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	sin_n	22,698	5	5.7840	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61624	A sermon preached before the Queen at White-Hall, March the 13th, 1691/2 by the Right Reverend Father in God, Edward, Lord Bishop of Worcester.	Stillingfleet, Edward, 1635-1699.	1692 (1692)	Wing S5664; ESTC R8160	16,936	42

A SERMON Preached before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL March the 13 th 1691 2. By the Right Reverend Father in GOD EDWARD Lord Bishop of Worcester Published by Her Majesty's Special Command LONDON Printed by J. H. for Henry Mortlock at the Phoenix in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1692. Romans VIII 6. For to be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace IN these Words is imply'd a Distribution of Mankind into those who are carnally and spiritually minded which Distinction is so Large and Comprehensive as to take in all sorts and conditions of Men and of so great Moment and Importance that their Life or Death Happiness or Misery depend upon it But considering the Mixture of Good and Evil in Mankind it is not an easie matter to set the Bounds of the carnal and spiritual Mind and considering the frequent Impunity and Security of bad Men and the Fears and Troubles which the best are not exempted from it seems next to impossible to make out at least as to this Life that to be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace Yet our Apostle doth not seem to confine the Consequences here mention'd to another World although the full Accomplishment of them be only there to be expected but if we attend to his Scope and Design in the end of the foregoing Chapter and the Beginning of this we shall find that even in this Life the Result of a carnal Mind is a sort of Spiritual Death and of a Spiritual Mind is Life and Peace For when S. Paul in the 7th Chapter had Represented himself as Carnal and sold under Sin although there were great Strugglings between the Convictions of his Conscience and the Strength of Carnal Inclinations yet as long as the latter prevailed so that he could not do the things that his Mind and Reason told him he ought to do but did those things which he was convinced he ought not to have done The more he Reflected upon himself the more Sad and Miserable he found his Condition to be as appears by that Emphatical Expression which follow'd upon it O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death But he no sooner finds hopes of Delivery and Escape out of that Estate but he breaks forth into a Transport of Joy and inward Satisfaction Thanks be to God who hath given us the Victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Not meerly a Victory over Death but over Sin too And so he begins this Chapter after a triumphant manner There is therefore no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit For the Lord of the Spirit of Life which was in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death He that groaned under his Captivity before to the Law of Sin doth now rejoyce in his Deliverance from it by the Grace of the Gospel For what could not be done by Natural Freedom by the Power of the Law and the Force of Reason is brought to pass by the Assistance of Divine Grace given to the Souls of Men by Jesus Christ. For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh What was that which the Law could not do It could Awaken Convince Terrifie and Confound the Consciences of Sinners under the Sense and Apprehension of their Sins but it could neither Satisfie the Justice of God nor the Minds of Men it could not Remove the Guilt nor take away the Force and Power of Sin But God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinfull Flesh and for sin condemned sin in the Flesh i. e. Jesus Christ becoming an Expiatory Sacrifice for Sin took off the damning Power of Sin and by the prevailing Efficacy of his Grace subdued the Strength and Force of it to such a degree That the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit How could this be if S. Paul still considered himself in the same Condition he did in the foregoing Chapter For if he were still in Captivity to the Law of Sin in his Members how was it possible that the Righteousness of the Law should be fulfilled in him How could he walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit if the Good which he would he did not and the Evil which he would not that he did For these things are so repugnant to each other that when they are spoken of the same Person it must be under different Considerations the one of him as meerly under the Power of the Law the other as under the Grace and Influence of the Gospel The one was like Rough and a Churlish sort of Physick which searches into every Part and puts all the ill Humours of the Body into Motion and makes a general Disturbance and Uneasiness within but yet lets them remain where they were the other is like a gentle but more Effectual Remedy which carries off the Strength and Power of inward Corruptions and alters the Habit and Temper and puts quite another Disposition into us which produces very different Effects upon us For instead of Horrour and Despair and inward Anguish and Confusion there will follow a New Life of Joy and Peace here and Eternal Happiness hereafter And this is what the Apostle means in the Words of the Text To be carnally minded c. Wherein are two things which very much deserve our Consideration I. The different Tempers of Mens Minds some are Carnally and others Spiritually minded II. The different Consequences which follow them To be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace I. The different Tempers of Mens Minds The different Denominations are taken from the Flesh and the Spirit which are here represented as two Principles so different from each other that the same Person cannot be supposed to be acted by both of them For as the Apostle saith in the foregoing Words They that are after the Flesh do mind the things of the Flesh but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit Where the Flesh in a Moral Sense takes in all our Sensual Inclinations which are Sinfull either in their Nature or Degree The Spirit is that Divine Principle which possesses the Mind with the Love and Esteem of Spiritual things and keeps our Natural Inclinations within the Compass of God's Law To be carnally minded is to be under the Influence of Carnal things so as to make the Pursuit of them our Chief Design To be spiritually minded is to have so deep and just a Sense of God and his Law upon our Minds as to make it our business to Please him and therefore to Subdue all such Inclinations which are repugnant to his Will But here lies the main Difficulty how to Judge concerning this matter so as to be able to

off from this Lenity and Goodness of God towards such who have a general Sincerity of Mind towards him But if we more strictly consider these two Cases we shall find there was something very provoking in the Circumstances of them which made God so much more displeased with the Committing them For they were Sins committed by them in their Publick Capacities and about such things wherein the Honour of God was more particularly concerned The First is the Case of Moses who was a great Pattern of Wisdom and Meekness and Faithfulness for forty years together in the Conduct of a very froward People in the Wilderness yet at last he happen'd to fail in some Part of his Duty and God was so angry with him that he would not hear his Prayer for going into Canaan but he cut him off in the Wilderness at last as he did the People for their Unbelief But what was this Sin of Moses which made God so highly displeased with him If we read the passage as it is related in the History of the Fact it is not so easie to find it out The People murmured for want of Water God upon Moses his Prayer commands him to take his Rod and in the Assembly of the People to speak to the Rock and the Water should issue out Moses assembles the People expostulates the matter with them strikes the Rock twice and the Waters came Where is the great Sin of Moses all this while Yet he often repeats it that God was angry with him for something done at that time God himself saith Moses and Aaron rebelled against him and that they did not sanctifie him before the People the Psalmist saith they provoked his Spirit so that he spake unadvisedly with his Lips After all the sin of Moses was a Mixture of Anger and some kind of Infidelity For the Psalmist saith he was highly provoked and God himself saith they believed him not to sanctifie him in the Eye of the Children of Israel The Fault then seems to lie in this that they were more concerned for their own Honour than God's and did not so clearly Attribute the Power of the Miracle to God but that the People might think they Assumed it to themselves as appears by their Words to the People Hear now ye Rebels must we fetch you Water out of the Rock Which Expression doth not give God the Glory he expected from them and he is so tender in Matters of his own Honour that he would suffer none to encroach upon it no not his faithfull Servants but he made them smart for attempting it The other case is that of David's Numbering the People and he was a Man after God's own Heart of great Sincerity and Courage and Constancy in his Service Yet of a sudden he took up a Resolution that he would have all the People number'd without any Apparent Reason for it And although he was discouraged from the Attempt by those about him yet he would be obey'd And what came of it Truly before the thing was compleated he grew very uneasie at what he had done for it is said His heart smote him after that he had numbred the People and David said to the Lord I have sinned greatly in what I have done And yet in the Book of Chronicles it is said that he finished it not because Wrath fell for it against Israel What was the Cause of all this Severity against David Was it such an unpardonable Sin for a King to understand the Number of his People Suppose it a Failing yet why should God be so angry for one such Failing in him that had served God so sincerely as David had done There must be something Extraordinary in this Case for God sometimes supposes the People to be Number'd and in some Cases he requires or allows it why then is he so displeased now at the doing it The best Account I know of it is this It was not a meer piece of Vanity and Ostentation in David altho' that be Displeasing to God but it was a thing as designed by him which was generally look'd on as inconsistent with the Fundamental Promise made to Abraham and so it is mention'd in the Chronicles why the Numbering was not exactly taken because the Lord had said He would increase Israel like the Stars of the Heavens Which seems to imply that there was a general Notion received among the People that since God promised to increase them beyond Number no one ought to go about to take the Exact Number of them For this must seem to savour of Infidelity and a Contempt or Mistrust of God's Fundamental Promise But however upon such Occasions God might use two of his most faithfull Servants thus yet we have no Reason to question his Readiness to pardon these and other their Failings upon a Sincere Repentance and to accept of their general Care and Endeavour to Please him instead of a Perfect Obedience But I have something farther to offer for the clearing these two difficult Cases viz. that there is a Difference to be observed between the Rule of God's Proceedings with particular Persons as to the general Sincerity of their Actings and the Measure of God's Political Justice as to Persons in Publick Capacities The Reason is because in the latter Cases God may justly have a Regard not meerly to the Actions themselves but to the Circumstances of the People they are related to Thus Moses mentions it three several times The Lord was angry with me for your sakes and again the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes and would not hear me and the Lord said unto me Let it suffice thee speak no more to me of this matter It seems he was so much concerned as to pray to God and that earnestly that he would give him leave to conduct the People into Canaan but God would not grant his Request But he tells the People that it was for their sakes that he was denied Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes and sware that I should not go over Jordan c. So that the Blow which was given to the Head was for the sake of the whole Body And it is remarkable in the Case of David that before he fell into the Sin of Numbering the People The Anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and he moved David against them to say Go Number Israel and Judah From whence it is evident that the Sins of a People may provoke God to let Princes fall into such Sins which may give just Occasion to God to punish both together But this is a very different Case from the Method of God's dealings with particular Persons with Regard to their Integrity according to the Terms of the Covenant of Grace Which is established on such Foundations that we need not give way to Despondencies for the sake of such particular Acts