Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	true_a	worship_n	worship_v	7,455	5	9.1341	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A57286	A Rowland for an Oliver: or, a sharp rebuke to a sawcy levite In answer to a sermon preach'd by Edward Oliver, M.A. before Sir Humphry Edwin late Lord Mayor of London, at St. Paul's Cathedral, on Sunday October 22. 1698. By a lover of unity.	Ridpath, George, d. 1726.	1699 (1699)	Wing R1462A; ESTC R219686	15,209	25

not so much as once have mentioned the Name of Jesus in his Definition of worshipping God by the Spirit I suppose he would be very angry at those who should forbear bowing at hearing of his Name which is no where ●●●manded and yet he pretends to explain Spiritual ●●rship without taking so much as once notice of that ●lessed Nane though there be none other under Heaven by which we can be sav'd Another thing he hath omitted in his Definition is that to VVorship God in Spirit must necessarily infer the worshipping of him according to the Direction of his own Spirit in the Sacred Scriptures without which all those Impressions of his Majesty Power Rule and Wisdom that he talks of signifie nothing The Heathens have express'd themselves to Admiration on all these Attributes and yet we cannot say that they worshipp'd him in Spirit because it was not according to his Revealed Will they worshipp'd they knew not what as our Saviour here tells the Samaritan Woman He goes on thus Page 10 That h●ving once this true Notion of the Almighty we ex●rt our selves in Acts of Piety and publick Devotion express our Sense of his Pow●r and Rule by our daily Supplications ou● Ackno●l●dgments of his Goodness by our continual Praises our Love by our Charity to our Neighbours and Zeal for his Wo●ship and Service and our Fear by abstaining from the lea●t Appearance of Evil and all this with Humility and Reverence Decency and Order with Obedience to Authority and Respect to those whom he has set over us these being most certain and spiritual Duties nay the only things wherein we are capable of t●stifying that we really do worship him in Spirit A little further he says That God is a Spirit and therefore his Wo●ship ought to deduce its Source from the Reason and Soul of Man And in the 1●th Page That if Worship takes its rise from the Heart then is it a Spiritual Worship And this he takes to be the true meaning of worshipping in Spirit It 's well he does but take it but I think it 's plain from what has been already said he mistakes it for all this while it 's evident that Cato in his Distich before-named had as true a Notion of Spiritual Worship as Mr. Oliver And therefore I will make bold to tell him that if he don't make haste to increase more in Spiritual Knowledge than hitherto he has done it will be a great while before he deserve to be made a Spiritual Lord but I am afraid he has already spoil'd his Lawn Sleeves during this Reign whatever hopes he may have in another I would fain know whether by part of his own definition of Spiritual Worship he hath not excluded himself from the number of Spiritual Worshippers by failing in his Obedience to Authority and in his Respect to those whom God has set over us in railing thus against those whose Worship is establish'd by Law as well as his own Does he think that when the King and Parliament pass'd the Act for Liberty they design'd that every little Pragmatical Priest should revile Magistrates to their faces and reflect upon the whole Dissenting Party in such a manner as he has done for non compliance to Humane Ceremonies in Divine Worship If it were so then the Nonconformists are only ty'd down to a Stake to be baited by every dumb Dog that cannot bark except it be for gain from his Quarter Such kind of Dogs as these the Apostle enjoyns us to beware of as well as of the Concision by which they made a Schism in the Church and would have forc'd Circumcision and other Jewish Ceremonies into the Christian VVorship Phil. 3.2 Just so our Author seems to be one of those that would tear the Flock and return again to the old Vomit of Persecution he and his Brother the Author of the Mystery of Phanaticism would make a delicate couple to be under the Conduct of some of Antichrist's Huntsmen for they seem both of 'em to be deep-mouth'd and so well vers'd in the Art already that they understand all the Hunters Notes from Tone to Tontontontontavon We come next to hear him open upon full scent for Page 11 and 12. with a Medley of a Charge he falls foul upon some of the Dissenters saying They are above Ordinances and all manner of Rule guided by Fancy and a Frantick Zeal I am afraid he has in those very words describ'd himself and the rest of his Kidney who will force their own Impositions into the most Solemn Ordinances of the Gospel and exclude those from the Church that won't comply with them for if this be not to set themselves above all manner of Ordinances and Rule when the Scripture expresly forbids any adding or diminishing to its self as the Rule of our Faith and Manners I cannot tell what is However I know that by this he means the Quakers and some others but then in common Ingenuity he ought to have made a distinction and not have added all Dissenters together to inflame the Reckoning and in the mean time let me tell him that such as he set them a very bad Example in going so far astray from the Rule and making things they own to be indifferent necessary terms of Communion He falls next upon those that make use of his Text against all manner of Ceremonies But who these are I know not nor never heard of nor I believe no body else had he said significant Ceremonies or a kind of Party-per-pale Sacraments that must be outward and visible Signs of inward and Spiritual Graces such as the Sign of the ✚ is made to be our fighting under Christ's Banner c. he had said somewhat and then I should have made bold to tell him tho' I incur the danger of an ipso facto Excommunication for it by the Canons of his Church that such Ceremonies are ipso facto condemn'd by this Text that teaches us we must worship God according to Truth which is his Revealed will and if he can find any thing there enjoyning those Ceremonies I will yield him the Cause and for his further Comfort I will also tell him that what the Scripture doth not Command in matters of Worship it forbids and without the Law and against the Law as in Policy so in Divinity are both one according to Tertullian in his Corona Militis and I am of the mind he made a greater Figure in the Church than ever our Author will do so long as his Name is Oliver So little does this Zealous Ceremony-monger understand the Controversie in which he is so fierce a Disputant that he tells us we our selves make use of Ceremonies and what are they Why truly they are set Looks a formal Voice and forc'd Gestures a wonderful Discovery worthy of the Genius of that Noble Author call'd The Mystery of Phanaticism But does not this little Sprig or Sucker of Divinity know that these Things if they must be Ceremonies are

of the Primitive Church in the Times of the Apostles that there were no other Ceremonies then to be found in her but the Celebration of Baptism by washing of Water and of the Holy Supper a●cording to the Lord's Institution in taking the Bread and Wine and distributing them after thanksgiving and the Imposition of Hands upon those who extraordinarily received the Holy Ghost and for a 〈…〉 the Sick I would pray then this Youngster to consider whether the Judgment of those Great Men of his own side or that or such an Upstart as he is most to be valued and whether we have not reason to reject those Ceremonies when Camero a Friend of their own says in the same place The Superstition the Mother of Cere●onies 〈…〉 and prodigal Spiritual Whoredam 〈◊〉 it is 〈…〉 with the Bodily both of 'em most have their Pa●●●ings their Trinket● and Inv●aglements I could give him more Quotations of this sort but these are enough to 〈◊〉 the World that it were fitter for him to go home to Corpus Christi● College and read a little more than thus to endeavour to perpetuate a Schism in the body of Christ by Preaching up those Ceremonies which the Greatest Men of the Church have complained they were forc'd to comply with out or Necessity and not out of choice If he did but ●dve●t to his own Concession that the Romanists take both from the Truth and Spirituality of the Christian Religion by confounding their Will-Worship and Idolatry with the Essentials of Christianity it were enough to cure him of his Fondness for Ceremonies and I would fain know of him whether enjoining the Sign of the Cross in Baptism and kneeling at the Communion which he cannot pretend have any other Foundation but the Will of Man don't fall under the same Charge he brings against Popish Will-Worship so that our Author has been as unhappy i● stumbling upon this Parallel as the E. of Roscommon a noted Papist was to translate that part of Horace into English Verse Olim truncus era● ficulnus inutile lignum c. where the Poet brings in the Clown debating with himself what use he should put a Log of Wood to and at last he resolv'd to make a God on 't Then his malicious Charge against Dissenters in general as derogating from the Essentials of Religion by Enthusiastical Notions serves only to discover the Confusedness of his own Brain or the Rancour of his Breast He many know if he pleases that the main Body of Dissenters allow no other Rule of Faith and Practice but the Sacred Text tho' some who perhaps go under that Name may be tainted with Enthusiasm and how those that bring every thing to the Touchstone of the Law and the Testimony and make no Account of pretended Revelations or Impulses can be call'd Enthusiasts let him determine In looks Ten times more Enthusiastical in him to trump up the Authority of what he calls the Church above that of the Scripture which enjoins a mutual Forbearance in Things indifferent and expressly forbids ●nd ●●ning one another for Meats Drinks and Days 1 Cor. 8. Rom. 14.5 c. than any thing he can charge upon the Presbyterians He must or at least ought to know that the man Pl●a which these of 〈◊〉 Party make use of to defend that wherein they differ from us ●s Succession 〈◊〉 and Tradition which he himself own Page 〈…〉 strangely mistaken and that Tradition deserves ●ut little Credit 〈…〉 borrowed from the Pre●byterian Heap to 〈…〉 Papists and to be qu●● with us 〈…〉 from the Popish Heap that is the Authority of the Church and Primitive Practice to throw at the Presbyterians as we shall see afterwards Mr. Oliver 〈…〉 Page 〈◊〉 That ●he 〈◊〉 and Samaritans differed chiefly in the Place of 〈◊〉 Sacrificed ●ut why did not he take Notice that this is als● one Point of the Difference 〈◊〉 his Party and the Dissenters which is clearly determin'd 〈◊〉 by the Gods of Truth himself for the 〈…〉 He knows that those of his ●action ascribe a Sanctity to the very Places of VVorship even whilst there is no VVorship perform'd in them and therefore at all times uncover themselves in Cathedrals and many of them in 〈…〉 Ch●rches especially in the Cha●●els for which they cannot shew one 〈◊〉 of Scripture but on the contrary our Saviour here informs us that the Day shall come when Men shall Worship him in Spirit and Truth without regard to any particular Places and we ●●nd that ●he himse●● and his Apostles practic'd accordingly and worship'd either in private Houses Mountain Ships Sea-coasts or any where as Providence offer'd an Opportunity without a formal Consecration of any particular Place which he knows is contrary to the Pract●●e● of the Church of England I come here to consider his Explanation of what is meant by Worshipping God in Spirit which he tells us is when we are ●osses'd with a true and lively Sense of his d●vine Majesty Power and Rule over as humbly ●●knowledge hi● unspeakeable Goodness ●o 〈◊〉 his infinite Wisdome which searches our Hearts that we in all things submit to his all-wise Will when we love him with all our Hearts and all our Souls and yet Fear and Reverence him as a Father 〈◊〉 with the greatest Cheerfulness obey whatsoever he has 〈◊〉 pleas'd to command us wh●n we not only give up our Souls pure and spotless but keep our Bodies fit Temples too for the Holy Ghost and thus join'd offer up our selves one reasonable Service There 's scarcely any thing in this Definition but what is comprehended in this one Distich of Cato Si Deus est animus nobis ut carmina dicunt Hic tibi praecipuè sit pu●a mente colendus or what a meer Dei●t who owns no Revelation will grant but methinks one who pretends to be a Minister of Jesus Christ should not have been guilty of such a gross Omission as never once to have mentioned his Name in the Explanation of Spiritual Worship when nothing is more expressly enjoin'd in the Scripture than that all Gospel-Worship should be perform'd in his Name without which none of our Devotion is acceptable I would therefore advise this upstart Divine first to read and understand the Gospel better before he pretend to preach it and to know his own Duty before he offer to teach other Men theirs and out of pity to his Ignorance or to chastise him for his faulty Definition would refer him to John 14.13 where we are taught to offer up our Prayers in the Name of Jesus to Matthew 18.20 and other Places where we are taught to assemble in his Name to Matthew 28.19 c. where Ministers are commanded to preach and baptise in his Name to 1 John 3.23 where we are commanded to believe in his Name and to Heb. 13.15 where we are enjoin'd to offer Praises to God by him Now these being all Acts of Spiritual Worship is it not strange that this Novice in Divinity should

not impos'd upon those of our Party as Terms of Communion For our parts we are so little concern'd about such things that we should not value it one rush if all the Youngsters of the Church wore their Shooes upon their Head and their square Caps upon their Feet as well as their Shirts on the outside of all their other Cloaths if they would not thrust them down our Throats as Terms of Communion and tell us we shall neither have the Priviledges of Men nor Christians if we don't let them do so But now he comes with the killing Stroke that it 's almost time for the Huntsman to sound the Death of the Hart with a Tone Tontontaven c. He tells us pag. 14. and 15. That the Objections against set Forms and the Pretensions to the Spirit from this Text are vain and frivolous Where is such Assistance promis'd or upon what account indeed necessary Let these Pretenders to Inspiration work Miracles too and then we shall believe these extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Ghost which we rightly now judg to be ceas'd The very Opinion contradicts it self and what they pretend an extemporary Effusion is no more than a Form to all the Auditory and are often work'd up by Heat and Passion to say Amen to no better than Nonsense sometimes I fear even Blasphemy it self Strange is it that Men otherwise sober and that will not venture a Sermon which they will not address to the People without Care and Accuracy of Wording should yet dare to entertain Commerce with God at all Adventures buoy'd up with a little popular Applause and Self-Conceit Most evident it is that what they would make the World believe is immediately from Heav'n is attainable by Memory and a Volubility of Speech and perfected by a great share of Confidence Here as elsewhere this Novice hath entertain'd the Auditory with Ignorance Railing and Falshoods I could wish that his Tutor when he returns to Cambridge again would whip him a little for Ignoratio Elenchi Is it not a horrid shame that a Confident Prig should step up to the Pulpit of the Greatest Cathedral in England pretending to preach upon Controversies and not so much as understand the State of the Question he pretends to handle Then let him know that the Nonconformists don't deny the Lawfulness of set Forms provided they be sound and only made use of by those that can't do without them for they are always so good natur'd as to allow the Lame a Crutch But the thing they deny is this that it is unlawful for any Church or Society of Men upon Earth to impose stated Forms of other Mens composing to be used by Ministers in the whole Exercise of their Ministerial Function and no others This being a Yoke that many of the Conformists themselves don 't submit their Necks to but use Forms of their own composing or extemporary Prayers many times before Sermon at visiting the Sick and otherwise If our Author will read Didoclavius his Altare Damascenum an ancient and learned Author or Dr. Collins of Norwich a Modern Author upon the Subject he will find this to be and to have been the Principle of the Nonconformists upon that Head and the reason of it is this that the Gift of Prayer as well as of Preaching is given by our Saviour to his Ambassadors else how should they be the Mouth of the People to him as well as the Deliverers of his Message to them The stinting of Ministers to the Forms of others is perfectly to make them guilty of the neglect of part of that Gift which they receive at their Ordination by the hands of the Presbytery against which the Apostle cautions Timothy 1 Tim. 4.14 It is likewise plain by Acts 6.4 that it is the Duty of Ministers to give themselves to Prayer as well as to Preaching and seeing many of the Preachers by giving themselves to it nay most of those in other Countries attain to a Faculty of delivering the Message of God in good Method and Language without Notes for what Reason can our Author think it impracticable for them if they likewise give themselves to Prayer to deliver their own and their Peoples Desires in the same manner to God without the help of a Form I confess for such as he who seems to be grosly ignorant of the Office and Duty of a Minister and is more like Jeroboam's Priests of old that by consecrating themselves with a Bullock and ten Rams were fit to be Priests to them that were no Gods a Form of Prayer may be necessary for by his ignorant Twattle he seems to be such a Parson as the Story goes of who could not tell what Prayer to read for a poor Man that came to him when his House was on Fire but at last bethought himself of that for Rain which he wisely conceiv'd would extinguish the Flames But when he came to mumble it over it was only for moderate Showers which the poor Man knowing not to be enough for his Necessity made bold to mend the Form and cried out for whole Buckets full For his ignorant and irreligious Questions Where the Assistance of the Spirit is promised or upon what account indeed necessary they smell so rank of the Libertine that we may justly enter our Exceptions against his Evidence in matters of Religion as an utter Enemy to it But to reform him if possible let him read his own Text once more which is a Promise as well as a Prophecy that the Spirit should assist the Saints under the Gospel in their Worship of which Prayer is a very great part Let him read Rom. 8.26 27. and there he will find the assistance of the Spirit to be necessary to help our Infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh Intercession for us with Groanings which cannot be uttered and he that searcheth the Hearts knoweth what is the Mind of the Spirit because he maketh Intercession for the Saints according to the Will of God He may likewise read the Fifteenth Verse of that same Chapter and there he will find that true Christians receive the Spirit of Adoption by which they cry Abba Father and are as naturally enabled thereby to pour out their Souls before God in Prayer for Spiritual Mercies as we are by Nature prompted to request such things of our Earthly Parents as we stand in need of without a Set Form Let him read John 14.26 and there he will find a Promise That the Comforter the holy Spirit shall teach us all things and if Prayer be a Christian Duty it must certainly be included in the Bosom of this Promise If he thinks to evade this by pretending that we alledg the very words of our Prayers are inspir'd Let him quote any Dissenting Author Quakers or some such excepted that have said so if he can I conceive his profane Raillery that we entertain Commerce with God at all Adventures is