then is it if wee know that God hath certainly giuen vs euerlasting life But there are some which say that no man ought to presume so farre as to boast himselfe to haue the Spirit of God They speake in such wise as if the Christian should glory of the hauing of it for his owne deserts and not by the onely and meere mercy of God and as though it were a presumptuousnesse to professe himselfe a Christian or as though a man could bee a Christian without the hauing of Christs Spirit or as though we could without flat hypocrisie say that Iesus Christ is our Lord or call God our Father if the holy Ghost mooued not our hearts and tongues to vtter so sweet words And yet notwithstanding euen they that count vs presumptuous for saying that God hath giuen vs his holy Spirit with faith forbid vs not to say euery day Our Father but rather command vs. But I would haue them to tell mee how it is possible to separate faith and the holy Ghost asunder seeing that faith is the peculiar worke of the holy Ghost If it be presumption to beleeue that the holy Ghost is in vs why doth Saint Paul bid the Corinthians try themselues whether they haue faith or no affirming them to bee reprobates if they know not that Iesus Christ is in them But in very deed it is a great blindnesse to accuse the Christians of presumptuousnesse for taking vpon them to glory of the presence of the holy Ghost without which glorying there cannot bee any Christianity at all But Iesus Christ

And therefore after that S. Paul hath said that as touching the righteousnesse of the law he had liued vnblameable he addeth And yet whatsoeuer I haue gained by it I haue accounted it in all respects to bee but losse for the loue of Christ And specially I esteeme all things to be losse for the excellent knowledge of Iesus Christ my Lord for whom I haue counted all things to be losse and deeme them but as dung so I may win Christ and be found in him not hauing mine owne righteousnesse which is of the law but the righteousnes which is by the faith of Iesus Christ which righteousnesse is giuen of God I meane the righteousnesse of faith that I may come to the knowledge of Iesus Christ O most notable words which all Christians ought to haue ingrauen in their hearts praying God to make them to taste it perfectly Loe how S. Paul sheweth plainely that whosoeuer knoweth Christ aright esteemeth all the works of the law to be hurtfull forsomuch as they make vs to swarue from our trust in Iesus Christ to whom euery man ought to impute his saluation and to trust only vnto him alone And to inforce this sentence the more he addeth further that he esteemeth all things but as dung so hee may gaine Christ and be found incorporated in him declaring thereby that whosoeuer trusteth in his owne works and pretendeth to iustifie himselfe by them getteth not Iesus Christ neither is ingrafted into him And forasmuch as the whole mystery of our faith consisteth in the truth hereof to the end we might the better vnderstand what he meant to say he addeth and repeateth oftentimes that he had nothing to doe with all the outward iustification and all the righteousnesse that is grounded vpon the keeping of the law but that he would clothe himselfe with the righteousnesse which God giueth by faith to all them that beleeue that all our sins are fully chastised and punished in Iesus Christ and that Iesus Christ as S. Paul saith is made our wisedome righteousnesse holinesse and redemption to the end as it is written that he which will glory should glory in the Lord and not in his own works Very true it is that in the holy Scriptures there are some texts to be found which being misunderstood seeme to gainesay this holy doctrine of S. Pauls and to attribute iustification and remission of sinnes vnto workes and to charity But those authorities haue already beene well expounded by some who haue shewed plainely that such as haue vnderstood them in the sense aforesaid vnderstood them not aright Wherefore my deare-beloued brethren let vs not follow the fond opinion of the bewitched Galatians but rather let vs follow the truth which St. Paul teacheth vs and let vs giue the whole glory of our iustification vnto Gods mercy and to the merits of his Sonne who by his owne bloodshed hath set vs free from the Soueraignty of the Law and from the tyranny of sinne and death and hath brought vs into the Kingdom of God to giue vs life and endlesse felicity I say yet further that he hath deliuered vs from the dominion of the law insomuch as he hath giuen vs his holy Spirit who teacheth vs all truth and that he hath satisfied the Law to the full and giuen the same satisfaction vnto all his members that is to wit to all true Christians so as they may safely appeare at Gods Throne because they be cloathed with the righteousnesse of his Christ and by him deliuered from the curse of the Law Then can not the law any more accuse vs or condemne vs nor mooue our affections or appetites nor increase sinne in vs. And therefore S. Paul saith that the obligation which was against vs is cancelled by Iesus Christ and discharged vpon the tree of the Crosse insomuch as he hath set vs free from the subiection of the Law and consequently from the tyranny of sinne and death which can no more hold vs oppressed because it is ouercome by Iesus Christ in his resurrection and so consequently by vs which are his members in such manner that wee may say with Saint Paul and with the Prophet Osee Death is quite vanquished and destroyed O death where is thy sting O Hell where is thy victory The sting of Death is sinne and the strength of sinne is the Law But God be praised who hath granted vs victory by our Lord Iesus Christ Hee is the blessed Seede that hath crushed the head of the venemous Serpent that is to wit of the diuell insomuch that all those which beleeue in Iesus Christ reposing their whole trust in his grace doe ouercome sinne death the Diuell and hell as Christ hath done He is that blessed Seede of Abraham in the which God hath promised blessednesse to all Nations It behooued euery particular person to fight with the said horrible Serpent and to deliuer himselfe from that curse But that enterprize was so great that all the force of the whole World knit together was not able to goe thorow with it Wherefore our God the Father of mercy being mooued with compassion of our miseries hath giuen vs his onely begotten Sonne who hath deliuered vs from the venime of the Serpent and is himselfe become our Blessednesse and Righteousnesse conditionally that we accept the same renouncing all our owne outward iustifications Then my deare brethren let vs imbrace the righteousnesse of our Lord Iesus Christ and let vs make it ours by meanes of faith let vs assure our selues that we bee righteous not for our owne workes but through the merits of Iesus Christ and let vs liue merrily and assured that the righteousnesse of Iesus Christ hath vtterly done away all our vnrighteousnesse and made vs good righteous and holy before God who beholding vs ingrafted into his Sonne by faith esteemeth vs not now any more as the children of Adam but as his owne children and hath made vs heires of all his riches with his owne begotten Sonne CHAP. IIII. Of the effects of liuely faith and of the vnion of mans Soule with Iesus Christ THis holy faith worketh after such a sort in vs that he which beleeueth that Iesus Christ hath taken all his sinnes vpon him becommeth like vnto Christ and ouercommeth sinne the diuell death and hell And the reason thereof is this namely that the Church that is to wit euery faithfull soule is Christs wife and Christ is her husband For we know how the law of marriage is that of two they become one selfe-same thing being two in one flesh and that the goods substance of either of them become common to them both by means wherof the husband saith that the dowry of the wife is his and likewise the wife saith that her husbands house and all his riches are hers and of a truth so they are for otherwise they should not be one flesh as the Scripture saith After the same manner hath God married

who cannot lye saith that his Spirit is vnknowne to the world and that they onely doe know him within whom hee dwelleth Then let them begin to become good Christians and put away their Iewish minds and 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 may say to mee That the Christian 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 hee may specially alleadge these words of Salomon A man knoweth not whether he be worthy of hatred or of loue and also these words of the Apostle S. Paul to the Corinthians I feele not my selfe guilty of any thing and yet feele I not my selfe iustified for all that It seemeth to bee sufficiently declared by the texts of holy Scripture that the said opinion is false and now remaineth onely to be shewed briefely that these two texts whereupon the same opinion is chiefely grounded ought not to bee taken in that sense As touching Salomons sentence although it bee scarse well and faithfully translated in the common translation yet is there not any man so dull who in reading Salomons whole discourse may not plainely perceiue that by saying so hee meant 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 hee laboureth in vaine considering that the selfe-same chances which light vpon the righteous light also vpon the vnrighteous vpon him that sacrificeth as well as vpon him that sacrificeth not and as soone vpon the good man as vpon the sinner Whereof it may bee gathered that God doth not alwayes shew his loue towards those whom hee indueth with outward prosperities and contrariwise that hee sheweth not his displeasure towards those whom hee punisheth Then my right deare brethren in Christ Iesus our Lord doe you thinke it reason to conclude that a man cannot be sure of Gods fauour because the same surenesse cannot bee perceiued by the sundry chances that happen euery day in these transitory and temporall things A little afore Salomon saith That a man cannot discerne any difference betweene the soule of man and the life of a beast for it is seene that both man and beast dye after one manner Shall we then conclude by this outward accident that the perswasion which wee haue conceiued of the immortalitie of the soule is grounded but onely vpon coniecture No surely and it were a great folly to stand vpon a thing so notably knowne And as for S. Pauls words I say that forasmuch as hee was speaking of the administration of the Gospell hee meant that his heart mis-giues him not of any mis-dealing therein and yet for all that that hee is not sure hee hath done his whole duty to the full and therein obtained the praise of righteousnesse to Godward as if hee had done all that pertained and was conuenient to be done by a faithfull Steward and therefore in speaking of his office like a iust and discreet person hee durst not iustifie himselfe nor auow that hee had discharged his duty to the vttermost and satisfied his Lords will but referred all things to the only iudgement of his Lord. And verily whosoeuer readeth these words of the Apostle Saint Paul and considereth the words going afore them with some iudgement and likewise the words that follow will not doubt but this is the true sense of them I know well that some men in expounding these words of the Apostle S. Paul say that although he knew himselfe to bee without sinne yet he 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 perceiue not that S. Paul groundeth not righteousnesse vpon workes but vpon faith and that he vtterly refuseth his owne righteousnesse to imbrace onely the righteousnesse which God hath giuen vs through our Lord Iesus Christ Also they consider not that he was most certaine to be accepted for righteous in maintaining the soundnesse and purenesse of the Christian faith and that he knew well how the Crowne of that righteousnesse was laid vp for him in Heauen and also that he 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 because he knew for a truth that after his death he should be with Iesus Christ All which things should be false if he had not beene well assured that he was righteous I meane by faith and not by workes Therefore my deare beloued brethren let vs cease to speake that thing of the Apostle S. Paul which he neuer once thought of himselfe but fiercely fought against it continually in answering such as measured righteousnesse by workes and not by faith in our Lord Iesus Christ But besides these two authorities of Salomon and S. Paul a man might alledge some other places of holy Scripture which whereas they warne and encourage men to feare God seeme to be contrary 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 the feare of punishment was proper to the Old Testament and childly loue to the New Testament according as S. Paul witnesseth when he saith to the Romanes Ye haue not receiued the spirit of bondage to feare but yee haue receiued the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Father Father And likewise vnto Timothy he saith that God hath not giuen vs the spirit of fearefulnesse but rather of power and loue which spirit Iesus Christ hath giuen vs according to the promise made by the mouth of the holy Prophets and brought to passe that we being deliuered out of our enemies hands may serue him without feare before his holy presence in all holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our life By these and many other places of the holy Scripture a man may plainely gather that the painefull and slauish fearefulnesse agreeth not with a Christian and this is already confirmed by this that such manner of fearefulnesse is vtterly contrary to the spirituall cheerefulnesse and ioy which is peculiar to the Christian as the Apostle S. 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 afterward addeth peace of conscience which consequently breedeth such a spirituall and holy rest and gladnesse in respect whereof the same S. Paul doth oftentimes incourage the Christians to liue merrily And S. Peter saith that all they which beleeue in