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	live_v	mortify_v	7,524	5	11.3904	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A20736	Lectures on the XV. Psalme read in the cathedrall church of S. Paule, in London. Wherein besides many other very profitable and necessarie matters, the question of vsurie is plainely and fully decided. By George Dovvname, Doctor of Diuinitie. Whereunto are annexed two other treatises of the same authour, the one of fasting, the other of prayer.	Downame, George, d. 1634.	1604 (1604)	STC 7118; ESTC S110203	278,690	369

Catholicke or vniuersall Church For the Tabernacle signifieth the Church militant vpon earth the holy Mountaine the Church triumphant in heauen By sojourning in the Tabernacle is vnderstood the short and transitorie abode of Christians as it were pilgrims in the earth as in a strange land by dwelling in the Mountain of God is signified their perpetuall eternall rest in heauen as in their owne countrey Wherein the Prophet alludeth vnto that materiall Tabernacle which was called the Tabernacle of the assembly or congregation and to the mount Moriah where the Temple was placed the one whereof was a type of the Church militant vpon earth the other was a figure of the Church triumphant in heauen I am not ignorant that both members are by some expounded of the Church militant and by others of the Church triumphant but I follow that exposition which seemeth best to agree with the words and meaning of the holy ghost For the varietie of phrase plainely argueth diuersitie of matter sojourning in Gods Tabernacle being much different from dwelling in the Mountaine of his holinesse And the conclusion of the answere in the last words of the Psalme which without doubt doth render the true meaning of the question belongeth both to this life and to that which is to come He that doth these things shall not beremooued for euer that is he shall neither fall away from the grace of God in this life nor be excluded out of Gods glorious presence in the life to come The sence therefore and meaning of the question is this Lord thou searcher and trier of the hearts and reines of men who art acquainted with all secrets and best knowest who are thine for as much as there is so much vnsoundnesse and hipocrisie among them that professe thy name and frequent the places of thy worship that many deceiue others with a counterfeit shew and some beguile themselues with a false opinion of religion declare I beseech thee vnto thy Church some tokens and cognisances of a true and sound Christian whereby the sheepe may be discerned from the goats and the wheat from tares shew vs Lord who is a sound member of the Church militant here on earth and shal be an inheritor of glorie in the Church triumphant in heauen who is a true subject of thy kingdome of grace and shall be an heire of the kingdome of glory And this was the meaning of the question Now let vs come to the words of this text Wherein wee are to consider two things the parts of the question and the partie to whom it is propounded Of the parts wee are to speake first seuerally of either and then joyntly of both together The former part Lord who shall soiourne in thy Tabernacle By Tabernacle some as I said vnderstand heauen which elsewhere in the Scriptures is called Gods Tabernacle and not vnsitly seeing the Lord stretcheth out the heauens as a curtaine and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in But howsoeuer the name Tabernacles is sometimes figuratiuely vsed to signifie heauenly and euerlasting habitations Notwithstanding it more properly signifieth tents in warre and the flitting habitations of warfaring men And that by Tabernacle is here meant the Church militant the other word of soiourning doth import For heauenly Tabernacles are not tents to sojourne in but mansions of perpetuall habitation and euerlasting rest Basill by Tabernacle vnderstandeth our flesh which the Apostle calleth the ●arthly house of our Tabernacle for our bodies are not onely Tabernacles but Temples also of God As if this were the sence Lord who is he who hauing sojourned as a stranger in this flesh of ours shal at the length rest with thee in thine heauenly kingdome And surely the sence which he giueth is godly for it teacheth that those which shall for euer rest in the mountaine of Gods holinesse do liue in this flesh as pilgrims and strangers mortifying their earthly members Notwithstanding his exposition is not fit For according to this interpretation the former part of the question containeth the answere to the latter for so hee sayth He that hath soiourned as a pilgrim in the flesh he shall dwell in the holy mountaine Most fitly therefore by Tabernacle we may vnderstand the Church militant which elsewhere is called the Tabernacle of God and sometimes the house sometimes the Temple of God For a Tabernacle is a militarie mansion and as it were a portable house which hath no fixed seat or setled place Now whereas the holy ghost calleth the Church of God a Tabernacle we learn first that the life of a Christian is a warfare as Iob saith wherein we are to fight against the enemies of our saluation which fight against our soules namely the flesh the world and the diuell Whereupon the Church of God vpon earth is called the Church militant It behooueth therefore euery one of vs that would bee esteemed a true member of the Church to behaue our selues as Christian souldiours fighting vnder the banner of Christ. And for as much as our aduersarie the Diuell goeth about like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may deuour and seeing the flesh lusteth against the spirit sending out of the heart as it were a furnace the sparkles of foolish and noisome lusts which fight against our soules and the world likewise partly by the desires thereof partly by bad examples carrieth vs away to embrace the world to mind earthly things to serue Mammon and to place our paradise here on the earth It behooueth vs therfore both to prepare our selues to this combat and therefore not to bee secure or to sleepe as others but to stand vpon our guard to be sober and vigilant and to arme our selues with that complete armour of God described Eph. 6. and also in the fight valiantly to encounter and constantly to withstand our spirituall enemies to resist the diuell and hee shall flie from vs with the shield of faith to quench his fierie darts and with the sword of the spirit which is the word of God to refell his assertions and repell his assentations So to vse the world that we doe not ouer-vse it so to possesse worldly things that we be not possessed of them but rather renouncing worldly lusts and being wained from worldly desires to meditate and mind heauenly things To crucifie the flesh with the lusts thereof and to mortifie our members which are on the earth liuing not according to the flesh but according to the spirit This warfare is to be entertained this warre is to be maintained of vs if we would be esteemed sound members of the Church militant who sojourning in the Tabernacle of God doe fight in his campe against our spirituall enemies But on the other side if we execute the workes of the diuell giuing our selues ouer vnto sinne and iniquitie if with Demas we embrace

the world following after pleasures riches honours if we conforme our selues to this present world and the examples therof if wee take thought for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof then are we souldiors indeed but in the diuels campe we fight but vnder Sathans banner against God against the spirit against our owne soules So farre are we either from sojourning in Gods Tabernacle for the pre●●nt or from hope of resting in the mountaine of his holinesse for the time to come Secondly whereas the holy ghost calleth the Church of Christ vpon earth a Tabernacle we may learne that neither the Church it selfe nor the members of it haue any firme or fixed seat of habitation on the earth for Tabernacles and Tents are made to that end that they may be remoued frō place to place Yea the Tabernacle of God was a moueable temple eftsoones changing his seat And as those Israelits were types vnto vs so was that Tabernacle a type of the militant Church For euen as that Tabernacle after it was once made wandered vp and downe in the desert and after sojourned for a while now here now there sometimes in Shilo sometimes among the Philistims somtimes in Keriathjarim c. and neuer found any setled place vntil it was transported into the mountaine of God so the Church of God wandreth many times as a pilgrim in the desert of this world forced oft times to change her seat tossed too and fro persecuted molested banished and neuer findeth any assured place of constant rest vntill it bee translated into the celestiall mountaine of Gods holinesse Thirdly whereas the Church is called the Tabernacle of God as elsewhere in the Scriptures the house and temple of God wherein God dwelleth and manifesteth his presence we may learn that the Lord dwelleth as it were in his Church and after a singular maner is present therein For to this end the Lord commaunded the Tabernacle to be made that he might dwell among them and againe whereas he promiseth by Moses To set his Tabernacle among them and walke among them The Apostle expoundeth his setting his Tabernacle to bee his dwelling among them You are saith he the temple of the liuing God As God hath said I will dwell among them and I wil walke there And to the same purpose elsewhere hee is said to be and to walke in the middest of his people to dwell in Sion and to walke in the middest of the seuen golden candlesticks that is of the seuen churches Now the consideration of Gods presence in his Church ought to make vs warie and circumspect that wee may so behaue our selues as in the presence of God who searcheth the hearts and reines of men For the Lord is not onely present to reward those which worship him in spirit and truth but also to punish and afflict those which feare not to sinne in his presence Wherefore the holy ghost as he chargeth the Israelits not to feare their enemies because God did walke with them and was among them a consuming fire to destroy their enemies so hee commaundeth them to abstaine from sinne because God was among them a consuming fire could not abide any filthinesse especially spirituall vncleannesse among them This therefore must teach vs to set God alwayes before our eyes and to behaue our selues as in his presence knowing that wee are more than shamelesse sinners if wee feare not to sinne in the sight and presence of God But although the Lord bee present euery where in his Church after a speciall manner yet more especially he is present in the assemblies of the Church and congregations of his people gathered together in the name of Christ as Christ himselfe hath promised Matt. 18. 20. Where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the middest of them Therefore in the old Testament those who were excluded from the assembly of the Church thought themselues banished from the face presence of God The consideration whereof as it must affect vs with an earnest desire and serious care of frequenting the Tabernacles of God to visit his face and to behold his presence so it must teach vs to behaue our selues in the assembly of Gods saints as in the presence of God Dauid when he was exiled or otherwise excluded from the assemblies of the Church he desired nothing more than that hee might haue libertie to come vnto the Tabernacle of God and to appear in the presence of God See Psal. 27. 4. One thing haue I desired of the Lord that I will require euen that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the daies of my life to behold the beautie of the Lord and to visit his temple And Psal. 42. As the Hart brayeth for the riuers of waters so panteth my soule after thee O God My soule thirsteth for God euen for the liuing God when shall I come and appeare before the presence of God c. Likewise Ps. 84. O Lord of hosts how amiable are thy Tabernacles my soule longeth yea fainteth that I might come to the Courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh crie out after the liuing God c. And when he had liberty to come to the Tabernacle he rejoyced in nothing more Psal. 122. Ireioyced when they said vnto me we will go into the house of the Lord. And again Psal. 84. he judgeth them blessed that dwell in the house of the Lord and preferreth one day spent in the Courts of the Lord before a thousand elswhere But as I said the presence of God must also moue vs to behaue our selues reuerently and religious●y that before we come vnto the house of the Lord we look vnto our feet that is examine with what affections wee come and not onely so but also to put off the shoes of our feet that is our corrupt affections that we may bee readie to heare rather than to offer the sacrifice of fooles for the place of the assembly being sanctified by Gods presence is holy ground And that when we are entred into the assembly we may after the example of Cornelius behaue our selues as in the presence of God Those which come before an earthly prince either to speake vnto him or to heare him speake how carefull are they to behaue themselues in all comely reuerence how much more ought wee in all reuerence and feare appeare before the glorious majestie of the great God the King of kings and Lord of lords especially considering that the Lord doth not behold vs as man doth but looketh especially vnto the heart Our abode in the Church militant is signified in the word soiourne Hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Graec. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who shall soiourne Sojourning saith Basil is a temporarie abode signifying not a setled life but transitorie