Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	ghost_n	holy_a	part_n	5,261	5	4.5208	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62632	Several discourses viz. Of the great duties of natural religion. Instituted religion not intended to undermine natural. Christianity not destructive; but perfective of the law of Moses. The nature and necessity of regeneration. The danger of all known sin. Knowledge and practice necessary in religion. The sins of men not chargeable on God. By the most reverend Dr. John Tillotson, late lord arch-bishop of Canterbury. Being the fourth volume; published from the originals, by Ralph Barker, D.D. chaplain to his Grace.	Tillotson, John, 1630-1694.; Barker, Ralph, 1648-1708.; White, Robert, 1600-1690, engraver.	1697 (1697)	Wing T1261A; ESTC R221745	169,748	495

that our own Age did not afford us too many instances of this kind of such forward and expert Sinners as need no Tempter either to instruct or excite them to that which is evil Now in this Case the Devil betakes himself to other Persons and removes his Snares and Baits where he thinks there is more need and occasion for them So that we may reasonably conclude that there is a great deal of wickedness committed in the World which the Devil hath no immediate hand in tho' he always rejoyceth in it when it is done and that there is a great deal more reason to attribute all good to the Motions and Operations of the Spirit of God than to ascribe all Sin and wickedness in the World to the Devil because the Spirit of God is more powerful and is always every where and is more intent upon his design and as forward to promote it as the Devil can be to carry on his work nay I doubt not but he is more active to excite Men to good than the Devil can be to tempt them to Evil. And yet for all this I think there is no great reason to doubt but that good Men do many good actions of their own inclination without any special and immediate motion from the Spirit of God They are indeed at first regenerate and sanctified by the Holy Ghost and are continually afterwards under the conduct of the same Spirit but where there is a new Nature it is of it self inclinable to that which is good and will bring forth fruits and do actions answerable Much less do I think that the Devil tempts every Man to all the evil that he does or the greatest part When the Lusts of Men and the habits of Vice are grown strong and confirmed the Devil may spare his temptations in a great measure for after wicked Men are wound up to such a pitch of impiety they will go a great while of themselves I have done with the first Observation that as the Apostle acquits God from having any hand in tempting Men to Sin so neither does he ascribe the efficacy and prevalency of temptation to the Devil I proceed to the Second Observation That he ascribes the efficacy and success of temptation to the lusts and vicious inclinations of Men which seduce them to a consent and compliance with the temptations which are offered to them Every Man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lust and enticed We have many powerful Enemies but we are much more in danger of treachery from within than of assaults from without All the power of our Enemies could not destroy us if we were but true to our selves so that the Apostle had great reason to ascribe the efficacy of temptation to the irregular desires and vicious inclinations of Men rather than to those temptations which the Providence of God permits them to be assaulted with and consequently to lay the blame of Mens Sins chiefly upon themselves And that chiefly upon these two accounts First Because the Lusts of Men are in a great measure voluntary Secondly God hath put it in our power to resist these temptations and overcome them Now so far as the Lusts of Men are voluntary it is their own fault that they are seduced by them and if God hath put it in our power to resist and overcome temptations we may blame our selves if we be overcome and foiled by them First The Lusts of Men are in a great measure voluntary By the Lusts of Men I mean their irregular desires and vicious inclinations I grant that the Nature of Man is very much corrupted and degenerated from its Primitive Integrity and Perfection● but we who are Christians have received that grace in Baptism whereby our Natures are so far healed as if we be not wanting to our selves and do not neglect the means which God hath appointed to us we may mortifie our Lusts and live a new Life so that if our Lusts remain unmortified we our selves are in fault much more if they gain new strength and proceed to habits for this could not be if we did not after we come to Age and are able to discern between and to chuse good and evil voluntarily consent to Iniquity and by wilful and deliberate Practice of known Sins improve the evil inclinations of our Nature into vicious habits but if instead of mortifying and subduing the evil propensions of our Nature which is no very difficult work to most persons if they begin it betimes we will cherish and give new Life and Power to them we forfeit the grace which we received in Baptism and bring our selves again under the Power and Dominion of Sin and no wonder then if our Lusts seduce us and make us ready to comply with the temptations of the World and the Devil Nay and after this it is still our own fault if we do not mortifie our Lusts for if we would hearken to the Counsel of God and obey his Calls to Repentance and sincerely beg his Grace and Holy Spirit to this purpose we might yet recover our selves and by the Spirit mortify the L●sts of the Flesh for tho' we have left God he hath not quite forsaken us but is ready to afford his Grace again to us tho' we have neglected and abused it and to give his Holy Spirit to those that ask him tho' they have forfeited it so that tho' our Lusts spring from something which is Natural yet that they live and have dom●●ion over us is voluntary because we ●ight Remedy it if we would and make use of those Means which God in the Gospel offers to us Secondly God hath put it in our power to resist these temptations and overcome them so that it is our own fault if we yield to them and be overcome by them It is naturally in our power to resist ma●y sorts of temptations and the grace of God if we do not neglect it and be not wanting to ou● selves puts it into our power to resist any temptation that may happen to us First It is naturally in our power to resist many sorts of temptations If we do but make use of our Natural Reason and those Considerations which are common and obvious to Men we may easily resist the temptations to a great many Sins Some Sins are so horrid in their Nature that when we have the strongest temptatio●s to them we cannot but have a natural aversion from them as deliberate Murder the danger and guilt whereof are both so great as make it easie for any considerate Man to resist the strongest temptation to it even that of revenge A plain act of injustice whether by great fraud or by down right oppression is so base and disgraceful so odious and abhorred by humane Nature that it is not difficult to a Man that hath but a common understanding and common inclination to be honest to overcome the greatest temptation of gain and advantage nay he must offer

he might redeem them that were under the Law and that those who were in the condition of Servants before might be set at liberty and receive the adoption of Sons But how did his being made under the Law qualifie him to redeem those who were under the Law Thus By submitting to it himself he shewed that he owned the Authority of it and that he had no malice or enmity against it or as he himself expresses it that he came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it And being fulfill'd and having serv'd the time and end for which God intended it it expir'd of it self like a Law which is not made for perpetuity but limited to a certain period And our Blessed Saviour who came with greater Authority than Moses and gave greater Testimony of his Divine Authority had sufficient power to declare the expiration of it and by Commissioning his Disciples before and after his death to Preach the Gospel to the whole World he put an end to that particular Law and Dispensation which only concern'd the Jewish Nation by giving a general Law to all Mankind So that from the Death of our Saviour and his Ascension into Heaven upon which followed the general publication of the Gospel the Law of Moses ceased and according to our Saviour's express appointment Proselytes were to be admitted into the Christian Church only by Baptism and not by Circumcision And ●f Circumcision which was the sign of that Covenant was laid aside then the whole Obligation of that Law and Covenant which God had made with the Jews was also ceased It was once indeed the mark of God's chosen and peculiar People but now that God hath revealed himself to the whole World by his Son and offers Salvation to all Mankind Gentiles as well as Jews the wall of separation is broken down and Circumcision which was the mark of distinction between Jews and Gentiles is taken away and therefore he is said to have made peace by his Cross and to have blotted out and taken away the hand-writing of Ordinances nailing it to his Cross that is from the time of his Death to have taken away the obligation of the Law of Moses tho' it was a good while after before the Jews were wholly weaned from the veneration and use of it Nay it was some time before the Apostles were clearly convinc'd that the Gospel was to be preach'd to the Gentiles this being one of those Truths which our Saviour promised after his departure his Spirit should lead them into the perfect knowledge of and then they were fully instructed that the Law of Moses was expir'd and that it was no longer necessary to the Salvation of Men that they should be Circumcised and keep that Law And tho' it was once enjoyn'd by God himself to the Jews and their Obedience to it was necessary to their acceptance with God yet now by Christ Jesus God had offered Salvation to Men upon other Terms and whether they were Circumcised or not was of no moment to their Justification or Salvation one way or other but provided they perform'd the Condition of this New Covenant of the Gospel they were all alike capable of the Divine Favour and Acceptance But I proceed to that which I mainly intended to prosecute from these words and that is the Second Particular in the Text namely that according to the terms of the Gospel and the Christian Religion nothing will avail to our justification and acceptance with God but the real renovation of our Hearts and Lives neither Circumcision nor uncircumcision but a new Creature For the full explication of this I shall do these three Things First Shew what is imply'd in this Phrase of a new Creature Secondly That this is the great Condition of our justification and acceptance with God and that it is the same in substance with Faith perfected by Charity and with keeping the Commandments of God Thirdly That it is very reasonable it should be so 1. What is imply'd in this Phrase of a new Creature It is plain at first sight that it is a Metaphorical expression of that great and thorough change which is made in Men by the Gospel or the Christian Religion The Scripture sets forth to us this Change by great variety of expressions by Conversion and turning from our Iniquities unto God by Repentance which signifies a change of our Mind and Resolution and is in Scripture call'd Repentance from dead works and Repentance unto Life by Regeneration or being born again by Resurrection from the Dead and rising to newness of Life by Sanctification and being wash'd and cleans'd from all filthiness and impurity which three last Metaphors are imply'd in Baptism which is call'd Regeneration Tit. 3. 5. According to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the ●oly Ghost and our being born again of Water and the Holy Ghost John 3. 3. Except a Man be born again c. and ver 5. except a Man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God and the purifying of our Consciences Heb. 10. 22. having our Hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience and our Bodies wash'd with pure water and the answer of a good Conscience towards God 1 Pet. 3. 21. Baptism doth now save us not the putting away of the filth of the Flesh but the answer of a good Conscience towards God and finally our being Baptiz'd into the Death and Resurrection of Christ Rom. 6. 3 4. Know ye not that so many of us as were Baptized into Jesus Christ were Baptized into his death therefore we are buried with him by Baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of Life And lastly this Change is set forth to us by Renovation and our being made New Creatures and new Men 2 Cor. 5. 17. Therefore if any Man be in Christ that is professeth himself a Christian he is a new Creature old things are past away behold all things are become new And so likewise Ephes 4. 22 23 24. this great Change is exprest by putting off concerning the former Conversation the old Man which is corrupt according to the lusts of deceit and being renewed in the spirit of our Minds and putting on that new Man which after God is Created in Righteousness and true Holiness The Expression is very emphatical renewed in the spirit of our Minds that is in our very Minds and Spirits to signifie to us that it is a most inward and thorough Change reaching to the very center of our Souls and Spirits And Colos 3. 9 10 11th verses it is represented much after the same manner Seeing ye have put off the old Man with his deeds and have put on the new Man which is renewed in knowledge after the Image of him that Created him where there is neither Greek nor Jew Circumcision nor

and confirmation from plain Texts such Doctrines as these three 1. That as the Creation was by an irresistible act of the Divine Power so is this new Creation or Conversion of a Sinner 2. That as Creatures were meerly passive in their being made and contributed nothing at all to it no more do we to our Conversion and Regeneration 3. That as the Creation of the several Ranks and Kinds of Creatures was in an instant and effected by the powerful word of God only saying let such and such things be and immediately they were so this new Creation or the work of Regeneration is in an ins●ant and admits of no degrees Concerning these three Doctrines of great Mom●nt and Consequence in Divinity I shall shew with all the clearness and b●evity I can that they are built sol●ly ●pon Metaphors of Scriptu●e ●or●●●'d a●d strain'd too far withou● any real ground and foundatio● from Scripture or Reason nay contrary to the tenor of the one and the dictates of the other nay indeed contrary to the general experience of the operation of God's Grace upon the Minds of Men in their Conversion First It is pretended that as the Creation was by an irresistible act of the Divine Power so is the new Creation or the Conversion of a Sinner and this is solely argued from the Metaphorical expressions of Scripture concerning Conversion such as being called out of darkness into light alluding to that powerful word of God which in the first Creation commanded the light to shine out of darkness being quicken'd and rais'd to a new Life and from this Metaphor here in the Text of a new Creation But surely it is a dangerous thing in Divinity to build Doctrines upon Metaphors especially if we strain them to all the similitudes which a quick and lively imagination can find out whereas some one obvious thing is commonly intended in the Metaphor and the meaning is absolv'd and acquitted in that and it is folly to pursue it into all those similitudes which a good fancy may suggest When our Saviour says that he will come as a Thief in the night it is plain what he means that the Day of Judgment will surprize the careless World when they least look for it that he will come at an hour when they are not aware and tho' he resemble his coming to that of a Thief in the night yet here is nothing of Robbery in the case So here when the change which Christianity makes in Men is called a new Creation this only imports the greatness of the Change which by the power of God's grace is made upon the hearts and lives of Men and the Metaphor is sufficiently absolv'd in this plain sense and meaning of it agreeable to the literal expressions of Scripture concerning this thing and there is no need that this Change should in all other respects answer the work of Creation and consequently there is no necessity that it should be effected in an irresistible manner or that we should be altogether passive in this Change and that we should no ways concur to it by any act of our own or that this work should be done in an instant and admit of no steps and degrees It is not necessary that this Change should be effected in an irresistible manner God may do so when he pleaseth without any injury to his Creatures for it is certainly no wrong to any Man to be made good and happy against his will and I do not deny but that God sometimes does so The Call of the Disciples to follow Christ seems to have been a very sudden and forcible impression upon their Minds without any appearing reason for it for it is not reasonable for any Man to leave his Calling and follow every one that bids him do so The Conversion of Saul from a Persecutor of Christianity to a Zealous Preacher of it was certainly effected if not in an irresistible yet in a very forcible and violent manner The Conversion of three thousand at one Sermon when the Holy Ghost descended in a visible manner upon the Apostles was certainly the effect of a mighty and over-powering degree of God's grace And the like may be said of the sudden Conversion of so many Persons from Heathenism and great wickedness and impiety of Life to the sincere profession of Christianity by the preaching of the Apostles afterwards But that this is not of absolute necessity nor the ordinary method of God's grace to work upon the minds of Men in so over-powering much less in an irresistible manner is as plain as any thing of that Nature can be both from Experience and the Reason of the thi●g and the constant tenour of the Scripture We find that many perhaps the greatest part of those that are good are made so by the insensible steps and degrees of a Religious Education and having been never vicious can give no great account of any sensible Change only that when they came to years of understanding they consider'd things more and the Principles that were instill'd into them in their younger years did put forth themselves more vigorously at that time as Seeds sprout out of the ground after they have a good while been buried and lain hid in the Earth And it is contrary to Reason to make an irresistible act of Divine Power necessary to our Repentance and Conversion because this necessarily involves in it two things which seem very unreasonable First That no Man Repents upon Consideration and Choice but upon meer force and violent necessity which quite takes away the Virtue of Repentance whatever virtue there may be in the consequent acts of a Regenerate State Secondly It implies that the Conversion and Repentance of those upon whom God doth not work irresistibly is impossible which is the utmost can be said to excuse the impenitency of Men by taking it off from their own choice and laying it upon the impossibility of the thing and an utter disability in them to choose and do otherwise And it is likewise contrary to the constant tenour of the Bible which supposeth that Men do very frequently resist the Grace and Holy Spirit of God It is said of the Pharisees by our Saviour Luke 7. 30. that they rejected the Counsel of God against themselves that is the merciful Design of God for their Salvation And of the Jews Acts 7. 51. that they always resisted the Holy Ghost So that some operations of God's grace and Holy Spirit are resistible and such as if Men did not resist them would be effectual to bring them to Faith and Repentance else why are the Pharisees said to reject the counsel of God against themselves that is to their own ruine implying that if they had not rejected it they might have been saved and if they had it had been without irresistible Grace for that which was offered to them was actually resisted by them Other Texts plainly shew that the Reason of Mens impenitency and unbelief is not

then against the Promises of God that is are the Law and the Gospel contrary do they contradict one another So that the meaning of our Saviour's Declaration is this that he was not come to dissolve and abrogate and make void the Law or to encourage Men to the breach of it that the Precepts of his Religion were in no wise contrary to those of the Law and the Prophets did not thwart and oppose them or any ways contradict the main design and intention of the Law and the Prophets that is of the Jewish Religion for so the Law and the Prophets do frequently signifie Mat. 7. 12. therefore all things whatsoever ye would that Men should do to you do ye even so to them for this is the Law and the Prophets that is this is the main scope and intention of what your Religion contained in the Law and the Prophets teacheth concerning your Duty to one another So likewise Mat. 22. 40. On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets that is this is the sum of all the Duties of Religion to these two Laws all that the Jewish Religion teacheth may be refer'd I am not come to destroy but to fulfill to carry on the same Design which was intended by the Jewish Religion and to perfect and accomplish it to supply all the defects and weaknesses and imperfections of that dispensation this is the plain meaning of this caution and declaration of our Saviours Think not c. For the clearing of this Matter viz. That the Design of our Saviour's Doctrine and Religion is not contrary to those former Revelations which God made to the Jews by Moses and the Prophets this will evidently appear whether we consider the Prophesies and Predictions of the Old Testament or the Laws and Precepts therein contained First The Prophesies and Predictions of the Old Testament our Saviour came not to contradict and overthrow these but to fulfill them The chief Predictions of the Law and the Prophets were concerning the Messias and his Spiritual Kingdom In the Law it was foretold that God would raise to them a Prophet like unto Moses whom they ought to hear and obey and to him all the Prophets of the Old Testament gave witness foretelling the time of his coming his extraction the manner and circumstances of his Birth the Purity and Efficacy of his Doctrine the Actions and Miracles of his Life his Passion Death and Burial with the particular Circumstances of them his Resurrection from the Dead and his Ascension into Heaven and Exaltation at the right hand of God so that this part of the Law and Prophets he did accomplish and fulfill in a most eminent and remarkable manner all things that the Prophets had foretold concerning the Messias were punctually made good in the Person and Actions and Sufferings of our Saviour Secondly As to the Laws and Precepts of the Jewish Religion the Doctrine and the Laws of Christianity did not clash with them nor properly abrogate them and make them void especially as to the Moral Precepts which were the very Life and Spirit the ultimate Scope and Design of that Religion nay so far was it from doing so that the main and proper intention of Christianity was to clear and establish that which was the main design of the Law and Prophets to perfect the Law in this part and to raise and advance Morality to its highest pitch to supply all the defects and imperfections of the Jewish Religion and to make Men much better than that weak and imperfect Institution was able to do This was the great Design of Christianity and it is very probable that our Saviour had a principal if not a sole respect to the Precepts of the Moral Law when he here says that he came not to destroy the Law and the Prophets but to perfect and fulfill them as I shall have occasion by and by to shew more at large But that we may give a full Answer to the Objection of the Jews against this Saying of our Saviour's I shall shew that he did not come to thwart and contradict and properly to abrogate and make void the Jewish Law in any part of it neither the Civil and Judicial nor the Ritual and Ceremonial much less the Moral and Natural Precepts of it This is more than I think to be absolutely necessary to reconcile this Saying of our Saviour with the rest of his Doctrine and Actions for tho' he had properly abrogated the Ceremonial Law and in no sence fulfill'd it yet notwithstanding this it may be true that he came not to destroy the Law and the Prophets that is to destroy the obligation of Moral Duties which he speaks of in this Chapter and elsewhere declares to be the ultimate scope the sum and substance of the Law and the Prophets For if the Ceremonial Law was not designed by God to be perpetual but to give way to a more perfect dispensation then our Saviour did no way thwart and contradict the Law and the Prophets by abrogating the Ceremonial Law at that time when God designed that a period should be put to it But yet for the fuller satisfaction to this Objection I shall shew that our Saviour did not properly abrogate any part of the Jewish Law no not the Ritual and Ceremonial part of it but did fulfill it First not their Civil and Judicial Laws These in the original intention of them were not Laws designed for Mankind but suited and fitted to the disposition and temper the Condition and Circumstances of a particular People and Nation to these our Saviour taught obedience and paid it himself and never did any thing contrary to them nor in the least weaken the obligation of them but they continued in full force 'till that Nation and Commonwealth was dissolved So that these Laws were no way impeached or abrogated by the Christian Religion but they fell for want of a subject to exercise their power upon and because the People that were to be governed by them were destroyed or dissipated and tho' they neither are nor ever were obligatory to other Nations as given by Moses and as they were the peculiar Laws of a particular Nation yet the Natural Reason and Equity of them so far as it concerned Mankind is duly considered and regarded by us and many of these Laws are adopted into the Laws of most Christian Nations It is plain then that this part of the Jewish Law received no prejudice by Christianity but continued in full force so long as that Nation and Commonwealth lasted which was to be governed by it Secondly As to the Ritual and Ceremonial part of the Jewish Law which consisted in Circumcision and Purifications and Sacrifices in distinction of Meats and Times and innumerable other Rites and Observances this was not properly abrogated and made void by the coming of Christ but fulfill'd and made good by him The Rites and Ceremonies of the Law were the Types and Shadows of