Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A79475
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A plot for the good of posterity. Communicated in a sermon to the Honorable House of Commons for the sanctifying of the monthly fast. March 25. 1646. / By Francis Cheynell.
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Cheynell, Francis, 1608-1665.
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1646
(1646)
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Wing C3814; Thomason E329_11; ESTC R200698
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45,495
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60
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Observation God doth communicate Rare Secrets to certaine knowne and chosen men It is Gods Prerogative Royall to communicate Secrets to whom he pleases and therefore these Knowne men are fitly termed Chosen men I know whom I have chosen saith our Saviour John 17. 18. God makes choise of some men for State Service and some for Church-Service and God doth communicate different Secrets to severall men answerable to those severall Services for which he hath chosen them 1. To his Servants the Prophets he did reveale Prophesies foretell the ruine of Monarchies and States such secrets were proper for them Amos 3. 7. 2. Our Lord and Saviour did reveale Doctrinall Secrets to his Disciples such Gospell-Secrets as they were to communicate to the Church of Christ John 15. 15. I call you freinds and I deale with you as freinds I impart Secrets to you not that you should keepe them close and conceale them but that you might publish and declare them I have not shunned saith Saint Paul to declare unto you all the Counsell of God Acts 20. 27 3. God doth impart Secrets of State to men of Publique Spirits that blacke secret of the Powder-plot was by a wonderfull providence discovered and prevented and we have had such admirable experiments of Gods mercy in this kind within these five years last past that our posterity will scarce beleeve what we have seene 4 God doth impart Mysterious Secrets to his chosen people whom he hath fore-knowne Some Secrets are communicated to them to make them his friends and other Secrets are imparted to them after they are his friends because they are his friends his Saints his Heires that they may thereby know themselves to be the Elect of God which is a Secret indeed First The Secrets which God doth impart to his Elect that they may become his friends and fall in love with him and holinesse are Convincing Secrets Humbling Secrets and both being set home by the Spirit are Converting Secrets for men doe discourse and act according to that Habit of Principles which is ingrafted in them and the last end intended by them The Spirit doth impart Convincing Secrets to us that he may take us off from our selfe-conceitednesse and selfe-dependance for whilest we are in our naturall estate we have â—igh thoughts of our selves and base thoughts of Grace and holinesse nay meane thoughts of God and Christ Now the holy Spirit doth convince us of our errour I say Convince that is the holy Spirit doth clearely and undeniably prove that to be most false which we conceive to be most true You saith the Spirit to these naturall but chosen men thinke your selves wise and strong rich and righteous highly favoured by God because you are flattered by men but the truth is You are fooles and weakelings you are slaves and beggars prisoners guilty filthy miserable abominable corrupted cursed and almost damned These are Humbling as well as Convincing Secrets The body sweates and the soule trembles at such amazing Secrets as these I am sent this day not to whisper but to speake this truth aloude in your eares All you that are yet in your naturall estate let your Parts Gifts Titles Places be what they will this this is your condition Give me leave to rent that vaile asunder which is before your eyes and over your hearts I arrest you this day at the Suit of the great Jehovah the glorious Commander of heaven and earth for a debt of ten thousand thousand talents my millions of millions and over and above of high treason against all the three blessed Persons of the holy Trinity You cannot deny the debt you must stand to the arrest you can have no protection you are in as great danger as if Death were before you the Devill behinde you and both ready to seize upon you The Spirit doth convince you that you are in a state of sinne because you are in a state of unbeleife John 16. 8 9. The Spirit doth reprove the word signifies Convince the whole world of unregenerate men Of sinne because they beleeve not in Christ The Spirit doth convince all carnall men that they are in the state of wrath nay of enmity because their hearts rise and swell against the Simplicity and Power of godlinesse Are these things Secrets to you or are they not if they be the God of all grace set these convincing truths home upon your Spirits If they be not then tell me all you that are in a state of enmity how dare you goe to sleepe in that estate I tell you in the Name of Jehovah that That man who doth not onely commit an act of sinne against knowledge but resolves to continue in a state of sinne after conviction is within some few steppes of the unpardonable sinne Thou that hast meane thoughts of God consider thy dependance upon God and Gods absolute Independency his Infinite Excellency the Soveraignty of his Over-ruling Providence as well as the Supremacy of his Almighty Power thinke of his satiating All-sufficiency and Flesh confounding Majesty that thou mayest learne to abase thy selfe before this great Jehovah the God of Glory Now let me speake and speake freely to thee whilest thou hast these vigorous impressions of Gods Excellency upon thy spirit This God of Heaven this Lord of Glory is a Professed Enemy to all those who resolve to continue in a State or course of sinne Dost thou heare me the God of Heaven is thine Enemy That God in whose hand thy life breath counsels wayes comforts are is thine Enemy Doth not thy soule tremble at such a thought Thy sinnes which thou lookest on as trifles are so many injuries nay affronts offered to this Almighty God thou hast abused him to his face and if this offended Majesty should refuse to be reconciled unto thee thou wilt for certaine die and perish to all eternity Let these humbling considerations abide upon thy soule let the terrours of the Almighty dwell upon thy spirit thou art now in a course of physicke and if thou feele convulâ—ions in thy bowels and tortures in thy conscience be patient under the hand of God that thou mayest be cured Be humbled be abased but doe not despaire be ashamed but be not discouraged Consider the filthinese of sinne the Purity Justice Majesty of God his VVrath Displeasure Zeale Indignation against every sinne and let all these considerations move thee to fly from sinne but not from God blesse God for that Secret for it is a Secret which hath supported and revived many a fainting soule and wounded spirit Tell me how doe these Secrets worke upon thee art thou willing to take a pardon upon faire and honourable termes wouldest thou doe any thing suffer any thing forgoe any thing that thou mightest be at peace with this mighty God Dost thou desire Direction from God Reconciliation and Communion with him Why then I have some Encouraging Secrets to impart unto thee God hath discovered his rich mercy his undeserved
the Lords day we are all obliged to a Christian Vniformity in this particular humane prudence must submit and conâ—orm to the Command of the Lord of the day Moreover God is a jealous God and will not allow of Superstition Idolatry or profanenesse and therefore we are bound up to an Uniformity in point of worship The Libellatici of old were as some conceive in fee with the State that they might not be forced to worship Idols though they held too much correspondence with Idolaters but Abrahams servants though once Idolaters had no such dispensation they were commanded peremptorily enjoyned by Abraham to walk in the way of Jehovah and I hope we shall have no Libellatici amongst us men in fee with the State that they may worship Idols On the other side I do not know that there is any humane Set-form of prayer like to be imposed upon the Ministry of this Kingdom and yet there ought to be a firm and uniform agreement amongst us about the substantials of worship that we may all observe those generall rules laid down in the Word Exercise our gifts stir up our graces and â—eg supplyes from the Spirit of grace and supplication to help our infirmities Finally we must in our prayers have a speciall respect to order and edification to the necessities of the people the state of the times juncture of circumstances the work of Christ in our hands and the work of the Spirit in our hearts Behold a Christian Uniformity without the Imposition of any Humane Set-form of Prayer 3. If you enquire after Government you have my Reasons why I say so little and I have not time to say much more There are some substantiall parts of Church-Government which must be maintained that the ordinances of Christ may be set up and maintained in Power and purity Men that pretend to great things and know nothing seem to be much afraid of a Classicall tyranny but you that are acquainted with the secrets of that Honourable Committee for Accommodation know that there hath been liberty enough offered and fair expedients propounded in that particular Obj. But you 'l say that Saints are to be left wholly to their liberty and Liberty cannot consist with Vniformity I answer Saints are men and must be ruled or else their unregenerate part which often prevails will make them too unruly It is the observation of some reverend Divines that Jonah was a peevish Saint and Sampson a desperate Saint and certainly there are many peevish and desperate men that passe for Saints in this time of Liberty these must be ruled and over-ruled There are some that seem to be Saints because they have a form of godlinesse but they are no Saints because they deny the power of godlinesse What will you say to those men who challenge an Absolute liberty to say and do what they list till it pleases God to work on them by spirituall means whereas the truth is they live in contempt of all those means which should work upon them You 'l easily grant that no pretence nay no scruple of conscience can exempt a man from any Civill duty which he owes to the State or the government thereof for his own and the publique good why then should any pretence or scruple exempt him from attendance upon quickning ordinances and powerfull means of Reformation If men broach damnable doctrines and pertinaciously defend them against common light I mean the Common light of Nature or Christianity if their errours be destructive to Faith Piety Justice or Charity if a man plead conscience in the point of Community of goods if one pretend that his conscience puts him upon the ensnaring of other mens consciences in a word If under pretence of liberty of Conscience he take liberty to be unconscionable sure this is but an Atheisticall Libertinisme it is not liberty of conscience but liberty of phantasie liberty of errour liberty of lust he that hath no other title to Saintship but a bare profession doth by such errors and practises unsaint himself and is sit to be cast out of the society of Saints and protection of Parliament 2. Saints are Saints and therefore though they must be ordered yet they must not be scandalized Mark 9. 42. If they judge us we must not despise them we must not despise them as simple because they condemne us as profane if they be peevish we must not be proud 3. Saints must not be persecuted though they be peevish nay desperate yet they must not be punished beyond their desert the warme blood of sheep is no drink for me it is too high and heady nor must I out of a sullen humour deny a peevish Saint the right hand of fellowship unlesse he will be over-awed by me and forced to confesse something to be true which he conceives to be false or practise something which he beleeves in his conscience to be a sin Surely if Saints urge arguments which may tempt wise men or sway weak men they should be dealt with in a spirituall brotherly and convincing way Church power is for edification not for destruction Christians must not be like brinish lights which spit fire one at another till both go out and dye in a smoke and stench 4. I am so far from endeavouring to persecute Saints that I humbly desire that we would all study how to make more Saints we quarrell very often about gathering of Saints and the ordering of Saints I beseech you that we may all look upon it as our businesse how to make Saints Oh it will be a comfortable work to gather and order Saints of our own making 5. Saints must have a Saint-like liberty we are not obliged to obey any person or any company or society of persons in any thing which is prejudiciall to Gods glory and our salvation and we are at liberty to do any thing which is religious or vertuous because there is no Law against any duties for which we are enabled by the fruits of the Spirit The fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace long-suffering gentlenesse goodnesse faith meeknesse temperance against such there is no law Galat. 5. 22 23. No man is Lord of my faith or conscience and if men will be displeased with me for pleasing Christ I am at liberty to displease all the world Gal. 1. 10. This is a Saint-like liberty but Saints are not at liberty to sin against the Royall Law of Liberty they must fulfill the Royall Law according to the Scripture or else they will be convinced and judged by the Law of Liberty Saints are men of generous spirits and take themselves to be at liberty to do any thing Servato ordine finis any thing that God allows them true Saints affect not challenge not a kind of Free-will to think beleeve speak and act according to the garb and humour of the time True Saints will not say that a man may be of what Religion he pleases so he be