Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	call_v	church_n	holy_a	7,200	5	5.2401	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45802	A sermon preached at the funeral of the Reverend John Scott, D.D., late rector of S. Giles in the Fields, March 15, 1694/5 by Z. Isham ...	Isham, Z. (Zacheus), 1651-1705.	1695 (1695)	Wing I1068; ESTC R15920	13,714	32

was so well known and respected in this Audience that it would be vanity in me to offer at his Character unless I could praise him in his own Eloquence and yet before we leave him in the House of Silence it may justly be expected that I should do some right to his Memory and enforce some instructive Lessons from his great Example In doing so I shall not pretend to draw the Lines of his History nor mention any common and undistinguishing attainments nor use any Art in setting him forth but with a simplicity fit for this place and suitable to his unaffected life I shall briefly consider him in these two Heads his Private Vertues and his Services for the Church He had many Vertues of no ordinary growth and we may call them to mind by reviewing his much applauded Work of the Christian Life which he intended to Continue and Perfect if Providence had not put a stop to his useful design first by a long Craziness and then by taking him suddenly from us Next to his Piety towards God his Social Vertues as his own distinction is were those for which we shall be most sensible of our loss in him for his Kindness and Humanity and amicable Disposition and Affability and pleasantness of Temper and Condescension and Sincerity and readiness to do all good Offices for any that had recourse to him In helping others and laying out for their advantage the Authority which he had gain'd in giving Counsel and Directions and in Cementing Amity and Peace he exhausted very much of his time and delighted as much in doing any friendly turn as if the profit had redounded to himself In Works of Mercy he took a peculiar Pleasure and did as zealously promote them as if he had reliev'd himself by supporting the Poor he was a Common Father to the persecuted and afflicted and the Brethren 3 Joh. v. 6. and Strangers whose Bowels he hath refresh'd will bear witness of his Charity before the Church Friendship is one of the noblest Ornaments of Human Nature and if God himself is Love 1 Joh. iv 16. 't is the Portraiture of God drawn upon the Soul and for this Vertue he was exceedingly valu'd by those that were intimate with him he was not infected with any of those Vices which blast it with Pride or Moroseness or Envy or Selfishness his inclinations were to refresh and cherish all Men and only to neglect himself his Doors and his Heart were open to all and he hath left behind him the indelible commendation of a true and stedfast and faithful Friend XI Again let us look upon him in his Publick Character Dan. xii 3. and if they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to Righteousness as the Stars for ever and ever we may be humbly confident of his having a proportionable reward His Education happen'd to be in the times of Confusion and yet without any detriment to him for he imbib'd the Principles of that renown'd University in which he was bred and not of the Men who then govern'd it the same good Spirit that call'd him thither from another Employment directing him what to doe and when the Church was cover'd in ruins he discern'd her Beauty and receiv'd Holy Orders from one of those ejected Confessors who during the devastation did secretly preserve the Apostolical Discipline His appearance in the World was early and as God had furnish'd him with extraordinary Talents and had enabled him to improve them well and to possess Abilities equal to his high Profession the same Divine Goodness chose a fitting Theatre for them to be manifested upon His Eloquent and Solid and Fervent Preaching commanded the applauses of Men and his constancy in it procur'd their love and though his frequency in this Work and his diligence in his Pastoral Charge and his industry in resolving Cases of Conscience and his restless application to the labours of his Calling wasted him by degrees yet he could not be satisfy'd without doing his duty and that which sent him the sooner to God will enlarge his recompence from him He ran his Course in times of great trial and discrimination and in all of them he approv'd his inflexible and uncorrupted integrity and adher'd stedfastly to the Principles of our Church and they will carry a Man safely through all difficulties and all Revolutions and though it should be his Lot to be revil'd and oppress'd by Men yet he cannot be dejected in Conscience nor forsaken by God He own'd it for his Rule in all vicissitudes to keep a Clean and quiet Conscience as knowing that this would be a Sanctuary when all earthy Comforts should fail and he remember'd the wise Maxim He that observeth the wind shall not sow and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap Eccl. xi 4. and therefore without minding the weather or taking directions from the Sky he went on directly in his Calling and made it his business to sow to the spirit that he might of the spirit reap life everlasting Gal. vi 8. When Popery invaded our Establish'd Religion he was one of those worthy Champions that defended it with an upright Zeal they held up their Shields together and united their Counsels and endeavours as one Man they saw their Diocesan whom they mightily honour'd singled out for the first Sacrifice because he would not surrender them they saw the Roman Eagle advancing every day and fresh attempts made to demolish our Church and then it was that by Preaching and Praying and Writing they gain'd an universal esteem and supported our Holy Religion In this Cause our Friend whom we are waiting upon did Cordially concur with his Brethren and was prepar'd to suffer as much as any of them He understood our Constitution entirely and that made him the more hearty in asserting it upon all occasions and I trust there is no man here but honours his memory the more for being so for though our enemies have branded us for this constancy and have been sowing Divisions and putting ignominious marks of distinction between us we cannot be so blind as not to see the artifice is contriv'd in order to the more easie subversion of all of us and if a resolute adherence to well chosen Principles if to defend that Liturgy which we have solemnly testify'd our approbation of in the presence of God if to be firm to our subscriptions and to our Vows of Ordination if to contend for the Faith once deliver'd unto the Saints Jude 3. and for that Government by which we were consecrated to the Service of the Church and which we believe to have been transmitted down to us from the Apostles if this be a reproach I fear it will soon be counted a reproach to be a Christian Our deceased Brother did therefore upon all emergencies maintain an unspotted fidelity to the Church and acted consonantly to what he had profess'd concerning it Epist Ded. to the Bishop of London in these words Whatsoever her fate may be I am chain'd to her Fortunes by my Reason and Conscience and shall ever esteem it more eligible to be crush'd in pieces by her Fall which God avert than to flourish and triumph on her Ruins This resolution he kept to the last and still with a peaceful and charitable Spirit and without aiming at his own interest through that of the Church for when offers were made to him of higher Stations in the Church he declin'd them upon the sense of decays creeping upon him and he rejoyc'd more in the advancement of other worthy Men than he would have done in his own His inherent Greatness wanted no outward accessions and the Preferment he was ambitious of was to go from his Flock unto the Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls 1 Pet. ii 25. XII Under his Protection and Custody let us now leave him and let us pray to God to raise up new Instruments of his Glory and to send forth more labourers into his harvest Mat. ix 38. for those whom he hath call'd home to receive their wages In him whom we now attend we have lost one whom many of us respected as an Instructer an Oracle a Father to us but we have still an Eternal and Unchangeable God and he can compensate all our losses he can create Workmen as well as appoint their Work and he can say to the most unqualify'd of us as he did to Joshua As I was with Moses Joh i. 5. so I will be with thee I will not fail thee nor forsake thee For a Conclusion I shall add one word to you in Ministring to whom this servant of God ended his Race he came to you in his declining years and with the disadvantage of succeeding one of the most Eminent persons of our Church and yet you honour'd and lov'd him and thought you still enjoy'd his Great Predecessour and therefore if I were to speak in his name it would be to return thanks for your kindnesses to him but acting by a higher Commission I shall rather desire you to express your regard to his memory by obeying those good Instructions which he brought from our Common Master to whom he is gone and to remember the word of God Heb. xiii 7. which he hath spoken unto you and to follow his faith considering the end of his Conversation Which happy end God in his infinite goodness grant to us all through the Merits and Mediation of Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour Amen FINIS ERRATA Pag. 13 penult for minds of us r. reminds us of p. 14. l. 15. for antient r. ancient