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	speak_v	word_n	13,397	5	4.4123	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A63919	A sermon preached before Sr. Patience Ward, upon the last Sunday of his mayoralty, Anno 1681 with additions / by John Turner ...	Turner, John, b. 1649 or 50.	1683 (1683)	Wing T3318A; ESTC R23557	54,614	86

before-hand which shows plainly what extream Presumption and Folly they are guilty of when they pretend to utter such contemptible stuff by the assistence of the Spirit It is true indeed there was in the first ages of the Church such a thing as the Gift of utterance but it was when men of mean parts and education were sent forth to preach the Gospel by our Saviour himself who with out this could not have delivered themselves as became the Embassadors of so great a King it was at a time when the World could not be converted without Miracles when the Fears of Death and Torments and Persecution would have put all their natural faculties to silence had they not been assisted and encouraged by an extraordinary influence of Divine Grace from above It was at a time when they were to be carry'd before Magistrates and Rulers to give an account of themselves and of that Gospel which they preached and then it was necessary indeed that a particular assistence of the Divine Spirit should overpower the fears of death and remove all apprehensions of danger out of their way and that the words which they were to speak should be given them and put into their mouths at that very instant lest otherwise for want of ability or courage they should expose and betray themselves and the Gospel But at this time of day there is no necessity of any such supernatural assistence and that it is not actually afforded appears partly from the experience which we have of those that pretend to it and partly from this that Saint Paul expresly tells us that the Gift of Prophecie of Tongues and of Knowledge were in time to fail and if they be not failed already as well as those other miraculous Powers of Healing Diseases and of Casting out Devils we have little or no reason to believe that ever they will besides that the Gift of Tongues being manifestly ceased and these three being mentioned together we have abundant reason to conclude that those of Prophecie and Knowledge are ceased together with it But after all we have no Promise in Scripture that God though by his Spirit he will furnish us with affection and zeal to the end of the World will ever put the very expressions into our mouths the Spirit it self helpeth our infirmities saith Saint Paul speaking of this very business of Prayer but it is not with a Gift of utterance but with Groans that cannot be uttered let our words be what they will so our hearts be but right God is well pleased Compositum jus fásque animo sanctósque recessus Mentis incoctum generoso pectus honesto Haec cedo ut admoveam templis farre litabo It is true indeed such is the nature of style that the same sense clothed in different expressions shall either extort respect or laughter the reason is because all speech is either proper or metaphorical in proper speech where the words are the real and immediate marks of the things they express there we are affected with the sentence according to the opinion we have of those things which are contained under it but in metaphorical we are differently affected as the Metaphors are taken from things of a contemptible or a serious and usefull nature Now nothing is more plain than that in religious Discourses whether in Prayer or Sermon nothing ought to be said after such a manner as to move laughter or contempt instead of exciting Devotion and serious attention but whether this end be more likely to be attained by an extempore or well-considered and premeditated Prayer let any man of common sense and understanding judge And though such rash and inconsiderate expressions may be well enough approved where they are uttered among people that are affected by noise rather than by sober and judicious expressions by a sound and wholesome Form of words yet it ought to be considered one would think how unbecoming such things are to the gravity of one that pretends to teach and instruct the World or to the Majesty of that Person whose Character he sustains what scandal it gives to understanding men and what advantages to the prosane and lastly how unsuitable it is to the design of Religion which is to make men happy by creating in them a calm and sedate temper not so much to move their Passions as to inform their Judgments and to prepare them for Happiness by wisedom and instruction But if there be any who by the strength of natural parts by the quickness of their fancie or the volubility of their tongues by long custom or acquired habits by art and study by ringing the changes and by shuffling the same expressions at several times into a several order and method shall from thence seem either to themselves or others to be possessed of this Gift of Prayer yet they are in truth and reallity very much mistaken and it will appear they are so in that they generally use these whether talents or acquirements or artifices and devices of theirs rather in a way of ostentation than use by spinning out their Devotions to an unusual length and by endeavouring to captivate the ears and hearts of inconsiderate people by that much speaking which our Saviviour condemns Thus it appears plainly that a sober and well-considered Form of Prayer is a manifest advantage both to the Speaker and the Hearer and to the latter it is an advantage in a respect which I have not yet mentioned If I pray in an unknown tongue saith the Apostle my spirit prayeth but my understanding is unfruitfull 1 Cor. c. 14. v. 14. And again v. 16. how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen From whence it follows plainly that in this age especially when the miraculous effusions of the Spirit are in a manner wholly ceased those Prayers are the best to which we are best prepared to say Amen but those are manifestly Forms of Prayer because in those we goe along with the Minister himself nay we understand beforehand what it is he is about to ask and so are the better prepared to joyn with him and to say Amen heartily devoutly and preparedly to all his Petitions And the same Chapter will likewise furnish us with another argument against these extempore Effusions when they are truly and properly and not onely pretendedly so which is but to put a cheat upon the People namely that they are subject either to the heats of Enthusiasm on the one hand or to the coldness of Non plus and Drawling on the other both of which expose Religion to contempt in the opinion or at least in the practice of those whose design and interest it is to make it contemptible and cheap and serves to alienate the affections of much wiser men than ever they are like to gain over to themselves If the whole Church be come together to speak with Tongues and there come in those that are unlearned and Vnbelievers will they not say that