Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A18125
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A sermon of the nature and necessitie of godly feare Preached in the Cathedrall Church of Chester, in September, 1614.
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Case, William, 1584 or 5-1634.
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1616
(1616)
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STC 4766; ESTC S118534
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19,465
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32
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to hurt vs yet haue they it not originally from themselues nor according to their owne wills but onely from God and according to his will Neyther haue they it alwaies nor in what measure it pleaseth themselues but both how much how long it pleaseth God And for that cause our Sauiour answered Pilate boasting that he had power eyther to loose him Iohn 10.11 or put him to death Thou couldest haue no power at all ouer mee saith hee vnlesse it were giuen thee from aboue Yea the Diuell himselfe whom the Scripture stiles by the name of the Prince of this world had no power to touch so much as any the least thing that was Iobs further then the Lord permitted and gaue leaue Although therefore we are by the precept of Almighty God to feare our Parents and Gouernours yet are wee not to feare them for themselues but as they haue power and commission from God Rom. 13.1 for there is no power saith the Apostle but of God God therefore hauing all power both in himselfe and of himselfe and vniuersall and absolute ouer all and at all times is onely simply and by himselfe to be feared and all other but vnder him or from him and as farre as he permits and commands So that as by strong euidence of reason we see that it cannot be denied by any man but that hee is to referre and yeeld all feare onely and especially vnto God So also doth the consent of Scripture sound altogether that way exacting it as one of the chiefest dueties that a christian is to performe namely at all times to stand in awe and continuall feare of the Maiesty of Almighty GOD. Oh that there were such a hart in my people saith the Lord that they would feare me and keepe all my commandements alwaies that it might be well with them and their children for euer Deut. 5.29 Thou shalt feare the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serue Deutro 10.20 And in the 12. verse And now O Israel what doth the Lord require of thee but to feare the Lord thy God to walke in his waies c. I haue giuen you a Land for which you did not labour and Cities which yee built not and yee dwell in them of the Vineyards and Orchards which ye planted not doe you eate now therefore feare the Lord Iosu 24.14 And I say vnto you my friends saith our blessed Sauiour in the 12. of S. Lukes Gospell be not afraid of them that kill the body and after that haue no more that they can doe But I will forewarne you whom you shall feare Feare him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell yea I say vnto you feare him Feare God and honour the King saith S. Peter And Feare God and giue glorie vnto him saith the Angell that had the euerlasting Gospell to preach vnto all the earth Apoc. 14.7 And the Scriptures doth not only abound in precepts to this effect but also is plentifull in examples hereof As Abraham Gen. 22.12 Lay not thy hand saith the Lord vnto him vpon the childe nor doe him any hurt for now I know that thou fearest me because that for my sake thou wouldst not haue spared thine onely Sonne Ioseph also witnesseth the same of himselfe For I feare God saith he Gen. 42.17 The Aegyptian Mid-wiues likewise are memorable for their feare of God in the first of Exodus and therefore did they dare to breake that barbarous and bloudy commandement of King Pharaoh wherby they were appointed to kill all the male children of the Hebrewes Obadiah the Ruler of King Ahabs houshold in the 1. of the Kings 18.3 is said to haue feared God greatly and therefore did he hide a hundred of the Lords Prophets from the cruelties of Iezabel Iob also approued by the mouth of God himselfe for his feare Iob. 1.8 The Prophet Dauid in the fift Psalme In thy Feare O Lord will I euer worship towards thy holy Temple And in the New Testament Zachary and Elizabeth Simeon Cornelius Ananias and many others are recorded to their perpetuall praise for their feare of God Yea the whole Scripture doth runne throughout that Gods people haue euer beene a fearefull people that Gods generation is a trembling generation And no maruell Because they cannot serue their God vnlesse they doe feare him feare being the onely and chiefe part of his worship For the feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome saith the Prophet in the III. Psalme All religion begins in feare And it s the end of all things saith Salomon in the last chapter of Eccles The end of all things saith hee is to feare God and keepe his commandements Yea it s both the beginning and ending and the continuance of a Christian life for worke out your saluation in feare and trembling saith the Apostle in the second to the Philippians And blessed is the man that feareth alwaies Prou. 28.1 I will teach you saith Samuel in the twelfth chapter of his first booke and the 21. verse the good and right way Onely feare the Lord and serue him in truth with all your heart for consider how great things hee hath done for you There is no action therefore that proceeds from a Christian through the whole course of his life but should receiue such a tincture from Religion and the feare of God as should make it remarkeable for a godly deede that if we speake it should be in feare if we worke it should be in feare whether we wake or sleepe or whatsoeuer else we doe all should be done in feare Nay the true childe of God takes not so much time as to eate his meate without feare For indeede when as the Lord hath once truely and throughly shaken the heart and conscience of a man with the terrours of death and hell for sinne and hath also seasoned his heart with a sweet apprehension and feeling of the comforts of his holy spirit when he hath once as it were giuen him a touch of the sorrowes of hell and taste of the ioyes of heauen he is euer after fearefull least he againe either incurre the danger of the one or loose the happinesse of the other As the skinne of that place that is once burned will euer after bee more tender then the rest The life of a Christian therefore is not a life of security a life of dissolutenesse and sensualitie but a life of terrour a life of feare a life of continuall and awfull respect of the presence and maiestie of almighty God Not according to the fashion of these times wherein men account it a small thing to cozen and deceiue to extort and opporesse to lie and slaunder to quarrell and contend to carouse and reuell as if there were no God in heauen that doth behold them The onely cause hereof can surely be no other then that of the Prophet in the 36 Psame Non est timor Deiante oculos eorum they haue not the