Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A43824
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The strength of the saints to make Jesvs Christ their strength which heavenly skill was briefly commended and prescribed in a morning exercise in Westminster Abbey, the 19th of April, 1648 / by Thomas Hill ...
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Hill, Thomas, d. 1653.
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1648
(1648)
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Wing H2030; ESTC R25713
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22,258
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28
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Caution and these are four friendly Items under it First I beseech you beware that you do not rest upon your own preparations for Ordinances It is a very commendable thing I would have you pray that you may pray and I would have you draw nigh and make use of secret Communion with God before you are to come to a Communion and when you come to seek Communion with Him in a Sermon let that be your great care but take heed you do not rest upon your own preparation when you have prepared for if you advance them into the Throne of Jesus Christ and rest upon them when you should rest only upon Him truly it is the way to make all your preparations miscarry and in stead of fruit you 'l have dry breasts and a miscarrying womb you 'l have nothing at all come to any perfection let the Saints that are acquainted with such trading at the Throne of grace as I hope divers of you are reflect and consult sometimes with their own experience if it hath not bin so Have not you when you have prayed very much before a Sermon it may be got little by the Sermon though it was a very wholsome one Have not you many times when you thought you had bin prepar'd and having kept a secret day of humiliation if there were no publique opportunities before a Communion have not you found that somtimes you have had even then lesser comfort at communion what is the reason of this Though God doth ordinarily dispense mercy according to our care to prepare yet sometimes he will not do it and then especially when there is any little carnal dependance upon what we have done for we may be carnally dependant upon Spiritual preparations for Spiritual duties when there is the least degree of carnal dependance upon our preparations he will not bear any thing to be a Corrival with Jesus Christ and therefore he will let us see that we shall fall short for that time of what we expected and so do us good and make us more fit another time Secondly As I would have you beware of resting in your preparations for an Ordinance so do not rest upon your enlargments in an Ordinance It may be you have a Spring-tide of assistance comes in a Minister preaches with great presence of the Spirit of God and a Saint prayes as we find it in the holy-Ghost finds the holy Spirit of God leading him from Petition to Petition and melting him with brokenness when he is confessing sin and filling him with rejoycing when he is remembring mercy and raising him with a high wing as it were of importunity when he is begging of favour as it was an admirable temper in holy Bradford that he was not content till he found God coming in to his spirit with several dispensations according to the several parts of his Prayer Sometimes a Minister and a Saint finds it thus And so in other holy Ordinances if you go away assoon as ever Duty is done and stroke your selves Oh! what an admirable prayer was here and surely I shall do well this day now and I shall be able to wrestle with all temptations I have prayed well in the morning and I have felt God with me this is the way to miscarry thousands have found it and I am sure some of us can seal to it when they have thought they have prayed with most assistance from God and have bin warmed in the morning but the weeds spring up even when the weather is dry you that converse with gardens know it you need never sow weeds no more need you in your hearts they wil come up fast enough an evil weed called Pride comes up which grieves the Spirit of God that when we come to pray next it may be we pray most dully and flatly and can say little or nothing and when we come to preach next yea somtimes when we come to preach the same Sermon again this is certain Ministers find they have preached such a Sermon in such a place with very much enlargment it may be God gave in some soul and quickn'd some others by it and they hearing of it do grow proud of it come to preach the same Sermon and think this will do as much again no such matter they draw it out so heavily and so dully as if it were not the same Sermon As I could name you a most famous man as any of his time in England no dishonor to him who having preached the same Sermon at his own Church with very much assistance and going abroad one of his neighbors with him hearing from him the same Sermon saw him at some loss coming home talked together Sir saith he did you find Gods assistance this day as you were wont I never heard you in my poor conceit so much out as to day O it 's true brother saith he yet I hope though it were one of the worst Sermons I ever preached for others God may make it one of the best Sermons that ever I preached for my self and truly God doth so often there is a wonderful wisdom in it let every one of us take heed of resting upon any enlargements in Duties Thirdly Do not rest upon the Comforts you have in a Duty or after a Duty It may be when you have bin at a Duty and have had soule Ravishments O now you think my nest is built very high and my rock is firm and I shall go on vigorously Chrysostome hath a good saying Me thinks saith he a Saint when he comes from a Sacrament should be able to flie in the face of the Devil and in every Temptation and though he walk in the midst of snares he will be able to encounter with them all Comforts are very sweet things and indeed strengthenning things The joy of the Lord is our strength saith Nehemiah nothing more animates souls than joy and when they are in the most cheerful frame then in the most praying frame only here is the danger If we rest upon those joyes and comforts we provoke God to withdraw them for delicatissima I 'le not say only dilicata but delicatissima res est Spiritus sanctus the most choice and tender thing in the world you must deal most tenderly with it it is the holy Spirit the holy Ghost and it delights to dwell in none but a clean pure Temple most cleanly swept Christians should not only have neat houses but neat hearts if they will delight to have the Spirit of God dwel in them and therefore not any pride spring up even when they have most ravishing comforts Fourthly If we would have much strength of grace from Christ the Lord set it upon us all I desire to preach to my selfe in it as well as to you As we should not rest upon Preparations for Ordinances Enlargements in Ordinances nor Comforts by Ordinances so not in Grace received from Ordinance
unworthy of the Preachers here that the Auditory met so constantly with a great degree of Uniformity for ought I know it is so still I rejoyce in it O do not say I 'le go hear this man and that man c. I know there is an Inequalittie of gifts and people may sometimes be edified more by one than another and may have occasion sometimes to bless God more for one than another yet sometimes for the Meanest aswell as for the Greatest and God will do so because he will take us off from dependancy upon men and means Yet I say it 's good to come not with respect of persons disrespecting any faithful Minister but to say I 'le go to an Ordinance of Christ I 'le go to seek Jesus Christ and his strengthning grace If one should come and ask you Wither are you going this morning brother or sister I am going to a Sermon Who preaches it 's no matter I am going to an Ordinance of Christ where grace and strength is offered I 'le go to seek that I care not if I were blindfold if I might hear the Voice of Christ Oh this were an excellent temper I am perswaded we should speed better if we did come thus prepared and disposed 3. As you should come first with an eye upon your own weakness 2. With another eye upon Jesus Christ where your strengt lies And then with your judgement rightly set what to seek and expect as you should come to Jesus Chrst and to the Ordinances to seek the grace of Christ so withall to come in the strength of the Promises of Christ and by prayer put that bond in suit for grace at the Throne of Grace The Promises for there lies our strength whereby are given unto us those exceeding great and precious Promises that we might be partakers of the Divine Nature In 2 Pet. 1. 4. It is a blessed thing when we come in the Authority of a Command to an Ordinance and in the strength of a Promise when we come Conscionably to comply with a Command when we come fiducially to close with a promise what a sweet thing would this be if a Gospel-promise should fall upon any of our hearts God over-looking the unworthiness of the Preacher and the unpreparedness of the Hearers and one beam of light fall upon your Spirits and leave a heavenly tincture that Parliament-men might go hence fitted for their work more prepared for the service of Jesus Christ in all their Publick Transactions and Ministers of the Assembly more fit for their holy and humble and serious and brotherly Debates and with the Spirit of meeknesse and calmnesse and publicknesse of heart and all private Christians in their places in their several Spheres and to say now O blessed be the Lord for this mornings opportunity next our hearts that we might hear first of Jesus Christ and get something upon our spirits that might habituate us to walk with Him all the day yea in Him as we have received Him And then let me adde this in the next place 4. Beware and I beseech you do not forget this the want of which may mar all the rest of Soule obstructions of an after-clap and of a back-blow from the Devil who will endeavour to take you on the blind side to surprize you with Incogitancie or transport you with Passion Remember what hath been said do not applaud your selfes that you have heard such a Sermon you had some delight in it and may blesse God for it Oh but take heed now the Devil get not between you and your Sermon by such or such a temptation take heed of Pride or any Carnal weeds take heed of resting upon any thing on this side Jesus Christ but be often putting forth new actings of Faith in Him and His Covenant sealed with His Bloud remember this to act this Truth God grant you and I may never forget this Gospellesson It is a good Truth let us learn to begin to make Jesus Christ our strength in every duty in little as well as in great In the last place I will be so bold with your patience as to ad a word by way of Expostulation which I heartily desire may be as pleasing to you as it is seasonable for you Why are you not more vigilantly jealous over any such things as would draw you from intimate communion with Christ and close dependance upon him whether they be creature-comforts or any other vain inventions of men will you prefer those perishing things which are not bread before water wine and milk It 's good counsel the Lord gives by his Prophet Remember the admirable caveat Paul gives to the Colossians Beware lest any man spoil you through Philosophy and vain deceit after the traditions of men according to the world and not after Christ spoil you putting you upon any thing which is not after Christ is to rob and undo you Let no man therefore judge you in meat or drink or in respect of an holy-day or of the new moon or of the Sabbaths as it is expressed in the Original which are a shadow of things to come but the body is of Christ Mind not their judging or condemning of you who would bring from Christ to Moses care not to approve your selves to them who will set up any thing against your Head Why will you comply with any such carnal Polititians who cry down such a Reformation as Christ Jesus expects say Let us make us a Captain and return back into AEgypt so that we may have our flesh-pots there let us have our old Prelacy and Service-book we like Egyptian fare though but garlike and onions Let no man beguile you by a voluntary humility not holding the Head Abhor all such Opinions and Practices be they never so pompous and specious that will take you off from your Head Christ and forget not Pauls faithful intimation And this I say lest any man should beguile you with inticing words But let Jonahs Oracle Chap. 3. 8. ever live in peace though they who wait upon lying vanities forsake their own mercy They which gain Him have something they may call their own humane inventions and creatures wil deceive Christ is the True Treasure and everliving Spring Whether have you made any proportionable returns of thankefulness to God for your intrest in 〈…〉 full and over-flowing Spring of Grace Where are your ingenuous reciprocations It 's Gods highest Gospel design to display the freeness and fulness of his Grace hence expressions to this purpose frequently often in Ephe. 1. 6. To the praise of the glory of his grace v. 12. 14. Act act rigorously I beseech you in a happy concurrence with God to magnifie Jesus Christ The more rich you are in faith and all other Graces of his Spirit Iam. 2. 5. the more rich in good works 16. 18. The greater riches of assurance you may hope for as