Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	work_v	wrath_n	write_v	21	3	5.2496	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A81174	The white stone: or, A learned and choice treatise of assurance very usefull for all, but especially weak believers. By Nathanael Culverwel, master of arts, and lately fellow of Emmanuel Colledge in Cambridge.	Culverwel, Nathanael, d. 1651?	1654 (1654)	Wing C7573A; ESTC R231750	66,496	141

to try their own spirits if that after all their diligence thet can't tell what to think of them All uses of examination were vain and frivolous which yet are the very life and spirits of preaching And Ames tells us of a donum discretionis which Christians have by which they can discern true grace from counterfeit There are certain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which they may distinguish them and judge of them in themselves though not in others certainly Object 2. If all thus by the testimony of conscience may know their own frame of spirit whether they be upright or no why then are not all true Christians assured of their salvation what have they not their consciences and hearts about them Sol. 1. Many are not sufficiently acquainted with their own spirits they do not keep so strict a watch over themselves they are not verst in their own hearts they don't try and search their wayes they have riches and a treasure and do not know of it Sol. 2. It is in so great and weighty a matter Eternity does so amaze and swallow up the thoughts as that they are ready to tremble where they are certain and secure A man on the top of a Tower knows that he is safe enough and yet when he looks down he is afraid of falling 3. Conscience sometimes gives a dark and cloudy testimony when 't is disquieted and charged with new guilt the soul can't so clearly read its evidences And then it begins to question its condition It may be it has dealt hypocritically in some one particular and now it begins to question all its sincerity We do not say then that Conscience does alwayes give a clear and full testimony but sometimes it does and that with absolute certainty 2. Now comes in the second witness and the great and supreme testimony of the spirit himself witnessing with our spirits that we are the Sons of God Rom. 8.16 we render it the same spirit but in the fountain is the spirit it self not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not only the gifts and graces of the spirit but the spirit it self Object This testimony seems to be coincident with the other for a man can't tell his own sincerity 't is the spirit that must reveal a man to himself The soul can't see its own face unless the spirit unmask it the spirit is more present and conversant with the soul then the soul is with it self He does not only know our hearts but he is greater then our hearts and knowes all things Sol. We 'l easily grant that to the least motion in spirituals there is necessarily required the concurrence of the Holy Ghost but withall we say that there 's a mighty difference between working of the spirit and the testimony of the spirit There 's a powerful and efficacious work of the spirit when faith is wrought in the soul but yet there is not the testimony of the spirit for every believer has not presently the seal set to him so that though the testimony of our own spirit cannot be without the help and influence of the spirit yet 't is clearly distinct from the Testimony of the spirit for here the spirit does enable the soul to see its graces by a present light by the soules light But when it comes with a testimony then it brings a new light of its own and lends the soul some auxiliary beams for the more clear and full revealing of it so that you see according to that plain text in the Romans There are two distinct Testimonies the spirit witnessing with our spirits And St. John is the most expresse Beloved if our hearts condemn us not then have we confidence towards God Now the testimony of the spirit is 1. A clear testimony a full and satisfying light springs in upon the soul scatters all Clouds all doubts and questions 't is as evident as any demonstration 1 John 3.24 By this we know that he dwells in us by the spirit which he hath given us Christ when he went to heaven he left the Comforter not only to the Church in general but to every particular soul that beleeves to print his love upon the soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Chrysost If a creature though never so glittering should tell men so there might still be some hesitancy I but the spirit witnesses The secret and inward testimony of the spirit is as strong and efficacious nay more powerful then if 't were with an outward voice If an Angel from Heaven were sent on purpose to a Christian by Christ himself Go tell him that I love him that I shed my blood for him c. 't were not so certain 2. A sure testimony for 't is the witness of the spirit who can neither deceive nor be deceived 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sufficientissimum Testimonium as Cajetan 1. He can't deceive for he is truth it self 2. He can't be deceived for he is all Eye Omniscience it self And he does 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he dwells in the breast and bosom of God he is fully acquainted with the minde of God and he reveals it to the soul The Papists make the spirits testimony to bring but a conjectural certainty But the most renowned Perkins answers them 1. That 't is such a certainty as makes them cry Abba Father not only think so and speak so but with all courage confidence intention of spirit cry Abba Father 2. It is opposed to the spirit of bondage and therefore takes away doubtings and tremblings 3. The very end why the Holy Ghost comes to the soul is to make all sure and therefore is called a seal and an earnest Now he assures the soul 1. By a powerful Application of the promise for as faith does appropriate the promise on our part so the spirit applies it on Gods part As Satan that lying spirit casts in doubts and fears and tremblings and working upon the remainder of corruption plots against the peace and well being of the soul so this holy spirit by the comforting working upon that principle of grace which he himself hath planted in the heart of a Christian does study and contrive the welfare of a beleever And as the spirit of bondage does strongly apply wrath and the curse so this sweet spirit of Adoption applyes grace and mercy The spirit of bondage strikes terror into the soul by a mighty Application of wrath this curse flames against thee this threatning this curse flames against thee this threatning is shot off against thee these vials of wrath are prepared for thy soul So the spirit of adoption does set on strong and vigorous apprehensions of mercy this pearl of price 't is to enrich thee these Evangelical cordials are to revive thee this balm in Gilead is prepared for thy soul The spirit of Adoption speaks love and peace and pardon and that by particular Application of the promise to us As when the promise of Remission of

withdraw it self and leave only the witness of our own spirit and yet then the soul has assurance But yet the soul should aim at the highest Plerophory at the top of assurance Then quench not the spirit lest you put out your own joy greeve not so sweet an inhabitant that comes to comfort you give him no cause to withdraw his light Quest But what if the soul have not the witness of Gods spirit nor of its own spirit neither What if it have no present light no certain evidence Answ There 's one way left yet have recourse to former Assurance Dost thou certainly know and remember that once thou hadst a sweet serenity of soul that an enlightened conscience upon good grounds did speak peace unto thee Didst thou never see the light of the spirit crowning thy soul with satisfying beams Art thou sure that once he did bear witness with thy spirit that thou wert the Child of God Why then be sure still that thou art in the same condition for there 's no total falling from grace Thy light it may be is put out for the present Conscience does not speak so friendly to thee as 't was wont And thou hast greeved the spirit and he has took it unkindly and has held off his light for a while But now canst thou remember the dayes of old when the Rock pour'd out Oil unto thee when thy branch was gr●en and flourishing Canst thou certainly recall thy former Assurance Canst tell the time when the spirit did set his seal unto thee and confirmed all thine Evidences Well then lay down but perseverance for a ground and thou art still assured of thy salvation The spirits testimony is of an eternal truth And heaven and earth shall sooner passe away then one beam of this ligh● shall vanish though now it be not apparent to thy eye When the soul for the present is cloudy and dark it may cherish it self with former assurance Now that a soul may have no sensible Assurance for the present and yet may remember former Assurance is clear in that holy man David Psal 51.12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit Davids joy was extinguisht and he would fain have it lighted again Three things imply'd in the word Restore 1. That for the present it was taken away 2. That once he had it 3. He remembers that he had it and therefore prayes Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit that was the spring of Davids joy the testimony of the spirit witnessing with his spirit was that which did uphold and staffe up the soul Davids own spirit was now very unquiet and Gods spirit did withdraw himself and now the best refreshment that David has is from former Assurance 'T is true there is some sadness and bitterness in this consideration when a Christian shall think what he has lost O my soul was once a beautiful Temple full of fair windows and goodly prospects and glorious light I could take a prospect of Canaan when I pleased but now I dwell in the tents of Kedar nothing but blackness and darkness There is trouble and a sting in these thoughts but yet there is some honey and sweetness too Was I not once a friend of God and does he use to forsake his friends Did he not once speak peace to thee and does he use to recall his words Did not he shed his love in thy heart and is not his love immortal Did not his spirit seal up thy soul and is not the print of that seal indeleble speak did not he once shew thee thy name written with his own hand in the Book of life and does he use to blot out what he has written Dost not thou remember did not he smile upon thee in such and such an Ordinance and are his smiles deceitful O no! rest satisfied O Christian soul and quiet thy self in those rich expressions of his love which he has formerly bestowed upon thee O question not his goodness but prepare thy self for receiving of it The streams are dryed up but yet the Fountain is full thou hast had some tastes of it though now thou art dry and thirsty and thou shalt have in time fresh bubblings up of his grace towards thee in the interim take this for a cordial Those former drops which thou hast tasted of it will cherish thy soul to all eternity The least drop of grace shall never be exhausted the least spark of true joy shall never be exstinguisht all the floods that the Dragon can vomit out of his mouth shall never be able to quench it But then 4. Put the case thus that there be no Sun-light nor Starre-light nor reliques of former light neither the testimony of Gods spirit nor of our own spirits nor any recalling of former assurance what must the soul do now Now look to the dawning of the day to the first Crepusculum look now to the initials of grace to the preface of sanctification Thou canst not it may be shew any fair and lively pourtraicture I but hast thou the first draughts and rudiments of holiness Thou hast not any goodly delicious clusters of Canaan O but see if the tender grape do bud There are not any ripe fruits of the spirit but yet are there som blossomings of holiness thy graces don't flow out into so full fair a stream but canst thou see any bubblings up of goodness in thee Thou hast not yet the strength a well grown Christian well but is there the vagitus of an Infant Look now to the souls prizing of a Christ to the whimperings after the breast to the breathings and longings after its Beloved thoughts upon him desires for him endeavors after him there 's much comfort sweetness in these I and some kind of assurance For 1. Be sure that God that has begun this great work in thee will never give over till it be full and compleat he does not use to leave his work imperfect The least tendency to goodness is cherished by him The very first motion 't is of his own planting and it shall lack for no watering and he himself will give it an increase 2. The least seed of grace as 't is choice and precious so 't is very vigorous and operative it will never leave working till Christ be formed in thee Who hath despised the day of small things Thy spark may spread it self into a flame and thy tender bud may flourish and bring forth much fruit He that is richest in grace beg●n with as little a stock He that is now a tall Cedar was once a tender plant Improve but present strength and God will send thee in fresh supplies Auxiliary forces and thou shalt walk ●rom strength to strength till thou appearest before God in glory Thy light shall shine out brighter and brighter till perfect day Donec stabiliatur dies according to the Syriac till thou

for when he does so often envy the men of the world and is ready to stumble at the prosperity of the wicked it was not so much for the outward things of the world which they injoyed for those he had himself too in a plentiful measure but it was for the quietness of their spirits they were calm and serene if compared with him not in such fears and doubts as he now was they had not such conflicts and Paroxysmes and tumultuatious of soul as he now had And yet he was one that once had the face of God shining out upon him And therefore he desires him to restore the joy of his salvation Lucem redde abes jam nimium diu Instar veris enim vultus ubi tuus affulsit populo gratior it dies soles melius nitent as he once spake to Augustus So that you see here are wayes enough to keep men from a carnal security And thus we have took off that bold calumny so as we hope that Nihil adhaerebit Having laid open at large the nature of ass●rance we now come to handle briefly the second observation And that is Observ 2. Christian Assurance requires and calls for diligence Sure I need not tell you that the most precious things are Cabinetted and lockt up under difficulties If you look to nature you see how she reserves her Jewels in secret repositories she sets them in her own bosom and enhances their price by rarity There is indeed a vein for silver as Job speaks but nature is not so profuse to open it to let it run waste and exhaust her self She hides her Treasures and puts them out of the reach of an ordinary Plunderer Or if you look to Arts There are indeed some things which float at the top 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those that are but initiated into them are presently acquainted with them Hence some beginners when they have but tasted these think they have a present kinde of omniscience O but stay a while there are most mysterious things which lurk at the bottom and require a profounder search they must dive deep before they fetch up these Pearls Thus 't is in Languages the choicest elegancies many times are coucht in Idioms those arcana linguarum you may see them like so many Pearls glittering amongst the rubbish of the Tower of Babel Thus 't is in civil affairs some things are visible and obvious to a vulgar eye the rude heap and masse of people can take notice of them some wheels move so plainly as that they can see them I but there are more secret springs of motion more intimate contrivances politick riddles which they only can read that are a secretio●ibus Every design must not have a window in it 't is comely sometimes to see Moses with a veil upon his face And thus 't is in the wise Oeconomy and dispensation of the Gospel 'T is true the whole Gospel is pregnant with heavenly mysteries 't is like that heavenly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the milky way which the wise ones of the world take for a Meteor only a brief 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I but those that are enlightened from above know that 't is made up ex flore lucis 't is compounded of Starres lesse discernable and even here one Star differs from another in glory There are myst ria primae magnitudinis such transcendent and dazling mysteries as that the Eagle must be fain to shut her eye and the Seraphim must be glad to wink And there are not only intellectual but practical depths in the way of Religion And Christian Plerophory is one of these For a soul to be filled with the breathings of the spirit And to move with full sail in the Ocean of Gods love And when it pleases to lie safe at anchor I and to be sure of coming safe to the haven certainly the soul must needs cry out all the while 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O the depth of the goodnesse and love of God! how mysterious are his wayes how are his mercies past finding out 1. Now for a Christian to arrive to so full a sense of Gods love hic labor hoc opus est It requires diligence For 1. There are but few that have any right and interest in the love of God in Christ at all 2. Of those few that have a share and portion in his love yet all of them have not assurance of his love There are but few that enter into the Temple I but there is only some Aaron that ent●rs into the sanctum sanctorum and casts his Anchor within the V●ile And First there are but few upon whom God bestoweth his love 'T was alwayes a principle in Morality that sweet and intimate friendship cannot be ext●nded to many Friends usually go by paires Now God though he be of vast and boundless love and has love enough to satisfie a multitude of worlds yet he has chose to concentricate it all in a few pickt out of the world that he might thus engage them the more to himself His large and precious love is kept for his only spouse Secondly of those few whom he loves some are not assured of his love He loved them all from everlasting yet none of them could be then assured of his love A non-entity cannot reach to a Plerophory Well but when they peept out of their first nothing truly they were not any rare objects of love much lesse could they then be assured of the love of their God when they were in a state of enmity and opposition and the Children of wrath as well as others Well but when he put them into a state of love and made them lovely with that beauty and comliness with those Jewels and bracelets which he had put upon them when he loved them as his new Creatures as his vessels of honour that were now cast into their just mold and fashion When he loved them as his new-born Sons yet these babes in Christ could not presently cry Abba Father They were his Epistle written in a goodly character dated from eternity folded up and kept secret at length sent into the world the superscription was writ in time in Vocation Will but all this while they were not sealed till the spirit comes and stamps a clear impression of Gods love upon their softn d and melted spirits 'T is true they were sealed as soon as they were written in Gods eternal Decree but they were not visibly sealed till now Now what pantings and breathings What longings and intreaties what preparations were there in the soul before it could obtain this Secondly it requires diligence to keep assurance O take heed of wasting and crumbling away thy hidden Manna God may break the staffe of bread and what will thy weary soul do then Take heed of losing the white Stone take heed of forgetting thy new name O maintain the Oil of gladness in the Cruse Thou that art a Vine of Canaan laden with generous fruit wouldst