Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	sin_n	soul_n	work_n	7,280	5	5.6981	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29183	The life and death of the godly man exemplified in a sermon preached Nov. 12, 1676, at the funeral of that pious and faithful minister of Christ, Mr. Thomas Wadsworth / by R.B.	Bragge, Robert, 1627-1704.	1676 (1676)	Wing B4203; ESTC R20214	19,604	40

next verse Yet he passed away and lo he was not yea I sought him but he could not be found He is soon wither'd root and branch all his pomp and bravery it does quickly end in dust and ashes Now in opposition to this the Prophet does here draw the Picture of a godly man and he gives us these two lineaments of him he calls him the perfect man and the upright That is the Picture of his Life And then he gives us the Picture of his Death too or of him dying and so his end is peace Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace The observation or lesson I shall commend to you is this It is our duty to observe and take special notice of the good and godly man both in his life and death Such as are holy gracious and godly men it is good for us to observe them living and dying to mark how perfectly and uprightly they live and behold how peaceably and comfortably they dye Here are three things to be spoken too 1. The Life of the godly man 2. His Death And 3. Our duty with reference to him in both these First Let us a little view the Life of this godly man as 't is given us here under these two Characters of the perfect man and the upright The perfect man who is he or what is it to be perfect That is perfect in a strict sense to which nothing needs be added and so he only is a perfect man that hath nothing of imperfection remaining in him But then where shall we find this perfect Man For if Noah and Abraham had their imperfections if Elias is said to be a Man of like passions with us if Job and David were not without their defects where then shall we find this perfect man We must therefore distinguish Perfection is either absolute or comparative Absolute and so they only are perfect who are free from all sin and imperfection and thus the Angels in Heaven and the spirits of just men above are perfect And Secondly there is a comparative perfection and so the godly man may be said to be a perfect man if compared with the wicked who have no grace at all or compar'd with the hypocrite who hath grace only in appearance or compared with other Saints who have less grace than he Or secondly we may thus distinguish it Perfection is either Legal such as the Law requires or Evangelical such as the Gospel accepts of First Legal perfection That lies in a sinless obedience and an exact conformity to the Law of God and such a perfect man is not to be found amongst men in this World For the Scripture concludes all men under sin Job durst not avouch himself to be thus perfect Job 9.20 If I say I am perfect it shall also prove me perverse And St. John durst not aver himself to be thus perfect John 1 Epist 1.8 If we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us To find a Man that hath nothing of darkness or ignorance remaining on his mind that hath no evil thoughts or inclinations rising in his heart that hath no defects or imperfections in any of his duties and services you may as soon find a man that hath no ill-humours no seeds of sickness or death in his body But then Secondly There is an Evangelical Perfection such as the Gospel does accept of and thus the godly man may be said to be perfect and that these Two ways First Perfect as to his justification before God through Jesus Christ a godly man he is perfectly justified that is his sins are fully pardoned they are all blotted out and remitted as if they had never been committed he that truly repents and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ he hath the perfect righteousness of Christ imputed to him and upon that account is perfectly justified he is acquitted from all his sin Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect Rom. 8.33 We are compleat in Christ Col. 2.10 Compleat in him not in our selves 't is in him we have a perfect righteousness for our justification before God in our selves we have none but what is as a filthy rag and hath a Thousand bracks and cracks in it Secondly A godly man may be said to be perfect too as to his Regeneration and Sanctification and that in Two respects 1. Because he hath the perfect beginnings and seeds of all grace and holiness wrought in him even as a Child as soon as it is born hath the perfect limbs and lineaments of his Father eye for eye and hand for hand and foot for foot though he be still capable of further growth and increase in every member and so it is with those that are born of God they have all the lines of Gods image drawn upon their souls they have all the limbs of the new creature repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ love to God hatred of sin and so of the rest though they are still capable of a higher encrease and perfection in every grace so much the Apostle intimates 1 Thes 5.23 where he prays that God would sanctifie them throughout in Soul Body and Spirit Mark they are sanctied in the whole Man though not wholly they are sanctified throughout though not throughly there is no faculty of Soul that remains unsanctified no member of Body that remains unsanctified grace it doth extend it self as far as corruption did unto every part so that the godly man though he be Regenerate but in part for we know but in part and we believe but in part and love but in part yet he hath this perfection that he is regenerate in every part And 2. He may be call'd perfect in regard of the aims and intentions of his desires and endeavours for perfection is that which a godly man doth aim at and which he drives at as in 2 Cor. 7.1 Let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God Mark he speaks of it as a work that is continually a doing it is still in progress and in proficiency for there is no man that is made perfectly holy at the first as there is no man that is grown a perfect man the first day he is born and thus St. Paul Phil. 3.12 13 Not as though I had already attained or were already perfect But this one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to those things that are before I am pressing onward c. Thus now it is with every godly man there is no imperfection remaining in him but what he longs to be fully rid of and no grace and good thing wrought in him but what he desires to be fully perfected he would be emptied of sin to the very bottom and filled with grace to the brim and in this respect he may be called a

storms no fears no temptations but everlasting rest and peace But why is this Mans end peace It must needs be peace with him in the 〈◊〉 for the God whom he serves he is 〈…〉 and the Christ in whom he be●●●● the Prince of peace and the Spirit that dwells in 〈◊〉 the fruits of that spirit is joy and peaces and the Gospel that is Prach'd it is call'd the 〈…〉 and the Ministers that are his Teach●●● the Ambassadors of peace their work is 〈◊〉 publish peace and the Kingdom of God in which they are or rather which is in them it does consist in peace in righteousness and joy in the holy Ghost and 〈◊〉 Covenant that is between God and them it is a Covenant of peace and the great Benediction and blessing of the Gospel it is grace and peace and they themselves are stiled the sons of peace and the children of peace and therefore they must needs have peace in the end I must not speak to all these I will content my self only with these two grounds of the point First A godly mans end must needs be peace upon this ground Because Jesus Christ hath made his peace procur'd his peace and left peace to him he made peace for us Col. 1 2● Having made peace through the blood of his cross and the chastisement of our peace was upon him Sin had made a breach between Heaven and Earth and Christ comes to stand in the gap and take up all quarrels and therefore having made peace when 〈…〉 to dye he bequeath'd peace to all his people as their 〈◊〉 Joh. 4.27 Peace I leave with you 〈…〉 unto you not as the world 〈…〉 your heart be troubled neither 〈…〉 And the Spirit the Holy Ghost 〈…〉 ●●●ecutor who is a faithful 〈…〉 peace to the Soul he is the Dove that brings this Olive-branch of peace to the Soul to tell us that the Waters of Gods anger are alswag'd Secondly The end of a godly man must 〈…〉 peace too upon this account Because all 〈…〉 are remov'd and taken out of the way 〈…〉 his peace Sin and Satan the two 〈…〉 and disturbers of our peace are taken 〈…〉 1. Sin What makes God frown upon 〈…〉 and what makes us afraid of God but 〈…〉 saith Christ thy sins are forgiven thee And when sin the cause of the breach is remov'd then peace must needs follow Now all sin is fully pardon'd and forgiven to the godly Man God hath remov'd his sins from him as far as the East is from the West What then should hinder his peace And as there is no sin that is left unpardon'd by God so there is no sin that is unrepented of by the godly Man and therefore peace must needs follow when God puts away our sin by pardoning it and we put away our sin too by repenting of it then peace follows God puts away our sins as far as the East is from the West so as 〈◊〉 to remember them more and when we part away our 〈◊〉 as far as the East is from the West so as never to return to them any more 〈◊〉 follows peace indeed While sin is unrepented of never look for peace when any sin is indulg'd in the Soul there cannot be peace with God whiles we are at peace with any sin one known sin kept up in thy heart is enough to breed an everlasting war between God and thy Soul But now when God puts away sin by pardoning and we put away all sin by repenting and renouncing 〈…〉 every weapon of war then peace 〈…〉 2. And then the Devil who is the great Accuser of the Brethren and Enemy of our peace he is destroy'd That by death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devil Heb. 2.14 What power hath the Devil over Death not of a Judg but of a Jaylor and Executioner having destroyed him How is the Devil destroyed by Christ not as to his being but power which he had to make Death terrible Well then if Sin be taken out of the way and the Devil be destroyed too then peace must needs follow to the godly man I know there is an Objejection may be made You say that the godly man hath peace in his end What are there not some whom we have cause to judg are perfect and upright men and yet have died far from this peace they have set in a Cloud died in a dark and disconsolate state For answer to that I will only say these two things First That the most general Rule may have some exceptions though this be laid down as a general Rule in Scripture yet God may make some exceptions to it it is possible a good conscience may be an unquiet conscience though 't is a rare thing for a godly man to die without any peace for the righteous hath hope in his death Secondly I say That though a godly man may not always have peace in his death as to his own sense and apprehension yet his state is a state of peace and reconciliation with God though his peace be not always clear yet it is always sure A wicked man may have no bonds in his death and yet his estate may be never the better for that and a godly man may sometimes die full of fears and tremblings and yet his estate be never the worse for that He hath matter for peace and his trouble is for want of understanding things aright though he sets in a Cloud in this life yet he rises without a Cloud in the other life There is a third part of the Doctrine behind that I should have spoken to and that is our Duty to mark this perfect man and behold this upright man And I might have shown you wherein we should mark him Mark him 1. In his Ingress in his entrance upon the ways of God mark him in his conversion to God in his turning from sin to God 2. Mark him in his Progress how he holds on in the ways of God how he walks with God Thirdly Mark him in his Regress how he returns again if at any time he go out of the way if he do fall and be overtaken how he rises again by repentance Mark how he confesses his sius and sincerely bewails them and does not excuse them as Saul did And Lastly Mark him in his Egress how he goes out of the World how he dyes and if the dying speeches of Gods Children had all been recorded it would have been a Book more worth than Gold In all these respects there are many things in the godly that are worth our observation the truth is there is no man else in the World that is hardly worth the looking at but the Godly man As the Prophet said to that great King 2 Kings 3.14 As the Lord of Hosts liveth before whom I stand were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the King of Judah I would not look towards thee nor see thee Though he was a