Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	ghost_n	holy_a	john_n	17,081	5	6.2026	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A16531	The vnbeliefe of St. Thomas the Apostle laid open for the comfort of all that desire to belieue. Whereunto is added a comfortable treatise for all that are afflicted in soule or body. The first armeth vs against despaire in the houre of death; the second against impatience vnder the crosse. By Nicholas Bound, Doctor in Diuinitie.	Bownd, Nicholas, d. 1613.; Bownd, Nicholas, d. 1613. Treatise ful of consolation. aut	1628 (1628)	STC 3442; ESTC S113890	68,060	212

of God alone who onely is there to be serued and not of any Saint as in time past they haue beene And so ought the daies also As vnder the law all the Sabbaths were consecrated vnto the honour of God the creator of heauen and earth and vnder the Gospel vnto the honour of Christ the Redeemer of his Church and all other daies that are now put a part among vs from the common affaires of the world they are sanctified to that ende that God might be honoured in them and by them And therefore we put a great difference betweene these holy daies and the Sabbath or Lords day First of all in that we know this later to stand vpon a better foundation then they as hauing his institution from Christ and his Apostles and so doth binde all nations and is perpetuall neuer to be changed Whereas the former haue their warrant only from men and so doe not binde all Churches alike and may be changed yea taken cleane away and serue onely for Christian policie and good order in the Church that men vpon these daies might come together and serue God And therefore it is to be prouided that there should not be too many of them least thereby men should be hindred from the necessarie workes of their callings which hath mooued the reformed Churches as in this Realme so els-where to cut off many that were vsed in the time of Poperie and so to keepe thēselues in a mediocritie neither hauing too many nor putting downe all Secondly there is a difference betweene them in the manner of keeping the one and the other for on the Christian Sabbath the lawes of our kingdome and Church doe restraine all men from many things as from markets and faires and keeping of Assises and Sessions for the execution of iustice which they doe tolerate and permit vpon other holydaies Whereas in the time of blindnesse they sometimes preferred these daies before the Sabbath and had more solemne seruice and feasts vpon them and counted it a more deadly sinne then to worke then vpon the Sabbath day Besides this they appointing these daies to the honor of men did thereby greatly dishonour the Saints thēselues For what greater dishonour can there be vnto any man then to make him a traytor and to giue vnto him that honour that is due onely to the Prince And if any should in simplicitie and good will ascribe so much to the greatest noble man in the Realme that at the last he should giue him the titles that belong vnto the King and so bring him into the suspicion of treason against his will it were no honour but dishonour vnto him So the Papists in extolling the Saints so highly that they consecrate daies vnto them and thereby seeke to honour them and hope that therefore they will become Patrons vnto them all which are proper vnto Christ in so doing they dishonour them for they make them as much as lieth in them to be traytors vnto Christ in robbing him of that honor that is proper vnto him And these Saints if they were now aliue vpon earth would not onely not take this honor vnto themselues and thanke them for it but altogether refuse it and rebuke them for it as Paul and Barnabas did vnto the people at Lystra when they brought buls with garlands and would haue sacrificed vnto them They rent their cloathes and ranne in among them Act. 14 14 saying O men why doe you these things we are men subiect vnto the like passions that you be and preach vnto you that you should turne from these vaine things vnto the liuing God IN this text there are these foure things principally to be obserued first of all the great infidelitie of S. Thomas the Apostle who did not beleeue the resurrection of Christ reported vnto him by all his fellow Apostles who had seene him v. 24 25. Secondly the great mercie of Christ who did not cast him off and leaue him to perish in this vnbeleefe of his but most louingly in time conuenient sought to pull him out of it by all good meanes euen the very same which himselfe desired vers 26 27. Thirdly the increase of faith in Thomas by these meanes appearing by the confession that he made after that he was thus confirmed namely that he did beleeue not onely that he was risen againe but for him and therefore calleth him his Lord and his God v. 28. Lastly here Christ vpon this occasion deliuereth a generall doctrine and so applieth this fact of Thomas vnto the whole church euen that they should be blessed who should beleeue in him though they did not see him as he had done I doe not purpose to intreat of all these but onely of so much as doth concerne the vnbeleefe of S. Thomas But before I come to it it may seeme somewhat strange that S. Iohn in his Gospel doth write this of his fellow Apostle seeing it tendeth so wholly to his discredit The other Euangelists all of them haue left it out it may seeme in fauour of him and it might be thought that it had beene better if he had passed it ouer with silence also But this Apostle liuing longer then all the rest about an hundred yeares after Christ and so seeing all their writings doth adde this as a matter of speciall moment as indeede in it there is offered to the Church great instruction and consolation And this plaine dealing of his is a note of that integritie that is to be found in all the Scriptures as beeing penned by the spirit of God For they came not in old time as S. Peter saith 2. Pet. 1.2 by the will of man but holy men of God did speake and write as they were mooued by the holy Ghost And therefore they greatly differ frō the writings of men which sauour of the spirit of men and so are in many things partiall as this is a common fault in many Historiographers that they flatter great men and speak onely of their vertues which they set out to the full but their vices either they wholly conceale or lightly passe thē ouer especially when they are their friends and of the same ranke and order with them as S. Thomas was vnto the Apostle S. Iohn But it is not so in the Scriptures which proceeding frō the spirit of truth are no more partiall then God himselfe with whome there is no respect of persons ●om 2.11 in so much that the penners of them doe lay open the greatest sinnes of the greatest men in their time euen of the Kings and of the Priests Sam. 2.8 As of Heli how he honoured his children aboue God and caused the sacrifices of the Lord to be despised and troaden vnder foote and of Manasseh king of Iudah how he caused his sonnes to passe through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom Chr. 33.6 and gaue himselfe to witchcraft and to charming and to sorcerie and vsed them that had familiar

our nature to prepare a place for vs and he hath praied vnto God for vs that where he is we may be to behold his glorie Thus true faith for the certentie of our saluation bids vs rely vpon that that Christ hath don for vs and vpon that which this way is set downe in the Gospel and so our consciences shall be quieted and no man neede to aske these questions who can ascend vp into heauen or bring vs from hell seeing that the Gospel teacheth that both these are done by Christ for all those that imbrace their calling by a true faith But vnbeleefe neglecting this desireth that that is vnreasonable and saith Oh but I see none that hath ascended vp to heauen come downe againe to tell me what is there done for me Who shall ascend who is he that hath or will doe so much then I could beleeue it And I see none that hath descended into hell and returned to tell me that I am deliuered from thence Who shall descend into the deepe where is he that hath or will doe this for me then I could beleeue it And so not onely the vnbeleeuers are wholly possessed and ouercō with these doubtfull thoughts but all men so farre as vnbeleefe preuaileth in them are ready to say thus at least in their hearts Oh if any might come from heauen to assure me that I shall come thither and be saued then I could beleeue it or if any might come from hell to assure me that I am deliuered from thence then I should be quiet in my minde and deliuered from these feares that I am incombred with But what saith faith say not thus in thine heart c. that is haue thou no such doubts in thy mind but consider what Christ hath done for thee to bring thee to heauen and to deliuer thee from hell and what the gospel doth this way offer vnto thee and what thou hast heard preached out of it to this ende and rest in thē For if thou shalt confesse with thy mouth the Lord Iesus Rom. 10● and shalt beleeue in thine heart that God raised him from the dead thou shalt be saued that is if thou professe plainely and sincerely and openly that thou takest Iesus onely to be thy Lord and Sauiour and that it was the very counsell and purpose of God in the resurrection of his sonne to redeeme vs from death and hell as it is preached vnto vs in the Gospel thou shalt be saued So faith leadeth vs frō these vain speculations vnto that that is reuealed vnto vs in the word And whereas the best beleeuers are subiect vnto these temptations at one time or other by reason of the rēnants of vnbeleefe abiding in thē yet the Apostle giueth vs to vnderstand that they come frō vnbeleefe and not frō faith but that it is the nature of saith to striue against them to suppresse them in measure so farre forth as faith preuaileth and getteth the victory in them So that when they begin to haue these doubts in their minds and to thinke with thēselues how shal I ascend into heauē how shall I escape hell I cannot tell what shall become of me then faith is as a voice speaking behind them to admonish them of their duty and as it were pulling them by the elbow bids them hold their peace Oh say not in thine heart who shall ascend into heauen c. Oh haue no such thoughts in thy mind this were to deny what Christ hath done for thee concerning thy redemption from hell and thy ascention into heauen therefore say not so in any case no not in thine heart giue ouer reasoning with vnbeleefe and rest in the word of God Thus we see how vnbeleefe bindeth God to vnreasonable courses desireth of him for the strengthening of faith things not to be desired therefore as we see frō whence such do arise so we must striue against vnbeleefe that we might ouercome such foolish conceits And thus the vnbeleuing Iewes did reason against our Sauiour Christ when he was vpon the crosse and thereby did shew what wicked and absurd thoughts their infidelitie did driue them vnto If thou be the sonne of God Matth. 27. ●0 come downe from the crosse he saued others but he cannot saue himselfe if he be the king of Israel 42. let him now come downe from the crosse and we will beleeue in him 43. he trusted in God let him deliuer him now if he will haue him for he saide I am the sonne of God Behold what vnreasonable things they doe as it were binde Christ vnto that they might beleeue in him or els they will not for they say let him now come down from the crosse and now saue himselfe or els neuer They did not consider how all the prophesies of the Messiah set downe in Scripture were verified in him euen from his first conception vnto this very houre how he was conceiued by the holy Ghost and borne of a virgin and of the house of Dauid and in Bethleem how the wise men came from the East vnto Ierusalem and told them that the King of the Iewes was borne and that they had seene his starre neither what old father Simeon and Anna the prophe●esse said of him in the temple when he was circumcised They regarded not his doctrine ful of authoritie and ●ower themselues beeing driuen to confesse that neuer man before spake ●ike vnto him they were not moo●ed with his miracles when they ●aw how by his owne power he hea●ed them of incurable diseases made ●he blind to see the lame to goe the ●eafe to heare cast out the deuills by ●he power of his word raised vp thē●hat were dead and did many more ●●ings els which were sufficient to ●onuince them that he was the true ●essiah and Sauiour to whome all ●●e Prophets gaue witnesse neither did they giue any credit vnto the voice of God himselfe which they heard from heauen when he was baptized Matth. 3.17 This is my beloued sonne in whome I am well pleased at what time also the heauens were opened and the Spirit of God descended like a doue and lighted vpon him Much lesse did they giue credit vnto the testimonie of Iohn who saide of him Behold the lambe of God Ioh. 1.36 that taketh away the sinnes of the world None of all these they regarded they were not sufficient to cause th● to beleeue in him they despised the● all as though they had been nothin● worth but such a foolish thing 〈◊〉 this they desire and that should satisfie them if he would come down● from the crosse and that euen ve● now at their appointment and tar●● no longer then they could beleeue● him indeede but if he would not d●● that at all or not now presently wi●● out any delay they will not beleeue in him Which if he had done he had forsaken his office of redemption for he came to suffer and die for vs that he