Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	grace_n	life_n	live_v	7,716	5	5.9850	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51811	A comparison between a sincere penitent and a just person in a sermon before the Queen at Whitehall, March 8, 1692/3 / by Tho. Manningham ...	Manningham, Thomas, 1651?-1722.	1693 (1693)	Wing M492; ESTC R3513	10,364	29

filthiness of the Spirit 2. There are others who tho' they do not rise unto that degree of Spiritual Pride as those I now mentioned yet because they are not observ'd to run into the notorious Riots and Excesses of the Age are inclin'd to think That the Doctrine of Repentance does but little concern them They are not so open and publick in their Sins as others the noise of their Sinful Actions does not furnish the Discourse of People and the Scene of their Vices lies more inward and retired but yet all the while their Hearts may be full of Covetousness Vain-glory and bitter Zeal they may never yet have had any spiritual Change and Renovation within them and they may be very remote from true Godliness and a sincere love of Vertue And if there be such as these they stand in as much need of Repentance as any of the Prodigal and Licentious part of Mankind But then 3ly There are some such just Persons as need no such Repentance as the Prodigal Son is represented to have made They do not need a whole change of their Hearts and Lives because they are such as thro' a good Education and an early Piety have been kept under the Grace and Providence of God from breaking out into any Notorious Sins and from living in any Habitual filthiness either of Flesh or Spirit But yet even these stand in need of such a Repentance as ought to run parallel with all their Vertuous Actions to the end of their Days which is to accompany them in their highest Attainments and to send them humbly to the Blood of Christ for the expiating the Defects of their most perfect Lives When we talk of Innocent and Just Persons we always mean in a comparative way of speaking as they excell the generality of Mankind and are more Constant and Zealous in Holy Duties than others When we speak of Perfection we take that word in an Evangelical sence not according to the rigour and absoluteness of the Term but in such a qualified meaning as is consistent with Surprizes and Infirmities We mean such a perfection as includes many defects in it but yet is still carrying us on to farther degrees of Holiness That leaves us continual matter for our Humiliation and for our farther endeavours after Righteousness but does not suffer any Sin to Reign and have Dominion over us Now there were some in our Saviour's time even in that most degenerate State of Judaism who were so just and perfect as to need no such Repentance as John the Baptist preached to the Pharisees and Sadducees and our Saviour himself to the Publicans and Sinners There were some true Israelites who had lived without Guile and had kept a good Conscience both towards God and Man And as to such it was sufficient that they received Christ as the Messiah whom the Prophets had foretold without condemning themselves for their former opinions or for their former Lives they being already Believers and Virtuous according to the light and knowledge and means they were under were only to be instructed farther in the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven to be more confirm'd in the Comfortable Doctrine of the forgiveness of Sins and to be improv'd and raised unto more perfection to higher Instances of Duty and greater degrees of Love But they had no need of those astonishing Sermons and those terrible denunciations of present Wrath and Destruction which were to awake the Grosser Sinners nor were they oblig'd to enter into those difficult and bitter parts of Repentance which were design'd for the Recovery of those who were Dead in Trespasses and Sins So likewise under the setled profession of the Gospel there are those who by the preventing Grace of God have been preserved from the Corruptions of the World and by the means of a pious Education and a governable Temper have maintain'd an even and constant course of Piety Now it cannot be suppos'd that such Persons as these need any such Repentance as signifies a Total Change of their Hearts and Manners The Holy Spirit has already wrought that change which was necessary for them in an insensible way and by such undiscernible degrees that they cannot assign the particular time of their Conversion The Baptismal Efficacy unfolded itself into sanctification and holiness as they were capable and fit and their Christianity and Reason improv'd together But still there is a Repentance for such as these to be imploy'd in while they sojourn in this World for tho' they avoid all known and willful Sins and discharge their duties in such a manner that their Consciences cannot accuse them of any gross neglect or of any Insincerity of Heart yet evil Thoughts irregular Desires disorderly Passions upon sudden Provocations and an omission of the due execution of good Purposes and of the improvement of good Affections are breaches of God's Holy Law and need his Pardon They must be resisted and watch'd against and they must be cleans'd by such a Repentance as makes Men truly sorrowful for such impure Adherencies tho' perhaps they shall never be perfectly free from them by such a Repentance as makes them groan and mourn under them as burdensome Infirmitites and ready to comply with the best methods of removing them in some measure and degree for tho' we cannot be perfectly Holy in this Life yet we don't know to what a heighth of Piety we may arrive unless we try and contend after it and tho' we miss of some of those degrees of Perfection which we labour'd to attain yet we shall find such Advantages in our spiritual Life by our hearty Endeavours to be quit of all Infirmities that we shall be more confirm'd in Goodness perceive our Hearts and Affections more and more purify'd and we shall be prepared for a higher state of Glory Thus we see that there is a Repentance for the most Just and Righteous Persons continually to be exercis'd in but then this Repentance is not so much a separate Duty or an entrance upon Religion as a continuance in it or a walking humbly with God 'T is not a passing from a course of Sin to an habit of Righteousness but a proficiency in Holiness under a fear of God and a mournful sense of our Infirmities and Defects And tho' this be continually carried on in some degree all the time of our Lives yet it must be increas'd as solemn Occasions shall require And tho' the Repentance of great Sinners may cause more Joy in Heaven yet I doubt not but this Repentance of the Just is of exceeding Esteem with God and his Holy Angels Which leads to the Second thing to be explain'd viz. How we are to understand that Joy in Heaven over one Sinner that repenteth more than over ninety and nine Just Persons which need no Repentance Now 't is evident that this expression of Joy in Heaven is suited to the plain matter of the Parable for if it be natural for a Shepherd to rejoyce more