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	truth_n	word_n	6,260	5	4.2360	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62447	The treasures of the sea A sermon to the mariners upon Deut. XXXIII. xviii, xix. And of Zabulun, he said, Rejoice Zabulun in thy ports, and Issachar in thy tents. They shall call the people unto the mountain, there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treaures hid in the sand.	Thomson, William, d. 1699.	1683 (1683)	Wing T1036A; ESTC R203769	22,323	44

shall be nursed at thy side Then thou shalt see and flow together and thine heart shall fear and be enlarged because the abundance of the Sea shall be converted unto thee the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee As if he had said Look about thee little flock fear not All this strength these Arms this wealth of Sea and Land all this Wit Learning Arts and Sciences and whatever thou beholdest now so obstinately set against thee shall all come in and prostrate themselves at thy feet for thy defence support and ornament For as the same Prophet chap. 49. 22 23. Behold I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles and set up my Standard to the people saith the Lord and they shall bring my Sons in their Arms and thy Daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders And Kings shall be thy nursing-fathers and Queens thy nursing-mothers They shall bow down to thee with their face toward the Earth and lick up the dust of thy feet and thou shalt know that I am the Lord For they shall not be ashamed that wait for me Happy Monarchs to be made the Parents of a Religion so holy and so salutiferous to men May the Eternal Jesus the Prince of Peace bless your Persons unite your Counsels strengthen your Arms that Religion may daily spread it self under your conduct over all the corners of the World May the Enemies of God if any seel the force of your Weapons and see the Trophies of your Valours but being at unity amongst your selves may we who profess the name of Jesus ever serve him in the beauty of Holiness in the decency of Order in the protections of Peace and if possible in the blessings of Unity But above all mayst thou ever be happy Great Defender of the Faith Apostolick ever triumphant over the Enemies of thy Peace and ours May thy reign never cease O Breath of our nostrils but having long protected us in Peace and the enjoyments of a most happy Religion mayst thou be translated to the Kingdom of Jesus to raign with him for ever And may all the outward advantages of Religion serve only for her defence and comely ornament for the suppression of Heresie Schism and all ungodliness and licentious disorder but never minister to our Covetousness Pride Lust or other enormities that so we may ever worship the Divine Majesty in the profession and practice of that truth and holiness which becomes the redeemed of the Lord Jesus And in order hereunto the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ by his Eternal Spirit make us all faithful in our Ministry devout in our Prayers powerful in our Preaching pure in the administration of his Holy Sacraments charitable in good works temperate in our lives meek and humble in our conversations and bring a plentiful Harvest to his Kingdom by our labours There is also another sense of these words which though far more remote is yet of greatest advantage to Zabulun and Issachar and indeed unto us all and that is Christ himself shall the most happily accomplish this benediction He shall to the eternal purposes of Salvation of his Elect suck the abundance of the Seas and treasures bid in the Sand when the last 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall call up those that groan under the Waters in the houses of the Giants and awake them that sleep in the dust to meet their King in the air to be with the Lord for ever 1 Thess 4. 17. For they indeed are the true riches of the deep and treasures of the Sand. Other things how strong or precious soever shall yield to the fury of the devouring Element and the same power that brought them out of nothing shall reduce them thither again But the Bodies of his Saints and their separated dust after so many Pilgrimages and Transformations into the parts of Minerals Plants Animals which the natural order of things must necessarily carry them into shall return to their primitive shape and join again to their primary and predestinate forms And as at the Creation there was a Separation of that confused Mass into its species so at the destruction thereof there shall be a Separation into its distinct Individuals Which great Truth though perplext with some nice curiosities is more fully explicated unto us than any other mystery of our Faith For seeing as most aver our Salvation consisteth in the knowledge of three principal Articles the Trinity the Incarnation with its effects and consequences and the Resurrection Whereas the other two do sometimes like the top of Olympus hide themselves in clouds and darkness yet in this God disposing himself more to our ends than his own has more abundantly explained the point than any other as an arcle most relating to our peculiar felicities For it is well enough known that having afforded the Ancients but very obscure knowledges of the Trinity and Incarnation he has proclaim'd the Resurrection by the Law of Nature by the order of the World by the publications of the Law Mosaical and more fully by the Evangelical Word In Nature there is not a flower a grain a plant which preaches not this Homily and Art its great Imitatrix will drive old Proteus through a thousand forms and when they please bring the Prodigal back again home to his Fathers house and fix him there in the embraces of his Kindred In Mundane affairs we see Governments are born and grow up to a certain maturity and decay and die and rise again The fancies genius's fortunes of the dead rise daily and fall again to be imitated by after generations Humane Nature is not capable of more variety than may be seen in a few Ages and therefore Providence has been kind to make our days so few lest we should too often behold the resurrection of our own follies and miseries Job a man before all Letters all Doctors all Schools cries out in a condition the most forlorn I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth and though after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my self and mine eyes shall behold and not another Job 19. 25 26 27. The eternal Truth pronounced himself in the Law of Moses Exod. 3. 8. The God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob which himself interprets to signifie a relation to the Resurrection Mat. 22. In the Evangelical Dispensations besides the passages of S. Mat. S. Joh. and S. Paul our Saviour after his Resurrection conversed forty days upon Earth and was seen of five hundred people at once to ingraft this mystery in the hearts of the Faithful That he who is the first fruits of the dead will sanctifie the whole lump What Riches what Pearls may we imagine shall then be found in the deep what Treasures what Stones in the Sands to build up the great City the Heavenly Jerusalem Come Lord Jesus come

and wicked men planted the Doctrine of Jesus Christ over the most famous Kingdomes of the Universe And as S. Chrysostome observes it was no obstacle to their proceedings that they were few or unlearned or private persons or that they preacht austere and unwonted Doctrines or that mankind was prepossest with old Laws and old Customes But the previous grace of God took away all these hindrances turning their infirmities into strength their ignorance into wisdom their stripes into joy their imprisonments into liberty and all their impediments to the advantages of Religion Insomuch that they daily converted multitudes in every Nation from false principles and dissolute lives from the slavery of Sin and Satan to serve the living God in soberness righteousness and godliness So plentiful was the draught of Fish when God commanded the Net to be let down And now what more useful Application can we make of all this than that which Syracides observes Ecclus. 3. 19. Many are in high place and of renown but mysteries are revealed unto the meek Their minds are the freest from the perturbations of passions and unruly affections and therefore the fittest receptacles of the Divine Truth And as S. Basil in Praef. in Isa discoursing concerning the diversities of gifts tells us that a mind stain'd with sin like an abused Looking-glass renders but a broken and confused Image And as we cannot see our faces in any matter but in such only as is smooth and pellucid so there is required a meekness and clearness of Soul for the right perception and reflection of Heavenly verities Hence it is that we see so many of the learned World Artheistical in their principles so many great men dissolute in their lives and so many people every where ignorant or careless of their Salvation Not that they are incapable to apprehend the Doctrines or unable to practise the duties but because they have sullied the purities and clearness of their Souls with the lusts and evil habits of their Bodies and so render'd them unfit for Holy Mysteries A man might measure the motions and distances of the Stars might act in the most important affairs of the World muster Armies fit Navies pitch Battels though he came from his last nights surfeit and his eyes were yet red with Wine but a man can never say his Prayers or serve his God till his passions are becalm'd and his mind brought to a certain frame and evenness Nay it will be hard to receive or long to retain any true Idea of God or his Religion so long as our Lusts his Enemies are our Masters as is visible in the Gentiles who when they knew God glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darken'd Rom. 1. 21. Till by the meekness of the Gospel this Prodigal was brought to himself And I am apt to think that some meek and humble Cottagers have better notions concerning God and his word than any proud inflate Philosopher And this might be the reason of our Saviours great rejoycing in Spirit Luk. 10. 21. I thank thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto Babes Even so Father for so it seemed good in they sight 2. They shall offer the Sacrifices of Righteousness S. Chrysostome recounts ten Sacrifices not enjoined by Law but such as become the Evangelical Grace The first is that Spiritual and Mystical gift mentioned by S. Paul Eph. 5. 1. Be ye followers of God as dear Children and walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and given himself for us an offering and a Sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour The second is the blood of the Martyrs or the virtues and holy life of the mortified Rom. 12. 1. I beseech you therefore Brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your Bodies a living Sacrifice boly and acceptable to God which is your reasonable service The third that of Prayer Psal 141. 2. Let my Prayer be set forth before thee as Incense and the lifting up of my hands as the evening Sacrifice The fourth is the pleasant warbles of Hymns and the grateful returns of Praises to the Divine Majesty Psal 116. 17. The fifth is Justice which the noble Prophet calls upon the people for with so much Zeal Isa 1. 17. Cease to do evil learn to do well seek judgement The sixth Alms and mercy according to S. James c. 1. 27. Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this to visit the Orphans and Widows in their affliction The seventh is the Jubile and exulation in the Victories and Glories of Christ as the Prophet speaks Isa 26. 1 2. In that day shall this Song be sung in the Land of Judah We have a strong City Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks Open the Gates that the righteous Nation which keepeth the truth may enter in Then it is that Zabulun shall rejoice Then shall he suck of the abundance of the Seas and treasures hid in the Sand. Then shall the Daughter of Tyre be there with a gift even the rich among the people Instead of thy Fathers thou shalt have Children whom thou mayest make Princes in all Lands And we will remember the name of the Lord from generation to generation and all the people shall give him thanks world without end Ps 45. The eight is the Sacrifice of an humble and contrite Spirit which however despicable in the eyes of men is more acceptable to God than a thousand Holocausts The ninth is the preaching of the Gospel whereof S. Paul so often glories and particularly Rom 15 16. exults in the Grace of God by which he was called to be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles ministring the Gospel of God that the sacrificing up of the Gentiles might be acceptable to God being sanctified by the Holy Ghost Happy S. Paul who with thy fiery Tongue didst burn so many reasonable Sacrifices to God! Happy S. Chrysostome too in this Sacrifice who first offering to God the Calves of thy Golden Lips didst afterward present so many willing Holocausts of Converts unto the Eternal Majesty Happy the Gentiles in a Doctor to preach the mysteries of the Eternal Word to convert Nations to convince Hereticks to reduce wanderers and bring all men into the paths of Salvation And thou once happy City of Constantine while thou didst cherish the most eloquent of men who sanctified all the Learning of the Grecians by the Holiness of his mouth and offer'd to God so many the most acceptable Sacrifices the Spirits of Proselytes won by the irresistible charms of his Oratory and mortified to the severities of Repentance and the Doctrine of the Cross Glory be given to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who gavest such gifts unto men May there rise in every generation such persons as may imitate their Sanctity Zeal and

quickly put an end to our sins and miseries Let us enjoy our long expectations call the Sea to deliver up her dead and the Earth to set free her Prisoners that we with all them that are departed in the true Faith and fear of thy most Holy Name may have our perfect consummation and bliss both in Body and Soul by entring into the full fruition of the face and excellencies of the most adorable Trinity Now as we have given different senses of the words so shall we also in correspondence thereunto make our Applications And first to the adventurous Marriners that they do above all things labour to secure the favour and protection of God by an Holy Life And truly if they shall but seriously consider the condition thereof they will find themselves to lye under many and extraordinary circumstances that call them thereto as 1. The wonders and mighty works of God which they behold as the Psalmist speaks They that go down to the Sea in Ships and occupy their business in great waters these see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep Psal 107. 23. The several climates the different rising and setting of Stars the divers temperatures of the air the various commodities of all Countries call upon you to praise and adore that God who has disposed all things in such a wonderful order and so various a manner for the benefit of the whole 2. The dangers of Storms of Rocks of Shelves of Sands make your preservations miraculous and consequently require the greatest and most constant Devotions to God for your safeties Pacuvius gives us a description of a Tempest sufficient to allay the courage of the most valiant and it is this Inhorrescit mare Tenebrae conduplicantur c. The Sea roars with horrour the darkness becomes palpable the blackness of the night and storms is a perfect blindness the Lightning flashes through the Clouds and Heaven trembles with the Thunder Hail and rain mixt together fall 't is hard to say in greater plenty or violence the Winds break out from all points as if they would not only destroy themselves but all the World and the Ocean rages with the Tyde Now how canst thou expect to be preserv'd in such concussions and strugglings of Nature How canst thou expect that God should becalm this Tempest asswage the fury of the Elements and stretch out his almighty arm to save thee in dangers so great if thou daily provokest him to anger by thy sins No worship him all the days of thy li●e with a pure mind and a chaste body and then call upon him in the needful time of trouble and he shall hear thee at large He shall still the raging of the Sea and the storms when they arise He shall preserve thee in a thousand dangers shall bless thee in thy going out and in thy coming in and bring thee safe and prosperously into the Haven where thou wouldst be so that thou shalt rejoice like Zabulun in thy Ports 3. The great Profits and Emoluments which accrue from your employment is a third obligation to your Piety Navigation is that which makes the Riches of the World common and the Merchant may truly be said to suck the abundance of the Sea and treasures hid in the Sand. It is he that mingles the manners and wealth of all Nations together that makes good the poverty of one place with the riches of another Navigation is certainly the greatest and most useful Art humane nature was ever master of And whatever there is of Wit whatever there is of Manners whatever there is of Riches whatever there is of Glory nay whatever there is of Religion in the World is in great measures owing to the professors thereof Go then happy Marriner fear thy God above all things and he shall bring the Winds out of his Treasures to fi●l thy Sails with gales of Prosperity Go spread thy Religion thy Laws thy Manners and Customes through the Universe and for thy reward reap the harvest of the River sack the abundance of the deep and Treasures hid in the Sands 4. The great Influence that good example has upon others calls upon you especially to a circumspection in your manners that no Profaneness Injustice or Intemperance appear in you to the scandal of others or the disparagement of our Religion For it is not deep Mysteries multitude of Laws or Rational Discourses that will convert Nations Holy Examples move beyond Precepts and a conversation void of offence is the most effectual Sermon to bring those that are without into the fold of the Church In vain therefore poor Christendom dost thou expect the coming in of unbelievers while they see thy wickedness at home thy profaneness abroad Learn then all and especially those who view foreign and unconverted Nations a conversation suitable to the doctrine ye profess Learn that most useful lecture of our Saviour Mat. 5. 16. Let your light so shine hefore men that they may see your good works and glorifie your father which is in heaven 2. The second of our Applications shall be to us all but especially to the true Zabulonites that we learn highly to esteem this Religion we profess A Religion which has overcome so many difficulties been confirm'd by such Miracles continued by such a wonderful Providence through so many Ages A Religion that glories in so many Martyrs Doctors Pastors Bishops and Holy men of the clearest Spirits and greatest accomplishments in the World A Religion that corrects our Errours that bridles our Passions that sanctifies our Natures and gives us the greatest assurances of Gods love to us here and the most infallible revelations of a future and eternal felicity What if some little Spirit blown up with a system an experiment a fantastick song or some giddy vortex in his Head make now and then a fally out against this Truth Is it reasonable for this think you to waver in our Faith or grow neglective of our duty No we have a Law deliver'd by the Word it self which millions of Martyrs have sign'd with their Blood which the best of mankind professes the wisest heads of the World have illustrated with the lights of their Writings and for whose defence Heads and Pens the most able labour daily But alas that ancient Zeal which brought the Church to so great Glory and so vast extent seems much decay'd and instead thereof the Spirit of Atheism Heresie Schism and luke warmness has succeeded So that the state of Religion runs low the Word of God wants its due belief the holy Priests that reverence that becomes persons who handle the mysteries of God the Churches the decency of holy places And in short God is defrauded of that Glory which all beings owe to the Majesty of Heaven and we all want those comforts of Religion our wiser and more zealous Ancestors enjoy'd The Lord in his due time restore that devotion and prudent Zeal which was so remarkable in the early Christians 2 Cor. 9. 2. that many may be provoked to the same Repentance Faith and good works may suck the abundance of the Seas and treasures hid in the Sand i. e. the secrets of the Law and Mysteries of the Gospel 3. Let us all prepare for that account we must give when Christ shall seize the heritage and benediction of Zabulun and Issachar when the Sea shall give up her dead and the Earth restore the Bodies committed to her charge that so whatever our condition is in this World our Souls and Bodies may be happy in the next For They that be wise shall outshine the brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the Stars for ever and ever Dan. 12. 3. And as S. John teaches 1 Joh. 3. 2. Beloved now are we the Sons of God and it does not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him For we shall see him as he is This is that vision alone which can terminate all our desires in the enjoyment of that essence whose boundless goodness shall fill us with the perfection of himself For in his presence is fulness of joy and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore Psal 16. 11. FINIS