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	seek_v	worship_v	5,864	5	9.5277	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93740	The great, useful and blessed duty of a contentment, willingness and desire to die set forth upon true and assured grounds, in several discourses on these following scriptures. By Richard Stafford, A servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Recommended as more proper and beneficial to be given at funerals than gloves or rings.	Stafford, Richard, 1663-1703.	1700 (1700)	Wing S5119A; ESTC R223444	53,707	69

that perish go on blindly a●… ignorantly for twenty forty or sixty years yea throug●out all their life long in this deceit of being Worshi●…pers of God and yet not doing his will of hearing 〈◊〉 word and not obeying it nor yet doing thereafter whe●… as the Blessedness is to them that hear the word of God a●… keep it Saith David by the Spirit if I regard iniqui●… in my heart the Lord will not hear me Now iniqui●… signifies the thing that is not equal But too many outwa●… Worshippers do not only regard iniquity in their hea●… but also practice it with their hand Nevertheless li●… the Adulterous Woman Who eateth and wipeth her mou●… and saith I have done no wickedness they will not cea●…nor desist to offer up their many and customary Pray●…s unto God as aforetime and as if they had never ●…one any such thing Such may be found amongst the ●umber of those of whom it is written Not every one ●…at saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the king●…m of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which 〈◊〉 in Heaven Many will say to me in that day Lord Lord ●ave we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out ●evils And then will I profess unto them I never knew 〈◊〉 depart from me ye that work iniquity All will not be ●…ved that go to Church or Meetings and then where shall ●…e ungodly and sinner appear for of four sorts of hearers 〈◊〉 the word there is but one that bringeth forth fruit ●…to everlasting life Herein also God is glorified when ●…ey bring forth fruit but he is not glorified when they 〈◊〉 not bring forth fruit or when instead of Bringing ●…rth grapes they bring forth wild grapes ●o ye think that the Papists do glorifie God by their Mass 〈◊〉 Idolatrous Worship or by their ignorant mumbling ●…er their Beads when it is the revealed will of God that ●eople should pray with the Spirit and with the under●…nding also 1 Cor 14. 15. That whole Chapter is a●…inst praying in an unknown Tongue God is a ●…irit and they that worship him must worship him in Spi●…t and in truth This is opposite unto and shuts out all ●…eir pompous outside Worship and carnal ordinances ●…ter the institutions and Commandments of Men. For ●…eir Worship stands in divers Washings and Bowings ●…d carnal ordinances imposed on them who would wil●…gly always remain in their corruption and errour ●…d never let Reformation come among them although ●… Blessed be God many have reformed from their ●…ays Again May it be thought that the Mahometans by going ●…nstantly to their mosque and by their making a great ●…y and howling in their Prayers unto the God of Hea●…n although they are never so earnest in Prayer as they ●…em to be in tone and voice and also by their Wa●…ings before Prayer as the manner of them is where●… common reason would shew them that the inward ●…urifying and cleansing of the heart of the Worshippers is more required by God and more pleasing and acceptable in his sight then the outward washing of the●… Bodies with water And so with all their other rites an● ceremonies customs and manners do they glorifie God ●… when all the mean while they know not nor believ●… on Jesus Christ by whom there is access unto the Fathe● he being the alone mediator between God and Man And so we may run over and conceive in our min●… as to all the Religions Superstitions and ways of Wo●ship used in the World together with that manifo●… Errour and Absurdity that is joyn'd therewith Do tho●… Worshippers glorifie God It would be hard to say so●… For the Father seeketh such to worship him as worship him 〈◊〉 Spirit and in Truth And seeing that so much Errour a●… Folly Ignorance and Vanity is crept in and intermin●led with the several Worships of the World especial●… among those of the Roman-Church and that vast mult●tude of others who do not at all name the name of Chr●… it may be thought as to them that in God's Sight and 〈◊〉 to his Acceptation He that Sacrificeth a Lamb is as if ●…●ut off a Dogs neck He that offereth an Oblation as if he ●…fer'd Swines blood He that burneth Incense as if he bless●… an Idol Which last is the highest degree of provoki●… God that can be So that such Worshippers do rath●… displease than please God they do rather dishonour th●… glorifie him They make God more angry and furth●… off then bring him near or reconcile him unto the W●…shippers But to come home and nearer to our selves even 〈◊〉 us who are called Protestants of the pure Reform'd Chur●… who come yet nearer to the Pattern shew'd to us in 〈◊〉 Gospel than they aforementioned Altho' our Worship 〈◊〉 in some measure Spiritual and True Yet here agai●… a right Faith and a wrong Conversation a good Na●… but evil Doings will not save any of us Nor yet is G●… glorified by the work done or only in the outward co●…ing to the Places of Worship for if People do therein dr●…near to God with their Lips but their Hearts are far fr●… him if they bring only their Bodies to the place but the●… in their Souls do mind other Objects besides the Invisib●… ●od then as the Body without the Spirit is dead so such may be ●ore truly called carca●e Worship than Spiritual Wor●…ip for it is the Worship of a dead Body only or of a ●arcase without the Spirit Acting or being concern'd there●… Saith God Now let them put away their Whoredom ●nd the Carcases of their Kings from me and I will dwell in ●he midst of them for ever Ezek. 43. 9 Lip labour in Pray●r or Worship is properly Whordom for it takes away ●he heart from God the right beloved and places it ●n another wrong beloved and so it is a carkase of Wor●hip for the reason aforeassigned Both which God requires ●o be put away before he will dwell in the midst of us Having abundantly and at large discoursed by what kind of Worship God is not glorified it will easily ●ppear by what Worship he is indeed glorified For if ●…e is not glorified by meer outside Worship as indeed he ●s not it follows that he is glorified by such Worship as is spiritual which denotes inward Worship for if it is performed by the Spirit it must be inward because the Spirit is within and true God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth For the Father seeketh such to worship him and consequently he is glorified thereby so that to Worship God in Spirit and in truth is a part of our glorifying God here on Earth Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the Salvation of God Pal 50. 23. Seeing that they who order their conversation aright will have the Salvation of God shewn unto them it follows hence also that

fit their Masters use So it is accordingly expected 〈◊〉 us that we work together with his Grace and Sp 〈…〉 which would work in us mightily if we do not rebel 〈◊〉 vex his Holy Spirit that we may become meet re 〈…〉 prepared fit and ripe for God the great proprietou 〈…〉 our Souls who gathereth them up to himself He b 〈…〉 the Father of Spirits and accordingly the faithful speak Into thine hand I commit my Spirit That they 〈◊〉 become also when our Bodies drop into the grave shock of Corn in its season That when it is slipt 〈◊〉 dislodged from the Body it may be such as himself spe 〈…〉 of Behold mine Elect in whom my Soul delighteth 〈◊〉 42. 1. Or which is to the same benefit or significat 〈…〉 for the Lord Jesus who is the Son of God to say 〈◊〉 ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for from the foundation of the World What comfortable w 〈…〉 are here We would unless we be such fools as not to k 〈…〉 the worth thereof give Thousands of Rams and ten T 〈…〉 sand Rivers of oyl yea all we have in the world for assurance thereof But though Rich people have the vantage as to this world they have none as to the w●… to come for the corruptible things of Gold and S●… We were not Redeemed by these but by the precious Blood of Lamb of God will not purchase Heaven nor yet pr 〈…〉 the favour of God Which is to be had by no 〈◊〉 way then that of Obedience and Holiness Obey my 〈◊〉 and live An Holy God loves an Holy Soul For th●… fore it was that God speaks this of Jesus Christ Behold Servant whom I uphold Mine elect in whom my Soul del 〈…〉 eth Because he than knew from the beginning 〈◊〉 his Son Jesus Christ would finish the work that God 〈◊〉 him to do as Christ makes the return thereof th●… had finished it Wherefore when he cometh into world he saith Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not a Body hast thou prepared me In burnt offerings and S●… fices for Sin thou hast had no pleasure than said I Lo 〈◊〉 In the volume of the Book it is written of me T●… will O God From which and many other places of ●…pture it may be truly Reasoned that God hath not much pleasure in outward acts of Worship nei●…r doth he so much insist upon and require them I 〈◊〉 not reprove thee for thy Sacrifices or thy burnt offerings have been continually before me as in the doing his will ●…is is the chief thing which God requires of Man Hath 〈◊〉 Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and Sacri 〈…〉 as in obeying the voice of the Lord Behold to obey is 〈…〉 r than Sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of Rams ●ow this is true Christianity to imitate Christ For as was the first Born amongst many Brethren so he ●…self saith I have given you an example that you should 〈◊〉 I have done Seeing therefore that Christ did all which 〈◊〉 his Father sent him about and finished his work 〈◊〉 did his will So we ought also severally as we his Creatures but more especially as we profess our ●…es to be the Servants of God For his Servants shall ●e him Do all which he sends us about on this Earth 〈◊〉 finish his Work and do his Will all the days of our 〈◊〉 For 't is not sufficient to be good or godly for a sea●… but the promise is To them who by patient continu 〈…〉 in well doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immorta 〈…〉 Eternal Life that towards the end of this present 〈◊〉 we may also make the like comfortable return unto 〈◊〉 I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do 〈◊〉 the other Blessed consequent may be also And now 〈◊〉 I to thee ●o him that shall hear or Read these lines the word ●exhortation saith Go thou and do likewise Be upon 〈◊〉 and finishing the work which God gave thee on 〈◊〉 Earth for to do and finish For if this should be ●…ected Wo unto us for the day goeth away for the shadows ●he Evening are stretched out Thou nor yet I know 〈◊〉 little sand there is the Glass of our life as yet to 〈◊〉 out A great deal of our life is past and the day Immortality is at hand The night is far spent let us ●efore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the ●our of light I say again Be upon the finishing part your work endeavour to have them polished and compleat The Church of Sardis was admonished Be wat●… ful and strengthen the things which remain that are re●… to dye for I have not found thy works perfect before G●… Now this finding fault doth instruct us on the other ha●… that we should have our works perfect before God which we do endeavour with all our Heart and with all our S●… and all our might God himself will perfect and add u● it untill it become acceptable in his sight Being confid●… of this very thing that whatever good work he hath begu●… any of you he will perform it untill the day of the Lord ●…s And again it is written Lord thou wilt ordain 〈◊〉 for us For thou also hast wrought all our works in us 〈◊〉 der which word peace the things that belong to our pe 〈…〉 are comprehended and included even future Salva 〈…〉 and Glory Who are kept by the power of God thr 〈…〉 faith unto Salvation ready to be revealed in the last ti●… Receiving the end of your faith even the Salvation of 〈◊〉 Souls I do hereby exhort the people of this my Gener 〈…〉 on and Country to be upon the finishing part of y●… work which God hath given you severally on the E 〈…〉 for to do For so an entrance shall be ministred unto abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord Saviour Jesus Christ Wherefore I will not be negligent to you always in Remembrance of these things though ye 〈◊〉 them and be established in the present truth Yea I think it 〈◊〉 as long as I am in this Tabernacle to stir you up by putting yo● Remembrance knowing that shortly I must put off this my ●…bernacle even as our Lord Jesus Christ who is the word of G●… hath shewed me Moreover I will endeavour for which sa●… reason I desire that this profitable Book of a content●… and willingness to dye may be Printed and Published 〈◊〉 you may be able after my decease to have these things always remembrance And seeing that it is but a very little while fore that I shall certainly depart of from the Stage of 〈◊〉 Earth I commend you to God and to the word of his gr●… which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritan●… mong all them which are Sanctified I commend you also the teaching of the Spirit Lord evermore give us this Br●… Lord evermore give us the teaching of thy

●s and is afar off in the Habitation of his Holiness yet we are to seek after and apprehend him by sai●… The Lord looked down from Heaven upon the Children of M●… to see if there were any that did understand and seek G 〈…〉 He doth Command and require it that we should obey Commandments and serve and please him all one as if did now see him with open face as we do our Gove●… ours Fathers and Masters after the Flesh That the se●… and fear of him that is invisible should be always biding upon our Spirits The desire of our Soul is to 〈◊〉 and to the Remembrance of thy name Have Faith in Go●… which same Faith should overcome the World in all 〈◊〉 Temptations Terrours and Allurements We shou 〈…〉 prefer God above the Creature in all things Althou●… God is out of sight his works are not yet he shou●… be always in our mind When we are in company a●… in the herd of our fellow Creatures We are than 〈◊〉 our shame be it spoken most apt to forget God 〈◊〉 Creator But even in the midst of them his Excelle● should make us afraid Yea an Holy reverential fear a●… dread of his invisible Majesty should overshadow us a●… remain always sensible upon our Souls And as it is R●… corded that At the going down of the Sun an horrour of a 〈◊〉 sleep fell upon Abraham Even so towards the going dow●… of the Sun of our life A great horrour and dread of the 〈…〉 visible God should be yet more upon us as we come near in time when we shall actually appear before hi● This is to bring down God and Christ from above th●… he may be nigh unto us For so he is when we have 〈◊〉 sence and fear of God always remaining upon our hear●… that it shall prevail against and overcome all Temptat●… ons arising either from Men or from the things of th●… World That as Joseph did withstand the Temptation of his wanton Mistress with this consideration How 〈◊〉 I do this great wickedness and sin against God So wh●… thou art Tempted to Gluttony or Drunkenness or 〈◊〉 the sin that doth most easily beset thee here Reason wi●… thine own Soul How can I do this wickedness and sin ●… gainst God And let this thought actually restrain th● from the Sin It signifies or avails but little to think aright unle●… we also do accordingly for Grace and Knowledge d●… increase the guilt and render yet more inexcusable if they are not effectual preservatives and remedies against sin For as it is sin in its Power and Reigning which doth hurt So likewise it must be Grace in its Power and Reigning which will do good and save us Wishes and Wouldings only towards good will never ●ring any one to Heaven unless they come forth into act accordingly Indeed we should be excellent Christia●s if we would so speak and act accordingly as we think ●esolve and purpose If we would continually from time ●o time turn our purposes into performances and our ●ood thoughts into sutable Actions If ye know these things ●appy are ye if ye do them which implyes on the other and that such are miserable who approve the things that ●…e excellent and do not follow after and practice them The finishing of the work which God gave us on this Earth for to do is by his grace and by our working to●ather with his grace to render our selves fit for Heaven ●nd to be meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the ●aints in light To be as good and Godlike as ever we ●…an to be alvvays a growing in Grace and Knowledge ●o be making further Proficiency and Attainments in ●…e Christian-Life to go forvvard and from Strength to ●trength tovvards Zion And vvhen any are rendred ●t for Heaven and meet to be partakers of the inheri●ance of the Saints in light there he is to keep and pre●erve himself so Keeping your selves in the love of God ●…ude 21. And also in a Readiness and in a state of Watching and Waiting against that God shall call ●r and summon ●e by Death Be ye therefore ready for 〈◊〉 a day and an hour that ye look not the Son of Man com●…h And so people should first endeavour to get them●elves in a preparation for Death and Judgment and ●…hen they have got in a preperation for Death and ●udgment then they are to keep and preserve themselves ●herein and to be ready and prepared for it yet more ●nd more But some may be apt to say Hovv shall vve be ready ●nd prepare our selves for Death and Judgment I ans●ver in general by a constant course of Righteousness and Holiness throughout the days of our Life vvhich Ri 〈…〉 teousness must not be in part only but a Righteo●… ness in all things It must be by answering unto 〈◊〉 complying with all the requirings of God in thy 〈◊〉 and conscience to do and obey according to all the thoughts of Good and duty which God at any time 〈◊〉 into thy heart and to abstain from all those moti●… to sins and from all appearance of evil which thou any time preceivest within thee This again must done universally conscientiously and constantly un●… you come up to that state of Holiness and Innocen●… whereof Paul witnesseth I know nothing by my 〈◊〉 yet I am not hereby justified I Press towards the mark of Prize of the High calling of God in Christ Jesus And where Read any where in Scripture of the higher attainm 〈…〉 t s in Christanity or the description of such as are deed the Saints and Servants of the Lord God there us examine and prove our selves whither they do deed belong to us Are our selves such as is there 〈…〉 scribed As we Read those many Precious Promises 〈◊〉 are scattered up and down in the Bible do they 〈◊〉 long unto us Have we an interest and share in the●… which we have according as we obey the several 〈…〉 cepts and keep the sayings which are contained the● in Order my steps in thy word that no iniquity m● have dominion over me When we once find our wh●… Life and Conversation ordered according to the wo●… of God's Lips than we have finished the work whi●… he gave us on this Earth to do God knows all things and when he sees that the 〈…〉 veral reasonable Creatures inhabiting on this Earth ha 〈…〉 finished the Work which he gave them to do thereo● than he takes them off again from the Earth That 〈◊〉 according to his own Divine method Such as are 〈◊〉 Death to Death and such as are for Captivity to Captivity and such as area for the Sword to the Sword Jer. 43. 1● Which is not only true as to what kind of Death ea●… one shall glorify God by but also as to the succeedin● and after state such as God knows and sees to 〈◊〉 meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints i● 〈…〉 ht As from that hour that Disciple