Selected quad for the lemma: city_n
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A30272
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Characters of a godly man both as more and less grown in grace / by Daniel Burgess.
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Burgess, Daniel, 1645-1713.
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1691
(1691)
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Wing B5697; ESTC R23829
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60,242
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145
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God doth not so condemn them Then as to the Season it must be said Times there are in which Self-examination is by no means our Duty Times wherein he that looks into his Heart and Life shall have it with him as he that beholds his Face in troubled Waters which represent it in nothing truely but in all things frightfully Such are times of prevalent Melancholy and of Satans Temptations in their violence and hurry and of frequently prevailing Corruptions before that by frequent acts we have gained some new Experience of our selves In these times a man's present and immediate Duty is to put forth the first act of Faith to cast himself on God in the way of well-doing which he hath a Command to do and that with a Promise of losing nothing by it He is to be advised as he is able to Recal his former evidences and hopes however to lean on the Lord and to Resolve though he slay him yet to Trust in him for restoring grace The next Question is What degree of true grace may we take for the Least and Lowest of all The God of truth direct my Heart and my Hand in my answer I am sensible of the Question 's being as Arduous as Momentous Humbly it is that I here deliver my Judgment and as far as I know the Judgment of our Protestant Divines And as plainly and suitably unto your Apprehensions as I am able The H. Spirit who well knoweth his own Grace in all its various Degrees doth by these Metaphors describe unto us its Lowest degree He compares it unto the Life of a Child new Born John 3.3 Nay to the Life of a Child just quickned in the Womb Eph. 2.5 Agreeably whereto it is named the Forming of Christ in a Soul Gal. 4.19 Now as Mothers in whom Children are formed so Souls in whom Christ is formed do by and by shew it by nauseous Ebullitions from the Stomach and new Pulsations in the Bowels Plainly thus by Loathings and by Longings To that of the Lowest degree of grace it must be said it is a Life a something that makes a man to differ from what he was before as much as a Living Creature differs from a Dead A Life of which Jesus Christ is so the Alpha and the Omega and the All in All that it bears his very Name Christ in us And a Life notified by Loathing of all things that are known to be contrary unto Christ with inseparable Longing after all Mercy from him and all Duty unto him A Life that speaks forth assoon as it breathes and uttereth these words I count all but Loss and Dung that I may win Christ and be found in him and Lord Jesus what wouldst thou have me to do Four things doth the Spirit of Christ attribute unto this least and Lowest Life of grace Which waving others I briefly propose 1. An Eye to Look unto Jesus Christ Even as the stung Israelites looked unto the Brazen Serpent Then he who was Blind was surely Dead And now he that seeth not Christ cannot be Alive If then a man had looked to Aaron or Moses or both that could not have saved his Life and now let a man have all possible respect to Ceremonial Law and Moral it cannot save his Soul 2. Feet to Come on unto Christ Even as the Manslayer came to the City of refuge his only place of Safety from the Avenger The least Grace hath Feet not to say Wings of desire to hasten to him when Christ saith Come unto me 3. Hands also to receive Christ Even as a starving man receives Bread a fainting man receives a Cordial a Beggar receives a Bag of Gold a Wanderer in the Wilderness receives a Guide a Blind man receives Eye-salve a Condemned man receives a Pardon a Leper receives a Cure 4. Ears also to Hear Christ Even as a Servant heareth his Master as a Child his Father as a Wife her Husband as a Subject his King as a ransomed Slave his Redeemer The Father that draws Souls unto Christ efficaciously commandeth all from the greatest to the very least to HEAR his Son In short The Gospel evidently declares that Graces as Stars do differ in glory All Stars be in the Heavens but are of various Magnitudes and Motions All Grace is from Heaven and carries toward Heaven but some doth extreamly differ from other in strength of Parts and in Acts. Yet of them that are so much as New-born or Spiritually Quickned and have Christ in the Lowest degree formed in them we are taught that all do Look unto Come unto Receive and Hear Jesus Christ as he is offered by God That is as Prophet Priest and King to give us the Sight the Pardon and the Cure of our Spiritual Diseases that we want I would be yet more plain and instructive unto the least Babes whose help I do most especially design And therefore conclude with this assertion There are twelve Steps that men take in Sin and in Grace in Evil and Good toward Hell and Heaven The least of Damned Sinners taketh them in Sin and the Least of Redeemed Saints taketh them in Grace He that taketh them in Sin however he be Painted he is a very Sepulchre he that taketh them in Grace howsoever he may be Defiled Blemished and Blackned he is unquestionably a Living Temple of God God dwelleth in him and he in God These Steps here follow in their Natural Order They are Strangers at home that ken 'em not 1. The First is the Admission of Suggestions Unregenerate Men admit the Suggestions of Sin and Satan and the World they brook and bear them as Eve did the Serpents But the Suggestions of the Holy Ghost and his Ministers concerning Repentance and Faith and Holiness they cannot bear but turn from them as from Offers to their Loss Even with Scorn if not Rage Regenerate Souls act quite contrarily They are impatient most times of sinful Motions and answer them as Joseph answered his Mistress with Detestation and hasty Flight And as for the Heavenly Motions foresaid they well Endure them give them audience and turn not away from them as from things stingy and biting 2. The Second is the Retention of Suggestions admitted Unregenerate Men hold their sinful ones in mind and talk with themselves concerning them in secret Places Regenerate men do likewise retain God and his Ministers Suggestions unto them And a great deal of Discourse they have with themselves about the same They commune with their Hearts upon their Beds while others sleep 3. The Third is the Approbation of Suggestions retained Unregenerate men do nextly smile upon their sinful ones inwardly saying this is an agreeable and a sweet Suggestion I would surely follow it if I could So sweet it is I cannot spit it out of my mind The Regenerate do in like sort favour and like well the holy Suggestions unto them made Saying in their Hearts Good is this Word of the Lord. O that we had Skill Zeal