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	worship_v	16,055	5	9.8540	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26967	Now or never the holy, serious, diligent believer justified, encouraged, excited and directed, and the opposers and neglecters convinced by the light of Scripture and reason / by Richard Baxter ...	Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.	1662 (1662)	Wing B1320; ESTC R11592	92,411	266

not The word that is not understood cannot sink into the heart and sanctifie it or if it be not well and soundlie understood it s easily stoln away by the tempter Mat. 13. 19 23. If understanding be necessarie in our common conversations much more in our holy addresses to the Almighty Prov. 17. 27. A man of understanding is of an excellent Spirit but God hath no pleasure in fools or in their Sacrifices Eceles 5. 1 4. nor is pleased with a Parrot-like lip-service which is not understood He saith in detestation of the Hypocrites This people draweth near unto me with their mouth and honoureth me with their lips but their heart is far from me Mat. 15. 8 9. I hope then when we call you to serve God in judgment with understanding we call you to nothing that a Christian should make question of 4. God is a Spirit and they that serve him must serve him in Spirit and in truth Joh. 4. 24. The Father seeketh such to worship him ver 23. He calleth for the heart he looketh for the inward desires of the soul He converseth with minds that are abstracted from vanity and are seriously taken up in attending him and are intent upon the work they do The carkass of a Prayer separated from the Life of it stinketh before the holy God As he will be loved so will he be served with all the heart and soul and might And do we call you then to any thing that is doubtful when we call you to the Spiritual worshipping of God 5. Yet we maintain that the body hath its part in the service of God as well as the soul and the body must expresse the inward reverence and devotion of the soul though not in a way of hypocritical ostentation yet in a way of serious adoration The bowing of the knee the uncovering of the head and reverent deportment and whatsoever nature or common use and holy institution hath made an expression of holy affections and a decent and grave behaviour of our selves should be carefully observed in the presence of the most High and the holy things of God more reverently to be respected then the presence of any mortal man And the rather because that a grave and reverent and holy manner of deportment in Gods worship reflecteth upon the heart and helpeth us in our inward and spiritual devotion it helpeth the beholders and awakeneth them to reverent thoughts of God and holy things which a regardless and common manner of deportment would extinguish And it s no dishonour to reverent behaviour that it is the use of Hypocrites but rather an honour to it For it is something that is good that the Hypocrite useth for the cloak of his secret emptiness or evil If there were nothing good in reverent behaviour before God it would not serve the Hypocrites turn As it is a commendation to long-prayer that the Pharisees made it their pretence for the devouring of widdows houses And those that call them hypocrites that are much in holy exercises and speeches should consider that if holy exercises and speeches were not good they were not fit for the hypocrites design evil will not be a fit cloak for evil that which the hypocrite thinks necessary to the covering of his sin we must think more necessary to the cure of our sin and the saving of our souls The way to avoid hypocrisie is not by running into impiety and prophaness we must do more then the hypocrite and not less else he will rise up in judgement against you and condemn you if he would do more to seem good then you will do to be good and to please your Maker if a Pharisee will pray longer to colour his oppression then you will do to attain salvation The mischief of hypocrisie is that the soul of Religion is wanting while the corps is present And will you cast away both soul and body both inside and outside in opposition to hypocrisie If others do seem to love God when they do not will you therefore not so much as seem to do it So here about reverence in the service of God The hypocrite should not exceed the sincere in any thing that is truly good This is the manner of Gods service that I perswade you to and to no other And is there any thing of controversie in this Prefer but the spiritual part and know but what that meaneth I will have mercy and not sacrifice that so you may not condemn the innocent and you shall never say that we will be more backward then you to decency and reverent behaviour in Gods service 6. God will be served in Purity and Holiness with cleansed hearts and hands and not with such as remain defiled with the guilt of any wilful sin He abhorreth the sacrifice of the wicked and disobedient He that turneth away his ear from hearing the Law his prayers are abominable Prov. 28. 9. and 15. 8. 21. 27. Isa 1. 13. Eccles 5. 1 2 3 4. To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices unto me saith the Lord to oppressing wicked men Isa 1. 11. When you come to appear before me who hath required this at your hand to tread my Courts Bring no more vain oblations incense is an abomination to me the new Moons and Sabbaths the calling of Assemblies I cannot away with it is iniquity even the solemn meeting c. ver 12 13. And when you spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you yea when you make many prayers I will not hear your hands are full of blood Wash you make you clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well seek judgement relieve the oppressed judge the fatherless plead for the widdow Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord. To play the glutton or drunkard or filthy fornicator in the day time then to come to God at night as if it were to make him amends by an hypocritical prayer to blaspheme Gods Name and oppose his Kingdom and Government in your selves and others and to do your own will and hate and scorn them that do his will and study his will that they may do it and then to pray that Gods Name may be hallowed his Kingdom come and his Will be done is an abusing God and not a serving or pleasing him Live according to your prayers and let your lives shew as well as your words what it is that you desire This is the service of God that we call you to And can you say that there is any thing controvertible in all this Are there any men of any party among Christians or sober Infidels that dare contradict it 7. God will be served entirely and universally in all his Commands and with all your faculties in works of Piety Justice and Charity which must never be separated You must not pretend your Charity against duties of Piety for God is to

so much to do know all that is now left undone must be undone for ever Alas sirs how many questions of exceeding weight have you yet to be resolved in whether you are truly sanctified whether your sins be pardoned whether you shall be saved when you die whether you are ready to leave this world and enter upon another I tell you the answering of these and many more such questions is a matter of no small difficulty or concernment And all these must be done in this little and uncertain time It must be Now or Never Live but as men that believe and consider these certain unquestionable things 10. Lastly Will you but live as men that believe that the world and the flesh are the deadly enemies of your Salvation and that believe that if any man love the world so far the love of the Father is not in him 1 Joh. 2. 15 16. And as men that believe that if ye live after flesh ye shall die but if by the spirit ye mortifie the deeds of the bodie ye shall live Rom. 8. 13. and that those that are in Christ Jesus and are freed from condemnation are such as walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8. 1. And that we must make no provision for the flesh to satisfie the will or lusts thereof Rom. 13. 10. and must not walk in gluttonie drunkenness in chambering and wantonness in strife and envying v. 13. but must have our hearts where our treasure is Mat. 6. 21. and converse in Heaven Phil. 3. 18 19 20. and being risen with Christ must seek the things that are above and set our affections on them and not on the things that are on earth Col. 3. 1 2 3. Sirs will you say that any of this is our singular opinion or matter of controversie doubt Are not all Christians agreed in it Do you not your selves profess that you believe it Live then but as those that do believe it condemn not your selves in the things that you confess I tell thee if now thou wilt refuse to live according to these common acknowledged truths thou shalt never be able to say before the Lord that mens controversie about a Ceremony or Church-Government of the manner or worship were the things that hindred thee but all sorts sects shall be witnesses against thee and condemn thee for they all agreed in these things even the bloodiest sect that imprison and torment and kill others for their differences in smaller matters are yet agreed with those that they persecute and murder about these things Papists are agreed in them and Protestants are agreed in them All the sects that are now quarrelling among us in the world are agreed in them who are but meet for the name of Christians All these will be ready to bear witness against the prophane the sensual the sloathful neglecter of God and his Salvation and to say we all confessed notwithstanding our other differences that all these things were certain truths and that mens lives should be ordered according unto these But if yet you pretend controversie to cover your malignity or ungodliness I will go a little further and tell you that in the matter as well as in the principles it is things that we are all agreed in which I call you to and which the ungodly do refuse I le briefly name them 1. One part of your work which we urge you to do with all your might is seriously soberly to consider often of all these truths before mentioned which you say you do believe And is it any controversie with reasonable men whether they should use their reason or with believers whether they should consider and lay to heart the weight use of the things which they believe 2. Another part of your work is to love God with all your soul might and to make him your delight to seek first his Kingdom and the rightousness thereof and to set your affections on things above and to live on earth as the heirs of heaven And is there any controversie among Protestants Papists or any about this 3. Another part of your work is to see the honouring of God in the world the promoting of his Kingdom and Government in your selves and others the doing of his will and obeying of his Laws And is there any controversie in this 4. Another part of your work is to to mortifie the flesh to reject its conceits and desires and lusts which resist the foresaid obedience to God and to cast out the inordinate love and care of worldly things to refuse the counsels the commands the will the enticements and perswasions of man which contradict the commands will of God to forsake all that you have in the world rather then forsake your dear Redeemer and hazard your salvation by any wilful sin To take up your Cross and follow Christ through a life of suffering to glory I know there is difficulty enough in all this and that flesh will repine against it and abhor it But is there any controversie about it among any true believers Is not all this the express Command of God and necessary to salvation 5. Another part of your work is to avoid temptations and fly from the occasions and appearances of evil and not only to avoid that which is directly evil it self but that also which would draw you into evil as far as you can and to keep as far as may be from the brink of hell and danger to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darknes nor be companions with them but reprove them and mourn for the unclean and wicked conversation of the world This is it that we intreat of you is there any matter of controversie in all this 6. Another part of the work which we call you to is to redeem this little Time that is allotted you To make the best of it and improve it to the greatest furtherance of your salvation To lose none of it upon unprofitable things to spend it in those works which will comfort you most when time is gone If it will be more comfortable to you in the day of Judgment that you have spent your Time in playes sports and idleness worldly cares pleasures then in serving God preparing for another life then hold on and do so to the end But if it will not then do what you would hear of seeing you must hear of it spend none of your time in idleness unfruitful things till you have no better and more necessary things to spend it in till you have Time to spare from more important work This is our request to you that you would not lose one hour of your pretious Time but spend it as those that have lost too much and have but a little more to spend in preparation for eternity And is this any Schismatical or factious motion Is there any thing controvertible