Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	apostle_n	church_n	holy_a	6,886	5	5.0568	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42042	Concio ad clerum, or, A visitation sermon preached at Great Wycomb within the diocess of Lincoln, May 13, 1673 by Francis Gregory ...	Gregory, Francis, 1625?-1707.	1673 (1673)	Wing G1887; ESTC R37406	16,889	24

CONCIO AD CLERVM OR A VISITATION SERMON Preached at Great Wycomb within the Diocess of Lincoln May 13. 1673. By Francis Gregory D. D. Rector of Hambleton in the County of Bucks and one of His Sacred Majesties Chaplains in Ordinary 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nazianzen Carm. Iamb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil Magn. Epist 181. Impuri Sacerdotes hominum ludibria mortalium vilissimi quisquiliae peripsemata Cornel. à Lap. in Mal. c. 2. v. 9. LONDON Printed by R. N. for Richard Royston Bookseller to His most Sacred Majesty M DC LXXIII IMPRIMATUR Tho. Tomkyns R. R mo in Christo Patri ac Domino D no Gilberto divinâ Providentiâ Archi-Episc Cant. à Sacris Domesticis Ex Aed Lambeth Jun. 21. 1673. 1 TIM IV. 16. Take heed to thy Self and to the Doctrine THE Text containeth a double caution the first is this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as Saint Chrysostom varieth the composition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Take heed to thy self that branch concerns his person The second is this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 take heed to the Doctrine that branch concerns his ministery the former relates to his Conversation the latter respects his Function So that here are two things which Saint Paul doth commend to Timothy who was his Son and the same two things would I commend to you who are my brethren What was Saint Pauls command to Timothy shall be my request to you and that first is this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Take heed to your Selves that your lives be Holy Blameless and free from all manner of Scandal and that upon these considerations First The holiness of our Lives is that which the great God of Heaven whose more immediate Servants we are doth most strictly require It is our business to press all Gods Commands upon other men and certainly we do all stand obliged to obey them all our selves Now amongst the commands of God this is one the Priest shall be Holy Holy in his Person Holy in his Life whosoever is unholy in either it must not be the Priest To mind the Priest of this and the like Commands there was engraven and that by a Divine injunction upon his golden Plate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Holiness to the Lord. 'T is observed that in after Ages the word was doubled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to intimate the greater necessity and the greater measure of Holiness that should be found in the Priest more than in any man besides Thus Cornelius à Lapide Sacerdotes Sanctitatis sint portenta God requires that the Priests should be the Prodigies and wonders i. e. the grand examples of holy lives But Secondly The Holiness of our lives is that which our own usual Names and Titles do require We usually say Bonum nomen bonum omen Good names are lucky signes they should be so with us we are stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sacerdotes which termes do suppose as well the Integrity of our Lives as the Functions of our Office The Title of an Archbishop is this Your Grace and that of the Pope himself His Holiness Historians tell us that when Aeneas Sylvius came to be Pope he thought fit to change his name rejicite Aeneam recipite Pium old Aeneas must be forgot 't is Pius that must now be received I read that Arcadius the Emperor writing to Flavianus Bishop of Antioch began his Letter thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 your Holiness hath heard And the Council of Carthage in their Synodical Letter to Celestine Bishop of Rome tells him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 your Holiness hath declared It seems that Holiness as it is one of Gods most glorious Attributes so is it one of his Ministers most necessary Qualifications too Our Saviour calleth us the Salt of the earth and certainly the purer and whiter the Salt is 't is so much the better our Saviour stiles us the Light of the world and doubtless the more pure the oyl is and the less snuff we have the brighter shall we shine I remember Cornelius à Lapide tells us that the Bishop in the Church is instar Solis like the Sun in the Firmament and if so methinks there is no inferiour Minister but in his own lower Orb should be a Star and if in Saint John's language the Bishop be as we grant he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an earthly Angel then certainly there is no Clergy-man whatsoever but is obliged to live as becomes a Saint But Thirdly The Holiness of our Lives is that which our Employment doth require Saint Paul puts the question 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who is sufficient for this Sacred Function Saint Chrysostom spends six Tracts upon this one Argument 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how Sacred the Priesthood is and how holy the Priest himself should be Authors tell us that after the death of Nectarius Bishop of Constantinople several Presbyters desiring to be his Successour were refused as being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unworthy of that great employment Now that the employment not of the Bishop only but the Presbyter and Deacon too requires this Holiness of our respective lives will appear from two considerations First we have to do by vertue of our employment in an especial manner with an holy God 'T is Saint Bernards caution vide ne immundus ad Deum accedas when you come to God look you be clean It is Gods own Argument let the Priests sanctifie themselves and why the Priests more than the people why thus let the Priests that draw nigh to God sanctifie themselves the Text implyeth that there is something in God which requires holiness in the Priest that Ministers before him and what that is Moses tells us the Priest shall be holy upon what score why thus for I the Lord am holy It seems that an unholy Priest is not fit to deal with an holy God But Secondly We have to do by vertue of our employment in an especial manner with holy things See what they are in three particulars First We have to do in an especial manner with the Word of God thus Saint Paul He hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation and what kind of Word is that the same Apostle stiles it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the holy Scriptures And well he may for the Author of the Scriptures is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the holy Spirit the grand Subject of the Scriptures is Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that holy one of God And the Pen-men of the Scriptures are expresly stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 holy men of God And certainly if the Scriptures be thus holy in their Author in their subject matter and in their Scribes 't is but fit that they should be holy in their interpreters too So Sacred are the Oracles of our God that Cornelius à Lapide tells us Charles Borromoeus whom he stiles Novus Mediolanensium

starve or which is almost as bad to beg or live on alms If there be any person in this assembly that doth either raise or spread such false reports against the Ministers of God let him consider what sin he commits and what danger he runneth And here I might as easily foretel you what such false accusers are like to suffer in the next world as to inform you what they have already suffered in this I remember Tully tells us aliud est maledicere aliud accusare 't is one thing to reproach another thing to accuse accusatio crimen desiderat so he And so Thucydides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an accusation doth suppose and require some crime but if there be none what then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let the accuser suffer what punishment he well deserves and what that is the same Justinian that made this law doth elsewhere specifie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an everlasting or at least a very long excommunication The Law of England that very Magna Charta to which we appeal in our other concerns as a refuge that is Sacred and Inviolable hath long since provided that whosoever shall dare to slander any Peer of the Kingdom or Prelate of the Church shall suffer Imprisonment but if not if you make some shift to escape mans Gaol yet you are concerned to take heed of Gods Sure it is scandal in a Minister whether it be real or but reputed only is ever attended with dreadful circumstances and events if the Minister be certainly either proved or believed to be wicked presently his person is contemned his doctrine is slighted and upon that score 't is too too probable that the Souls under his charge may perish Now past all peradventure that man who raiseth or spreadeth those false reports of the Minister that prove so destructive to his Parish is justly chargeable with all the sad consequences of those forged Calumnies the result whereof is nothing less than the damnation of Souls Remember Sirs when you revile such and such worthy Ministers of God you revile those very persons who make it their business in Publick to Pray and in Private to Weep for such as you when you basely reproach Christs pious and Learned Servants you cast dirt upon the Chariots of our Israel the Fathers of our Church and the Embassadors of Heaven Remember yet once more when you raise false Aspersions against the Minister of such and such a Parish you do what in you lieth to render his Person odious his Labours vain and his Flock undone to eternity and if so 't is at your hands that God will require the blood of so many Souls But Secondly Consider how much to blame those Parishes are that content themselves with a scandalous Minister if perhaps there be any one such person yet found amongst us That amongst those eight or nine thousand Ministers that are in our Church there may be here and there a man that is Scandalous is a thing neither new nor strange at all In the Church of the Jews that was nothing so numerous as ours we find a wicked Saul amongst the Prophets a scandalous Hophni and Phineas among the Priests and in the New Testament when the Ministery set but aside the Seventy Disciples was confined within Christs own family we find but amongst Twelve Apostles a weak Peter that denied his Lord and a wicked Judas that betrayed him Nay more in the Church Triumphant in Heaven there was a proud Lucifer and many Apostate Spirits amongst the Angels those more Immediate Ministers of God And certainly whilst the Church below is like the Moon subject to Eclipses Alterations and Changes it will not be without her Spots And methinks the presence of some few untoward Ministers which hath been the constant and general unhappiness of all Churches and Ages should not be urged as the peculiar crime of ours Indeed that scandalous Ministers are justly decried and ought to be severely censured there is no good man but grants all the question is where lieth the blame upon whom shall we fix it why thus one man blames the Bishop that Ordains a second blames the Patron that Presents a third blames the Diocesan that giveth Institution and commands Induction But notwithstanding all this what if I tell you and that upon very good reason that the main fault lieth somewhere else As to the Patron that presents he is commonly some Noble person at least some man that is Rich and since he is so let him fee his Lawyer or answer for himself but as to the Bishops of England they are our Fathers and their just honour by the Law of our God are we bound to vindicate and for them who Ordain and Collate all Ministers we have enough to reply 'T is well known that the Bishops of England do not pretend as the Bishop of Rome doth to be infallible after their strictest enquiry into the lives of persons to be Ordained or Collated 't is possible that the wisest of them being but men though stiled Angels may be mistaken 'T is impossible that the Bishop who is neither omnipresent nor omniscient should certainly and personally know the conversations of all nor the hearts of any that come to be Ordained or Collated But yet whoever doth so doth present himself to the Bishop as a pretender to Religion and Holiness and to justifie that pretence of his he brings along with him fair Testimonials Certificals and Subscriptions from some eminent persons who upon their own knowledge bear witness to the Integrity of his Conversation It is true what our Learning is what Intellectuals we have the Bishop himself may sift and easily know but as for our Morals there is a necessity that he must rely upon that Testimony Character and Credential Letters that are given by others And as it is impossible that the Bishop who is but a man should discover the present hypocrisie of any mans heart so is it equally impossible that he should foresee the future miscarriages of any mans life There may be after our Ordination Quinquennium Neronis I mean we may carry our selves very fair for a while and yet break out at last But what then is the Bishop to blame for this tell me is it possible that the Governours of our Church should fly as Cherubims is it possible that our Bishops who are clogg'd with flesh should move in an instant like so many Intelligences from parish to parish from Church to Church that so they may see and hear how the Minister preacheth upon the Sunday and how he liveth all the week after No 't is absolutely necessary that the Bishop though he be the great Watch-man of Israel and the Seer of the Church must notwithstanding see with other mens eyes and hear with other mens ears he must be informed of those misdemeanours in the Diocess which 't is impossible that he should otherwise know himself and that is the design of our