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 |
|
A44765
|
A discourse on persecution, or, Suffering for Christ's sake clearing the notion of it, and making a discrimination of just from vnjust pretensions to it : and passionately recommending true Christian suffering to all those who shall be call'd thereto : occasionally representing the folly and sinfulness of illegal, arbitrary courses for the prevention of it, and the security of our church / by John Howell ...
|
Howell, John, b. 1658?
|
1672
(1672)
|
Wing H3130; ESTC R9661
|
29,187
|
50
|
they did This as they ought they would find that there are as I shew in the Discourse certain Qualifications and Conditions requisite to True Christian Suffering and that without These no Man can justly pretend to It and if any should challenge the Title they would certainly miss of the Crown of the Martyr But enough of This I wish You do not think it more than enough howsoever it be I am satisfied of Your Candor and Goodness and depend upon These Your Patronage and Favourable Acceptance I do now stand in need of and do greatly value and do here beg I must confess I cannot be sorry for what I have done indeed I must have offer'd violence to my Nature and could not have easily excus'd my self had I not now that so fair an Opportunity presents it self us'd my Endeavours my Honest tho Mean Endeavours to convince Men of their Errours and let them see the Injustice of their Clamours against the Easiest and Best of Governments And why may not the Honesty of my Design bear me out as well as the bare Pretence of it does others I must needs say I see no Reason for it But indeed the Design is not only Honest it is Great and Noble Loud is the Noise and Many are the Complaints of Persecution and I fear of dangerous consequence they are Complaining of the Government being a kind of Libelling and Persecuting it So that to remove These is to Ease the Government to do something towards it is a proportionably Good and Laudable Office and even for him who endeavours it only his Design is as Good and Great though his Success be not That the several Persons by whom These Offences come may become daily more and more satisfied of the Guilt and the Vnwarrantableness of them and that You may long continue among us for This and other Excellent Purposes That we may long see as now we do the Happy Effects of Your Diligence and Faithfulness in Your Administration of Justice of Your Care and Prudence in a very Regular Family and of Your Excellent Example joyn'd to the vigorous Endeavours of the Worthy Pastor in a very Conformable Parish And that Heaven would Bless You and Yours with all Health and Happiness Spiritual and Temporal is the hearty Prayer of Honour'd Sir Your most Obliged and most Obedient Servant John Howell A DISCOURSE ON PERSECUTION OR Suffering for Christ's Sake WHatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just and of good report if they promise any thing of Satisfaction of Complacency and Delight they are readily observ'd they are chearfully obey'd upon the least Intimation or slightest Injunction Men hardly need the Exhortation of a Saviour or an Apostle to think of these things But where there is any thing that suits not with their Interest or their Natures where there is any thing clashes with their Temporal Designs or the Gratification of their Carnal Appetites here they are apt to cry with the Disciples in the Gospel This is a Hard Saying who can hear it or with Naaman the Syrian In This thing the Lord pardon thy Servant The truth is He that in stead of Reason consults only Flesh and Blood cannot very easily yield to the Hurting of the one or the Exhausting of the other To desire the Tortures of the Rack or the Scorchings of the Flames looks like a ridiculous piece of Gallantry an Extravagancy allowable only in Romance or Phrenzy I mean to the meer Carnalist to one that sees not beyond the Grave But whoso looks within himself and has an eye to the Recompense of Reward and perceives the Influence the Aids and Comforts of the Holy Spirit and expects more can if he would please defie his Executioner and dare him into a severer Treatment And indeed if we consider things as we ought we shall find that Happiness and Misery are not to be measured by the Enjoyments or Sufferings of this Life that a Man may in wisdom prefer a Gibbet to a Crown and be happy under the Severities even of an Inquisition For tho Pains and Tortures are uncouth and irksom though they grate upon the Flesh and grieve the Spirit yet Nature her self recommends them to us not only as Expedient but as extremely Desirable as those that will work for us a far Greater a more Certain and more Durable Good for Such they will always prove we may depend upon it when our God who desires our Happiness and is able to procure it appoints them for us We readily assent to our Physicians Prescriptions take Potions tho never so Vnpleasant suffer our Members to be Coup'd Cauteriz'd or otherwise Tortur'd and all in expectation or it may be but Deluding Hopes of an Vncertain Recovery And yet this is no more than what is reasonable no more than what Nature prescribes when she teaches us the Doctrine of Self-preservation when she enclines us to the love of our selves and to the pursuit of our Chiefest Good How much more reasonable therefore is it how much more a Dictate of Nature that we should bear a Light Affliction which is but for a Moment in order to a Great and Sure Reward in order to an Eternity of Happiness the Certain Recompence of Suffering here for Christ as I shall have occasion to shew before I have done with you At present it may suffice to observe That the Apostle looks upon it as an Instance of the Divine Favour which he could not well do if there were not a future Reward annex'd to it Vnto you it is given says he in the behalf of Christ not only to Believe on him but also to Suffer for his sake Phil. 1.29 I shall bring what I have to say into this Order 1. I shall inquire When a Man may be said to suffer for Christ's sake 2. I shall shew That those among us who renounce our Communion and suffer for it do very unjustly pretend to Suffering for Christ 3. I shall shew That all those Christians who suffer rather than they will conform to the Church of Rome do truly and really suffer for Christ Provided always that they do not allow themselves in any known Sins but that they equally heartily forsake them all 4. I shall consider the Excellency and Usefulness of true and real Suffering for Christ 5. And lastly I shall offer some Motives to a resolute and chearful Suffering at what time soever it shall please God to call us thereto 1. Then I am to inquire When a Man may be said to suffer for Christs sake And that will be found to be then and only then when these three Circumstances concur 1. When his Cause is good 2. When he has a Call 3. When he has heartily forsaken all his Sins 1. That a Man may be said to Suffer for Christ's sake 't is requir'd that his Cause be good As no Man ought to Die or think any Suffering acceptable but when 't is for a Truth so all kinds of
A DISCOURSE ON PERSECUTION OR Suffering for CHRIST's Sake Clearing the Notion of It AND Making a Discrimination of Just from Vnjust Pretensions to It. AND Passionately Recommending True Christian Suffering to all Those who shall be Call'd Thereto Occasionally Representing the Folly and Sinfulness of Illegal Arbitrary Courses for the Prevention of It and the Security of our Church By JOHN HOWELL A M. Rector of Radnor Nova in the County of Radnor LONDON Printed for Robert Kettlewell at the Hand and Scepter over against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet 1685. To the Worthily Honour'd JOHN STONE Of Brightwel-Place in Oxfordshire ESQUIRE SIR IT seems very wonderful to me that after the clear Revelation of Scripture and the Instructions of Men after the many Renowned Examples of Christian Suffering the Repeated Instances of every Age after all Mens Fears and Apprehensions Reasonable and Vnreasonable for either of these are apt to awaken and engage to Consideration the generality even of Christians themselves should be such utter Strangers as I find they are of the True Notion and Nature of Persecution Now to Rectifie the Mistakes and Clear the Vnderstandings of the Ignorant Herein is the main Design of the ensuing Discourse And truly I am not out of all hopes of giving some Light to the Doctrine in hand at least wise of doing somewhat towards the Satisfaction of Those if this small Piece shall haply fall into their Hands who either have not heard of or have not had leisure to peruse or possibly have not been able to procure the Larger and more Elaborate Discourses on this Subject Were I sure it would prove wholly useless tho I am apt to Hope and induc'd by Learned Friends to Believe it will not I should wave the Publication of this Address for Your sake and of the Discourse for my own Sure I am it can do no harm nor justly give any Offence being written with the Faithfulness and with the Tenderness of a Spiritual Chirurgion Alas our Breaches are over-wide already they need not be widned more by harsh Reflexion and keenness of Expression Some Spirits are naturally Perverse and Froward and ought if possible to be Corrected and Sweetned not Exasperated more not stirr'd into a greater Ferment Of this I am extremely sensible and desire not to Provoke but to Heal. If I were tho praised be God I am not of another Frame of Spirit I am sure I should take an ill time to shew it in when I address to You to You Sir who seem to be made up of Gentleness and Temper Your Reasonings with Dissenters who do therefore chuse to apply themselves to You they are Sedate and Calm and full of an Obliging Condescention Your Delight it is and You make it Your Business to Argue Fairly and Lovingly persuade Men to Conformity And when all Your Arguments and Winning Behaviour will not do it And who can promise himself a never-failing Success You gain This Point howsoever They come over to a better Opinion of our Church and Church-men They are satisfied by You that it 's the Churches Desire as it is Yours to Invite rather than Compel to Convince that it may not Correct them Thus do You discharge Your Duty diligently and chearfully like a True Son of our Church a Faithful Exemplary Magistrate a Loyal Subject and a Good Christian I ought to add like a True Friend of our Clergy for such do You I must needs acknowledge it upon all Occasions approve Your self For of This to say nothing of others Your Favours to me Many and Great are a pregnant Argument forasmuch as I can in no wise attribute them to any the least Merit of mine but to Your Goodness and Respect to my Gown And thus while You temper Your Prudence with Piety and joyn Sobriety and Candour to an inviolable Loyalty and Reverence to the Church You stop the Mouths of Gainsayers and even Those who Suffer under You cannot be angry This is certainly the most Christian and most feasible Course for the filling our Churches and it is Yours And if Men will stand out notwithstanding if they will not learn by Your Example nor bow to Your Reasons nor hearken to Your Counsels and Persuasions they become still the more inexcusable they may thank themselves for what they endure and are as far from what may be term'd Persecution as they are from Conformity unless You will say they are their own Persecutors I pray God to make 'em sensible of their Errours and thorowly satisfied of the High Injustice of arraigning their Governours for that which it is their Duty to do The Subordinate Magistrate is oblig'd to see that the Laws be put in Execution and the Supreme is oblig'd to take care that there be such Laws as are apt and qualified to Engage and to Preserve Men in Peace Concord and Uniformity The Government it self cannot well I was going to say it cannot innocently Tolerate Men in a Schism certainly it cannot give any Man License to sin neither is it in the Power of any law or Dispensation to make that Justifiable and Lawful which in its own Nature is Evil and Sinful Such unquestionably is all Separation from This or any other Establish'd Church that is Sound and Pure as Ours is But and if the Government could as it cannot make Separation no Schism and no Sin yet I would observe and I hold my self oblig'd upon This occasion to vindicate the Proceedings of our Governours herein That neither has the Government any reason to grant nor our Nonconforming Brethren any reason to expect a Toleration or Relaxation of the Laws I know These two things are almost co-incident however they will severally admit of a distinct and particular Consideration 1. Then I would observe That the Government has no reason to grant a Toleration c. For if These Men do not Suffer the Government in all likelihood will there being nothing more destructive of the Publick Peace than a General Liberty of all sorts of Worship Of This we have had Late and Sad Experience When every man did that which was right in his own eyes it was little consider'd whether it was right or not in the eyes of others Men abus'd their Liberty into Defiance of Authority perfect Lawlesness being the Result When one Man out of a giddy humour wandred about in search after Truth another thought he might as easily find it at home When This Man thought he might serve God in any way his Neighbour was of opinion that 't was altogether as good and much more easie not to serve him at all So then we may easily divine by what we have seen and felt that a Connivance or Toleration of all sorts of Religion is the ready way to destroy all that looks like Religion and that had it not pleas'd Heaven to direct our Governours herein our Nation would have sunk by degrees to downright Scepticism and Infidelity to as little Sense of Religion as some of a