Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A41543
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A fair prospect shewing clearly the difference between things that are seen & things that are not seen, in a sermon preached at the funeral of the Honourable Lady Judith Barrington at Knebworth in Hertfordshire / by Tho. Goodwin ...
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Goodwin, Thomas, d. 1658.
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1658
(1658)
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Wing G1270B; ESTC R40911
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26,888
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78
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innumerable company of Angels and Spirits of Just men made perfect or with Cain and Pharaoh and Judas with the Divel and his Angels and Legions of unclean Spirits 't is said Acts 1. 25. of Judas at his death he went to his own place Brethren as sure as you have all places of abode here on earth which you call your own homes so shall every one of us have either in heaven or hell a home that shall be our own place In this world neither the wicked nor the Righteous are in their own places here for the most part the wicked and the ungodly have got the upper places the Children of God sit lower-most Dives sits at his table feasting and Lazarus lies at his Gate begging Beltshazars place here is a throne of Majesty and righteous Daniel a prison and a Den of Lions But it shall be quite otherwise when all by death enter into their own proper places in Eternity The worst places in the world are too good for sinners and the best in heaven are prepared for Saints who in Christ are blessed with all Spiritual blessings in heavenly places Me thinks this should be a very affecting meditation O my Soule where wilt thou be when thou art gone to thy own place when thou art removed from hence and shalt have left Husband and Wife and Children Neighbours and Friends and all these things that are seen where will thy abiding place be Where must I spend my Eternity which can indeed never be spent certainly if men would but use all diligence as the Apostle sayes they might come to know where their Eternal mansion shall be every man in this world may be said to chuse his own place in the world to come Joshua 24. 15. Chuse you sayes Joshuah to the Israelites whom you will serve but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord Psa. 119. 173. I have chosen thy precepts sayes David he that chuses Christ for his Lord and King to be ruled by his word to be Sanctified and guided by his Spirit he consequently chuses heaven for his future habitation But you that here refuse to serve the Lord that will not let Jesus Christ reigne over you you that chuse your lusts for your Lords and walke after the flesh as a servant after his Master you that chuse Mammon for your Master and the world for your portion you turn your back upon heaven and run head-long to destruction you make a Covenant with death and an agreement with hell That there shall be your habitation what a gnawing worme will this be in the Consciences of wicked men for ever in hell to consider This is a place of our own chusing here is the same Company we chose for our acquaintance on earth we cared not for Communion with Saints nor fellowship with God on earth here we are sentenced to an everlasting separation from them we are justly miserable being made so by our own choice and consent volenti non fit injuria O Israel thou hast destroyed thy self Lastly proceed a little farther in thy meditations concerning Eternity what provision and preparation hast thou made for Eternity The fool in the Gospel applauded himself in this that he had much goods laid up for many years but nothing was laid up for Eternity hast thou been any wiser Faelix quem faciunt c. hath his woful Example item'd thee into more Carefulness what art thou provided with for thy long home in Eternity It is a commonly known true saying Ex hoc momento aeternitas The great weight of Eternity hangs upon this small wire of time time hath an influence on Eternity a few drops of bloud will discolour a great quantity of water the well or ill-spending of this moment of time will colour the great sea of Eternity into a white of happinesse or blacke of misery Thinke seriously of it Christians every action word or thought of thine will make thy Eternity better or worse My houres preaching and your hearing at this time will adde either to both our eternal happiness or to both our eternal miseries All that we now do will rebound againe upon us in Eternity As when we put a lump of Sugar into a cup of wine or water it falls presently to the bottome out of sight but there it dissolves and diffuseth it selfe over the whole cup and may be tasted in every parcel of it thus do all our actions sinke as it were out of sight and out of memory into the bottom of Eternity there they operate and effect either our happiness or misery which will be felt and tasted by us throughout all Eternity Every wound which thou now givest thy Soule by sinne kept never so secret now will then fall on bleeding openly and smarting Eternally O what miserable abused Soules will then be to be seen most cruelly hackt and hewen with sin all over full of bruises and putrified sores every good action and holy duty will then be seen blossoming forth Peace and Joy and Consolation Consider that place of the Apostle Gal. 6. 7 8. Be not deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap for he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting Every man is a sower his actions are his seed this life is his seed-time Eternity is his harvest his reaping-time The husbandman that sowes oates does not expect to reap wheate his crop depends upon his seed Sirs Whatever you do now is but sowing to Eternity when you are hearing and praying you are sowing when buying and selling you are sowing when you are swearing and lying you are sowing and all these several sorts of seeds will certainly come up in Eternity doest thou ravel out thy time in vanity and sensuality and sin and yet look to be happy Eternally This is to sow thy field with oates or tare and to look for a crop of wheate If thy seed be sin thy crop will certainly be misery O! what an encouragement should this be to Saints to be fruitful and abundant in good duties in Praying Fasting Repenting for sin c. Although no present difference appears between him that prayes and pray not The good husbands â—aâ—d that is well sown yields at pâ—eseâ—â— no more profit then the slâ—ggaâ—ds that is unsown and over 〈◊〉 with thiâ—â—les and nettles the Husbandman wâ—itâ— until the time of 〈◊〉 â—omes You Harvest â—s 〈◊〉 then you 〈◊〉 have been â—owing to the 〈◊〉 shall reap life 〈…〉 Be abundan◠〈…〉 of the Lord For 〈…〉 rally shall reap liberally and he that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly And because all will rise again in Eternity â—o what you do accurately As that famous Painter Zeuxes being asked why he was so accurate in drawing all his pieces answered Pingo Aeternitati I Paint for Eternity You Pray and Hear and
that are seen are but temporal be improved to the Comfort of Believers I 'l onely adde one use more which shall be of exhortation from the latter part of the Doctrine That the things which are not seen are Eternal There are Christians you hear things eternal and you to whom I am speaking of these things are all of you such as must live eternally amongst things Eternal The Continuances of your beings here among things seen may be different from each other some may be longer others shorter but in the world to come however in kind your beings may differ infinitely as farre as heaven and hell yet in duration they will all agree to be Eternal Many of us live as if they had never heard of things Eternal most as if they did not believe any such things and truly even the best of us do not improve as we ought the knowledg of things Eternal Now my exhortation to you all is that you would seriously Consider and meditare on those things Eternal I will direct my exhortation of you to three particulars for your Meditation 1. Meditate seriously on Eternity it selfe which is the Interminable Infinite endlesse duration of a being Eternity makes good things infinitely good and evil things infinitely evil The happiness of the Saints in heaven and the misery of the damned in hell have both of them a vast Circumference but the very Center of both is this one thing Eternity The Crowns of Glorified Saints and the Chains of tormented Sinners are both made so weighty by this inclining of Eternity The mind of man is a vessel too narrow indeed to form or contain a meditation which may bear any proportion to Eternity yet some Devout men have well improved their meditation to helpe to affect us with the thoughts of Eternity One discoursing of the Eternal sufferings of the damned in hell thus represents them if sayes he the whole world from the lowest bottome of the earth to the highest top of heaven were filled with small grains of sand as close as they could possibly lye together and every thousandth year an Angel should come and fetch away one of them untill the whole heap were spent if then the prison door of hell might be set open and the damned set at Liberty it would be jowful News to them yet those years although innumerable are nothing to Eternity Another thus if God should make this Motion to the damned that every thousandth year they should shed one single tear all which should be kept together untill they amounted to the quantity of a great Ocean and then with this sea of their tears he would quench the fire of hell and their torments should be at an end there would sayes he be great joy in hell at this merciful motion but the weight of Eternity in their sufferings presseth them down every day lower and lower with inconceivable unsupportable misery O Eternity My Brethren if you could make your thoughts but stick to it if you would every day task them to some solemn meditations of it if you would breath them every day by walking up this high hill Eternity and there be taking a prospect of things that are not seen you would find it exceeding healthful to your soules I would commend it to you as a {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Physick to cure all soul-diseases and distempers If I were asked what were good to make a proud man humble Let him meditate seriously on Eternity what will make a vain man serious a covetous worldling heavenly minded a loose liver strict and precise a wicked man good and a good man better and better let them all daily seriously thinke on Eternity Your hearts it is likely will be very averse from the practise of this duty as a foul stomâ—ck nauseaâ—es all Physick but you that tender the health of your soules enâ—orce it down let it be part of thy daily Spiritual dyet some warme draughts some serious thoughts of Eternity Many excellent advantages and benefits might be shewn you would follow from this duty This would make Jesus Christ sweet and precious indeed to you that have obtained him whether you look on Eternal good things or eternal evil things he being a Sun by which are communicated to you all eternal good things and a shield by which you are defended from all Eternal evil things And you that are yet out of Christ how anxious and industrious would this make you to obtain him In this life thou canst make a shift without Christ thou art well provided against the evils of this life and well furnisht with the good things of it Many friends thou hast who profess themselves thine till death but Christ can only make good to a Soul Thine eternally This would keep your hearts in awe of sinne for fear of after claps and after-reckonings in Eternity This would put you upon exact and circumspect walking This would make you like and chuse the wayes of holiness I have read of a Profane loose witty Gentleman being seriously asked what he thought of the severe strict life of Religious men and what of the voluptuous ungodly debauch'd courses of such as himself he answer'd Cum istis mallem vivere cum illis mallem mori I had rather live with these but I would be glad to dye with those said he as Balaam let me die the death of the righteous Serious frequent meditations of Eternal things would make you willing to live with them as well as to die with them to fast and pray and sowe in teares with them on earth as well as to feast and triumph and reap in joy with them in heaven This would make you less earthly and more heavenly minded this would make you chuse suffering before sinning the reproaches of Egypt before the pleasures and honours of Pharaohs court This would make Christs yoke easie because of Eternal pleasures and sins yoke heavy because of Eternal wrath this would make you fight the good fight of faith valiantly and hold out to the end without fainting in hopes to obtaine that incorruptible Crown of Eternal Glory Having meditated on Eternity in General let thy next step be to consider thy Eternal things in particular Having set before thy thoughts Eternal joyes and eternal torments eternal happiness and eternal misery a Heaven Eternal and an hel eternal O my soul which of these Eternals will be thine for temporals thou art well enough thy lot is fallen into a good ground thou art well situated well accommodated with Wealth Honours Houses Lands Friends Relations but these are thy temporals thy Moment anea What are thy Eternals this world is but thy Inne where must thy home be in Heaven or in hell I do but sojourn here where must I dwell and abide where will my Eternal mansion be who must be my Eternal Companions God and his Saints or the Devil and his Angels must I dwell with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob with the