Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	heart_n	love_n	love_v	7,424	5	6.5073	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30273	Christian commemoration, and imitation of saints departed explicated, and pressed from Heb.13.7. Occasioned by the decease of the Reverend Mr. Henry Hurst, lately minister of the gospel in London. By Daniel Burgess.	Burgess, Daniel, 1645-1713.	1691 (1691)	Wing B5698; ESTC R224015	41,115	135

his Love and Power shine with greatest Lustre Remember ●our Sanctifier but forget not his most Sanctified ones I conclude with a saying of one ●cquainted with God above thou●ands He never knew a heavenly ●onversation that pretending to know God alone hath no converse with his ●oly ones that attend Him and doth ●ot live as a Member of their Society ●n the City of God that doth not with ●ome delight behold their Holiness ●nity and Order But as it is time 〈◊〉 proceed to my next Observa●●ion D. 2. The holy Faith and Conversation of godly Ministers and Friends deceased must be considered and followed So the Text in terms most plai● Follow their Faith to wit considere● by you And that Comma cons●dering the end of their Conversation imports evidently a command to follow it For the sake of these wa● the remembrance of their Persons fore required Which without th●● use of their Faith and Conversatio● would be to little purpose B● it considered therefore strictly 1. What this Faith is 2. What this Conversation And 3. What the Reasons for our co●sidering and following both 1. Faith is considered as Objectively taken or Subjectively A the first it is the truth of the Go●pel by them held Viz. 1. Th● Gospel-History of the Primiti●● Friendship between God and Man of the Enmity raised by the first si● between them and of the Reconc●liation made by the Son of God 2. The Gospel Offer and Invitation of Sinners unto Grace and Salvation ●y a New Covenant one of admira●le Promises and most equitable and ●racious Demands 3. The Gospel-Rule and Directory for the Worship ●nd the whole Walk of all embracing ●nd entring that Covenant This History they Credited this Offer ●hey Accepted this Covenant they Entred this Rule they Followed ●ubjectively taken their Faith is that ●race of God in them whereby ●hey so received the Gospel Now ●his grace of Faith is either general ●nd so 't is their Assent and Consent ●nto all God's Revelation as perfect●y true Or special as it relates un●o Christ Jesus the sum of all God's Revelation and so it is their accep●ance of Him in all his Offices as Teacher Saviour Ruler The de●arted Saints we speak of had a Faith which was unto them instead of Possession and Sight One that made things said by God as credible as if they had seen them with their Eyes And things promised by God as comfortable as if they had had them in their hands I would be understood of the Truth only not of the degree of Credibility and Comfort They had also a Faith i● their Hearts which was unto them a Marriage Knot whereby they joyned themselves unto Christ Jesus in everlasting Covenant Resigning themselves to him to be Taught Saved and Ruled Committing themselves to God's saving Mercy lodged in Christ's Hand And submitting themselves to God's governing Authority lodged in the same This Faith of theirs in both acceptations is that which we are to consider and follow Conversation is the way and course of humane life Respectively of all Duties towards our Creator Redeemer and Sanctifier towards the Church the World and our Selves And this as under all Circumstances of our various Conditions in our Pilgrimage The way and course of the Saints we speak of was Holy and Exemplary Through their Faith in Christ working by Love purifying their Hearts conquering the World and chasing the Devil they sincerely and perseveringly glorified God They held Communion with the Father Son and Spirit in Faith Hope and Love in Worship and Obedience They loved the Church as Christ's Body served it and sympathized with it as members of it The Unregenerate World they pitied and spent their days in pains and prayers for it's conversion Their Hearts that is Themselves they kept with all diligence preferring always the man above the Brute the Soul above the Body In a word their life was an Exercise of Grace a Warfare against Corruptions and Temptations a putting of their Talents to Usury and merchandizing to and for Heaven All their days were Humiliation-days for their Sins their Own and their Relations and Thanksgiving days for their Mercies and Hopes They walked after the Spirit and not after the Flesh And this their walk is that their Conversation that we are called to eye and to imitate We shall briefly enquire the Reasons for this practice To wit of our considering the Faith and Conversation of our glorified Brethren And of our setting our selves to transcribe both Our own vanity is apt to charge the Divine Wisdom foolishly for commanding it And to ask Unto what purpose is this our cost and pains Being we have the perfect rule of the Gospel and of our Saviour's own transcendent Example St. Austin's word is of great weight WHY God commands any thing I need not trouble my self He will look to that Let me ever look well to WHAT he commands Whether we see them or no there are infinite reasons for every thing God requires But yet when those reasons are obvious their use is rich and various Of the Practice foresaid I shall therefore point out a few such as are most clear and apparent R. 1. This practice unites the upper and lower House of God The Church above and that below It holds together the Members of the Family in Heaven and upon Earth It engageth us to keep eyeing of them As Scholars of the lower Form eye those of the higher whom they must imitate It even necessitateth the Houshold of Faith to hold great conversation with them that live by Sight This is no light reason with such as consider how God stands for his Children's Union and Association Such as hath been forespoken of and therefore shall have no more here said of it R. 2. This Practice doubles our help to the Life of Faith and Holiness The Instructions and Precepts of the Gospel are a blessed Help But not all that we need Who feels it not After that we have heard our Master's best and brightest Doctrines we need our Fellow Servants instructive and motive Examples Which are indeed the most instructive Comments to the understanding of them and most motive Encouragements unto the obeying of them as Experience certifieth By what is here said no disgrace is cast upon the Gospel 'T is meerly from our own dulness that we need superadded Examples And the shame of that want rests singly upon our own Head While in the mean time unto God belongs the glory of the additional Mercy Admirable Mercy For the Gospel shews us but the Duty But the Example of deceased Saints shews also the possibility of living by Faith and in Holiness Because what has been done may certainly be done again We are emboldned to believe we may so live when we consider others to have lived so And let it not startle you if I say this Jesus Christ's own Example is in this one respect a much less encouragement than one of his least and poorest Servants For it doth

not only Healed but Beautified Often have I heard you complain of Wounds Bruises and Putrifying sores like my own And now methinks I see you without Spot or Wrinkle or any such thing While the cure of my own Diseases is little more than begun In you in you it is that I read the high Praises of Christ your Physician and mine Should I let go the memory of you I should lessen the Honour of Him In you it is that I read the praises of the Holy Ghost Then it is he appears to me a most wonderful Builder when I look on you his most glorious Temples Then I conclude sure he is able to raise me also out of my ruins O ye Conquerors and more than Conquerors whom I knew when you were Warriours And under my own hardships of warfare My own who was your unworthy Fellow-Souldier under Christ's Banner How congratulate I your Conquests and Triumphs How admire I the Truth Power and Love of your and my Captain How uneasie doth the sight of your Crowns make me till I am with you and like you If I forget you O ye Angels-fellows let my Tongue cleave to the roof of my Mouth If mine Eye keep poring always upon my SEA my SICKNESS and my WARFARE if it be not also turned on your PASSAGE your CURE and your CONQUEST let my Arm fall from my Shoulder-blade The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Contemplators of the blessed End of godly Friends are Christians that thus converse with themselves I say thus unto the true end and use thereof And unto this end do converse or consider not transiently think There is a great difference between a step and a walk And there is no less between a thought and a consideration I come therefore to the last particular P. 4. This consideration of godly Friends escápe unto Heaven is a motive most necessary unto imitation of their Faith and Holiness The Apostles use of it as such proves it such But to give measure pressed down and running over it shall be added 1. The best of Christians do need motive Considerations Which is acknowledged by all that are so much as titularly Christians 2. Of motive Considerations this is of the best Which will appear from the natural effects of it in which its motive virtue is most resplendent Of these the seven following ones are not the least principal E. 1. This Consideration confirms our Faith Our Faith of the holy God's bountifulness and of holy men's blessedness It is true that the H. Spirit 's Light dispels our darkness and enlightens our minds And he giveth us the Gospel for a Lamp and Faith for an Eye But can any man doubt it The Gospel is cleared and Faith strengthned more than a little by Examples Examples of the promised goodness of God to Men and the blessedness of men in that goodness of God Especially by the examples of Persons known and dear unto our selves Put the case you know and believe ever so well of a Physician Yet let him once make perfect Cures on many of your most dangerously diseased Relations Your confidence of his ability and his Patients safety will be encreased You will be somewhat more fearless to trust him with your own Life than you were before The Application is easie E. 2. This Consideration raises our Apprehensions Our Apprehensions and Estimations of God of Christ of the H. Spirit and of the Gospel-Covenant You cannot see your dear Friends saved by them but you must the more esteem and value them Their so great Salvation that certifies the goodness of the Efficients and Instruments unto you must needs enhance the value of them in you Great and grateful Effects never fail to raise the price of Causes and Means I mean with any but Idiots or Lunaticks Creatures of undisposed minds or distracted ones E. 3. This Consideration strengthens our Choice Our choice of our Redeemer for Prince and Saviour The sight of our Tempted Persecuted Afflicted Brethren here on Earth is but too often a scandal unto us Makes our Hearts to stagger Tempts us to go back and follow Christ no more But the Spiritual sight of our Crowned and Triumphant Brethren in Heaven hath on us a contrary operation It strengthens our Resolution and steels our Courage to trust and obey him who gave such a Life and Glory unto them It makes us anew to resign our selves unto him Yea and bitterly lament that we chose him not more early and more fervently E. 4. This Consideration quickens our Desires Our Desires and our Hopes Our desires to be with Christ and his triumphant Friends above And our hopes that as laden with sins as now we are divine Grace may unburthen us at last and lodge us with them The thoughts of their wonderful Advancement will work upon any Heart not stone dead When carnal men think of any of their Equals that are risen above them unto high Places what is the effect Why they are straitway inspired with an unwonted Ambition for themselves Yea and affected with a new Perswasion also that 't is as possible for themselves to break through the difficulties which are in the way to Preferment Why should not the Ambition and Expectation of Spiritual men be excited by the same Medium Surely as Desire and Hope are the springs of Action glorious Successes of mean Agents be Springs of Desire and Hope in their Spectators E. 5. This Consideration provokes our Diligence The Victory of Miltiades took sleep from the eyes of Themistocles The thoughts of anothers honour spurred him on unto his more successful Labour And will not the matchless conquests of our glorified Friends take our hands out of our bosoms They will unquestionably if they be considered solemnly They will urge unto that holy Violence without which the heavenly Kingdom cannot be taken E. 6. This Consideration sweetens our Life of Religion Joy is our strength Heaviness in the heart weakens if not binds our hands and feet Indeed many Objects of God's Love and true Saints are of sorrowful spirits But the chiefest Instruments of his glory are for the most part Souls of much alacrity To be sure whatever doth sweeten doth also heighten our Duty For Delight exonerates Body and Mind takes off dulling Indispositions from them Gives wings to both and intends their actions It doth marvelously but as certainly encrease our Force to act and our Accuracy in acting Cogendi vis inest saith Pliny it makes the very Lame to walk yea leap For this reason it seems that Musick hath ever been used in Wars because it doth delight and by delighting strengthen the Nerves of flesh and spirit But what can delight a Soul that is any thing heavenly like contemplation of the celestial Society For Contemplation doth in a sort unite the Soul unto its Object And eminently this Contemplation ministers Hope which is the greatest Parent of Joy next to Fruition When you are musing of Heaven's Inhabitants your Soul has a place