Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	worship_n	worship_v	yield_v	124	3	8.5950	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A32734	Of wisdom three books / written originally in French by the Sieur de Charron ; with an account of the author, made English by George Stanhope ...; De la sagesse. English	Charron, Pierre, 1541-1603.; Stanhope, George, 1660-1728.	1697 (1697)	Wing C3720; ESTC R2811	887,440	1,314

were liable neither wou'd there have been any Place or possible Occasion for Bloody Offerings Expiations or Propitiatory Sacrifices This is a farther Evidence Secondly of our Weakness if we look at the Meanness of the Intention upon which that Usage grew and was encourag'd and That cou'd be no other than the Hope of Appeasing and Gratifying Almighty God by such Bloody Oblations I speak not now of the Reasons why God instituted Sacrifices but of that Notion which plainly appears to have been predominant in the Minds of Men who did not see into the Mysterious End of them which the Generality of the Jews themselves never did and much less cou'd it be expected that the Pagan World shou'd penetrate into it It is true indeed Almighty God in great Grace and Compassion to those more early and ignorant Ages of the World which knew no better did very favourably accept Good Men when they approached him with this sort of Devotion and the Apostle takes particular Notice of his having Respect to Abel and his Offering Heb. xi as the History of the Old Testament does of his testifying that Acceptance by visible Signs in the Case of Noah Abraham and Others There being this Motive to his Mercy that what was done of that kind proceeded from an Intention to serve and honour him and that the Understandings of Men were gross and heavy they were in their Minority and under a Schoolmaster as St. Paul expresses it of the Jewish People but at the same time honest and well-meaning And it is not improbable that this Opinion so universal at That time might represent Sacrifices to them as a Dictate of the Law of Nature and the only proper Method of Divine Worship There was it is confessed another Consideration which rendred Sacrifices very valuable and well-pleasing to God whereby they were made use of as Figures and Representations of that One truly meritorious Sacrifice to be offer'd upon the Altar of the Cross afterwards But this is a Mystery peculiar to the Jewish and Christian Religion And as it is a Common so is it an Excellent and Adorable Instance of the Divine Wisdom to convert what is of Human Institution Natural Usage or of a Corporeal Nature to High and Holy Purposes and make such things as the Ceremonial Law consisted of turn to a Spiritual Account But still This does not by any means infer that God took pleasure in these things as of any real Intrinsick Worth and Good in themselves For even before Grace and Truth set this Matter in its clearest Light by the Gospel the Prophets were not sparing to declare the Contrary and Those among the Jews of more enlightened Understandings saw this perfectly well and acknowledged it even while the Practice of offering them continu'd Psal li. Thus David Thou desirest no Sacrifice else would I give it thee but thou delightest not in Burnt-Offerings Psal xl Burnt-Offering and Sacrifice for Sin hast thou not requir'd And again speaking in the Person of God himself Psal l. I will take no Bullock out of thy House nor He-Goat out of thy Folds They call'd upon Men for Oblations of another kind more Noble and Spiritual more becoming Them to bring and more worthy and fit for a Holy Deity to receive The Sacrifice of God is a Contrite Spirit and the Offering of a pure Heart Mine Ears hast thou opened that I should do thy Will yea thy Law is within my Heart Offer unto God the Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving I will have Mercy and not Sacrifice And many other Passages to the same Purpose And at last to clear this Matter and put it beyond a Doubt the Son of God himself who was Truth and the Teacher of it and who condescended to come into the World that he might disabuse Mankind and rescue them from their Ignorance and Errours hath utterly abolish'd this way of serving God Which he wou'd never have done had there been any Essential Goodness in it which cou'd have recommended it for its own sake to God his Father But when He was come to be the End of the Law and the Universal Propitiation the use of Sacrifices was at an End too John iv 23 24. and then it is They that worship God must worship him in Spirit and in Truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him And without Question next to the Extirpating Idolatry This of abolishing Sacrifices is One of the most Glorious Publick Effects One of the best Reformations which Christianity hath wrought in the World And hence it was that Julian the Emperour its most professed most inveterate Enemy in Despight to it offered more Sacrifices than perhaps any other Man ever did and endeavoured to introduce This Way of Worship and Idolatry again as being both directly in Contradiction to the Christian Religion But of This we have spoken sufficiently and therefore let us now take a short View of some of the other considerable Branches of Religion The Blessed Sacraments when Adminished to us in Elements so common and of such mean Esteem as Bread and Wine and Water and not only so but in the very Act of Administration bearing Resemblance to the most Vulgar and Despicable Actions of Life as Wishing Eating and Drinking are plain Memento's of our continual Weaknesses and Wants our Miseries and Pollutions And as the marvellous Efficacy magnifies the Almighty Power and Goodness of God so the Need we have of them should humble us with mortifying Reflections upon our own feeble Condition Thus again Repentance is prescribed as the Necessary the only Remedy for our Spiritual Diseases and 't is plain This Considered in it self is an Act full of Shame and Reproach it upbraids us with our Faults and Follies afflicts our Souls with Grief and sad Remorse and shews us to our Selves in the Worst and most Deformed Figures that can be But however Evil and Uncomely this may seem in it self yet it is Necessary for reconciling us to God and That is enough to reconcile Us to it Another Instance may be taken from Oaths which are indeed Religious Acts when lawfully practised by Reason of the Name of God solemnly invoked in them But yet it is evident that the Common Use and Administration of these is a Scurvy Symptome a most shameful Argument how little Mankind are to be trusted What Monsters of Falshood and Treachery of Errour and Ignorance we are How vilely suspicious and distrustful the Person requiring them is and how liable to Jealousie the Person from whom they are demanded and what a mean Opinion those Law-givers who ordered them had of Mens Honesty and Truth when one's bare Word will not give Satisfaction nd as our Saviour says whatsoever is more than this Matt. V. 37. cometb of Evil. Thus you see not only how Weak and Sickly our Condition is but likewise what sort of Remedies Religion hath found it Necessary to apply for our Cure Since it may be said in some

for the Officers Officers which come now to be next considered by These I mean such as serve the Prince and the Government in some publick Trust And They ought to be made Choice of with great Discretion Persons of Honour and Virtue well-descended and whose Families are of Quality and Reputation in the World It is reasonable to believe that Men of this Character will approve themselves best in their respective Stations and That of Birth particularly is so considerable a Qualification that it is by no Means for the Honour of a Prince or the Decency of his Court that People of mean Extract should be admitted near his Person and commissioned to preside over others except some very great and remarkable Merit give them a just and visible preference and make amends for the want of Quality and Descent But Men of Infamous Lives False and Base Men of no Principles or of such as are Dangerous and Worse than none in short Men under Circumstances which either fix an odious Character such as the World have reason to hate or to despise to be asham'd of or to suspect should not upon any Terms be admitted to any Office or Trust After these Conditions as to their Morals we must not forget that as great a Regard is due to their Understandings And that not only to see that they be Men of Parts and Judgment in general but that each Person be dispos'd of to such an Employment as best agrees with his own Genius and Attainments in Particular For some are Naturally fittest for Military and others for Civil Trusts Some have thought it a general good Rule for Officers of all sorts to choose Men of a mild and gentle Disposition and moderate Character for your violent and topping Spirits that are full of themselves and cannot be prevail'd upon to yield to any or quit the least Punctilio commonly speaking are not at all fit for Business * Ut pares negotiis neque suprà sint recti non erecti Let the Persons you employ be therefore a Match for their Business and able to deal with it but not too much above and able to play with it Men that know how to give and take their Due but not such as will sacrifice the Publick to a Nice Point of Honour and their own Unseasonable Vanity Next after Counsel we may very well be allowed to place Treasures The Fifth Head Treasure for certainly these must be confest a very great Point a useful necessary and powerful Provision If Advice be the Head that sees and directs Money is the Nerves the Hands the Feet of the State by which it moves and acts and is strongly knit together For when all is done there is no Sword cuts deep not makes its own way through like that with a Silver Edge No Master is so Absolute in his Commands so readily obey'd No Orator so Eloquent so Persuasive so Winning upon the Wills and Affections of Men no Conquerour so Successful or so great a Gainer by Storms and Sieges and force of Arms as a good Purse This is serv'd with Zeal and obeyed without Grudging this gets Possession of Hearts and draws the World after it this takes Towns and Castles without the Expence of Blood or Time or Hazard And therefore a Wise Prince will always think himself oblig'd to take care that his Treasury be in good Condition and that he never be disabled in this so very necessary so vital a Part of his Government Now the Art and the Care of effecting and securing this consists in Three Particulars The First whereof concerns the providing good Funds The Second in employing the Money arising from them to the best Advantage and the Third in keeping a constant Reserve that he may never be destitute of a necessary Supply upon any sudden Accident or pressing Occasion And in all these Cases there are Two things which the Prince must by all means look upon himself bound to avoid which are Injustice and sordid Frugality for how Necessary and Advantagious soever the Observation of these Rules may be yet he must never purchase this Convenience at so dear a Rate as the Invasion of other Men's Rights or the loss of his own Honour For the First of these which relates to laying the Foundation as it were and amassing together a sufficient Treasure there are several Methods of doing it Many Springs which like so many little Streams contribute to the filling up this common Cistern Funds but though all of them pour in some yet they do not all supply the same Proportion nor are they all perpetual or equally to be depended upon For Instance One Fund is the Crown Lands I. and Demesnes and other standing Revenues appointed to the Use of the Prince for the Support of his Grandeur and Government And these ought to be husbanded to the best Advantage and kept up to their old Rents and put into good Hands They should by no means be alienated without some very urgent Exigency require it but look'd upon as things Sacred and such as in their own Nature are not transferrable to any other Owner II. Another is the Conquests made upon Enemies which should be so ordered as to turn to good Account and not squandered and prodigally wasted because they are a sort of additional Wealth and when they are gone the Prince is but where he was before The Power of old Rome is in great Measure owing to their good Management in this Point They always took Care to bring in vast Summs not only to pay the Charge of the War but to enrich and swell their Exchequers with the Wealth transferred thither from the Towns they took and the Countries they vanquished This their Historian Livy tells us was the Practice of their Bravest and most Renown'd Generals Camillus Flaminius Aemilius Paulus the Scipios Lucullus and Caesar and not only so but after this first drawing over their present Treasures they constantly imposed a Yearly Stipend to be paid either by the Natives left upon their own Soil under these and certain other Conditions or by those Colonies of Romans whom they transplanted thither But still every Conquest brought some substantial Advantage to the Common-Wealth and was more than an empty Name and the meer Glory of the Thing The Presents Free-Gifts Pensions Donations and Grants III. Tributes Taxes arising either from Friends or Allies or Subjects Legacies and Bequests of the Dead Deeds of Gift from Owners yet surviving or any other manner of Conveyance Tolls and Imposts IV. Customs upon Goods imported or exported Commodities Foreign or Domestick Duties upon Docks and Havens Ports and Rivers which hath been a general and very ancient Method of raising Money as well upon Strangers as Natives and a very just lawful and beneficial Method no doubt it is when limited with these Conditions That no Provisions or Other Goods that are Necessaries of Life shall be transported so as to impoverish the