Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	holy_a	send_v	son_n	9,813	5	5.8866	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62089	Being for ever with the Lord, the great hope, end and comfort of believers what it is, and how to be obtained and forethought of / preached by Matthew Sylvester ; and published at the publick request of Mr. Ri. Baxter, at the hearing of it.	Sylvester, Matthew, 1636 or 7-1708.	1688 (1688)	Wing S6329; ESTC R34636	31,001	96

of Christ Mat. 11.29 Heaven could not bear the Pride of Angels no more can Christ endure the Pride of Man. Please not your selves or others till you have answer'd all your Master's Claims Rom. 15.1 2 3. Gal. 1.10 Be knit to nothing but to your Lord in Heaven for why should he be made an Underling or Cipher here below Christ ours in Heaven a better Patrimony and Inheritance than States and Kingdoms here Be more sollicitous about the temper tendency and genuine Issues of your Hearts and Ways than about the Events of Providence 2 Cor. 5.9 10. Your best Concernments are with Christ if they succeed you cannot lose Treasures above and your exalted Head in Bonds in Power and in Possession to secure them speak you too safe and rich to be undone Be silent Prostrates at the foot of Christ if his presence be your Happiness he must needs be much above you every way therefore observe the Words the Looks the Steps of Christ and let them rule you And let his Dispensations here below be all admir'd by you and rested in Christ is in Heaven about your Work and that he be pleased by you doth most concern you and best become you And when you come to be with him for ever how deeply and quickly will he make you sensible of that great Wisdom wonderful Grace and mighty Power which brought you safely to himself in Glory 11. And O what a Figure will Christ then make in Heaven when that State is compleatly filled and when he hath gathered all his Family up to Glory 2 Pet. 1.11 If in those preparatory Scenes of Providence wherein the Redeemer addrest himself to Action and began his glorious Atchievements and was priviledged to open the Sealed Book there were such Acclamations and solemn Congratulations of this his peculiar Priviledg Prerogative by all in Heaven Earth and if there were such prostrate Venerations of him as we find in Rev. 4 8-11 5 9-14 and this conjunctly with his Father How will his Name and Glory be aggrandized when all his Favorites shall be with him All the Mysteries of Godliness relate to Christ and have their undoubted Aggravations from him 1 Tim. 3.16 and how wondrously glorious hath God represented him to us below Col. 1 15-19 2.2 3 9 10. Heb. 1 2-13 Rev. 1.5 6. John 14.6 And if these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 these earthly things these shadowings forth of Christ and of his Kingdom to us even by Schemes accommodated to our Capacities in this our dark and distant State be looked upon as scarcely to be credited by Masters in Israel and yet so wonderful in the Eyes of the discerning Christian What would the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be then thought to be were they discovered to us in words more suited to their Excellency than to our Capacity John 3.12 with 1 Cor. 1.23 24. 2 9-14 2.12 2-4 We find great notices taken of him by the Heavenly State whilst in this outward Court ministring in the Port and posture of a Servant For as the Spirit of Prophecy foretold him Types represented him and the Word of Promise entitled us to the hopes and benefits of his Appearance and propitious Mediation So the Spirit forms his Body Angels declare his Birth Miracles attest his Dignity Doctrines and Authority and Ability to form us for and bring us to Himself Nature obeys him Devils fly before him Moses and Elias talk with him Souls come in by Multitudes and value nothing like his Person Conduct Government and Grace God owns him as his Son as his Royal Oracle and Agent by a Voice from Heaven 2 Pet. 1 16-21 1 Joh. 5 6-12 and all the Institutions and Transactions of the Kingdom of God amongst Men must have the Name of Christ enstamp'd upon them And when Christ had finished his Course and Work below God raises him from the Dead and shews him openly commands the Angels to worship him and to report his Resurrection makes this the great Base and Pillar of his Gospel-Kingdom carries him up to Heaven many hundreds of credible Witnesses beholding his Ascension and sets him at his own right Hand putting the Reigns of all Government into his Hands And then the Father sends the Holy Spirit in the Son's Name to glorify him as Christ had said before John 16 13-15 to seal this Truth to enable Persons to declare and prove it and to make the Gospel prosperous in its great Design But as to Christ himself he in the heavenly Places and Affairs for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imports both sits far above all Principality Power Might Dominion and every Name that is named in even the World to come having all things under his Feet because he is given as Head over all things to his Church which is his Body the fulness of him that filleth all in all Ephes 1 20-23 Hence the whole Family in Heaven and Earth is named of him Eph. 3.15 The Church in the compleatness of its Triumphant State is called his Everlasting Kingdom 2 Pet. 1.11 And when he shall have put down all Rule Authority and Power he will deliver up the Kingdom to the Father as a fit Present to the Majesty of Heaven as a clear Proof and Monument of his own Mediatorial Faithfulness and as fit Subjects of his own Paternal Government and Delight or as his acquired Inheritance to possess for ever 1 Cor. 15 24-28 For who can any way imagine that the delivery of these Subjects to the Father shall be the deposing of the Son from his triumphant Government that well considers Christ as placed by God upon the same Throne with himself Rev. 3.21 Is not Christ said to reign for ever and ever Rev. 11.15 O what a Pleonasm or fulness of expression is there in that passage Ephes 3.21 It is a Doxology richly phrased and that as in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereto I never yet read or heard of any Parallel in any Greek Author See also 2 Pet. 3.18 so vast is the reach of the inspiring Spirit so deep the Thoughts so full the Heart of the inspired Pen-man because so great the Dignity and Prerogatives of our enthroned and glorified Redeemer in this his Day and Kingdom What Eye so sharp and strong on Earth as to comprehend or tolerably to reach the sense of that great Passage in 1 Tim. 6.14.16 〈◊〉 Timothy is charged to keep the ●●●mandment till the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ mind now what follows which in his Times he shall shew who is the blessed and only Potentate the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who only hath Immortality dwelling in Light which no Man can approach unto whom no Man hath seen nor can see to whom is as well as be Honour and Power everlasting Amen And here O that my heart was equal to wha● poor purblind I discern in this great Passage as shewing what notice must and will be taken of Jesus Christ hereafter For tho

BEING For ever with the Lord THE Great Hope End and Comfort of BELIEVERS What it is and how to be obtained and forethought of Preached by MATTHEW SYLVESTER And Published at the publick Request of Mr. Ri. Baxter at the hearing of it LONDON Printed for J. Robinson at the Golden Lion in St. Paul's Church-Yard M.DC.LXXXVIII TO Mr. M. SYLVESTER'S HEARERS IF you know not the Reasons of my desiring Mr. S. at the hearing of it to publish this Sermon I now tell you they were these 1. I was affected with it as suitable to my own Condition who have little Comfort to live on but my hopes of being for ever with the Lord and no Motive so powerful to engage me to my great Duty and to overcome all Temptations 2. And that which is so suitable to me is not unsuitable to you I am not the only Man that must die and that hath another Life to live 3. Mr. Sylvester's Style is so concise and naturally elegant that neither I nor you can sufficiently digest his Sermons upon a transient hearing A full and frequent review may make them more our own Of-times four or five Names or Epithets signify as much as so many distinct Sentences and his Phrases are not always vulgar And therefore they are like strong Meat that must have longer time than lighter for digestion 4. The Subject is such as you must daily live upon and therefore should be glad of a daily Help for your practical Meditations on it Being for ever with Christ in Glory is that which you pray for hope for labour for suffer and wait for deny the Flesh and the World for and which you must fetch your supporting comforts from or else you must have neither Hope nor Comfort which sound awakened Reason can own 5. As it is a discouragement to Preachers when the best studied Sermons are forgotten at the Church-doore so it is a great mercy to Hearers when they may carry home and keep and daily use such excellent and powerful Helps If the Devil knew what Printing was like to do against his Kingdom I wonder that he did no more to hinder the inventing of it It was because the Father of Lights restrained him You Printers and Booksellers look well to your selves for next to Magistrates and Ministers there are few that Devils have more malignant designs upon than you either to silence your Presses and Shops as to Good or to open them to Evil. You speak more publickly than Pulpits do To many Thousands you either preach wholsom saving Truth or vend flagitious and pernicious Evil. If you vend the best Books only for Mony you have your Reward yet thousands may have a greater gain as carnal Preachers may perish themselves while their Hearers are saved Lastly I would have those Men that have thought our silencing these 28 Years to be the Churches Interest and have called on their Rulers to strike home to see what Doctrine it is that we preach and whether it deserve Hatred and Destruction If many such Sermons tell them not they may see it in the larger Writings of Mr. Ant. Burges Mr. Richard and Joseph Allen Dr. Manton Mr. Charnock and many more to pass by the yet living Your Servant RI. BAXTER 1 Thess iv 17. latter Part. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And so shall we ever be with the Lord. THese words are a part of those cheering Passages which were written to this excellent and much-commended Church by way of Antidote against immoderate Sorrows for such as sleep in Jesus And indeed the provident Care and ministerial Faithfulness of this great Apostle clearly appears in the Matter Order and Vigour of Expression that this Epistle entertains its Reader with He first acknowledges what effectual Grace had brought them to 1 Thess 1 2-10 Hethen appeals to God and them as to his Sufferings Doctrines and deportment in both their genuine designed and succesful references to their Good 1. Thess ii 1-20 Then when he was to stay alone at Athens for which no doubt he saw great cause he sends Timotheus to them for their Establishment and Consolation in the Faith and to obviate all Discouragements and Snares which otherwise might make them droop or stumble And Timothy returns with a very good account concerning them which sends our Apostle to his Knees again with Thanks and Joys and further Supplications for them 1 Thess iii. 1-13 And then he presses them to walk according to his Doctrine and abundantly to improve that Christian Directory which they had received from him for pleasing God to avoid all polluting Sins all Sins are such but some incomparably more so than others as inconsistent with their Heavenly Interests and Hopes or prejudicial thereto and destructive thereof 1 Thess iv 1-12 And then when they are under providential Pressures let them repair unto the Hopes Comforts of their returning Lord from Heaven and of their abode with him and his whole Family for ever 1 Thess iv 13-18 and let them also make their highest practical Improvements hereof as being under better Circumstances so to do than others are 1 Thess v. 1-22 All which he closes with a solemn Prayer and Benediction with testified assurance of success herein 1 Thess 5.23 24. and hereupon he charges them by the Lord that this Epistle be read to all the Holy Brethren vers 27. as being of such consequence and concernment to them all And hence you may see how this great Apostle guards his Consolations in first securing Christianity in the Spirit and Practice of it and then proceeding to encourage and refresh the Hearts of Mourners Hence then consider the Text it self in its I. Sense II. Evidence III. Usefulness I. The Sense of the Text. And here these things occur'd to be considered tho briefly in their order 1. The Persons determined to this Priviledg We who are found alive and the Dead in Christ that rise first vers 16 17. and all of them Children of the Light and Day 1 Thess v. 5 8 9. The living Members and true Favorites of Christ distinguished from mere Pretenders Enemies and Strangers by their true conformity to Christ himself in Spirit Purpose and Behaviour 2. The Priviledg and State whereto they are determined to be for ever with the Lord. 3. The Time and Manner of their entrance into the full possession of this State. Christ comes descending with a shout from Heaven the Voice of the Arch-Angel and with the Trump of God. The Dead in Christ rise first They with the Living are caught up to meet Christ in the Air and so they are for ever with him ver 16 17. 1. The Persons here intended for this blessed State and reckoning duly thereupon We. How careful was this Eagle-eyed Apostle to prevent a Rape upon a thing so chast and sacred as this our Christian Hope You turned to God from Idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his Son from Heaven 1 Thess 1.9 10. Your

all these Attributions be made to God the Father yet will this glorious Name appear exceedingly in the Revelation of the Son from Heaven who is said to come in the Glory of his Father Luk. 9.26 And we cannot think his Heavenly Glory to be less than what attends him on his Throne of Judgment And when all Eyes shall see him upon his Throne in Heaven what Wonders shall we then behold the clearest Mirrour and most genuine Image of the Invisible God shedding abroad his Glory throughout that perfect World and by the visible Luster of his Eminencies the boundless Dispensations of his Love and the most accurate Government of his entire Family and Kingdom will he manifest his Interest in God and our Interest in him to be so great and grateful to the whole Society as to command and gain all Hearts Eyes Services and Doxologies 12. O what a Prize have we to make improvement of What! live with Christ for ever and then with such Solemnities be caught up to him to meet him in the Air so as to go away with him to Glory and to part no more Is such a Truth and State only to exercise our speculative Searches to entertain our wanton Fancies to minister to discursive Entertainments and bold Disputes or only by some politick Pretences thereunto to serve our Carnal Interests thereupon Think we that Christ in his Descent from Heaven his Return thither his Exaltation there or his determined and declared Purpose to enstate us with himself therein only intended that we should trifle with such Matters or make them Engines for our ambitious and selfish Aims and Purposes No greater prophanation and abuse of such a State and Hope and Friend in Heaven than this that Christ himself should be dishonoured and his great Aim and End concerning us neglected and defeated by an ill Temper and Behaviour in and from us Hence then suffer a word of Exhortation and that to these following things 1. Clear up your Notions of this State and Hope know with whom and where you are to be and to what Purposes Col. 3 1-4 You are to be with Christ in his Eternal Kingdom there to behold his Glory in all the Heights and Accuracies of full conformity to him that even there your raised and compleated Beings may serve the Purposes and reap the Comforts of your Stations there God's Houshold is called a Building fitly framed together here growing up and there grown up to be an holy Temple in the Lord and all are built together for an Habitation of God through the Spirit Ephes 2.21 22. And these Ephesians as others are were to be filled unto all the Fulness of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. 3.19 And what doth this insinuate The use and luster of the whole Temple is not to be confined and ascribed unto every Part. Nor are all the Parts to be in every thing alike it is rather Symmetry and Harmony than Identity or Equality wherein the beautifulness of that Building lies And indeed variety of Parts well laid and kept together shews greatly the Skill and Wisdom of the Architect God himself only knows what vast Numbers of Inhabitants that State contains Ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands Rev. 5.11 and a thousand thousands ministred to him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him Dan. 7.10 And these vast Multitudes are all digested into their several proper Ranks and Orders Hence Thrones Dominions Principalities Powers Colos 1.16 Might and Names named in the World to come Ephes 1.21 And the faln Angels are said to have left their Principality 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jude 6. Thus Christ assigns Authority in his Day to some over ten to others over five Cities Luk. 19 17-19 There is saith the Apostle one glory of the Sun another of the Moon another Glory of the Stars which themselves also in their Glory differ each from other So also is the Resurrection of the Dead 1 Cor. 15.41 42. And will not these be placed and used according to their different degrees in Glory in the Kingdom of God and of Christ It seems very improbable to me pace aliorum that all in Heaven are equal in their Capacities Stations and Circumstances this only Obiter and with all submission to farther Discoveries and better Judgments But that which is mainly aimed at from the Apostle's hint unto all the fulness is this that we are here to grow up to all the Fulness of God viz. to that degree of proficiency and at last Perfection which may best fill up and answer our fixed Place and Station in the living Temple of the great God. And then accordingly will God place and use us in the Heavenly Kingdom whereinto accordingly we are minded of an abundant Entrance 2 Pet. 1.11 But to the main Concern Think not that Christ will bring you to himself to give you sensual Entertainments or to exempt you from all further service to his Father and himself or to feed and satisfy an arrogant and revengeful Temper in you as if the Satisfactions and Advancements of that State only were to make you contemptuously to insult over those Enemies of yours who had vex'd or wronged you in the Flesh Nor are you there only to sit still and gaze at the beautiful Objects of that State nor only to sing your vocal Hallelujah's nor only to entertain the Majesty of the great Jehovah and the visible Beauty of that World the Man Christ Jesus with Commendations and Applauses as if your Oral Panegyricks could be your delight for the highest flights of Speech are low the most masculine vigour of Expression is but flat and languid and the most intimate Inspections and vastest reaches of created Intellects are but short and narrow as to the Objects of your Praise and Wonder in the Heavens Neh. 9.5 Job 11. 7-9 'T is true Christ Jesus is the Image of the invisible God and the Glory of the Divine Nature personally or bodily dwelling in him in its Fulness Col. 2.9 must suit its Emanations and Transmissions through the humane Nature and all its discoveries otherwise of it self unto the Capacities and Concerns of that most excellent Society above which yet as Creatures have their Bounds for no Nature can be infinite that is created Whence we may easily infer as I conceive an infinite residue of Perfection if I may call it so which never can be known by any meer Creature And it is more than I can prove that God neither hath made nor can make a sort of Beings to whom he doth or will or may discover himself by a Name higher and clothed with more lofty Attributions than either we or those Spirits above called Angels from their Ministrations to this World can reach or are capacitated for But De Deo vel vera dicere periculosum I dread to walk in the impossible or forbidden searches of the incomprehensible Sourse and Abyss of Perfection lest I should meet with that