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	nature_n	son_n	13,355	5	6.0279	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A12187	A miracle of miracles or Christ in our nature Wherein is contained the vvonderfull conception, birth, and life of Christ, who in the fulnesse of time became man to satisfie divine iustice, and to make reconciliation betweene God and man. Preached to the honourable society of Grayes Inne, by that godly and faithfull minister of Iesus Christ, Richard Sibbes. D.D.	Sibbes, Richard, 1577-1635.	1638 (1638)	STC 22499; ESTC S117264	26,445	58

a Saviour according to both natures as God and as Man for he was to suffer and hee was to overcome and satisfie in suffering he was not onely to heare our prayers but to answer them Both natures had an ingredience into all the worke of mediation God dyed and God suffered and supported the manhood that it might uphold the burden of the wrath of God that it might not sinke under it And so in all his actions there was concurrence of divinity and humanity The meaner workes being done by the Manhood the greater workes by the Godhead so making one Emanuel God with us For God must bring us to heaven by a way sutable to his holinesse and therefore by way of satisfaction and that cannot be but by God equall with himselfe And that is the reason why the Apostle joynes together without Christ without God That is they that know not Christ God-man to reconcile God and man have nothing to doe with God For the pure nature of God what hath it to doe with the unpure nature of man without Emanuel without him that is God man to make satisfaction But now that Christ hath taken our nature it is become pure in him and beloved of God in him And God in him is become lovely because hee is in our nature yea in Christ God is become a father I goe to my father and your father his nature is sweet to us in Christ our nature is sweet to him in Christ God loveth not our nature but first in him in whom it is pure And then he loveth our nature in us because by the spirit of Christ hee will make our natures like to Christs and therefore wee may conceive of God as Emanuell God well pleased with us and we well pleased with him Out of Christ wee are angry with God and hee angry with us Wee could wish there were no God and choose rather to submit to the devill to bee led by his spirit to all prophanenesse and licentiousnesse Wee have a rising against God and his Image and what ever comes from God the proud unmortified heart of man swelleth against it But when the heart once believeth that Christ Emanuell God with us hath satisfied Gods justice now God is taken by the believing heart to bee a father reconciled in Iesus Christ. And we are taught to bee his sonnes And our nature is more and more purified and cleansed and made like the pure nature of Christ and so by little and little the termes betweene God and us are more sweet till we get to heaven where our nature shal be absolutely perfect and purged by the holy spirit So that he is Emanuell God with us to make God and us friends which is two waies First by satisfaction taking away the wrath of God And then secondly by the spirit for God sendeth his Spirit into our harts to fit us for frindship cōmunion with him when we have something of God in us From hence many things may bee spoken partly for instruction and comfort I will name a few First of all it is to be wondred at and wee cannot wonder enough though we were Angels and had natures larger then they are at the marvellous mercies and love of God that would stoope so low as that God in the second person should take our nature and become one with us It is marvellous love that he would be one with us by such a meanes as his owne sonne to make peace betweene him and us It is a marvellous condescending and stooping in the sonne to take our nature when there bee better creatures above us that hee would let passe all above us and take our nature that is dust into unity of his person that earth flesh and bloud should bee taken into one person with the Godhead it is wonderfull and marvellous He tooke not the nature of Angels so that wee bee above Angels by the incarnation of Christ. Because hee tooke not the Angels nature they are not the spouse of Christ but every believing Christian is the spouse of Christ he is marryed to Christ he is the head wee the members he is the husband wee the spouse and therefore wee may stand in admiration of the Love of God in taking our natures on him It requires hearts wounded by the spirit of God to thinke of and admire these things answerable to their natures The Angels when Christ was borne could not containe but breake out Glory to God on high on earth peace good will towards men because there was then peace peace betweene God and us and by consequence with all the creatures which doe but take part with God and revenge his quarrell These things be matters of admiration and we shall spend eternity in admiration thereof in another world though here our narrow hearts can hardly conceive it But what wee cannot believe by understanding as things above nature let us labour to understand them by believing desire God wee may believe them and then we shall understand them to our comfort Emanuel God with us If God bee with us in our nature then hee is with us in his love And if God be with us who shall be against us For this Emanuel hath taken our nature for ever hee hath taken it into heaven with him God and wee shall bee for ever in good termes because God in our nature is for ever in heaven as an Intercessour appearing for us There is no feare of a breach now for our brother is in heaven our Husband is in heaven to preserve an everlasting union and amitie betweene God and us Now wee may insult in an holy maner over all oppositions whatsoever For if God be with us in our nature and by consequence in favour who shall bee against us and therefore with the Apostle let us triumph Rom. 8. Let us make use of this Emanuel in all troubles whatsoever whether of the Church or of our owne persons In troubles of the Church the Church hath enemies hell and the world and Satans factors but wee have one Emanuel God with us and therefore wee need not feare you know whose ensigne it is whose Motto Deus nobiscum is better than Sancta Maria Sancta Maria will downe when Deus nobiscum shall stand I beseech you therefore let us comfort our selves in regard of the Church as the Prophet in the next chapt vers 7. comforts the Church in distresse He shall passe through Iudah he shall over-flow and go over he shall reach even to the necke and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the bredth of thy land O Emanuel It may seeme a kinde of complaint The enemy stretcheth out their wings over thy land O Emanuel which may teach us in the person of the Church to goe to Emanuel Remember the enemies of thy Church spread their wings over thy land and people O Emanuel thou seest the malice of the enemy

maine thing I desire you to observe is matter of comfort from this Emanuell That now hee having taken our nature upon him that he might take our persons into unity of his mysticall body wee might have comfort in all conditions For hee tooke our nature upon him beside his other ends that hee might take our persons to make up mysticall Christ hee married our nature to marry our persons And therefore if hee did it for this end that wee might bee neere him as our nature is neere him shall not wee make it a ground of comfort that our persons shall bee neere Christ as well as our natures As CHRIST hath two natures in one person so many persons make up one mysticall CHRIST so that our persons are wonderfully neere to Christ. The wife is not neerer the husband the members are not neerer the head the building is not neerer the foundation then Christ and his Church are And therefore comfort our selues in this Christ is Emanuell God with us in our nature And will hee suffer his Church to want that hee hath taken so neere to himselfe can the members want influence when the head hath it can the wife be poore when the husband is rich whatsoever Christ did to his owne body to his humane nature taken into the unity of his person that hee will doe in some proportion to his mysticall body I will shew you some particulars Hee sanctified his naturall body by the Holy Ghost and hee will sanctifie us by the same spirit For there is the same spirit in head and members He loveth his naturall body and so as never to lay it aside to eternity And loveth his mysticall body now in some sort more for hee gave his naturall body to death for his mysticall body And therefore as hee will never lay aside his naturall body hee will never lay aside his Church nor any member of his Church for with the same love that hee loved his naturall body hee loveth now his mysticall members As hee rose to glory in his naturall body and ascended to Heaven so hee will raise his mysticall body that it shall ascend as hee ascended I beseech you therefore consider what a ground of comfort this is God tooke our nature on him besides the grand end of satisfaction that hee might make us like himselfe in glory that hee might draw us neere to himselfe And therefore now Christ being in Heaven having commission and authority over all things put into his hand hee having a Name above all names in Heaven and earth that at the Name of Iesus every knee should bow that is every subjection should bee given will he suffer any member of his body to suffer more then hee thinkes fit No seeing hee is in Heaven and glory for his Churches good For all that he hath done and suffered is for the Church and the Churches use To conclude all Let us consider what wee are let not a Christian bee base minded let him not bee dastardly in any cause that is good or Gods Let him be on Gods side Who is on his side a Christian is an impregnable person hee is a person that can never bee conquered Emanuell became man to make the Church and every Christian to be one with him Christs nature is out of danger of all that is hurtfull The Sun shall not shine the wind shall not blow to the Churches hurt For the Churches head ruleth over all things and hath all things in subjection Angells in heaven men on earth Devills in hell all bow to Christ and shall any thing befall them that he loveth unlesse for their greater good Therefore though they may kill a Christian and imprison him yet hurt him they can not If God bee on our side who can bee against us but God is on our side and on what grounds God-man hath procured him to be our friend hee hath satisfied God and therfore if we beleeve we be one with Christ and so one with God Wee have many against us the Devils are against us the world is against us to take away the favour of God to hinder accesse to him in prayer to stoppe the Churches communion with God and hinder the sweet issue of all things that befall us as farre as they can but their malice is greater then their power If God should let them loose and give the chaine into their owne hand though they seeme to hurt yet hurt they cannot in the issue And shall not we make use of these things in times of distresse wherefore serve they but to comfort us in all conflicts with Satan and in all doubtings that arise from our sinfull hearts Answer all with this If God be with us who can bee against us If any bee against us name them if not be satisfied And therefore come life come death Christ is our surety he layeth up our dust keepeth our ashes in the grave and will Christ loose any member Feare not Iacob to goe into Egypt For I will bring thee backe againe So feare not to goe into the grave The spirit of God will watch over our dust and bring us to heaven Therefore feare nothing God will be with us in life and death yea for ever and we shall be for ever with the Lord as the Apostle saith in the Thessalonians And that issue of all that Emanuell hath done Christ was one in our nature that hee might bring God and us into favour that wee may be for ever with him in heaven that we may be for ever with the Lord which is the accomplishment of all the promises FINIS Imprimatur Tho. Wykes Octob. 26. 1638. The scope of the Text. Wicked men admire their owne devices Those that brag out of danger are most cowardly in danger Infinite mercy in God and stubbornnesse in man conflicting Meaning of the Text. Reason He that will doe the greater he will doe the lesser Object How this can confirme their faith for present Answ. Make use of the Grand promises to comfort us in petty crosses Divers Articles of faith Nothing more strange then a virgin to be a mother and God a man Christ conceived not by ordinary Propagation The Masse wherof Christ was made was sanctified by the holy Ghost Christ conceived upon Maries assent to the message by the holy Ghost Observ. Quest. Answ. Christ is conceived in our hearts when we rest upon him onely 1 Tim. 3. Christs conception birth and life like ours In every thing in Christ something extraordinary Christ conceived borne lived and dyed eswe To shew sorth Christ in all our actions Vnion with Christ the cause of all grace Ier. 2.3 Emanuel a name of nature and office Christ Emanuell in regard of our nature Without the blood of Christ noe remission Meaner workes acted by the manhood greater by the Godhead Ephes 5. God our father Christ Emanuell to make God and us friends By satisfaction By the Spirit fitting us for communion with God Gods love and mercy to man to be wondred at Man above Angels by Christs incarnation What we cannot believe by vnderstanding let us labour to understand by believing Our nature in heaven * Church No counsell against God shall stand Christ with us in poverty and bond Christ God in us and for us How to know Emanuel to bee ours Christs cause to be maintained Christ with us in his Word and Sacraments Communion with Christ is sweet Doctrine Grace refused is turned into wrath What God saith man cannot disanull Men of God of ould had recourse to the promises of the Messiah How to reason with our selves in a sanctified manner All promises founded in Christ. Is. 9 6. Christs conception and incarnation marvellous and rare Christ is with us here by faith Man out of weaknes wonders at poore things Isaacks birth a type of Christs Why Christ must be without sin No blemish or defect of purity in the conception of Christ. Faith to be grounded on Christ God man Christ our surety Christ without sinne His humane nature had alwaies subsistence in the divine In manner of propagation Christ became man for our sakes Christ by divers signes shewed himselfe before exhibited in the flesh First things considerable 2 Consideration 3 Considerations to defile our natures that God hath dignified 4 Consideration 5 Consideration Obiection answered Question Answer What is done to by Christ is done by God Reason Quest. 1. Reason 2. Reason 3. Reason Job 9 3.2 Use. Use. Improved Vse of improving our priviledges by Emanuell Use. In the behalfe of the Church Isa. 8.8 Gods Church shal 〈◊〉 the end of the world At Christ comeing the Iews Church wasted 1 Evidence of comfort in Christ. Question Answer Revel 22.20 2 Evidence of comfort 〈◊〉 of comfort As the humane 〈…〉 Psal. 2 9 10 Conclus to consider what w●e are The Devill and the world our enemies

signes from things to come as 37. Isaiah The next yeare thou shalt eate that which groweth of it selfe c. because where faith is it maketh things to come all one as if they were present And so wee should make this use of the Grand promises of Christ to comfort us against all petty matters and wants whatsoever And to reason with the holy Apostle God spared not his only begotten sonne but gave him to death He hath given Christ and will he not give all things needfull Hath he given the greater and will he stand with thee for the lesse This is a blessed kinde of reasoning And so to reason from other Grand things promised God shall raise my body out of the dust and the grave and cannot he raise my body out of sicknesse and my state out of trouble cannot hee raise the Church out of misery So saith Saint Paul 2 Cor. 1. God that raised Christ restored me againe that had received the sentence of death when we receive sentence of death in our persons looke to him that raised Christ from the dead and to the grand promises to come They before Christ comforted themselves in times of all distresse by the grand promise of Christ to come But now the Messias is come And which may much more strengthen our faith he hath suffered and given his body to death for us and therefore why doubt we of Gods good will in any petty matters whatsoever To come to the words more particularly Behold a Virgin shall conceive and beare a Sonne c. You have divers articles of our faith in these few words As Christs conception by the holy Ghost his being borne of the virgin Mary c. you have here the humane nature of Christ. A virgin shall conceive and bare a sonne And the divine nature of Christ his name shall bee called Emanuell which signifieth also his office God with us by nature and God with us by office to set God and us at one So you have diverse points of divinity couched in the words which I will onely open sutable to the occasion Behold This is the usuall Becon set up the usuall Harbinger to require our attendance in all matters concerning Christ. And it hath a threefold force here Behold as being a thing presented to the eye of faith He mounteth over all the interim betweene the promise and the accomplishment for faith knoweth no difference of times And then it is to raise attention behold it is a matter of great concernement And not onely attention but likewise admiration behold a strange and admirable thing For what stranger thing is there then that a virgin should conceive that a virgin should be a mother and that God should become man We had need of strong grace to apprehend these strange things And therefore God hath provided a grace suitable above reason and above nature and that is faith Reason mocketh at this The devill knoweth it and envyeth it The Angels know and wonder at it The soule it selfe without a grace sutable to the admirablenesse of the thing can never apprehend it And therefore well may it be said Behold a virgin shall conceive and beare a sonne Behold a virgin shall conceive and beare and why a virgin When God is to be borne it is fit for a virgin to bee the mother Christ was not to come by the ordinary way of propagation he was to come from Adam but not by Adam for he was to be sanctified by the holy Ghost Because he was indeed to be a Saviour and a Sacrifice and hee must be without spot or sinne himselfe that was to offer himselfe for the sinnes of others Therefore the foundation and ground of his nature must bee pure and cleane and that is the foundation of all the purity of his life and conversation and therefore a virgin This was typified in Aarous rod which budded though it had no root No Iuice could come from a dry sticke yet by an Almighty power the rod did bud And so Moses bush It burnt and did not consume And that God that caused those things caused a virgin to be a mother He enters into the wombe of a virgin without any defilement at all considering the holy Ghost from the Father and the Son did purge and purifie and sanctifie that masse whereof the blessed body of our Saviour was made The virgin afforded the matter but the wise Framer was the holy Ghost She was passive the holy Ghost was the Agent Now when did the virgin conceive when upon the Angels comming to her and telling her That she was greatly beloved and that shee should conceive she assented be it so as the Lord hath spoken When shee assented to the word presently Christ was conceived her faith and her wombe conceived together When her heart did conceive the truth of the promise and yeelded assent thereunto her womb conceived at the same time also From hence learne something for our selves It had beene to little purpose though a virgin conceived Christ unlesse Christ had beene conceived likewise in her heart And there is no benefit by virtue of this conception to others but to such as conceive Christ in their hearts also To which end our hearts must bee in some measure made virgin hearts pure hearts hearts fit to receive Christ. We must assent to promises of pardon and of life everlasting bee it as the Lord saith A Christian is a Christian and Christ liveth in his heart at the time of the assenting to the promise So that if you aske when doth Christ first live in a Christians heart I answer then when the heart yeeldeth a firme assent to the gracious promises made in Christ for the pardoning of sinnes and acceptation to the favour of God and title and interest to life everlasting For faith is the birth of the heart Christ was conceived in the wombe of an humble and believing virgin So that heart that will conceive Christ aright must bee a humble and believing heart humble to deny himselfe in all things And believing to goe out of it selfe to the promises of God in Christ. When God by his spirit hath brought our hearts to be humble and believing to goe out of themselves and believe in him rest upon him and his promises then Christ is conceived in our hearts Behold a virgin shall conceive and beare a sonne Here is the birth of Christ as well as the conception Christ must not onely be conceived in the wombe but also brought forth because God must be manifested in the flesh As Saint Paul saith Great is the mystery of Godlinesse God manifested in the flesh If hee had onely beene conceived and not brought forth he had not beene manifested hee was to doe all things that befitted a Mediatour And therefore hee went along with us in all the passages of our lives Hee was conceived as we are remayned in the wombe so