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
A91899	Safe conduct, or The saints guidance to glory. Opened in a sermon preached at Dunstans in the East London. November the second, MDCLIV. At the funerall of the vertuous and religious gentlewoman, Mris. Thomasin Barnardiston, late wife of Mr. Samuel Barnardiston, merchant. / By Ralph Robinson, pastor of Mary Wolnoth, Lumbardstreet, London.	Robinson, Ralph, 1614-1655.	1655 (1655)	Wing R1711; Thomason E823_7; ESTC R203376	61,656	101

a guide to lead them in the way to true happinesse The Spirit of God Lorinus in Loc. Calvin in Loc. Isa 59. 21. Secondly The Spirit of God So some expound it of the spirit of Counsell and judgement The Spirit and the word must not be separated in this work of guiding These two are usually put together My spirit that is upon thee and my words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth They do not speak as the Oracles of God who divide between the Spirit of God and the word Those that boast of the Spirit and reject the word they set up their own vain imaginations instead of the Spirit of God By the word of God wee know the mind of the Spirit and by the work of the Spirit wee feel the efficacy of the word The word of God shews us the way and the Spirit of God leads us in that way which the word points out The Holy Ghost is called the Mind of God or which is the same the Mind of Christ 1 Cor. 2. 16. because hee is the Churches interpreter to declare unto it the meaning of God in the word The work of divine guidance is attributed to the Spirit therefore Isa 63. 11. 12. 13 14. as well as to the word Where is hee that put his holy spirit within him That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm That led them through the deep as an horse in the Wildernesse that they should not stumble As a beast goeth down into the valley the spirit of the Lord caused him to rest God made Moses a guide to Israel but it was the Spirit of God that guided Moses It was the holy Ghost that instructed Moses to lead the people and it was the divine power of the Holy Ghost that over-ruled the people and made them willing to submit to his guidance The Apostle ascribes this Office to the Spirit As many as are led Rom. 8. 14. by the Spirit of God they are the sonns of God Jesus Christ purchased the Holy Ghost and sent him down from heaven after his own ascension to be the eternall guide of his Church and therefore he tels his sorrowing Disciples that when hee was come hee would lead them into all Truth The word is Gods Counsell Joh. 16. 13. to discover the path in which wee are to walk the Spirit is the Counsell of God that teacheth us how to walk in that path The Scripture is a Rule before Isa 30. 21. us to shew us where wee must go the Spirit is a word behind us to enable us to go according to the direction of that word The word of God is the compass by which wee are to shape our course the Spirit is the great Pilot that steers us in that course Wee have no eyes to see the word till the Spirit inlighten them wee have no ears to hear the word till the Spirit open them we have no hearts to obey the word till the Spirit bow and incline them Thirdly The wise providence of God I find 3 The providence of God some Expositors that do so understand the Text of that directing providence whereby the people of God are conducted while they are on earth The providence of God is often called the Eye of God or in the plurall number the Eyes of God because of the manifold workings of it By these watchfull eyes are the servants of God guided in all the revolutions and turnings of this world I will guide thee with my eye Psa 32. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Hebrew word which is there translated guide is from the very same root with that which is in the Text rendred counsel The guidance of Gods counsel and the guidance of his providence are one and the same thing This Eye of God is never withdrawn from the righteous but is continually fixed upon them for their preservation and defence These eyes of providence run to and fro throughout the whole earth to take care of and to make speciall provision for all Gods Psa 34. 15. Elect. The actings of divine providence are not only for the supplying of the Saints in their necessities but for the preserving of them from wandrings and for the reducing of them when they do wander The Starre of providence is usefull for the guiding of the saints feet as well as the Starre of Scripture Thus I have opened the first particular what is comprehended in this expression Gods Counsel it refers to the word of God to the Spirit of God to the Providence of God Secondly Why the people of God do so passionately desire this divine guidance These prayers are Why the godly desire this guidance grounded upon very solid reasons I shall reduce them briefly to these three First They know they are lyable to wander and therefore want a guide It s said of the wicked that 1 They are apt to winder they love to wander Jer. 14. 10. they are never better pleased with themselves than when they walk in some path that is displeasing to God To provoke God is a pastime and sport to a gracelesse heart when they do evil then they rejoyce they have such a setled Jer. 11. 15. enmity in their hearts against the holy commandement that they delight in their walking contrary to it This cannot be spoken of any godly man Every true saint can heartily say Amen to that holy breathing of Psa 119. 10. David O let mee not wander from thy Commandements Godly men do with their minds serve the law of God even when with their flesh they serve the law of sin Rom. 7. ult But though they do not take pleasure in their wandrings yet they are apt to wander and that both in point of judgement and in point of practise The Psalmist doth ingenuously acknowledg that his feet Vers 2. were almost gone his steps had well nigh slipt Had not God come in to his assistance hee had both stumbled and fallen Beleevers have flesh in them as well as Rom. 7. 23. spirit they have a law in their members warring against the law of their Minds though they have sincerity of grace yet they have not perfection of grace though their hearts are set heavenward yet they have a clog of corruption that weighs them down towards the earth unruly and unbridled affections by their violent motions turn them too often out of the way It was the sad complaint of one which may be the complaint of every good man Libenter bonus esse vellem sed cogitationes meae non patiuntur The Apostle tels us the English of it by his own experience I find that when I would do good evil is present with mee Rom 7. 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jam. 1. 21. Our affections which are the wings of the soul are so blinded with that superfluity of naughtinesse which is in us that

to our under standing The Holy Ghost is the Churches Interpreter he gave the Scriptures and he can reveal unto us the sense and meaning of the Scriptures He is called the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation because it is his work to make known to the Church the Spiritual Eph. 1. 17. sense of that word which God hath given to be the rule both of faith and manners Our Saviour when he was about to leave the world tells his Disciples That he would give them his Spirit to bee a guide in his absence He shall lead you saith he into Joh. 16. 13 14. all truth Now how the Holy Ghost should perform this work is laid down in the next Verse He shall take of mine and shew it unto you he shall so powerfully press the Doctrin of the Gospel upon their spirits that they should understand it to be Christs Doctrin It is by the effectual perswasions of the Spirit that wee beleeve the Divine authority of the word Secondly The Spirit of God is able to incline 2 The Spirit bows the heart to obey the Word Ezek. 36. 27. and move the heart to yeeld obedience to the Counsel of the Word It is Gods promise in the Covenant of Grace to his people that he will put his Spirit within them and cause them to walk in his Statutes and that they shall keep his Judgements and do them Did the Spirit only shew the Beleever the rule according to which God would have him walk and not enable him to a ready and cheerful endeavour to conform to it he would fall short of eternal life for man by Nature doth not only want light to see his way but a heart to walk in the way when it is discovered It is a good prayer which David makes to this purpose Incline mine heart unto thy testimonies and not to covetousness Psal 119. 36. The Spirit of God sweetens the rule and renders it acceptable and grateful to the heart The heart of man needs not only Moral perswasion but the strength of effectual and determining Grace to engage it to obedience The heart is naturally imprisoned that it cannot move God-ward until it bee set at liberty the Holy Ghost therefore which God hath given to be a guide draws it and then it runs I will run the way of thy Commandements when thou shalt Psal 119. 32. enlarge my heart Heart-enlargement is as necessary for the Christian Travellor as Heart-inlightning Draw us saith the Church and we will run after thee The Spirit of God draws no man to Heaven against his Cant. 1. 4. will but yet he must and doth over-power the Will and make it willing Trahe quodammodo invitam ut facias voluntariam as Bernard glosseth upon that text Bernard in Loc. The renewed Soul findes too often an indisposition in it self to follow Christ and therefore doth still desire the attractive power of the Spirit Thirdly The Spirit of God is able to preserve the 3 The Spirit preserves from fainting Soul from tiring in the way and herein it excels all other guides No guide can give the Travellour strength when he is weary but the Spirit of God can and doth give fresh strength unto all those whom he guides The Prophet David having had experience of this in himself writes it down for the comfort of others He restoreth my soul he leadeth me in the Psal 23. 3. paths of righteousness for his names sake The Spirit of God hath a restorative vertue as well as an inlightning vertue Historians tell us that the rod of Myrtle in the hand of Travellours preserves them from weariness I know not how true that is but I am sure the Spirit of God in the heart of the Spiritual Travellor doth give him fresh strength when he is weary They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they Isa 40. 31. shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint The way of the Lord could not bee strength to the upright if the Spirit did not increase strength to such as walk in those ways The Holy Ghost is not only a Guide to the Beleever but his viaticum upon which he feeds till he come to the end of his Journey The Spirit of God doth by those continual influences which he gives out to the Saints in their Pilgrimage put new life into their hearts that they cannot tire till they come to take up their lodging in Heaven He anoints their heads with the fresh oyl of his Grace whereby they are enabled to go from one measure of strength to another till they appear before God in Sion It s said of the people of God that they shall still bring forth fruit in old age they shall be fat and flourishing Psa 92. 14. Other trees have a time of bearing and a time of barrennesse but the trees that are planted in Gods house are never past bearing whence is it that the people of God dye bearing fruit but from the continuall influences of the Spirit of Grace If it be demanded how the holy Ghost preserves the Saints from fainting I answer briefly First He carries the divine promises open before them in his hand those great and precious promises as the Apostle By revealing the promises 2 Pet. 1. 4. calls them hee claps warm upon their hearts every morning and how can those tire so as to fall down who have such sovereign plasters upon their souls The promises of God are such water of life as that they will make the hearts of dying men live when Jonathan was faint hee did but dip the end of his rod in the hony comb and his Eyes were inlightned 1 Sam. 14. 27. The Spirit of God causeth the fainting travellors to dip their rods every day in the hony-comb of some promise and by such Cordialls recovers their decayed strength Secondly Hee gives them some glymses of the By giving some tasts of glory glory of that heavenly Country whither they are going Though the full meal of glory bee reserved till the saints come to heaven yet they have some litle tasts of it in this life The Scripture makes mention of the first fruits of the Spirit what are these but the foretasts Rom. 8. ●3 of eternall life they are some drops of that new wine which beleevers shall drink with Christ in the Kingdome of God they are as little bunches of grapes sent down from the celestiall Canaan The Spirit of God doth as it were cause them to peep into heaven and the least glimmerings of glory are sufficient to make the lame man leap as an Hart. The Apostles though they met with much affliction in the way to heaven yet they tell us they fainted not what was it that upheld them wee look not at the things 2 Cor. 4. 18. which are seen but at the things which are not seen The Spirit sometimes carries the Saints up to the top of

Heaven do him service with all the gladnesse of their hearts and cheerfull service is the best service Lift up therefore the hands which hang down and revive the Spirits that are overwhelmed Powre out no more tears for your deceased friends who are removed from a sea of trouble to a haven of rest where they are gloryfied with God and where they do actually glorify God the Father Sonne and Holy Ghost in the highest perfection Comfort your selves and comfort one another with these words Having finished the Scripture Text I shall say something to the providentiall Text. The sad providence which hath occasioned this mournfull meeting preacheth many spirituall lessons to us all First God hath by death carried a young gentlewoman out of the world Strength and Beauty Youth and flourishing daies cannot priviledge any from the Grave This providence repeats in our ears that serious Counsell of the wiseman Remember thy Creator i● the daies of thy Youth Eccle. 12. 1. If wee look into the Tombs wee shall find many cloysted up there whose bones were moystned with marrow and whose breasts were full of Milk The beauty of Rachel will not keep her from the dust The strength of Sampson will not preserve him from death The budding Flower falls to the earth as well as that which is withered The green Ear of Corn is nipt off as well as that which is ripe for the Sickle You that have your veins full of bloud must come to Golgotha as well as those whose Natural moysture decrepid Old Age hath dried up Secondly God hath removed a Gentlewoman of good rank and quality as to outward things It is not natural Parentage or Wealth that can put Death out of Commission Riches avail not in the day of death VVealthy Abraham is gone to the place of rottenness as well as Lazarus the Begger If a man would give a Coffin full of Gold to ransome himself from the Grave it would not be accepted There is neither Redemption nor Exchange of Prisoners in this VVar The rich mans Wealth is his strong City Prov. 10. 15. Death will storm this City and carry a way the Owner notwithstanding all his riches Neither the Guards of Princes nor the Revenues of their Crowns can keep off Death for one moment Death can enter the Kings Court as easily as the Beggars Cottage When God sends Death to attatch a Mortal Creature it esteems not Riches no not Gold nor all the forces of strength Thirdly God hath taken away a religious Gentlewoman Holiness and Piety do not deliver any from the Grave The first of Mortals that dyed was a righteous man The bloud of the righteous Abel Righteousness preserves from eternal Death not from the Temporal Grace in the Saints never dyes but the Saints dye notwithstanding all their graces Beleevers must be wrapt in the Winding-sheet as well as unbeleevers The godly must lye under the Hears-cloth as well as the wicked Abraham is dead and the Prophets are dead There is cause of mourning over dead Saints no cause of wondring Saints never live till they dye then they live for ever These are general Meditations More particularly In reference to this Gentlewoman I shall speak somewhat concerning her Life and something concerning her Death and that not so much for her sake as the benefit of others Concerning her Life these things are remarkable God vouchsafed her the blessing of godly and The Worshipful Joseph Brand Esq and Mrs. Thomasin Brand his religious Consort religious education Her worthy Parents were studious not only to provide wealth for her but their greatest care was that Christ might be formed in her And this did much redound to their comfort for she was as both of them have often expressed a dutiful and obedient Childe The care of Parents for the religious Education of their Children doth ordinarily return to a good account in this life When Parents teach Children to obey him that is the Father of Spirits God usually bows their hearts to be dutiful to their earthly Parents Shee was a respective and loving Wife to her Husband which made her deservedly accounted by him The desire of his eyes Shee was a helpe meet for him a suitable Yoke-fellow who walked with him hand in hand in the ways of God The contentment he had in the enjoyment of such a Companion doth much increase the sorrow of his heart for the loss of her Shee was of an humble and meek spirit The enjoyment of the things of this Life did not swell her heart Those that were acquainted with her can truly give this testimony of her That shee did not inordinately minde high things but could condescend to them of low estate A full Purse and an humble Heart do not always meet together Shee was no follower of the vain fashions of the VVorld Her Apparrel was decent and modest not gairish The Apostle gives this advice to VVomen To adorn themselves in modest apparrel with shamefastness and sobriety as becometh women professing godliness 1 Tim. 2. 9 10. This Gentlewoman did dress her self in this Scripture-glass Spotted faces and naked breasts are Arguments of light spirits and unmortified hearts God was pleased by his Grace to preserve this Gentlewoman in a wanton Age from these vanities Shee did labour to keep fast the faith that was once delivered to the Saints Though shee was but young having not fully compleated the twentieth year of her age yet was shee not one of those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostle speaks silly Women that are drawn away by the cunning craftiness of those that creep into Houses and lead many captive Shee was a lover of all the Ordinances of God and a frequenter of that instituted Ministry which God hath given testimony unto by the conversion of many souls God kept her by his Grace that shee did not tread upon the threshold of those infectious places where Errours and Blasphemies are usually broached Concerning her death I have not much to speak A good Life cannot but end in a blessed Death Her Sickness was not very long but it was very sharp Many tormenting pains were in her head which could not be removed till the last medicine of Death took them away In her Sickness shee was very frequent in Prayer for her self and did importunately desire help from the prayers of others I was daily praying with her by her own desire for divers days together and sometimes twice a day which gave me more opportunity to be acquainted with her estate Shee was for some time fearful of Death as not having that full Assurance shee longed for but at last God gave her the victory over those fears About two or three days before the Soul took its leave of the Body God was graciously pleased to give her in plenty of comfort Her sorrowful Husband and Parents coming into the Chamber shee brake forth into these expressions or to this effect Now hath God abundantly manifested his love to my Soul in Jesus Christ you are not able to conceive the joy I feel nor am I able to express it I am now sure that Jesus Christ is mine I know that my sins are forgiven me for his sake I am now both willing and desirous to dye that I may be with Christ This consolation cannot but be judged to be from the blessed Spirit of God because it was the fruit of Prayer and because it was given in after deep humblings and Spiritual Conflicts as also because it was followed with many self-abhorrings which are the genuine effects of Gospel-comfort VVhen shee mentioned these comforts shee did usually adde some such expression as this I am a very unworthy Creature but I hope I am not deceived One very considerable passage I cannot but acquaint you with Some days before her death her gracious Mother seeing the means used for her recovery to be in-effectual retired her self into her closet to pray for her Amongst other Petitions she was very importunate that God would give her pardon and peace Soon after returning into the room where shee lay shee found those very words in her mouth Pardon and Peace God hath sealed up to my Soul pardon and peace through Jesus Christ This was a very signal testimony that God had answered her request Thus she continued sometimes bewayling her sins with much sorrow sometimes sending up holy ejaculations to God as she was able That God would never fail her nor forsake her sometimes expressing her confidence of the love of God in such words as these I have the whole Armour of God upon me God hath given me the shield of faith the breast-plate of Righteousness the helmet of Salvation I have now overcome the fiery darts of Satan I do not in the least fear him or death Amongst other Petitions shee had frequently this in her mouth Guide mee Lord by thy counsel until thou bring me to glory That which now remains is To intreat all of us that are here present to resolve and endeavour to be guided both in matters of faith and obedience by the powerful counsel of Gods blessed VVord and Spirit that when our eyes are closed up by death we may be received in eternal glory FINIS