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	receive_v	18,187	5	5.7163	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A02735	Deaths aduantage little regarded, and The soules solace against sorrow Preached in two funerall sermons at Childwal in Lancashire at the buriall of Mistris Katherin Brettergh the third of Iune. 1601. The one by William Harrison, one of the preachers appointed by her. Maiestie for the countie palatine of Lancaster, the other by William Leygh, Bachelor of Diuinitie, and pastor of Standish. Whereunto is annexed, the Christian life and godly death of the said gentlevvoman.	Harrison, William, d. 1625.; Leigh, William, 1550-1639.	1602 (1602)	STC 12866; ESTC S117329	105,988	243

As for sodaine death it is euill to them which lead an euill life because it findes them vnprepared it carries them away ●odainelie vnto torment but it is not euill to them which liue well because it finds them prepared it frees them from much paine which others endure through long sicknes and carries them forth-with to the place where they desire to be The righteous doe so dispose of themselues in the morning as if they might dy before night and at night as if they might die before morning and therefore whensoeuer death comes it finds them prepared and is a benefit vnto them 2 Againe if the righteous a little before death be dangerouslie tempted by Sathan and shew their infirmitie by vttering some speeches which tend to doubting or desperation though after ward they get victory and triumph ouer the diuell carnall people think there is no peace of conscience and therefore no saluation to bee had by that religion and so speake euill of it Let such consider the estate of Iob in his miserie who cursed the day of his birth saide that the arrowes of the almightie did sticke in him the venome whereof had drunke vp his spirit that the terrours of God did fight against him that the Lord was his enimie did write bitter things against him and did set him as a butte to shoote at As also the estate of Dauid through terrour of conscience while hee concealed his sinne His bones consumed he rored all the day long his moysture was turned into the drought of sommer Againe let him know that the diuell doth most tempt the best He then tempted Christ when he was baptized and filled with the holie Ghost so will hee most tempt Christians when they haue receiued greatest gifts of Gods spirit As theeues labour to breakedowne and rob those houses onlie where great store of treasure or wealth is laid vp and as Pyrats desire to take that ship which is best loden with the dearest merchandise so the diuell doth most seeke to make a pray of them which are endued with the greatest measure of spirituall graces When the strong man armed keepeth the house the things that he possesseth are in peace but when a stronger then he ouercommeth him then hee gathereth greater forces and makes a new assault to enter againe In any commotion whom doe rebels kill and spoile not those which submit themselues vnto them and ioyne with them in their rebellion but those which are faithfull to their Prince fight for their Prince against them as hath appeared of late in the rebell of Ireland Now the diuell is as a rebell in the Lords kingdome whome then will he most trouble and assault not the wicked which submit themselues vnto him and ioyne with him in rebellion against God but the godlie which abide faithfull and fight vnder the Lords banners against him Whosoeuer would raigne with Christ in heauen must ouercome the diuell on earth for he promiseth To him that ouercommeth will I graunt to sit with mee in my throne euen as I ouercame and sit with my father in his throne How can there be a victorie wherothere is no battaile And how can there be any battaile where there is not assaulting and resisting And no meruaile though the diuell do most assault the righteous at their death for hee taketh the opportunitie of the time his wrath is thē great knowing that he hath but a short time He must either ouercome thē at that instant or els not at all yea hee takes the aduantage of their present weakenesse and those sinnes which before hee perswaded people to bee small and light at the time of death he maketh great and heauie Euen as a tree or peece of wood while it swims in a riuer seemeth to bee light and one may easilie draw it but when it comes to the shore and is laid vpon drie ground can scarcelie be drawne by ten men so sin is made light by the diuell so long as men liue that so hee may still encourage them to practise it but when it comes to the shore of death then he makes it heauie and begins most to trouble their consciences with it that if it were possible they might by it bee brought to desperation In the midst of the temptation when the godlie seeme most to be ouercome they are but like to a man in a traunce who lies as though he were dead yet he hath life in him and therfore as Paul saw that life was in Eutiches embraced him and deliuered him aliue when the people tooke him vp for dead so God seeth life in the righteous being tempted when men take them for dead and hee will at last so restore them as that they shall liue for euer with him 3 Lastlie others beholding them which were reputed righteous to die very stranglie to raue to blaspheme to vtter many idle and impious speeches to be vnrulie and behaue themselues verie foolishlie● they begin to suspect their profession but let them know that these things may arise from the extremitie of their disease For in hote feuers and burning agues the choler ascending into the braine will hinder the vse of their vnderstanding and so cause thē thus to misbehaue themselues rather like madmen then Christians And therefore as Paule said of himselfe after regeneration it is no more I that doe it but the sinne that dwelleth in me so may I say of them it is not they which doe it but the disease which is vpon them All sinnes committed by the righteous in those extremities are but sins of ignorance because they want the vse of reason to iudge of sinne they are also sins of infirmitie arising from the frailtie of their flesh and for them they will afterward repent if they recouer the vse of reason and be able to know them to be sins or if they doe not they are freelie pardoned in the death of Christ as well as other such sins be Wherefore I say to those which censure them vncharitablie for that their end as Christ said to the Iewes fontheir carnall censure of him Iudge not according to the appearante but iudge righteous iudgment yea iudge not that yee be not iudged 5 In the last place the finall cause and end of their death is to bee considered They be taken away from euill to come The speciall euils from which these righteous persons were taken are mentioned in the former Chapter to be deuoured in a cruell manner by the wilde beasts of the forrest But we must further vnderstand that the euils from which the righteous are taken are either ordinarie or extraordinarie The ordinarie euils are those which eyther all men or most men doe suffer And these are eyther corporall or spirituall corporall as sicknes and diseases aches and paines in their bodies griefe and sorrow toyle and labour crosses and losses outward troubles and persecution Gods children so long as they

our crosses but they feele not our comforts so said the Saints of olde and therefore to such as thinke it a straunge thing that the Saints of God should haue their fi●ie trial in this world by bickerings buffetings and winnowings of Satan They are fooles and slowe of heart to beleeue like the two disciples who went to Emmaus thinking still of their Christ crowned but neuer crossed till the Lord had rectified their thoughts and laide a necessitie of triall vpon all flesh beginning with himselfe thus Ought not Christ to haue suffered these things and to haue entred into his glorie Whereby I gather no peace without warre no rest without toyle no crowne without a crosse no entrance without suffering no glorie without shame and shaking in this wofull world But happely you will say some be neuer broken in heart nor yet haue any conflict with Satan sinne or death they are feared with no temptations nor doe they grieue because of him whom they pearced They haue made a couenant with the graue and a league with hell of such I say their case is desperate and their condition is no better then the beasts fat●ed vp in the best pastures reserued for the slaughter of whom Iob speaketh when hee saith The houses of the wicked are peaceable without feare and the rod of God is not vpon them they spend their daies in wealth and suddenly they droppe down to hell As also Dauid there are no bands in their death they haue no knots as it is in the originall they are n●t troubled like other men There be many in the world which would faine haue a Church of sugar or of veluet as one saith they would feede vpon manchet and tread vpon Roses I meane in seruing God they would be freed from afflictions they loue Canaan but they lothe the wildernesse they like the crowne but they loue not the crosse Shilo runneth sweetely but Iordan is to too turbulent all like Zebedeus his sonnes Iames and Iohn who sought to sit in the seate of honour but not to drinke of the cup of afflictions But the truth is you may beleeue it the way to heauen is not strowed with flowers but set with thornes and happily you shall finde it in your experience true that Whosoeuer will liue godly in Christ Iesus must suffer persecutiō Quater luctatus est Iacob in vtero cum Esau in via cum eodem in Mesopotamia cum Laban in Bethel cum Angelo Iacob wrestled foure times in the wombe with Esau in his iourney with Esau in Mesopotamia with Laban and at Bethel with the Angell To teach vs that if we wil be the Israel of God we must arme our selues for all trials at all times in all places and with all persons retaining no longer the name of Iacob as supplanting our troubles but the name of Israel as preuailing with God and neuer leauing him without a blessing Excellent things are spoken of thee thou Church of God A woman clothed with the Sunne crowned with the Starres and treading vpon the Moone yet trauailing in birth pursued with the dragon and readie to be deuoured both her selfe and her sillie babe But heauen sung her triumph against the accuser of the brethren and he was cast downe which accused them before God day and night To be accused before men is much but to be accused before our God is more Now and then to be accused is much but night and day is more And such are the persecutions of Gods children in this world they neuer haue an end nor euer shall till the world be without hatred the diuell without enuie and our nature without corruption Thinke it not straunge my deere brethren concerning the firie triall which did befall this Gentlewoman to prooue her at her end as though some strange thing had come vnto her but reioyce rather in as much as she hath been partaker of Christs sufferings that when his glory shall appeare she may be glad and reioyce Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed he fall not There hath no temptation taken her but such as appertaineth to man And God was faithfull who would not suffer her to be tempted aboue that she was able and euen gaue the issue with the temptation that she might be able to beare it When the beholders thought the Whale had swallowed vp Ionah to kill him hee swallowed him vp to saue him The Lord hid his face from her she was troubled But ye are witnesses who were present at her death that his wrath indured but the twinckling of an eye and though heauines continued for a night yet ioy came in the morning when you saw her fined like gold renewed like an Eagle soring high into the bosome of Christ with this powerfull speech and godly ouation at her end Heare O Lord haue mercie vpon me Lord be thou my helper Thou hast turned my mourning into ioy thou hast loosed my sacke and girded me with gladnesse therefore shall my tongue praise thee and not cease O Lord my God I will giue thankes vnto thee for euer-more Well she is gone and now behold her seate is emptie and her graue is full and me thinkes for the present wee feele her want on earth whom God hath found in Heauen Our prayers lesse powerfull our preaching lesse precious and our Psalmes lesse melodious on her behalfe For you all know that there she sate and there she sung there she read and there she prayed there she heard the word there she receiued the Sacraments there lately she liued and there now she is dead therefore may I say with the Prophet All flesh is grasse and all the grace thereof as the flower of the field But comfort your selues in hope of a ioyfull resurrection as also in respect of her holy life blessed end and most happie state in glorie and sith she is gone let it be remembred as a sacrament of her rest that she went vpon a day of rest one of the chiefest of Sabbaoths and high feast of Pentecost euen then that she should ascend when the holy Ghost did descend by which spirit she was sealed vp to the day of redemption Worshipfully was she descended but most honorably may I now say is she ascended yet behold the husband mourneth for that hee hath lost a wife the mother mourneth for that she hath lost a daughter the brother mourneth for that he hath lost a sister which is me thinks not much vnlike the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo And yet this is not all for wee Preachers may mourne most for that wee haue lost an auditor who heard with reuerence felt with passion and followed with perseuerance But beloued what we haue lost heauen hath found and the holy Angels reioyce at the gaine in the meane time the Lord of Heauen supplie the want vpon earth and increase the number of faithfull

liues were in outward shew could not be righteous before God because as Paul testifieth of them they being ignorant of the righteousnes of God and going about to stablish their owne righteousnes haue not submitted themselues to the righteousnes of God And likewise in regard hereof it is hard to finde in the Church of Rome a man that is truely righteous before God For the papists hold that we are made righteous by infusion of grace and practise of good workes and that we can be no more righteous by the righteousnes of Christ imputed vnto vs then we may bee wise by another mans wisdome or learned by another mans learning But if they would duely consider either the perfection of the Lords iustice or the imperfection of our inherent grace and good workes they would not imagine that the one could be satisfied by the other Augustine said that which the law of workes commaunded by threatning the law of faith doth obtaine by beleeuing Christ Iesus as he is mediator is as truly giuen vnto vs of God as any land can be giuen by one to another and therefore we may as wel be made righteous by his righteousnes as one man may be made rich by another mans riches giuen vnto him And it is strange to see the partialitie of Papists in the matter of impuratiō for they teach that the fastings and satisfactory deeds of one man be auaileable to others yea and that holy saincts or other vertuous persons may in measure and proportion of other mens necessities and deseruings allot vnto them as well the supererogation of their spirituall works as those that abound in worldly goods may giue almes of their superfluities to them which are in necessitie and yet they deny that the righteousnes of Christ may be imputed vnto vs for iustification as if the Lord would accept the works of men to satisfie for vs and not the righteousnes of his owne Sonne 2. Secondly men are made righteous by sanctification when by the spirit of God the mind is enlightened the heart is mollified the will is rectified the affections are changed and the whole course of the life is reformed so that whereas before they liked and loued and liued in sinne now they abhorre it and auoyde it and therefore it is said he that doth righteousnes is righteous as he is righteous and whosoeuer doth not righteousnes is not of God Yet this doth not make vs perfectly righteous but imperfectly and not before God but before men and of this Iames speaketh saying Was not Abraham our father iustified through workes when he offered his sonne on the altar Yee see then how that of workes a man is iustified and not of faith onely That is a man is declared manifested tryed to be iust by the works of the law and so doe diuers of the Schoolemen expound that place And indeede vnlesse wee did so vnderstand it the Apostle Iames would contradict the Apostle Paul who saith that a man is iustified by faith without the workes of the law so that there is one righteousnes imputed another righteousnes exercised and declared Whosoeuer are iustified by Christs merits they are at the same instant sanctified by his spirit and made able to practise righteousnes in their conuersation Herein God excelleth all Princes in the world for they may vpon good consideration receiue againe into fauour those which haue offended them as Dauid did Absolom yea they may restore them to the former dignities which they had taken from them yet they cannot alter their nature and disposition to make them more dutifull then they were before But God thus dealeth with his subiects that haue offended him he doth not only forgiue them their sinnes and receiue them into fauour for Christs sake but also sanctifieth them by his spirit to keepe them in obedience afterward Now the markes whereby a righteous man may be knowne are to be learned for many would be reckoned in this number which are vnrighteous There is a generation which are pure in their owne conceit and yet are not washed from their filthines Although the best and surest knowledge ariseth from the causes of a thing and therefore we might best learne who is a righteous man by that which was spoken before yet because those things are inward and secret I will teach you foure outward markes whereby a righteous man may be discerned First a righteous man may be knowne by the generalitie of his obedience if it extend it selfe to the whole course of his life and to all the commaundements of God If he doe not take libertie in any one sinne but striueth to auoyd all nor omitteth any one good dutie but indeuoureth to performe all being like to Zacharias and Elizabeth who were iust before God and walked in all the commaundements and ordinances of the Lord without reproofe Considering that God will not dispense with any of his seruants for the breach of any one of his lawes as Princes sometimes vpon speciall occasions dispence with some of their subiects for penall Statutes and seeing that hee who binds vs to all in generall bindeth vs to euery one in particular and that whosoeuer keepeth the whole lawe and yet faileth in one point is guiltie of all a true righteous man will be as carefull to keepe one as another Some men are like to Naaman for he professed the true God of Israel and promised to serue and worship him alone yet desired to be borne withall for one speciall sin herein saith he to the Prophet the Lord be mercifull vnto thy seruant that when my maister goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there and leaneth on my hand and I bow my selfe in the house of Rimmon the Lord bee mercifull vnto thy seruant in this point So they are willing to auoyde all other sinnes saue onely one which serueth most for their pleasure or profit they desire to be pardoned for it These are little better then Herod was for he feared Iohn Baptist and reuerenced him heard him gladly and did many things after him but when Iohn told him that it was not lawfull for him to haue his brothers wife he would not obey him because that sinne serued most for his pleasure Although a Ship bee sound in all parts but one and leaketh in no place saue onely one yet it may bee drowned by meanes of that one Though the walls of a besieged Citie bee strong and well fortified in all places saue one and haue no breaches saue onely one the enemies may enter in at that one and spoyle the Citie Our soule is as a Ship on the sea if it haue but one hole where it leaketh it may make shipwracke of faith and a good conscience it is as a Citie besieged by the Diuel and his angels if there be but one breach in the walls of it the diuel may there enter and spoyle it A birde is