Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A16317
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A discourse about the state of true happinesse deliuered in certaine sermons in Oxford, and at Pauls Crosse: by Robert Bolton.
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Bolton, Robert, 1572-1631.
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1611
(1611)
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STC 3228; ESTC S116180
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126,426
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181
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sanctification from the state of formality then words actions and all outwardnesse of cariage For in these many times is much cunning and enforcement artificiall and fained behauiours counterfeit and formall conueiances disguisements and hypocrisies They are liable to the lawes of men open and obuious to the eye and iudgement of all and therefore feare of punishment reproch and base reputation shame speech of the world hope of reward and rising desire of maintaining a good opinion for honesty and religion of holding some gainfull coherence with Gods children are of great power to restraine them and to keepe them within good compasse and moderation So that a mans words and actions may be faire ingenuous and honourable whose thoughts are base prophane and abominable But thoughts are the free immediâ—â—â— and inuisible productions of the heart neuer taken within the walke of humane iustice by their naturall secrecie exempted from mans most priuie search and all executions of State Their aberrations are onely censurable by the searcher of all hearts no eye pries into these secrets but that which is ten thousand times brighter then the Sunne And therefore millions of thoughts many thousand formes of imagination spring continually out of the harts of men which without feare or maske without restraint or reseruation doe vndissemblingly resemble and represent the true state and disposition of the heart So that from them we may be euer sure to take infallible notice whether the heart as yet onely worke naturally in framing them in it owne sinfull mould and feeding them with consent and delight or else be taught and guided by a supernaturall power to compose them according to the light of Gods word and holy motions of his sanctifying spirit Let vs then consider what deepe roote the word of God doth take and what speciall soueraignty it doth exercise in the thoughts of a sanctified man whereby hee is cleerely differenced from all states of vnregeneration euen that of formall hypocrisie which I place in a degree aboue ciuill honesty and in the highest perfection attainable by an vnregenerate man We will then for our present purpose conceiue these differences betwixt the child of God and the formall hypocrite in this point of thoughts First in respect of their nature forms maner of working Streames doe resemble and expresse the nature and propertie of those fountaines whence they spring so ordinarily thoughts and imaginations follow the temper and constitution of the heart wherein they are moulded I say ordinarily for as wee doe not passe our iudgements of the depth of a riuer or quality of the water when by suddennesse of inundation or incursion of neighbor brooks it is growne into a torrent and becomne muddie for a while so neither are we to censure or take measure of our thoughts by some vncouth motions and extraordinarie stirrings we somtimes feele in them but according to the ordinarie current and generall sway they commonly hold and exercise in our hearts For sometimes euen the vnregenerate may haue good purposes and inclinations towards sinceritie earnest longings for the happinesse of the Saints and the heauenlinesse of their latter end some flashes of comfort and perswasion though from false grounds that the spirituall state of their soule is safe and sound but such thoughts as these in such men spend their life in their birth as they rise so they glide and passe away without all fruit true comfort or profit to their owne soules On the otherside the calmnesse and serenitie of sanctified thoughts in a good Christian may sometimes be fouly disquieted and interrupted either by some sudden eruption of the relikes of our owne sinfull nature by violent inuasion of some enticing obiect from abroad or by the malicious and immediate iniections of Satan But because such thoughts as these oppose against the general and settled purpose of Gods child hee well knowes out of his spirituall wisdom and holy experience how to repell and bridle them how to repent of them and pray against them how to bee humbled and bettered by them in setting a stronger guard and more narrow watch ouer his heart for afterward left he be vnawares surprized the second time Sith therefore the heart of a notorious sinner is hardnesse it selfe for besides naturall obduration it is yet further and more fearefully hardned by a desperate extinguishment of those lesser sparkes of a generall inclination to ciuilâ— honesty by a long custome in a dissolute course by the contagious company of leaud and gracelesse companions by the curse of God vpon his wilfull continuance in sinne therefore I say his thoughts are all continually and resoluedly sinne and that in a high and horrible degree Wickednesse hath so enwoouen it selfe into his heart that within he is very corruption And whereas amongst all other comforts of life sleepe doth most sweetly feed and refresh nature yet the humour of sinning is farre more naturall vnto him and more dominant in his affections then desire of sleep For he cannot sleepe except hee hath done euill and his sleepe departeth except hee cause some to fall He imagineth mischiefe vpon his bed Psal. 36.4 When he is encompassed with the feares and darknes of the night an image and representation of his graue and of the horror of that great day when his mind is retired from worldly affaires the noise and tumult of men when it is most actiue powerfull and fitted for diuine contemplation euen then are his thoughts as blacke as hell and deepest in the works of darkenesse then is he plotting and contriuing mischiefe How to compasse his pleasures and accomplish the lusts of his heart where to crowne himselfe with fresh Rose-buds by what meanes to set forward the trade of drunkennesse and to enlarge the number of Satans reuellers that with more contentment and companie he may leaue some tokens of his pleasures and swaggering in euery place how to supplant his brother oppresse his neighbour grieue and disgrace Gods seruants indeed how to become an absolutâ— villaine vpon earth and the foulest fiend in hell You see what are the thoughts of the notorious sinners obdurate heart which is as full of hardnesse as the Moone of light and therefore inforced as it were to emptie and discharge it selfe of some stonines by transfusing an iron sinew into the necke and a brasen brow into the face Neither iudgement nor mercie will bend and encline him to grace no admonition or ministery of the word wil make him blush at his open and profest impietie So that his heart doth not onely greedily entertaine what leaudnesse doth ordinarilie spring from corruption of nature and is suggested by others but being past all sense both of shame and sinne becomes one of the diuels new inuentours and sets the thoughts busily on work for the deuice of strange villanies and mischiefs and for addition of new formes fashions and circumstances of sinning No better are the thoughts of the grosse hypocrite another kind
soules in the high point of saluation For men of greatest noblenes and pregnancie of spirit of most rich and vniuersall endowments of mind without the power of grace and a sanctified humilitie the fairest branch springing thence and the true crowne of Christianity are readiest to make an idoll of their great sufficiencie with a disdainefull preiudice to passe by the simplicitie of the Saints out of a flattering conceit of their owne hearts to thinke their spirituall state as good as the best and most blessed from God when as yet they haue no part in the first resurrection For when they find themselues far aboue others in all other excellencies and whatsoeuer remarkeable worth the world takes speciall notice of they conceiue also that in a proportionable congruitie as indeed it should be they are inferiour to none in those sacred apprehensions of heauen and taste of eternall life Vpon this consideration I was bold out of a Christian iealousie to treate on this argument being persuaded of their great wisedome and gratious humility to listen to any heauenly message which might either discouer or preuent spirituall danger Thine in Christ Iesus Robert Bolton A DISCOVRSE ABOVT THE STATE OF TRVE HAPPINESSE PSALM 1. 1 Blessed is the mâ—n that doth not walke in the counsell of the wicked nor stand in the way of sinners nor sit in the seat of the scornefull 2 But his delight is in the Law of the Lord and in his Law doth he meditate day and night THere is no greater encouragement or stronger motiue to stirre a man to an eager and earnest pursuite of the meanes then to purpose vnto him an end wherein at length his heart may repose as in a concurrence of all comforts and contentments To which there is no possibilitie of attainment but by purenesse of heart holinesse of life constancie in a course of sanctification which only leade vnto the face and presence of God where and with whom alone is the highest perfection of blisse a riuer of infinite pleasures the well of life and endlesse rest of all created desires For the capacitie of mans soule cannot possibly be filled with the sufficiencie of any creature no not with a world of creatures for they are all nothing to the worth of a mans soule Christ himselfe hauing preferred it in valuation What shall it profit a man though he should win the whole world if he lose his owne soule And therfore can neuer be free from motion and vexation vntill it reach vnto either in certaine hope or actuall fruition an obiect infinite as well in excellencie of nature as duration of time Blessed then was the wisdome of the disposer of these heauenly Songs of Dauid whether it was himselfe or Ezra or whomsoeuer in that he prefixed this excellent Psalme as a preface to all the rest wherein is proposed and comprised a matchlesse happines whereby the godly man may euen in this life flourisâ— like a Palme tree and grow like a Cedar in Lebanon refreshed continually with riuers of ioies and comforts shed into his heart by the spirit of God and may stand like mount Zion vnasâ—onished and vnremouâ—d at that great and fearefull day when the wicked shall call for the mountaines to couer them and wish they had neuer bin What ingenuous mind would not be inflamed with zeale to the prosequution of those meanes which leade vnto an end as full of happines as the Sunne is full of light and the Sea of waters What heart not possessed with an iron sâ—ew would not thirst and long after found and vndissembled sinceritie euen as the Hart brayeth after the riuers of water and as the drie ground gapeth for drops of raine sith by it alone wee purchase and put on an vnconquerable resolution issuing from an assurance of being in Christ and from the clearenesse of a good conscience whereby we may walke euen as bold as Lions thorow this valley of teares amid the mercilesle vexations of prophane men nay we may walke vpon the Lion and Aspe the young Lion and the Dragon we may tread vnder feet and hereafter be sure to be satisfied with the fulnesse of ioy in the presence of God and with pleasures at his right hand for euermore This happie man is here described vnto vs by many arguments First are laid downe his markes and properties negatiue and affirmatiue in the two first verses Secondly his happinesse is liuelily set out by a similitude in the third verse Illustrated by an opposition of the miserie and vnhappie condition of the wicked in the fourth and fifth verses Concluded with the causes of them both to wit of the happinesse of the godly and vengeance vpon the wicked in the last verse The negatiue properties in the first verse are three Hee doth not walke in the Counsell of the wicked He doth not stand in the way of sinners He doth not sit in the seat of the scornofull amplified with a threefold gradation in the persons actions and obiects of the actions The gradation in the persons the wicked sinners and scornefull implies all forts of vngodlie men The gradation in the actions walke stand and sit all manner of commerce and correspondence with them The gradation in the obiects the counsell way and feare all kind of iniquitie inward corruptions or outward impieties The whole verse laboureth with an emphaticall exaggeration to set downe hiâ— blessed forbearance of sinne and communicating with sinfull men The second verse containing his imploiment in pietie seemeth to answer in opposition the three negatiues with three affirmatiues His delighting in the Law of the Lord is opposed to the counsell of the wicked His mediation and exercise in that Law to the way of sinners Day and night there is his constancie and habit oppos'de to the seate of the scornefull Why then let the prophane and flattering world say what it will let sensuall and vnsanctified men iudge as they lift That man and that man alone is truly and euerlasting happie That walketh not in the counsell of the wicked that is that doth not delight in their vaine imaginations sinfull affections lustfull desires speculatiue wantonnesse In their proud and swelling thoughts which conceiue mischiefe and bring forth a lie chaffe bring forth stubble the wind and bring foorth the whirlewind That doth not partake with their impotent passions vnhallowed policies their exorbitant and indirect proiects for their pleasures honours and profits Whose soules desire not to come into the secret of their cruell consultations and malicious designments In a word whose heart hateth and abominateth all venome of inward pollution that hath either fountaine or seate in any power of the soule That standeth not in the way of sinners That is that breaketh not into open prophanenesse that imitateth not their actions and conuersation Whose mouth is not full of bitternesse and lying whose lippes aâ—e not infected with the poison of Aspes whose hands are not ful of bribes