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A61115
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The spirituall vvarfare a sermon preched in the parish church of St. Michael Crookedland in London : on the 30 of March being a fast day / by Mr. John Spencer sometime groom to a nobleman.
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Spencer, John, Groom.
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1642
(1642)
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Wing S4955; ESTC R19817
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15,816
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16
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sins if any of these prevail they take away your lives and you are undone for ever First you must encounter with your own righteousnesse Every man hath a righteousnesse of his own which he thinks shall lead him to heaven he is ready to say whoever perisheth he shall be saved for he fasts and prays and sighs and grones Paul boasted of this but when he comes to be a souldier of Jesus Christ Philip 3. 8. he counts all then as losse and dung he would have nothing to do with it Beloved you must not look to be saved by your own righteousnesse not according to our own works but of his free grace hath he saved us If you should come to heaven gates with your bundle of prayers and tears and sighs and grones yet you should not have entrance never look to come thither for the sake of these This you must encounter with and overcome if you would be a souldier of Jesus Christ Secondly you must encounter with your own unworthinesse I may say of this as was said of Saul and David 1 Sam. 18. 7. the former hath kild his ten thousands and this his thousands Take heed of conceits of your own unworthines this may keep you out of heaven aswell as the former If once you begin to think you have out-sinned Gods love and that there is no pardon and remission for you then will you grow into despair and be ready to say Lord there is mercie for others but none for me forgivenesse for others but none for me repentance for others but none for me and then you will grow negligent you will not care for holy duties Why should I hear read pray any more God will accept of nothing that I can do Oh take heed you must encounter with your own unworthinesse Thirdly you must encounter with your own gifts and abilities How many thousand souls are undone by those gifts parts the Lord bestoweth upon them God many times gives a man'a gift not for himself but for others now he thinks it may be that the Lord bestowed this gift upon him for the good of his own particular person when it is onely for the benefit of others Take heed of high thoughts I am sure God hath not dealt with all as he hath with me This is that which will sink your soul to the bottomlesse pit of hell therefore labour to encounter with your own unworthinesse Fourthly and lastly which is the main you must encounter with all your sins Here is a hard heart it must be broken or else it will break thee all to peeces Here is an unbeleeving an ignorant heart that seeth no glory no excellencie in Jesus Christ this ignorant heart must be enlightned Here is a defiled heart which must be purged and washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus If you would but look into your own hearts there you should finde abundance of work to do surely thou wouldest not then say as some I cannot tell how to spend my time Is not there a proud heart to be humbled a dark soul to be enlightened is there no spots to be gotten out Look well about you Beloved you will finde you had no time indeed though you had many score of yeers given you to purge your souls from that drosse filth and corruption which lyeth upon them Thirdly you are to encounter with the world and there are four things in it which destroyeth three parts of the men of it the pleasures the profits the honours the afflictions of it these stand in the way as so many armed men If the pleasures catch thee not it is a thousand to one but the riches doth if the riches doth not it is a thousand to one but the honours doth if the honours doth not it is a thousand to one but afflictions do of these I could give you divers instances What a long time did Demas walk with Paul yet at length he forsaketh him turns to the world either to the pleasures or riches or honours of it so of Ammon and Haman therefore look to it that the pleasures and profits of the world withdraw you not Know this for certain that the Lord hath condemned the world already and you may expect the execution of it every day The day is coming when you shall have new heavens new earth wherein dwelleth righteousnesse you shall enjoy things in another way then now you do therefore set not your hearts upon things below for all these must decay Fourthly you are to encounter with all the enemies of God and know this that the enemies of God are very subtle they are mighty in strength there is multitudes of them they are not poor ones but rich ones they are not in low but in high places yet you must encounter with them all and if they get the upper hand you are gone for ever but if you get the day then are ye thrice happy You may see in Rev. 12. the dragon and his angels makes war with the Church of God they put out all their strength and policie against Christ his ordinances his people There is Gods honour and glory at stake which you must vindicate you must have the ordinances in their glory whatever it may cost you Happily you must lose your estates your lives your liberties before you enjoy them yet you must hold on still conquering and to conquer Now beloved you will finde it a hard peece of work to encounter with these enemies of God for his ordinances Sacraments Sabbaths c. if they get the upper hand you lose your selves and are not the souldiers of Jesus Christ Fifthly and lastly because we would hasten to that which more particularly concerns us we must encounter with the devil himself 1 Pet. 5. 8. He goes about like a roaring Lyon seeking whom he may devoure Three things considerable there 1. his diligence 2. his power and strength 3. his cruelty He goes about where can you be but he will be with you to trouble you with variety of temptations There is his diligence Then he roareth like a Lyon there is his strength he would fain make you his pray Seeking whom he may devoure there is his malice and cruelty he desires nothing but your bloud These are the enemies you are to encounter withall I shall come now in the next place to shew you the weapons you must use in this spirituall warfare The first weapon is a holy and godly life Ephes. 6. This is the weapon that all the Saints of God have used in all their combates in all their fights David in Psal. 119. O Lord save me for I have kept thy precepts I cleave to thy statutes confound me not Beloved you must have a holy and godly life if ever you think to encounter with God your selves or the world Beloved if any of you were to encounter with enemies what kinde of souldiers would you take with you the lame the blinde the deaf Beloved you must be purged and
THE Spirituall VVarfare A SERMON PREACHED In the Parish Church of St. Michael Crookedlane in LONDON on the 30 of March being a Fast day BY Mr. JOHN SPENCER Sometime Groom to a Nobleman 2 TIMOTHY 2. 3. Thou therefore endure hardnesse as a good souldier of Jesus Christ LONDON Printed in the year 1642. Mr. SPENCERS SERMON 2 TIMOTHY 2. 3. Thou therefore endure hardnesse as a good souldier of Jesus Christ YOu shall finde that in the three first Verses of this Chapter I have read unto you the Apostle laboureth to exhort Timothy to three particular duties The first is That he would be strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ The second is That whatever God had communicated to him he would make known to faithfull men that might be able to teach also The third is in the Text read unto you That he would endure hardnesse as a good souldier of Jesus Christ In the Text you have an Exhortation with the quanty of the Exhortation The Exhortation to endure hardnesse The quality of the Exhortation as a good souldier of Jesus Christ Beloved there is in the Text three things considerable The first is this That the very best of Gods people must look for afflictions if Timothy if Paul if David they must not look to be free from afflictions Thou therefore endure hardnesse c. The second thing in the Verse is this That it is the minde and will of our God that his people should mildely and patiently bear afflictions Thou therefore endure hardnesse as a good souldier c. The third and last is this which we shall chiefly insist upon That all Gods people are Christs souldiers For the prosecution of the Point we shall first prove it to you Secondly we shall shew you who they must encounter with Thirdly what the weapons are which they are to use Fourthly how they are to fight that they may overcome Fifthly and lastly we shall make Use and Application For the proof of the Point I say That all Gods people are Christs souldiers that they are so cast your eyes on Ephes. 6. 13. and other particular verses Paul exhorts them to put on the whole armour of God that they may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand Beloved surely God intends his people should fight as you shall hear by and by therefore to prepare them to the battle the Lord would have them with all speed to put on their armour and be ready well the weapons they must put on must be Gods weapons yea all Gods weapons Put on the whole armour of God Rev. 12. 7. There was a great battle in heaven Michael and his angels fought against the Dragon and his angels Beloved I hope you do not think that there is any tumults and wars in in heaven no but this is the meaning the Church of God upon earth is still fighting against the devil his angels Here you must look for fights if ever you would come to heaven So in 2 Tim. 4. 7. saith Paul I have fought a good fight I have finished my course henceforth is laid up for me a crown of life So 1 Cor. 15. 32. he tels us He fought with beasts at Ephesus he was a souldier all his dayes so soon as ever he came to be inlightned he took up the weapons of Jesus Christ and was resolved to dye in his cause So we come to the next particular who they be that Gods people should fight withall they must not be idle and lazy for they are souldiers First they are to encounter with God 2. with themselves 3. with the world 4. with all wicked men and 5. with the devil himself Beloved you see here is enemies as well as friends to fight withall and all these you must overcome or else you shall never enter into the kingdom of God First of all you must encounter with God himself and that for three things first for the making good of all his promises secondly you must encounter with God for his gracious presence and thirdly for the gracious discovery of himself in the face of his Son First you must encounter with God for the making good of all his promises Beloved the Lord hath made rich and glorious promises in his Word that is a garden full of sweet and rich flowers he hath made particular promises to you in particular to his Church in generall you are to wrestle with God for the making good of all his promises and not to give over your suit till he hath made Jerusalem a praise in the whole earth The Lord hath told you Rom. 6. Sin shall not have dominion over you Ezek. 11. 19. That he will put a new spirit within his people and pour out floods of waters upon the the thirsty grounds He hath said Rev. 18. 21. that Babylon shall fall and told us The day shall come when the Moon shall shine as the Sun seven times brighter in its glory You are Gods souldiers and must encounter with Jesus Christ for the making of these promises You must be Gods Remembrancers put God in minde and say Lord thou hast made such a promise that my heart which is dark shall be enlightened my eyes which are shut up shall be opened and that thou wilt pluck down the proud enemies from their seats and set up the humble and meek Lord when wilt thou perform them Secondly you must encounter with God for his gracious presence Beloved Moses knew well enough what the presence of God was therefore desired Exod. 23. If the presence of God went not along with him that he might not go Thus must you encounter with God when you come before him in such a day as this you must say Lord what shall I do with this hard heart this ignorant this unbeleeving heart of mine Lord if thou shouldst pluck away my wife my husband my childe my friend I shall not know what to do but Lord however thou dealest with me vouchsafe me thy gracious presence Happily I may live friendlesse hopelesse be cast into darknesse where I shall see no light Lord let me have thy presence where ever I go if he goeth not with you for to preach to pray to hear what will ye do He is the light of your eyes the joy of your souls the strength of your hearts Thus must you encounter with God for his gracious presence Thirdly you must encounter with the Lord for the glorious discovery of himself in the face to his Son Ephes. 3. 14. This was that Paul bowed his knee for that the Lord would reveal to his people the glorious mysteries of Jesus Christ Thus must you importune the God of heaven for the glorious discovery of himself in the face of his Son Secondly you are to encounter with your selves 1. You must encounter with all your own righteousnesse 2. with all your own unworthines 3. with all your parts and abilities and 4. with all your