Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	flesh_n	law_n	mind_n	7,026	5	6.6163	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A49386	The duty of servants containing first, their preparation for, and choice of a service, secondly, their duty in service : together with prayers suited to each duty : to this is added A discourse of the Sacrament suited peculiarly to servants / by the author of Practical Christianity.	Lucas, Richard, 1648-1715.	1685 (1685)	Wing L3396; ESTC R5519	91,855	259

indeed to thee but comfortable and happy to us thou didst not only make an Oblation and Satisfaction for the sins of the whole World if they would believe and repent but also purchase for 'em an Eternal Kingdom I do therefore desire in this Holy Sacrament to make a publick Confession of my Faith in thee I am not asham'd of the Gospel of Christ for 't is the power of my God unto Salvation I am not asham'd of thee my Crucified Saviour for I know there is no other name given unto Man by which he may be sav'd but only the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I do therefore most earnestly desire to be made partaker of the benefits of thy Death and to have the assurance of my Redemption by thy Blood seal'd to me for I have O Lord a weight of sin that hangs upon my Soul from which unless thy Death deliver me it will sink me down into the lowest Hell therefore with impatience doth my Soul desire to approach this comfortable Sacrament where I may give thee the sincere assurances of my Faith Repentance and Love and may receive from the assurances and pledges of my Redemption wrought by thy Cross and Passion But Lord I know that they only can draw near with comfort to this Sacrament who with hearty Repentance and true Faith turn to thee I do therefore desire to place my self first as in the presence of God and under the awe of his all-seeing Eye to examine and try my Life and my Heart and to enter into the most sincere purposes of reforming what is amiss in me and help thou me O my God that I may do this as I ought to do give me that just sense of the weight and importance of this work that I may do it with care and vigour convince me so of the indispensible necessity of sincerity that I may neither hide nor disguise any sin in my Examination nor make any the least reserve for any in my Resolution of amendment And O my God if through the necessities of my Imployment or through the straitness of my time or through the ignorance or prejudice of my Education any thing shall escape me O impute it not to me but have compassion upon the Frailties of my Nature and the Infelicities of my State and upon whatever weaknesses unknown to me are grown upon me Secondly The Exercise of Repentance O Almighty God Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Maker of all things and Judge of all Men thou Holy All-seeing and Impartial Judge I present my self before thee in the Humility of my Soul in the grief and bitterness of my Heart to confess and bewail my sins and actually and sincerely to renounce ' em Here consider first the course of your past Life in general Thus how you have behav'd your selves towards your Parents when under their Government I mean not the particulars of your actions which 't is impossible to recollect but such generals as these Whether you have been notoriously disobedient whether you have notoriously neglected the means and opportunities of your Education or by any other way procur'd the grief affliction or shame of your Parents Then consider your course of Life since you came into Service as whether you have lived carelesly and coldly towards God in an habitual neglect or it may be contempt of Religion whether you have been a Faithful and good Servant or on the contrary whether you have liv'd in the custom and habit of Disobedience or Unfaithfulness to your Master And lastly as to your selves consider whether you have lived in a habit of Drunkenness Gluttony Uncleanness Pride and Wilfulness now if upon Examination you find your selves to have been guilty of any of these things in your past lives it will be necessary to confess and bewail your error altho' you have now long ago renounc'd it broken off your sin and liv'd a new Life and it will not be amiss to consider what aggravations are to be found in these your sins for example what convictions you have resisted and stifled what restraints you have broke through what inconveniences you have suffer'd by your sins what extraordinary Mercies and Deliverances you have had what extraordinary Chastisements God has inflicted upon you what Opportunities of Grace you have slighted these and such like considerations serve to render the Soul more Humble and Contrite and to quicken the sense of Gods Goodness and Loving-Kindness towards you When you have thus examin'd what the State of your Life past has been you are secondly to examine what the present State of your Soul is and here you are to consider First Whether you are now under the dominion and power of any sin and this your Conscience if it be not sear'd will soon inform you for it cannot but tell you that it has accus'd you for the Commission of this or that sin But lest you should deceive your selves you may examine your selves in the former manner upon those several Heads of your Duty treated of in this Book as you stand related to God to your Parents to your Master and Mistress to their Children to your Fellow-Servants to your Neighbours in general and to your selves Weighing your present behaviour and affection towards each in this as you did your past in the former part of this Examination If upon this view of your selves it appears to you that you live in any sin you must not only bewail it and resolve against it but you must also make Restitution if you have wrong'd your Master your Fellow-Servant or any other if you have wrong'd 'em in their goods you must restore it if you can if you cannot you must confess the wrong and beg their pardon If you have wrong'd 'em by Lying you must discover the truth and take the shame to your selves If you have griev'd disturb'd and troubled 'em by rudeness contumelious Language or any such way you must make 'em what amends you can by confessing your error promising Reformation and begging Forgiveness If you have been injurious to the Souls of any you must be as industrious to reclaim 'em when you have done all this I would not have you make too much hast to the Sacrament But first make some trial of the Truth and Sincerity of your Repentance but in giving this Rule I would be understood to speak either of sins of habitual Omission or else of those notorious transgressions of Gods Laws which the Scripture calls the works of the Flesh the wickedness in which the Gentile World lay the filthiness of Flesh and Spirit for as to defects and frailties tho' we must strive against 'em we shall never be free from 'em As to Lukewarmness Stupidity or Lifelesness in Religion if you mean by it a form of Godliness without the power that is that you profess to believe and live civilly but the Duties that you perform are done heedlesly and perfunctorily without any seriousness or any relish and the whole

and murmur'd at thy Providence been discontent in my Condition and complain'd of thy Dealings towards me 'T is true O my God that thou of thine infinite goodness hast convinc'd my Conscience of sin affected my Soul with a sorrow for it and wrought in me Resolutions of amendment but oh how many have been my falls how many and grievous have been my Relapses how negligent have I been of the Covenant of my God! Oh how soon have the tears of my Repentance dried up how soon has the flame of my Devotion and Love slackened and even gone out O God thou holy God thou Witness of all my actions and Judge of all my thoughts and affections what would become of me if thou shouldest enter into strict Judgment with me how should I stand before thy Tribunal cover'd with the guilt and shame of so many sins But O thou God of Mercy O thou God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ I know that thou art always ready to pardon poor Penitents Lord I repent increase thou my Repentance trouble has taken hold of me my Soul is cast down and disquieted within me I am asham'd yea even confounded for I do bear the Reproach of the folly and ingratitude of my sins O be thou reconciled to me pardon me I beseech thee by the Merits and Intercession by the Agony and Passion and by all the painful Sufferings of thy Son pardon me O pardon me I beseech thee by thine own boundless goodness by those tender Mercies and Compassion which thou art wont to exercise towards Repenting sinners And Lord not only pardon my sins but deliver me I beseech thee from the Dominion and Power of 'em O assist me to break off those Chains of carnal Lusts and worldly Cares in which I have been held bound I have a false deceitful heart O give me Sincerity and Truth have a sluggish and drowsie body O enkindle in me fervency of spirit I am conscious to my self of great weakness and fraily O do thou confirm and strengthen me who alone canst make me a clean heart O O God and renew a right spirit within me give me a true Faith and enflame my heart with a holy Love that I may delight my self in thy Commandments that I may walk before thee in uprightness and fear diligently seeking thee constantly depending upon thee chearfully submitting to thy Will and doing the Duty of my place in singleness of heart as knowing that I shall be accountable to thee as well for those Duties which I owe Man as for those which are more immediately to be paid to thee O Lord keep me that my foot stray not out of the path of Justice O Lord keep me that I offend not with my Tongue and after I have done all O Lord suffer me not to fall short of my Reward through my pride or ingratitude but make me always thankful always humble neither defrauding thee of the Praise due to thine infinite Bounty and Mercy nor Man of the Thanks due to him for any act of kindness or charity towards me help me O my God to walk thus that my Soul may enjoy a true Liberty that my Life may be full of comfort my Death of peace and my Eternity of glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. And O my God bless not me only but this whole Family thou that art the God of Love the God of Peace sow in all our hearts the seeds of unfeigned Charity that we may all enjoy the comfort of a mutual Affection and of a mutual Assistance and Aid in our several places and Lord possess every Soul of this Family with a just sense of our Duty towards God and Man that all of us may be living Members of thy blessed Son and being protected by thy Providence directed by thy Word and assisted by the Influence of thy Spirit we may all at last meet in the Family of Heaven where we shall adore and praise thee love and enjoy thee to all Eternity through Jesus Christ our Lord. A Prayer for the Evening O My God my Strength and the Rock of my Salvation the Day is past and the Evening is come O give me grace to remember that this Life will one time be past and Death will come that I may live so that my work may be then finisht as 't is this day and I may have nothing else to do but go to my Rest where I shall be invested with Liberty and Glory Eternal Eternal O blessed Wages of a short Lifes service how does my Soul praise thee O Lord in Transports and even Extasies thou hast called me indeed to be a Servant but thou hast called me too to be a Son thou hast not indeed given me any great portion of the Wealth or Honour of this Life but thou hast given me the blessed Jesus to be my Redeemer and thy holy Spirit to be my Sanctifier O do but ever continue thus to me the Light of thy Countenance thy Grace and thy Truth and I shall never think my self to stand in need of any thing that the World admires but O my God how often are these my Comforts abated nay even interrupted how often is this blessed this chearful Light obscur'd and orecast by my infirmities and sins my sins the only causes that keep good things from me my sins the only real troubles of my Life Thus O my God though I renew'd my Covenant with thee but this morning though I devoted my self to thee vowing Obedience to thee and faithfulness to my Master yet have I prevaricated my Duty here mention the Errours and Infirmities of the day past have mercy upon me O Lord have mercy upon me and forgive me these and all other my offences and give me grace to keep my self upon my watch and guard against them Enable me sincerely to endeavour to repair and reform 'em as much as in me lies that I may every day grow and increase in goodness and be so much the fiter for Death the nearer I do every day approach to it and whenever it comes let it find me O Lord with my Loyns girt and my Lamp burning in a disposition and frame of spirit fit to die possessed with an unshaken Faith with an humble Resignation and Submission of Mind with a holy Contempt of Earth and a devout Love of Heaven In the mean time thou keeper of Israel thou who never slumbrest nor sleepest watch over me and this whole Family protecting and delivering us in our coming in and going out particularly let thine Angels pitch their Tents about us this night let us lie down securely and let our sleep be sweet to us for thou Lord shalt make us dwell in safety Amen Amen Blessed Jesus If any one expects from me Directions here for Mental or Extemporary Prayers I must tell 'em freely that little less than a Volume much bigger than I purpose this is sufficient for such an undertaking What I have to say in a word here

application of your mind runs upon the World this is a State to be repented of and you must enter upon resolutions of greater care and watchfulness and fervency and having done this you may proceed to the Sacrament without making so long a trial of your selves as in the former case because neither the Church nor your Neighbour can receive any scandal thereby Now beside this part of Examination consisting in an enquiry what sins you have been guilty of or now live in there is a second part of Examination consisting in this enquiry what good you have done what resemblance there is between your life and the life of Jesus your Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus for negative righteousness is not sufficient to make a man a good Christian and though it be true that we are not bound to the highest perfection under pain of damnation yet the love of God the love of Jesus and the hopes of eternal glory do all oblige us to aim at it and therefore we ought to bemoan our non-proficiency barreness and unprofitableness I mean not absolutely such but comparatively with respect to what we should attain to And that you may do this aright demand of your selves what requital have we made our Parents What assistance have we afforded them since God has blessed us What share of what God has prosper'd us with have we given to the poor the hungry and the naked What service have we done for the comfort and support of any that have been any ways distressed After this read with a sober devotion the Beatitudes Mat. 5. and examine the state of your Souls by 'em thus am I poor in Spirit contented in the lowest state resign'd up to God both as to my undderstanding and my will filled with humble thoughts of my own endowments both natural and moral do I mourn under the sense of my past sins and my present defects and infirmities Do I weep in secrets for the sins of my people for the Desolations and Divisions of the Church of Christ for the infidelity of Jew and Gentile and in general for the dishonour God's name suffers in the World Am I of a meek and quiet Spirit peaceable and slow to anger full of humility and reverence towards all but especially my Governours and Masters studying to do my own business and to live quietly in my Station Do I hunger and thirst after righteousnes Is my Soul inflamed with a desire of saying knowledge Do I delight in the meditation of Heavenly truths Am I ravish't with the Loveliness and Beauty of works truly great and truly Christian Am I merciful do I delight to imitate my heavenly Father as far as I am able being bountiful to the needy compassionate to the distressed long suffering towards the offender gentle and easily intreated carefully studying and resolv'dly pursuing the good of all even of mine Enemies and such whose either Ingratitude to me or their aversion to their own good renders the work much more difficult Am I pure in heart Is the World crucified to me Do I account all things but dung and dross in comparison of the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord Do I love my God and love my Jesus even to a thirst after a dissolution that putting off the body I may enjoy 'em in Heaven Do I in the singleness and simplicity of my heart pursue the honour of God without regard to any by-interest or corrupt affection Am I a peace-maker content to purchase it for my self or promote it amongst others by any travail or pains and by very great disadvantages to my self Do I pursue peace in the Church of Christ in the State in the Neighbour hood in the Family in my narrow capacity withal imaginable zeal Lastly Am I willing if the will of God so be to part with all and follow Christ to undergo not only reproach and contempt but if need be the spoil of all I have nay Stripes Imprisonment and Death it self These are the heights you are to labour after and though you may fall very short of 'em this Examination will serve to encrease your humility to make you more importunate for the assistance of God and more desirous of being strengthen'd and refresh't by the Holy Sacrament nay it will excite and quicken your graces in you for there is a loveliness in Virtue and therefore the oftner you seriously behold it the more you 'l be enamour'd of it When you have discover'd by this Examination the state of your Souls then proceed to bewail 'em before God thus These and many more which I cannot recollect are my sins O thou Judge of the World and these have all been repeated from time to time so that they now are grown formidable to me for their very number yet besides this how provoking are the aggravations of them that I should sin thus in defiance of the brightest revelation of thy will in contempt of thy long suffering patience and goodness in contempt of thy astonishing love manifested in my redemption by the blood of Jesus in defiance of thy great and precious promises and of all the calls of thy Spirit and of thy Providence nay O my God I have trampled under foot all my most solemn engagements and returned to the commission of sin in contempt even of my repentance my vows and resolutions and canst thou have mercy upon such a wretch as I am I know I have most justly provok't thy wrath and indignation against me my sins are gone over my head as a thick cloud they are a sore burthen too heavy for me to to bear they are more in number than the hairs of my head and my heart has fail'd me but O Lord God I do earnestly repent and am heartily sorry for these my misdoings the remembrance of 'em is grievous to me the burden of 'em is intolerable I am ashamed yea even confounded under the sense of my folly and ingratitude I have consider'd thy terrour and fearfulness and trembling has taken hold upon me I have consider'd thy tender mercies and my Soul is wounded within me for having so falsly and unworthily forsaken and offended thee I have consider'd the humiliation and the sufferings of my blessed Saviour and my Soul suffers an Agony of love and shame with in me for what I have done against my dear Lord. I have consider'd the Beauty of Holiness and I loath my self for the deformity and pollutions of my sins O therefore thou who dost delight to shew mercy to repenting Sinners thou God of love and mercy have mercy upon me and O thou Lamb of God which didst shed thy blood for sinners have mercy upon me thou that takest away the sins of the World have mercy upon me and O my Heavenly Father deliver me not only from the guilt but from the power of my sin I tremble indeed at thy wrath and my soul faints within me when I think of being excluded forever from tny