Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A62907
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The faith of the saints as to a future house and happiness in the other world set forth in a sermon preached at the funeral of that worthy servant of Christ, Mr. Walter Marshal / by S. Tomlyns.
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Tomlyns, Samuel, 1632 or 3-1700.
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1680
(1680)
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Wing T1859; ESTC R23761
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22,228
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33
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The FAITH of the SAINTS As to a Future HOUSE and HAPPINESS in the other WORLD Set forth in A SERMON Preached at the FUNERAL of that Worthy Servant of CHRIST Mr. WALTER MARSHAL By S. TOMLYNS M.A. LONDON Printed by John Richardson for Thomas Parkhurst at the Bible and three Crowns in Cheapside near Mercers Chappel 1680. To the Honourable the Lady Anne Constantine and to the truly Religious Mrs. Mary Fiennes the Author wisheth increase of Grace and the enjoyment of Glory through Jesus Christ Madam Mistress IT hath pleased the Lord to afflict and exercise you both with Bodily Distempers and every Fit of a Disease every Paroxism of Pain is a blow that contributes to the Felling of the Tree these Van-curriers of Death do undermine the Vigor and strength of Nature and help forward the Ruin of a frail Tabernacle As there are Flowers that blow and wither in the Spring as well as others that flourish and fade in the Summer and Autumn so many of Mankind do fade and die in the Spring of Youth as well as in the Summer of Riper Years and in the Autumn of Old Age. God can make our Night and Deaths Harvest to come whenever he pleaseth our Sun may set when we think it is not yet Noon Deaths Harvest may come when our Spring seems not yet to be past Our Breath is in our Nostrils and may soon pass out the Judge stands at the door and may quickly enter in It concerns us therefore always to be ready for the coming of our Lord that he may not surprize us as a Thief in the Night but may Visit us as a Bridegroom that we have long looked and waited for It is or should be the work of our whole Week-day to prepare for the Everlasting Sabbath As by your Bodily Distempers the great Landlord warns you out of your Earthly Tabernacle so the Text I insist on teaches you whither Saints must Remove and what a House God hath built to entertain the separated Souls of Believers I have therefore thought fit to Tender this small Treatise to you as a Testimony of my Respect and Observance towards you if it may in any degree prove a Light to your Feet a Lamp to your Paths a Staff to your Faith and a Cordial to your Souls it will be very acceptable to him who is Your Obliged and Humble Servant S. T. To my Well-beloved Friends the Inhabitants of Gosport in the County of Southampton the Author wisheth Grace and Peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ Christian Friends IT hath seemed good to the Sovereign Lord of Heaven and Earth to make a Breach upon you by snatching away from you a faithful and laborious Servant of Christ who fed you with his Doctrine and edified you by his Example He wooed for Christ in his Preaching and allured you to Christ by his Walking Though the Seedsman be dead yet the Doctrine he preached is Incorruptible Seed the Word of God that lives and abides for ever And though his service by vocal preaching among you is past yet your Account for your profiting by and growth under his Ministry is to come Look therefore diligently to it that the Word of God dwell richly and root deeply in your souls that it be the sword of the Spirit to slay your lusts a spiritual Mould to fashion your hearts aright and Bread to feed and nourish you up to everlasting Life Walk while you have the light and work the works of him that sent you into the World while it is day build up your selves on your most holy Faith and walk in love towards each other as Christ hath loved you Your souls came into this World on a Trading Voyage to buy Gold tried in the Fire white Rayment and Eye-salve Neglect not your spiritual Traffick the longer the Merchants ship stayes out the richer Lading should it bring home Lade your selves with Treasures that Death shall not spoil you of Adorn your souls with Ornaments that it shall not strip off It will be sad if any of you should go out of the World and carry nothing away with you but the guilt of Sin and the fear of punishment a bitter remembrance of past iniquity and a dreadful expectation of Wrath to come Death is called the way of all the Earth 1 Kings 2.2 and in this way you must shortly tread and by it depart from all Friends and Enjoyments below O look up to and take fast hold of Christ that is the Ladder that reaches up to Heaven and so is the way to the best Country and Inheritance You cannot decline the way that will carry you off from all Earthly Relations Pleasures Possessions O be sure that you enter into and walk â—n in that way that will carry you to an invisible World of Happiness and Glory Time hastens days post away and will you stand idle You are carried a-pace down the River of Time towards the Ocean of Eternity and will you not as spiritual Racers press forward towards the Mark for the price of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus Let not by business divert you from your principal and most noble work Mary chose the one thing necessary David desired one thing Paul saith this one thing I do Read those three Scriptures Luk. 10.42 Psal 27.4 Phil. 3.13 14. This argues sincerity and fervency iâ—deed when you choose desire and do one thing as Necessary and are Conversant about other matters but as indifferent things Be watchful against the old man that stoops you towards this Earth beware of Satan that wrestles with you to throw your minds and â—earts down to this World Lay not those snowy-creatures in your bosomes that will not only melt away themselves but also chill your Hearts to better and more Noble Objects Be not guilty of such folly to magnifie what you are but Stewards of and to despise what you may be Heirs of Take hold of the Hope set before you and then when others shall be put away as dross you shall be made up as Jewels and shine for ever in the kingdom of your Father This Sermon as it was Preached at your desire so now it is Printed with some enlargement at the Request of some of you the Lord accompany it with the teaching of his Spirit and the efficacy of his Grace that it may conduce to your spiritual Good which is the carnest desine and Prayer of Aug. 23. 1680. Your affectionate Friend and Servant for Jesus sake S. T. The Faith of the SAINTS 2 COR. 5.1 For we know that if our Earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens THE Words of the Text are a reason of somewhat discoursed and asserted by the Apostle in the foregoing Chapter in the 2 Cor. 4.16 he saith we faint not And in the 2 Cor. 4.18 We look not at the things that are seen but at
all yea and Amen 2 Cor. 1.20 2. Christians come to know this by inspection into themselves and spiritual Experience of a saving work wrought on themselves Heb. 10.34 they knew within themselves that they had in Heaven a more induring Substance By looking into themselves they might espy such a Divine Nature such a supernatural Life sprung up in them as did evidence they were intituled to and designed for the Heavenly Inheritance As Mark 29.33 the Poor Woman healed by Christ felt it in her Body and verse 33. She knew what was done in her viz. that she was healed of that Plague So Christs spiritual Patients may know within themselves what excellent cures this Heavenly Physician hath wrought in and on them and thereby fitted them to Converse in the True land of the Living The very senses that an infant hath do shew that it was designed for an higher life and larger Place than still to be imprisoned and penned up in the Womb its Eyes Ears Smelling and Tasting were to be exercised on Objects in this large World so the Spiritual Senses of the Souls of Saints do speak them to be designed for the invisible and Eternal World They can see things invisible they can taste spiritual dainties they can smell the Odours that come from the Mountain of Myrrh and the Hill of Frankincense they can scent the spices of the Heavenly Canaan Moses his Parents did observe his rare and admirable Beauty and seem from thence to conclude that surely he was chosen and designed by God for some extraordinary service Heb. 11.23 And is not the Church of Believers the fairest among Women Cant. 1.8 and doth not this wonderful and rare beauty evince that Christ hath set his love on her and that she is called to the Marriage Feast and designed for the Bride-chamber of the Son of God Ignatius one of the most Ancient Fathers in his Epistle to the Romans saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The living water that did spring up in him did say to him within Come home to thy Father Christ hath written a living Epistle in their Minds and Wills The Life and Law of God as a byass on their Hearts inclines them to another Country and World They have the first Fruits of their Inheritance the earnest of the bargain the beginnings of Everlasting Life abiding in them already Job 14.23 1 Cor. 3.16 that glorious Company that they shall converse with for ever are now come down to sojourn in their hearts here below The Father and Son dwelled in them by the spirit and surely such Royal guests will in due time remove the Souls that entertain them to their own glorious Habitation 3. There is the Mysterious Testimony of the Holy Spirit Rom. 8.16 17. The Spirit himself beareth witness with or to our Spirits that we are the Sons of God and if Sons then Heirs c. Surely some very high Evidence and Assurance is intended by these words whether mediate or immediate I shall not now determine The spirit himself beareth witness this phrase imports that the Spirit himself excellently appears in this Testimony and will it Testifie and can it not make Souls to understand its voice to perceive its meaning to embrace its Testimony and acquiesce in its Evidence Shall any question or doubt whether men may know themselves to be the Sons of God when it is one Office and great work of the Holy Spirit to make them understand it and to assure their Souls of it Is the Testimony of the Spirit Dark Intricate and Ambiguous doth it leave Souls in hovering suspence and wavering uncertainty when it comes to give its evidence can it not decide and determine the Controversie and make an end of strife in an unbelieving Heart And if the Spirit doth clear up our Sonship may we not know we are Heirs All Gods Children are Heirs every Son hath the Rights Priviledges and Inheritance of a first born Vse 1. Oh be Exhorted Stirred up and Quickned to seek and obtain the sweet and comfortable knowledge of what is provided for you in Heaven Strive to assure to your selves that you have a house built a City prepared for you above Oh how uncomfortable is it to be at uncertainties whither we shall go how we shall be disposed of and where we shall be fixed for Ever We know we must remove from hence but how will this damp our spirits when we know not whither we shall remove We know what we must part with but how will it Chill and Deject us when we know not what we shall possess in another World Our love cannot be so Fervent our Joy so Strong our Praises so Hearty and Affectionate if we know not that God is our Father that he will divide a Rich Portion to us and settle a glorious Inheritance on us The knowledge of what is reserved for us in Heaven will have great influence on our Holy Calling and will both Quicken us in doing and support us in Suffering the Will of God Use therefore all diligence to attain the full assurance of Understanding of Faith and of Hope all which are mentioned in these following Scriptures Col. 2.2 Heb. 10.22 Heb. 6.11 These three do make an excellent and comfortable Syllogism the full Assurance of Understanding as to the Terms and Tenders of the Gospel maketh the Major the full Assurance of Faith believing and applying this Doctrine to our selves makes the Minor and the full assurance of Hope is the sweet Conclusion that results from these excellent Promises O Christians why are you contented to live at so low a Rate why are you so held in doubts and suspence about your Everlasting state why are you so lost in an intricate Wilderness and entangled in such uncomfortable Labyrinths why is there yet so dark a Vail on your minds that hinders you from looking with Joy and Comfort into another World Doth not the Gospel dispensation under which you live afford grounds for high Faith and strong Consolation Are we not told that God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself not imputing their Trespasses to them 2 Cor. 5.19 that Christ hath made an end of sin destroyed Satan overcome the World abolished death and brought Life and Immortality to Light Dan. 9.24 Heb. 2.15 Joh. 16. last 2 Tim. 1.10 Is not Heaven purchased and Possessed for and bequeathed in Christs Testament to the Heirs of Promise Are not all that fly for Refuge to take hold of the hope set before them accepted and allowed to be Heirs of this glorious inheritance Heb. 6.18 Is not this sentence not exceeding full and comprehensive God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life Joh. 3.16 and is not this Testimony clear and express that God hath given to us Eternal Life and this Eternal Life is in his Son and he that hath the Son hath Life 1 Joh. 5.11 12. This Life