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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	call_v	holy_a	work_n	6,419	5	5.4658	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26336	A sermon preached at White-hall on Sunday, the 17th of February, 169 4/5 before the right honourable the lord chamberlain, ladies of the bedchambers, and others of the houshold to our late gracious Queen Mary, of blessed memory / by J. Adams ...	Adams, John, 1662-1720.	1695 (1695)	Wing A484; ESTC R32693	9,966	27

both together and in this equal Mixture wherein the Soul is neither toss'd nor driven violently one way or other consists its Ease and Happiness This is that Ease which the Mind finds in the Knowledg of God which must be suppos'd as the Ground of our Obedience in Working Righteousness and this Knowledg is wonderfully increased by the Works of Righteousness A Barren Contemplation of the Perfections of the Divine Nature is no Improvement of the Soul but when it is withal fruitful in good Works this is what the Scripture calls Drawing nearer to God and being like Him and for this God has promised His Holy Spirit by which they shall have a more full Knowledg of Him Thus our Blessed Saviour 14. John 21. verse He that hath my commandments he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father and I will love him and will manifest my self unto Him And from these Grounds it is that the Work of Righteousness brings Peace to the Soul in the following Respects as III. The Work of Righteousness contributes to the Peace of the Soul by the Pleasure which is to be found in the instant of doing it This I do not question but every Body here has frequently experienc'd there is no one Work of Righteousness which regards God or our Neighbour but bring along with it its peculiar Satisfaction What an unspeakable Peace of Mind accompanies Devout and Fervent Prayer How is the Heart enlarged in Holy Joy when it pours out itself in Praise and Thanksgiving to its Great and Good Creatour And when we assist our Neighbour either by Relieving his Wants or Comforting his Sorrows are we not good to our selves in the Satisfaction which we feel immediately as well as the Reward which we expect hereafter What a generous Delight is there in a Quick and Ample Return of any Benefit And what a Blessing to a great Mind is the very Opportunity of being grateful But in that Noblest way of Conquest of overcoming an Enemy with Kindness when 't is in our Power to be Severe to him is a more Rational and Complete Satisfaction than in that which is counted by some the Sweetest of all things Revenge In a word the most Solid Sublime and Durable Delight accompanies the Act of Doing Well and tho there be much Danger in most kinds of Satisfaction in ones self there is no fear of Flattery in the Applause of a Faithful Conscience When a Soul well practis'd and experienc'd in Virtue and conscious of a due and regular Use of its free Will Acquiesces in its good Actions and something whispers from within Well done thou good and faithful servant Happy is the people that are in such a case yea blessed is the man who has thus the Lord for his God Psal 144. v. 15. IV. The Work of Righteousness promotes our Inward Peace by Regulating our Passions How great Disturbers of the Mind these are is too well Known and yet how ready is every Body to be led away by them How little of the least of them is sufficient to make vain Man That Lord of the World That Boaster of his Reason A Tyrant over his fellow Creatures and a Slave to himself Sometimes the uneasiness of Pride Sours him into Habitual Peevishness sometimes he is rais'd in unreasonable Joy and then cast down again in as unjust Despair then Envy and Ambition Grief Hatred and Revenge Rage in him by Turns and often all together What can express the misery of the Soul in this Condition Yet this is not all this makes a Man not only miserable as to himself but odious or Contemptible to all the World There is something in Gentleness and Meekness which is most proper to procure Respect and Love For these Qualities are the Causes of Order and Beauty not only in Peoples Looks but in their Words and Actions but in Anger or any other violent Passion all is Deformity yet such a Deformity as becomes rather ridiculous than terrible for tho it may surprise at first yet when it is found to be unreasonable and customary it is scorn'd and contemn'd and when it finds that it is so it rages often unto Madness Now this Violence of Passion is chiefly occasion'd by Mens being mistaken in their Esteem or Dislike of the things of this World and the Rashness of their Inclinations or Aversions accordingly Whereas the Work of Righteousness supposes a true Knowledg of the Good and Evil of such things and is nothing else but a Regular Pursuit of the first and an Orderly Flight from the latter And in this consists the Government of all our Passions and our Peace and Happiness An ill Man can find nothing of this while his Passions drag or hurry him each a different way But O what Rest what Quiet what Security of Mind can a good Christian want when every Work of Righteousness joyns kindly with the other and all contribute sweetly to his Peace The Wicked are in reference to their Extravagant Restless Passions compar'd to a troubled sea which casts up mire and dirt Is 57.20 Turn the Metaphor and you will find the whole Life of the Righteous Man a continu'd Calm How Compos'd is his Temper How moderate are his Desires and how well Govern'd his Fears And this is not only caus'd but also promoted by such Works of Righteousness as are enjoyn'd by the Gospel because that Jesus who enjoyns them there give us also the greatest Example of Humility and Meekness for with what Patience did He go about doing Good Healing the Sick Graciously Instructing the Ignorant Gently and Reproving the Wicked Calmly With what Lowliness did He bear the greatest Injuries of Contempt or Violence Alas if we reflect in the least upon His miserable Life and Death we shall find a Thousand Instances wherein we may Learn of him to be meek and lowly Mat. 11. and in so doing to find Rest to our Souls When I name the Word Jesus says one of the Fathers Bernard in 15. Serm. Cantic all that is Sweet and Delightful comes into my Mind Grace Mercy Bounty Forgiveness Goodness and Love compose the Blessed Sound and the very Pronouncing of it as it cast out Devils heretofore might be sufficient now to Allay our Passions and Compose our fiercest Anger or Revenge But of all the Passions there is none more uneasie than Fear and no Object so apt to cause this as Death but the Work of Righteousness continues Peace to the Soul by securing it from this The Wicked are in this Regard the farthest from any Peace they own that Death cannot be avoided they are ignorant when it will happen and yet never think of it till 't is upon 'em Then all the Faculties of the Soul are in as great Confusion as a Town taken by Surprise and the stubborn obstinate Wretch sits him down and expects the Worst in a surly Despair the more timorous sneak and cringe in Officious Superstition this upon a

A SERMON Preached at WHITE-HALL ON Sunday the 17th of February 1694 5. Before the Right Honourable the Lord Chamberlain Ladies of the Bed-Chamber and others of the Houshold to our late Gracious Queen MARY of Blessed Memory By J. Adams A. M. Rector of S. Alban's Woodstreet Publish'd at the Request of that Honourable Audience LONDON Printed by BENJ. MOTTE 1695. A SERMON ON ISAIAH xxxii 17. The Work of Righteousness shall be Peace and the Effect of Righteousness Quietness and Assurance for Ever HUman Nature is very subject to Presumption or Despair according as mens Circumstances are this appears in the Jews particularly and therefore 't was the manner of their Prophets to mingle Threats and Promises together Thus in the beginning of this Chapter the Evangelical Prophet describes our Saviour and the Happiness of his Kingdom under the Person of Hezekiah verse 9. Then turns them of a sudden to a sight of those Miseries which should befal their Nation before this should come to pass but then lest this should deject them too much he assures them that their Afflictions shall last no longer then Until the Spirit was poured out upon them from on High verse 15. at which time Judgment should dwell in the Wilderness and Righteousness remain in the fruitful Field Nor was this all but The Work of Righteousness shall be Peace and the Effect of Righteousness Quietness and Assurance for Ever By the Work of Righteousness is meant as this place refers to Christ and concerns us in particular the Acting according to the Precepts of the Gospel The Word Peace has a large signification but seems to be used here for the inward Peace or Tranquility of the Soul By Quietness is meant Security from outward Dangers by Assurance for Ever a Settled Trust an Entire Confidence in God That the Work of Righteousness produces Peace Quietness and Assurance for Ever in these Senses which I have mention'd I shall endeavour to shew I. As to the Inward Peace or Tranquility of the Soul the Work of Righteousness caules this upon several accounts 1. Because this is most Natural to the Soul of Man If Reason be the thing which distinguishes Man from other Creatures his Ease and Happiness must consist in the Acting according to this and the improvement of it But Reason leads us of it self to the chief grounds of those things which are Commanded us in the Gospel as the Works of Righteousness as the Knowledge of a God of Good and Evil and Reward and Punishment hereafter And tho men are sometimes so perverse as to endeavour to destroy these Notions in themselves and others yet all the while they do this Violence to their Understandings the Soul is unnaturally forc'd and strain'd as appears by its frequent striving in Doubts and Fears Whereas he that Acts according to his Reason and Endeavours to improve the Natural Notions of a God by Searching into His Reveal'd Will and living according to it does that which is most agreeable to His Nature and finds the most perfect Peace of Mind and the Rest and Acquiescence which is the Effect of having done Well is like that which Natural Bodies find by lying still in their proper Places Which proves that Righteousness is particularly agreeable to the Soul of Man and that the Works of it give Peace and Satisfaction while every Work of Wickedness is Acting contrary to some Principle or other belonging to it and consequently causes Disquiet and Confusion II. The Work of Righteousness or the Acting according to the Precepts of the Gospel brings Peace to the Mind by leading it to a clearer Knowledge of God than it can have from Nature and by conducing to the improvement of that Knowledge Tho the corruptible body presseth down the Soul and the earthly tabernacle weighteth down the mind Wisd 9.15 yet these Expressions shew that this is unnatural and argue Resistance and Reluctancy Accordingly we may observe that the Soul is frequently strugling and endeavouring upwards and by its quitting so soon its fullest Enjoyments by its perpetually hunting about after new Objects shews plainly that Nothing of this World is of sufficient Worth to improve or employ it But if at length it can by the Assistance of Right Reason and Divine Grace raise itself to Heaven what Joy what sweet Acquiescence does it find in the Knowledg and Contemplation of its God! For if there be the strongest Inclination to Union between things of the same Nature the Soul being immaterial can have no immediate no proper Connexion with material Objects But when it meets with Spiritual ones rejoyces in what is like itself How then must it be pleased when it has discovered the Father of Spirits What unspeakable Joy must it find in being united to God himself by the Works of Righteousness But alas In how wretched a Condition was Mankind in this Regard before the Gospel How little Knowledge had they of God and therefore how little Progress did they make in the Works of Virtue Some thought Him a Cruel and Inflexible Being and that whatever came to pass was by absolute Necessity and this took off all Hope and Comfort in Affliction Others thought Him an Idle and Careless Being not concerning Himself at all with the Events of Things or Actions of Men and this took away the Relish of Success made it always suspected since what came by Chance might be as quickly lost by it As for the Jews tho they had a better Notion of the True God yet the Passion which work'd chiefly upon them was Fear God revealed Himself to this stubborn People by His dreadful Attributes of Power and Justice and therefore their Obedience was Servile and Uneasie to 'em But how soon were all these Evils Remedy'd And how plainly did God Reveal Himself to the whole World by the Coming of our Blessed Saviour By His Coming the Abominations of the Heathen Worship the Delusions of their Oracles the vain Boasts of their Virtue were Discover'd by the Coming of the Desire of all Nations the Prince of Peace the Lord of Life and Glory That Fear and Dread which attended the Mosaical Law was qualify'd by that Love which is the Foundation of the Gospel and the terrible Name of the Lord of Hosts the God to whom Vengeance belongeth changed into the Mild and Sweet Style of the God of Peace and Consolation the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ So that all here contributes to our inward Peace Here Power and Goodness Justice and Mercy Moderate our Fear and Love so sweetly that they produce such a Smoothness in the Mind as cannot be equall'd by Love or Joy alone for tho the Passions of Love and Joy are more agreeable to Nature because their Objects are what we suppose to be good then Fear or Sadness because their Objects are what we suppose to be Evil yet they are no less Troublesome and Dangerous in the Excess So that they require a convenient Allay and an equal Mixture of