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	young_a	youth_n	30	3	7.5975	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A90696	Two sermons preached in the Tovver. The former, on Sunday the 30. day of Ianuary. 1641. The later, on Sunday the 24. day of April. 1642. By the Bishop of Bath and Wells.	Piers, William, 1580-1670.; W. D.	1642 (1642)	Wing P2211; Thomason E155_21; ESTC R23322	31,288	88

body to life againe as Peter did Dorcas Acts 9. but it was a greater power for a dead body to raise up a dead body to life as the bones of the dead Prophet Elisha the dead man that was cast in haste and by chance into his grave 2 Kings 13.7 but it was the greatest power of all for a dead man to raise up himselfe unto life againe and so did Christ and so did never any but Christ neither shall any ever doe it againe he onely had power to lay downe his life and he onely had power to take it up againe Iohn 10. and he rose againe from the dead nunquam moriturus never to dye any more death hath no more dominion over him so then I may truly say with Saint Austine Non babuit divinitas quò se demitteret humiliùs neque habuit humanitas quò se attolleret altiùs the Godhead could not possibly descend any lower then to take the weake nature of man and the manhood could not possibly ascend any higher then to be united personally unto the Sonne of God And so I come to the power of Gods Grace which is made perfect in the weaknesse of mans sufferings here in this life which is my second point Which that you may the better understand I will shew you how the power of Gods grace is made perfect in the weaknesse of mankinde and of the weakest of mankinde and in the greatest sufferings that the weake nature of man can beare I will touch upon all the severall kindes of weaknesse vvherein the power of Gods grace is made perfect And first this power of Gods Grace is perfected in the weaknesse of mankinde no creature under heaven is capable of Gods Grace but only man men made of flesh and bloud made of dust and slime sinfull men have this treasure of Gods Grace in vasis testaceis in earthen vessells that the excellency of the povver may be of God and not of men 2 Cor. 4.7 We are cophini seminis coelestis the baskets vvherein the seed of Gods word is put vvhich is able to save our soules vve are the cabinets wherein the pretious jewells of the blessed Spirit of God are kept and what singular lights of Grace hath God made many men in the knowledge of his sacred Word in vvorkes of piety and charity and in holinesse of life 2. This power of Gods Grace is made perfect in the weaknesse of young children for unto many of them God gave wisdome before years and grace before discretion and the Spirit of God before the understanding of a man Daniel a young youth inspired by God convinced and condemned to death the two lust-breathing Elders for their false witnesse against chaste Susanna and Samuel a younger then he in his little coat ministred before the Lord being girded with a linnen Ephod unto whom the Lord revealed himselfe in a vision and told the young childe what he meant to doe against old Ely the Priest for the iniquity of his house but children younger then these cried in the Temple when Christ came into it Hosanna to the sonne of David which when the chiefe Priests and Scribes heard and saw they said unto Christ in a mocking manner hearest thou what these say and Jesus replied unto them yea have ye never read out of the mouthes of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise Matth. 21.15.16 which words cannot be meant of babes and sucklings in Christ as many Divines would have them for it is no wonder that they being of yeares doe praise God but they are to be understood of babes and sucklings in nature as Calvin rightly expounds and so they agree very well with Christs answer to the mocking Priests and Scribes as if he should have said it is no wonder that little children that can speake and goe up and downe doe praise God when as out of the mouthes of babes and sucklings who cannot goe nor speake God hath perfected his praise but when and how this was so I can better beleeve then understand and more easily admire then expresse Thirdly the power of Gods Grace is made perfect in the weaknesse of the weaker sex of mankinde you shall finde in the Old Testament as many holy women as men and in the New Testament as many women beleevers as men and in the Church Calenders as many women Saints and Martyrs as men who shall be renowned in the Church for their faith holinesse and other Christian vertues as long as the Gospell shall be preached in the world and Christ appeared first after his resurrection unto women and by them declared his resurrection unto men dum Apostoli dubitant faeminae credunt saith Saint Ierome and while the Apostles were incredulous the women beleeved thus hath God shewed the strength of his Grace in their infirmity and the power of his Spirit in the weaknesse of their nature that they should glory not in themselves but in the grace of God and in his mercy and goodnesse Fourthly the power of Gods Grace is made perfect in the weaknesse of the lowest condition of men in the weaknesse of ignorance basenesse and poverty there are three things which the world admires Wisdome Power Riches all which God neglected in the calling of men to the Gospell of Christ in the infancy thereof for not many wisemen after the flesh not many mighty not many noble were called at the first but God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the vvise and God chose the weak things of the vvorld to confound the mighty and base things of the vvorld and things which are despised did God chuse and things vvhich were not to bring to nought things that were that no flesh should glory in his presence 1 Cor. 1. Deus ab infirmioribus incaepit and therefore Christ chose to be his Apostles no disputing Logicians no witty Poets no eloquent Orators no subtlie Mathamatitians no deep Philosophers no wise States-man no mighty Princes but poore simple and unlearned fishermen and by them he drew whole nations of men into the net of the Church scientia piscatorum stultam fecit scientiam Philosophorum saith Saint Ambrose the preaching of Christ crucified not by great scholars but by ignorant men not with wit and eloquence but with simplenesse and plainnesse not pleasing to flesh and bloud but contrary to nature and reason and therby to perswade Orators and Phiosophers and the mighty men of the world yea the very enemies and perfecutors of Christian Religion in the height of all their menacies and most cruell torments to beleive and to imbrace the Gospell of Christ and in so short a time too declared plainly to all the world that the power of Gods grace was made perfect in the weaknesse of ignoance basenesse and poverty And all this was done thus that the conversion of the world unto Christ might not be ascribed to the wisdome of man but to the power of Gods grace But there are

those now who misunderstanding this text and other Scriptures of the like nature affirme that as simple and ignorant men did heretofore without any learning or premeditation at all preach and expound the mysteries of God by the power of Gods Spirit so simple and ignorant men may do the like now and why because the power of Gods Spirit is the same still that it was and bloweth where it listeth and therefore may be perfected as well in their weaknesse now as it was in the weaknesse of others in former times but this is no good plea and therefore they that put the spirit to this now deceives themselves and tempt the power of Gods blessed Spirit for there is a great deale of difference in the times God gave the gifts of illumination and of knowledge to simple and ignorant men by inspiration extraordinary and miraculously in the infancy of the Gospel and it was fit for those times for the reason before mentioned but now in a fetled Church such miracles are ceased and God gives divine knowledge and understanding unto men by labour industry and study but God doth still make perfect the power of his grace in the weaknesse of simple and unlearned by bestowing upon them the spirit of regeneration and sanctification and therfore the most simple and illiterate man alive may beleeve as well and as much as the greatest Clerk in the world and he that weareth the linnen frock may be as holy as he that is brought up in scarlet feedeth delicatly and the mayd servant that is behind the mill yea the beggar that imbraceth the dunghill may bee as rich in faith and in grace as he that sitteth in a throne of glory Fifthly the power of Gods grace is made perfect in the weaknesse of temptations And to apply the medicine to the malady this was the Apostles case God suffers his children to come many times in their temptations ad ripam unto the very brinke of dispaire and perdition and then the power of his grace helps them for God is faithfull and will not suffer us to bee tempted above our ability but when the temptation is at the highest then he will make a way for us to escape 1 Cor. 10. God permits Satan to tempt us and his temptations are the soarest of all but he will not suffer him to overcome us latrare potest mordere non potest saith Saint Augustine Hee thinkes by his temptations to breake us and to take us and hold us captive at his will but indeed hee takes himselfe in his owne Gins The more weight is laid upon an Arch the stronger it is and the winds which shake the trees makes them faster at the rootes Satans temptations like bellowes blow and kindle that holy fire that is within our breasts even the power of Gods grace let us not then be afraid of temptations For qui hortatur ut pugnemus adjuvat aut vincamus saith Saint Ambroose He that incourageth us to incounter with temptations doth and will helpe us by his grace to overcome them Et habebimus victoriam in eo quae nunquam victus est and we shall be more then conquerours through him who for our sakes was tempted and overcome that we in him might overcom also when we are tempted The arrowes which are often shot against a rock are so blunted that afterwards they can do little or no harme at all now Christ hath so blunted all the arrowes and darts of Satans temptations by his resistance that though they hit us yet they cannot hurt us Sixthly the power of Gods grace is made perfect in the weaknesse of our humiliation for our sinnes when a man is ashamed to lift up so much as his eies to heaven when a man humbles himselfe and afflicts his soule with weeping and mourning for his sinnes when a man denies himselfe and believes in his heart and confesseth that he is the greatest sinner in the world when a man judgeth himselfe not onely unworthy of the least of all Gods mercies but also most worthy of all the paines and torments in hell for offending God when a man loathes himselfe in his owne sight for the sinnes which he hath committed when a man abhorres himselfe and repents in dust and ashes Yea when a man brings himselfe downe so low that the shadow of death rests upon his eye lids and his speech whispers out of the dust as it is Esay 29.4 then doth the power of Gods grace begin to be made perfect in him then doth God come nigh to him to dwell with him and to save him for he that is on high will dwell with him that is of an humble and contrite spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the spirit of the contrite to heale his sin-broken heart and to bind up his wounds of sorrow Esay 57.18 Psal 143.3 And then what consolation in Christ what peace of conscience what joy in the holy Ghost doth the power of Gods grace presently produce in his soule which none can understand but hee that feeles and none can feele but the child of God the truely penitent sinner Peccator de peccato dolet de dolore gaudet saith Saint Augustine the penitent sinner sorroweth for his sinnes and rejoyceth in his repentance unam fudi lachrimam unam inveni consolationem I shed one teare for my sinnes and I found thereupon one comfort decem fudi lachrymas decem inveni consolationes I shed ten teares for my sinnes I found as many comforts for the same quantumcunque fuit pondus lachrymarum tantus fuit numerus consolationum and as the weight of my teares increased for my sinnes so the number of Gods comforts increased in my soule according to the saying of the Psalmist In the multitude of the sorrowes even of the sorrowes for my sinnes which I had in my heart thy comforts have rejoyced my soule Psal 94.19 Lastly the power of Gods grace is made perfect in the weaknesse of sicknesse and of all manner of sufferings unto which the weake nature of man is subject And first in the weaknesse of sicknesse When Iacob was sicke in his bed unto death and ready to give up the Ghost and when his eyes were dimme with age that hee could not see yet then did hee foresee and foretell what should befall the twelve tribes of Israel in the last daies what high and mysterious prophecies did he then deliver in the several blessings of his twelve Sons and with whatstrength of words you may reade in the 29. of Genesis When Iob was smitten with sore boyls from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head when he sate down among the ashes and scraped himselfe with a potsheard when his skin was black and broken and his bones were burnt with heate when he could not swallow his spittle and when he took his flesh in his teeth when the poisoned arrowes of the Almighty dranke up his spirits and his reines