Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A26339
|
A sermon preach'd at St. Clement-Danes, the 29th of Septemb. 1700 occasion'd by the recantation of Mr. Clement Joynes, (lately a Quaker) / by J. Adams ...
|
Adams, John, 1662-1720.
|
1700
(1700)
|
Wing A487; ESTC R21388
|
15,699
|
30
|
A SERMON Preach'd at St. Clement-Danes the 29th of Septemb. 1700. Occasion'd by the Recantation of Mr. Clement Joynes lately a Quaker By J. ADAMS Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY Published at the Request of the Persons concerned and several others of that Parish LONDON Printed for D. Brown without Temple-Bar and Peter Buck in Fleetstreet 1700. THE RECANTATION OF Mr. CLEMENT JOYNES Read in the Parish Church of St. Clement Danes the 29th of Sept. 1700. Published by his Desire I Clement Joynes of this Parish upon mature Deliberation and full Conviction of the many and great Errours which I have faln into and zealously maintaind ' for near Seven Years past Declare and Acknowledge to this Congregation my hearty Repentance for the same humbly desiring to be Admitted again into the Communion of the Church of England establish'd by Law into which I was Baptiz'd and from which I have Rashly and Ignorantly departed I confess with Shame and Confusion that in the Year 1694 I was deluded by the Quakers and embrac'd with great fervency their Antichristian Heresies and Monstrous Principles till of late Examining 'em more carefully by the Assistance of God's Grace I discover'd their Falshood and Impiety and how directly contrary they were to the Holy Scriptures particularly in their Denying the LORD that Bought them by Disowning that Jesus who suffer'd on the Cross to be the Son of God Also for their Denying that his Human Body ascended into Heaven and throwing aside with scorn and contempt the Holy Sacraments of Baptism and the Lords Supper together with the Belief of the Resurrection of the Dead These with many Other Gross Errours which may be seen more at large in a late Book call'd The Quaker's Creed containing 13 Articles I acknowledge I did Embrace and Defend But do now utterly Detest Abhor and Renounce with all others inconsistent with the Doctrin of the Church of England whose 39 Articles I have carefully consider'd and do hereby Declare that I do own as the Summe and Substance of my Faith desiring to continue in the Communion of that Church while I Live and to Dye the Death of the faithful Members of it And whereas I did not only fall thus dread fully my self but labour'd with great dilligence to mislead several of my nearest Relations and Friends and did unhappily succeed in doing so I acknowledge with unfeigned sorrow this sad aggravation of my Crime promising solemnly in the Presence of God of which I desire you All to be Witnesses that I will faithfully endeavour to Reclaim every one of them and I bless my gracious God from the bottom of my heart that I have already Recover'd some who are now here present During my Doubts concerning the Quakers Doctrine I went to George Whitehead the Chief of them and Ask'd him with Respect and Humility to inform me upon what my Salvation did depend After some little Discourse but no Offence given or intended by me he spoke these Words with some Passion Repent speedily or else the Lord will confound thee Thou readest Enemies Books Young Man I caution thee not to take prejudice against any Friend for if thou dost the Lord will Confound thee and bring thee to nought And this is the Word of the Lord to thee But tho' I was thus Us'd and tho' I do heartily Abhor and Detest the aforesaid Errours yet I bless God that I have Charity for all those of my former Acquaintance among the Quakers and earnestly beg of You to join with me in my Prayers that it may please God to bring them into the Way of Truth and give them a right Knowledge of the only Redeemer Christ Jesus God and Man To Whom with the Father and Holy Spirit be all Honour and Glory both now and for evermore Amen A SERMON Preach'd at St. Clements Danes Psal 66.16 Come and Hear all ye that Fear God and I will declare what he hath done for my Soul THESE Words were the Choice of the Person whose Recantation you have heard in order to the setting forth farther the Sincerity of his Repentance and the greatness of the danger from which he has been deliver'd that others may be prepar'd to avoid the same and join with him in the praising of God accordingly Which design has so much of Justice and Goodness in it that as I am order'd to Comply with it by Authority so I willingly and gladly Obey And indeed the Words are very proper for this Purpose for not to insist upon the particular Occasion upon which the Psalmist might speak them they afford us a most excellent Example How any Person who has fall'n into great Errours either as to Faith or Practice and afterwards upon his sincere Repentance felt the Joys of Forgiveness and the blessed Transports of being restor'd to a good Conscience ought to behave himself both to his Neighbour and to his God This will appear if we consider them more particularly in this manner 1. The Persons whom the Psalmist appeals to All ye that fear God 2. The Publick Acknowledgments which he makes of God's mercy to him including also his own Unworthiness and his Earnestness with them to give him Attention Come and hear and I will declare 3. The Greatness of the Benefit which he had receiv'd under those Words What he hath done for my Soul Come and hear all Ye that fear God and I will declare what he hath done for my Soul 1. The first thing which deserves our consideration is the Persons to whom the Psalmist appeals All ye that fear God that is All of what Rank or Degree whatsoever that had a due Sense of Religion and Virtue that had a well-grounded and well-govern'd Zeal for God's Glory These were the Persons that were most likely to afford him Attention to be pleas'd with his being Reconcil'd to God and to join with him in his Praise and Thanksgiving As for those who do not fear God but are loose in their Belief and consequently loose in their Practice they wou'd have been so far from being pleas'd with any thing of this kind even in David himself that they wou'd rather have condemn'd or despis'd it For as such People know little what a good Conscience is so they cannot be much Concern'd at any others being restor'd to it and as they do not believe in God at all so what is it to them who is in the Right or the Wrong who persists in his Errours or who forsakes them Nay the latter is the more Offensive the more publickly 't is done Because when a Man acknowledges His Errours with Sorrow and Humility he seems to upbraid them for continuing obstinately in theirs If it be an Abomination to Fools as Solomon call those who are Impudent and Stubborn in their Wickedness to depart from Evil themselves 13 Prov. 19. Is it possible they shou'd be satisfy'd when others do so Or if such Wretches make a Mock of Sin will they not make a Mock of Repentance also
worst of the Primitive Heresies which are Recorded in Greek and Latin Languages unknown to their first Teachers I do not doubt but that the Missionaries of Rome have been very busie in sowing their tares among them while the Nation slept and never regarded a Sect which they thought ought to be Pity'd for their Innocence or Despis'd for their Ignorance Upon this Account it is that the inferiour sort especially Really deserve our Kindness and Compassion But most of all upon the Account of that Holy Religion which we Profess That Jesus who came in the Flesh that outward Christ which they deny and deprive themselves by so doing of the most perfect Pattern of Charity and Mercy that Jesus I say Who Requires us to Love our Enemies to Bless them that Curse us and Pray for them that Despightfully use us And indeed Never had we so much occasion to Practise this Command as they have given us But Charity is to extend to our Passions and not our Understandings and therefore the same Jesus who Commands this Commands us also to beware of false Prophets who cry Lo here is Christ or there is Christ Whither in a Wafer by Transubstantion or in a sinful Body by the light within these must be false Christs because among other Reasons they are many Christs whereas there is and can be but one but He alone Who is now interceeding for us at the Right Hand of God and Who gave us this particular Caution to direct us and prevent vain Excuses See I have told you before In order then to our Obeying it let me give you three short Rules and then I shall Conclude 1. That We should carefully beware of this Spirit of Enthusiasm which is gone out in this Age that we should be cautious How we Humour any Religious Melancholy to such a degree as to Expect continually new Revelations and when the Soul is suspended in Scruples Terrours and Amazement take every Sudden thought which Flashes in the Heated Fancy to be immediate Inspiration The Apostle St John our Lord 's Beloved Disciple cautions us with all the meekness of the Spirit of Peace Beloved believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they are of God because many false Prophets are gone out into the World 1st Epist John 4. cap. 1. One Rule He gives in the next Verse which would be sufficient to detect those we have to do withal if Rightly apply'd viz. Hereby Know Ye the Spirit of God Every Spirit that confesseth that Jesus is come in the Flesh is of God and Every Spirit that Confesseth that Jesus Christ is not come in the Flesh is not of God this is that Spirit of Antichrist which was come into the World even in those days and which prevails in it too much in ours But there is a more General Rule whereby to Judge of any Spirit whatsoever and that is the Word of God Wherefore if any Pretended Prophet Rises up with a New Light and Contradicts directly all the Rest if two new Prophets rise much about the same time as Fox and Muggleton did and oppose and Curse one another affirming both with like confidence that they come from God How shall any Person judge between them and the Rest There is no Rule given to this purpose but the Old and New Testament and to these they ought to be brought for Examination if what they teach be agreeable to what is Written there 't is no new light but the better for being old if it be not 't is in Vain to plead that it is inspired by the Same Spirit by which they were wrote for that cannot Contradict itself and therefore Whoever Contradicts that must be Impos'd upon Himself or have a design to impose Upon others This Shews the Necessity of the Next Caution 2dly That we should take care How we neglect or undervalue those Holy Writings our selves or attend to those who do so Because if this be once done we have no Rule either of Faith or Practice left Us and consequently must Lye open to all Delusion and be blown about with every wind of Doctrine The Jews and Romanists set up Tradition Equal to these By which they provide an Excuse not only for all the Errors Which they have fallen into already but for All they shall think fitting to embrace Hereafter for Who can fathom or discover the dark Abyss of Tradition on the other side all Enthusiasts set up Against them the Private Spirit and all Atheists what they call Humane Reason and so Wander in their different errors or Wallow in their different Vices for Private Inspiration and Humane Reason amount to much the Same and Signifie no More but the Doing or Saying Whatever each man Pleases Wherefore we should be very careful How we suffer any doubt to rise in us concerning the Authority of those Holy Writings which Was so diligently inquir'd into and so carefully settled in the first Ages of Christianity that we should not throw away what is attested by so many miracles and by the consent of so many thousands and what is of so great importance to our Souls upon account of any Custom or Passage which may seem strange to Us but consider 'em as the Writings of Holy and Upright men who were guided by the Infallible Spirit of God and who Seal'd what they wrote by their own Blood 'T is therefore that these are Able to make us wise unto Salvation and if these are able what does there want else or is it not sufficient that they can make Us Wise unto Salvation If any Angel from Heaven that Preach'd any other Doctrine than what is to be found there should be accursed according to St Paul's Sentence Gal. 1.8 What shall we say of Any Quaker's Openings as they call their Pretended Revelations which either ignorantly wrest 'em or insolently Oppose them 3dly That we should take care How we indulge our Roving Fancies in Leaving the Service of the Church and Running up and down to Separate Meetings which I mention the rather because it was the Person 's Case who is now particularly concern'd This is dangerous Because no body can tell where it will End For when the Soul has once been Us'd to Change and our Faith becomes unsettled it Either Runs into a Contempt of all Religion or thinks none Good Enough for it and so is becalmed in Atheism or hurry'd into Enthusiasm The Church of England was not Only the Glory of the Reformation by the Purity of its Doctrine and the Blood of its Martyrs but has been the Support of it Ever Since and Faithfully and Effectually oppos'd and defeated from Time to Time the Force the Fraud and Learning of its most dangerous Enemies of the Church of Rome This Sure may be said at least without Envy And yet upon what trifling Occasions have many forsaken Her some upon private quarrels or Personal Revenge nay some because their Clothes have not been good Enough to be seen by their Neighbours or because they have not been Plac'd High Enough above them Others through meer Levity and unsettledness of temper together with a Great Opinion of themselves till having try'd all they have left all too and set up for distinct Churches of themselves Thus Divisions and Opinions have multiplied at last to such a Degree that we may too justly apply the words of the Prophet Jerem. 2.18 According to the Number of thy Cities may I not say thy Towns thy Villages are thy Gods O England Behold then into how Wretched a Condition we Are fallen What a Shame must this be to us Who have so deservedly upon other Accounts the Eyes of the World fixt Upon Us and How must this Cause the Name of Jesus to be Blasphem'd by Infidels and Atheists Hath a Nation Chang'd their Gods which are yet no Gods Hath the Jews Quitted their Law or the Papists yielded up their Worship of Saints and Images But my People have Chang'd their Glory for that which doth not Profit Jer. 2.11 for Empty Noise and Wild Gestures for Vain Pretences to Sinless Perfection and Equality with God But tho we ought to consider these things with Sorrow and Shame Yet let us consider them with Charity too Let this always be our distinguishing Character By this let all men know who are the True Disciples of the Holy Jesus And tho we ought to be Prepar'd always with Arguments to give an Account of the Faith that is in us yet all men are not Capable of Using these as they should do nor all men Capable of Receiving them But there is one that may be Us'd by the Young as well as the Old the Poor as well as the Rich and the Ignorant as the most Learned One that insinuates itself by degrees Even through Raging Passion Stubborn Pride and Rooted Prejudice and that is a Good Life Let this then be our Particular Care and Let no Disputes concerning the Grossest Errors Either Run us into a Hatred of the Persons that maintain them or into a Neglect of our own Duty And to Reflect once more Upon the Occasion of this Discourse Let all those Who Fear God Who have any Tenderness for their Neighbour or any Zeal for Gods Glory Praise Him and Magnifie Him for Ever for opening the Eyes and Hearts of these our Brethren for delivering them from such dreadful Errors and shewing so great mercy doing so very much for their Souls But Thanksgiving is never so Acceptable as when Accompany'd by Charity Therefore Let us Conclude all by Joyning together in our Prayers to that God who wouldeth not the Death of Any Sinner and Who is the God of Unity and Peace that He would Heal up all our Breaches and Divisions that He would take from those Who persist in their Errors All Ignorance Hardness of Heart and Contempt of his Word that they and we may be made all together one fold under one Shepherd Jesus Christ the Lord. To whom c FINIS