Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A61953
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A sermon preach'd before the King at White-Hall, May the twentieth, MDCLXXVII by John Sudbury ...
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Sudbury, John, 1604-1684.
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1677
(1677)
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Wing S6139; ESTC R23480
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14,545
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36
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it For the whole Catholick Church in all places of the World and at all times to the end of the World is but one Flock of which he is not only the Chief Shepherd 1 Pet. 5.4 as St. Peter calleth him but the onely Joh. 10.16 Other Sheep I have which are not of this Fold them also I must bring and they shall hear my Voice and there shall be one Fold and one Shepherd For though he hath appointed other Shepherds under him he is the Shepherd of those Shepherds and as they are called Shepherds with reference to them whom he hath appointed them to feed so they are called Sheep when they are mentioned with him So he calleth his Apostles Mat. 10.16 Behold I send you forth as Sheep in the midst of Wolves And Mat. 26.31 All ye shall be offended because of me this night for it is written I will smite the Shepherd and the Sheep of the Flock shall be scattered abroad There is no Shepherd so vigilant over his Flock for he never Slumbers nor Sleeps nor so conversant with it Joh. 10.14 I am the good Shepherd and know my Sheep and am known of mine Nor so able and ready to see that none of them be lost through any want of care in him at the 28 Verse of the same Chapter They shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand To the same purpose is the Metaphor of a Lord or Master of a great House in which he dwells and which he rules and governs All that are of the Houshold of Faith are of his Houshold and Family whom he rules and governs by his Word and Spirit whom he feeds at his Table and supplies them with all things which he knows to be needfull or expedient for them There is no Lord or Master that is so conversant in his own House for he is never from Home I am with you alway saith he I will never leave thee nor forsake thee Hebr. 13.5 Nor so much Lord and Master of it Hebr. 3.5.6 Moses verily was faithful in all his House as a Servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after but Christ as a Son over his own House whose House are we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoycing of the hope firm unto the end Moses was but in the House Christ is over the House Moses was but in the House as a Servant but Christ as the Son over his own House And the Servant abideth not in the House for ever Joh. 8.35 but the Son abideth for ever The Metaphor of a Man and his Wife whom he loves and cherisheth is a very significant and elegant expression of that Vnion and Communion which is between Christ and his Church For that which God saith of the one in the literal sense Gen. 2.24 A man shall leave his Father and his Mother and shall cleave unto his Wife and they shall be one Flesh St. Paul applies to Christ and his Church in the mystical sense Eph. 5.32 This is a great mystery But I speak concerning Christ and the Church But as there is no Metaphor so frequently used to this purpose as that of the Head and the Body so there is none that is so fully applyed to signifie that influence which he hath upon all the Members and that which he hath upon every one of them according to their several offices For as the Body consists of many Members which being fitly joined and compacted together among themselves and with the Head live and grow up together in one Body by virtue of that influence which the Head hath upon them all So this great Body of the Church which consists of many Members fitly joined together one with the other and all of them with him who is the Head of that Body is made partaker of that Faith and Love by which they all live and grow up together in Unity among themselves and with him Col. 2.19 He is the Head from which all the Body by Joints and Bands having nourishment ministred and knit together encreaseth with the encrease of God And as the Body hath many Members and all the Members have not the same Office but the influence which the Head hath upon them all doth not only make them all Partakers of the same Spirit of Life by which they live but likewise of that power and virtue by which they all perform their several Offices as the Eye doth not only live but see the Ear hear and all the Members perform that Office which they have in the Body so it is in this great Body of the Church as it is very well and fully expressed by St. Paul Eph. 4.11 where having spoken in the former Verse of the Ascension of Christ into Heaven that he might fill all things he useth this Metaphor of a Head and a Body to signifie how he filleth all things now after his Ascension into Heaven He gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the Work of the Ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ till we all come in the Vnity of the Faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ that we henceforth be no more Children tossed to and fro and carried about with every Wind of Doctrin by the slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive but speaking the Truth in Love may grow up into him in all things which is the Head even Christ from whom the whole Body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplyeth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part maketh increase of the Body unto the edifying of it self in love And in the first Chapter of the same Epistle we have an elegant expression of the height to which he is exalted at the 20 Verse God hath set him at his own right Hand in Heavenly places far above all Principality and Power and Might and Dominion and every name that is named not only in this World but also in that which is to come And that we might not think that his Exaltation to so great a height hath made a separation between him and his Church on Earth he saith in the next Verse God hath put all things under his Feet and gave him to be the Head over all things to the Church which is his Body the fulness in him that filleth all in all Now this may suffice to let us see how little need there is of another Head to Rule and Govern this great Body of the Church for if it be the fulness of him that filleth all in all there can be no need of a Coadjutor and if he be with it alway to the end of the World there can be no need of a Successor It is not with him as
Canoniz'd were Saints but of those Saints who are in the bosome of Abraham For they who are in the bosome of Abraham can know no more of us than he could know of them who came out of his loins or if they can it is more than we can know But he who is in the bosome of the Father is with us We need not say of him Rom. 10.8 Who shall go up into Heaven that is to bring Christ down from above His Ascension into Heaven is so far from making a greater distance between him and us that the higher he is ascended the more present he is with us as God who is the most high is the most present every where But to make them Patrons of Corporations Cities Countreys and Kingdoms and to call upon them not onely to pray for us but to help us and to worship them as the givers of those things which none but God can give is not onely to make them Saints but Gods which is not true Religion but Idolatry And though Learned men may think to excuse themselves from that Idolatry by subtil distinctions of Worship they cannot excuse the multitude of rude and ignorant people who offer up their prayers to them and adore and worship them as the Donors of those things which they ask of them It is enough that we honour the memory and bless God for the happy departure of them who have lived and died in the true profession of that Faith which was once delivered to the Saints and that we pray to God to give us grace to be followers of them as they were of Christ though we do not offer up our prayers to them nor seek help of them in time of need And that we honour the Blessed Virgin the Mother of our Lord as blessed among Women though we do not call her the Queen of Heaven nor think her Son so much a Child as to be still at her command We have no precept or example in the Scriptures for Adoration or Invocation of any of them we have both for Christ and we have his promise Joh. 14. â—3 that whatsoever we shall ask in his name he will do it that the Father may be glorified in the Son But we have no promise that whatsoever we shall ask in the name of any Saint he will do it that the Father or the Son may be glorified in the Saint There is much more to be said of the importance of this point if the time would permit For it is a point which hath the same influence upon the whole Body of our Religion which the Head hath upon the Body The Faith by which we live is called the Faith which is by him Acts 3.16 not onely because it comes by hearing his Word but because that Word is made effectual in the hearts of them that hear it by the power and efficacy of his grace The Sacraments in which we are made partakers of him have no such virtue in them without him The Water with which we are Baptiz'd may serve to wash away the filth of the flesh but it is his Spirit that makes it the Laver of Regeneration The Bread and Wine in the other Sacrament may serve to nourish our Bodies but it is his Presence that makes them food for our Souls That which he saith to his Disciples Joh. 15.5 Without me ye can do nothing is as true of every one of us in the things which concern our everlasting Salvation For what can we do unless he prevent us with his grace and further us with his continual help in all our works begun continued and ended in him And that which St. Paul saith of himself Phil. 4.13 I can do all things through Christ which strengthneth me is as true of us for what doth he require of us which we cannot do by the help of that grace which he is able and ready to afford us But when he saith I am with you alway to the end of the world he puts us in mind that the world will have an end and if that would put an end to his presence with us it would not be so much for our comfort that he will be with us so long as it would be for our grief and sorrow that he would be no longer For nothing that hath an end can satisfie the desire of Souls that are immortal But as the end of this world is the beginning of another world which shall have no end so the end of this presence shall be the beginning of another presence which shall be Co-eternal with that world Here he is with us there we shall be with him Here he is with us to give us grace and strength to overcome the world there we shall be with him to partake with him the honour and glory which he hath promised to them that overcome Rev. 3.21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his Throne To which purpose he is gone before to prepare a place for us that where he is there we may be also Joh. 14.2 3. And he will come again at the end of the world to call us to the inheritance of a Kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world Matth. 25.34 In a word Here he is with us even unto the end of the world There we shall be with him world without end AMEN FINIS