Selected quad for the lemma: virtue_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
virtue_n	add_v	faith_n	temperance_n	2,660	5	11.1051	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47199	The way to the city of God described, or, A plain declaration how any man may, within the day of visitation given him of God, pass out of the unrighteous into the righteous state as also how he may go forward in the way of holiness and righteousness, and so be fitted for the kingdom of God, and the beholding and enjoying thereof : wherein divers things, which occur to them, that enter into this way with respect to their inward trials, temptations, and difficulties are pointed at, and directions intimated, how to carry themselves therein ... / written by George Keith in the year 1669 ... : whereunto is added the way to discern the convictions, motions, &c of the spirit of God, and divine principle in us, from those of a man's own natural reason, &c.	Keith, George, 1639?-1716.	1678 (1678)	Wing K235; ESTC R33462	109,527	235

unto it the powers of nature and sin so strongly set it upon working Answ. Indeed the difficulty is great because both the powers of nature and sin work strongly and joyn their forces together unto acting and doing and besides nature is so unacquainted with such a thing that it is very impatient of it yet I say it is not impossible and if thou dost rightly perform the simple acts of conversion turning thy mind still nearer and nearer unto the Divine Prefence in the Holy and Divine Seed thou wilt find by degrees thy heart to come into this passiveness and forbearance and to continue or persist therein for a time CHAP. V. Shewing How the Soul after its Conversion unto GOD and continuance therein in passiveness and forbearance for some small time becometh a partaker of the Holy and Divine Life and the Powers thereof in some measure through some beginnings of a Spiritual Death and Regeneration by which it attaineth unto some measure of union with God and Christ and thereby is put in some capacity for operative exercises of Holiness unto which it ought to apply and that any other way of entring upon these exercises is but freigned and hypocritical OPerari sequitur esse that is to say Working followeth being is a maxime in Naturals it holdeth as much in Spirituals So that before a man can do the works of ●olines● he must be a partaker of the Life and Power of Holiness and that not in a notion or imagination but in substance or being And before that a man can work his works in God he must have a being in God in some measure through his attaining an union with him for even as the body cannot co-operate with the Soul in natural actions unless it be a partaker of the Soul's Life and be in union with it so nor can the Soul co-operate with God in spiritual and holy actions till it be a partaker of his Life and attain unto some union with him Now I have shewed above that the Soul through its converting unto God and continuance therein in passiveness and forbearance as aforesaid were it but for a very small time becometh a partaker of some beginnings of a spiritual Death and Regeneration For when the Soul converteth unto God and Christ in the Divine Seed and persisteth were it but for a little therein it beginning to feel the Divine fire to inkindle in it in the Divine Seed which mortifieth and purifieth some place in the heart whereby it becometh a fit matrix or womb for the Divine Seed to take root in and for to spring up and p●t forth some tender buds and beginnings of a Holy and Spiritual Life which do no sooner appear but they do impress and endue the Soul in some measure with their powers and vertues by which it is put in some capacity for operative exercises of Holiness unto which it ought to apply It is generally granted that Faith is as it were the Root of all holy and spiritual actions and the Scriptures do hold it forth plainly that Faith or believing is the first step unto a holy life and the very entrance thereinto and that Fa●●h by a natural order is to go before Works for for without Faith it is impossible to please God though men should do never so many things for it is Faith which drawing Spirit and Life from God infuseth the same into works which maketh them living and therefore as the Apostle Iames said Faith without works is dead so it is no less true works without faith are dead Faith without works is dead because if it want works it is an infallible sign that it is but a dead and false faith for the true and living faith is operative and working and cannot forbear but it must be breathing forth its life in holy actions Works without ●aith are dead because it is faith which drawing life from God infuseth it into them and as I have shewed above this faith is the Soul 's converting or turning unto God through the Divine and gracious touch and influence of the Spirit of God upon it in the Divine Seed by which a man cometh to be partaker of Holiness and Right●ousness according to which the ungodly are said to be justified not by working but by believing which is to be understood unquestionably of these works which men endeavour and go about to perform in the natural and unconverted state whereby they seek to work themselves into holiness which is impossible for that were to invert the very order of Nature both in Naturals and Spirituals which setteth the being of a thing before its operation but not the operation before the being as who would say The Fruit makes the Tree whereas on the contrary it is the Tree which makes the Fruit. And hereunto will agree these words of Augustin Bona opera non praecedunt justificandum sed sequuntur justificatum that is to say Good works go not before the making of a man righteous but do follow a mans being made righteous Also when the Jews came unto Christ asking what they should do that they might work the works of God he bid them believe This saith he is the work of God that ye believe in him whom he hath sent Furthermore he said unto them While ye have the Light believe in it that ye may become the Children of the Light And thus Peter exhorted them who were come to be partakers of the precious faith Add unto your faith vertue c. Whereby it appears that faith which is the mind 's turning in unto God with both its understanding will and other powers is the first step or entrance into a holy Life And when these Jews Acts 2. inquired of him what they should do to be saved he bid them Repent and be baptized And p. 3.19 he said again unto others Repent and be converted So that Faith which is one and the same with conversion and Repentance a●e the two first principles of the Doctrin of Christ and his Apostles and are plainly so called Heb. 6.1 and are said to be the very foundation or first beginning of the Christian Life of which foundation or ground-work Iesus Christ is the foundation for the word foundation signifieth sometimes the ground whereon a House is built and in this sense Christ is the alone foundation other whiles it signifies the ground-work or as it were the first beginnings of the building on the foundation and in this sense Faith and Repentance are the foundation or fundamentals of a Christian Life Now Repentance is the Soul 's entring not only into a sorrow for sin and an aversion therefrom but also into a spiritual death unto sin and a regeneration into a new life and so much doth the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is rendred into English Repentance plainly import for it s as much as to say as a change of the mind which change is nothing else but its dying into sin and becoming

Service of the Gospel of Christ by way of Journal Containing also divers Letters and Epistles writ to several Great and Eminent Persons whilst there The Third Impression Corrected by the Author 's own Copy with some Answers not before Printed Price Bound 2 s. Tender Counsel and Advice by way of Epistle to all those who are Sensible of their Day of Visitation and who have received the Call of the Lord by the Light and Spirit of his SON in their Hearts to partake of the Great Salvation where-ever scattered throughout the World Faith Hope and Charity which overcome the World be multiplied among you By W. Penn. The Third Edition Price 3 d Scripture-Instruction degested into several Sections by way of Question and Answer In Order to promote Piety and Virtue and discourage Vice and Immorality with a Preface relating to Education by I. Freame price 1 s. W. Penn's Key in English Price 4 d. French 4 d. 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Th● Harmony of the Old and New Testament And the Fulfilling of the Prophets concerning our Lord and Saviour Jes●s Christ and his Kingdom and Glory in the latter Days With a brief Concordance of the Names and Attributes c. given unto Christ And some Texts of Scripture collected concerning Christ's Humiliation and Sufferings also of his Excellent Dignity and Glorification Published for the Benefit of Christians and Iews by Iohn Tomkins With an Appendix to the Iews by W. Penn. The 3d Edit with Additions Price Bound 1 s. A Collection of many Select and Christian Epistles Letters and Testimonies written on sundry occasions by that Ancient Eminent Faithful Friend and Minister of Christ Jesus George Fox The Second Volume pr. 10 s. 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ministration of the Law by Moses upon Mount Sinai where the appearance of God on the top of a Mountain was dreadful in clouds and darkness and fire and the sound of a Trumpet and a Voice that did shake the earth where the sight was so terrible that Moses said I exceedingly fear and quake For all these things had a signification of the inward ministration of the Spirit in its first workings in mens hearts Hence are these quakings and tremblings which are witnessed to come upon many through the inward dread and terrour which ariseth in them through the workings of the Spirit of God upon them in this state and condition Now the fear and terrour is a most certain and infallible effect in all who do truly convert or turn in their minds unto the appearance of God in them as aforesaid But as for the bodily tremblings some may have them in a great measure others in a less and some have none at all so as to fall under outward observation and yet the work of God in them may be as real and true as in others who have them most For it is much the same with bodily tremblings as tears some will be made to shed tears in abundance others but little and others perhaps none at all where the work may be real even as much as where they are most abundant VIII Also this Heavenly and Divine fire as thou continuest in the application of thy mind and heart unto it will kindle in thee some beginnings of true and real repentance towards God for even as the fire melteth the Wax and softneth it and maketh it to run and flow so will this Divine fire melt and soften thy heart into a true tenderness and thou wilt find a true sorrow and grief in thee to arise because of thy degeneration from God Also thou wilt even loath and abhor thy self in the presence of God and count thy self most unworthy of his mercy and favour yea thou wilt judge and condemn thy self because of thy sins and sinful nature so as to reckon the most grievous afflictions and punishments from the Lord should he inflict them upon thee to be less than thy deservings Also thou wilt become humble in thy own sight and be apt to judge thy self as bad or worse than any yea thou wilt be greatly ashamed of thy self seeing and beholding thy self imbodied in such a monstrous and filthy body as the body of sin is Furthermore thou wilt be made even to hate sin in its body and members root and fruit as a most vile and abominable thing so that an indignation will rise in thee against it and the very sins which have been dear and pleasant unto thee as thy right eye and right hand thou wilt willingly devote them and give them up unto the devouring Flames of this Heavenly fire and sacrifice them before the Lord as a sacrifice of a burnt offering As I remember it is reported of one of the Martyrs who having shrunk from his Testimony and afterwards recovered strength to own it and so was condemned to be burnt he stretched forth his right hand which had subscribed some Paper against the Truth and with a certain holy indignation thrust it into the fire So thou wilt even find to do the same with thy lusts which the Apostle calls the members upon Earth to devote and give them up to the fire that they may be mortified and consumed sparing none of them more than another yea and some tender breathings and desires will arise in thee towards the Lord that he may yet more discover and pursue Iniquity in thy heart and kill it sparing nothing no not a hoof yea thou wilt even desire to be dissolved and freed from the whole body of sin with all its members saying in thy heart Miserable man that I am who shall deliver me c. And thus thou wilt find in thee some beginnings of a true aversion from sin so that thou wilt witness a change both in thy judgment and will in relation to sin so as to have contrary thoughts of it to what thou hadst formerly and thy affections to run and flow in another path and channel than formerly IX Also thou wilt begin to find some true and real beginnings of mortification or of a spiritual death unto sin whereas thy heart was formerly wholly filled with sin which oppressed and burthened the Divine Seed and hindered it to conceive or bud in thee thou wilt now begin to find some little and small emptyness in thy heart even in the most inwards of it called by some the fund of the Soul that is to say the ground or bottom of it and there will be some little room or place in thy heart mortified and purified through the operation of the power of God in the Divine Seed which through its mortification and purification from sin becometh a fit and prepared matrix or womb for the Divine Seed to conceive and bud therein an to receive some formation For as is said the Seed cannot conceive but in a pure matrix and womb Indeed it may be as a fire and is so in that part of the heart which is unclean but it can never grow bud or conceive in it as a plant till it be cleansed Therefore is it that it worketh as a fire in the heart as aforesaid to the end it may prepare some place for it self to take root in and therein to bud and conceive that it may spring up and blossom and bring forth its precious fruit X. And as the heart and mind persisteth in its conversion aforesaid there will be by this time some tender buds of the Divine and Holy Seed appearing so far as way is made for them through the purification or mortification aforesaid and some real and true beginnings not only of some but of all Christian Virtues will appear such as of love joy peace gentleness meekness patience temperance c. and other fruits of the Spirit for even as it is frequently in natural operations so in this spiritual it is also that after the destruction of one thing immediately followeth the generation of another life hastening as swiftly after death as possibly as can be conceived so that no distance or space of time is admitted betwixt them Thus I have briefly pointed at divers good and precious effects which do follow upon the Souls converting unto the Divine Presence and the Light and Power thereof in the Holy Seed and upon its continuing or abiding therein If there be any other not expresly mentioned they may be reduced unto them or implicitly understood in them which are particularly mentioned of all which the Soul must expect at first yea and for some considerable time afterwards but some certain beginnings which will increase and become more and more observable according unto its continuance in the conversion aforesaid And much of all these effects excepting somewhat as to the latter do answer rather unto

little and diminutive that though they had room they could not perform the operations of their nature till by their more through generation and formation they be encreased and augmented And thus the little embryo or conception in the Womb be it of Man or Beast cannot perform the operations of a Man or Beast nay though the Child be born and come into the world how little do the powers of manhood appear in it But as the Body of the Child groweth up the powers of manhood do more and more appear as of Vnderstanding Speech Memory and the like And so it is much what in some manner as to the Divine and Spiritual Seed or if the Soul doth not receive it and convert unto it as aforesaid and that it be not permitted to take root and plant it self in the Soul its life and powers will not be generated or raised up And so the Spiritual generation of the Seed is the raising up of its life and Powers and bringing them into manifestation in the Soul which the Soul drinking in it comes to be regenerated or renewed thereby and still more and more according to the growth and increase of the Seed endued therewith Now the Powers of the Seed of God which proceed or flow from its Life and Spirit are these noble and heroick Christian Vertues enduing both the understanding and will yea and all the other powers of the Soul according to the capacity of each such as love joy peace gentleness meekness temperance righteousness fortitude patience and holy wisdom and understanding and the like upon the distinct and particular enumeration of all which I shall not now insist These are the powers of the Holy Life which are as natural to it as the natural passions and affections are unto the natural Life and Soul and by these Powers man can only perform the exercises and practices of Holiness and Righteousness which powers and the Life which is their root are not in all men though the Seed of them be in all as is said and is elsewhere demonstrated Now it is through the generation of the holy Life and Powers thereof in the Divine Seed and Birth that the Soul cometh to have union with God for the Divine Birth with the Life and Powers or Vertues thereof is that noble chain which tyeth and joyneth the Soul unto God being of a middle or mean nature betwixt God and the Soul and so the more apt for such an effect For as it is inferiour unto the Godhead so is is superiour unto the Soul being Christ the Image of God according to which the Soul is made and by it enobled and dignified And the excellency of this Holy Life and Seed above the Soul appears greatly in this that whereas the Soul can corrupt and degenerate with all its gowers this holy life can never in the least admit of any corruption for it ever abhorreth all sin it may indeed be killed or crucified by it but never corrupted And so it is a most fit medium or mean to unite the Soul unto God and the Powers and Vertues thereof are as so many Chains whereby the Lord doth unite the pure and righteous Souls unto him Ye must understand therefore the Soul's union with God is not simply immediate but mediate through this Seed for no Man nor Soul save Jesus Christ alone by his Soul and Manhood conceived by the Power of the Holy Ghost in the Womb of the Virgin Mary hath this dignity to be immediately united with God for which cause God hath highly exalted him even the whole Manhood of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ above every Creature not only Men but Angels that at the Name of Iesus every knee may bow to whom be Glory Power and Dominion for ever This union of the Soul with the Seed and the Holy Life and Powers thereof through which the Soul becomes united unto God is gradual and becometh more and more intimate and near as the Soul advanceth in Holiness and Righteousness and until the leaven of the Holy Life hath diffused its pure Vertue through the whole Soul and all its powers the union cannot be total nor through but in part even until all sin and iniquity be wrought out for there can be no union with that which is holy with that which is unholy Wherefore if there be but a part of the Soul as it were purified only that part receiveth union with the Holy Seed and with God therein Therefore the first step and degree of the Soul's Conversion unto the Holy Seed and to God and Christ therein is not to speak properly union for the Soul at its first step of conversion bringeth it self or converteth unto God as it is viz. all filthy and unclean with sin yea it bringeth its sins and sinful Members unto God that he may kindle his Fire in them for their destruction but there is no union until the Soul be cleansed in some measure but when the Soul converted unto God in that part or measure of it which is purified its conversion so far may be called and is truly an union with God Furthermore it is to be observed that the Soul's union with God consisteth not simply in meer acts as when it exerciseth acts of conversion towards God these and other acts of the Soul by the powers of the Holy Life do contribute and conduce unto this union and begets it yet the Soul enjoyeth a more constant and permanent union with God then by acts whether of one or all its powers for if the Soul's union consisted only in acts then when it did not act but were wholly suspended in its actings towards God the union should cease which is false for when a righteous man sleeps so that perhaps his Soul exerciseth no acts yet his union remaineth with him bu● because the Soul enjo●eth an union with God by its acts of conversion as aforesaid proceeding from the Holy Life and its Powers therefore this union enjoyed by acts may be called Actual Vnion and the other which abides without acts or while acts are suspended may be called Potential because the Soul remains in union with God simply through its powers being as it were glewed unto or cemented with the powers of the Holy Life Now any sin which the Soul committeth doth certainly break off its actual union with God but though the infinite mercy and Grace of God doth not quite break off the potential though it weaken and many sins weaken it much yea some sins may break it quite off but the● it hath been but partial and not through and total for if it had been total the Soul could not have committed such sins as could occasion the breaking it quite off Moreover it is to be noted that when at times we say God is the Life of the Soul as to its Spiritual Actions and at other times the Life of the Soul is begotten of God from a Seed we understand this in different respects

Lord who is the Husband-man requireth not fruit of thee before the season but patiently waiteth for it Yet the time is not so long betwixt the time of the first converting and the season of bearing fruits and producing good works as thou maist think if thou pass truly and faithfully through these few steps thou maist come to bear some fruit that is to say to be able and fit to do some good works in a very short space much less than a year yea much less than a Month yea what if I say than the space of one day Nay I add further it may be possible for thee within an hours space and yet less after thou hast truly converted unto the Lord and touched as it were the hem of his Garment and drunk in vertue therefrom to do some good works in a true measure of acceptance unto the Lord yea the time may be so short wherein after thy conversion thou maist be put into a capacity to do something both inwardly and outwardly that we cannot determine the least bound or limit of it for it is an easie thing for the Lord to raise his holy life in thee in an instant or the twinkling of an eye And indeed the waies of the Lord with men in this respect are very wonderful and past finding out as in many others in some he raiseth life as it were instantly in others he taketh a longer time to do it in others yet a longer c. For he is the unlimitted Holy One of Israel who limiteth us but will not nor ought he to be limited by us And tho he may raise this life sooner in one than another where that other is no more wanting as to the aforesaid steps than his Neighbour yet usually these who with most diligence and faithfulness cleave unto the Lord in his appearing in them in his own Seed do most readily and speedily find the holy life raised in them and the Powers thereof sensibly moving in their inward parts Now I find it with me yet more particularly to point at some advertisements and cautions in relation unto the Souls applying it self unto works and operative exercises after it hath attained unto some measure of life and power whereby it is put in some capacity to perform them which I may not call Rules and Prescriptions as proceeding from me tho herein I know the mind and counsel of God but advertisements being only of use to point the Soul inwards unto the manifestations of Truth in the springings up of life in its own particular where it will see the use and need of these things more than what it can hear or read of them from anothers declaration And truly they are such things that the want of the true knowledg sense and observation of them has been a grievous block in the way of many in their pro●ress in holiness yea has hindred them from growing up to any considerable pitch or perfection in holiness that they have continued as Weaklings and Babes there-through whereas otherwise they might have been strong men in Christ. I. Having now attained unto a measure of the Holy Life and the Powers thereof so that thou findst the Powers of this Life in thy heart as it were a wheel within a wheel or as a Soul within a Soul yea it is truly so and that also thou findst thy Soul in a measure of pure union with it and every power of thy Soul affected and touched with the powers of this Holy Life in pure embraces every one as it were kissing each other and hereby thou wilt feel thy self strong in some measure to do some things pertaining unto a holy Life yea thou wilt even so find it with thee as if thou wert cured of a bodyly lameness or as if thy tongue were loosed which was formerly bound then thou art to stand in great fear and reverence and be very cautious that thou fall not upon doing any thing or things less or more at all adventures or hand over head as they use to say as to set about any performance in thy own natural and selfish will because thou findest strength in thee as thou conceivest to perform it for if thou so do thou wilt provoke the Lord and grieve that holy life which hath sprung and appeared in thee not at all to be ruled or led into any action by thy will but by the will of the Lord alone And if thou goest about to do any thing in such a manner though thou findst both clearness and strength of mind with thee at first yet afterward thou wilt to thy great loss feel weakness and confusion to enter thee and a thick cloud of darkness will come betwixt the eye of thy Soul and that pure Light of Life which shined in thee yea a vail of death will come over the tender Life in some measure and thou wilt find the pure Life in thee burthened and oppressed which will occasion pain and grief of Soul unto thee which cannot be uttered And of these things we have had experience divers times so that had not the Lord in tender mercy recovered us we had gone down into the grave after some measure of quickening The reason of all this is because of man by his own will usurping and presuming to lead forth the holy life which usurpation it cannot endure so as to yield or consent unto it Therefore it withdraweth its holy powers of Light and Life from the powers of the Soul concentring them within its own particular being And thus the Soul is left in darkness confusion and weakness and the tender Life is both grieved and burthened as aforesaid For whatever seeketh to move it from its perfect unity with the will of God doth hurt it for it standeth for ever incorruptible with the Divine will and that which seeketh to move it to the contrary may well bruise and wound yea kill it while it is but young and tender but it can never draw it to consent When therefore at any time thou findest it well with thy Soul and thy heart is strengthned as with bread or with some strong cordial or liquor by the springings forth and effusions of the streams of this holy Life in thee then thou art to stand in a passiveness and forbearance waiting upon the will and motions of this holy Life which is for every one with the will of God that thou mayst do such or such things which that Life requireth of thee and then whatever thou sets about to do not in thy own natural will but in the will of this which is the will of God thou shalt find thy clearness thy peace and strength which formerly thou hadst not only to be continued with thee but to be multiplyed and abound II. And yet more particularly know or consider it that thou art to do nothing without a clear and infallible knowledge of thy warrant and that from this inward Guide the Holy Life of Christ and his blessed

Life through the burden and weight of mens iniquities But how Christ did suffer under the iniquities of men and the spirit and power thereof can never be understood in any true measure but by these alone who are come to be acquainted with a measure of his righteous Life in their own particulars and to know a measure of redemption from sin thereby such will feel how that righteous Life of Christ Jesus suffers by sin and the spirit and power thereof so that many times we have felt the Life of him in us to be deeply smitten and wounded and deeply to suffer through and by iniquity and the spirit of it even in others and in a whole country and nation yea in some measure through the whole world The reason of which is because of that deep and near Sympathy that his Life in the Saints hath with the Seed of that Life that is oppressed in others till it be raised So that many in whom this righteous Life is raised to reign in perfect dominion over all its contrary in their own particulars yet witness many times its deep sufferings through its Sympathy with that Seed of its own nature oppressed and murdered in others So that indeed upon the matter this Righteous Life in none of the Saints will be wholly delivered from its Sufferings till that of its own nature over all the World be raised up in all hearts to reign with it in dominion either in full love or wrath And truly these deep Sufferings of Christ under the burden of mens Iniquities really felt and witnessed by him as in the Garden and on the Cross c. I find the Professors know little or nothing of for they conceive not that Christ suffered any other way by the burden of sin laid on him then in that he suffered the Wrath of God that was due to men for sin and so they understand his bearing our sins to be only in respect of the Wrath of God he did bear which was not so for he suffered much more deeply by the sins of the World and the Spirit thereof because of that great and implacable contrariety and enmity which sin and the Spirit thereof hath against his tender Life which at that time had mustered up all its forces against him the Lord permitting it so to be that by his patient and meek sufferings he might overcome it as indeed he did and even upon the Cross Triumphed over it and gave the Spirit of Transgression the greatest blow and wound that ever it got which shall in due time by the Vertue and Power of his Sufferings be utterly slain and extinguished in the Earth and it filled with his Holy and Righteous Spirit And this Spirit of Iniquity wrought what it could so to Eclipse and Vail the presence of God from his Righteous Soul as to take away that comfort and joy from him which at other times he had yet his Faith pierced through this Cloud that it did not overcome him but he overcame it and signified his Faith in God saying My GOD my GOD Why hast thou forsaken me which respected that sensible joy and comfort yet in the midst of this deep trial the Father was with him in love and in the Power and Vertue of that Love the Wrath became mitigated and qualified towards men And to speak properly the Wrath was indeed against men but never on any account directly against Christ who did indeed intervene and intermediate betwixt it and us to bear it off and qualifie it as is abovesaid yet he could never suffer it as the damned do for he qualified it both in the Father's Love and in his own but the Wrath which the damned suffer hath no such qualification And truly we cannot judg that the Father was to speak properly offended or displeased with him nay not on our account nor do the Scriptures speak any thing so only it pleased the Father thus to try him and make him perfect thus by sufferings to the end he might overcome Sin and the Spirit thereof in the more Glory and might be the more fitted to help them that are under Trials as being touched with the feeling of our Infirmities IIII. Being presented in his Spirit as aforesaid they have also great influence to raise in our Souls most fervent Breathings and Supplications unto the Lord not only for his pardoning and forgiving Grace for and because of his Son's Blood-shed his Sufferings and Death c. by which he procured or purchased it but also for his Sanctifying and Mortifying Grace even for an abundant measure of the Life and Spirit of Grace whereby we may be enabled to die perfectly unto sin and live unto God in perfection of Holyness so th●t the Soul may strongly plead with the Lord upon the account of Christ that he may pour forth abundantly of his Grace Life Light and Spirit because that the Lord Jesus hath purchased it abundantly and hath opened the Fountain of the Father's Love abundantly by his Obedience and Righteousness to the end that all Souls may come and draw out of that fulness of his which he hath purchased and is in him even Grace for Grace Joh. 1.16 both to justifie and sanctifie and as much the one as the other V. Also these things presented in the Spirit as aforesaid and in and thereby applied to the Soul become very strong and forcible motives unto it to war against sin universally and the Spirit thereof to the utter killing and destroying of it seeing it is the greatest enemy of that tender Life of Christ which suffered so much on this account even to the mortifying of the Soul unto sin and saving it therefrom so that if the Soul do not diligently apply it self unto a total mortification of sin it doth nothing answer unto that love and good-will of Christ in his sufferings nor to the end thereof They are also of the same force to move the Soul to follow after Holiness till it attain unto it so as to be pure and holy as Christ its Beloved and Spouse who gave himself for her that she might be holy and to present her unto God without spot or wrinkle or any such thing Eph. 5.27 Also how can the Soul but be moved to press after Holiness seeing it inwardly feels that the Righteous Life of Christ is as much eased and refreshed and delighted in its becoming Holy as ever it was formerly Grieved and Burthened with its Iniquities VI. Our Blessed Lord in his outward coming Life and Way of Conversation Doctrine Sufferings and Death c. is a most noble and perfect example unto us even the best that ever outwardly was is or shall be that we might imitate his Vertues and follow his Steps in all Godliness Temperance and Righteousness who taught us most excellent Documents and Instructions of a Holy Life both in Doctrine and Example and sealed the same with his most Holy and Blessed Sufferings who knew no sin yet so willingly