Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A34598
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Set on the great pot a sermon upon hospitality / preach'd at a late visitation at Turnbridge in Kent on 2 Kings IV. 38 by H.C.
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H. C. (Henry Cornwallis), 1654?-1710.
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1694
(1694)
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Wing C6334; ESTC R28413
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9,452
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32
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wonderful thing that you contribute towards our living and being easy for a time here Do you not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the Temple are maintained by the Offerings and Oblations that are made there You know little of the Constitution among the Jews if you think any opened or shut a Door in the Temple for nought Mal. 1.10 and if all the inferior Officers had fair Allotments in proportion much more they who attended at the Altar were Partakers with the Altar shared in all the Gifts and Offerings which were brought thither But why do I go about to light the Sun with a Taper and prove that to you by Reason which is so manifest by the Word of God Perhaps my Sermon may make no Impression on your Hearts because they are the Words of a mortal Man behold I will turn you to the Words of the ever-living God I am a frail Man and may err but God is a God of Truth that cannot lie nor alter the thing that is gone out of his Lips hear then what he says by his Prophet Malachy ch 3.8 9 10. Will a Man rob God yet ye have robbed me but ye say Wherein have we robbed thee In Tythes and Offerings Ye are cursed with a Curse for ye have robbed me even this whole Nation Bring ye my Tythes into my House and prove me whether I will not open the Windows of Heaven and pour out a Blessing c. In which Words we may observe 1 st Their Sin they robbed God 2 dly Their Punishment they are cursed 3 dly The Means to divert this Judgment viz. to bring the full Tythes Will a Man rob God 'T is an horrible Wickedness to rob and dispoil our Parents or Masters to ravish their Goods and Maintenance from them but to rob our God is a Wickedness much more flagitious a Sin so monstrous that the Jews though then very much degenerated and corrupted startled at the mention of Ye have robbed me but they say Wherein have we robbed thee In Tythes and Offerings For God the great Donor of all had reserved these to himself which he gave to his Priests for their Service in his Worship and with-holding these they robbed him Hear then the Judgment that he denounced against them Ye are cursed with a Curse 'T is bad to be cursed by Man Elishah's Curse proved fatal to the Children bred up in Idolatry that called him Bald Pate Now if the Curse of Man prove so fatal what is the Curse of God But now what was there to redeem them from this Curse mark in the following Verse Bring all the Tythes into the Store-house that there may be Meat in my House A mighty Encouragement not only for them but for all succeeding Generations to have a Regard for things sacred But now to draw to a Conclusion Give me leave to make this short Address to my Brethren of the Clergy not to instruct them in their Duty but to speak their own Thoughts in my plain Words If the Laity be just to us let not us be unjust to our Master but let us give according as we are able to the Necessity of the Poor Remember the Levites were the least of all the Tribes yet their Privileges and Revenues were greater than any other of the Tribes for they had not only the Tenth of all the Fruits of the Land but a share in all the Peace-Offerings and Free-will-Offerings of the People in their redemption of several things sacred to God as the First-born besides the many Cities and Lands which were set a-part in every Tribe for them with numberless other things that belonged to them Nay as I learned once by the Conference of an eminent Divine of the Church of England they had near the sixth Part of the Revenue of the Nation allotted to them But now why I pray were their Privileges and Revenues greater than any of the other Tribes Why this I take to be the Reason because they were not only Priests but Almoners to the other Tribes and their Houses were as Hospitals to the Poor Let us therefore as the Apostles advise us be given to Hospitality and following the Example of this great Prophet in time of Dearth and Famine Set on the Great Pot and seethe Pottage for our poor Brethren that are in Distress I shall now conclude with this earnest Prayer That you may never want Clergy Learned Persons and Orthodox and diligent Workmen that need not be ashamed daily dividing the Word of Truth and like good Stewards breaking the Bread of Life and distributing to each in their Families sutable to their Needs and Capacities and by an holy Life may powerfully lead as well as by sound Doctrine safely guide them to Heaven And I do further pray That these may never want a People teachable and obedient who may receive them as the Angels of God the Ambassadors of Christ and the Glory of the Churches and then there is no doubt but they will meet with not only their legal Dues but many grateful Returns for their abundant Labours reverencing their Persons consulting their Reputations contriving for their decent and becoming Support and Maintenance in a word esteeming them and theirs highly for their Works sake This would make our Country a Land of Delight indeed the Glory of all Places a little Resemblance and Figure of Heaven where Knowledg Righteousness Love and Unity with all other Graces and Vertues would flourish and abound to the Praise of him who has called us out of Darkness to his infinite Light which God of his infinite Goodness grant for the sake of his dear Son and our Saviour Christ Jesus the Righteous to whom with the Father and Eternal Spirit be ascribed all Praise Might Majesty and Dominion FINIS