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spirit_n afraid_a dwell_v zion_n 25 3 9.0021 4 false
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ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A59893 Sermons preach'd upon several occasions some of which were never before printed / by W. Sherlock. Sherlock, William, 1641?-1707. 1700 (1700) Wing S3364; ESTC R29357 211,709 562

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are the Foundations of all Religion and as certain as any thing in Religion all other Arguments without this belief cannot support us and there are no Sufferings too great for a man to bear who is throughly possessed with a firm belief and vigorous sense of these Can we our selves or the kindest ●…riend in the World chuse better for ●…s than God Do we suspect his Wisdom or his Goodness Can he mistake our Condition who knows our Frame Can he be wanting in his care of us or in good will to us who made us What is it we desire but to be happy and if God intends our happiness in his severest Corrections why should we complain Religion teaches us that the care of our Souls is of much greater concernment to us than bodily Ease or Pleasure and if God sees Pain and Sickness Poverty and Disgrace necessary to cure or restrain our vicious and distempered Passions or to improve and exercise our Graces have we any reason to complain that God takes such severe methods to save our Souls Had we rather be miserable for ever than suffer some present want and pain The Soul is the best part of Man and to take care of a man is to improve his better Part and this is the Design of God's Providence towards particular men to train them up to Virtue by such methods of Kindness or Severity as he sees them want This I confess may be very grievous and afflicting at present but then we have the hopes of Immortal Life to support us and can that man be miserable can he sink under present Sufferings who has the hope of Immortal Life as the Anchor of the Soul both sure and stedfast To believe that all things at present are intended for our good and shall work together for our good if we love God and that when we have out-rid the Storms of this World by Faith and Patience and Hope These light afflictions which are but for a moment shall work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory This if any thing will make all the Sufferings of this Life easie if natural Courage or natural Reason fail the Spirit of a man supported by Religion will sustain his Infirmity Thirdly Let us now consider what is meant by a wounded Spirit This is a metaphorical Expression and signifies a Spirit which suffers pain and trouble A wound in the Body is a Division of one part from another which is always painful and though a Spirit cannot be thus divided yet because a Wound causes Pain a Spirit which is disordered and suffers pain is said to be wounded As for instance Some mens Spirits are wounded with the disorders and violence of their own Passions they love or hope or fear or desire or grieve immoderately and all Passions are very painful when they are in excess Upon this account the Wicked are said to be like a troubled sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt there is no peace saith my God to the wicked Other mens Spirits are wounded with a sense of Guilt their own Consciences reproach and shame them and threaten the Vengeance of God against them they have gratified their Lust or Revenge their Ambition or Covetousness and dreamt of nothing but ease and pleasure the Temptation was very charming as it came towards them but now the heat and impetus is allay'd and the enjoyment over they can't review what they have done without horror their affrighted Consciences draw the most amazing scenes of Judgment and paint their Fancies with all the blackest Images of Terror The Sinners of Sion are afraid fear hath surpriz'd the Hypocrites Who shall dwell with devouring fire who shall dwell with everlasting burnings 4thly This is the wounded Spirit and such a wounded Spirit who can bear This is Matter of Sense and therefore for the Proof of it we must appeal to the Sense of Mankind and there is no danger in this Appeal for though some Men may scorn to confess what they feel yet if all Mens Minds be of a make we can feel in our selves what other Men feel And then we all know that Anger when it grows immoderate and encreases into Rage and Fury worries the Mind and sharpens it self into such a keeness as cuts deep into our own Souls that an immoderate love of Riches or Honours or Pleasures creates us infinite Trouble torments with an impatient Thirst with restless and uneasy Expectations distracts us between Hopes and Fears kills with Delays and Disappointments and there are but few Men who can long dissemble their inward pain and uneasiness but confess it in their Looks and Words and Behaviour by external and visible Symptoms of Frenzy and Distraction And yet all this is nothing to the Agonies of a guilty Mind as any Man ●…ust confess who knows what it is to ●…e Self-condemned and to live under ●…he Apprehensions of God's Wrath and ●…he terrible Expectations of endless Torments for with what Courage and Patience can any Man bear such a Thought as this That he must be miserable for ever Some Men may laugh away the Thoughts of Hell but it is certain that no Man who believes in good earnest that there is a Hell and that he himself is in the most apparent danger of falling into it can bear this Thought The many sad Examples of despairing Sinners who at the last moment groan out their Souls in Agonies and Horrors are an undeniable Proof of this Men who do not believe a Hell may laugh at it till they feel it but for experiments sake let them only suppose that there were a Hell and that Hell were to be their Portion and then let them tell me how they can bear such a Thought This is sufficient to satisfy us how unsupportable a wounded Spirit is but to give us a deeper and more lasting Sense of it I shall further observe that a wounded Spirit has no refuge or retreat has nothing left to support it self with The Spirit of a Man can bear his Infirmities but when the Spirit it self is wounded there is nothing to support that this wounds our Courage our Reason makes all external Comforts tastless and deprives us of all the Comforts of Religion For 1st What Courage can any Man have against Himself against the Wounds and Disorders of his own Mind Courage is nothing else but a firmness of Mind to govern its own Resentments and Passions to suffer Pain and Reproach and other Evils without immoderate Grief and to encounter dangers without an amazing fear but when the Mind it self is oppressed with Grief and Fears and Cares the Disease which Courage should prevent has already seized the Spirits Courage fortifies us against external Evils to keep them at a distance from wounding our Spirits but the Disorders of our own Passions are inward Wounds which we must feel and languish under When our own Consciences reproach chide and threaten us the good Opinion and