Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A54122
|
A commentary upon the present condition of the kingdom and its melioration
|
Penn, William, 1644-1718.
|
1677
(1677)
|
Wing P1268; ESTC R32305
|
33,126
|
47
|
God they are Spiritually discerned where we may observe that Contrariety which Logicians call Contradictoriè opposita Our Saviour also very diligently seperats them ye cannot serve God and Mammon bidding us take no care What we shall Eat or What we shall Drink or What we shall Put on But bids us in opposition to these things seek First the Kingdom of Heaven and its Righteousness and all these things shall be added I might be large in Collecting to this purpose but let it suffice to observe That we cannot imagine the Scripture to be more express then it is supposing it had been in the Mind of the Law-giver to make us fully sensible of the Contrariety and Inconsistency of outward enjoyments with the Purity of a Christian life and had he not designed to Caution us diligently in this respect it were impossible there should be found such expressions in his Will revealed But here it must be noted that the opposition is not of that nature as that he that hath the Blessings of Wealth or Honour must presently throw them away but he Must throw them out of his mind thâ—t his heart and affections be not set upon them which may be obtained by earnest Prayer and doing some good to others with the Enjoyments we possess We must note farther that if there be a Divine Command for forsaking of them as in Abraham and the Apostles or what is Equivalent thereto as suffering the Will of God in times of Persecution they must be actually forsaken and thrown away Farther we must note as to our present designe that this opposition so far prevails as that it will be hardly or not at all possible for us to partake of this Heavenly Life and be true Disciples of Christ if we make it our designe and business to seek after and fill our selves with earthly enjoyments if we use them to the oppression of others to an unjust Dominion over our Brethren if they are made the chiefe thing in our aime sought with Care Deceit Flattery Lying Freeing c. If we prostitute all our Actions and Conscience it self for an empty Tittle and transient Revenue And Generally in the words of Solomon he that maketh haste to be Rich cannot be innocent So that then this Contrariety between Flesh and Spirit between Religion and the World is such as they exclude each other The man whose mind is taken up with Religion values not the World nor any thing therein he wants them not he desires them not he seeks them not The man whose mind is taken up with the Affairs of the World values not the things of Christ they are foolishness unto him Which thing also may be evinced by natural Light or Reason For we see men that are given to Vices run on without Deliberation or regard of any other thing to that immense degree after satisfaction in their Vices as not only to consume their Patrimony though a Princely Revenue but the Health of their Bodyes and even the World it self to be satisfied in their desires thus the desires of Drunkenness and Lust being infinite and never to be satisfied but rather irritated by the fulness of Enjoyment the desires tending vehemently to the fruition the fruition giving birth to new desires That if men were permitted to act in their full carier and prosecute these Vices without restraint of Divine and Humane Laws how soon would it run the World in Confusion and Ruine and yet not a stop put to these desires for they are Infinite Thus the Covetous man desires to gain more and more from others and inclose to himself all things till at length all things else if his desires be fulfilled must perish for want of subsistance So the Ambitious man will have all things subjected to himself and if the whole world be his Vassallage yet his desires carry him still to grasp more Power and Dominion as is reported of Alexander Thus we see Vice in its true nature tends to the destruction of all things and consists in an inordinateness of the mind whereby its desires are infinite and not to be satisfied The mind having forsaken God and set up it self in its place will thus have all things subservient to it and is carried forth infinitely to obtain this end And this inordinate mind and unlimited desiring and Lusting after that which it takes to is that Corruption which was brought in by Adam's Transgression which we call Oâ—iginal Sin which is no other then this inordinate mind forsaking God and lusting infinitely after its own fancies and devices Now to help lost man and free him from this Slavery of an inordinate mind was the business of the second Adam who came down from Heaven took our Nature upon him in the form of a Servant suffering upon the Cross that he might destroy the works of the Devil and establish an ordinate regular mind in those that believe in him That is the Divine Nature whereof he was partaker by his taking our Nature is communicated to all Men that believe which rescues them from this slavery of their inordinate mind and by virtue of which they subdue all those desires which were introduced by Adams transgression where we must take notice that we said Christ in the Divine Nature was united with our Nature and that by virtue of this Union it is communicated to all Men that believe in opposition to Adam whose transgression redounded to all by not believing or disobedience in which it must be farther noted That it being a Divine Nature united to Christians by Faith 1. It is no other than the third Person in the Trinity the holy Ghost which proceedeth from the Father and the Son because he operates this work in us Observe 2dly That we cannot do any good work of our selves for our Regeneration and new Life is this Union of the Divine Nature the holy Spirit in our hearts our good actions coming from the Principle of Life must also be from him who is that life Now we may see clearly what our Saviour says they that worship the Father shal worship him in Spirit and in Truth even in the Spirit which is communicated to all Flesh by the union of the Divine and humane Nature To speak all in a word Adams transgression lusting after the forbidden Fruit opened the dore to a lusting and inordinate mind in all his Posterity tending to subvert all things This was taken away by the word becoming Flesh uniting the Divine and humane Nature and thereby communicated to all men that believe that the Sons of Adam in the power thereof might become the Sons of God In the strength of this Divine Nature to them that ask it they are able to subdue those inordinate insatiable desires of the mind which are propagated from Adam to all Posterity Now we see what Religion is even an imploring the Gracious Spirit to subdue these Corruptions we were addicted to and a living in the exercise of this strength and power
entertain the Company with a studied Discourse of an hour long but rather all being partakers of and Regenerated into the Divine Nature as was said it will be necessary to act suitable thereto in all plainness and simplicity And further this being that Life from whence all a Christians actions flow let every one submit to the direction and guidance thereof and so whoever hath a word of Exhortation let the rest hear it as coming from the same Spirit which is given to all Let him that hath a mind to speak speak freely but humbly also and willing to forbear if it shall be signifyed to him This Paul calls Prophecying 1 Cor. 14.31 For they may all Prophecy one by one that all may learn and all may be comforted and the Spirits of the Prophets are subject to the Prophets As for the Minister or Bishop if this practice be mantained it may soon be decided who he is or ought to be even he whose Guifts whose Zeal whose Piety and wisdom shall be noted as chief amongst the rest and Honoured among them with general consent as deserving the first Rank Now if there be dissent in this regard the best way to avoid strife is to decide it by Lot According to what we have said his business will not be much in regard of study but in pains and labour in causing them often to meet together to exhort them earnestly and diligently to heal those that are fallen visit the sick comfort the weak take care for the poor instruct the Ignorant with many such duties which accompany this weighty Charge He earnestly endeavours to build up the Inward man â—nd is so far from admitting Ceremonies in Religion that he wisheth them far excluded from the civil practise of men There are but two appointed and those only necessary Baptism or washing with Water to shew our being cleansed by the Holy Ghost from Adams sin rendered pure from all Pollution and is the admission into this Holy Society The other is the Supper signifying to us and also conveying to us by Bread and Wine the fruit of our Lords being bruised for us and farther confirming and strengthning of us in his Power to resist all Corruption both which he will administer to such as understand what they do and are sincere in the doing thereof All that we have said may easily appear to be the Constitution of the Primitive Church They were so united in the Spirit of Love and Peace as to have all things common and to be a wonder to the Heathens who would say of them see how these Christians Love one another Likewise that every man had liberty to speak in the Congregation appears by what St. Paul saith of Prophesying also the Apostles as they removed from place to place took care to appoint such Pastors or Bishops in Church they were about to leave title to as being Pious Elderly and Zealous might thereby have the best take care of the rest and to serve them in that Office But when large Revenues came to be annexed to these Places he was the fittest man among many pretenders whom the Secular Authority did commend whether a Shepherd or a Wolfe 't was not regarded But thus much to shew what is truth in Religion and in its practise thereof which we are gone so far from as to be Ignorant of the notion but much more of the Actions agreeable to it But it si good to know it though we do not for the present embrace it yet to look whence we are fallen may be some means of amendment and to consider well thereof is the first step to it At least from hence it will appear very Just and Reasonable to remove those unnecessary Additions to cut off those superflous Branches those redundant Revenues of Clergy which tend to destroy Religion It will also appear that in proposing a Hundred Pounds a year to the Clergy I am so far from being beyond the mark that I am short of it and the danger is still more in the largeness of the Revenue then in the shortness of it But it will be said Ministers will not be satisfied therewith Neither will unreasonable men be satisfied with any thing Bishops were never yet satisfied with the Power and Revenues they had unjustly obtained but were continually Proling for more Their Grand Captain the Pope will not easily say it is enough Should his Greatness be more widely extravagant then it is In the mean time let the Magistrate take care to give such limits to their desires as may come nearest to the bounds of Truth and since they cannot govern themselves in the Fortunes they enjoy he shall do well to place them in such Fortunes as they shall have least opportunity to abuse such as may have a tendency to cause them to reflect and consider who they are and what they are set about Thus not only the necessiy of the Civil State require that the Lands of the Clergy be alienated but likewise the Truth of Religon does more pressingly urge it The best means to secure and establish which if any outward means will do it is to allow the Officers and Minâ—sters thereof such advanges from the World as that they prove not Temptations to draw them aside to a disregard of their Office to Pride Malice Covetousness c. And on the other hand may keep them from being burdensome to themselves by the straitness of their Fortune or to their Neighbours for Relief I have known a Minister his Wife and Children Maintained out of Thirty Pound a year with that Contentment to themselves and with such esteem amongst their Neighbours That though other Clergy men exceed him in Wealth yet he much exceeds them in the abundance of his Enjoyments if they are before him in Honour and large Possessions he is much before them in Happiness and Content which is the fulness that all things tend to administer For these men whilst they teach others are themselves yet to learn what it is to live Well and Happily it is not to have much or Great things which with their increase increase the desires of them and so there is no rest and consequently no satisfaction But it is to have a mind sufficient to it self and well governed making use of the present enjoyments without anxiety for the future and cutting off these restless desires in the bud which if prosecuted serve only for a snare and torment as Heathens have observed For a conclusion we shall propose these particulars 1. From what has been said it appears that Christian Religion is best upheld by small Revenues in the Ministers of it because its designe is to shake off all the outward things of this World 2. Thing that no Pomp or Ceremony no Altar no Surplice c. are required in the Christian Religion The reason is Religion being an Internal work and a change of the mind from outward things and inconsistant therewith To what purpose are these outward forms