Selected quad for the lemma: honour_n
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A59607
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The true Christians test, or, A discovery of the love and lovers of the world by Samuel Shaw ...
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Shaw, Samuel, 1635-1696.
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1682
(1682)
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Wing S3045; ESTC R39531
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240,664
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418
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thou think without Blasphemy to commute with God If thou think by Penance to commute for true Conversion and Repen ance as men by money commute for Penance thou art in the worst sense Simoniacal and it will be said to thee Thy Penance perish with thee Lord Make me to feel the mighty power of Holy Religion upon my Soul subjecting it to thy Authority reconciling it to thy Will uniting it to thy Perfection and consorming it to thy Purity purging me from all secret Selfishness cleansing me from all Hypocrisie Unbelief Pride and Sacrilegious Conceits of my own Worthiness And then I will not fear whether in a Virgin or Conjugal state whether by the austerity of John or the freedom of Jesus to be accepted of thee and either wholly to escape or victoriously to prevail against the sins of the Flâ—sh MEDITAT IV. Of Quakers FRom these False Despisers of Pleasures I will now proceed to consider a generation of men that pretend to be mighty Lovers of God inasmuch as they reject and undervalue the Honours of the World For as the predominant love of honour will certainly denominate a man a Lover of the World so it seems that the just contempt of it should argue a Lover of God And here though there be many pretenders yet the People call'd Quakers seem to be the most famous species I beg their pardon that I call them Quakers which name they seem not to rellish well for I profess I do it not out of a way of reproach but merely for distinction sake I confess I do not know what the proprium quarto modo of a Quakâ—r is for he has many things common with other separates and with other men that are not separates so that I sahll not meddle with him under any consideration but this of undervaluing the World exprest either in words actions or fashions because he pretends more to this then any sort of men that I can think of and yet herein I will not judge him neither but in kindness put him upon judging of himself And I will digest my Meditations into this order First briefly lay down as far as I know the Quakers judgment and most general practice about this matter Secondly shew what Authority or Argument he brings for it Thirdly examine the strength of those Arguments and consider what Answers may be given to them And Lastly suggest some things whereby he may try his sincerity and spirituality in this matter I will willingly grant by way of Premise that Worldly Honour Respect and Applause are very dear and grateful to the Animal Life and Fleshly Mind so dear that he does prefer it before the approbation of God and the witness of a good Conscience I do grant that to love the praise of men more than the praise of God is a symptom of a Pharisaical and Hypocritical Person That all Honour in a Scripture sense is due to God and that all the glory of men is nothing but a reflection of Divine Glory That the proper honour consists in due estimation and reverence of mind and that the external expressions of it by words of gestures are less properly called Honour That it 's an Argument of a weak corrupt and carnal mind to honour those whom he knows to be unworthy of Honours to Bless those whom God abhors That it 's a great perfection to be mortified to the sense and expectation of Worldly Honour and Approbation and Applause and Respect of men and an excellent Christ like Attainment and Fortitude to be able rightly to bear contempt and in no degree to complain of unjust neglect And now I shall proceed to the first Head which I propound to my self in this Meditation viz. Which is the Quakers Judgement and most general Practice about this matter I think indeed they are not all agreed whether it be because some are less perfect then others or because some are more deluded then others I know not but yet their most receiv'd opinion is that they ought not to give honour to men And yet this they mostly limit to External Honour for I never met with any of them that seemed unwilling to be lov'd to be esteem'd well of and to be valued according to his Worth or Wealth either And so with them the bowing of the body in a way of Reverence looks like Idolatry the putting off the Hat is Superstitious the giving Titles of Honour is Carnal and so much as to thank the Fellow creature is at best vain and so are all Worldly Fashions in Apparel Complements in words Civil distinction and the like MEDITAT V. Of the Quakers Arguments FOR this serve kind of denying of Honours and Fashions of the World they alledge many plain Precepts and Noble Examples Neither will I dissemble there seems to be a great deal to be said for it They will tell you That as to this matter the great Moses was a Quaker as much as they when he refus'd to be call'd The Son of Pharaoh's Daughter preferr'd the Profession of a despis'd Religion with the professed Israelites before the worldly Honor of the Egyptian Court when he undervalued his own Reputation for a Prophet and would not ingross that Honor to himself but was desirous that all the Lord's People should share in it when he married an Ethiopian Woman at a time when he might have had Rich and Noble Matches and took so meekly the reproachful Reflections that his Brother and Sister had made upon him for his so great undervaluing of himself Of the same spirit was the Prophet Elijah who treated the King of Israel as like a Quaker as ever you heard 2 Kings 3. 12 14. What have I to do with thee Get thee to the Prophets of thy Father and of thy Mother And he swears and therein he seems to be less perfect than a Quaker As the Lord liveth Were it not that I regard the presence of the King of Judah I would not look at thee Somewhat like this freedom of Spirit and plainness of Speech void of Compliment and Courtly Respect of Persons may be found in the Story of all the Prophets almost from Samuel down to Malachi And lest this should be thought to be only an unpolish'd Old Testament Spirit they come as near to the Gospel Times as may be and quote the Baptist a greater than whom the Daughters of Men had not born whose plain and unfashionable Dress and Diet severe Conversation and uncomplimental Usage of all sorts of men even Herod the King and the Viperous Generation of the Formal Pharisees they fansie does much resemble and justifie the Evangelical Quaker They think they resemble him in his Looks and Doctrine and Life and say They would not stick to be Conformable to him in his Death too But if John seem also to have a little too much of the sowreness of the Law in him and so his Example should be rejected they hope the Author of the Gospel and his most intimate
his Friend How will he then leap in up to the Chin for him Such professors Christ may well upbraid in the words of Absalâ—m to Hushai Is this thy kindness to thy friend why went est thou not with thy friend It is very observable how faithful worldly men are to their worldly designs and Dalilahs What pains does the mammonist voluntarily take what diseases and dangers does the sensualist run upon what persecutions does the ambitious expose himself to These all take up their cross and follow their Dalilah At what a chargeable and costly rate do giddy opinionists maintain error and humor at the price of confiscation and imprisonment and banishment And will not the servants of Wrath be at as much charges for her Are the children of this World not only wiser but kinder than the children of Light Surely if we were the children of wisdom we should justify her stand for her to the last drop of sweat yea and of blood too I know no reason indeed nor revelation for the courting of persecution But inasmuch as it must be the lot of all that will be godly in one kind or degree or other it is good to get our minds possest with it prepar'd for it reconcil'd to it that when it comes we may not flye from the Serpent but take him by the tail and he will turn into a rod in our hand If there be any excellency in Righteousness any thing desirable in Blessedness then sure there is some good at least eventually in persecution for they are near akin Blessed are they that are persecuted for Righteousness sake Mat. 5. 10. MEDITAT LX. Of Honour in general and of Pride THe third of the things of the world are its Honours A predominant lover of Worldly Honor denominates a man a lover of the World and consequently void of the love of God See how our Saviour opposes Faith and Ambition making them inconsistent â—o 5. 44. How can ye believe that receive honour one of another There is an Honor which is not Worldly a Praise that is of God and not of man This renders men yea the meanest and obscurest of men honourable the excellent of the earth And to be ambitious of it is an agument of a truly heroick and exalted mind I mean to desire to be a Son or a Daughter of God An immoderate affectation of Worldly Honour is Pride And to prefer it before innocence to seek it glory in it maintain it rather than truth and a good conscience makes a lover of the World To have a right sense of ones own worth in any kind is not Pride but Justice It is no man perfection to be deceived nor his duty to think woâ—â—â— of himself than he is for then he must needs think falsly which is the infirmity af the understanding whose perfection it is to apprehend things as they are But there is less fear of this less danger in it than there is of an overweening To expect a just estimation is but just and modest enough nay sometimes laudable for it may be very serviceable and may make a man seviceable So that every man may well be allow'd to be tender of his reputation But yet patiently to bear disgrace and not to stomach a disappointment is generous and to go through bad report is Christ-like To require and exact a reverent behaviour from inferiours is just though oftentimes they that stand most severely upon it miss of it most respect being such a kind of thing as often flyes from him that follows it and follows him that flyes from it There are many objects of Pride such as Birth Wit and Learning and Standing Strength and Power and Victory Riches Interest a Party and the Propagation of it Children Beauty Priviledges Apparel yea even Vertuous Actions To glory in any of these unduly is Pride and denominates a lover of the World MEDITAT LXI Of the Honour of God and the way of seeking it GOds glorifying himself is not such a thing as vain mans seeking to make himself great by carnal means It is in short The raying forth of his own Perfections the displaying of Himself the communications of his own Goodness Mens glorifying of God is not a fancying or speaking much of the glory of God But it sustains a double notion The less proper notion is the exalting of the Name and Honour of God ascribing all good to him owning him as the Fountain of all So we glorifie him in the reverend thoughts that we have of him in making honourable mention of him dedicating things to his use and service In this Sense Atheisticalness and Unbelief are dishonours to God as also all taking his Name in vain swearing spending all upon our lusts c. The more proper notion is The displaying of his Perfections imitating his Goodness Justice Patience Mercy Charity acting suitably to what his Unimitable Perfections do require as submitting to his Soveraignty depending upon his Omnipotence behaving our selves sincerely in the sense of his Omniscience observing such Rules and Measures in all our Actions as make them agreable to his holy Will In a word our Saviour who best knew 〈◊〉 â—ho was so entirely devoted to it who came into the World on this very errand has more clearly and compendiously told us what it is Jo. 15. 8. Herein is my Father glorified if ye bring forth much Fruit. MEDITAT LXII Of Self-honouring MAn was not made for himself However common a thing it is it is low and base for Man to make himself his own end There is nothing more absurd or unreasonable than Pride nothing more excellent or honourable than Humility It is truly said Quo minus sibi arrogat homo eo evadit clarior et nobilior Man does most honour himself by debasing himself and so on the contrary And as there is nothing more absurd so there is nothing more dangerous It were Ten thousand times safer to stand in the fore-front of the hottest battail than that God should set him in battail aray against us and yet that is the import of that phrase He 〈◊〉 the proud There is Pride in unbelief and refusing the terms of the Gospel The wicked through the pride of his heart seeketh not after God Yea indeeed Pride seems to be the cause of all disobedience If ye will not hear says the Prophet My soul shall weep in secret places for your Pride To seek the advancement of our Names our own Credit and Estimation more than the Name of God is worldly Come see my zeal for the Lord said Captain Jehu There lies more Emphasis upon the word My than upon the Lord. How this should be pardonable in men I know not when it is no less than Treason in the Ambassador of a King Hezekiah fell into a Fit of this when he made ostentation of his Treasures and David when he numbred the People at both whom God was displeased But the one humbled himself for the pride of his heart