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	trinity_n	7,211	5	10.1332	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A77355	The works of William Bridge, sometime fellow of Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge; now preacher of the Word of God at Yarmouth. The first volume. Viz. I. The great Gospel-mysterie of the saints comfort and holinesse, opened and applyed from Christs priestly office. II. Satans power to tempt; and Christs love to, and care of his people under temptation. III. Thankfulnesse required in every condition.	Bridge, William, 1600?-1670.; Yates, John, d. ca. 1660.; Greenhill, William, 1591-1671.; Adderley, William.	1649 (1649)	Wing B4445; Thomason E471_1; ESTC R6919	182,218	262

as a great Type of and in relation to Jesus Christ our great High-Priest in the 7. Chapter of this book of the Hebrews and the 6. verse saith That he blessed Abrabam But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham and Blessed him that had the Promises So then this Blessing of the people being the work of both the High-Priests and both Aaron and Melchisedec being great types of Jesus Christ our High-Priest Surely it must needs be one of the great works of our High-Priest for to blesse the people For the opening and cleering up of this Truth I shall endeavour to discover First What the Blessing of Christ our High-Priest is wherein consists and what Christ doth when he doth Bless the people Secondly That it belongs unto Jesus Christ especially for to Bless the people Thirdly That our Lord and Saviour Christ our great High-Priest is exceeding willing for to Bless poor sinners and that this Blessing of the people is a work whereunto he is much inclined and wherein he is much delighted Fourthly That he doth this and doth it fully Fifthly according to our method How all this doth conduce unto our Comfort and unto our Holiness First If ye aske me What the Blessing of Christ Quest 1 and of the Gospel is and wherein it consists I answer First in the General That the Blessing of the Gospel Answ and of Christ consisteth in Spiritual things especially and not in Temporal And therefore saith the Apostle in that 1. of the Ephesians and the 3. verse Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all Spiritual blessings in Heavenly places in Christ The Curse and Judgments of God that do befal men now under the Gospel are not in outward afflictions and bodily troubles so much as in Spiritual miseries Blindness of mind and Hardness of heart And so also on the contrary the blessing of the Gospel doth not consist much in Outward things as in Spiritual Who hath blessed us with Spiritual blessings Indeed if we look into the old Testament we shall find That when Moses did bless the people he blest them much in Temporal blessings in the 28. of Deuteronomy and the 2. verse All these things shall come upon thee and overtake thee if thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God What blessings are those Blessed shalt thou be in the city and blessed shalt thou be in the field blessed shall be the fruit of thy body and the fruit of thy ground and the fruit of thy cattel the increase of thy kine and the flocks of thy sheep blessed shall be thy basket and thy store Thus he goes on in outward blessings But now if we look into the Gospel and consider the blessings of Jesus Christ and lay them together with Moses we shall find them to be Spiritual blessings In the 5. of Matthew and the 3. verse c. Blessed are the poor in spirit for their's is the Kingdom of Heaven Blessed are those that mourn for they sall be comforted Indeed the promise of the earth comes is at the 5. vers but he returns again to Spiritual blessings Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after rightousness for they shall be filled Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Here are Spiritual blessings this is the stream of the Gospel it runs this way When the Lord blesseth a man he gives him that which is sutable to him In the times of the Gospel men are more Spiritual than they were in the times of the Law therefore Gospel-blessings they are Spiritual blessings Every thing gives and communicates to another according to what it hath it self The Sun communicates light unto the world because it hath light it self And man communicates the nature of man unto his child because he hath the nature of man himself So our Lord Christ when he Blesses he communicates according unto what he hath himself and his blessings especially consisting in spiritual things so he doth blesse Indeed as in the times of the Old Testament there were Spiritual blessings that were mixt with Temporal by vertue of the Covenant that was made with Abraham So now Outward blessings are thrown in as an overplus but yet notwithstanding though they be not spiritual in their nature they are spiritual in their end and so it is true to say That the blessing of the Gospel and of Christ is a spiritual blessing But more particularly if yet ask me wherein this consisteth I shall name but Two things First This Blessing of the Gospel or of Christ it consists in a supernatural and spiritual injoyment of God in Christ the love and favour of God in Christ When the Priests blest in the time of the old Testament in that 6. of Numbers they said The Lord cause his face for to shine upon you The Lord make his face for to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee the Lord blesse thee and keepe thee Verse 24 25 26. Which the Spostle Paul expounding in the 2 Cor. the 13. Chapter and the 14. verse renders it thus The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the holy Ghost be with you all Amen The Lord blesse thee the Lord cause his face to shine upon you the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you Three times the Lord the Lord the Lord noting the Trinity which the Apostle here explains by the Father the Son and the holy Spirit Blessed are the pure in heart Mat. 5.8 for they shall see God Seeing of God is a blessing out of the mouth of Christ a Gospel-blessign And what is it for a man to see God In the phrase of the old Testament the Hebrew to See it is ordinarily used for to Injoy In the 4. Psalme Who will shew us any good The word in the Hebrew is Who will make us to See any good that is t Injoy good So then to see God it is to injoy him When Jacob injoyed God he saw him and the place it was called Peniel for he had seen the Lord and there the Lord blest him There 's no seeing of God but in Christ And therefore I say that herein confists the blessing of the Gospel in a supernatural and spiritual in joyment of God in Christ the favour and love of God in Christ Again It consists also in the Inhabitation of the holy Ghost in our hearts the giving out of the holy Ghost unto the hearts of men And therefore it is added in that place of the Corinthians And the Communion of the holy Ghost be with you all Amen That must needs be the great blessing of the Gospel and so of Christ that is the thing promised in the Gospel What is that If we look into the 1. Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles and the 4. verse It is said

there of the Disciples That they should wait for the promise of the Father Christ commaded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father What is that We know what it was and is that which befel afterward it was the giving out of the holy Ghost the holy Ghost fell upon them this is called THE promise of the Father That as in the times of the Old Testament the promise was the giving of the Son and coming of the Second Person So after Christ came the great promise was the coming of the Third Person and the giving of the holy Ghost When I am gone saith Christ I 'le send ye another Comforter He that beleeveth out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water This he spake concerning the Spirit which was not yet given in those extraordinary emanations of gists and graces because he was not yet glorisied So then the great Blessing that was to be given unto the children of men the great Gospel-blessing was the giving out of the holy Ghost this is a Gospel-blessing indeed Well Ques But what doth Christ do when he doth Bless It 's observable Answ 1 that when any Superiour did Blesse a father did blesse his child or the like he did observe what was the choice mercy and good in those times and he did wish that unto his child or unto his inferiour And so in Isaac and Jacobs time the choice good it was The dew of Heaven and when they did blesse their children they wish't unto them the dew of Heaven So now when our Iord Jesus our great High-Priest doth blesse any man observing that the choice mercy of the Gospel is the injoyment of God in Christ the favour and love of God and the giving out of the holy Ghost into a mans heart he doth wis all this good unto him and he saies unto God the Father Lord let this poor soul have thy favour Oh! cause thy face to shine upon this poor soul and give out the holy Ghost unto it that it may walk after the spirit In the Second place It 's observable That when the Priests did Blesse the people they did not barely wish good unto them but they did Authoratatively pronounce them blessed Numb 6.27 They shall put my name upon them saith the Lord when they bless So when the Lord Christ our great High-Priest doth Blesse a man he does not barely wish him good The Lord cause his face for to shine upon that soul in a way of wishing but the Lord Christ being a High-Priest when he blesseth he doth authoratatively pronounce such a soul to be Blessed Thirdly When the Priest Blessed he did not only pronounce the people Blessed but in the Blessing of the Priest there was a kind of Binding-power it had the power force and efficacy of an Absolution And therefore as Christ saies unto his Disciples Go and whosoever sins ye remit they shall be remitted I 'le stand by you in it So saith the Lord in that same place the 6. of Numbers On this wise shall ye bless the children of Israel saying unto them The Lord blesse thee and keep thee and at the 27. verse They shall put my Name upon the children of Israel and I will blessethem I 'le stand by them in this So when the Lord Jesus Christ our great High-Priest doth Blesse he doth not only pronounce a man to be Blessed but he doth Absolve him from all his sins saith he by authority that is given to me from my father the Keyes that are put into my hand I do Bind this blessing upon this poor soul Further The Priest when he blessed indeed he could wish well and he could pronounce a man blessed and he might Absolve but he could go no further he could not confer the Blessing he could not bestow the Blessing But our Lord Christ being an High-Priest beyond all the High-Priests that ever were before him in this respect too where he doth Blesse he bestoweth the Blessing being God and man he bestoweth the Blessing In the Fifth place This our great High-Priest being God and Man look how God Blesseth so doth he Blesse In the Scripture ye shall find That when God the Father Blessed he said unto those things that he blest Increase and Multiply still when he blest Increase and Multiply So the Lord Jesus Christ our High-Preist when he comes to blesse he doth not barely wish good unto a poor soul or pronounce him blessed or beslow a good thing upon him but saith he O soul Multiply in this good the Lord increase thy Graces and thy Gifts and thy Comforts poor soul Increase and Multiply herein This the Lord Christ our great High-Priest doth Thus it 's cleer what the Blssing of the Gospel is wherein it consists and what our High-Priest doth when he doth blesse the people But Secondly Quest 2 Does this Blessing properly or specially belong unto Jesus Christ Yes Answ For he was made a curse for sin he and none else made a curse for sin and therefore it belongs unto him above all the world for to blesse For look what evil Jesus Christ endured the contrary good he merited for the children of men a power to bestow that good Now he above all was cursed hung upon the Crosse and died a cursed death he was made a curse therefore it belongs unto him above all for to give the blessing for to blesse poor sinners Primum in quolibet genere c. The first in every kind is the cause of the rest The Sun is the cause of all the light we have here below and 't is the first light body And the Lord Jesus Christ he is the first blessing Therefore hath they God blest thee for ever There are Three that we reade of in Scripture especially that did blesse The Father the King and the Priest The Father did blesse his Children the King blest his Subjects and the Priest blest the People Now the Lord Jesus Christ He is our Father The Everlasting Father He is our King I will set my King upon my holy hill And he is our great High-Priest and therefore all these relations meeting in him it belongs unto him above all for to blesse the people But is the Lord Jesus Christ Willing for to Blesse poor sinners Quest 3 and inclin'd unto it Yes Answ He is very Willing this blessing of the people it is a work whereunto he is much inclin'd and wherein he is most delighted Ye shall observe therefore what abundance of blessings Christ scattered among the people when he was here upon the earth Ye don't reade that ever he cursed any man formally cursed him Once indeed he pronounced a Curse but it fell upon a barren fig-tree not upon a man But take your Bibles and turne over from leaf to leaf and see how frequent he was in blessing and consider whether you do reade in al the Bible of any Preacher or Prophet

Angel still according to the rank of Creation therefore he must needs have a mighty power over the children of men But he is not only a Superiour creature Answ 2 but also a more Spiritual creature than man he is a spirit and upon that account he is more able to come within a man to close with a mans soul and spirit being spirit himself he is more able to converse with to close and get within our souls and spirits Thirdly He is able to suggest unto man whatsoever he pleases and to cast in a thousand sinfull objects into a mans mind one after another Answ 3 Yea and he being so well experienced Answ 4 having studied man for many thousand years having gotten in all these years so much tempting skill and policy he is able to discern what that bait is that will take soonest with the children of men according to their Natures Constitutions Complexions Ages Sexes c. Further He is not only able to present and suggest Answ 5 but he is also able to follow his suggestions It is said That he stood up and provoked David to number the people he did not only present that evill unto David but he did solicite he provoked David to number the people saies the text He is not only able thus but he is able also Answ 6 to bemire the phansie to raise stormes in that lower region A mans soul ye know it works by organs it works by the body and by the phansie now Satan being able to disturbe the phansie of a man is thereby able also to hinder the very operation of the soul He is able to hold down a mans mind unto that particular thing Answ 7 and to cut off al relief to the soul so to befiege it that unless relief comes immediately from Heaven he is able to bow down a mans mind and to hold it down unto that particular Lastly Answ 8 satan hath so great a power that the same words that are given unto God and unto the holy Ghost for good in Scriptnre are given also unto Satan for evil The holy Ghost is said to enlighten a man Satan is said for to blind him The god of this world hath blinded their eyes saies the Apostle The Spirit is said to Rule in us Satan is said To rule in the children of disobedience The holy Chost is said To work in us mightily the same word is used for Him also The holy Ghost is said To fill the hearts of beleevers They were filled with the holy Ghost So are mens hearts said To be filled with Satan Saies Peter to Ananias why hath Satan filled thine heart Indeed there are three things especially wherein he does fal short for though Satan is able to discern what temptations would take best with a man yet he don't know mans thoughts for God only is the knower of ones thoughts that is Gods prerogative And though Satan may work very effectually in the children of disobedience yet notwithstanding he does not work with an Almighty power When the Lord converts a man he puts forth an Almighty power in mans conversion The same power saies the Apostle that raised up Christ from the dead makes ye to beleeve The Devil is Magnipotent saies Luther but not Omnipotent the Devil may be very powerful but he is not Almighty neither does he put forht an Almighty power in his temptations as God does in the conversion of a sinner And though he may suggest and provoke unto what is evil he cannot force or determine any man to evil And therefore saies the Apostle Peter why hath Satan filled thine bea rt he asked Ananias that question because Satan though he did fill his heart he could not have forced or determined him without his own will thereunto But very powerful Satan is In the 6. chapter to the Ephesians you shall see the Apostle speaks thus much unto you there at the 12. verse For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickdness in high places He speaks concerning Satan as you see in the former verse Put on the whole armour of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil For we wrestle not against flesh and blood c. It is something for a man to have all the world against him to have all man-kind against him if all man-kind should be aginst one man you would say there were a great strength but behold more than that here is something more than flesh and blood that every man does wrestle against For we wrestle not against flesh and blood all man-kind is but flesh and blood and so ther 's a weakness but we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities for Authority and against power for Strength and against the rulers of the darkness of this world and against spiritual wickedness in high places Oh! what a mighty power then hath Satan to infest molest and to tempt the children of men Whether does Satan put forth this power Quest 2 and exercise this his tempting power upon the Saints and Children of God Yes Answ for they are the Saints that the Apostle speaks of here in that to the Ephesians For we wresile not against flesh and blood You that are Ephesians and you that are Saints We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers Properly ye don't wrestle with a man that is down ye wrestle with a man for to throw him down but he must be a standing man that ye wrestle withal ye don't wrestle with one that does run away but one that stands to it Now all wicked men they are down but the Saints they stand and they labour to throw Satan down and Satan labours to lay them all along in unbelief but they properly do wrestle with Satan for they stand the other are fallen already Yea the Saints are not only tempted by Satan but the best and the most beloved Disciples of Jesus Christ In the old Testament who more beloved than David and Job yet they tempted In the new Testament who more beloved than Peter and Paul One of the Circumcision and the other of the Uncircumcision and Apostleship and yet both had special temptations Yea it is possible for one of Gods own children to be so far opprest with Satan that he may even be weary of his life In the 10. of Job and the 1. verse saies Job under his great temptations My soul is weary of my life And if Rebekah were weary of her life because of the children of Heth much more may a poor gracious soul be weary of his life by reason of these children of darkness these powers of darkness these temptations of Satan But you will say Quest Why should Satan lie so heavy upon Gods own children and people for he may know that they shall be saved do he what he can Satan had heard our