Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A48513
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A sermon preached before the King and Queen at White-hall, on Sunday, Jan. 15, 1692 by J. Lambe ...
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Lambe, John, 1648 or 9-1708.
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1693
(1693)
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Wing L224; ESTC R3370
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11,701
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31
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to His Justice And this is that Eternal Rule which God is pleased to govern His Proceedings by Shall we sin then says the Apostle upon the like occasion that Grace may Abound God forbid Thus then it appears That Christianity affords no Comfort to the Wicked so long as they continue so It is true It invites us to Repenrance upon this very Consideration That our Souls shall be then Refreshed St. Matt. 11. That we shall have peace of Conscience and Joy in the Holy Ghost Rom. 4.17 That we shall be setled in a Blessed Hope Tit. 2.12 That our Joy shall be full Joh. 16.24 and such as no Man shall take from us V. 22. But neither Christianity nor any other Notion of Religion will give us any Peace or solid Satisfaction in a State of Wickedness And as there is no Relief to the Wicked in any Notion of Religion 2. So in the Second place there is no Ease no Peace to be found by them in any State of Life in any Condition whatsoever And First not in Prosperity We will suppose him the darling of Fortune and undes a free Enjoyment of all that the World bestows upon its greatest Favourites Let him be strong of Body in the Flower of his Beauty and the Prime of his Youth Let his Family be renown'd his Titles Swelling and his Estate Magnificent Let him lie in his Prince's Bosom let his Enemies fear him and his Friends Address and Court him Yet Alas How little an Advantage is all this to him It may Enable him to Stifle to Quiet the Symptoms for the present but the Distemper will return upon him with a greater Violence The Accidents of Fortune make no Alteration in his Nature no difference in the Reasons of his future Expectation and therefore they can be no cure of his Disease What pleasure then in Attendance Baths and Feasting when a Man is ill at Ease What Enjoyment of the World when a Man is Condemn'd to Die Non enim Gazae neque Consularis Summovet lictor Miseros tumultus Mentis c. Hor. In short they may hide him a little now and then but they cannot separate him from himself 2. And if there is no Peace to the Wicked in Prosperity much less shall they find it in Adversity In forsaken Age in Wretched Poverty in Painful Sickness in a general Neglect There is a proper Happiness a sufficient Support in every Condition to Balance all that is wanting to the Good and Vertuous For besides a Chearful Reflection upon themselves that they have done what lay in them to prevent the Evil that is come upon them And besides the Pleasure they may find in the Exercise of Christian Patience in the raising of their Spirit above the power of Fortune Besides these I say there is an unspeakable Joy in their Prospect of a future Life a Life that never shall decay a Continued state of Happiness that shall never fail But the Wicked deprive themselves of all the supports and benefits of Humane Nature They have a Pain upon them that nothing can Relieve or Cure For the Spirit of a Man may sustain his Infirmities all the Calamities of this Mortal Life but a Wounded Spirit who can bear Prov. 18.14 3. There is then no Comfort to the Wicked whilst they live and therefore they cannot hope for any when they come to Die Now all the Principles of Anguish and Vexation will act upon them with their utmost force No Poynant Pleasure to deceive them now no Idle Scoffer to Encourage them no Flatterer to sooth them no Guard to break the Blow Now then their Hearts Condemn them their Consciences accuse them their Guilt amazes them and their own Breast is a Consuming Fire before they fall into the Hands of the Living God And thus it appears That as there is always Reason enough why a Wicked Man should be uneasie so the Force and Effect of those Reasons upon the Minds of the Wicked is utterly unavoidable VSE It now remains That we Consider this and shew our selves Men. Tranquillity is our Sovereign Good it is the end of all our Labours and the Crown of Wisdom But there is no Peace to the Wicked it is not to be found in the Paths of Vice Plutarch upbraids the Epicureans for their narrow base Conceptions of Humane Nature as if our only way to be happy was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. wholly to resolve our selves into the Body to drown the Soul in Sensual Pleasures If therefore any of us have been deceived in this particular If we have wandered out of the way of our Content and Happiness let us be perswaded to return again with all our Might Let us at last Conform our selves to the Religion we profess Let us endeavour to transcribe our Saviour's Copy that we may walk as He also walked and Be as He was in the World 1 Joh. 2.6 So shall our Life be happy and our Peace shall be full So shall we know both how to Abound and how to Want and how to be Happy in all Conditions So shall the God of Peace come into us and abide with us for ever to clear our Doubts Encourage our Faith Assure our Hope Facilitate our Endeavours and refresh us with the Irradiations of his Love till he bring us at last to a fulness of Joy to that Eternal Rest which He has provided for us Of which Vnspeakable Bliss may God of His Infinite Mercy make us all Partakers through Jesus Christ our Lord to Whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour Praise and Glory now and for ever Amen FINIS