Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	knowledge_n	understanding_n	wisdom_n	6,916	5	6.5948	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A19487	The anatomie of a Christian man VVherein is plainelie shewed out of the VVord of God, what manner of man a true Christian is in all his conuersation, both inward, and outward. ... By M. William Covvper, minister of Gods Word.	Cowper, William, 1568-1619.	1611 (1611)	STC 5912; ESTC S108976	153,437	332

regard any that are wise in their owne conceit Iob. 37. 24. but pronounceth a woe against them Esay 5. 21. Let therefore the same minde be in you which was in Iesus Christ who being in the forme of God thought it no robberie to be equall with God but made himselfe of no reputation and was found in shape as a seruant Philip. 2. Deck yee also your selues in lowlinesse of minde 1. Pet. 5. 5. that yee may walke worthy of the calling wherevnto yee are called with all humblenesse of minde Ephe. 4. Furthermore thinke of those things which are of good report are which and true honest iust pure pertaining to loue Philip. 4. 8. Let there not be in your heart a wicked thought Deut. 15. 9. for many minde earthly things whose God is their belly and whose glory is their shame Philip. 3. 19. But vnto him who doth thinke on good things shall be mercy and truth Prou. 14. 22. The Christians Prayer for Grace to obay this Command O Lord I am a man void of Counsell neyther is there any vnderstanding in me I am not sufficient of my selfe so much as to thinke a good thought but my sufficiency is of thee for thou Lord dost giue wisedome and out of thy mouth comes knowledge and vnderstanding thou art he who puttest wisdome into the reynes and giuest vnderstanding to them who haue erred in spirit I therefore pray thee O Lord if I haue found fauour in thy sight shew me thy way that I may know thee thy hands haue made me and fashioned me Lord giue me vnderstanding that I may learne thy commandements lighten my darknesse that being filled with the knowledge of thy will I may walke in thy light studying alwayes to doe that which is good and pleasant in thy sight through Iesus Christ. Another O Lord who didst command light to shine out of darknesse make it I beseech thee to shine in mine heart to giue me the light of the knowledge of thee my God in the face of Iesus Christ take away good Lord the vaile wherewith my mind is couered that I may behold as in a mirrour thy glory with open face and may be changed into the same Image by thy spirit let me not be of the number of those Infidels whom the God of this world hath blinded that the light of the glorious Gospell of Christ who is the Image of God should not shine vnto them but make me to abound more and more in knowledge and in all iudgement that I may discerne betweene good and euill and betweene things which differ one from another and may be kept pure and without offence till the day of Christ filled with the fruits of righteousnes which are by Iesus vnto the praise and glory of God Amen The Christians Prayer for Grace to obay this Command ONce I was darknes but now I am light in the Lord Eph. 5. 8. I walked in darknesse and dwelt in the land of the shadow of death but now the light hath shined vpon me and I haue seene light Esay 9. 2. and God hath giuen me a minde to know him who is true 1. Iohn 5. 20. for his word is my wisdome and vnderstanding Deut. 4. 6. and his commandements haue made me wiser than mine enemies for they are euer with me yea I haue had more vnderstanding then all my teachers for thy testimonies are my meditation Psal. 119. 99. I will not any more lift vp my minde vnto vanitie but I will thinke vpon God in the night Psal. 63. 6. and I will meditate in the Law of the Lord continually Psal. 119. 97. and of the beauty of his glorious Maiestie and his wonderfull acts Psal. 145. 5. And I will alwaies giue thanks to him who hath made me meet to be partaker of the inheritance of his Saints in light who hath deliuered me from the power of darknesse and hath translated me into the kingdome of his deare Sonne to whom be praise and glory for euer Amen Col. 1. 13. THE OBSERVATIONS AS in the first creation God began at the light so in the second he begins at the illumination of the mind and the mind changed and renued by the Lord worketh a change also of the will and affections Naturally the minde of man is darke proud and prophane the ignorance that is in it being both a punishment of mans first sinne a sinne it selfe and the cause of all other sinne For man aspiring to an higher knowledge then God vouchsafed vpon him lost the knowledge wherewith God endued him by creation except some generall notices of good and euill which like sparkles of fire couered with the ashes of mans corrupt nature are left in him to make him inexcusable By his first creation he was made a companion of Angels but falling from that honour hee became a companion of beasts and hath so far degenerated from that which God made him that hee hath assumed the very properties of beasts wherefore also God giues vnto him the name of a beast Quidenim an non tibi videtur ipsis bestijs bestialior homo ratione vigens ratione non viuens And now seeing restitution is proclaimed in Christ how carefully should hee take heede to himselfe that hee despise not grace which is offered by his first fall hee fell from light to darknesse his second fall shall cast him into vtter darknesse the transgression of the couenant of workes made him a companion of beasts but the contempt of the couenant of grace shall make him a companion of damned Diuels And as this ignorance is a punishment of mans first sinne so is it also a sinne as is euident out of 2. Thes. 5. 1. The Lord shall appeare in staming fire to render vengeance vnto all them that know not God Thirdly it is a cause of other sinnes as we are taught by the Apostle Eph. 4. that the Gentiles wer strangers from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them As Balaam went on blindlings in an euill course because he saw not the Angell standing with a naked sword against him so the wicked walke boldly in their sins because they know not the danger thereof A body destitute of eyes cannot discerne the day from the night a friend from a foe nor the pit from the plaine no more can a darkned minde discerne the manifold snares of Sathan but as our Sauiour saith where the blinde leads the blinde both of them must fall at length into the ditch so where a blinded minde is the directer of a corrupted will what can the end be but fearefull damnation and yet no better is mans miserable estate by Nature But this naturall ignorance is remoued in the regeneration and a holy light created in the minde of man which the Lord workes by degrees as hee opened the eyes of

of the new man arising to succeed in his roome to the possession of soule and bodie which before we possessed by him And thirdly because in the godly this corruption waxeth weake and infirme wearing daily neerer and neerer to death after the manner of old men But it is to be marked that in these two last respects sinfull corruption of nature is named the old man in men regenerate onely and in no other for in men vnregenerate their corruption shall for euer possesse them it increases vpon them and is yong strong and liuely euen when they themselues are weake and wearing to the graue Now a●… no birth can be without sorrow nor death without dolour nor circumcision or cutting of the flesh without paine so cannot our regeneration be wrought without godly sorrow and anguish of spirit which I marke for the comfort of the godly that they may know that sanctified troubles of conscience are but the dolours of the new birth and therefore should not be discouraged with them The infant that hath lien but nine moneths in the mothers wombe cannot throng out into the world without paine and thinkest thou to be lighter of sinne wherein thou wast conceiued and borne and which also hath beene so many yeares nourished in thy bowels without paine As Pharaoh grieued Israel forest when they stroue fastest to libertie and as that dumb spirit tormented that yong man worst when he saw he was to be cast out of him Mark 9. 25. So Sathan troubles the godly most heauily when hee sees the time of their deliuerance from his seruitude and bondage neerest But our comfort is that God is faithfull as he begins the worke so will he finish and end it Strong is Sathan indeed but Christ our Lord is that stronger one Pharaoh may repine but hee shall perish and the Israelites of God shall goe through that vncleane spirit in our parting from him may rend vs and cast vs as dead men to the ground but out shall he goe and Christ by his hand shall raise vs vp againe The other part of the Regeneration of the Soule is called as I said the viuification of the new man and the first resurrection where in our heauenly father communicates to vs his owne seed 1. Pet. 1. his nature 2. Pet. 1. 4. and his image 2. Cor. 3. 18. For since earthly fathers beget creatures like vnto themselues shall wee thinke that the heauenly father begets children to another similitude not his owne Surely they doe greatly dishonour the Lord who in their words say they are the sonnes of God and yet in their actions resemble the image of Sathan The Regeneration againe of the body consists also in two first in a right vsing of the members of our body as weapons of righteousnesse to serue God which we are taught to doe by grace Next in a full deliuerance of them from mortalitie and corruption Of this it is cleare that the Regeneration of the whole man will not be perfected till the day of resurrection called for that cause by our Sauiour the Regeneration Matth. 19. 28. Now through grace the Soule liues a happy life in the body thogh not as yet fully clensed and separated frō sin Out of the body it liues a more happy life being freed from all sin but yet not contented for the soule was not made to liue by it self but in the body and therefore cannot rest contented so long as it wants his owne organe and companion but when the body shall be raised againe and soule body revnited both of them fully deliuered from sinne and from the fruits of sinne then shall our generation which now is begun be perfected and absolued As for our parents in this generation wee haue God for our Father in Christ and Ierusalem which is from aboue to wit the Church of Christ the mother of vs all The Apostle to the Corinthians calles himselfe their Father Though ye haue ten thousand instructers yet haue ye not many fathers for in Christ Iesus I haue begotten you through the Gospel 1. Cor. 4. 15. And againe to the Galathians hee calles himselfe their mother My little children of whom I trauaile in birth againe till Christ be formed in you Gal. 4. 19. But Preachers are onely ministeriall parents ye●… for this same should they be honoured of people as their fathers and should againe carrie toward their people no lesse affection then fathers haue to their children specially to procure their euerlasting saluation But here both the naturall mother is to bee discerned from the stepmother and the bastard children from the lawfull for the chast spouse of Christ will receiue no seed into her bosom but the seed of her immortall husband which is the word of God and the lawfull mother of the sonnes of God will not giue them any other milke to feed vpon but the sincere and vnmingled milke of Gods word as Saint Peter calles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which shee offers to be sucked out of the pappes of the old and new Testament And therefore the Church of Rome which withdrawes these pappes from the mouthes of Gods children or giues them the milke of the word mingled with the Traditions of men pretend what shee will is but a strumpet and stepmother And as there is a stepmother so is there also bastard children they sit vpon the knee of Christs spouse but neuer sucked her pappes to draw life and grace out of her breasts such a one was Cham in the Arke such was Ismael in Abrahams house such was Esau brought vp with Iacob on the knee of Rebecca and alas such are many in our time who in regard of profession are in Gods Church pretending they are sons but are in very deed bastards no way in their life resembling the image of their heauenly father The Censure By these rules it is manifest that all are not Christians indeed who this day vsurpe the Christian name CHAPTER II. Of his New Senses The Lords Command concerning them THou knowest not how by Nature thou art wretched and miserable blind poore and naked Reu. 3. 17. For the naturall man perceiues not those things which are of the Spirit of God 1. Cor. 2. 14. he sauours onely the things of the flesh Rom. 8. 5. his wisdome is death for it is enmitie with God verse 6. Hearken therefore vnto my words and keep them in the middest of thine heart Prou. 4. 21. Come and buy from mee eye-salue to annoynt thine eyes that thou maist see Reu. 3. 18. for I am he who maketh both the eye to see and the eare to heare Prou. 20. 12. I will bring forth the blind people and they shall haue eyes and the deafe and they shall heare Esa. 43. 8. He that walks in the darke knows not whither hee goes Ioh. 12. 35. But I am come a light into the world that whosoeuer

is esteemed to be worse then indeed he is As a rich man will laugh if he be called poore because he knowes it is false so a Christian when he is charged with euils whereof he knowes he is not guiltie Bene sibi conscius non debet falsis moueri nec aestimare plus ponderis in alieno esse conuitio quam in suo testimonio Now as for those troubles which come immediately from God wee ought so much the more patiently to beare them whether they be in our bodies or our goods shall wee receiue good things from him and not receiue euill Moreouer we haue had fathers of our bodies who haue corrected vs at their pleasure and we haue beene subiect to them how much more should wee be subiect to the father of Spirits who alway corrects vs for our profit Yea seeing vnder hope of health wee can be content that Phisitions cut and burne our bodies let vs be ashamed to murmure when the Lord chastiseth vs seeing hee doth it for no other end but that after it wee may enioy the quiet fruit of righteousnesse But how many men shall yee nowfinde professing Christ and yet like vnto those of whom Micah said in his time the best of them are bryers they thinke it religion good inough if they be quiet when none offends them but if you touch them with the smallest iniurie yee shall finde them thistles and thornes to pricke you The Censure And of this also it is manifest that all haue not the Christians disposition who now vsurpe the Christian name CHAPTER XIII Of his Anger The Lords Command BE not of an hasty spirit to be angry for Anger rests in the bosome of fooles Eccles 7. 11. Whosoeuer is angry with his brother vnaduisedly is culpable of Iudgement Math. 5. 22. The discretion of a man differeth his anger and it is the glory of a man to passe by an offence Prou. 19. 11. The foole is knowne by his anger but the wise couereth shame Pro. 12. 16. Cease therefore from anger and leaue off wrath Psal. 37. 8. But if ye be angry sinne not and let not the Sunne goe downe vpon your wrath Ephes. 4. 26. The Christians Prayer for Grace to obay this Command O Lord thou hast formed mee for thy selfe therefore giue mee vnderstanding that I may learne thy Commandements Poure thy Spirit vpon me from aboue and teach mee in all things to doe that which is good in thy sight Thou art gracious and righteous and teachest sinners thy way specially them that be meeke wilt thou guide in iudgement Deliuer me from wrath contention and debate which are the workes of the flesh and work in me a meeke and a quiet spirit which before thee is a thing much set be so shall I shew by good conuersation my workes in the meeknesse of wisedome to the glory of thy Name through Christ Iesus Amen The Christians Practise of this Command I Am the Lords seruant I will not forget him Esay 44. 21. but will lay vp his words in my heart that I sinne not against him Psal. 119. I will not walke after the stubbornnesse of mine heart that I should not heare the Commandements of my God Ierem. 16. 12. I will not striue but will be gentle toward all men instructing with meeknesse them that are contrary minded 2. Tim. 2. For I haue no such custome as to be contentious 1 Cor. 11. 16. but I cannot for-beare them which are euill Reuel 2. 2. I cannot suffer such as deceiue the seruants of the Lord Reuel 2. 20. saying they are Apostles and are not Reuel 2. 2. for the zeale of thine house hath eaten me and the rebukes of them that rebuked thee are fallen vpon me Psal. 69. 9. Yea my zeale hath consumed me because mine enemies haue forgotten thy word Psal. 119. 139. THE OBSERVATIONS THat same holy Spirit that descended vpon the Apostles in the similitude of ●…e descended first on the Lord Iesus in the similitude of a Doue to teach vs that in some things we should be patient and meeke in others inflamed with an holy Anger and that both the one and the other are the effects of Gods Spirit In our owne particulars we should be patient in the cause of God wee should be zealous after the example of Moses who was the meekest man vpon the face of the earth but wonderfull angry when he saw God dishonoured by Idolatry hee spared not to put to the edge of the sword those people whom otherwise hee loued most dearely But alas our corruption carries vs a contrary way making vs fierie beyond measure in reuenging our owne wrongs but wondrous cold in pleading the cause of God Anger is a naturall affection by which the soule of man is commoued to remedy the euill done against the will thereof by reuenge I call it a Naturall affection such as God created in Adam in the state of innocency otherwise it had not beene in our blessed Sauiour Now there are two sorts of Anger one carnall which is the worke of the flesh and forbidden another holy which is a worke of the spirit and commanded Alia est ira quam impa●…ientia excitat alia quam zelus format illa ex vitio haec ex virtute For the commotion of the minde is according to the mouer thereof if the Spirit of God commoue thy minde it is an holy anger raised for iust causes and tempered in ordinate measure Affectiones dona Dei sunt cum à ratione duce ac imperatore mouentur Affections are the gifts of God when they are moued by Reason as their leader and commander and in speciall Iracundia moderate spirans Zeli est armatura moderate Anger is the armour of Zeale But if the Spirit of Sathan commoue thy minde he raiseth an anger which eyther is vniust or at least so immoderate that thou neyther canst keepe vnder it reuerence toward thy God loue toward thy nighbour nor compassion toward thy selfe This carnall Anger is a raging euill Momentanea insania a momentanie madnesse said Basil compositum malum a compound euill of many euils said Nazianzen Spirituum legio a legion of many euill spirits by which the will of him who was the first murtherer of man is satisfied and many horrible euils are effected It casteth off all reuerence of God for the man this way angry doth set himselfe in the roome of God and would haue the Lord subiect to him as his seruant to execute without delay all that wrath hee wisheth for by cursed imprecations It disioyneth a man from God and makes him like to the diuell in rerum natura quid mitissimum an non Deus quaenam natura biliosa est ea quae hominem peremit De his tibi quamvis partem elige nam vtramque non licet habere the