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	scripture_n	19,615	5	6.1818	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A32894	Christian unity exhorted to being a few words in tender love to all professing of Christianity in old England, the land of my nativity : wherein the difference between profession and possession of that which is really the substance of true religion, is clearly manifested : also, the great breach of Christian charity, caused by their furious contentions about formality : with a few words to the poor in spirit, concerning my opinion of a saving knowledge of Christ Jesus / by one who dearly loves all those whose conversation becomes Christ's Gospel.	One who dearly loves all those whose conversation becomes Christ's Gospel.	1678 (1678)	Wing C3950; ESTC R270	11,173	17

unto thee what my opinion is concerning a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ it is not my desire that thou shouldest vow Allegiance to my Dictates or pin thy faith upon my sleeve as I doubt we have both ●oo much formerly upon others but my heart earns towards thee that thou mayst be perswaded to hearken to the teachings of Christs spirit alone and then thou wilt not need any of mans teaching for the Scriptures of Truth testifie that no man knoweth the things of God save the spirit of God which spirit is ready and willing to instruct thee in all things that are necessary for thee to know so this is one great benefit thou shalt partake of by this inward acquaintance with Christ in knowing him to be with thee at all times and in all places Nay when thou art in thy bed if thy mind be retired he will make thee remember what thou hast done in the day past for he sits in thy conscience judging all thy actions note therefore that conscience is not the Judge but the Seat wherein the Judges sits therefore pray mistake not the Seat for the Judge for I cannot but make mention of this thing because of the great mistake that thousands are in about this matter for when they have been afraid to commit some gross sin they say their conscience will not suffer them not considering who it is that is in their consciences restraining them from sinning so Christ hath been robbed of his honour and many hundreds have been in want of his Divine power because they have not known him so near them Friendly Reader let me intreat thee when thou art in a serious frame of spirit examine thy own heart and I doubt not but thou wilt find some sense of these things in thy own particular and it shall be the desire of my Soul that the Lord may increase in thee more and more a lively powerfull sence of his Truths that it may be to his glory and the everlasting welfare of thy poor immortal Soul and for thy farther satisfaction search the holy Scriptures for I desire not to write any thing but what they testifie and wait on the Lord alone for Direction and Counsel therefore consult not with flesh and bloud and thou shalt receive an inward sence of that which thou desirest to know for the seeking that of mans wisdom which alone belongs to the Revelation of Gods spirit hath been the only cause that many have been always a learning and yet never come to the knowledge of the Truth friendly Reader I doubt not if thou art one who desires to be acquainted with the holy dictates of Christs spirit but that thou wilt have a clear un-understanding of the vast difference between thy seeking knowledge from the precepts of men and the Revelations of Gods spirit too too much slighted by many in our Nation therefore pray let us beware of doing despite to the spirit of Grace and resisting the Holy Ghost in working on our corrupt wills and affections in order both to our conviction and conversion for though there is no power in our natural Wills to act that which is good yet there is an ability to refuse resisting of that which hath power to work otherwise how could it be said in Scripture that men grieve and quench the holy spirit of God and resist the Holy Ghost and turn from the grace of God to wantonness which hath provoked the Lord to declare by his holy Prophets that his spirit should not always strive with man which makes me to conclude that there is a Passive though not an active power in mans will for certainly the Lord would not so much complain on the Children of men for rebelling against his good spirit if they were not destitute of all power in yielding obedience to its holy operation how did our dear and ever blessed Saviour Jesus Christ lament the sad state and condition of the City of Jerusalem when he said How would I have gathered you as a Hen gathereth her Chickens under her wings but you would not which to me is a plain demonstration that there was a possibility of their receiving as well as rejecting the tender offers of Christs love and doubtless he would not have intreated them were they wholly incapable of receiving his kind Intreaties Oh there fore Dear friends our destruction is of our selves for the Lord said by his Holy Prophet in the days of old why will you dye O House of Israel clearly shewing forth that we our selves are the cause of our own destruction Oh let us consider what could he have done more for us then he hath done he hath written his holy Laws in our hearts which are holy Rules for us to walk by he hath sent his only begotten Son to be our Mediator and Redeemer that we may be saved from our sins here and the punishment due to them hereafter he it is who is the Captain of our Salvation but if we will not be his faithful Souldiers we cannot expect his protection Oh how great hath his long-suffering been to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance and to the knowledge of his blessed Truths Certainly had not our God been a God full of compassion slow of anger and of great kindness who retaineth not his anger for ever but in wrath remembreth his mercy because his compassions fail not we might have long since been destroyed and been now roaring in endless wo and misery but blessed and for ever blessed be the name of our God whose mercy endureth for ever that he hath been pleased to continue unto us a day of visitation whereby we have been made to cry out what have I done Lord what have I done How have I rejected the tender visitation of thy love how have I extinguished the Divine motions of thy holy Spirit how have I sinned against thy loving kindness which is better then life and abused all thy mercies Oh therefore let us beware of letting slip the day of our visitation being there is an Eternity of felicity depends on our improving so gracious an oppertunity but such are the base inclinations of our corrupt natures that we use all our dilligence and watchfulness rather to enjoy momentary pleasure then to make sure our Calling and Election how little do the generality of men regard that which is the most noble part of men how earnestly do they pursue their sensual delights which have anxiety always for a companion Oh that they would be perswaded and entreated to set a part some time for a serious contemplation on Eternity whereby they may be truly sensible of the sad and dangerous state that hitherto they have lived in Oh that they would beware of being rocked asleep in the Devils Cradle of carnal security which is a great cause that so many have dis-regarded the knocking 's of Christs spirit at the door of their hearts and if at any time they

are made sensible of some gross evil which they have acted immediately they endeavour to stop the mouth of conscience either by hearkning to the Devils Lullabies viz. Libidian Songs or playing with his Rattles otherwise ride abroad in his Chariots of sensual pleasures in which they are frequently carried to the Gates of death so the destruction of body and soul is the sad consequence which certainly attends those who are as it were swallowed up of worldly pleasures But oh man who ever thou art that hast been hitherto led away by the Enemy of thy immortal soul who would willingly make thee his associate in eternal misery be perswaded and intreated to take especial notice of these following words first let not the Devil tempt thee to imagine that 't is too late to turn from the evil of thy ways because perhaps thou hast been an old sinner Secondly let not the propensity of thy corrupt will and affections to folly and vanity induce thee to think the time too soon Thirdly let not the multiplicity of thy sins which thou hast not in times past repented of affright thee for be assured at whatsoever time thou hearken'st to the still voice of Christs spirit in thy conscience which secretly rebukes thee and tells thee all things that ever thou didst thou shalt find thy heart sorrowful for sin and as thou keepest on thy watch thou shalt be brought more and more into a tender frame of spirit and thou shalt be enabled to turn from thy sin perfectly abhorring those things which formerly thou didst so much delight in and thou shalt assuredly receive pardon for all thy sins past be they never so many and great according to the words of Christ Jesus John 5.24 Verily verily I say unto you He that heareth my word and believeth in him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation for those sins which Christ pardons in this life shall never be charged to thy account any more Ezekiel 18.21 according to the words the Lord spoke to the Prophe● Ezekiell But if the wicked will turn from all the sins he hath committed and keep all my Statutes and do that which is lawfull and right he shall surely live he shall not dye All his transgressions which he hath committed they shall not be mentioned unto him Now therefore thou mayst see what great encouragemet all persons have to turn from their sins Oh that these things were more seriously consider'd by all that profess Christianity they would certainly be more diligent in improving those golden opportunities which the Lord through his infinite love and mercy hath allowed them Friendly Reader for thy farther encouragement if thou wilt but take a walk with me in the withdrawing Room of holy Meditation thou shalt have a Soul-ravishing prospect into the Garden of Heavenly joy where thou shalt behold the streames of Grace flowing from the fountain of Divine love and thou shalt drink freely out of the springs of life which alone can satisfie the appetite of a thirsty Soul therefore be entreated and perswaded no longer to continue pleasing thy self in the dead Pictures of Religion which hath made thee ignorant of those spiritual enjoyments which alone belongs to the life and power of Christianity and for which reason many may be ignorant of what I now write therefore those that would be of the true Religion must stand no longer on the barren Mountains of profession but rather hearken to the voice of the spiritual Shepherd who will certainly lead them into the pleasant fields amongst the green Pastures wherein grows the flowers of Heavenly joy and through which runs the pleasant Rivers of consolation so that thou mayst with joy draw water out of the well of Salvation whereby thy soul shall be compleatly refreshed then shall all her faculties which have long languished for want of true substance be revived then shall she be fully sensible of the difference between her true teacher and leader and the false guides who had carryed her into the wilderness where she had been a long time afflicted with trouble and sorrow then will her bowels be filled with pity and compassion on all those who did formerly accompany her in her distressed condition and will be grieved that any should be so deceived as not to be perswaded to hearken to the same spiritual voice whereby they may partake of the same substantial food but rather choose to feed on the husk of Religion then to partake with her of those glorious refreshments which causeth her to be always praising and magnifying the name of the Eternal God at whose right hand are pleasure for ever more A few words to those who are totally ignorant of spiritual things That there are many in the Land of my Nativity who are totally ignorant of spiritual things I may boldly affirm but that 't is in the power of any mortal man to give them a spiritual discerning I utterly deny Notwithstanding it seems to me very expedient to remove all obstacles out of the way of the ignorant least their mis-apprehension of words cause a dis-satisfaction to the matter which otherwise being accompained with a Divine power might prove beneficial to them therefore according as the Lord enables me I shall endeavour to answer with all plainness those objections which are of most weight Obj. 1st First therefore it may be required how I understand Christ to be in all men Sol. I answer that according to the common acknowledgement of all Christians as he is God his Spirit is Omnipresent for the Heavens and Earth cannot contain him and if his ubiquity fills the Heavens and all Created beings then man being a Creature must in some measure receive of his fulness but more particularly as he is the Son of God the only Saviour of the World he is in all men though at the same time the fulness of the Godhead is in the Heaven of Heavens at the right hand of his Father for he doth communicate a measure of his spirit unto all every individual person in order to their instruction or reproof Joh. 16.7 8. Nevertheless I tell you it is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the comforter will not com ebut if I depart I will send him unto you and when he is come he will remove the World of sin of righteousness and of judgement Joh. 14.15 But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my nam● he shall teach all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said therefore 't is evident that Christ is by his Spirit in every man reproving and instructing them and bringing all things that he hath formerly said to their and our remembrance But for a farther demonstration I shall use this one comparison As the natural Son in in the firmament doth communicate its light to several parts of the world at one and the same time though

thousands of miles asunder and yet the body or whole proportion remains entire in the firmament without any diminution so doth the glorious Son of righteousness though sitting in his Kingly Throne communicates a measure of his own spirit to every-man to profit with all which spirit is oftentimes in Scripture called the Light of Christ Jesus which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world John 1.4 sometimes the Grace of God which teacheth us to deny ungodliness and worldly Lusts and to walk soberly and godly in this present world this is that which hath been often in the mouths of many though they did not 't is to be feared know what it was therefore whoever thou art that hast been in ignorance be it known to thee that the Grace of God which thou hast had many times in thy mouth is Christs own spirit which spirit hath many times restrained thee from committing wickedness for without thou couldest not so much as think a good thought much less do a good action for as Christ tasted death for every man he hath given this Heavenly gift to every man that they may be in a possibility of Salvation so that we are not condemned for want of grace but because we do not improve his gift of Grace for he commands us to nothing but what his Grace or Spirit will enable us to perform if we will but watch when it reproves or instructs us Obj. 2d Some will query thus how I shall know that I have this good Spirit why may not persons be deceived and be led by the evil Spirit whilst they imagine they are under the guidance of the good one Sol. If thou wilt but enter into a serious examination of thy self thou mayst call to mind some certain times when thou hast been under some great temptation to commit some wicked action at which time thou hast had a sence of somewhat in thy mind that caused a great unwillingness in thee to proceed and perhaps giving way to the temptation thou wert overcome after which thou hast had some terrour in thy self now therefore observe that which caused that unwillingness to commit the sin was Gods spirit and that which inclined thee to the sin was the Devils spirit so the Tree is known by the fruit therefore be satisfied at whatsoever time thou dost sind thy self under temptation the Spirit of Christ Jesus will be always ressisting if thou wilt yield obedience to it thou shalt sind power arising in thee to overcome the tempter and temptation by this means thou wilt come to be Spiritually acquainted with Christ and partake of his benefits so that he will be precious to thee for thou wilt be more in love with him then possibly thou couldest formerly and thou wilt certainly know the difference between his spirit and the evil ones because the one enclines thy heart at all times to good and resists evil and the other always enclines to evil and resists good so thou needst not fear being decieved if thou art watchful over thy own heart Friendly Reader these things I write to thee out of pure assection and tender regard I have to Gods Glory and the everlasting wellfare of thy poor immortal Soul and that thou mayest know the difference between profession and possession for there are many that profess the name of Christ who are altogether ignorant of him for though Christ is by his spirit in every man yet every man is not in Christ that is every one hath not taken his good spirit for their Guide and Teacher but have continued rebelling against it in so much that they have provoked him to take his good spirit from them and then not till then they may be accounted reprobates for the Lord of life is so merciful that he condemns nont but those who have abused his long-suffering and forbearance therefore it behoves every one to beware sinning out the day of Gods visitation in which the tender offers of his love and mercy ere extended to them FINIS