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	lord_n	23,094	5	4.0162	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A22897	A little pamphlet entituled the ladder of paradise Very worthy and needful to be read of every Christian that is willing to tread the steps which lead to heauen.; Scala paradisi. English.	Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo, attributed name.; Guigo II, d. 1188, attributed name.; T. W., fl. 1573-1595.	1580 (1580)	STC 937; ESTC S115844	15,368	46

is more more kindled Whilst thou Lord doost break vnto me the bread of holy Scripture in breaking of bread thou art the sooner knowen the more I knowe thée y e more I desire to knowe thée not now in the bark of the letter but in the féeling of experience Neither doo I ask this O Lord for my merites but for thy mercies sake For I confesse that I am an vnworthy sinfull soule not withstanding the whelpes doo eat y e crūmes that fall from the table of their Lords Giue me o Lord y e ernest of the enheritāce to come at the least one drop of the heauenly raine that I might coole my thirst for I burne in loue of thée The office of contemplation Cap. 5. WIth these and such like enflamed spéeches the soule kindleth her desire as she vttereth her affection w t these allurements the soule caleth to her selfe the Bridegroom Now the Lord whose eyes are set vpon the righteous and his ears not onely open vnto their prayers but hastely interrupting the middle course of the prayer and spéedely béeing compassed with the dew of heauenly grace he meteth with the destring soule And béeing anointed with the best ointmēt he recreateth y e wery soule he refresheth the hungry maketh fat the lean soule causeth her to forget all worldly thingꝭ and béeing vnmindeful of him self by fortifying the soule maketh her aliue and by making her drunck causeth her to be sober and like as in certein carnall duties the concupiscence is so ouercome that it looseth the vse of reasō and is become as it were altogither carnall So for good cause in this heauenly contemplation the carnall mocions are so consumed and swalowed vp of the soule that the flesh dooth contrary the spirit in no thing and the man is made as it were altogither spirituall Signes of the holy Ghoste coming vnto the soule Cap. 6. O Lord how doost thou appéer when thou woorkest these thinge what token is ther of thy comming Be sighes and teares witnesses and messengers of this ioye and consolation If it be so this is a new kinde of speech by a contrary meaning and a signification out of vse For what felowship hath consolation with sorowful sighes or ioy w c teares If these yet ought to be called teares and not rather an ouer running abundance of inward dew powred vpon the soule and a token bothe of the inward and outward purging That like as in the baptisme of child●en by the outward washing is signified and figured the inward washing of the soule so hear the inward purging goeth before the outward clensing O happy teares by which the inward blemishes of the soule are purged by which y e kindlings of sin are quenched Blessed are you that so mourne because you shall laugh In teares O soule acknowledge thy bridegroom imbrace thy long desired one Now make thy self drunk in the riuer of plesure suck Milk Hunny out of the brest of his consolation These are the pure gifts pleasures which thy Bridegroom hath sent thée namely mourning and teares With these teares he bringeth drink vnto thée by measure these teares are thy food night and day euen the bread that maketh strong the hart of man which are swéeter thē the honye or the hony comb O Lord if these teares be so excéeding sweet with the desire and remembrance of thée how swéet shall the ioy be which shalbe taken by y e manifest sight of thee If it be so sweet a thing to weep for thee how sweet shall it be to reioyce of thee But what doo wee go about to set foorth openly the secret speeches of the soule why go we about w t vsuall woords to expresse y e spirituall affections Those which haue not the experience therof vnderstād not any such matters whom the anointing it selfe teacheth in y e book of experiēce or els y e outward letter profiteth nothing to him that readeth Litle good sauour hath the reading of the outward letter except from the harta man take the exposicion and inward sence In what estate the soule remaineth whilst the feruencie of the holy Ghoste departeth Cap. 7. O Soule we haue greatly prolonged this talke for it was good for vs to bee heer with Peeter and Iohn to beholde the glory of the Bridegroom and long to remain with him But I would there were made heer not three nor two seuerall Tabernacles but one in which we might all dwel togither and Joy togither But as the Bridegroome saieth Let me go for now the mornig riseth Now thou hast receiued the visitation and light of grace which thou diddest desire Therfore the blessing béeing giuen thee the sinow of thy thigh beeing mortified and thy name beeing chaunged from Jacob to Israel now for a while goeth aside y e bridegrome long desired and soon departed he withdraweth himself as wel from the vision as from the swéetnes of contemplation yet dooth hée still remain present towching y e gouernment the glory and the vnite A reson geuē why the feruentnesse of the holy ghost dooth for a time leaue the soule Cap. 8. BVt feare not O spouse despair not neither thinke thy self to be contemned though for a while y e bride grōe hide his face frō thée all these things woork togither for thy profit and thou makest a gaine bothe of his cōming and of his departure hée cometh for thy profit and hée also departeth for thy profit hee cōeth to giue thée comfort and departeth to make thée vigilant lest the greatnes of thy consolation should puffe thée vp lest if the bridegrome should alwaies abide with thee y u shouldst begin to contemne thy felowes and shouldst now attribute this continuall visitation not to grace but to nature for this grace the bridegroom giueth to whom hée will when it pleaseth him the possession therof is not gotten by any right of enheritance It is a cōmō sayīg ouer much familiaritie bréedeth contēpt The bridegrom therfore departeth from thée least beeing ouer much conuersant hee might be contemned and that being absent he might be the more desired and béeing desired the more gréedily sought for being long sought for hee might be at the last more thākfully found Furthermore what is this present life what is it in respect of the glory to come which shall be shewed vpon vs surely it is a life like a dark riddell in which wee vnderstand but a small parte for heer we haue no continuing Citie but we seek for one to come let vs not then take our banishment for our countrie nor the ernest penny for the whole price The Bridegrome cometh departeth again Somtime bringing consolation sometime turning our whole estate into weaknes A litle while he suffereth vs to taste how sweet he is and before we can fully feele it hee withdraweth himself and as it were flickring ouer vs with his wings spred a brode bē proueketh vs to fly

you by contemplation Reding dooth as it were apply substātiall meat vnto the mouth Mediation dooth chaw it and break it Prayer obtayneth the swéetnes of it Contemplation is the swéetnes it self which delighteth and refresheth Reading is in the skin Meditacion is the fat Prayer is the motiō of the desire Contemplatiō is the pleasure of the sweetnes obtained whiche thing that yet it may more manifestly appéere among many I wil set down one exāple In reading I heard Blessed are the pure in hert for they shall see God Beholde héere a short woord but swéet and manifolde in sence and giueth vnto the féeding of the soule as it were of a Grape which after the soule hath diligently vewed it sayeth within it self I wil return vnto my hart and I wil prooue if parhaps I can vnderstand and finde out this puritis This thing no dout is precious and woorthy to be destred whose possessors are called blessed vnto which the sight of God which is eternall life is promysed which is so greatly cōmended with so many testimonies of y e holy scripture The hart then desirous to haue this thing yet more fully to be vnfolded beginneth to chaw to break this grape and putteth it into the presse whilest it sturreth vp reason to search whether it be so and how this precious puritie so woorthy to be desired may be attayned The office of meditation Cap. 3. THen diligent meditation drawing néer she tarieth not without she hath nothing to doo in the out side of the letter she setteth fast her foot she perceth the inward partes shée seeketh out euery corner attentiuely she considereth that he said not blessed are the clene in body but y e pure in minde because it suffiseth not to haue innocent hands frō euil acts except we be also purified in minde from wicked thoughts which thing is confirmed by the authoritie of the Prophet saying VVho shall goe vp into the h●l of the Lord who shall rest in his holy place hee that is innocent of his hands and of a clene hart And doth againe consider how greatly the same Prophet dooth wish for this clenes of hart praūg thus Create O Lord a new hart within me And agaī If I haue beheld iniquitie in my hart the Lord wil not hear me And thīk how carful blessed Iob was in this watch who said I haue made a couenāt with mine eyes that I would not once think vpon a Virgin Beholde how this holy man restrayned him self which closed vp his eyes lest he should beholde vanitie lest parhap he should rashly beholde that which he might after against bis wil desire After meditation hath bandled suche things touching the puritie of the hart then she beginneth to muse vpon the reward how glorioꝰ delectable a thing it is to see the desired face of the Lord that excellēt face in fauour far passing the children of men not now abiect and vile not hauing now the countenance in which his mother clothed him but hauing on the long garment of immortalitie crowned with the diadem with which his Father crowned him in the day of his resurrection and glory in the day which the Lord hath made Meditation thinketh how in that sight there shall be the fulnes wherof the Prophet speaketh VVe shalbe satisfied when thy glory shal appeer Doost thou not sée what abundance of licour hath flowed out of a litle Grape how great a fire is growen out of this one spark how far this litle lamp Blessed are the pure in hart for they shall see God is stretched out in this meditation But how far think you might the same be extended if some man should come in place which had good experience of such mattere for I perceiue that a very déep wel it is but I béeing vnskilful in these matters haue scarcely found the bucket to drawe out very few things The soule beeing enflamed with these burning torches and mortified with these desires the alabastar of the swéet ointment beeing broken it beginneth swéetly to sauour not as by taste but as it were by smelling at the nose Herof the Soule dooth gather how swéet a thing it were to féele the frute of this meditacion the meditation wherof shée findeth to be so plesant But what shall the soule doo she burneth with desire to obtain yet she findeth not with her self how it may be had the more she sercheth the more she thirsteth and while she applyeth meditation therunto she dooth but encreace the pain because the soule feeleth not the swéetnes which meditation dooth not giue her but sheweth her to be in puritie of the hart for it lyeth not in him that readeth or meditateth to féele this swéetnes except it be giuen him from aboue for to read and to meditate is a thing common bothe to good and euil men for the very philosophers of the heathen did finde out by drift of reasō wherin the effect of the true good thing did consist But because when they knew God they did not glorify him as GOD but presuming of their owne strength said our owne tung wil wée magnify our own lips be of our selues they were not woorthy to feele y e things they could see but waxed ful of vanities in their imaginations their wisdome was consumed For that wisdome humain study of learning but not the spirite of wisdome had giuen them which spirite onely giueth true wisdome I mean the swéet knowledge whiche when it is in any man as an inestimable swéetnes it dooth comfort refresh him And of this wisdome it is said VVisdome shall not enter in to a froward soule This cometh of God onely euen like as the Lord hath graunted the office of baptising vnto many but the power and authoritie in baptisme of remitting sinnes he hath reserued vnto him felf alone Wherupon John in stéed of naming Christe by that propertie as by way of distinguishment pointing to him 〈◊〉 saith This is hee which baptiseth in the holy Ghoste And so of bun we may say this is hée that giueth the true taste of wisdome that maketh the plesant sauored science of the soule for speech is giuen to many but wisdome vnto fewe which y e Lord deuideth vnto whom he wil and after what sorte it pleaseth him The office of prayer Cap. 4. NOw y e soule séeing y t she can not by her self attain the desired swéetnes of knowledge and experience the more she approcheth vnto highnes of hart so much the more God is lifted abooue her reach she humbleth her self and flyeth vnto prayer saying O Lord thou which maist not be see but of clene harts I haue sought by reading I haue searched by meditating how the true puritie of hart might be obtained y t by the means therof I might in part knowe thée I sought thy coūtenance O Lord euen thy face did I séek I haue long me ditated in my hart and in my meditation the fire and longing to knowe thee