Selected quad for the lemma: glory_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
glory_n	face_n	moses_n	shine_v	2,681	5	9.0852	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A52435	A sermon preach'd before the University of Oxford at St. Peters Church in the East on Mid-Lent Sunday, March 29, 1685 by John Norris ...	Norris, John, 1657-1711.	1685 (1685)	Wing N1269; ESTC R3053	13,751	36

we may not go beyond it First That we may proceed so far It has been taught by some of the severe Masters of Spiritual Mortification That we ought to take up the most low and abject thoughts of our selves that are possible to be conscious of no manner of excellency in our selves and consequently not to be affected with the least Self-complacency That we ought to account our selves to be Nothing to have nothing to be worth nothing but to be very refuse and off-scouring of all things And this they call the Mystical Death or the Spiritual Annihilation Now whatever degrees of excellency this may have which I shall not now dispute 't is most certain it can have nothing of Duty For tho it may and oftentimes is required of a man to think the Truth yet he can never be under an Obligation to be mistaken Besides 'T is hard to conceive how any man especially one that dwels much with himself and heedfully reflects upon the actings of his own mind should be master of any considerable excellency and yet not be conscious of it And besides That very degree of Attention which is required that a man should not think himself more accomplish'd than indeed he is will also infallibly hinder him from thinking he is less 'T is true indeed Moses knew not that his Face shone after he had been conversing with God on the Mount He saw not the Orb of glory that stream'd from him and wondred what it was that made him so dreadful to the people But 't is not so with the Soul whose reflexive faculty will not fail to give her information of her most retir'd and reserv'd accomplishments 'T is not with the Lesser as with the Greater World where whole Tracts and Regions and those some of the best too ly undiscover'd No Man cannot be such a Stranger to his own Perfections such an America to himself For who can know the things of a man if not the Spirit of man which is in him And accordingly we find that the Ignorance of our selves with which Mankind has been hitherto so universally tax'd runs quite in another Chanel and does not consist in overlooking any of those indowments which we have but in assuming to our selves those which we have not I confess were it possible I should think it adviseable for some persons to be ignorant of some of their excellencies and like the Sun not to reflect home to their own Sphere of light Not that I think in the least unlawful to be fully conscious of ones own worth but only I consider that some men have not heads strong enough to indure Heights and walk upon Spires and Pinnacles But if they can stand there without growing vertiginous they need not question the lawfulness of the station they are still within the Region of Humility For 't is not every thinking well of ones self that falls in with the notion of Pride but only when there is more of Opinion than there is of Worth 'T was this that was the Condemnation of the Apostate Angel not that he took a just complacency in the eminency of his Station but that he vainly arrogated to himself what was not his due in that he said I will ascend into Heaven I will exalt my throne above the Stars of God I will sit upon the sides of the North I will ascend above the heights of the Clouds I will be like the most High 'T was for this that the Angel of Death drew upon Herod not because he was pleas'd with the fineness and success of his Oratory but because he was not so just to God as the People were to him but lookt upon himself as the Head-fountain of his own perfections and so gave not God the glory But now if we take care to proportion our estimation of and our Complacencies in our selves to the measure of our endowments and if we look upon those very endowments not as originary and independent but as derivative from the Father of lights from whom every good and perfect gift descends and accordingly refer all to Gods glory and with the Elders in the Revelations take off our Crowns from our Heads and cast them at the foot of the Throne we have not only the express words of the Text but likewise all the reason in the world to warrant the Sobriety of our Opinions For this is but to have a right and exact understanding of ones self And why may not a man be allow'd to take a true Estimate of himself as well as of another man Or why should a man think an excellency less valuable because 't is in himself The Happiness of God consists in seeing himself as he is he reflects upon the Beauty of his Essence and rejoyces with an infinite Complacency Now certainly that wherein consists the Happiness of the Creator cannot be a Sin in the Creature Besides I would fain know why a man may not as lawfully think well of himself upon the Score of his real worth as desire that others should think well of him for the same reason And that he may do the latter is confess'd as well by the Practice as by the common Suffrage of Mankind For otherwise what becomes of that good Reputation which Solomon says is rather to be chosen than great Riches and of which the Best and Wisest men of all ages had ever such a tender such a passionate Regard Nay 't is look't upon as a very Commendable thing to be so affected and the contrary is censured as the mark of a dissolute and unmoraliz'd temper Only there is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be observ'd in this as well as in the former and as we are not to stretch out our selves beyond our measure so must we take care with the great Apostle not to give others occasion to think of us above that which they see us to be Besides if we may not be allow'd to take the full Height of our own Excellencies how shall we be able to give God thanks for them The Elders must know they wear Crowns before they can use them as Instruments of Adoration and Herod must be conscious of the right Genius of his Oratory before he can give God the Glory Again in the last place if a man may not have leave to take Cognisance of his own Deserts and to value himself accordingly what will become of that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which the Apostle speaks of the answer of a good Conscience towards God which is nothing else but a Sentence of Approbation which a man passes upon himself for the well managing of that Talent of Liberty which God has entrusted him with Now this is the Reward of Vertue and therefore certainly not contrary to it Neither is this Self-esteem only the Reward of Vertue but also the Cause of it too and consequently 't is not only allowable but also highly needful