Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	dead_a	life_n	raise_v	6,497	5	7.6474	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62629	Sermons preach'd upon several occasions By John Tillotson, D.D. Dean of Canterbury, preacher to the Honourable Society of Lincolns-Inn, and one of His Majesties chaplains in ordinary. The second volume.	Tillotson, John, 1630-1694.	1678 (1678)	Wing T1260BA; ESTC R222222	128,450	338

particularly known to us when they are committed and consequently it is impossible that we should particularly repent of them And therefore in this case there can be no doubt but that God doth accept of a general repentance as he did from David when he made that humble confession and prayer to him Psal 19.12 Who can understand his errours cleanse thou me from secret sins 3. They are afraid their obedience is not sincere because it proceeds many times from fear and not always out of pure love to God For answer to this It is plain from Scripture that God propounds to men several motives and arguments to obedience some proper to work upon their fear as the threatnings of punishment some upon their hope as the promises of blessing and reward others upon their love as the mercies and forgiveness of God From whence it is evident he intended they should all work upon us And accordingly the Scripture gives us instances in each kind Noah moved with fear obeyed God in preparing an Ark Moses had respect unto the recompence of reward Mary Magdalen loved much And as it is hard to say so it is not necessary to determine just how much influence and no more each of these hath upon us It is very well if men be reclaimed from their sins and made good by the joint force of all the considerations which God offers to us To be sure Love is the noblest and most generous principle of obedience but fear commonly takes the first and fastest hold of us and in times of violent temptation is perhaps the best argument to keep even the best of men within the bounds of their duty 4. Another cause of doubting in good men is from a sense of their imperfect performance of the duties of Religion and of the abatement of their affections towards God at some times They have many wandring thoughts in prayer and other exercises of devotion and they cannot for their life keep their minds continually intent on what they are about This we should strive against as much as we can and that is the utmost we can do but to cure this wholly is impossible the infirmity of our nature and the frame of our minds will not admit of it And therefore no man ought to question his sincerity because he cannot do that which is impossible for men to do And then for the abatement of our affections to God and Religion at some times this naturally proceeds from the inconstancy of mens tempers by reason of which it is not possible that the best of men should be able always to maintain and keep up the same degree of zeal and fervour towards God But our comfort is that God doth not measure mens sincerity by the Tides of their affections but by the constant bent of their resolutions and the general tenour of their life and actions 5. Another cause of these doubts is that men expect more than ordinary and reasonable assurance of their good condition some particular revelation from God and extraordinary impression upon their minds to that purpose which they think the Scripture means by the testimony and seal and earnest of the Spirit God may give this when and to whom he pleases but I do not find he hath any where promised it And all that the Scripture means by those phrases of the testimony and seal and earnest of the Spirit is to my apprehension no more but this That the Holy Spirit which God bestowed upon Christians in so powerful and sensible a manner was a seal and earnest of their resurrection to eternal life according to that plain Text Rom. 8.11 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 bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you But then who they are that have the Spirit of God is only to be known by the real fruits and effects of it If we be led by the Spirit and walk in the Spirit and do not fulfil the lusts of the flesh then the Spirit of Christ dwelleth in us But this is very far from an immediate and extraordinary revelation from the Spirit of God to the minds of good men telling them in particular that they are the children of God I know not what peculiar favour God may shew to some but I know no such thing nor ever yet met with any wise and good man that did affirm it of himself And I fear that in most of those who pretend to it it is either meer fancy or gross delusion 6. As for the case of melancholy it is not a reasonable case and therefore doth not fall under any certain rules and directions They who are under the power of it are seldom fit to take that counsel which alone is fit to be given them and that is not to believe themselves concerning themselves but to trust the judgment of others rather than their own apprehensions In other cases every man knows himself best but a melancholy man is most in the dark as to himself This cause of trouble and doubting is very much to be pitied but hard to be removed unless by physick or by time or by chance One may happen to say something that may hit the humour of a melancholy man and satisfie him for the present but Reason must needs signifie very little to those persons the nature of whose distemper it is to turn every thing that can be said for their comfort into objections against themselves Thirdly But besides those who mistake their condition either by presuming it to be better or fearing it to be worse than it is there are likewise others who upon good grounds are doubtful of their condition and have reason to be afraid of it Those I mean who have some beginnings of goodness which yet are very imperfect They have good resolutions and do many things well but they often fall and are frequently pull'd back by those evil inclinations and habits which are yet in a great measure unsubdued in them These I cannot liken better than to the Borderers between two Countries who live in the marches and confines of two powerful Kingdoms both which have a great influence upon them so that it is hard to say whose subjects they are and to which Prince they belong Thus it is with many in Religion They have pious inclinations and have made some fair attempts towards goodness they have begun to refrain from sin and to resist the occasions and temptations to it but ever and anon they are mastered by their old lusts and carryed off from their best resolutions and perhaps upon a little consideration they repent and recover themselves again and after a while are again entangled and overcome Now the case of these persons is really doubtful both to themselves and others And the proper direction to be given them in order to their peace and settlement is by all means to encourage them

of any duty faithfully discharged the memory of any good we have done does refresh the soul with a strange kind of pleasure and joy Our rejoycing is this saith St. Paul the testimony of our consciences that in all simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversation in the world But on the other side the course of a vicious life all acts of impiety to God of malice and injustice to men of intemperance and excess in reference to our selves do certainly leave a sting behind them And whatever pleasure there may be in the present act of them the memory of them is so tormenting that men are glad to use all the arts of diversion to fence off the thoughts of them One of the greatest troubles in the world to a bad man is to look into himself and to remember how he hath lived I appeal to the consciences of men whether this be not true And is not here now a mighty difference between these two courses of life that when we do any thing that is good if there be any trouble in it it is soon over but the pleasure of it is perpetual when we do a wicked action the pleasure of it is short and transient but the trouble and sting of it remains for ever The reflection upon the good we have done gives a lasting satisfaction to our minds but the remembrance of any evil committed by us leaves a perpetual discontent And which is yet more considerable a religious and virtuous course of life does then yield most peace and comfort when we most stand in need of it in times of affliction and at the hour of death When a man falls into any great calamity there is no comfort in the world like to that of a good conscience This makes all calm and serene within when there is nothing but clouds and darkness about him So David observes of the good man Psal 112.4 Vnto the upright there ariseth light in darkness All the pious and virtuous actions that we do are so many seeds of peace and comfort sown in our consciences which will spring up and flourish most in times of outward trouble and distress Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart And at the hour of death The righteous hath hopes in his death saith Solomon And what a seasonable refreshment is it to the mind of man when the pangs of death are ready to take hold of him and he is just stepping into the other world to be able to look back with satisfaction upon a religious and well-spent life Then if ever the comforts of a good man do overflow and a kind of heaven springs up in his mind and he rejoyceth in the hopes of the glory of God And that is a true and solid comfort indeed which will stand by us in the day of adversity and stick close to us when we have most need of it But with the ungodly it is not so His guilt lies in wait for him especially against such times and is never more fierce and raging than in the day of distress so that according as his troubles without are multiplyed so are his stings within And surely affliction is then grievous indeed when it falls upon a galled and uneasie mind Were it not for this outward afflictions might be tolerable the spirit of a man might bear his infirmities but a wounded spirit who can bear But especially at the hour of death How does the guilt of his wicked life then stare him in the face What storms and tempests are raised in his soul which make it like the troubled sea when it cannot rest When Eternity that fearful and amazing sight presents it self to his mind and he feels himself sinking into the regions of darkness and is every moment in a fearful expectation of meeting with the just reward of his deeds with what regret does he then remember the sins of his life and how full of rage and indignation is he against himself for having neglected to know when he had so many opportunities of knowing them the things that belonged to his peace and which because he hath neglected them are now and likely to be for ever hid from his eyes And if this be the true case of the righteous and wicked man I need not multiply words but may leave it to any mans thoughts in which of these conditions he would be And surely the difference between them is so very plain that there can be no difficulty in the choice But now though this discourse be very true yet for the full clearing of this matter it will be but fair to consider what may be said on the other side And the rather because there are several objections which seem to be countenanced from experience which is enough to overthrow the most plausible speculation As 1. That wicked men seem to have a great deal of pleasure and contentment in their vices 2. That Religion imposeth many harsh and grievous things which seem to be inconsistent with that pleasure and satisfaction I have spoken of 3. That those who are religious are many times very disconsolate and full of trouble To the first I deny not that wicked men have some pleasure in their vices but when all things are rightly computed and just abatements made it will amount to very little For it is the lowest and meanest kind of pleasure it is chiefly the pleasure of our bodies and our senses of our worst part the pleasure of the beast and not of the man that which least becomes us and which we were least of all made for Those sensual pleasures which are lawful are much inferiour to the least satisfaction of the mind and when they are unlawful they are always inconsistent with it And what is a man profited if to gain a little sensual pleasure he lose the peace of his soul Can we find in our hearts to call that pleasure which robs us of a far greater and higher satisfaction than it brings The delights of sense are so far from being the chief pleasure for which God designed us that on the contrary he intended we should take our chief pleasure in the restraining and moderating of our sensual appetites and desires and in keeping them within the bounds of Reason and Religion And then It is not a lasting pleasure Those fits of mirth which wicked men have how soon are they over Like a sudden blaze which after a little flash and noise is presently gone It is the comparison of a very great and experienced man in these matters Like the crackling of thorns under a pot saith Solomon so is the laughter of the fool that is the mirth of the wicked man it may be loud but it lasts not But which is most considerable of all the pleasures of sin bear no proportion to that long and black train of miseries and inconveniences which they draw after them Many times poverty and reproach pains and diseases upon our