Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A63939
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An essay upon the works of creation and providence being an introductory discourse to the history of remarkable providences now preparing for the press : to which is added a further specimen of the said work : as also Meditations upon the beauty of holiness / by William Turner ...
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Turner, W. (William), fl. 1687-1701.
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1695
(1695)
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Wing T3346; ESTC R8093
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77,474
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214
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a good beginning to my Conversion to find my Conscience touch'd for my sins yet it went off again Nay all my Life long I had a secret value and reverence for an honest man and lov'd morality in others But I had form'd an odd Scheme of Religion to my self which would solve all that God or Conscience might force upon me yet I was not over-well reconcil'd to the business of Christianity nor had that Reverence for the Gospel of Christ as I ought to have which estate of Mind continu'd till the 53d Chapter of Isaiah was read to him and some other portions of Scripture by the Power and Efficacy of which Word assisted by his Holy Spirit God so wrought upon his heart that he declar'd that the mysteries of the Passion appear'd so clear and plain to him as ever any thing did that was represented in a Glass so that that joy and admiration which possessed his Soul upon the reading God's Word to him was remarkable to all about him and he had so much delight in his Testimonies that in my absence he begg'd his Mother and Lady to read the same to him frequently and was unsatisfied notwithstanding his great pains and weakness till he had learn'd the 53d of Isaiah without Book At the same time discoursing of his Manner of Life from his Youth up which all men knew was too much devoted to the service of Sin and that the Lusts of the Flesh the Eye and the Pride of Life had captivated him he was very large and particular in his acknowledgments about it more ready to accuse himself than any one else could be publickly crying out O blessed God! Can such an horrit Creature as I am be accepted by thee who has denied thy Being and contemn'd thy Power asking often Can there be mercy and Pardon for me Will God own such a Wretch as I and in the middle of his Sickness said Shall the unspeakable joys of Heaven be conferr'd on me O mighty Saviour never but through thine Infinite Love and Satisfaction O never but by the purchase of thy Blood adding that with all abhorrency he did reflect upon his former Life that sincerely and from his heart he did repent of all that folly and madness which he had committed He had a true and lively sence of God's great Mency to him in striking his hard heart saying If that God who died for great as well as lesser Sinners did not speedily apply his infinite Merits to his poor Soul his wound was such as no man could conceive or bear crying out That he was the vilest Wretch and Dog that the Sun shined upon or the Earth bore That now he saw his Error in not living up to that Reason which God endued him with and which he unworthily vilified and contemned wish'd he had been a starving Leper crawling in a Ditch that he had been a Link-Boy or a Beggar or for his whole life time confin'd to a Dungeon rather than thus to have sinned against God How remarkable was his Faith in a hearty embracing and devout Confession of all the Articles of the Christian Religion and all the Divine Mysteries of the Gospel saying that that absurd and foolish Philosophy which the World so much admir'd propagated by the late Mr. Hobs and others had undone him and many more of the best Parts of the Nation He cast himself entirely upon the mercies of Jesus Christ and the Free-Grace of God declared to repenting Sinners through him with a thankful Remembrance of his Life Death and Resurrection begging God to strengthen his Faith and often crying out Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief His mighty love and esteem of the Holy Scriptures his resolutions to read them frequently and meditate upon them if God should spare him having already tasted the good Word for having spoken to his heart he acknowledged all the seeming absurdities and contradictions thereof fancied by men of corrupt and reprobate Judgments were vanished and the Excellency and Beauty appeared being come to receive the Truth in the love of it How terribly did the Tempter assault him by casting upon him wicked and lewd imaginations But I thank God said he I abhor them all and by the power of his grace which I am sure is sufficient for me I have overcome them 't is the malice of the Devil because I am rescued from him and the goodness of God that frees me from all my spiritual enemies He was greatly rejoiced at his Ladies Conversion from Popery which he called a Faction supported only by Fraud and Cruelty He was heartily concerned for the pious education of his Children wishing that his Son might never be a Wit that is as he explain'd it One of those wretched creatures who pride themselves in abusing God and Religion denying his Being or his Providence but that he might become an honest and a religious Man which could only be the support and blessing of his Family He gave a strict charge to those persons in whose custody his Papers were to burn all his prophane and lewd Writings as being only sit to promote Vice and Immorality by which he had so highly offended God and shamed and blasphemed that holy Religion into which he had been baptized and all his obscene and filthy Pictures which were so notoriously scandalous I must not pass by his pious and most passionate exclamation to a Gentleman of some Character who came to visit him upon his Death-Bed O remember that you contemn God no more he is on avenging God and will visit you for your sins will in mercy I hope touch your Conscience sooner or later as he has done mine You and I have been Friends and Sinners together a great while therefore I am the more free with you We have been all mistaken in our Conceits and Opinions Our Persuasions have been false and groundless therefore God grant you repentance And seeing him again next day said to him Perhaps you were disobliged by my plainness to you yesterday I spake the words of truth and soberness to you and striking his hand upon his Breast said I hope God will touch your heart He commanded me continues our Author to Preach abroad and let all men know if they knew it not already how severely God had Disciplin'd him for his sins by his afflicting hand that his Sufferings were most just tho' he had laid ten thousand times more upon him how he had laid one stripe upon another because of his grievous provocations till he had brought him home to himself that in his former Visitations he had not that blessed Effect he was now sensible of He had formerly some loose thoughts and slight resolutions of reforming and designed to be better because even the present consequences of sin were still pestering him and were so troublesome and inconvenient to him but now he had other sentiments of things and acted upon other Principles He was willing to die if it pleased God resigning himself
we may expect Salvation Isa 4.2 And is it not so far a decent Worship to adore such a God by the Mediation of such a Jesus to Pray to God in the Name of Christ to be usher'd into the Audience of the Father by the Intercession of his only Son to have access into the Court of Heaven in the Name of the Son of God who hath loved us and given himself for us Hag. 2.7 The Desire of all Nations 3. The Ministers by the Instrumentality of whom c. I mean not those Pseudoes that run before they are sent those lying Spirits that under pretence of Teaching deceive the People but those Ministers of the Gospel which Preach the Word faithfully and divide it skilfully and administer all the Sacred and Sacramental Ordinances impartially without addition or diminution that Preach with zeal and Pray with fervour and live well and study to approve themselves honest Pastors that need not be ashamed they that endeavour to reduce the straying sheep to warn the unruly to rebuke the gain-sayer to comfort the weak commending themselves to the Consciences of their Hearers in the sight of God and these I say if we have any such amongst us as no doubt but we have tho' I wish their number were greater are Men of a welcome Presence of beautiful Feet of pleasant Countenances Isa 52.7 The very Office it self is an Ornament thoh ' the Church never wanted those Adversaries that in despite to the Light threw Stones at the Lanthorn The Minister is a Terrestrial Angel they should be so and good Ministers are so To the Angel of the Church c. Rev. 2.1 of Ephesus Sardis c. they are Starrs and shining Lights in the dark World and Starrs ye know enamel the Hemispheres They are the Servants of the living God which shew to us the way to everlasting Salvation I would not say these things to puff the Clergy up with Pride and Vain-glory but I would have the People know those Men that are set over them and admonish them and give double Honour to them that labour faithfully in Word and Doctrine and acknowledge the beauty of their feet which run to them upon these Evangelical Errands and pay a due and humble deference to that Sacred Function and account them more than the Horse-men of Israel and the Chariots thereof 4. The Place where Whether it be a ' Tabernacle or a Temple or other place consign'd to the Holy Service not that we attribute any inherent Holiness to such places now especially under the Gospel but what depends meerly upon the relation it bears to the Work and Employment 't is devoted to and upon this score the Place ought to be dear to us and appear amiable in our Eyes and we should be so in love with the Place for the Works sake as to say of it as the Patriarch of Bethel How dreadful is this place this is none other than the House of God! and lo here the Angels of Heaven ascending and descending as it were upon a Ladder or as the Prophet David Psal 84.1 c. How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts 't is the perfection of Beauty shinning with the light of the Divine Countenance Psal 50.2 't is that Zion which the Lord hath chosen and desired for his habitation saying this is my rest for ever here will I dwell here will I treat my Spouse the Church with the sweetest Wines the fattest Delicates the choicest Ordinances in the World Manna from Heaven Angels Food the Waters of Life Nectar and Ambrosia Nourishment for Souls to fit them for Eternity Forgive me Sirs if I speak with some spice of Fondness and Admiration all the World besides is common ground compared to this Sacred Appartment and all our Employment besides in comparison of this is nauseous and impertinent here 's the Vineyard of red Wine that the Lord himself doth keep Isa 25.6 better far than all the Taverns than all the Theaters than all the Elysian Camps of the wide Universe Glad then may we be when they say unto us We will go into the house of the Lord we will worship towards his holy Temple we will go and keep holy-day in the Courts of the Lord's house on the hill of Zion in the midst of Jerusalem Hallelujah Here we have better Company than any where in the World besides I mean in a more especial manner here more peculiarly than any where else we have Heaven it self in Emblem Mount Zion in Effigie the Coelestial Jerusalem the City of the living God the Coier of Angels the Court of Saints a sweet correspondency with the best of Spirits in both the Churches in both the Worlds Militant and Triumphant Earth and Heaven which brings me to 5. The People who The Holy Church the best of Men and Angels and Spirits separate the select Company called out from the rest of the World to adore their Lord and communicate of his Grace and prepare for and partake of his Glory not that all who are called are accepted the Chaff and Wheat the Corn and Tares the good and bad Fish the Sheep and Goats the Sincere and Hypocrite are both for a while jumbled together in promiscuous Company but none are real Communicants in this sweetness but real Believers the rest feed upon the shell these eat the Kernel the rest look on these taste the Comforts the rest fill up a space and serve for some purposes they hew wood and draw water for the use of the Tabernacles these are invested in the Communities Priviledges and Dignities of the Place they have all one Coat and Creed and Profession but these all have one Mind one Mouth one Hope one Way and one End they mutually partake and Communicate together in the same Prayers Praises Promises Priviledges every thing that is sweet and salutary and tho' their Faces differ their Natures do not tho' in Opinions about some lesser punctillio's they consent not in their Charity they are all one One so entirely that all the Cunning and Violence in the World shall not be able to dissolve the Knot One so entirely that their Interests their Intercessions their Cares and Crosses are the same the whole Company espouse the same Cause all drive at the same End all mean the Divine Glory and the good of Mankind in general if one be weak the other is weak if one be offended the other burns all the Members of the same Body do sweetly and amicably sympathize together Christians as widely distant one from the other as the two Poles meet in their Prayers in their Eucharists even the Angels stoop to us and we aspire to them we are all carrying on the same Work we shall all receive the same Wages we shall all shortly together be with the Lord Tho' our Brains be different yet our Hearts are not Bishop Hall nor our Ends shall not The Church is lovely orderly unanimous as an Army with Banners In short the Churches