Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A49384
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The Christian race a sermon preach'd before the Queen at Kensington on Sunday the 31th of July, 1692 / by Richard Lucas ...
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Lucas, Richard, 1648-1715.
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1692
(1692)
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Wing L3394; ESTC R13000
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14,824
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32
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for their distance and futurity and Faith Supplies the place of Vision for Faith is the Substance of things hoped for the Evidence of things not seen Hebr. 11.1 So that 't is evident the Scale of Victory is not turned on the side of the Body against the Mind till false Principles have supplanted the Authority of the one and Indulgence and ill Customs increased and fortified the Propensions of the other to worldly and sensible things I have remarkt this that none of us may go about to remove the Guilt of our Ruin from our selves on our first Parents or God that none may think we have sufficiently discharged our Duty by accusing our Nature or excused our Vices by Arraigning our Frailty This calls to mind a Second Truth contained in this Rule namely That no Sin is invincible that none is so deeply rooted in us either by Nature or Custom but it may be extirpated This is an Assertion you will easily admit if you consider by what glorious Instruments the Conversion of Man is wrought the Spirit of God and the Word of God i. e. the Wisdom and the Power of God Or if you consider the Description of it in Holy Scripture it is called the Divine Nature the New Creature the Image of God the Life of Faith a being transformed from Glory to Glory the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God and such like What Degrees of Perfection all this may import I enquire not 't is plain it can imply nothing less than a Purification from all Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit and through Sanctification of Spirit Soul and Body Nor is this a matter of meer Speculation the Converts of the first Times were living Demonstrations of this Truth and their daily Actions were nothing else but the glorious Effects of an intire Victory not over the Weakest only but most Obstinate of their Sins All this inculcates this one plain Lesson That no Man must think to shelter his Negligence and Lukewarmness or any Darling Lust under the pretence of an insuperable Infirmity or that by owning himself to be but Man he is excused from being a Christian The truth is if Christianity did consist in a Quarrel only with our Sins not a Conquest of them it would be nothing else but a Circulation of Sins and Follies for Regret and Remorse which doth only disturb not reform may be reckoned amongst the Infirmities of Man and that Repentance which brings not forth Fruit is it self to be repented of amongst our other Faults For Thirdly The last Truth I 'le observe to you from this Rule is That Spiritual Liberty is the beginning of Perfection that the first step towards doing Well is ceasing to do Evil that the Christian must make the first Experiment of his Zeal upon himself that Reformation and Charity must begin at home not only that his Attempts of doing good may have in them their proper Luster and Majesty their just Authority and Influence but indeed that he may be qualified and capacitated for making any for how weak and unsuccessful must his Endeavours be whilst some wretched Lust takes up his time imployes the Vigour of his Soul and alienates his Affection from every thing that is truly Great or Good Will the Unclean deny the Importunities of his Lust to satisfie those of his Duty will the Covetous impoverish himself so he styles giving Alms to support others in Laziness and yet his Heap of Treasure like heaps of Soil and Dung is good for nothing till it is scattered abroad Will the Proud stoop to the humble Offices which our Crucified Saviour did will the Soft or the Ambitious run those Hazards or indure those Hardships which are generally unavoidable in carrying on any considerable Good or will the Factious cross the Interest of his Party to promote that of his God I mean that of Religion in General This abundantly demonstrates how inconsistent every sinful Affection is with Success in our Christian Race and consequently how necessary the Advice of my Text is That we should put it off as a burthen or weight Nor is this true only of this or that particular Sin but of all in general and therefore me must put off every weight Strive said our blessed Saviour to enter in at the streight Gate for streight is the Gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto Life and few there be that find it All our vigour all our strength assisted by the Spirit of God will be little enough to open this Way and storm Heaven Ah! what can we expect from Affections divided between God and Mammon or any other Lust from Strengths scattered and disperfed in pursuit of Vice as well as Vertue and these deserted and abandoned by the Spirit of God for the Holy Spirit of Discipline will fly Deceit and will not abide when Iniquity cometh in Wisd 1. But though all Sin in general obstruct the Christian in his Race and defeat him of his Crown yet none so fatally as the beloved one And therefore 't is against this against the sin that easily besets us that the Apostle in his second Rule awakens all our Jealousie and Summons all our Courage this being the Sin in which especially lyes the strength of Satan and in the Conquest of it the first and I think I may add the greatest Difficulty of Christianity To illustrate therefore this Advice of the Apostle I 'le first shew what it is and then secondly how to cure it First What it is As in the Humours of the Body so in the Vices of the Mind there is one Predominant which is this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it has an Ascendant over us and leads and governs us it is in the Body of Sin what the Heart is in the Body of our Nature it begins to live first and dies last and whilst it lives it communicates Life and Spirit to the whole Body of Sin and when it dies the Body of Sin expires with it It is the Sin to which our Constitutions leads our Circumstances betray and Custom inslaves us the Sin to which not our Vertues only but Vices too lour their Topsail and submit the Sin which when we would impose upon God and our Consciences we excuse and disguise with all imaginable Artifice and Sophistry but when we are sincere with both we oppose first and conquer last 'T is in a word the Sin which Reigns and Rules in the Vnregenerate and too often Alarums and Disturbs ah that I could say no more the Regenerate Having thus fully discovered what this Sin is without vexing and torturing the Text by Criticisins I 'le now proceed secondly to shew you how to conquer it First Indeavour to possess your Souls with a true Notion of Sin in General but especially of this beloved one in Particular Falshood and Folly Levity and Inconstancy Cowardize and Ingratitude and all that is base constitute the very Essence of Sin As to the Effects of it it dishonours and as much
one as by the other How triumphant did then the Strength of Faith the Ardours of Zeal and the Tenderness of Charity appear 'T was as much difficulty then to restrain the Flights of Faith and Transports of Love within the Bounds of Christian Prudence as to enkindle them now to any degrees of Decency Then indeed the Just did live by Faith they acknowledged themselves to be Strangers and Pilgrims upon Earth and sought no Country but a Heavenly one then indeed they followed after Righteousness with that Resolution and Impetuosity which shewed that they did really believe they contended for a Crown and Kingdom But now alas our Love of this World vies with their Contempt of it and our Contempt of Heaven with their Passion for it Now carnal Prudence eats up our Zeal Faction consumes our Charity the Lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life deforms our Mortification dispirits our Devotion and every little blast of Opposition overthrows our Faith The Atheist digs up the Foundations and the Loose and Immoral demolish the Superstructures the one denies the Truth and the other the Power of our Christian Faith in one word we have degenerated to that degree that there needs as many Miracles to revive and restore the Life and Spirit of Religion among us as ever God has wrought to preserve the publick Profession of it and were there not a few Names among us dear to Heaven I perswade my self God could no more endure our Vices than we their Reformation and do you think now that in the Day of the Revelation of the righteous Judgment of God when he shall render to every Man according to his Works it will suffice to present him with Excuses instead of good Works to urge the Temptation of the World and the Frailties of Nature instead of conquering them to plead the Hypocrisie of Pretenders and the Immorality of this or that Ecclesiastick that is the Vices of the Bad instead of imitating the Vertues of the Good Alas a Cloud of Witnesses will be produced to baffle this Empty Sophestry and refute these poor Shifts and then those Examples which could not here enkindle and excite your Vertue will shame and reproach your Vice and what could not reform will then serve to condemn you But never may this prove the Portion of any one here but that Crown which is my second Motive Had there been any thing more dazling upon Earth then Royalty the Spirit of God would have described the Felicity of Heaven by it but since there is not he is content to call the Reward of Righteousness a Crown the State of the Glorified a Kingdom and themselves Kings and Priests to God for ever But let not this Metaphor serve to debase our Notion of that State This is no Kingdom of secret Fears and splendid Troubles of wakeful Cares and glittering Dangers No 't is a Kingdom of Philosophy and Love of Knowledge and Righteousness of Beauty and Perfection of Joy and Triumph of Tranquility and Rest not bred like that of the Ambitious sometimes either by Satiety Disappointments or an Increase of Years but resulting purely from Security and Extasie In one word As God is his own Heaven so next to that which results from the Injoyment of him every one of the Blessed will be a Kingdom to himself being an Image of God drawn in little And yet after all this how little is it of Heaven that we yet know It 's Joys for ought I know are as boundless as the Perfections of God from whence they flow Ages may run by while we each day survey new Scenes of Wonders and taste each day new Worlds of Pleasures Ah! I cannot wonder that such as were possessed with the Belief and Expectation of this State were willing to quit Mesopotamia or an Egypt for an Heaven Nets and Fisher-Boats for Crowns and Kingdoms Trifles for Treasure Moments for an Eternity Ah! did not Lust sully the Idea of Heaven did not some degree of Infidelity undermine our Belief of it what Dangers what Difficulties should we not defie in order to secure it Did doing Good expose us to as many Reproaches from without as doing Evil doth from within were the state of the Righteous as uneasie as that of the Wicked who are as the troubled Sea when it cannot rest yet what would not a Man do what would he not suffer were his Soul fired with the Belief and Hopes of such a Heaven How much more fearless and active would Zeal be than Ambition how much more wakeful and indefatigable Charity than Lust or Covetousness Revenge or Envy Ah! with what Transport would Man pour out his Time his Treasure his Strength on this one Design of Doing Good had he but a Heaven always in his Eye Let us then that we may neither shrink nor tire through any Difficulties or Hazards which may attend us in this Race of Doing Good look up daily unto Jesus till our Faith be turned into Vision and make Heaven our Meditation till God make it our Reward To whom be Glory for ever and ever Amen FINIS Several Books published by Dr. Lucas Vicar of St. Stephens Coleman-street and sold by Samuel Smith at the Prince 's Arms in St. Paul 's Church-yard 1692. PRactical Christianity Or an Account of the Holiness which the Gospel enjoyns with Motives to it and the Remedies it proposes against Temptations with a Prayer concluding each distinct Duty in Octavo 1685. Price 3 s. 6 d. Enquiry after Happiness in several Parts Vol. 1. in Octavo The Second Edition Corrected and Enlarged 1692. Price 3 s. 6 d. The true Notion of Humane Life or A Second Part of the Enquiry after Happiness In Octavo 1690. Price 2 s. 6 d. The Duty of Apprentices and Servants 1. The Parents Duty how to Educate their Children that they may be fit to be employed and trusted 2. What preparation is needful for such as enter into Service with some Rules to be observed by them how to make a wise and happy choice of a Service 3. Their Duty in Service towards God their Master and themselves with suitable Prayers to each Duty and some Directions peculiarly to Servants for the worthy receiving the Holy Sacrament Published for the Benefit of Families In Octavo Price 1 s. 6 d. A Sermon Preached at the Funeral of Mr. Thomas Lamb July 23. 1686. Price 6 d. A Sermon Preached at the Assizes held at Horsham in Sussex Aug. 23. 1691. Price 6 d. Christian Thoughts for every Day of the Month with a Prayer wherein is represented the Nature of Unfeigned Repentance and of perfect Love towards God In Twelves Price 1 s. Devotion and Charity In a Discourse before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor the Honourable the Court of Aldermen with the Governours of the Hospitals of London on Wednesday in the Easter-week at St. Bridget's Church being the 30th of March 1692. The Plain Man's Guide to Heaven containing first his Duty towards God secondly towards his Neighbour with proper Prayers Meditations and Ejaculations designed chiefly for the Country-man Trades-man Labourer c. In Twelves 1692. Price 1 s. Dr. Thomas Manningham's Sermon about Publick Worship Preached before the Queen on Wednesday the 23th of March 1691 2. The Wisdom of God manifested in the Works of the Creation In two Parts Viz. The Heavenly Bodies Elements Meteors Fossils Vegetables Animals Beasts Birds Fishes and Insects more particularly in the Body of the Earth its Figure Motion and Consistency and in the admirable Structure of the Bodies of Man and other Animals as also in their Generation c. By John Ray Fellow of the Royal Society In Octavo 1692.