Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	fruit_n	good_a	work_n	6,080	5	5.9885	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A57648	A centurie of divine meditations upon predestination and its adjuncts wherein are shewed the comfortable uses of this doctrine : to which are annexed sixteen meditations upon Gods justice and mercy / Alexander Ross.	Ross, Alexander, 1591-1654.	1646 (1646)	Wing R1948; ESTC R1065	34,757	168

goodnesse and sight without injoyment It is by knowledge I see it is by love I enjoy LXXXVIII 1. There is in us an inward man so there is an outward 2. There is a new man so there is an old man 3. There is a law of the minde so there is a law of the members and there is a law also of the spirit of life 4. There is a voluntarie dominion in sin and there is an involuntarie 5. There is an universall tyrannie of sin and there is a particular 6. There is a regeneration in the minde and will and there is a regeneration in the members and affections 7. There is a complete will or volition and there is an incomplete will or velleitie 8. There is a generall or confused judgement and there is a more particular or distinct judgement 1. The inward man is the minde the outward man is the body 2. The new man is grace the old man is sinne 3. The law of the minde is knowledge and conscience the law of the members is sin the law of the Spirit of life is saving grace 4. The wicked are under the voluntarie the godly under the involuntarie dominion of sin 5. Originall sin is an universall tyrant actuall sins are particular tyrants 6. Regeneration in the minde and will is knowledge and desire Regeneration in the members is action or working the will of God 7. Volition followes the last judgement of reason velleitie followes the antecedent or confused judgement 8. By a generall and confused judgement my will affects the good which is commanded by Gods law by a particular and distinct judgement my will affects the evil which is condemned by Gods Law Lord 1 as I praise thee for the inward and the outward man 2 so will I much more praise thee if thou wilt strengthen in me the new man of grace and weaken the old man of sin 3 if thou wilt give me the law of the spirit of life to illuminate the law of the minde and to debilitate the law of the members 4 Make my service of sin involuntarie 5 and though I cannot be free from that catholike tyrant of originall sin yet in thy mercy deliver me from the insolencie of these particular tyrants my actuall sinnes 6 And let not my Regeneration be only intellectuall but also operative and effectuall 7 Rectifie and cleere my judgement that it may direct my will 8 And make my will to affect the good which thou c●mmandest and to dis-affect the evil which thou condemnest LXXXIX Though Predestination as it is an act or work of God can nothing be furthered or hindered by our good or wicked lives yet salvation which is the effect of Predestination may be furthered by prayers and holinesse hindered by our infidelitie and wickednesse for God who preordained Salvation preordained also the means which may help forward our Salvation Lord let not the conceit of my Election dull me with securitie or puffe me up with presumption but assist me that by good works I may make my Election sure and in feare and trembling I may work out my Salvation XC There are three books of life the one is Gods Register book the other is Gods book of Statutes the third is his book of Records In the first as in a Register are set down all the names of the predestinate in the second which is the Scripture are set out all the duties that are to be performed by the predestinate in the third are set down all the good actions and sufferings of the predestinate Out of the first we cannot be blotted for our names are written in Heaven and though an earthly mother may forget the fruit of her womb yet our heavenly Father cannot forget the fruit of his Spirit Out of the third book we may be blotted because our sinnes may occasion him to forget our good works and to slight our suffrings Lord I confesse that I have slighted thy sacred Book of divine Statutes therefore thou maist justly blot me out of the book of thy remembrance but in that thou hast not blotted my name out of thy first book I ascribe it to thy immutabilitie and if thou wilt not blot out my patience and suffrings out of thy other book I will admire and praise thy mercy XCI Though God loves all men yet he saves not all men he loves them because he made them he saves them not because he willed it not he could not in justice will all mens Salvation seeing man by his voluntary unjustice deprived himself of Salvation he loves his own image but hates that which defaced his image he loves the man but hates the sin and if it were not for sin he would not punish man Lord thy love to man is unspeakable in that thou savest some and thy justice is unsearchable in that thou savest not all I cannot blame thy justice but my sins that caused my miserie I cannot brag of my merits but of thy goodnesse that moved thee to mercie XCII God hates the sins of man because he loves his own justice with the love of † complacencie he hates the miseries of man because he loves mans welfare with the love of * amitie but by accident he loves the death of wicked men because he hates the works of iniquite Thus it is as naturall for God to hate evil as it is to love himself and as impossible for him to love evil as it is to hate himself XCIII Christ loved us when we were his enemies and he loves us being his friends when we were his foes he suffered death for us being his friends he hath purchased life to us that love was greater then this if we consider the object this love is greater then that if we consider the benefit O my God how am I bound to thee who when I was thine enemie didst weare the crown of thornes for me and being now thy friend hast bestowed a Crown of glory on me Let not the servant repine to beare the reproaches of so gracious a master who was content to beare the sins and shame of so ungracious a servant XCIIII God did first will his own glory 2. Mans existence 3. His righteousnesse 4. His own Promises 5. The execution or accomplishment of them concerning mans happinesse Gods glory is the great wheele of this clock which moves all the rest the finall cause which moves all other causes Had it not been for his glory I had neither had being nor well-being he gave me existence he made me to his image he promised me happinesse and he hath performed it to the end I might glorifie him Shall I then dishonour thee O God by whom I am what I am when I look on my creation and am by grace what I am not by nature when I look on my regeneration Therefore I will praise the glory of thy power for my existence the glory of thy goodnesse for my righteousnesse the glory of thy mercy in promising

all but mercifull onely to some yet though his grace be more universall and communicable his mercy is more wonderfull and amiable Lord the noblest of all thy Attributes is thy goodnesse to thy creatures but the excellencie of thy goodnesse is in shewing mercy to sinners Thy goodnesse made me a man but thy mercy a happy man by the one thou deliverest me from nothing by the other from worse then nothing thy goodnesse gave me being and thy mercy well being XXXII In every sin the act and the obliquitie in every vertue the act and the circumstances are distinguishable In sin the act is alwayes good metaphysically but evill morally either because it is prohibited as the act of eating the fruit to Adam or because it is repugnant to justice and sanctitie though they were not prohibited as theft and murther In every vertue the act is alwayes good both morally and metaphysically but the circumstances may be evill as to give almes is good but to give out of pride is evill I will not forbeare to doe good because the circumstances may be evil nor will I venture to doe evil because the circumstances may be good If God command that which may seeme to be evil I will doe it for his command makes it good if he forbids that which may seeme to be good I will not doe it because his prohibition makes it evil Adam sinned in eating of the fruit though seemingly good because God prohibited it and the Hebrewes sinned not in spoiling the Egyptians though seemingly evil because God commanded it XXXIII God did no wayes necessitate Adam to sin neither by inward perswasion nor by outward coaction besides he gave him a law easie to be kept and power sufficient to keep it He did then neither will nor decree his fall nor perswade nor force it only he gave way that he might fall who had power to stand that being by Christ raised from his fall he might more firmely stand Lord as thou didst permit my fall so be now pleased to remit it I fell willingly from thee make me to returne as willingly to thee Thou gavest me a will to stand or fall give me a will to rise and so to stand that I may never fall again XXXIIII There is a two-fold necessitie the one is * Syllogisticall the other is * reall there was a Syllogisticall necessitie of mans fall in respect of Gods fore-knowledge but not reall Gods prescience was an antecedent not a cause and mans fall was the consequent not the effect of that prescience but there is a reall necessitie of that which God decreeth Lord I did not sin because thou didst foresee it but because I was to sin therefore thou didst foresee it my fall was a necessarie sequell of thy precognition so let my rising be a necessary effect of thy Predestination XXXV Sin properly is not the punishment of sin because we sin willingly we suffer punishment unwillingly in sinning we are agents in punishments we are patients yet sin may be the cause of sin not that one sin can procreate another but because one sin can deserve and prepare the way for committing of another Lord free me from the guilt and stain of Adams sin which hath been both the preparatorie and meritorious cause of all my actuall sins XXXVI God worketh on the will either by a physicall motion or by morall perswasion and he perswades either powerfully by his Spirit or sufficiently by his Word so he hindereth sin either by his law prohibiting it or by his power inhibiting it let no man sin presumptuously because he is not stopped in the full careere of his sin powerfully though there is not alwayes an inhibition by his Power yet there is still a prohibition by his Law to make us inexcusable Lord work on my depraved will physically work morally work sufficiently and work powerfully by the Word by thy Spirit by thy Law by thy Sword circumcise my heart and eares the one by the Sword of the Spirit the other by the Sword of the Word if I cannot be restrained by thy Law to forbeare the forbidden fruit with Adam let me be constrained by the glittering of thy sword to stop in the wayes of wickednesse with Balaam XXXVII Though nothing is contingent to God yet his knowledge may consider contingencies as they are contingent for what by man is done contingently by him it is foreseen certainly in which regard Gods judgements are founded upon sin which may more fitly be called the object and occasion of his judgements then the cause Lord the cause of thy judgements is thy justice and my sin the occasion thy justice is eternall thy judgements are just my sins are contingent if it were not for thy judgements I should not acknowledge my sinnes if it were not for my sinnes thou couldst not exercise thy judgements and if it were not for thy justice there would be no proportion between thy judgements and my sinnes the exercise of thy judgements will cease if thou put an end to my sins but thy justice shall not cease though thou in mercy pardon my sins XXXVIII Nature is before grace and the works of creation before the effects of Predestination Man was first made a living soul by the outward breath of Gods mouth and then was made a quickning spirit by the inward breath of the holy Ghost so he decreed first to give man naturall abilitie by the work of Creation and then to bestow on him supernaturall graces the effects of Predestination Lord thou hast gifted me with naturall faculties whereby I exceed the beasts and thou hast endowed me with supernaturall graces whereby I am equall to the Angels I praise thee for the work of thy Creation much more for that of Predestination by the one thou madest me a man by the other a happy man make me to exceed the beasts as much in morall vertues as I excell them in naturall abilities so make me to equall the Angels as much in love and obedience as I come neer them in supernaturall happinesse XXXIX God did first foresee that Adam would sin before he predestinated Christ to die for sin he foresaw the disease then prepared the remedie he foresaw the leprosie then ordained the bloud of his Son to wash it for as the sinner only is capable of the grace of Regeneration so this grace was preordained to the sinner in Gods Predestination O my God if thou wast so provident as to prepare physick for my sinfull soule before I had sinned I am confident thy goodnesse is not now lessened but that thou wilt apply that same physick to my soule having sinned XL Gods Image in man consisted in nature and naturall properties in morall vertues and supernaturall graces the first were totally retained in Adams fall the third totally lost the second lost in part Again the essentiall part of Gods Image remained to wit the soul but the accidentall part was lost to wit justice and