Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	law_n	life_n	power_n	7,129	5	5.5274	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A80872	A discourse of spiritual blessings or a discovery I. That every Christian is blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ. In four sermons. II. That God hath a high account of the least grace in the saints. In three sermons. By Mr. John Cromwell, late pastor of a church of Christ in the city of Norwich.	Cromwell, John, 1632 or 3-1685.	1685 (1685)	Wing C7038A; ESTC R228995	89,109	202

but that it should be holy and without blemish God chose us that we might be holy and without blame and Jesus Christ has such a Love to us even as the Father has that we should be holy and without blame and my Friends the Spirit is all one with the Father and the Son Does the Father choose us and does the Son give himself for us that we might be so then comes the Spirit and resolves that he will make us so and therefore you shall find the Apostle in his Epistle to the Galatians giving us an account of the fruits of the Spirit in the fifth Chapter at the 18 verse if so be ye be led by the Spirit ye are not under the Law And then as to the energy the workings of the Spirit why says he in the 17 verse The Spirit lusteth against the flesh The fleshly part in us is an unbelieving part that is against living out of our selves upon Christ ay but the Spirit that works contrary unto these natural lustings and natural workings of the flesh for says the Apostle v. 22. The fruit of the Spirit is Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith c. By comparing these passages together you may raise this observation that even as the Father and the Son are concerned for our practical as well as personal holiness so also is the Spirit he lusts and he works and he strives and he never leaves lusting and striving and working against the flesh until he have brought forth these fruits of Love Joy Peace and Long-suffering and Gentleness and goodness and Faith c. So that this is the first particular God has chosen us unto personal and practical holiness and if you do observe it this Spiritual Blessing is also ensured unto us in Christ with all the contents of it and with all the proper effects of it May a Poor Creature say But how shall I come to attain to this And what security can I have of it Why says he according as he hath chosen us in him he hath Blessed us in him according as he hath chosen us in him and now says he he hath Blessed us with all Spiritual Blessings in him But then 2. The Second Blessing that the Apostle takes notice of is the great Spiritual Blessing of Adoption which doth not only discover a Relation to God but also a sutable frame and a sutable becoming sense of the Relation a sense of it and a frame comporting and complying with it This you have an account of in the 5 verse Having predestinated us to the Adoption of Children to himself c. I pray do but observe what the Apostle here doth discover concerning the Nature of this it is the Adoption of Children to himself The God and Father of our Lord Jesus hath ensured our Adoption with all the Priviledges with all the Blessed consequents of it unto us in Christ Jesus 'T is the God and Father of Christ Jesus and he that is so is in Christ Jesus a God adopting us unto himself by Jesus Christ This you shall find the Scripture frequently making mention of says the Apostle to the Romans We have not received the Spirit of Bondage but the Spirit of Adoption the Spirit of Sons and what is the proper work of the Spirit of Adoption You shall find what it is Rom. 8.15 Ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage again to fear but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father Says the Apostle ye are Sons ay but the Sonship is managed by the Spirit ye are not only Sons but the Spirit witnesseth with your Spirits that ye are so and that is his proper work and what is the issue of that Why says he ye cry Abba Father you may go to God in your distresses and you may go to God under your Temptations and you may go to God as the God and Father of Jesus Christ under all your straits and troubles and under all your Spiritual wants and you may say unto him Father hear and Father help Says the Apostle ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage again to fear Indeed under the Law when they were under the Power of the Spirit of Bondage they stood at a distance from God they were under fear but now says the Apostle ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage again to fear but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby ye cry Abba Father It is as natural a Priviledge to a Child of God and it is as Natural Language to gracious hearts to cry Abba Father as it is for a Child to cry to his Father Father or Mother ye have received the Spirit of Adoption says he and the same thing you have the Apostle giving us an account of Gal. 4. v. 4 5. God sent forth his Son made of a woman made under the Law Why what then That we might receive the Adoption of Sons and because ye are Sons says he God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba Father I would only observe this to you which it may be is not so obvious to every apprehension Compare but these two Scriptures together and you shall find that in the one he is the Spirit of Adoption as he is the Fathers Spirit and in the other he is the Spirit of Adoption as he is the Spirit of the Son for saith he he has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba Father The Spirit of the Lord Jesus the same Spirit that influenced the Humane Nature and in which Jesus Christ always prayed to God as a Father and always walked with God under all variety of providences as with a Father the same Spirit he hath sent forth and this same Spirit that cryed Abba Father in Christ crys Abba Father also in Christians 3. The third Spiritual Blessing that the Apostle makes mention of in this Chapter is an universal acceptance of Christians in all cases notwithstanding all disobligements one would wonder that a child should sin and though the sin be rejected yet the child stand still in a state of acceptation though the Father scourge the Child yet he doth not unchild the Child This you have an account of verse 6. to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved I pray do but observe it There is nothing that a Christian can propose to himself there is no case that the Devil and the world can expose a Christian to but the Christian is still accepted in Christ Jesus and that notwithstanding all his fears and under all his Jealousies and in the face of all his conscience accusations and his own self-condemnations yet the Child is accepted the Christian is accepted who hath made us says he accepted in the beloved my friends this is a great Spiritual Blessing indeed There are many that have their hearts greatly concerned and their Spirit wonderfully

in every providence and such as lay open to every Ordinance I say practical experiences of the power of Gods grace O what can the grace of God do Nay Christians what is it that the grace of God cannot do That grace that could send Christ out of his eternal mansion in the bosom of his Father what cannot that grace do for thee That grace that can empty as it were the Second person of the Trinity of his glory doest thou think that this grace cannot empty thy heart of sin That grace that can fill the Covenant with such a fulness of Blessings Poor worm doest thou think that this grace cannot fill thy heart with Blessings I pray Christians do but consider what the Apostle saith in the 19 and 20 verses of this Chap. And what is says he the exceeding greatness of his power to us ward who believe according to the working of his mighty power If thy heart be hard and be fixed within thee so that thou doest oppose the work of Faith he will work this work of faith with power if it be exceeding hard there is exceeding power that the grace of God has the command of if thou beest exceeding weak there is exceeding grace that hath the dispose of exceeding power ay if thou beest exceeding unworthy there is exceeding grace that can exceedingly overlook all thy unworthiness Now Christians practical experiences of the power of grace under the ministration of the Gospel is a great Spiritual Blessing We have heard much of the grace of God of the respective persons of the blessed Trinity what has this grace done for thy Soul Art thou able to set to thy Seal that there is an exceeding power in the grace of the Father and an exceeding power in the grace of the Son if thou hast not as yet experienced it truly if there be but some beginnings of the power of God and the finger of God hath but been upon thy heart though in lesser power if there be exceeding power wanting that exceeding power shall not always be suspended Practical experiences of the exceeding mighty power of God is that which is a great Spiritual Blessing which we are blessed with in Christ Jesus and for the illustration of this do but compare this power if thou needest as much exceeding power to raise up thy Soul from any Spiritual Death or Deadness as Jesus Christ stood in need of to raise him from the dead that shall be at the dispose of grace that shall be imployed by grace and therefore he adds in the next verse which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead That power that raised the Son of man from the dead and that power that set the Son of man at his own right hand in Heavenly places thou Christian shalt have experience of it and this is the Spiritual Blessing wherewith thou art blessed in Christ Jesus Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all Spiritual blessings in Christ that is he hath Blessed us with a Right to an universal and unbounded experience of the power of his grace in all cases 9. But the last that I shall mention is this He hath blessed us with all Spiritual blessings that is an universal subjection of all our Spiritual Enemies under us And I think this may be lookt upon as a great Spiritual Blessing It is true indeed my friends all things are put under the feet of Jesus Christ but all things are not yet put under our feet But that you may see the reason of this great priviledge how grace hath laid it in Christ do but observe those passages that you have in v. 21 22 23. of this Chapter at the 20 verse and hath set him at his own right hand in heavenly places far above all principalities and might and dominion and every name that is named both in this World and also in that which is to come And as if these two words could not comprehend all the Apostle adds in general and hath put all things under his feet All things that are enemies to our Spiritual Interest all things that are Enemies unto our purification unto our sanctification unto our inlightning and strengthening and unto any or all of our Spiritual blessings He hath put all things under his feet Obj. Ay but what is all this to us you will say Ans Therefore I pray observe what he says further He hath put all things under his feet with a direct subserviency unto his Church Verse 22. and hath put all things under his feet and hath given him to be the head over all things to the Church head over all principalities over all the powers of darkness over all our Enemies in hell and over all our Spiritual Enemies here on Earth and that unto his Church and People which he calls his Body the fulness of him that filleth all in all Now my friends this is a great Spiritual blessing and that the Spirit is concerned in this is evident I pray do but observe a passage of the Apostle in his Epistle to the Romans chap. 8. verse● 11. compared with Verse 2. at the 11th verse If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodys by his Spirit that dwelleth in you I apprehend that this hath not relation primarily or principally to the last Resurrection of the Body but even to a Spiritual deliverance and freedom of the Body from the remains of the law of sin death which yet abide in it says the Apostle If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in your mortal bodys then you shall be quickened your mortal bodys shall be disposed and influenced so by that Spirit that they shall be readier than now they are to serve the graces of your Souls according to the dictates of the Spirit of Jesus Christ and my reason for this Interpretation is this the Apostle in the conclusion of the former Chapter had been crying out verse 24. O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death which he had confessed had too long lodged in his members in the former part of the Chapter Now in verse 2. of this Chap. he says But the law of the Spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death where is the law of sin It is in my body says the Apostle but says he the law of the Spirit of life hath made me free upon this Hypothesis the Apostle doth conclude in verse 11. That if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in us then shall our mortal bodies be quickned and disposed also unto Spiritual service and if you do but observe it the Apostle in the Conclusion of this discourse gives such an exhortation tending to this purpose that

what then Saies the Apostle that I think had his share in Sufferings These light afflictions work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory Now upon this account it is that God looks after the least grain I shall pass to the improvement and deliver my sense as to the improveableness of it in these five or six practical Conclusions Vse 1 And the first is this Will God in the siftings of Israel take care that the least grain do not fall to the Earth Then let every one look upon themselves as greatly concerned to be made Gods grains My meaning is to get grace though it be never so little Satan hath two designs by way of dilemma upon you if you escape the one a thousand to one but you fall into the other and what are these designs of Satan truly the design lyes here What shouldest thou be content with so little when others that have been more sinful have more despise and slight the little because it is not likely thou shouldest ever attain to much and how does he manage it Thou art old he saies to one and therefore it is not likely thou shouldest live long and therefore canst not expect to grow if thou hadst begun betimes it had been something like And to those that are young all in good time yet See but such a one that liv'd a long time in the enjoyment of his pleasure and God look't upon him and see how he grew up to a great deal of grace in a little time here 's the dilemma now between the one and the other My friends I beseech you therefore fix upon a little grace I will open this in two Branches 1. In the midst of his severest dispensations God will find out a little grace It may be you will say will God look upon me If I were as David may the poor Soul say and may another say if I were as the Angel of the Lord the Lord would find me out nay stay proud Soul it is enough if thou beest but weak let grace take it 's own time to make thee as David the weak shall be as David and David as the Angel of the Lord. Friends I would beg of you that you would not live without a little grace and that you would live chearfully with a little grace until God give more 2. The Second is this That a little in being is as much as all in reversion Art thou but a small grain Pray who made thee a small grain Hath not he also the residue of the Spirit Cannot he make the dry Tree to grow out of the dry ground Cannot he make a little one a Nation Surely he hath the residue of the Spirit Let me tell you God never begins with great things in the most remarkable proceeds of grace that are by past and that are to come but he alwayes begins with a little and so glorifies both his grace and his power in making that little greater than all Therefore pray Sirs let me perswade you you that are young and you that are old if you canhope for a great deal give God no rest till he give you a little till he make you a little Christian give him no rest Oh bring your Children and cry Lord a little grace for this Child Oh bring your Servants cry Lord a little grace for this Servant Oh cast your hearts at the Footstool of the Throne and say Lord a little grace for this graceless heart if it be but a little Lord. As thy Soul liveth saies the Woman to the Prophet I have but a little meal in the barrel and a little oyl in the cruse What then says the Prophet come make me a Cake So I say my friends as the Lord liveth if he hath created a little grace he will create more and therefore my Friends bless God for a little and be not contented without a little Vse 2 Will not the Lord suffer the least grain to fall to the Earth in all the siftings Then you may see the vast differences that are between the righteous and the wicked and that in God's providential proceedings I will throw says he the Tribes of Israel into the Sieve of the Nations and what then let the Chaff go let the Chaff go let the heads that have not grain in them fall to the Earth Oh says he but the least grain shall not fall to the Earth you have God's Word for it The great difference that God makes in his general Judgments between the righteous and the wicked I will open this in two Branches 1. There is more that God likes in the least grain than there is in heaps of the Chaff of the wicked there is more that God likes in the heart of the poorest Christian than God can discover in a whole Nation of Hypocrites put together No there is not so much as a poor Christian hath that hath but a little grace cast them into the ballance and they are altogether lighter than vanity When it came to the pinch indeed saies God I gave Ethiopia for thee and Seba for thee So I tell you my Friends that God makes no account of the chaff though it be never so bulky but he makes much of a little grain the least grain shall not fall to the Earth let the chaff go whither it will burn it with unquenchable fire saies the Lord the least grain shall not fall away but the bulky chaff shall be burnt with unquenchable fire 2. That little that a Christian hath can do more with God and for God than all that others have can do It may be such a one hath great parts well and what does he do for God and another he hath a great bulk of gifts what can he do for God What can he do Truly all he can do is only this to dissemble with God and to dishonour God The times have been wherein gifts have been magnified above grace and not long since by many but what is come of it See the providences of God how they are wheel'd about And now grace is the only thing that will stand us instead in our day and all the gifts that all the professors of England had cannot do so much as a little grace it may be you have a name to live and profess much but where is your grace One saies I am of Paul and another I am of Apollos and what then Where 's the Image of Christ you may be of Paul while you live and go to Hell when you die You may be of Apollos when you are in the Body and when you die for ought I know you may be haled to judgement by the Divels in Hell Such a one you say he prayes he is a mighty man in Prayer Sirs I tell you I value no more my own Prayers that are Prayers of gifts and there is no more in them and God is no more glorified in them than an empty sound But a few sighs