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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heart_n	according_a	lord_n	soul_n	3,217	5	4.7786	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51814	Praise and adoration, or, A sermon on Trinity-Sunday before the University at Oxford, 1681 by Thomas Mannyngham ...	Manningham, Thomas, 1651?-1722.	1681 (1681)	Wing M496; ESTC R1851	10,969	30

PRAISE and ADORATION OR A SERMON ON TRINITY-SUNDAY BEFORE THE University at Oxford 1681. By THOMAS MANNYNGHAM M. A. late Fellow of New-Colledge Oxford LONDON Printed for William Crook at the Green Dragon without Temple-Barr PSALM 103. V. 1. Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his holy Name THere is an Habitual and also an Actual praising or Glorifying of God the first consists in a regular conformity of our Lives or the general course of our Actions to the holy Will and Commands of God But Actual Adoration which is to be the Subject of my Ensuing Discourse is it self a peculiar and solemn part of Divine Worship which does not only consist in an open recitation of Hymns and Spiritual Songs but also in a silent Exultation of our Faculties and a Religious warmth of Soul wrought by Heavenly Objects Now there are many Words and Phrases in holy Scripture especially in this Book of Psalms which are often us'd to express the same Duty of Blessing or praising the Lord And though they are promiscuously inserted as certainly they ought to be either in Popular or Poetick Writings yet are they many of them of peculiar limitation and significancy which being somewhat stated and explain'd may serve to establish a full and easie notion of what in my following Discourse I shall make more copious and less nice reflexions Wherefore our most humble and worthy Apprehensions our sincere devout resentments of the Divine Perfections are necessarily requir'd to constitute the Invisible Adoration of the Heart and Soul and Spirit which from its Vital and inward heat is continually displaying it self into great variety of External Evidences according to the diversity of those objects about which it is immediately conversant So that we may be said to praise the Lord when we declare his free and most excellent works of Mercy and Justice of Creation and Providence to Magnifie and Adore him when we set forth his incommunicable and Natural Excellencies such as his Omnipotence Immensity c. which joyntly consider'd with his Universal Dominion and Sovereignty over all Creatures may seem to signifie all that we mean by the Glorious Majesty of God We may be said to Bless the Lord by our wishes and words and being the good we wish is Extrinsick to his Nature and not yet obtained as that the whole World may be converted and fear his Name c. we must be sure to bless him with our endeavours too But chiefly this Blessing is effected by our most solemn Gratulations for seeing we cannot confer any real good on God we must continually express our joy and gladness for his actual possession of all possible perfection To worship him usually denotes a most humble posture of Body when we incline towards or prostrate our selves on that Dust out of which we were made We Glorifie God with our Mouths and accordingly the Psalmist calls his Tongue his Glory Awake thou my Glory Thanksgiving is an open profession and a hearty acknowledgment that we have received a Benefit most freely and without any merit of our own Adoration and Thanksgiving seem to differ in these respects we adore God for things that were acted long ago which concern not us any more than that they were the Effects of his Omnipotence as for all the Wonders done in the behalf of the Children of Israel Thanksgiving relates to those Benefits which either we immediately receive or whose effects are communicated to us Also we adore God for his Judgments and his Vengeance however displayed either on our Enemies or on our selves for which we are not properly said to return Thanksgivings because Adoration respects the Justice of the Action Thanksgivings the goodness of it These Words and Phrases being thus somewhat explain'd I shall make no scruple to use them again in their popular sense and freedom according as I shall find occasion for them in my farther amplifications on the Text which I will endeavour to handle in these three respects I. You may be pleas'd to consider the Necessity and Excellence of Praise and Adoration Bless the Lord O my Soul II. I shall endeavour to shew what are those Faculties and Capacities of the Soul whereby this Adoration is perform'd All that is within me III. I will point out some of those Benefits which will arise from a Worthy performance of the Duty Bless the Lord c. I. You may be pleas'd to consider the Necessity and Excellence of Praise and Adoration Bless the Lord O my Soul Prayers and Praises which bear the name of all that we can properly call Divine Worship are as well the Eternal Dictates of Nature as the most Sacred Commands of Revelation and if there may be allowed any remarkable precedency in these higher Duties of Natural and Reveal'd Religion Praise or Adoration seems justly to challenge that Prerogative for should not we first acknowledge our Being before we view and lament its imperfections should not we return our sacrifices of Gratitude for what we have already received before we implore the Divine Benignity for further accessions fresh supplies and new assistances Common Justice obliges us at all times first to look back and magnifie the Lord for our actual preservation before we presume to put up our Petitions for pardon and future security and it requires a Psalm of Thanksgiving that we are in a capacity to know our Wants to survey our Infirmities The meanness of our nature has indeed placed us below the possibility of making any Recompence and yet the indigency of our condition still calls upon us to make fresh acknowledgments and however imperfect these oblations are yet are they the only shew of real service we can render the only Image of Requital which our Creator has indulged us And as this Adoration is our indispensable Duty so 't is our Advantage and our glory too 't is not only the business of our Creation but the Excellency of it and we never appear in a more exalted State than when we Glorifie In the performance of this Duty we more eminently make good our Communion with Saints and Angels whilst with those blessed Spirits we constitute the same Choire and make one Universal Hallelujah Nothing surely can be more Just and Natural than to imploy our breath to the glory of him who gave it us nothing more profitable than to magnifie the Lord into greater Mercies to our selves Nothing more delightful than to be always full of glorious Conceptions always pouring forth the Language of Blessing and Affection Prayers are but the Mournful Draught and Table of our Misery the representation of our Ship-wreckt Nature Repentance has a gloomy side but Praise is Faiths and Reasons Triumph a bright unmixt immaculate Joy and only wants some few degrees of being all we can conceive of Heaven Therefore II. You may be pleas'd to consider what are those Faculties and Capacities of the Soul whereby this Duty is perform'd Now the powers of the

man seem'd more acquainted with God than Moses and no man seem'd more importunate to know him better I beseech thee shew me thy Glory Exod. 33.18 Similitudes and Metaphors in Religion are those Clouds of Incense wherewith at the same time we both enter and obscure the Sanctum Sanctorum We receive those sensible Representations and gracious Condescentions which God hath been pleas'd to make us of his own Nature and the other World in the same manner as the Disciples did the Discourses of our Saviour going to Emmaus we have not a full comprehension of what is thus Figur'd to us but yet we are religiously affected we have a spiritual Sensation of its unutterable import and our hearts burn within us The Strength and Vehemency of the Imagination will sometimes carry forth the Reason and Judgment to make new Discoveries 't will excite them to take such Circuits and Travels in the contemplation of Eternal Beings till the Soul is ready to swim and grow giddy and the speculation turns almost Apoplexy it will sometimes actuate the mind to a stretch and emanation beyond its present Order to a taste and immature anticipation of unproportion'd Knowledge And this does not proceed from the heat and elevation of contemplative and splenetick Heads but it is the sober attestation and examin'd experience of more fix'd and solid Brains It is reported of a Metaphysical Divine of our own Church that by a long assiduity of thinking and a constant ardour of Meditation he could sometimes refine and sublimate a Theorem to that degree till it became too nice even for his own examination when he had abated of that Temper in which he first fram'd it that when the intellectual fire was out and his Brain was sunk into its ordinary dimensions he could not justifie that speculation to his cooler review which he was certain had an exact conformity to his more rais'd Capacity However we need not fear any Illusion any Phanaticism from the innocent Excesses of the Fancy whilst they are only made the private Nourishment of an Holy Life whilst they only promote our Adorations not determine our Opinions whilst they only enter our Closet-Devotions not our Publick Services or Creeds It being also easie to distinguish by the concomitance or absence of Humility and Love when our minds are gently fill'd with Divine Images or when they are Enthusiastically possess'd with presumptuous Enquiries And thus the Imagination the meanest and most trivial faculty of the Humane Soul under a good management may be an admirable Instrument and incentive of Divine Praise and Adoration even as God Almighty thought fit to chuse the Rainbow that Circle of phantastic colours for the Symbole and Sacrament of his Beloved Attribute his Mercy 3ly We may be said to Praise the Lord with our Affections when our Adoration is perform'd with strong vehemency of Soul and intenseness of Spirit with the Unions of Love and Wonder and such-like Bright Affections as perfect and exalt our most spiritual Duties The Will is also comprehended in the Affections For as the Common Passions in their worst acceptation are the Deformities and Turbulencies of the Animal Nature so the Affections are only the fresher gales of Virtue the more enliven'd Acts of the Rational and Superiour Will and as the former raise commotions and irregularities in the Blood and Humours of the Body so these latter invigorate the Faculties of the Soul making them Heroical and Divine in their Emanations Now as the capacity of the Intellect is much larger than that of the Senses so the amplitude of the Will and Affections far surpasses that of the Understanding and therefore God has requir'd that our Desire and Love of him should be more perfect and complete than our Knowledge of him for we are bound to entertain his Perfections with the closest adhesion of Heart and Soul though we can apprehend them onely with a Partial and enigmatical Knowledge Let men therefore boast of their Mighty Reasonings their close Deductions their strong link'd Consequences and their elaborate Demonstrations in Religion when they have done all to justifie themselves in a cautious advance towards Heaven they will find that the Best Divinity consists in Love and Wonder and that there are such enlargements of the Soul arising from these Affections as none can signifie none can conceive but those who have lain under the Blessed Experience III. I will endeavour to point out some of those Benefits which will arise from a worthy performance of the Duty Now this Holy Exercise being worthily perform'd will exalt our Faith beyond the reach of Sophistry or Prophaneness 't will establish in us a permanent love to Goodness and a temper of antipathy to the contradictions and contumelies of Vice 't will convey our fervent Meditations to such safe and peaceful Heights till the false Beauties of the World make no Impression on us and its keenest Temptations are out-distanc't It will secure all the stages of an holy Life and reduce that Barbarous Warlike Stubborn and Malicious Religion which is now in Vogue to the truly Ancient Primitive Christianity to a cheerful and serene Principle of Meekness Humility constant Obedience and Universal Love When the Soul is made tender with this Heavenly Converse made apt to kindle at every representation of Divine Goodness to meet and embrace with every attribute how vile and loath some must the deformity of Sin needs appear The very Transports of Adoration whilst they continue upon us are a natural preservative against the Encroachments of Vice and when the Holy Agitation is ceas'd it commonly settles into a lively calm of lasting Gratitude and Love But to speak more particularly Praise and Adoration are actions perfective of those very Faculties which perform them For they give a Divine Brightness to our Reason free it from the illusions of Sence and Passion fix it on useful enquiries and in all its Discoveries make it serviceable to the Sanctuary for not onely Religious but even Natural objects may be contemplated and examin'd by the humble Adorer into Mysterious subjects of Devotion and Wonder The True Christian Philosopher even from his common observations in secular Learning will by a due Analysis of Meditation open to himself a delicious prospect of Heavenly Glories pursue every Motion and Effect to its first Cause and Author till he finds his Scale of Contemplation to look like Jacobs Ladder with Angels ascending and descending whilst the proud Enquiring Naturalist who sacrifices more to his Hypothesis than his God will reap nothing but Presumption and Contempt of Heaven from his Conversation even with the Divinest Objects He will call a True Miracle the Luxuriancy of Nature an Extraordinary Act of Providence onely the sudden eruption of a Natural though hidden Cause or at least he will debase these immediate Operations of the Almighty to some cheap piece of Motion and Mechanism that may serve to ease and pacifie his Wonder thus loosing the improvement of his