Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	excellent_a	find_v	great_a	421	4	2.1545	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A52357	The true liberty & dominion of conscience vindicated, from the usurpations & abuses of opinion, and persuasion	Nalson, John, 1638?-1686.	1677 (1677)	Wing N117; ESTC R19982	50,790	152

parts of the Creation which do in obedience to his Will endeavour to promote those excellent Ends and Designs of his Glory in the happiness of the Creation shall as the Reward from his Bounty upon their Obedience be made partakers of that happiness they are capable of and which in his wisdom he sees best for them both here and hereafter And that those parts of the Creation who in opposition or contempt of so great goodness excellency and power endeavor to cross hinder and obstruct these great Ends of the Creation shall therefore be miserable both here and hereafter by the want of that happiness as also by such other penalties as the greatness of their Crimes deserves and their Natures are capable of CHAP. V. Of Conscience its Description what is its proper Employment and the manner of its Operation HAving shewn what Principles are the foundation of Conscience viz. a sence of that Duty which we owe to God and to one another The next inquiry must of necessity be how these Duties are to be performed so as they may be agreeable and acceptable to those to whom we are to pay them And herein common Reason obliges us to believe that we are bound to follow the directions of the Supreme Being so far as he has been pleased to manifest his Will and Pleasure to us Amongst Christians the Canon of the Holy Scripture has alwayes been taken for this Rule of Direction as being the Divine Revelation of the Will of GOD. And whosoever does seriously and attentively consider the scope of those Sacred Writings must of necessity confess them to owe their Original to the Divine Nature supposing it such as has before been described and universally believed for all their Commands Instructions and Exhortations are directly level'd at these great and glorious designs of the most excellent Spirit by promoting his Glory and the happiness of Mankind both here in this life and hereafter in the life to come So that now having found we owe a Duty and having likewise found a Rule for our direction how we ought to perform this Duty there will be no great difficulty to find what Conscience is for it is no other thing than that Principle which judges whether we have discharged our Duty according to this Rule and these Directions I do purposely avoid the Niceties of the Schools as too full of Curiosity and not at all conducing to my design which is to avoid all intricacy and perplexedness and to give such an easie proper and natural description and notion of Conscience that every man may find it in his own breast Conscience therefore is that Power which every Man hath within his own mind of judging all his thoughts words and actions whether they are agreeable to that which is the best Rule by which they ought to be directed Thus from a belief that there is a GOD and from the commands in Scripture to worship Him and Him onely my Conscience or Power that I have of judging my self immediately informs me that I ought not to neglect his Worship or to give it to any Creature If therefore I do either wholly or in part omit it or misplace my Worship my Conscience tells me I have done amiss because I have not followed the direction of the Rule Thus from the belief that I ought to contribute all I can to the accomplishment of the great and good design of the Almighty Being in promoting the happiness of all the parts of the Creation my Conscience presently informs me that I ought to do all the good I can in all senses unto all Men And on the contrary that therefore I must be careful to avoid doing any wilful injury to my self or to any other person whereby their present happiness may be impaired or their future lessened or prevented because in so doing I follow the directions of the Rule which only is satisfactory to Conscience whose office is to accuse me if I do wrong to encourage and acquit me if I do what is right and what I ought to do So that to make up Conscience there must be first a true and exact Rule for all our actions which we take the Scriptures to be as being as St. Paul saith sufficient to make the man of God wise unto salvation which I think is a sufficiency for a Rule beyond all exceptions and they who expect a better Rule certainly expect another End better I am sure it is impossible And as before was intimated if there were a necessity it were no hard task to prove the Scriptures in all particulars the most excellent Rule for the management of all humane Actions in order to the forementioned Ends of Gods Glory and the Happiness of the Universe Secondly There must be a true knowledge of this Rule Scientia before Conscientia which Preposition denotes only the private application of this knowledge to particular persons and things for this is most clear and evident that I must first know this or that is to be believed or done and after this or that manner before I can believe it to be my Duty or be able to pass a judgment upon my self that I have done well or ill in believing or not believing doing or not doing any thing or not doing it as I ought according to the direction of my Rule Lastly there must be an impartial and true judgment of my actions by this Rule that is whether they have been according to the directions of the Rule which is the proper employment of Conscience whose work is to measure my thoughts words and actions and to try whether they are conformable to the Rule by which I am bound to act and according to that judgment either to absolve or condemn me for them So that Conscience thus properly taken can only be exercised about such things as are certainly known and by consequence absolutely necessary to be done for such are all and only the commands and directions of the Rule according to that remarkable place of St. Paul Acts 24.16 concerning his own practice which ought to be a pattern to all men And herein do I exercise my self to have a Conscience void of offence towards God and towards Men. That is the proper and peculiar Employ of Conscience is to judge and determine whether I do my Duty to God and my Neighbour according to what I know is his Will revealed in his holy Word Now in regard that upon this true Notion of Conscience there lies a great deal of weight and it being the common mistake amongst weak minds to take every thing which is offer'd to them as such without a due examination for a matter of Conscience in the strictest sence I will endeavor to clear this Point and make it appear that Conscience is only directly concerned about such things as are certainly known and therefore absolutely necessary to be believed and done or not done First therefore we will inquire into the Nature and as I

why I or any other persons should not perform all the several Offices in the Book of Divine Service mentioned Why such Gestures Habits or Signs should not be made use of And then something is said to make them unlawful then every man in point of Conscience would be obliged to abstain from them but till that be done they will remain in their own natures simply indifferent and so far lawful And so long as they are so which will be to the Worlds end they act falsly and unjustly who endeavour to persuade weak minds and such as are not able to Judge that these Circumstances of Religious Worship now in use in the Church of England are absolutely unlawful and that they ought neither to use them nor to have any communion with those who do use them which is the true reason and foundation of their separation And that the treacherous dealers deal thus treacherously with us is plain for that the Ignorant and Vulgar always make this their Plea for their forsaking our Communion that their Consciences will not give them leave to joyn with us in our unlawful Ceremonies as in derision they call all the Service of the Church And this they must needs have from their Teachers who either ought not to have been Teachers if they themselves were not come to the knowledge of the Truth or if they were they ought to have taught them the Truth and that these Modes or Circumstances of Religion being in their own natures indifferent were onely matters of Opinion and not of Conscience until such time as they were some way or other lawfully determined And to prove that this they ought to have done and more than this have taught their Hearers That they ought to have submitted to such determinations I will endeavour to make it plainly appear by shewing how indifferent Circumstances of Divine Worship become obligatory to Conscience and so necessary to be performed Now all indifferent Circumstances in Religious Worship become necessary if in general they answer the great Design of God's glory and the Happiness of Mankind both here and hereafter it were enough therefore to demand which of all these indifferent things are contrary to these great Designs and wherein which I am sure it is impossible for them to make appear But for the satisfaction of some who may retain their prejudices for want of a better information I will shew more fully and distinctly how indifferent things become necessary with some short reflections upon such of them as in the Ceremonies and Service of the Church of England are most objected against First therefore an indifferent Circumstance in Religious Worship becomes necessary if in general it conduces to the advancement of Piety and Holiness because whatsoever does so is absolutely necessary to be done and it is every man's duty to endeavour to promote goodness by all lawful ways and means Thus therefore set and appointed times for Publick Worship and Service of God become necessary such are the Lords Day and all other holy Fasts and Festivals in which People assemble together to call upon and praise God and to give him that devout Worship and humble Adoration which in duty they are bound to do where sin is reproved the ignorant are instructed the weak are confirmed and strengthned the Holy Sacraments those Pledges of God's Love and Seals of our Inheritance with the Saints in Light are celebrated and all people are exhorted directed persuaded and encouraged to the performance of their respective duties towards God and all men And that such set times are necessary will appear because were men left to their own liberty when and where to perform these Duties of publick Worship such is the treachery and backwardness of mens natures that if they were not determined by a necessity they would generally neglect the Service of God and find out perpetual excuses and evasions to delay the performance of it to the great decay of Piety and Religion and the great hazard of the salvation of their Souls For this purpose also publick Places of Assemblies decent and convenient for those uses become necessary and by such Dedication and solemn setting apart to the Service of God they become his Houses and cease to be common or indifferent by obtaining a Relative Holiness Exod. 3.5 Ezek. 42.13 14. and 44.19 such as did the ground about the burning Bush the Temple and its Vessels the Vestments and Chambers of the Priests all which are called Holy And therefore the Royal Psalmist does prophetically tell us Psal 93. ult Holiness becometh thy House for ever which must either be false or else be understood of Christian Temples Secondly Indifferent things and Circumstances in Divine Worship become necessary if they promote Peace Vnity and Charity according to those great and necessary Rules of the Gospel Live in peace if it be possible 2 Cor. 13.11 Heb. 12.14 2 Cor. 13.2 Coloss 3.14 Ephes 4.3 1 Cor. 13.13 as much as in you lies follow peace with all men Finally brethren be of one mind Above all things put on charity which is the bond of persectness Keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace Now remaineth Faith Hope and Charity but the greatest of these is Charity Now that one set and prescribed form of Publick Worship Administration of the Sacraments and other Religious Duties doth extremely promote all these nothing can be more plain for where men are left to their own liberty one likes this way of performance another likes and prefers another way from hence immediately arises a breach of Unity from thence men come to Disputations and Controversies which is the best way And whilst each party is equally obstinate in the defence of their own Opinion many heats of passion happen which vent themselves in bitter words from thence men come to variance division and separation from thence to hatred and then the door is set wide open to violence force confusion war and all the innumerable mischiefs which are its dreadful consequents and constant companions That these are sad and experimented truths I appeal to all sober and considerative men but lest their Judgment should not be satisfactory let us hear the judgment of an Apostle who was guided in what he writ by an infallible Spirit Jam. 3.14 But if ye have bitter envyings and strife in your hearts glory not and lie not against the truth This wisdom descendeth not from above but is earthly sensual devillish for where envying and strife is there is confusion and every evil work But the wisdom that is from above is first pure then peaceable gentle and easie to be entreated full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisie and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace Nor is it possible to find out any way to make peace and bring men to unity and charity but by some determination of these indifferent things which is not