Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	father_n	only_a	son_n	5,506	5	5.6836	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93788	Clero-laicum condimentum. Or, A sermon preached at a visitation in Saint Nicholas Church in Bristoll, April 16. an. D. 1644. By Richard Standfast Master of Arts, rector of Christ-Church, and one of His Majesties chaplains.	Standfast, Richard, 1608?-1684.	1644 (1644)	Wing S5207; Thomason E282_16; ESTC R200051	18,396	37

he would never require the fear of our soules but having given us both he looks for the service of both and seeing he is as well the God of our bodies as the Father of our Spirits he requires to be glorified both in * 1 Cor. 6 20. Body and Spirit and expects to be served as well with * Heb. 12.28 reverence as with Godly fear And yet who can brag of the externall homage performed to the Son of God when in the History of the Gospell he may finde that the * Mark 5 7. cum Luke 8.28 Devill himself did once fall down and worship him Once more That we hear the word of God it is our bounden duty and there 's a great deal of reason why we should affoord it our best attention for it is the * 1 Pet. v. 23. seed of our regeneration * 1 Pet. 2.2 Milk to suckle us in our infancy strong meat to nourish us in our riper yeers it is for the ingrafting of faith in our hearts for that comes by * Rom. 10.17 hearing it is for the seasoning and sanctifying of our soules for so prayes our Saviour Iohn 17.17 Sanctifie them with thy truth thy word is truth it is able to * Acts 20.32 build us up and to give us an inheritance among them that be Sanctified * Rom. 1.16 James 1.22 It is the power of God to our Salvation And yet in vain do we boast of hearing the Word if we be hearers onely * for then we shall deceive our own selves neither is the blessing annexed to bare hearing but Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it Luke 11.28 What should I speak of knowing of the Scriptures a bare speculation can nothing availe us in the cases of Divinity The Devills know much and yet to no case to no comfort and all that we shall get by an idle knowledge will be onely to know who he is that shall condemn us Or what should I speak of Godly conference true it is that if the heart be a treasury of good things the mouth will discover it for out of the * Matth. 12.34 aboundance of the heart the mouth speaketh And yet 't is true also that nothing hinders but that the veriest Miscreant on earth the veriest Devill in Hell may speak holily the voice may be Iacobs voice when the hands be the hands of Esaw and if the heart and the hands be not sutable to the tongue it profits nothing The Father of ●●es can when he pleaseth speak true and Orthodox Divinity and call Christ the holy one of God and therefore what can it profit us even to preach in * Matth 7.22 23. the name of Christ if we be workers of iniquity Yea the frequenting of the Lords Table which carryes with it so great a shew of devotion and where if it be not our own fault we may be partakers of that Heavenly Banquet which will nourish us up unto eternall life yet if this be not done with due preparation it will be so far from profiting of us that it will occasion an * 1 Cor. 11.27 28 29. increase of condemnation There were some you know that said We have * Luk 13.26 27. eat and drunk in thy presence and thou hast taught in our streets and yet because they could say no more God owned them not but sent them away with a nescio vas The outward performance of all these things is but a form of Godlinesse and if the power be wanting we shall lose our reward Away therefore with that Machivilian maxime That vertue it self is not to be sought after but onely the appearance because the credit is an help the use a cumber For if it be good to seeme it must needs be better to be Religious without which indeed it is not good to seeme so to be for simulata fanctitas est daplex iniquitas counterfeit holinesse is double iniquity And rest not onely in the bare outward performance of Religions actions but let the heart be uncorrupt which in the sight of God is much set by * Hieronim in Ep. ad Paulinum Esse Christianum grande est non videri saith Saint Hierome t is no great matter to seeme Religious the black Prince of darknesse can * 2 Cor. 11.14 transform himself into an Angell of light but to be religious that 's a matter both of difficulty and consequence and hereunto there is more required then a form of Godlinesse If the outward performance of religious duties were enough to make a man a sincere Christian it were an easie matter to be religious Publicans and Harlots notorious sinners even so continuing might then enter into the Kingdom of Heaven for therein the grossest Hipacrite may go as farre as the devoutest Saint But this we know that if the heart be not sound and perfect towards God all outward performances are but bodily exercise and that profits not And therefore labour also for the power of godlinesse and if you would not lose what you do if you would have your service accepted of God * James 4.8 cleanse your hands and purge your hearts let your corruptions be throughly mortified and let your hearts be throughly seasoned with the power of the word of God and Have Salt in your selves And yet think not that a Christian hath discharged all his duty when he hath had some care of the inward tempar of his heart and soule there must be also a due regard of the outward carriage the same mouth that said Have Salt in your selves requires Peace also one with another as appears by the Text. And so I passe on to the second part of my Text Have Peace one with another And this I direct in the first place to my brethren of the Clergy Have you Peace one with another Chemnitius and Lucas Brugensis refer this passage to that contention for Primacy * Vers 34. formerly mentioned and well they may For ambitious Contention among the Clergy about temporall greatnesse is but a bad friend to the Peace of the Church pacem habete inter vos mutuo nec sit inter vos contentio de Primatu so Brugensis not as if there should be no superiority at all among the Clergy but that there should be no ambitious striving for superiority among the Clergy superiority is the Mother of Peace but striving for it brings forth division To bring the Clergy down to a Parity is the ready way to set up Confusion for where there 's no superiority there can be no Order and no Order no Peacs Superiority among the Clergy is not onely lawfull but also requisite and it is not the having but the loving of preheminence that is blame-worthy as being alwayes contentious and troublesome And therefore if we desire Peace we must beware of ambition But this is not all The words require a mutuall correspondency and an harmonious agreement one

is thus rendred by some If the Priest sin in reatum populi that is so that the people sin for many times it comes to passe that the people are incouraged to sin by the example of the Priest And thirdly the offering of the Priest was the very same with the offering of the whole Congregation as if it were to shew that the sin of the Priest is as great as the sinne of the whole Congregation at least it argues that the sins of the Priest are more heynous then the sins of other men And therefore let us thinke seriously of these things that so we may be mindfull of our duty It is for Pharises and Hypocrites * Matth. 23.4 to binde heavy burdens on other mens shoulders without so much as touching of them with one of their own fingers but let us be Patterns to the flock * 1 Pet. 5. It is said of Iohn the Baptist 3. Ardens inse lucens aliis Ardens ibi zelus lucens ibi scientia Ardens vitâ lucens doctrinâ that he was a burning and a shining light John 5.35 burning in himself shining unto others burning in zeal shining in knowledge burning in life shining in Doctrine shining as a light in the world holding forth the word of life and burning in being blamelesse and harmlesse and without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse Nation according to that of Saint Paul Philip. 2.15 And such should we be having our light so shining amongst men that they may see our good works according to that of our Saviour Matth. 5.16 A Minister that is neither burning nor shining what is he better then a stinking snuffe in the bottom of the Candle-stick He that is a shining and not a burning light is but like a Glow-worm or as rotten wood He that burns without shining is but a Candle under a Bushell but burning and shining argues that our lights are kindled with a Coal from the Altar A diseased Physician and a ragged Alchymist are the scorn of men and the shame of their profession and a dissolute Divine is a Member of the same society one of the worst of men the very fagge end the taile of the People The Ministers of the Gospell are the Salt of the earth but when their life and Doctrine are at variance * Sal in Dei ministris evanescit cum vita doctrinae non respondeat qui ita insulsi deo hominibus ingrati Luc. Brugens then the Salt becomes unsavoury and unsavoury Salt is good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trod under Foot Matth. 5.13 It is a tart passage which a * Dr. Boys fest 1. Ep. on Saint Thom. Day Modern hath but very pertinent to this purpose and the words are to this effect scil If thou art a president of Goldinesse to thy People pray that thou maist so continue if thou sometime wast and art now fallen return if thou never wast repent if thou never wilt be perish And yet as tart as it is 't is founded on the truth for * Levit. 10.3 God will be sanctified in those that come nigh him either by their holy carriage or in their just confusion I will conclude this point with that of the Apostle 1 Tim. 4.16 Take heed to thy self Oh thou man of God as well as to thy Doctrine continue in them for in so doing thou shalt both save thy self and them that hear thee Ille praedicat vivâ voce qui praedicat vitâ voce he preacheth best that lives his own Sermons and that holds forth the word of life as well with his hand as with his tongue and therefore as we desire to season others let us have Salt in our selves I proceed now to speak of this first precept with relation to the People Have you Salt in your selves and I desire you to hear with as much willingnes what belongs to your selves as you have done that that concerns others of you it is required as well as of us not to rest onely in an outward profession but that your hearts also be seasoned with the word of God There is a shew and there is a truth of holynesse there is a seeming and there is a being religious there is a form and there is a power of Godlinesse now though it be true that wheresoever the power is there will be a form yet the form may be too often is without the power But this ought not so to be a bare form is not enough there must be the power also and therefore have Salt in your selves A form of Godlinesse is common both to the sincere and the Hypocrite and therefore can be no characteristicall note of a true Christian it may suffice to gain admission into the visible Church but that alone cannot prove us to be true Members of that Church that is invisible the congregation of the first * Heb. 12.23 born whose names are written in heaven Let us take a brief survey of those severall parts which go to the making up of a form of Godlinesse and see how little profit they can affoord us if the power be wanting and here we may begin with that which gives entrance into the Church scil Baptisme To be Baptized is a very great priviledge for Baptisme in it's proper nature is the Seal of the Covenant between God and us it is the * Acts 22.16 washing away of sin * Tit. 3.5 the laver of regeneration our matriculation into the Kingdom of heaven and yet if when we come to yeers we want the * 1 Pet. 3.21 restipulation of a good conscience it affoords us no benefit And who can boast of being Baptized that hath nothing to boast of but being Baptized Simon Magus by vertue of his outward profession had admission unto Baptisme as well as Simon Peter and yet he was in the gall of bitternesse and in the bond of iniquity Acts 8.23 Again to frequent the house of God it is our duty and indeed an happinesse to enjoy the liberty of praising God in the great Congregation And where this liberty is enjoyed it is suspicious at the best to forsake the * Heb. 10 25. assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is And yet who can boast of keeping his Church that can boast of no more the proud Pharise frequents the Temple as well as the penitent Publican and wicked Cain offers sacrifice as well as righteous Abel and yet the one was taken and the other left the one * Gen. 4.4 5. found favour and the other was rejected Again That we enter into the house of God humiliata corpare inclinatâ cervice with due reverence t is no more then is requisite and what Religion can that be that shall teach men to be slovenly and unmannerly about the service of God had we onely soules God would never require the reverence of our bodies or had we onely bodies