Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	heart_n	holy_a	lord_n	17,551	5	3.7649	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61479	The last sermon of Mr. Joseph Stephens late lecturer of St. Giles's Cripplegate, St. Margaret's Loth-bury, and St. Michael's Woodstreet. Together with I. A sermon compos'd by him a little before his death, (but never preach'd, being prevented by his last sickness.) II. A sermon concerning the hopes of the righteous at death. III. A sermon of Jam. IV. verse 17th; Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doth it not, to him it is sin. Lately preachd at the said lectures. All publish'd from his own manuscript copies, fairly written out for the press by himself.	Stevens, Joseph.	1699 (1699)	Wing S5497D; ESTC R220100	32,170	127

and the prevalency of their corrupt inclinations and their unwillingness to oppose the violence of their uncontrollable will for were they really concerned for their unhappiness as they seem to be did they make conscience of committing of evil as they pretend they would study arguments inculcate reasons hold disputes summon together the auxiliaries of Nature and Grace Religion and Reason to back them in the encounter they would use special arts and strengths of mortification pray often fast frequently abstain from the appearance of evil which are the means our Saviour prescribes as proper to confront the incursions of Satan the temptations of the world and the lustings of the flesh and which the Apostle St. Paul recommends to us from his own example I labour says he to bring my body under that it may be obedient to the Spirit Would a man that foresees a danger approaching him and that unless he uses some speedy prevention he will inevitably be ruined by it stand still and suffer the damage when it is in his power to preserve himself Would he not rather plod and contrive contend with difficulties and consult an escape if he were in his wits Would he suffer the Notion of natural impotency to divert him from endeavouring to eschew his Destruction And the case is much the same when an Evil presents it self and the man has an aversion to it would he not invent means to withstand its proffers for this is Argument sufficient against it that he hates the very thoughts of it for thus holy Joseph replied when Potipher's Wife importuned him to violate his Chastity with her how can I do this great wickedness It was not only the awful apprehension he had of God which withheld him from complying with her insinuating inticements but the abhorrence he had of the Evil it self And in this sense the Scripture understands Conversion when a man by Consideration and Watchfulness by earnest Prayer and Abstinence by certain Propositions and severe Reflections on himself has brought things to this pass that he not only abstains from sinful actions but contracts an absolute hatred against them when he hates evil for evil sake And this without all Controversy is the best and surest defensitive against all wicked allurements for doubtless many who not having strictly observed the Discipline and Constitution of Religion that is refrained only from the overt-act but have maintained a love for and a desire after some certain evils have been betrayed and seduced to sin in the action for outward Religion without an inward Conversion is not Argument enough against a Relapse says St. Paul Rom. 2. ult he 's not a Jew who is one outwardly neither is that Circumcision which is outward in the flesh But he is a Jew who is one inwardly and Circumcision is that of the heart and in the spirit not in the letter whose praise is not of men but of God Hence therefore are these Precepts inclucated Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy mind with all thy soul and with all thy strength that we present our Bodies a living Sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God that we be renewed in our minds that we put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is after the flesh and that we put on the new which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness In fine That we deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts and live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works But furthermore there can no other reason be given why a man commits an evil which he knew to be so and which God had forbidden but that either he resolved to come at and enjoy the sin though he broke through never so many Barricadoes and this can be nothing less than a horrid contempt of the Lawgiver or that he could not withstand the impetuousness of his rude inclinations nor the force of his predominant will and this argues him of the number of those whom the Apostle speaks of that their consciences are seared as it were with a hot iron It is the determination of the Gospel that he who knows his Master's will and prepares not himself to do it shall be far more severely punished than he who is ignorant thereof and does not fulfil it for this is the aggravation of his guilt and the improvement of his crime he knew his duty but presumtuously neglected it And we observe that when habitual sinners come to di● if then they have any sense of the condition or consider the righteousness of the Judgment to come to which they are hastning the accusation they then bring against themselves is That they have committed many evils against their knowledge They lived intemperately accustomed themselves to swear and blaspheme to commit adultery to prophane the Sabbath to injure their neighbours and such like these were sins they knew to be so and that God had prohibited them upon pain of damnation but notwithstanding this they presumptuously allowed themselves therein And it cannot but be a very uncouth reflection to consider that though they knew they were in a state of damnation yet would not retreat but have continued therein to the last hours of their life But enough for the proof of the first Proposition namely that the knowledge of a sin improveth guilt and leaves a man without excuse who knows to do good and does it not and to him it is sin From this I proceed to the second Proposition which is Secondly That Man is set out in the world furnished with such faculties as are capable of distinguishing between good and evil right and wrong whereby he may be acquainted with the good enjoined and the evil neglected this requires no great proof because our own experience evinces us that we can judge and determine and make a true discrimination between things that we can consider and make reflections applaud and condemn our selves when either we have wisely done that which is good or foolishly and unadvisedly committed that which is evil We often perceive hopes of joy within our breasts when we can answer our prosecutions and are apt to blush though no body sees when conscience calls us to the Ba● to hear our Indictment and thus we become our own Judges either acquit or condemn our selves and this because we are capable of knowing good and evil and have reason to direct us in chusing of the one and refusing of the other and therefore it is that we become accountable also hereafter as the Apostle expresses it We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ to give an account for what we have done in the flesh and to receive according to that we have done whether it be

good or bad And in regard that God made us rational and considering creatures he has prescribed certain Laws to observe and keep and by these he also intends to judge us that is whether we have obeyed or violated them he having suited his Commandments to our capacities which are able to distinguish between good and evil right and wrong And therefore by way of exprobration How wretchedly does Man degrade himself while he acts in opposition to his reason and allows himself in those things which his own mind disapproves of and condemns How inferior is he to the beasts they act according to sense they move in their sphere and what they do is agreeable to their nature and being But when Man by the order of his superior faculties is directed to good he commIts evil as he does that which he cannot give a good account of to himself so he acts contrary to his very nature and the knowledge he has of things for by the very design of his constitution he knows what is good and what is evil and that the former is beneficial and the latter hurtful unto him And how inexcusable must he needs be that all the injury which is done unto him he did it himself and was conscious thereof when he transacted it And this is it which will vindicate the Divine Justice in passing sentence of eternal death upon wicked men That they are condemned for doing of evil which they knew was so in it self and resusing of good which they also knew was really so It generally prevents men from pitying one who wilfully and wittingly worked his own ruin when it was in his power to have avoided the mischief and so ungodly men shall go off unpitied in the day of Judgment because they might have obtained mercy but would not It will be an ill plea in the day of Judgment to say That we did not consider what we did that we lived without care without thought without observation for this is not an allowable plea for a reasonable creature much less for one who knows he must be judged for why did you live without thought without consideration Had you not the power of thinking of reasoning of considering And did not God give these powers and saculties to you to direct and govern your lives Did he not make you reasonable creatures that you might consider and live by reason And is it any excuse then for a reasonable creature that he lived and acted without reason and a wise consideration of things This is the great degeneracy of humane nature the abuse and corruption of those natural powers which God has given us the source of all the evils that are in this world and therefore can be no excuse And this seriously layed to heart must needs make men have a special regard to their discerning faculties and that since they must be judged and that is to give a reason for what they do to consider what reason to give before they do it And this leads me to draw some practical and useful inferences from what has been said and so come to a Conclusion And here First of all it is true That to him that knows to do good and doth it not to him it is sin What a woful reckoning will those Wretches have who here live without care thought or consideration Who that they may come at and enjoy their Lusts lay aside their reason and understanding that they may not be disturbed in their vicious enjoyments nor plagued with uneasy reflections What a sad consideration will it be at the hour of death when all arguments to and opportunities of sin cease that they have allowed themselves in the practice of those things which they are now ashamed of and condemn as disagreeable to rational Creatures and should heretofore had they but given way suffered their discerning faculties to have interposed and given judgment before they had passed into action It seems a Paradox that man who has a right notion of Good and Evil that the one is profitable and the other mischievous unto him that he should refuse his comfort and court his own misery by withstanding the Good and embracing the Evil In fine that he should do that which he cannot give a sufficient reason for to his own Conscience and if it be so How will he be able to stand in the great Assembly of Angels and Saints before the Judge Christ Jesus to render a reason wherefore he so often drank to Excess committed Adultery prophaned God's Holy Name by Oaths Curses and Imprecations Why he lived in the 〈◊〉 observance of his Sabbath and offered contempt to his most righteous Laws Why he omitted known Duties and committed as palpable Wickednesses In fine Why he hated reproof and cast God's Holy Word behind How will Wicked men be able to stand in the Judgment and answer to these things Sometimes Sinners are here sadly put to it to invent excuses to inculcate arguments and raise propositions to extenuate their guilt and obtain a favourable judgment they are forced to endure many shameful retreats false colours and loose dawbings with untempered Mortar to prevent contradiction and discovery But in the day of Judgment such pleas will not be admitted nor need they then endeavour to conceal their Villanies for all things are naked and open to him with whom we have to do he knows our down-sitting and up-rising he understands all our ways he enters every Item of our guilt into his Debt-book with the purpose to bring every Evil into Judgment whether committed publickly or privately and this considered What a forcible argument is it to be careful thoughtful and considerate to examine wisely to judge prudently and to give a good reason for what we do before we commit it in all our prosecutions to call in the Auxiliaries of Nature and Grace Religion and Reason in fine to do those things approved of by our more refined Faculties and to omit those which they condemn Such a wary Conversation as this would administer much satisfaction to our Spirits defend us from many Dangers and Mischiefs produce a comfortable Death and a joyful Resurrection Secondly It is a pleasant consideration That God has created us Rational Beings capable of knowing Good and Evil of contriving our safety and shunning our destruction What a comfortable thought is it that we are not meer Machines moved and actuated only by Sense like the brute Beasts but understanding thinking and considerate Creatures that can judge of the nature of things debate and examine before we approve or disapprove of them Let us then live like such especially considering that we must give an account how we have used our Talents what improvement we have made of our Faculties and what we are the better for being furnished with such large capacities They were not given us merely to be useful in our secular businesses but to help us to the knowledge of God of our selves and of those things which belong to our Everlasting peace that we may rightly understand our duty and dispose our selves to serve him acceptably with reverence and godly fear We rather abuse our Natural Powers when we only imploy them in plodding and contriving about worldly matters their proper business is to search after truth to find out the way of the Kingdom and to remove those impediments which retard our spiritual warfare and hinder us from bringing our holy concernments to a happy and comfortable conclusion Let us then bend all our powers this way Are we rational Creatures Let us be able to give a good reason for a thing before we do it this will render our Judgment hereafter more feisible and less tremendous when our Consciences testify that in simplicity and godly sincerity we passed the time of our sojourning here I conclude my Discourse with that Collect of our Church We beseech thee O Lord to grant unto us the spirit to think and do always such things as be rightful that we who cannot do any thing that is good without thee may be thee be enabled to live according to thy will through Jesus Christ our Lord To whom with Thee O Father and the Ever Blessed Spirit be given all Honour Praise Thanksgiving and Obedience now henceforth and for Evermore Amen FINIS