Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	aaron_n	call_v	hear_v	18	3	5.0620	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A86450	The valley of vision, or A clear sight of sundry sacred truths. Delivered in twenty-one sermons; by that learned and reverend divine, Richard Holsvvorth, Dr. in Divinity, sometimes Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge, Master of Emanuel Colledge, and late preacher at Peters Poore in London. The particular titles and texts are set downe in the next leafe.	Holdsworth, Richard, 1590-1649.; Holdsworth, Richard, 1590-1649. Peoples happinesse.	1651 (1651)	Wing H2404; Thomason E631_1; ESTC R202438	355,440	597

religion is the Vinculum unionis which makes these mutuall interests intercurrent and couples them together it follows as the upshot of all That the chief and choicest part of Nationall happinesse consists in the puritie of God's worship in the enjoying of God's ordinances in the free passage of the Gospel that is in the truth and integritie of religion In this alone there are all sweets all beauties all blisses all glories It is as the ark of God to Israel and as the golden candlestick to the Churches the elevating principle which advanceth a Christian Nation above the heathen and the reformed Churches above other Christian Nations and this Iland in which we live I may say without arrogancie above all There is no Nation in the world which hath had the condition of religion so pure and prosperous as we for almost these hundred yeares It 's true if God calls us to account we cannot say that we have answered our opportunities we find not wherein to boast of our righteousnesse for vve are a sinfull people vvhose lives for the most part of us are as much vvorse as our means and professions better then in other places It is true also that of later yeares the love of religion in most hath grovvn cold and the puritie by some hath been stained and corrupted and I vvill not novv discusse vvhere the fault hath been the rather because it is every mans endeavour to remove it from himself Onely I will adde thus much That wheresoever the fault is there is no man hath shewed himself more forward to reform it then the King himself But Princes cannot alwayes attain their ends according to their liking because they see with other eyes and execute with other hands then their own And if we should cast the faults of men upon authoritie we should do wrong I fear to those who do not deserve it for even this very yeare notwithstanding the reformation of corruptions hath been with so much zeal and diligence endeavoured yet the end is not attained Nay in some respects it is so farre set back that to my understanding the state of religion hath never been worse since the first reformation then this present yeare in respect first of the greatnesse of our distractions which have divided us all one from another then of the multitude of sects and sectaries which cry indeed as the Jews before them Templum Domini but with a worse addition ut Templum Domini diruatur Lastly in respect of the many dishonours done to the service of God with so much scorn and scandall to religion that in forein parts they question whether all this time we had any No doubt all this is come upon us for our sinnes let us remove them and then God will blesse our studie of reformation But yet in the mean time let us remember that message which the good Bishop sent to Epiphanius Domine sol ad occasum descendit Our sun-shine is but yet declining it may come to set if we now begin to disgust this greatest blessing of religion which God hath bestowed upon us Let us learn to regard it more to love it better to blesse God for it and for his government who upholds it a Prince so devout and religious in his own person that if all were like him we should have a Kingdome of Saints In this respect we may use Velleius his words of his Majestie Cùm sit imperio Maximus exemplo Major est The lustre of his pietie surpasseth the lustre of his empire If therefore that of Synesius be true That men generally affect to write after the copies which are set by their Princes it behoves us all both to take out the lesson and to blesse God for the copie And moreover as this day puts us in mind let us all send up our most affectionate prayers that his Throne may be established by Righteousnesse his Crown exalted with Honour his Scepter be for power like Moses rod for flourishing like Aaron's that his happy reigne may in himself outlive us all and in his posteritie be perpetuated to all generations that succeeding ages may confesse Surely God hath been favourable unto this land and hath not dealt so with any Nation O how happy are the people that are in such a case Yea how happy are the people which have the Lord for their God! FINIS SERMON I. Hosea 14.2 Take with you words and turne to the Lord say unto him take away all iniquitie and receive us gratiously so will we render the calues of our lips THis Text is able to make a dumb man eloquent to set open the doore of utterance to the most illiterate tongue If there be any one among us that labours of Moses imperfection who confessed of himselfe that he was slow of Tongue and impotent for eloquence let him read this Text and it will teach him to speake If there be any among us that have put on Davids resolution to keepe silence even from good words let him read againe this Scripture only and he shall finde a way to the passage of Speech The Prophet here in this place takes on him the Office and function of a Schoole-Master having learned the Art of speaking the heavenly art of speech himselfe he labours to train up others to the knowledge of the same Art and I shal not think much to be his scholler at this time and to presse these words a little further then the Prophet intended them He gives them only as a rule of direction to the people how to pray to God but they may serve as a rule of direction to Ministers how to speak to the people and indeed if this go before the other will the better a great deale follow That you may with speed turne to God it becomes us to turne to you we must call upon you that you would please to call upon him wee must first open our mouthes to you that you would open yours before the Throne of grace And indeed I must needs confesse that I have been too long silent from this Theame of repentance considering what the times are Our dangers are great our carelesnes is as great no man goes about to labour to meet God I can hold no longer and when I look upon this Scripture methinkes I may take Elihu's speech into my mouth Behold I am full of matter and the Spirit within me constraineth me My belly is as new wine which hath no vent it is ready to burst like new bottles I will now speake and keepe silence no longer Me thinkes I heare the Prophet behind me calling upon me as Moses to Aaron Vp hast thee get thee to the congregation the plague is begun and they are all asleepe and there is no man that spreads his Armes and no man that lifts up his voyce to God Speake to them and speake to the purpose I speake home call upon them to Take to themselves words and to returne to the Lord and

hath given him a Spirit of Prayer In hearing of the word thankfullnesse must goe up as a Sacrifice that God hath given us his Ordinance if we look upon the Sun upon our Friends upon our lives looke any way before us behind us still there is occasion of thankfullnesse because Gods mercies are continued Thankfullnesse must not onely daily but howrely nay every minute it must be offered it hath that advantage of other Sacrifices We must offer praise when God preserves us and delivers us and feeds us and keeps us and cloaths us nay when he corrects us when we rise when we lie downe when we eat when we fast when we goe forth when we returne in every passage of our lives there is occasion of the Sacrifice of thankfullnesse that as they took in the oblation of Calves to all kind of Sacrifices so he would have them take thankfullnesse in every duty when they professed to turne to God in repentance when they prayed to God Take away iniquity and we will give thee the Calves of our lips that he might stir them up to offer the daily Sacrifice of praise So David makes it a daily and hourely Sacrifice Seaven times a day I will praise thee That is often on every occasion he would excite them to the practise of this duty This is the third reason So much of the phrase both the ground of it and the reason why the Prophet chose it But one word more briefly and that is of the connexion and then I have done with this Text and shall pick out some other suitable to the times and there lies a great deale of weight in the connexion Weake understandings will be too prone to wrest it So will we give thee Mark it Take away iniquity and receive us graciously so will we give the Calves of our lips That is forgive our sins remove thy judgements and then we will prayse thee Shall we think the Prophet taught them to condition with God if thou wilt take away our punishment then we will praise thee or else not I could recite some such Stories out of the blindnesse of Popery but because they are out of the Legend I think them not worthy the rehearsing of those that have cast their Images into the Water because they did not keep them from stormes shall we think that they doe condition with God No the pious heart brings his Sacrifice in his hand if thou wilt save me I will blesse thee if thou wilt not I will blesse thee though thou pardon not our sins we will blesse thee for the continuance of our lives what ever thou doest we will blesse thee That cannot be the meaning of it St. Austin presseth it well God forbid sayth he that a Christian should reason thus None of you would take it well at your Childrens or at your Wives hands to adhere to you in prosperity and leave you in adversity to say I will live with you in plenty but when plenty ceaseth then Farewell Sayth Austin well look thou wouldest be loved of thy Wife though there be no desert in thee though there be nothing to perswade her because of the conjugall bond and wouldest thou love God for any thing out of himselfe For by-respects Thou wouldest think much if thy Wife should love thee for by-respects and not for thy selfe and wilt not thou doe it for God It is like that phrase where Jacob seems to stipulate with God in the same nature If God will be with me and blesse me in my journey and give me bread to eat and cloaths to put on that I returne to my Fathers house in peace then God shall be my God Shall we thinke that Jacob so humble a man would contract with God to bring him home in safety and then he would serve him or else not No oft times the Hebrew Particle is onely a consequent not a condition and it is thus much after or when God hath brought me home I will serve him more conscionably and devoutly I will declare it to all the World and set up Altars to his praise then God shall be my God So here Take away iniquity and receive us graciously when thou hast done that then we will enlarge our hearts to powre out the Sacrifice of praise we will multiply thanksgivings we will doe it now yet though there be cause now then there will be more to doe it So three wayes it may be justified it hath respect to three things First as it hath respect to that that the People did so it justifies the connexion of the phrase They had sinned it hath respect to that phrase Take away iniquity and then we shall have cause that is not all but we shall have boldnesse and encouragement to praise thee As if they had said as long as sin presseth us and our iniquities stand in thy presence so long we cannot blesse thee thou wilt not accept the praise of sinfull lips therefore first remove our iniquities that we may give thee a pure Sacrifice of praise We dare not look up to Heaven now our sins are on us but receive us graciously and pardon our iniquities that we may bring thee a holy Sacrifice then it will be acceptable So it is justifiable that way as it hath respect to the work of sin So the Point is this He that will give a true Sacrifice to God must first lay aside his sins There is no oblation of thankfullnesse if sin be in the way Praise is not seemly out of the mouth of a sinner that is it is not acceptable it is a reproofe to him that offers it and a dishonour to him that should accept it It is not honour to God to take a Sacrifice from polluted lips those lips that he hath made for himselfe Therefore he hath made mans tongue his glory when we with one breath blasphemes that sacred name and then perfunctorily blesse him If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not heare my Prayers nor accept my praise In Psal 50. he expresseth himselfe so he brings in God reproving a Sinner that calls upon his name and doth not forsake his sins What hast thou to doe to take my name or my word into thy mouth since thou hatest to be reformed It is well observed of Origen when he was to make an Extempore Sermon to the people at Jerusalem that because he was an Eloquent man he would speake so he let his Book fall open to choose his Text and it opened upon this place What hast thou to doe to take my words into thy mouth his heart struck him because he had put incense to an Idoll and he sat downe and wept His heart struck him because he knew he was conscious of the sin O that our hearts would doe so we come to heare the word and to Preach and to sing to his praise and we bring our sins with us we make obstacles to the ascent of our Prayers by bringing our sins

unto the end of his race he obeyed to the death even to the death of the Crosse so we must not set up our staffe till we be at the end of all that God will bring us to and then when a man is tryed he is blessed and shall have the crowne of life These things put together let us see what it is to endure Tribulation So much for the first point the description of the Person to whom the promise is made the man that endureth temptation so much for this time SERMON II. James 1.12 13. Blessed is the man that indureth temptation for when 〈…〉 shall receive the Crow●● of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him THESE words I divided into foure particulars One of the person to whom the promise is made The man that endureth temptation The other of the reward that is assured to him Blessednesse and the Crowne of life The third it is the assurance of this reward the crown that is promised to them that love God And the last is the manner and the time of retribution he shall receive it when he is tryed And of the first of these I spake in the fore-noon and that is the description of the person to whom the promise is made And now I am to proceed unto the second branch that is of the reward or retribution it selfe it is in these words Blessed shall he be and he shall receive the crown of life They are the words that hover over the other the description of the person as the opening of the heavens did over Stephen when he was stoned Here is Stephens agonie the man that endures tribulation and then comes in his blessednesse the crowne of life as the opening of the heavens to encourage every Christian the better for the enduring the conflict It followes upon the first in a very good order for there is nothing that will stirre us up more to endure tribulation with patience and submission of spirit then the thought of the reward It is the resolution that every man propounds to himselfe in any undertaking whether it be of action or passion quid habebo what shall I have if I do or suffer These are the voyces of all men both good and bad worldly men and others Even Judas himselfe when he went about that evill work of betraying Christ he encouraged himself by this word what will you give mee and I will betray him to you Nay and the Disciples themselves in a matter of greater moment a thing that concerned heaven as the discourse doth that we are now about they propound it to our blessed Saviour S. Peter moves him with this Lord we have left all and followed thee what shall we receive And it was the custome of Princes when they they set about any great achievement or undertaking to encourage the undertakers to come to the worke they propounded wages and prizes and rewards that they might draw them to it Generalls when they goe to fight to encourage their Souldiers to fight they use to make promises of Donatives to make them more resolute and valiant The same course here the blessed Apostle Saint James takes in the description of the great work he was about As a heavenly cryer he was to make publication here of a great undertaking the enduring of tribulation and because hee would not misse of his ayme but encourage many to come to the cheerfull undertaking here propounded he propounds to them the greatnesse of the reward that he may allay the sharpnesse of the suffering He lends the poore man that is in tribulation here a staffe to rest on it is not only one staffe but two Blessednesse is the one and the Crowne of life is the other These are good props a thorne was in the first word the enduring of tribulation but here is that that recompenceth it here is a Crowne and Blessednesse in these other words that I am now to speak of It is not blessednesse deferred the Apostle in a great deale of wisdome begins with blessednesse he doth not name tribulation without blessednesse When blessednesse is named a man may safely name tribulation It takes in all what God will give blessednesse and what the man that endures temptation is to receive from Gods hand that we cannot apprehend the glory of the crown of life These are the two things The one of them is the generall description of the reward The other the particular The generall description of the reward in this word Blessed is the man It is blessednesse that is the sum of all comfort and the retribution that is promised to the enduring of Tribulation And what shall I now say to you of that It is the thing that is in all your hearts and in the hopes and aimes of every man more or lesse even by the light of nature Though it be in all our hearts it is not in our understandings Paul can resolve us for that whereas other things that are good are subject to the eye we must not looke to have it in this respect Eye hath not seene Of other things the comforts of Gods spirit we may tell how they are described in Scripture and you receive them by the eare but of blessednesse Celestiall no tongue of Angells can speake sufficiently Eare hath not heard it Yet the things that eare hath not heard it is possible for the heart to imagine we may indeed in representation but we cannot in the fullnesse It hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive How great that good is that is comprised in this small compendium Blessednesse take it thus There are two things acknowledged by all even by those that have little insight into it The first that Beatitude it is the highest and the greatest of all good things that can be expected that nothing can be imagined above this It is the fruition of God it is whatsoever is set forth to us in Scripture to make us understand that glory It is not onely summam but the most spacious it comprehends in it all good things whatsoever Beatitude is so great a good that as St. Austin observes every man would be partaker of Beatitude not onely the good but even bad men that will not conforme to the rules of piety that lead to blessednesse they would faine have blessednesse though they care not for piety And there is no man that heares me now that is never so much affrighted with the name of Tribulation but would be glad to imbrace blessednesse they love the end but not the way It must needs be a great good that all out of that small glimpse of light that they have yet with so much earnestnesse desire It is so great a good that it comprehends in it all good things whatsoever It is as St. Austin saith the accumulation of all good it must needs be the accumulation of all good because it is the reward of every good action if it be the

us nearer to Heaven to indeare us more to God to weane us more from the World to make us better to understand God and our selves fort he pollishment of those graces that God hath given us for the attaining of those graces that yet we want and for the perfecting of all For the pollishing of grace and refining it that is one end Were it so that we were all grace and all spirit there would be no triall then There are two conditions of mettalls in which there needs not any triall of the fire One is if it be all gold another is if it be all drosse If it be all gold it needs no purifying if it be all drosse it will not endure it it is not worthy the fire So it is with Christians were we in the World all gold or all drosse there would be no triall if we were all pure mettall all Gold Tribulation and trialls are superfluous in Heaven where the Saints enjoy happinesse and are all pure Gold there is no triall there there is no suffering all is Gold in Heaven On the other side were we all drosse that there were no spirit at all nothing of grace then there would not be the refining triall for chaffe and stubble and drosse are not purified by the fire but consumed annihillate and brought to nothing But since our estate is so as we are all in this condition of mortality that we are part Gold and part Clay Flesh as well as Spirit and there is a mixture of both thereupon for the purging away of the flesh and for the strengthening of the spirit that must be brought to the Touch-stone by the fierie triall of tribulation that the graces may be tryed and the drosse consumed and burnt up Therefore let this be the conclusion You that so much love the pleasures of the World that are so afraid to heare of any day of tribulation remember that he that hath called us to the Crowne hath called us to the Crosse and the first lesson that he reads to us is to take grace with all disadvantages Never look that God will give us grace but make sure of affliction He gives not grace for nothing would you have him give grace and not get the glory of it How should he get the glory of it but by tryall How should he have the glory of patience but for affliction Or the glory of thankfullnesse or of pure love but when his Servants love him most when his countenance is most clouded towards them Their love and thankfullnesse and obedience and patience when is it seene In tribulation Therefore as our blessed Saviour said concerning the Crosse that Christians when they are called must looke for They shall receive in this life an hundred fold with tribulation Be pleased to mark the place He that forsakes Father or Mother or House or Land shall receive an hundred fold in this life How That cannot be in temporalls it must be in spiritualls because one dram of grace is a hundred fold to the World and temporalls Shall we receive an hundred fold that is spirituall abundance What followes With tribulation with afflictions and tryalls If God give a hundred fold in spiritualls it is with tryalls No man puts Armour upon another but for fight the graces of the spirit are the Armour of Christians Take unto you the Armour of God VVhat The sheild of faith the Helmet of Salvation the Brest-plate of righteousnesse the Sword of the Spirit All grace is Armour if God put spirituall Armour on Christians they must looke for a combate when their Armour is on Grace is Armour we must look for the triall of it for the end of all tribulation is triall and the end of all grace that God gives Be content with grace upon any seeming disadvantage it will bring abundance of advantage after That is the first the thing supposed here When he is tried he must look to be tryed The end why God sends tribulations and temptations is for tryall that is the first The next is the thing here expounded or exprest and plainly set downe that is the time when he is tried then he shall receive The Apostle adds this to prevent a Question having made mention of that that makes all hearts leap after the fruition of it the Crowne of life If any man should ask as the Disciples did of Christ O Lord when shall these things be Blessed Apostle when shall this Crowne of life be For this Question it had beene a sufficient answer In due season you shall reape if you faint not In due season you shall have it the time shall come think it not long but that is too generall Then he drawes it downe more perticularly a little Would you know when I will tell you when tribulation is ended when the triall is fully taken when God hath sufficiently refined you and fitted you for Heaven and made you as he would have you to be when you are tried But tell us more perticularly when shall this be After one tribulation It may be not It is with many of us as Florus sayth of the Gaules at the first brunt they would be stout and play the men more then men at the second they would grow feeble So many Christians it may be will endure one course of tribulation and temptation and endure stou●ly but when they meet with another course that shakes them and makes them hang downe the head then they deject themselves Therefore we must not think to have it alway after one tribulation one tribulation is but a degree or preparative to another when God hath fitted us for one we must look for more When then at the second or third or fourth or more No the Apostle sets it indefinitly because he would not goe about to limit God the holy one of Israell you cannot tell whither at two or three or foure but in Gods best time when he thinks fittest when the triall is done when the triall is fully made So this word now it is a word simple here set downe but it stands for a defective word as the Scripture useth such words oft times When he is tried that is thus much when he is throughly tried when he is approvably tried The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when he hath endured tribulation so as to get Gods testimony and approbation When with Gods approbation he hath endured tribulation and is thus throughly tried then he shall receive the Crowne That is in briefe thus much then he shall receive the Crowne when he can say with our blessed Saviour I have done the work that thou gavest me to doe Father glorifie me with thine owne selfe then when he can say with St. Paul I have fought the good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth is laid up for me the Crowne of righteousnesse When a man is once come to this ●pshot he may look for the Crowne not till he have done his

is in graine that hath the true stamp if love be wanting and there is no grace that shall ever carry the Crowne where love is not St. Paul makes it cleare 1 Cor. 13. Knowledge faith Alms●deeds suffering afflictionss are all nothing without love Though I have all knowledge and all faith that I could remove Mountaines though I spake with the tongue of men and Angels though I should give my body to be burned and feed the poore with my goods and have not love all is nothing There is no grace if love be wanting that c●n have interest in the Crowne because there can be no truth of grace there can be no truth of faith no truth of obedience to God where love is wanting As all is wanting if love be wanting so ●very grace is present if love be present therefore in that the promise is made here to love it is made to all there is good reason of the variation That you may see the reason of it the Apostle St. Paul in 1 Cor. 2. when he quotes that place out of Isaiah 46. he varies the word being guided by the Spirit of God the word in Isaiah is Eye hath not seene nor ●are hath heard the things that God hath prepared for them that waite on him The Apostle quotes the place Eye hath not seene nor eare heard the things that God hath prepared for them that love him Implying that where there is love there is waiting where there is love there is all So though suffering be not mentioned suffering is there and every grace it is a larg expression Therefore that we may see it is large the number is varied there is an alteration of the number as well as of the grace He begins the Proposition in the Singular number Blessed is the man See the wisdome of the Apostle it should according to the tenure of the same number run thus He shall receive the Crowne of life which God hath promised to him that loves him No he varies the number and sayth That God hath promised to them that love him Least any that are not called to suffering should doubt of the Crowne they are blessed and shall receive the Crowne of life that suffer but God hath not called me to afflictions he sets a gap open of comfort for them here it is for them and for all that love him It is ordinary in Scripture to enlarge the promise Christ inlargeth the precept That which I say to one I say to all watch As he there inlargeth the precept so in another place he inlargeth the promise I pray not for these alone but for all that shall beleive in my name to the end of the World St. Paul follows it 2 Tim. 4. The Crowne of righteousnesse which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at that day I Paul shall have it but none else Yes not onely to me but to all that love him So St. James here varies in a heavenly straine he pronounceth Blessed is the man that endureth tribulation for when he is tried he shall receive the Crowne of life I he shall but none else yes not onely he but it is promised to all that love him It is no strait expression To draw all to a head you see the sum of it is thus much It sets downe the qualification of the person that shall be capable of the Crowne of glory here is the qualification he must be one that loves God It sets downe againe the qualification of that person that will stoutly and valiantly endure tribulations he must get abundance of the love of God in his heart If we suffer not if God lay it on us we shall never reigne and if we love not we will never suffer There is no promise of God but hath a qualification going along with it It is a great errour among us we are ready to catch at the promise but never to take notice of the qualification There is never a promise made but the person must be so and so qualified there is a condition goes along with the promise The condition is the qualification As if it be the promise of forgivenesse the qualification of the person is it is to those that are penitent that repent God never gave forgivenesse where there was not the work of repentance If it be the promise of Salvation there is the qualification of the person he must be a Beleiver faith comes in God never gives Salvation where he doth not first work faith to lay hold of it If it be the promise of glory there is a qualification too perseverance To those that continue in well doing there shall be glory and honour and immortality there shall be eternall life to them God never gave the Crowne of glory nor never will but where he gives the grace of perseverance to hold out here is the qualification If it be this Crowne that is here spoken of here is the qualification those that suffer tentation there is one those that love God there is the great qualification If therefore we look to have a true infallible interest in the promise let us look to get the propriety of the qualification If we be not persons qualified we have no interest in the promise Many men goe on in sin and still flatter themselves with hope in the promise presumptuous men talke of forgivenesse as familiarly as if it were written by the hand of God Impenitent men that forsake not sin talk of glory and Heaven and of inheriting the Crowne and hope for that it is a poore hope there is no qualification God never gave them a promise There can be no hope of Heaven where there is not a promise there can be no interest where there is not a promise God never gave a promise of forgivenesse to the impenitent to men that goe on in sin but that forsake them he never promised Heaven to the presumptuous man but to him that layes hold of it by faith If we will have interest in the promise we must get the qualification On the other side where there is this condition and qualification though our names be not written upon the promise yet the names of all that are so qualified are as good as written There is no promise but hath the names of all the persons that are so qualified graven on it not expresly but virtually If the promise be made to faith every beleiver is in that promise If it be a promise to repentance every penitents name is written there as if it were set there he hath an interest where there is a qualification there cannot be a missing of the promise Look for the qualification and for this qualification of love Those that love God It is true there are no limits or bounds set downe that is our great comfort it is not said those that love God much nor those that love God most but simply to those that love him to let us see that as much love shall have a

is a great help he will not profit by the word of God that calls not himselfe to account for his memory and his life and lays them according to the levell of the things he heares The world is full of imagination meditation is scarce it is a wonder to see how men weary themselves with imagination suffer their hearts to run after every vanity they think imagination is meditation when their hearts have wild roving thoughts sometimes sinful alway vain that is not meditation but vanity meditation is that act whereby the heart pours it self forth to God and is fixed on heavenly things and makes an impression of that heavenly act whatsoever it is upon upon it selfe by a reflexion of the soul upon it selfe in the exercise of those duties that are meditated Therefore if we will benefit by reading and hearing of the word let us oft times call our selves to account by meditation If we would be well acquainted with God conversant in heaven it must be done by meditation Meditation is that that makes the seede of the word take root in the heart that ●●gests and incorporates it and turns all to blood and spirits we can never profit and edifie by Sermons unlesse by meditation and rumination we chew the cudd after Admit it be but a weak Sermon that we hear some will say what should I meditate on that though it be a weake one there is matter still of meditation A man that hath love to another man will love every thing that belong to him if we have a love to the word of God there will be a love of all that belongs to it A love of that place where the Ordinances are handled a love of the time when the Ordinances are handled a love of the weake hand the earthen vessel that dispenseth it though through much infirmities and weakness Gregory Nazianzen observes of St. Bazile they loved him ●o much in his time they reverenced his vertues so much that they would imitate him in his infirmities it is true there are no infirmities or errours in the word of God to be loved there but if we have true love to the word of God we will imbrace it from an infirm hand though it be dispensed in a weake manner Always something may be gotten to edification and the application of it must be made by meditation it is that that is an excellent supply of privacy it is the sole companion of a retired heart A man addicted to meditation can leave earth and goe up to heaven and walk and converse with God with all the commandements of God he needs no booke he needs no teacher that can addict himselfe to meditation Meditation is that heavenly exercise that is the improvement of every grace if we would thrive in all we must addict our selves to it that was Davids order he was conversant in reading and hearing too but meditation is the act that he resolves on to improve both and as he would give God his outward man so he will his inward The testification of the outward man is in these words I will lift up my hands to thy commandements which I have loved And then because neither tongue nor hand nor feet nor eye can be acceptable to God without the heart the inward man he seconds his first resolution with another as I will lift up my hands to thy commandements so I will meditate in thy statutes THE Saints Progresse DELIVERED IN TVVO SERMONS BY That Learned reverend Divine RICHARD HOLSWORTH Doctor in Divinity somtimes Vice-Chancellour of Cambridge Master of Emmanuel Colledge and late Preacher at PETERS POORE in LONDON 2 Pet. 3.18 But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ LONDON Printed by M. Simmons in Alders-gate-streete 1650. SERMON I. PSAL. 84.7 They goe from strength to strength untill and every one of them appeare before God in Zion THEY goe from Company to company from Mansion to Mansion so some Translations read it as alluding to the solemn journeys of the Children of Israel to the Land of Promise Or to the annuall Travell of the Jews to appeare before God for the worship of his name in Jerusalem And if I should read the words so now to you it would be a faire and proper Lesson to us to learne that we are now in the state of Pilgrims We have here no abiding Citty As the Patriarchs of old we still look for a Countrey There is removing and Mansions and going from Countrey to Countrey It would very well fit my selfe too and be a good entrance to this new removing from Mansion to Mansion from Company to Company But I will not read the words so but take them as they are exprest in the Text From strength to strength So it is a short but an accurate modell of the spirituall growth of a Christian in this world from one degree of righteousnesse to another so breathing after perfection and it is a part of that excellent Psalme that the Prophet David made to let us understand the great comfort and benefit and priviledge that comes to us by our frequent repairing to the House of God One great priviledge is this that here it is that we get spirituall strength Here we not onely had our initiation to Christ and the first seeds of Piety sowne and the first Foundation laid but we get growth and goe on and make progresse in piety There are many excellent passages in the Psalme yet this is one of the most remarkable for there is somthing in it more then in the whole Psalme it selfe The Psalme it selfe is none of those that are called the Psalmes of degrees yet this is a Text or Verse of Degrees And those degrees are not such as relate to the steps of the materiall Tabernacle but shew the steps of our ascention the ascent that we make up to Heaven There are two passages in the Psalme that point at it One in Vers 5. In whose heart are thy wayes or as some read it thy ascentions the degrees of proficiency whereby Christians come to stature or great growth of piety are Gods ascentions Gods ascentions because they lead to him and ours because they carry us up to God Another place that points to these degrees or ascentions is in the Title of the Psalme it is one of those Psalmes that is ascribed To him that excelleth or to the End shewing that the onely way to excell is to hold out to the end and he that holds out to the end of all others will be the most excellent and both these are stamped and graved upon this Verse One part is to him that excelleth They grow from strength to strength Another part that is to the End Till every one appeare before God in Zion According to these two there are two parts There is the motion of Christianity And the rest The rest that is God in the last words Every one of them appeares before