Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	faith_n	holy_a	jesus_n	7,332	5	5.7358	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A96538	A word in season, for a warning to England: or a prophecy of perillous times open'd and apply'd. Wherein the signes of bad times, and the means of making the times good, are represented as the great concernment of all good Christians in this present age. First exhibited in a sermon preached in the Abby at Westminster, July 5. 1659. and since enlarged and published. / By Thomas VVilles, M.A. minister of the Gospel, in the city of London.	Willis, Thomas, 1619 or 20-1692.	1659 (1659)	Wing W2308; Thomason E1734_1; ESTC R7862	218,037	465

God! And hast thou given thy dearest Son to suffer such a cursed and cruel d●ath for such a vile sinner as I am O sweetest Mercy O infinite goodnesse O glorious Love Then me thought I first felt my Heart that before was like a † Eze. 36.26 stone within me to melt and sensibly dissolve at once into sorrow and joy † Zac. 12.10 * Sorrow that ever I had sinned against such a good God † Luk. 2.10 Joy that ever Mercy and Salvation should be tendered to such a vile sinner And then when I cast up my Eyes to Christ and beheld him sometimes as crucifi'd on Earth sometimes as glorifi'd in heaven my heart sure spake within me much to this purpose O deare Jesus And hast thou endured such grievous sufferings for the salvation of such a miserable sinner as I am What wouldest thou leave thy Fathers * Joh. 1.18 Bosome and glory to live here on Earth and die on the † Phil. 2.8 Crosse to save the Life of a crawling Worme Hast thou poured out thy * Joh. 19 34. Hearts blood to que●●● thy Fathers dreadful wrath and to ●●●chase his glorious Love to a poysonous Toad Is it possible Can it be believed for Truth that the Sonne of God should come to save such a sinful wretch as I am Yea He hath said it and I believe it † 1 Tim. 1.15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the World to save sinners of whom I am chiefe Hereupon I found my heart carried out in a restlesse and insatiable longing desire after Christ yea and indeed inseparably cleaving to Christ thus manifesting himself to me in the Gospel For then I not onely saw the sinfulnesse of my sinnes but I lookt upon all my * Isa 64.6 Righteousnesses as filthy rags and so humbling my self for my sinnes and renouncing utterly my own righteousnesse I cast my self wholly upon my Saviour and resolved † Job 13.15 though he should slay me I would trust in him And now though since I have not often found such sweet and powerful workings upon my Heart yet this is the state wherein I stand I have solemnly resigned my self wholly up into the hands of Christ as my Soveraigne and Saviour to be done with and disposed of in every thing as seemes best unto him and on him only do I rest for Righteousness and Life Eternal Happy soul God hath magnified his Mercy to thee and done more for thee then for thousands God hath drawn thee t● Christ and united thy soul to him by ●●●h a Band indissoluble For thou hast in this Declaration of Gods dealings with thee laid open the very Mysterie of Faith and manifested how the Holy Ghost hath by this Heavenly Band inseparably knit thy soul unto thy Saviour Rejoyce then in thy God For thy soul is safely lockt up in the Everlasting Blessed Embraces of thy Redeemer Yea thou shalt be for ever worn as a Jewel in his bosom Fear not For in the day that God makes up his Jewels * Mal. 3.17 he will remember thy soul And though thy Faith be weak be not discouraged Thou standest not in thy own strength but in the strength of Christ who is † Isa 63.1 Mighty to save The safety of the Child in the Mothers Bosome lies not in the strength of its own weak Arms wherewith it clings about her but in the strength of the Mothers Arm and the Affectionate Tenderness of her heart towards it What though thy Faith be weak thy strength be small and thy Enemies strong thou art kept by the Power of God through Faith unto salvation * 1 Pet. 1.5 Christ is thine and so Heaven and Happiness is thine also The Lord grant I may live to his Praise that hath shewed Mercy on me For the Glory of God is I know the end of these Dispensations of his Grace For thus it is written † Eph. 1.12 13 14. That we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ In whom saith the Apostle ye also trusted after that ye heard the Word of Truth the Gospel of your salvation in whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of Promise which is the Earnest of our Inheritance untill the Redemption of the purchased Possession unto the praise of his Glory But how may I know that God hath given me this Earnest of my Inheritance that I am sealed with his Holy Spirit or that he hath given his Holy Spirit to me If God hath given you Faith in Jesus Christ he hath certainly sealed you with his Holy Spirit and so given you the Earnest of your heavenly Inheritance For it is the Spirit of God which is the Spirit of Grace by which that Faith was wrought in your Heart by which you have been united to Jesus Christ The Graces of Sanctification Repentance Faith Hope Love to God Charity c. are the prints of this Privy Seal wherewith God seals Believers as his own Peculiar which in whatsoever soul they are found to that soul is the Spirit of God given as an Earnest of an eternal Inheritance in Heaven And where there is one Grace of the Spirit as that of Faith which hath already been evidenc't there are all the rest though not equally visible Though sometimes but one Star do appear in the Heavens yet we are sure all the rest are fixed there though they are clouded from our sight Moreover the Spirit of God where ever it is is a Spirit of Holiness Prayer and Comfort Now do you desire to know whether the Spirit of God be given to you and do indeed dwell in you Then search your Heart and tell me what you discover upon these Enquiries Do you find sin to be a Burden to you and are you weary of it Do you indeed hate your sweetest sins and love the strictest wayes of Holiness Do you maintain a constant Conflict against your Corruptions Can you truly say with the Apostle † Rom. 7.19 The good that I would I do not but the evil which I would not that I do For * v. 21. I find a Law that when I would do good evil is present with me Yet I delight in the Law of God after the inward man Oh do you not extremely long to be freed from this Bondage of Corruption that in the duties of Holiness you might enjoy a more glorious Freedom of Communion with God What is it which chiefly makes the world uncomfortable to you Is it Sin or Suffering Which of these two is it which you most constantly fear and most carefully decline Can you heartily bless God for Affliction when it becomes a Means to promote in your Heart the work of Grace and Holiness Is not your heart grieved for the Sin that cleaves unto you in your best performances Do you not find your heart endeared to the

have told you before God before his wheat is gather'd into his Garner before his Church on Earth is translated into Heaven before gracious Saints are taken up into his glorious Kingdome will suffer the windes of false Doctrines to blow thereupon that so graceless ones who are as * Psal 1.4 Chaff carryed about with every winde of Doctrine † Eph. 4.14 may be separated from the Wheat the truly gracious And therefore says the Apostle * 1 Cor. 11 19 There must be also Heresie or Sects † Margin among you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you And sayes the Apostle Peter * 2 Pet. 2.1 2 There were false prophets also among the People even as there shall be false Teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction And many shall follow their pernicious wayes by reason of whom the way of Truth shall be evil spoken of And for the time of their appearing this he intimates to us in what he further speaks of them afterwards † 2 Pet. 3.3 Knowing this first that there shall come in the last Dayes scoffers walking after their own lusts This is fully confirmed by what the Apostle Paul speaks of them in his Premonition given to Timothy in both his Epistles to him directed In the former sayes he * 1 Tim. 4.1 2 Now the spirit speaketh expresly that in the latter Times some shall depart from the Faith giving heed to seducing spirits and Doctrines of Devils speaking lies in hypocrisie having their conscience sear●d with a hot iron And in the latter sayes he † 2 Tim. 3.1 2 6 7. This know also that in the last Dayes perillous times shall come For men shall be lovers of their own selves c. Of this sort are they which creep into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sins led away with divers lusts ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth So likewise does the Apostle John tell us that the coming of many Antichrists false Teachers opposing the Doctrine of Christ contain'd in the Gospel does manifestly discover that it is the last time * 1 Joh. 2.18 And sayes the Apostle Jude † Jude v. 17 18 19. Beloved remember ye the words which were spoken before of the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ How that they told you there should be Mockers in the Last time who should walk after their own ungodly lusts These be they who separate themselves sensual having not the spirit how much soever they may pretend thereunto Thus we see it s undenyably manifest from the Holy Scriptures that False Teachers Sectaries and Seducers shall abound in the Church of God in the last dayes which the Apostle hath told us shall be perillous Times Whence we may certainly conclude that whensoever these Locusts and Caterpillars shall abound amongst us then are the perillous times spoken of come upon us And that we may the more infallibly know when those very Sectaries and Seducers are come which are spoken of in these Prophecies there are certain Marks and Characters stampt upon them by the Holy Ghost whereby they may be easily and infallibly known to us So the Apostle to his Prediction of Perillous times subjoyns a large Description of those Erroneous Persons who by their pernicious Practises should make the times so perillous † 2 Tim. 3 1-5 He describes them by very many Characters which we have already view'd to which might many more be added from several other places of Scripture wherein they are in their proper Colours represented to us But it will be sufficient as to our present purpose to produce a few of the principal of them to which many of the rest may easily be refer'd These seducing spirits then which raise Stormes in the State and cause Confusions in the Church may be known by these distinguishing Marks and Characters which follow The first Mark Pride and Self-conceitednesse FAlse-Teachers are very proud and highly conceited of their own Knowledge notwithstanding grosse ignorance of the great Mysteries of the Gospel yea the plain principles of Religion The Apostle Paul having recommended to Timothy the preaching and pressing of the sound and Orthodox Doctrines of the Gospel subjoynes this premonitory description of False Teachers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 † Ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 q. super re aliqua insistens eique attento inhaerens animo If any man sayes he * 1 Tim. 6.3 4 5. be Heterodox or teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrine which is according to Godlinesse or come not to the sound preaching of the Gospel He is PROUD or puffed up sc with an opinion of his own knowledge yet KNOWING NOTHING or having no right understanding no setled and solid knowledge of any thing but doting or sick about questions and strifes of words whereof cometh Envy Strife Railings Evil surmisings Perverse disputings chafing and galling one another with unprofitable Contentions of men of corrupt Mindes and DESTITUTE OF THE knowledge of the TRUTH Thus were these False-teachers as extreamly ignorant as they were unsufferably Proud So in the Apostles Prophetick Premonition wherein he represents them as the Troublers of their Times they are stil'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Boasters Proud High-minded * 2 Tim. 3.2 3. These are the Bubbles which we may see passing too and fro in Pride and Pompe upon the face of the Waters when some Tempest in the State hath troubled the waters of the Sanctuary They appear beautiful and glo●ious in the eyes of the simple who are deceived with their Colours when indeed there 's nothing at all in them but winde and emptynesse What glorious vaunts of knowledge have some Vile Sects made who have been no better then the Glow-wormes of the Night Certain Sectaries in Aragon called themselves the Illuminati Illuminated as if they onely had been in Light and all the world besides in Darknesse Foolish People that having a glimpse of the Sunne thought it shone upon none in the world but themselves The Nicholaitans and Valentinians called themselves GNOSTICKS a name signifying Knowledge as conceiting all others besides themselves to be grosly ignorant of the great Mysteries of Religion They might perhaps more fitly have been stiled Luciferians for their Pride as a pestilent Sect that arose up after them were called upon another account The first Founders of any Schismatical Society built upon some Heretical Opinion have ever been great pretenders to singular eminency of knowledge Omnibus una Intentio Haereticis semper fuit captare Gloriam de singularitate scientiae † Bern. in Cant. Ser. 65. All the Hereticks that have ever been saith holy Bernard have had this one Project in the chase of glory to

from your own souls prevent the Dishonour of God and the Destruction of the Land This also would very much conduce to a Happy Change of the Times For never can we expect to see good Dayes till † Am. 5.24 Judgement run down as waters and righteousnesse as a mighty streame for the purging of the Land from its Impurities and Abominations The third Duty Prayer for Amendment IS it your Lot to live in Evil Times Dayes of Danger and Distresse Then Pray to the Father of Eternity for the Change and Amendment of the Times All our † Ps 31.15 Times are in his Hand he changes them from good to bad or bad to good as pleases him 'T is he that causes the Sun to shine or covers it from us with a Cloud as he pleases Our Dayes are clear or cloudy our Times are good or evil according to his Ordering and Government To whom then should we go but to him that orders all changes for the change of evil and perillous into good and prosperous Times He can take away evil men or make them good and so amend the Times When we see men continue in their sinnes and daily grow to a greater height of Wickednesse we have then cause to fear the Times will grow worse rather then better And therefore in this Case the People of God had need be very earnest and importunate with God in their Prayers lest the Provocations of the wicked should be more prevailing for the bringing down of the Judgements of God then the Prayers of his People for the Prevention of those Judgements and the Procurement of his Mercies upon the Land When the sins of the Land cry aloud for Judgment the Saints of God had need to cry aloud for Mercy The Prayer of Faith is the most effectual means by Gods own appointment for the Removal of evils felt the Prevention of evils feared and the Procurement of good things desired There is not therefore a more sad Symptome of the approach of some dreadful Judgement then the Restraint of the Spirit of Prayer in the People of God Thus when Israel had fearfully provoked God by customary commission of grosse sinnes after glorious deliverances as Theft Murder Adultery Perjury Idolatry and had extreamly aggravated these sins by pretences of Religion and godlinesse For they would come and stand before the LORD in his House as if they should say We are deliver'd to do all these Abominations as the Lord hath testifi'd against them by his Prophet * Jer. 7.9 10 and when thereupon God purposed to cast them off for their sins he forbad his Prophet to pray for them For sayes the Lord † Jer. 7.15 16 I will cast you out of my sight as I have cast out all your Brethren even the whole seed of Ephraim Therefore pray not thou for this People neither lift up Cry nor Prayer for them neither make Intercession to me for I will not hear thee This Prohibition of the Prophets Prayer for them was more terrible then the Commination of the sorest Judgement against them While a Praying Spirit is kept up in the hearts of Gods people there is hopes of prevailing with God for mercy for a sinful Nation Prayer does as it were binde up the hands of Omnipotency that an offended God cannot inflict a deserved Punishment upon a provoking People And therefore when the Israelites had made them a Molten Calf and worshipped it and the wrath of God was kindled against them to destroy them Moses by his Prayer prevented their Destruction And therefore did the Lord speak thus to Moses * Exod. 32.9 10. with Deut. 9.13 14 I have seen this people and behold it is a stiff-necked people Now therefore LET ME ALONE that my wrath may wax hot against them and that I may consume them and blot out their name from under Heaven And I will make of thee a great Nation even a Nation mightier and greater then they Thus we see God could not execute his fierce wrath upon his people unless Moses would let him alone by ceasing to pray for them But this Command being rather Declarative of Gods wrath against Israel then expressive of his Pleasure that Moses should cease Praying Holy Prayer being Gods Delight Moses still proceeds in his Intercession for Israel and joynes Fasting with his Prayer and so prevailed for Mercy For it is said † Exod. 32 11 12. Moses besought the LORD his God and said Lord why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people c. Turn from thy fierce wrath and repent of this evil against thy people And how gracious an Answer did he receive unto his prayer For it is said hereupon * ver 14. And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people And again when Moses had beheld their abomination in making and worshiping the molten Calf he thus relates his Carriage success † Deut. 9.18 19 And I fel down saith he before the Lord as at the first fourty daies and fourty nights and I did neither eat bread nor drink water b●cause of all your sins which ye sinned in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD to provoke him to Anger For I was afraid of the Anger and hot displeasure wherewith the Lord was wroth against you to destroy you But the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also And therefore is it recorded of him in the Holy Scripture that the Lord said That he would destroy them had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the Breach to turn away his wrath lest he should destroy them * Psal 106 23 And doth not the Lord such is his infinite Patience before he proceeds to the Execution of his Judgements upon a rebellious People for their unsufferable Provocations seek for a man among them that may make up the hedge and stand in the Gap before him for the Land that he may not destroy it † Ezek. 22 30 O then that some Moses might arise and plead with the Lord for his people that he might remove his Judgements and continue his Mercies to them and spare a sinfull Nation a defiled Land So Abraham brought down Gods Mercy by Steps in his * Gen. 18.23 ult Intercession for Sodom so far that if but Ten righteous persons had been sound in that whole sinfull City God would not have destroyed it Now how great an Encouragement should this be unto you Christians in Perillous Times to make your Addresses to God by fervent Prayers Oh! Is there none that will lift up a Prayer for a sinfull Nation before the Lord proceed to execute the fierceness of his wrath upon it O stir up your selves to wrestle with God in his own strength and resolve not to let him go till he bless the Land O Pray Pray Pray without ceasing that the Lord would turn away his Anger from us and after all our Shakings and Divisions settle Peace and Truth

Godlinesse that you may with comfort look for the coming of Christ and with confidence hast to the Judgement day Remember that the † Tit. 2.11 12 13. Grace of God reveal'd in the Gospel which brings salvation to you teaches you that denying ungodlinesse and worldly Lusts you should live soberly righteously and godly in this present World So looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appea ing of the great God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ Let Prayer and Piety then be your daily Exercise during Life that though you live in perillous Times you may finish your Daies in Peace Be diligent in doing of good and * 1 Thes 5.22 23. Abstaine from all appearance of Evil. And the very God of Peace sanctifie you wholly and I pray God your whole Spirit and Soul and Body be preserved blamelesse unto the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ † Jude 24 25 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultlesse before the presence of his Glory with exceeding Joy to the onely wise God our Saviour be Glory and Majesty Dominion and Power now and ever Amen FINIS The Authour's Advertisem●nt REader thou art now come to the End of this Book let me tell thee what was the End of the Author in publishing it God in the Scripture tells us that evil Dayes perillous Times shall come This is doubtlesse written for our Instruction It 's then surely the Duty of a Minister of the Gospel to give People WARNING of these perillous Times and after the Example of the Prophets and faithful Preachers of the Word in all Ages to give in his WITNES against the evil of the Dayes This out of Faithfulness to the great Interests of the Glory of God and the Salvation of souls The Author upon this Ground readily embraced what he judged his fittest Opportunity for the discharge of this Duty that so he might have a good conscience both towards God and towards men Moreover the Author observing with Griefe how the generality of men perceiving their Danger in such perillous Times are wont to study their safety by carnall Compliances with every rising Party whereby when a wicked Party prevailes it strengthens it selfe mightily to the carrying on and Accomplishment of those Designes which are destructive to the whole Nation in the Safety or Ruine whereof particular Persons and Societies must needs stand or fall Thus the Trees submit themselves to the scratching Bramble and put their Trust under its shadow till at length Fire coming forth from it to devoure the Noble Cedars consumes the whole Forrest Such is the Folly of men that oft-times by that very meanes whereby they seek for Safety they runne themselves into the greater Danger I judg'd it my Duty therefore to endeavour a Discovery of a more excellent Way Doubtlesse here lies our greatest Danger in our provoking God by our sins to punish us and the whole Land by his Judgements If he become our Enemy they are not men be they never so great and mighty in Power that can help or save us And by sinful compliances how soone may the whole Nation be involv'd in the guilt of those horrid Perjuries injurious Incroachments fearful Enormities and God-provoking Abominations which may pluck down the sorest Plagues and Punishments upon all the People of the Land Our onely safety then lies in making our Peace with God by humbling our selves for all our sinnes and turning to him with our whole Hearts and so in walking humbly with him in his holy wayes and keeping our selves cleare from the Evils and Abominations of the Times For if God be with us who can be against us If he that is Mighty to save be our Friend we need not care who are our Enemies nor feare what man can do unto us Now this is the Scope and Drift of the present Treatise and to give a timely Warning of this Danger and a seasonable Admonition of this Duty was the Designe and is the Desire of the Author For this Reason and end therefore was this Sermon first preached and afterwards by the Advice of many of his Reverend Brethren the Ministers of the Gospel in the City of London was this Discourse published If thou desirest to know what was at the first preached in the Sermon and hath been since added in the Discourse which hath swelled it to this Bignesse take this Account The Sermon mainly consisted of these two things the Symptomes of perillous Times and the Duty of the Saints in such Dayes of Danger For the former those seven Symptomes were laid down which according to the Order wherein now thou findest them are the third fourth fift sixt eighth ninth and last For the latter the first and second Duties onely were prest and therein principally the fift Branch of the second Duty Almost all the rest with sundry illustrative Enlargements of these are added in this Treatise that it might by the Blessing of God become of more General Usefulnesse This Advertisement I have added for thy satisfaction which I shall conclude with this Caution Take heed thou art not one of them that make the Times perillous By a serious Perusal of the fore-going Discourse and a Religious Reflexion upon thy selfe thou mayest come to know whether thou art on Gods side or against him But see thou do thy self no Hurt by what 's meant for thy Good Harden not thy selfe against the Admonitions given thee in the Name of the Lord. For Know the BOOK in thy hand however buried in Contempt will rise up in Judgement against many Great Ones many Guilty Ones in this Nation at the last Day whose guilt will be aggravated by their slighting of this timely Warning given them by A poor unworthy Servant of the Lord Jesus in the Ministry of his glorious Gospel THO. WILLES London Aug. 15. 1659. The Book commended to Gods Blessing GLORIOUS GOD This poor thing which thy unworthy servant hath finish't in thy strength is now prest for thy service And behold I have here brought it before thy Majesty that it may receive thy Blessing Thou who art the great God delightest to do great things by weak Means that thy Power may appear and thy Name may have the Glory O that it would please thee to make use of this poor thing as an Instrument in thine own hand for the Glory of thy great Name and the good of thy People in this sinful Nation Oh let not the Weaknesses and Infirmities of thy servant that herein disclose themselves hinder the success of this small service which he desires hereby to do thy distracted Church Lord own and accept what is Good in it for it is thine own but what is Evil pardon and cover as proceeding from the weaknesse of a poor Creature that would willingly do thee much better service and yet is willing to submit to thy Will though Thou shouldest subject him to the meanest employment And give O Lord so much