Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A33215
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A paraphrase with notes upon the sixth chapter of St. John with a discourse on humanity and charity / by W. Claget.
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Clagett, William, 1646-1688.
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1693
(1693)
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Wing C4389; ESTC R24224
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72,589
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201
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Power to encourage Piety and good Manners and all that is worthy of Praise amongst Men. And whilst we make it manifest to the World that Righteous Men are in their Distress so far from being forsaken of God that not only their Distress but their Innocence too and their Vertue shall be considered by Men we do effectually reprove Wickedness and Vice and preach Honesty and Piety And it is not unlikely but Charity thus placed besides the Good that it does to the Bodies of some will do good also to the Souls of others Upon such plain Reasons as these we should more especially do Good to the Houshold of Faith Whereby also we may without farther trouble avoid their Censures who carry their Respect to those whom God loves and honours beyond what I have been pleading for I mean those who reckon it to be no small Act of Piety to visit the Bones and the Ashes and other Reliques of Saints and Martyrs and to leave costly Presents at their Shrines and Sepulchres For it has been laid to our Charge with no little Confidence that we dishonour and contemn the dead Servants of God because we do not thus offer to ' em But we may I hope clear our selves without offence and say that we are as ready to honour the Dead as to relieve the Living Saints We are not well assured that the Bones and the Utensils to which so mighty a Regard is given are indeed the Remains of Saints But if we were yet we are not satisfied that there is any respect to the dead Bodies of the Saints beyond that of a decent and honourable Interment warranted by the Examples of the truly Primitive Church and that any Service to 'em beyond this is acceptable to God has wanted Proof hitherto and Defence as well as Proof But now we are very sure that the Bodies of Righteous and Godly Men are holy and the living Temples of God whilst they live with us in this World For this the Scripture saith We are sure that the Sacrifices of Alms which are Sacrifices when given for God's sake that with them I say God is well-pleased for this is affirmed in the Scripture We are very sure that they are doubly pleasing to him when they are presented to his living Members when they are distributed to the Houshold of Faith for this also is according to Scripture And in all these things there is such evident Congruity that Reason without any Dispute presently agrees to ' em In a word I do not read that any the least Promise is made to visiting and presenting the Ashes of the Dead nor that Christ will take these things when done in honour of his Servants as done to himself But I read that at the last day our having visited and relieved our feeding clothing and comforting the least of his true Servants that are with us will be so accounted and will be rewarded as if these things had been done to himself In as much as ye did it to the least of these ye did it also unto me All which being considered we may be sure that we are well guarded against the angry Reflections of our Neighbours if we take care to excel them in Charity to the Living as much as they imagin they out-do us in honouring the Dead And thus much for the Objects of Charity as they are specified in the Text. I am now to touch upon that Intimation of the Rewards of it which we have in the Text also As we have opportunity It is a true sence of these words to interpret them thus as often as occasions of Charity present themselves and as long as we are in a condition to do good Works of this kind But as I told you they have a plain reference to the three foregoing Verses Be not deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever a Man soweth that shall he also reap For he that soweth to the Flesh shall of the Flesh reap Corruption but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap Life everlasting And let us not be weary in well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not As we have therefore opportunity let us c. i. e. as long as the opportunity or season of sowing in good Works lasts let us sow that we may reap plentifully when Harvest-time comes i. e. when the Rewards of Charity shall be given abroad as they will assuredly be in a better World if not in this also The Seed which he means as we find by the 6th Verse are the good things of this Life And as by sowing to the Spirit he undoubtedly meant doing good out of our worldly Store to All Men and especially to the Houshold of Faith so by sowing to the Flesh must on the other hand be meant the encreasing of our own Possessions and the serving of our own Pleasures I will not say providing for inordinate Lusts for this is more than the Text necessarily implies tho' that be sowing to the Flesh too So that we will set that aside and consider what the use of that Wealth will come to which is expended in things not to be blamed in goodly Houses and fine Cloaths and a plentiful Table and the like For this is sowing to the Flesh and the Apostle tells us that he that soweth to the Flesh shall of the Flesh reap Corruption i. e. at the end of this Life he shall find that all these things have perished in the using and can turn to no account for him now at last that there is no farther enjoyment of them and that the very remembrance of them which is all that is left hath neither Pleasure nor Profit in it And so he shall reap for this sowing nothing but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Corruption i. e. no increase but a loss of what he sowed Now true it is that thus we must all sow to the Flesh in some degree or other we must provide for our own Bodies and the needs of our Life and we may make a reasonable use of our Wealth for the innocent Pleasures of it too But this is that sowing which will yield no Harvest at last There is an Enjoyment for the time but when the use is over there is no farther Profit to be expected So that he is said by the Apostle to sow to the Flesh who does little or nothing else with the good things of this World that God has given him but only sets himself out with them and applies them wholly to the serving of his own Needs and Pleasures For by him that soweth to the Spirit he could not mean one that makes no use of his Wealth for supplying his own Needs and Necessities but one who does that and relieves others too Now of him it is said that he shall reap Life everlasting for tho' the Seed be it self of a transitory carnal and perishing Nature yet being thus disposed to a spiritual use being cast into such a Soil it
talked amongst themselves as if these Sayings of their Master must needs be offensive to the Ears of all Persons that had a sence of Humanity and as for themselves that they knew not what to make of them 61. Neither did they desire him to explain himself further but he by his Divine Spirit knowing what they muttered amongst themselves applied himself to them in particular and upbraided them in this manner for taking so unreasonable an offence against him 62. When you shall see me ascend up to Heaven it will not seem strange that I came down from thence and because even then it will remain necessary that you should eat my Flesh and drink my Blood you may be sure I do not mean that gross feeding upon my Flesh and drinking my Blood in which you understand what I have said for my Body will then be too far removed from the Conversation of mortal Men to be capable of being so used 63. No when I speak to you of the Conditions of obtaining everlasting Life though I have now expressed them by eating my Flesh and drinking my Blood yet you had reason to understand me of spiritual Actions which do indeed tend to the bettering of the inward Man For they are such things only that feed the Soul and can preserve it to Eternal Life But to this purpose the flesh profiteth nothing No not my own Flesh if you should eat it as grosly as you understand my Sayings For even this would be but bodily Nourishment but would have no Influence upon the Mind But if you would know what those things are that better the Soul and it is my Business to call you off from that sollicitous Care you take of your mortal Bodies to mind your Souls and to provide for a blessed Resurrection If I say you would know what things are proper for the Improvement of the Mind they are the Words that I speak unto you they are those Precepts of a heavenly Life and those Promises of eternal Life which I have laid before you that Faith which I require you to have in my Death and that Example of Doctrine Charity and Humility which I require you to follow These are the spiritual means of renewing your Minds and therefore Means also of fitting you for Eternal Life V. 61 62 63. Our Lord perceiving how grosly the Jews and some of his own Disciples understood those Expressions of eating his Flesh and drinking his Blood did upon this occasion explain his own meaning as fully as he did to Nicodemus in the point of Regeneration For Nicodemus having said How can a Man be born when he is old Can he enter the second time into his Mothers Womb and be born Jesus answered Verily verily I say unto thee except a Man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God That which is born of the Flesh is Flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit Which was as much as to say The Flesh profiteth nothing as here V. 63. And if you were by a strange Miracle to be born again the natural way by this fleshly Birth you would come again but into a mortal Life but that fleshly Birth would not avail you for everlasting Life In the very same manner our Saviour repeated in this Chapter those Sayings which the Jews and some of his own Disciples were offended at and in the same manner he explained them afterwards It is the Spirit that quickneth the Flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life Which being compared with the Answer to Nicodemus now mentioned and explained by the light that Answer affords can yield no other meaning than that which I have expressed in the Paraphrase As for the 62d V. it might be intended as an Answer to that particular Exception against him mentioned V. 42. that he was the Son of Joseph and could not therefore reasonably pretend to come down from Heaven To which if our Lord referred his words are a proper Answer viz. that when they should see him ascend into Heaven they would no longer doubt of the truth of his coming from thence But I rather think those words refer to that great Offence which some of his own Disciples took against him that he should speak of their eating of his Flesh and drinking of his Blood For they were his Disciples only that saw him ascend And when they should know that he was in Heaven they could not without great Stupidity think that he would give them his Flesh to eat and his Blood to drink in that gross sence wherein they understood him However I have put both these Interpretations into the Paraphrase 64. But no wonder that you wrest my Sayings to so absurd a sence as you do for there are some amongst you that dislike my Doctrine and are grown weary of following me and wait for an opportunity to leave me For as soon as any Man professed himself his Disciple Jesus knew how he stood affected towards him And he did not only know who of the Multitude that follow'd him would revolt but likewise which of his Apostles would betray him See V. 36. 65. And Jesus added Because I knew that there were some such amongst you therefore I thought fit to tell you before V. 37 39 44. that my Doctrine would never be heartily entertained by any but those whom God had prepared for it by enduing them with a Mind willing to learn and with a prevailing desire of obtaining God's Favour and Eternal Life 66. Upon this close application of his Doctrine to the Consciences of those insincere Disciples of his they finding themselves discovered and that it was to no purpose to dissemble resolved to pretend themselves his Disciples no longer and went off from him without more ado 67. Jesus seeing them turn their Backs upon him took this occasion both to shew that some of his Disciples were sincere and that he cared not to be followed by any but those that were willing and therefore he said to the Twelve You see I do not compel Men to follow me but that I let them depart if they will go Now what say you will ye still continue my Disciples or follow the Example of these Men and go away 68. Whereupon Peter who was still the most forward Speaker in his Master's Cause answered for himself and the rest Lord our greatest concern is to attain eternal Life and there is none other but thy self who can guide us to it And we understand that those very Sayings of thine with which these Men were so unreasonably offended do shew us the necessity of believing thy Words and Doctrine as thou didst now tell them V. 63. that we may live for ever V. 68. Thou hast the words of eternal Life This saying of St. Peter confirms the Interpretation I have given of V. 63. For here he seems plainly to repeat our Lord's sence almost in the