Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A49384
|
The Christian race a sermon preach'd before the Queen at Kensington on Sunday the 31th of July, 1692 / by Richard Lucas ...
|
Lucas, Richard, 1648-1715.
|
1692
(1692)
|
Wing L3394; ESTC R13000
|
14,824
|
32
|
for their distance and futurity and Faith Supplies the place of Vision for Faith is the Substance of things hoped for the Evidence of things not seen Hebr. 11.1 So that 't is evident the Scale of Victory is not turned on the side of the Body against the Mind till false Principles have supplanted the Authority of the one and Indulgence and ill Customs increased and fortified the Propensions of the other to worldly and sensible things I have remarkt this that none of us may go about to remove the Guilt of our Ruin from our selves on our first Parents or God that none may think we have sufficiently discharged our Duty by accusing our Nature or excused our Vices by Arraigning our Frailty This calls to mind a Second Truth contained in this Rule namely That no Sin is invincible that none is so deeply rooted in us either by Nature or Custom but it may be extirpated This is an Assertion you will easily admit if you consider by what glorious Instruments the Conversion of Man is wrought the Spirit of God and the Word of God i. e. the Wisdom and the Power of God Or if you consider the Description of it in Holy Scripture it is called the Divine Nature the New Creature the Image of God the Life of Faith a being transformed from Glory to Glory the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God and such like What Degrees of Perfection all this may import I enquire not 't is plain it can imply nothing less than a Purification from all Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit and through Sanctification of Spirit Soul and Body Nor is this a matter of meer Speculation the Converts of the first Times were living Demonstrations of this Truth and their daily Actions were nothing else but the glorious Effects of an intire Victory not over the Weakest only but most Obstinate of their Sins All this inculcates this one plain Lesson That no Man must think to shelter his Negligence and Lukewarmness or any Darling Lust under the pretence of an insuperable Infirmity or that by owning himself to be but Man he is excused from being a Christian The truth is if Christianity did consist in a Quarrel only with our Sins not a Conquest of them it would be nothing else but a Circulation of Sins and Follies for Regret and Remorse which doth only disturb not reform may be reckoned amongst the Infirmities of Man and that Repentance which brings not forth Fruit is it self to be repented of amongst our other Faults For Thirdly The last Truth I 'le observe to you from this Rule is That Spiritual Liberty is the beginning of Perfection that the first step towards doing Well is ceasing to do Evil that the Christian must make the first Experiment of his Zeal upon himself that Reformation and Charity must begin at home not only that his Attempts of doing good may have in them their proper Luster and Majesty their just Authority and Influence but indeed that he may be qualified and capacitated for making any for how weak and unsuccessful must his Endeavours be whilst some wretched Lust takes up his time imployes the Vigour of his Soul and alienates his Affection from every thing that is truly Great or Good Will the Unclean deny the Importunities of his Lust to satisfie those of his Duty will the Covetous impoverish himself so he styles giving Alms to support others in Laziness and yet his Heap of Treasure like heaps of Soil and Dung is good for nothing till it is scattered abroad Will the Proud stoop to the humble Offices which our Crucified Saviour did will the Soft or the Ambitious run those Hazards or indure those Hardships which are generally unavoidable in carrying on any considerable Good or will the Factious cross the Interest of his Party to promote that of his God I mean that of Religion in General This abundantly demonstrates how inconsistent every sinful Affection is with Success in our Christian Race and consequently how necessary the Advice of my Text is That we should put it off as a burthen or weight Nor is this true only of this or that particular Sin but of all in general and therefore me must put off every weight Strive said our blessed Saviour to enter in at the streight Gate for streight is the Gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto Life and few there be that find it All our vigour all our strength assisted by the Spirit of God will be little enough to open this Way and storm Heaven Ah! what can we expect from Affections divided between God and Mammon or any other Lust from Strengths scattered and disperfed in pursuit of Vice as well as Vertue and these deserted and abandoned by the Spirit of God for the Holy Spirit of Discipline will fly Deceit and will not abide when Iniquity cometh in Wisd 1. But though all Sin in general obstruct the Christian in his Race and defeat him of his Crown yet none so fatally as the beloved one And therefore 't is against this against the sin that easily besets us that the Apostle in his second Rule awakens all our Jealousie and Summons all our Courage this being the Sin in which especially lyes the strength of Satan and in the Conquest of it the first and I think I may add the greatest Difficulty of Christianity To illustrate therefore this Advice of the Apostle I 'le first shew what it is and then secondly how to cure it First What it is As in the Humours of the Body so in the Vices of the Mind there is one Predominant which is this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it has an Ascendant over us and leads and governs us it is in the Body of Sin what the Heart is in the Body of our Nature it begins to live first and dies last and whilst it lives it communicates Life and Spirit to the whole Body of Sin and when it dies the Body of Sin expires with it It is the Sin to which our Constitutions leads our Circumstances betray and Custom inslaves us the Sin to which not our Vertues only but Vices too lour their Topsail and submit the Sin which when we would impose upon God and our Consciences we excuse and disguise with all imaginable Artifice and Sophistry but when we are sincere with both we oppose first and conquer last 'T is in a word the Sin which Reigns and Rules in the Vnregenerate and too often Alarums and Disturbs ah that I could say no more the Regenerate Having thus fully discovered what this Sin is without vexing and torturing the Text by Criticisins I 'le now proceed secondly to shew you how to conquer it First Indeavour to possess your Souls with a true Notion of Sin in General but especially of this beloved one in Particular Falshood and Folly Levity and Inconstancy Cowardize and Ingratitude and all that is base constitute the very Essence of Sin As to the Effects of it it dishonours and as much
as in it lies dethrones God disturbs and embroyls Human Society depraves Nature perverts the true ends of Life and for all these Reasons will one day bring down all the Storms of Eternal Vengeance upon the Guilty and Impenitent Soul This is a true Notion of Sin in general and let nothing ever tempt us to softer Thoughts of our beloved Sin The same baseness gives it being and though its Effects may not be so injurious as those of some other Sins either to the Honour of Religion or the Interest of Man yet they will be no less fatal to thee This Sin is like some Diseases which though they seem contemptible in themselves are always deadly to some Families and Constitutions But can that be a little Sin which creates us the greatest Trouble Threatens us with the greatest Danger and Intangles us in the greatest Difficulties Is that a little Sin which has so often overthrown our Solemn Vows and Resolutions robbed us of our Peace and Hopes and fill'd our Souls with Remorse and Shame Is that a Sin to be despised which the weightiest Reasons the clearest Convictions and warmest Impressions of the Spirit do often fail to conquer Is that finally a Sin to be shelter'd and excused which bewailed condemned renounced detested baffled broken routed often r'allies and renews the fight and recovers for a time its former Dignity and Authority Certainly did we Morning and Evening seriously reflect upon the strength and mischief of this our favourite Sin of which each Man ought to have a Catalogue by him we should whenever tempted to it tremble and grow pale at the Temptation and fly back with the horrour of Joseph How shall I do this great wickedness and sin against God But after we have done all this we must take as much pains to preserve as we did to imprint this Notion in our Souls we must not suffer our Reason to vary with our Pulse and our Resolutions to change with our Company Fortune Temper Humour otherwise we shall soon pull down in an Hour of Gaiety what we built up in many sober ones and a fit of Pleasure and Jollity will deprive us in a moment of the Fruit of many Prayers Reflections and Meditations And because we are very liable to this therefore Secondly We must frequently renew our Resolutions against it And these Resolutions must first be levelled not only against this Sin but all Appearances of and Approaches to it What is Cruelty in Princes is Piety in Penitents the Expression of our Displeasure must light not only on the Criminal it self but on all its Friends and Relatives We must deal with this Sin as Israel was obliged to do with Idols not only reduce the Idol it self to Ashes and bury it in a Stream of Repentant Tears but cut down its Groves dig up his Altars slay its Priests and deface whatever might tend to preserve or revive the memory of it Secondly These Resolutions must be as well fitted to all Occasions and Circumstances as possible we can we must consider what Arts what Arms this Sin is wont to make use of where our Nature or our Vertue is weakest or most exposed to the Assaults of the Enemy we must in one word neither be ignorant of any Frailty of our own nor any wile of the Devil and then our Resolutions must be so formed as to obviate each Is my Temper Rash and Precipitate Light and Inconstant I must resolve to correct it by the Awe of the Divince Presence by Meditations on Death and Judgment Is it slow heavy and unapprehensive I must resolve to awaken it by Retirement and Prayer by entring often into an impartial view of my own state by Conversation if I can find that it hath warmth and spirit in it by the most pathetick portions of Holy Writ and by a frequent Recollection of all those Truths which have Edge and Point in them or at least have so to me Is this Sin wont to dart its Infection through the Eye Is it wont to wound or defile us by the Ear we must block up these Avenues of Death and Damnation we must guard the Soul as God did Paradise with the flaming Sword of an Angel with that awful Vertue and inflamed Zeal that Temptations may fly from before us Thus must we in a word oppose Art against Art and Force against Force and in our Spiritual Warfare imitate the Wisdom of the Children of this World who count it unpardonable Errour to be often imposed on by the same Artifice or betrayed by the same Methods After all you must bind these Resolutions on your Souls by Prayer and Sacraments and this one particular Consideration Thirdly That nothing less than the Conquest of this darling Sin can gain a Christian true Peace and Liberty While we retain a Sin that Rivals God in our Affection neither our Obedience nor Assurance can be sincere or constant we can have no pleasure in our Reflection on our selves nor confidence in our Addresses to God No Man is so wicked as to be inclined to all sins nor so foolish as to quit none 't is therefore the quitting the predominant Sin which is the best proof of our Integrity with others we part as with Civil Acquaintances when the Visit is done but with these as with Confidents and Friends or in the Language of our Saviour with our right Hands or our right Eyes But when this is done our Freedom and Pleasure will compensate our Trouble and Hope and Joy reward our Mortification But then we must take care that we finish as well as we begin and compleat that Christian Race in Patience which we began in Mortification Which brings me to my third Rule That we must run with Patience This Rule will contain two or three Things 1. A Supposition or Insinuation that such as stand may fall that such as run may faint and grow weary and so forfeit their Crown All the Promises which God makes his People of his Presence and Protection in their Dangers and Trials are designed to minister Incouragement to the Humble and the Watchful and must not be perverted to nourish Confidence and Security or to defeat that Humility Vigilance and Circumspection which the Spirit of God in Scripture endeavours by repeated Exhortations to beget in every Christian Our Saviour indeed when he tells his Disciples Matth. 24.24 That there shall arise false Christs and false Prophets and then adds That they shall shew great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very Elect seems plainly to imply that it was not possible but then without flying to the distinction between the Faithful and Elect made use of indeed by St. Austin and some others of the Fathers whether sufficiently founded in Scripture or no I determine not without flying I say to this distinction this Text may easily be reconciled with those which suppose the possibility of a Righteous Man's Revolt from Vertue for it is very