Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
soul_n	conversion_n	darkness_n	stupidity_n	105	3	17.5907	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A55567	A sanctuary for the tempted: being a discourse on Christ's friendly admonition to Peter Wherein the fall and rising of Peter, is at large considered: the craft, potency, and malice of Satan (that arch-enemy of our salvation) discovered: his various wiles. stratagems and machinations invalidated: several choice and excellent Gospel-truths handled, and cleared (from the calumnies and objections of gainsayers.) ... Delivered in sundry sermons, at first; and now, published for the benefit of God's church in general. To which is added, four sermons, preach'd upon sacramental occasions. By Thomas Powel, preacher of the Gospel, and one, whom Satan hath winnowed.	Powell, Thomas.	1679 (1679)	Wing P3075; ESTC R30536	152,491	435

for such whose Healths he has Preserved Soundness of Body is a great Mercy What is Life what is Riches what is Honour without Health These Things 't is granted in Conjunction with Health are Pleasing unto Man But Health not Enjoyed will render all the former things Unprofitable Now here God Does much for a Person with Respect to his Health Thirdly Estate Omni rerum copia affluet Once thou wast Poor not a Penny in thy Purse nor a Piece of Bread in thy Cubboard But now thy Case is changed from Worse to Better The Candle of Prosperity shines upon thee and an Flourishing Estate thou hast now about thee Here is God's Doing much for a Person with Respect to his Estate Fourthly God's Doing much for a Person is sometimes discover'd in a Man's Good Name being Bestowed and Preserved Once a Cloud of Infamy and Reproach was drawn over thy Name but now it is dissipated and scattered A Good Name is one of the Greatest Blessings upon Earth No Chain of Pearl doth so Adorn is this How many are there in the World that are still paring off the Credit of their Neighbours And they make thick Parings they sometimes pare off all that is Good nothing is left but the Core The Children of God are thus oft-times served It was David's Complaint Psal. 35. 11. They laid to my Charge Things which I knew not Surius the Iesuite reported of Luther That he learnt his Divinity of the Devil and that he died Drunk But Melancthon who wrote his Life affirms That he died in a most Holy Pious manner and made a most Excellent Prayer before his Death Has God now preserved or delivered thy Good Name from the Unmercifulness of others What is this but a doing much for thee with Respect to thy Name Fifthly and Lastly God has done much for those whom he hath Blessed in their Negotiations When thou didst first set forth in the World what Cares and Fears did distract thee lest thou shouldst not do well and so become Bankrupt But now contrary to thy Fears God has Prosper'd thee and a Brave Trade thou hast and Blessed thou art in thy Building Planting Journeying or what ever thou goest about The Honey-Comb of a Blessing shall be still dropping upon thee Thus much concerning God's Goodness with Respect to the less Noble Part of a Man viz. His Body SECT III. I now come to consider in what Sense God may be said to do much for a Person 's Soul which is the most Noble Part of him The Body is but a Shadow the Soul is the Substance The Body is but a Shell the Soul is the Kernel The Body is but a Cabinet the Soul is the Jewel The Soul is the Man of the Man The Soul of Plato is Plato But to proceed to the Point in Hand viz. How God may be said to do much for our Souls see made forth as followeth SECT IV. God can never be said in a strict Sense to do much for the Soul of a Man till such time he Converts it to Himself So that it will not be out of the way to Enquire a little into the Nature of True Conversion But this would be too large a Field for me to enter in and therefore I shall only touch briefly upon it SECT V. True Conversion consists in a Change upon the Inward and Outward Man 1. In a Change upon the Inward Man which I shall only insist on First The Understanding is turned from Darkness unto Light Horrible Ignorance of God and the Things of Salvation covers the Soul of every Man as Darkness upon the Face of the Deep Unconverted Persons are therefore called Darkness in the very Abstract Ephes. 5. 8. and that because of their Original Acquired and Judicial Blindness which their Minds are possest with All the World is said to sit in Darkness From whence may be gathered That by Nature we are desperately Ignorant about God and the Things of God Which made our Saviour to say to Peter upon his Confession Flesh and Blood had not Revealed these Things unto him In the State of Integrity our Minds were furnished with all Glorious Perfections and Abilities as the Firmament with Stars There was Sapience in respect of God Science in respect of all Natural Things to be known and Prudence in respect of all Things to be done But since the Fall Man has received such a Bruise in his Understanding as that unless God Recovers it it will remain for ever Irrecoverable Therefore the first Thing that God doth in order to Conversion is to set up a Light in the Soul and take off that Vail of Darkness which has over-spread it So that God does much for the Soul in helping of the Understanding and doing much for it Secondly Our Memories are in part by Conversion Cured Oh! the Sinful Weakness Barrenness and Pollution of our Memories How Te●…acious is it with Respect to Evil But How Fallacious is it with Respect to Good Why is it that many can better Remember a Piece of News than a Line of Scripture That little Children can better Remember Obscene Songs and Ballads than the Principles of Religion or a Good Sermon The Memory by Nature is like a Sieve that lets the Corn and Weighty Grain fall through but the Light Refused Stuff that it Retains Thus what is Solid and would do thy Soul Good that quickly passeth away Hence it is that many of our Hearers are so Unprofitable as they are They forget the Good Sermons they Hear and go from Church no more better'd than the Stones in the Wall But now where God intends to do much for the Soul he then does help the Memory and Cures it in part of its Weakness Pollution and Unfaithfulness The Memory will then Retain all manner of Good something of Good in every Thing or at leastwise it will be better in Remembring Spiritual Things than Carnal Things If not all the Sermon part of the Sermon the Soul can now carry away with her Yea and she can tell what Sermon among divers so many Years past at such a Time in such a Place and by such a Person did her good So that a Wonderful Change is here pass'd upon the Memory to the just Admiration of the Free-Grace of God Thirdly Where True Conversion is a Change is also on the Will of Man that Great Faculty which will either be the Chair of Lust or Throne of Grace We may say of it what the Prophet did of the Figs Those which were Good were very Good and that were Bad were very Bad. The Will in Innocency was Regular It did Eccho to God's Will But since the Fall though it retains its Freedom in Moral Actions yet as to Spiritual it is depraved If the Will could cease from Sinning saith Bernhard there would be no Hell Since the Fall the Will is not only Impotent but Obstinate Acts 7. 51. Ye have alwayes Resisted the

Holy-Ghost But now when God proceedeth in the Work of Conversion he doth in part also Cure the Will of its Depravity which consisteth in its Crookedness Perversness and Stubbornness Before it was Inflexible but now it is made Flexible And our Noble Faculties as Understanding and Memory do not so much depend upon the Power of the Will for their Actings though we shall not have till we are in Heaven such an Universal Dominion over all the Powers of our Soul So that they may Act what Time and what Measure we please Yet it is most certain that when we are New Born we then learn to Deny our Wills So that our Affections shall be no more subject to it with respect to their Rise Progress and Degree And thus God is said to do much for the Soul when he doth much for the Will Fourthly True Conversion consisteth in a Change upon the Affections For that these Affections by the Fall are Polluted is evidently and palpably manifested in the Dominion and Tyranny they have over the Intellectual Part of Man When the Iudgment should Govern the Affections the Affections do the Iudgment A Man doth now for the most part Reason Believe and Will according to his Affections and Passions Aristotle observed this when he said Prout quisque Affectus est ita Iudicat As every Man is Affected so he Judgeth They are Unruly and Irregular in their Motions and Risings in their Progress and Degrees and the Objects that for the most part they Center in But now when God proceeedeth in the Work of Conversion then these Affections shall be Restrained Held-in and Ordered Love and Hatred shall keep to their right Centers and move towards their proper Objects To Love nothing but Good to Hate nothing but Evil. Fifthly and Lastly Here is a Change on Conscience Now Conscience is a Part of Understanding in the Reasonable Creatures determining of their Particular Actions with or against them Now that this as well as the other Faculties of the Soul without a Change is Polluted appears in its Blindness and so it of-times misguides In its Senslesness and Stupidity though Lusts as so many Thieves come to steal the Soul away yet this Dog doth not so much as give one Bark Sometimes Conscience Accuseth and Excuseth falsly But now when God proceedeth in the Work of Conversion then This in the first Place is awakened and stirr'd up to do its Office It will then deal plainly even with the Greatest and will tell them their own without Flattery and Trace them in all their Actions and Haunt them where soever they go And thus I have shewed when God may be said to do much for our Souls viz. When he Converts them unto Himself And wherein this Conversion consists has been shewed viz. God's Working upon and Changing and Renewing the Five Faculties of the Soul viz. Understanding Memory Will Affections and Conscience CHAP. XXIII I now come to shew What it is that those whom God has done much for should be in doing for others Now questionless every Man especially such a Man whom God has ●…one much for ought to Resemble him which is that also God justly requires and expects VVherefore Has God done much for thy Body in the Sense above VVritten But that thou shouldst do much for the Bodies of others also Has God done much for thy Soul in the Sense above VVritten Do thou also much for the Soul of others answering according to the endeavors what God has done for thy Soul Or has God done much for both viz. Body and Soul Then do thou endeavour to do Good both to the Bodies and Souls of others which probably may be Comprehended in these following Sections SECT I. First Do much for others in point of Instruction and Reprehension A Solemn and Great Work if Piously performed Much Pains should be taken in the Instruction of one another Nay we should be often Admonishing and Reproving too if occasion be The Converted need our Instruction the Unconverted need our Reproofs David tells God what shall follow upon the Ioys of Salvation being Restored to him Psal. 51. 13. Then will I Teach Transgressors thy Wayes and Sinners shall be Converted unto thee You and I should have Instructed one another Have we done it You and I should have Reproved one another Have we done it In the Scriptures we find the Saints Reproving one another Moses Reproving Aaron Exod. 32. 21. Nathan Reproing David 2 Sam. 11. Paul Reproving Peter Gal. 2. 11. Sometimes you shall hear Cursing and Swearing in your Presence Sometimes you shall behold Covetousness Pride Passion Anger and Uncomliness Here now are Opportunities of doing Service for God of Appearing and Witnessing for him against these Vices Therefore do not say I am loath or I am afraid to speak it will be ill taken I shall do no Good by Testifying or I shall be accounted a busie Body Away with all these Petty Objections and attend to Duty leaving the Issue and Event to God only beg Wisdom which is profitable to Direct If we would not partake of the Sins of others we must then fall upon Reproving-Work Ephes. 5. 11. And have no Fellowship with the Unfruitful Works of Darkness but rather Reprove them As there is a Holy Silence under God's Correction Aaron held his Peace So there is a Sinful Silence under Man's Corruption For Eli held his Peace also Aaron's Silence was a Good Silence but Elie's Silence was a Naughty Silence SECT II. Secondly Do much for others in leaving Patterns that may Survive you and Live when you are Dead I mean Live Exemplarily as Paul Phil. 3. 17. Brethren saith he be Followers together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an Ensample This great Apostle denied himself to make himself an Example to others Take heed of Scandals and Visible Infirmities which discourageth many to take up with Religion Examples are very Prevalent In ●…ramque partem Either one way or other either for Good or Evil Oh! That the Professors of this Age who are most Defective herein would but be perswaded to live Lives for Posterity Live Holy therefore that others imitating your Holiness may be Holy also But How little Convincing Converting and Edifying are the Lives of most now a-dayes Not considering that their Examples one Day shall have a Resurrection as well as their Bodies Ah! How few are those that are Writing Copies for Posterity to Write after And VVhere now a-dayes is Singularity of Life Have not such Reason to question Whether the Root of the Matter is in them For though Good Works Justifies us not before God yet they Justify us before Men and they are necessary for the Manifestation of our Faith and the Glory of Christ our Redeemer Methinks I cannot speak enough of such a Subject as this is which is of very great Moment viz. The Transmission of Patterns to Posterity But I must conclude this