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	love_n	love_v	5,814	5	7.1381	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30698	The celestial race a discourse perswading to the practice of celerity, constancy, & sincerity in the ways of God : preached at the funeral of Mrs. Elizabeth Knack, daughter of Mr. Thomas Knack of Edgerton in Kent, who died January 2, Anno Dom. 1692 in the eleventh year of her age / by William Bush ...	Bush, William.	1692 (1692)	Wing B6232; ESTC R1534	21,943	74

Doom You may now for ought you know be hearing of your last Sermon and offer up now your last Prayer and have no other opportunity than this that you now enjoy to prepare and make ready for Eternity but be immediately summoned to appear at the Tribunal of God to render an Account to him of all your publick and secret Actions for all that you have ever thought ever spoke or done for all the Talents the Time the Mercies the Health the Strength the Opportunities and the Seasons and Days of Grace that you ever had for all the Evil that you might have avoided for all the Good that you might have done and did not and all this before that Judge who has beheld your ways from your Birth to the Grave Vid. Mr. Roger's Practical Discourse of Sickness and Recovery page 49. before that Judge who cannot be deceiv'd and who will not be imposed upon And is there not then a necessity of being speedy in your Course Do you apprehend so much as one minute to loyter in seeing you know not whether you may live so small a space of time longer And when this Life is ended our work is done for after this Life there will be no place for Pardon nor space for Repentance There is no work Eccl. 9.10 nor device nor knowledg nor wisdom in the grave whither we are all going Therefore must we be speedy in the ways of God because the time of our lives which is all the time we have is so short so uncertain and hasting away so fast from us The second Reason may be drawn from the great Work that we have to do in this little time How many Corruptions have we to subdue and Lusts to mortify and Temptations to resist What loads of Sin yet lye upon many of us unpardoned because unrepented of What subtil politick powerful Enemies have we to engage with such as the World the Flesh and the Devil The World is daily enticeing of us with its Pleasures Profits or Honours perswading us to place our Affections upon these fading Vanities and to accept of its favours which alas are but as the Salutes of an Enemy and yet how hard is it for the best of God's People to keep themselves from the Pollutions of it That it is so our own daily Experience teacheth us and yet this so enticing an Enemy we must keep our selves from the loving of for if any Man love the World i. e. with a predominant Love or the things that are in the world 1 John 2.15 the love of the Father is not in him A second Enemy is the Flesh which always murmurs at Subjection and is at continual variance with the Spirit Gal. 5.17 and there is great difficulty in overcoming so near a Foe This was it that made that great Apostle volens nolens become a Captive Rom. 7.19 Caesar being once ask'd What was the most difficult thing to overcome in this Life Answered Seipsum vincere to overcome himself and his untamed Affections The third is the Devil called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. Leigh's Crit. Sacra p. 235. from the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sitnah which is Adversarius an Adversary he is really the implacable Enemy of our Souls and joyns his Assistance to the World and Flesh that so by one means or other he might destroy us this is he that tempts so subtilly so frequently that we must and ought to be always prepared for him and unless we are furnished with the whole Armour of God Ephes 4. from 13. to 18. 't is impossible for us to withstand him so subtil and potent is he that the holiest Souls at some time or other have been overcome by him Now what great reason is there for us to use the greatest speed we can that have not only so little time and so much work to do in it but also such subtil and potent Enemies to contend with and to overcome Well might the Apostle say * Phil. 2.12 Non dicit Apostolus nude 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id est accuratè magnoque cum studio operamini Chrys Work not play or idle out your salvation with fear and trembling Well may the Church of God be called Ecclesia Militans seeing it has so many and so great Enemies continually to engage with A third and last may be drawn from Example Those that run an earthly Race tho but for a mean Reward what pains do they take how extremely do they strain themselves that they may run swiftly to obtain And shall we that run the Celestial Race and that for so great a Reward as Heaven is run slowly Shall they take greater pains and be more swift and speedy for a perishing Reward than we for an eternal one God forbid The Sun too may be an Example to us in this respect Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber Psalm 19.5 and rejoyceth as a strong man to run his race And not only is the Sun an Example to us but also our Lord himself who whilst he was in the World was never idle He wrought the works of him that sent him John ● 4 while it was day He left the bosome of his Father and came into the World and became Man and was like unto Man in all things Sin only excepted overcame Death and Hell fulfill'd the Law of God and satisfied his Justice for us appeased his Wrath against us and has purchased for his People by his Death Everlasting Life Thus was all his time vigorously employ'd in performing the work he came about well might the Church compare him for his swiftness to a Roe Cant. 2.9 or a young Hart. Thus have I prov'd That Celerity and Speed in the ways of God must of necessity be practised by those that would obtain Everlasting Life And that First because of the shortness of our Lives and their speedy passing away from us so soon are our days done that if we are not speedy they will be gone before our work be done Secondly Because of the great work we have to do in this little time which is so great that we have need of more rather than spare for Sin and Vanity any of that we have Thirdly Because of the Examples of Swiftness and Speediness that we have not only of Persons that run with the greatest speediness an earthly Race for the fading Vanities of the World and of the Sun but also of our Lord himself who was most speedy in working out our Redemption and ought to be imitated of all Christians For every Action of Christ ought to be instruction unto us Omnis Christi actio nostra debet esse instructio Gregor Joh. 14.6 he hath left us an Example let us therefore tread in his steps who is the way the truth and the life Now this Celerity this Speediness in the ways of God must be constantly and

shall have an Eternal Rest Do you object by way of Complaint I suffer so much by reason of many and great Afflictions and Troubles and by reason of God's taking away my Comforts my Children my Relations and Friends that I find my self greatly hindred in my way to Heaven and I fear that I shall not hold out long I doubt I shall not persevere to the end I shall endeavour to answer you fully and so close You must then believe this as a great truth That Afflictions must of necessity come upon those that run in this Heavenly Race nay 't is impossible to be freed from them all that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer Persecution for whom God loves 2 Tim. 3.12 he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives We are Bastards and not Sons if we are free from Affliction Those Beasts that are appointed for the Slaughter are let run in Fat Pastures but those that are not appointed for such an end are daily wrought and subject to the yoke The Stones that were for Solomon's Building 1 Kings 7.9 were squared and hewn before they were laid therein and so must every Christian be squared and hewn too by Affliction that is to be a lively Stone in this Spiritual Building Psal 118.22 of which Christ Jesus is the Head Corner-Stone The Lord spareth some for a time that he may punish them for ever and he chastens some for a time that he may spare them for ever Dives that was spared on earth was tormented in Hell and Lazarus that was afflicted on earth was received into Heaven Luk. 16.19 ad finem He that would reign with Christ in the Kingdom of Glory must suffer for him in the vale of Tears He that would obtain Christ must follow him and he that does follow him must do it with his Cross Christ suffered before he entred into Glory and so must Christians before they can be glorified Surely the Servant must not be above his Master If we suffer we shall reign We must not expect to drink of those Rivers of Pleasures that run through the Celestial Paradice unless we are willing to drink of the bitter Cup of Affliction Many are the Troubles of the Righteous one affliction seldom comes alone for God is not like the wasp that having stung once can sting no more but there is a plurality of Crosses with God he can sting agen and agen As one sorrowful messenger came to Job after another even so one affliction visiteth the Christian after another Those therefore that run in the race of Godliness must not think this strange neither must they think to be free from affliction Thus you see that of necessity afflictions must come upon the people of God upon those that run in this Heavenly race You say further that God takes away your Comforts your Children your Relations your Friends and this makes you fear you shall not hold on but rather draw back In answer to this consider Hath God dealt worse with you than with others of his Children that have been as precious in his sight as you and have done as much for his Glory Pray compare your case with Job's read that Chapter seriously at your leisure you 'l there find that God depriv'd him of all his outward Comforts and of his Children too and blessed be God he hath not dealt so severely with you you have yet a great many blessings and comforts that God is yet pleased to continue to you Job 1. and particularly as to Children God has not taken your All and can't you spare God one Lamb or two out of your Flock without repining Observe what Job says when depriv'd of all his outward Comforts The Lord gave Job 1.21 and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord He acknowledges him to be both good and just in all his ways and blesseth him for all whether giving or taking O do you learn Job's spirit But by this time you may readily ask what reasons can be given for God's thus suffering his Children to be afflicted I answer there are many reasons that may be given for this I shall give you a few of them 1. God suffers his Children to be afflicted that he might wean them from the love of this world which we are naturally prone to dote upon but especially in a prosperous state then we are apt and ready to be forgetful of God and of our selves too then the weeds are ready to overgrow the corn and the flesh ready to domineer over the spirit but by affliction we are brought to hate that which before we loved and to embrace that which before we loathed In time of prosperity we are apt to pride our selves in our worldly enjoyments in our Goods and Possessions and to have high and lofty thoughts of our selves as Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 4.30 Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the Kingdom by the might of my power and for the honour of my Majesty But when the Lord takes him to task making of him to live with the beasts of the field and to eat grass like oxen then he was brought to acknowledg one above him Dan. 4.37 to acknowledg that he was able to abase all those that walk in pride By dealing thus with us he brings us experimentally to know that the world and the things thereof are vanity and that they are at his disposal to give and take away at his pleasure Thus therefore does God suffer his Children to be afflicted that he might withdraw their affections from the fading vanities of the world 2ly To draw us to amendment of life Psal 119.67 Before I was afflicted says the Psalmist I went astray but now have I kept thy Word Affliction was the cause of his reformation when we sin and go on therein then God out of love strikes us with the rod of affliction to cause us to remember our sins and to repent of them The affliction of the Body many times proves wholesome Physick for the soul though it wounds the outward man it many times renews the inward man God can't endure to see the blemish of sin upon the faces of his Children but he presently washeth it off with the water of affliction 3ly God suffereth his Children to be afflicted that they might the more earnestly call upon him and the more speedily seek unto him 'T is hard to keep silence when in grievous pain Affliction makes us run to God for help and releasement Jon. 2. thus did Jonah when in the Whale Our requests are then commonly more earnest and fervent how earnest are they in their distress Jon. 1.14 We beseech thee Lord we beseech thee Thus therefore does God many times oppress us that we might cry unto him crying unto him he might hear us and hearing us might deliver us and delivering us he might be glorified of us 4. For the exercise of