Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	seek_v	spirit_n	worship_v	7,034	5	9.8542	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A87871	A discourse of praying with the spirit, and with the understanding. Where of extemporary premeditate set forms of prayer. Preached in two sermons at Hillsborough anno 1659. By Henry Leslie (maugre all antichristian opposition) Bishop of Down and Conner. And now published for the redresse of the great abuse of prayer in that diocesse, whereof he had, and ought to have a charge. Whereunto is annexed a letter of Jer. Taylor, D.D. concerning the same subject.	Leslie, Henry, 1580-1661.; Taylor, Jeremy, 1613-1667.	1660 (1660)	Wing L1162; Thomason E1041_4; ESTC R207928	28,259	45

and maketh request for us with groanings which cannot be uttered It can not be truly said of the Spirit of God which is God that he either prayeth or groaneth but the meaning is he hath that operation in our hearts that he maketh us to pray and groan so Gal. 4.6 it is said that the spirit cryeth Abba Father because by him we cry Abba Father as it is exprest Rom. 8.15 If the holy spirit dwell in our hearts he will fill us with holy thoughts and desires He openeth our eyes to see the miserable Estate wherein we stand and what great need we have of Gods grace and help for all things Then he openeth our hearts to pray and openeth our lips also He strikes our hearts with a deep sense of our own misery and wretchedness and with a true consideration of Gods Majesty and greatness and so makes us to pray with reverence and humility he inflames our hearts with love to God and to our Brethren and so makes us to pray in charity he begets in us a confidence to be heard and so makes us to pray in faith he gives us patience and so makes us wait upon God and persevere in prayer And from the power of the Spirit we have those motions kindled in us whereby our prayers are made fervent for it falls out often that when we settle our selves to pray our own hearts do leave us and our minds are wandring abroad not regarding what the tongue speaketh Bernard complaineth much of this saying Nihil in mundo fugatius est corde meo nothing in the World is swifter then my heart it flyeth away and fastneth upon other objects And therefore he used to begin his devotions with exurgat Deus Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered For indeed those wandring thoughts are great Enemies to devotion they arise so thick that they suffer not our prayers to come up unto God As when Abraham offered sacrifice he was no sooner gone from it but the fowles of the air light upon it Gen. 15.6 So when we offer unto God the Calves of our lips it comes to pass through our carelesness and wantonness that many foul thoughts gee upon our sacrifice and defile it But our care must be to drive them away as Abraham did the fowles of the air And for this the spirit of God doth assist us for he calleth us home and putteth us in mind that we are kneeling before the Majesty of God and therefore ought to take good heed what we speak in his presence and to himself The holy Spirit also inflames our affections with zeal so that we pray with fervency of Spirit and utter our desires unto God with sighs which cannot be exprest without this speciall assistance of Gods spirit the best of our prayers are but luke warm as saith St. Austin Tepida est omnis oratio quam non praevenit inspiratio And this leadeth me to a third consideration of praying with the Spirit As to pray with the spirit signifieth to pray by immediate inspiration and in an unknown tongue here in this text and also to pray by the direction and assistance of the holy Spirit Jude 20. So it signifyeth to pray zealously and fervently with earnest and ardent affection and so it is to be taken Ephes 6.18 Praying alwayes with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit that is heartily and fervently So St. Paul worshipped God as he protests Rom. 1.9 God is my wittness whom I serve in my spirit as if he should say I do not serve God for by-ends or in outward appearance and sight of men but I serve him in my spirit heartily fervently sincerely So he would have all who worship God to be fervent in spirit for he joynes them together Rom. 12.11 Fervent in Spirit serving the Lord. This is the only worship that pleaseth God as our Saviour hath taught us John 4.23 The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit that is they must joyne their heart and spirit with the outward performance That worship pleaseth God for the Father seeketh such to worship him But if the heart be wanting and the spirit dull the outward art though never so formally done will not please God as appeareth by what the Lord himself saith Esa 29.13 This people draw near me with their mouth and with their lips do honour me but have removed their heart far from me The like complaint we have Jer. 12.2 Thou art near in their mouth and farr from their reins And Hos 7.14 They cryed not unto me with their heart when they howled upon their beds Where we finde that Hypocrites did pray and cry and howle to but the Lord did not regard it because it was not with their heart For God is a spirit and looketh especially to the inward disposition of the spirits of men he first of all requireth the heart Prov. 23.26 My Son give me thine heart Look whatsoever duty he requireth of us he will have it done with the heart and with all the heart we must seek the Lord with all our heart cleave unto the Lord with all our heart serve him with all all our heart turne unto him with all our heart love him with all our heart obey him with all our heart follow him with all our heart praise him with all our heart And so also pray unto him with all our heart and not with our lips only for prayer is not a powring out of the lungs but of the heart and soul before God as Hanna saith 1 Sam. 1.15 I have powned out my Soul before the Lord. And so David exhorteth us Psal 62.8 Yea People pour out your hearts before him And as we are to pray with all our heart so with all our might that is with the whole strength and endeavour of our soul and all the faculties of it It is said of David 2. Sam. 6.14 That he danced before the Lord with all his might That was a worship of God a spirituall worship wherein David by his outward act of dancing did express his exultation and rejoycing in the Lord and the text saith the did it with all his might borrowing a Metaphor from bodily exercise For as a man is said to Wrestle with all his might when he useth all his force and putteth all his strength to it even so we worship God with all our might when all the faculties and powers of our souls are concentrated and united together in the performance of that work then do we wrestle with God as Jacob did or strive in prayer as the Apostle exhorts us Rom. 15.30 I beseech you bretheren that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me So did David worship God for he danced before the Lord with all his might to express his joy for bringing home of the Arke And as

will pray with the Spirit that is I will use any language which the spirit doth dictate unto me but then I will pray with the understanding also that is if I have prayed in an unknown tongue I will so interpret my prayer that the Congregation shall understand me So that to pray with the spirit and to sing with the Spirit here doth not only expresse an immediate inspiration but particularly that kind of inspiration whereby they prayed and sung in an unknown tongue as is evident by that which followeth Else when thou shall blesse with the Spirit how shall be that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen seeing he understands not what thou sayest And the only reason why he cannot say Amen nor understand is because the blessing or thansgiving is in an unknown tongue called here a blessing with the Spirit And again ver 17. thou verily givest thanks well but the other is not edified And the only reason why he is not edifyed is because the thanksgiving is in an unknown tongue So ver 2. speaking in an unknown tongue is called speaking in the Spirit and ver 12. They who are desirous of the gift of tongues are said to be Zealous of Spirits This is so clear that all interpreters ancient and modern except some popish writers who seek to cast a mist upon this text which speaks so plainly against them by the spirit here do understand the gift of tongues Yet I think it more proper by the spirit to understand the mind inspired with that gift which is in effect the very same thing By this which I have said it is manifest that what the Apostle speaks here of praying with the Spirit and singing with the spirit doth not concern us but was an extraordinary and miraculous gift given at first for the conversion of the Nations and laying the foundation of the Church which when the Church was once gathered ceased as did also the gift of Miracles So that they who now pretend that their extemporary effusions are the dictates of the Spirit should do well to shew us some of their Miracles and they should sing with the Spirit also compose the ditty in meeter sing it in a new tune according to the rules of Musick and all this ex tempore and they should pray in Greek or Hebrew or some language which they never well learned and then they might challenge our beliefe but if they cannot do these things they must give me leave to say that they are not the Organs but the apes of the spirit and that it is not the good spirit of God that guides them in such undertakings but their own spirit a spirit of pride arrogancy and presumption of whom we may truely say as was said of the foolish prophets Ezek. 13.3 They follow their own spirit and have seen nothing And yet we must pray with the Spirit that is by the direction and assistance of the holy Spirit St. Jude requireth this of all Christians vers 20. Build up your selves in your most holy faith praying in the holy Ghost for all believers have the Spirit that is the gifts and graces of the Spirit they are led by the Spirit of God Rom. 8.14 And if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Rom. 8.9 The Spirit of God dwelleth in them 1 Cor. 3.16 And where he dwells he is not idle but is still working he becomes unto them First a Spirit of sanctification then a Spirit of Consolation and lastly a Spirit of intercession for saith the Apostle Rom. 8.26 The Spirit helpeth 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 The Spirit cannot groan but makes us to groan so he is said to make intercession for us because he stirs us up to make intercession This is that which was promised Zach. 12.10 I will powre upon the house of David the Spirit of grace and of supplications But there is great difference between that Spirit which we now receive and the Spirit which they had of whom the Apostle speaks in this Chapter even as there is great difference between the Spirit whereby the Scriptures were given and the Spirit whereby they were afterwards discerned to be the true word of God You shall therefore understand that the Spirit of God is present with men two manner of wayes either by inspiration or by illumination only First by inspiration which is immediate and excludes the use of their own judgment and reason as also their pains and industry such a presence of the Spirit the Apostles Prophets and penmen of holy writ had They speak as they were moved by the holy Ghost saith St. 2 Pet. 1.21 Peter They did not meditate nor devise any thing but were the meer organs of the Spirit which spake by their mouth and wrote by their pen as Zacharie saith in his song He spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets And the Apostle Heb. 1.1 Cod spake unto the Fathers by the Prophets Yea he spake not only by them but in them as Christ saith unto his disciples Math. 10.20 It is not you that speake but the Spirit of your Father which is in you And after this manner were they moved with the Spirit who had the gift of tongues of whom the Apostle speaketh in this Chapter they did not study for what they spake nor take pains to learn it but as the Evangelist saith they were filled with the holy-ghost and spake with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance Act. 2.4 Again the Spirit is present with Men by illumination only which is not immediate but requires the use of means it doth not exclude but require the use of our own judgment and reason as also our industry and deligence And thus did the Spirit inable the Church to discern the holy books to receive those which were genuine and truly divine and to reject others which pretended the like authority It was not by any Enthusiasme that they knew the Scriptures to be Gods word but they made use of the natural dexterity and sagacity of their own ingine they took much pains in examining these writings and comparing one thing with another and when they used the meanes the Spirit of God did improve their natural faculties help their art and Industry and so aid and assist them that their eyes were opened to discern those interna eriteria markes inhaerent in the word as the divinity of the matter the Majesty of the stile the truth of the predictions and agreement of latter books with those written many hundred years before whereby they were convinced of the verity of these books and that they had God himself for their author And so the Spirit now perswades us of the truth of Gods holy word Christ promised unto us his Spirt to lead us into all truth Joh. 16.13 And yet you know that

we must use the means we must seek and labour to find out the truth for we must search the Scriptures John 5.39 we must seek wisedom as silver and search for her as for bidden treasurs Prov. 2.4 we must separate our selves and seek wisdom as it is Proverbs 18.1 Through desire a Man having separated himself seeketh and intermedleth with all wisdom First the holy Spirit stirs up in us a desire of heavenly wisdom then this desire makes us to separate our selves from the World and worldly thoughts to retire into the closet of our own hearts by holy meditation and to seek God diligently in the use of the means and then the wisdom of God which before seemed foolishness is by the illumination of the Spirit made so known unto us that we cannot but discern and admire it So much the Apostle hath taught us Chap. 2.13 saying we speak not in the words which mans wisedom teacheth but which the holy ghost teacheth comparing spirituall things with spirituall things Where we see that the Holy-Ghost doth teach us words which mans wisedom cannot teach but it is upon our cooperation our study and endeavour while we compare spiritual things with spiritual things And so the holy Spirit worketh faith in us faith is the gift of God of God only he not only gives the power to believe but also brings forth the art as the Apostle tells us Philip. 1.29 It is given unto you for to believe Faith is reckoned amongst the gifts of the Spirit Gal 5.22 And the Apostle mentioneth the Spirit of faith 2 Cor. 4.13 And yet the Spirit doth not work faith in us without means but requireth our own endeavonrs for saith St. Augustine He who made thee without thine own help will not justifie thee without thine own help we must use the means diligently hear read and meditate in Gods word for faith cometh by hearing Rom. 10. 17. And they who neglect to use the means must never think that the holy spirit will inspire them immediately with the grace of faith Thus you see how the holy spirit now worketh in directing the Church to discern the canonicall books in perswading us of the truth of Gods word in leading us into all truth and in begetting the grace of faith in us that in all these he requireth our own endeavours and consequently he requireth the same in all his other gifts and productions Therefore I may safely conclude that so and no other wayes the spirit inableth us to pray namely in the use of means both natural and artificiall That prayer is the gift of the spirit no man can deny for saith the Apostle we know not what to pray as we ought but the Spirit helpeth our infirmities Rom 8.26 where I desire you to observe the word which the Apostle useth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is a double compound an ingeminate expression and signifieth that he joynes in relieving he bears or lifts with us helping us in our labours together with him So that if we would have the holy Spirit help us to pray we must labour we must make use of our own judgment and reason and not only make use of our natural faculties but also of our learning and industry we must diligently read and meditate in Gods word that we may be acquainted with the style of the holy ghost and there learn to frame our prayer aright both for the matter and for the forme And when we thus study the addresses which we make unto God we may be sure of the direction and assistance of the spirit for God helpeth industry and his spirit now worketh by means and then most assists us when we most endeavour So that albeit we cannot now pray by immediate inspiration and in a strange tongue yet we may and must pray by the direction and assistance of the spirit in the use of the means The spirit directs us to pray in the Word and assists us inwardly with his motions He directeth us to pray in the word for there we have many Godly prayers psalmes and hymnes recorded for our use And we may use them either as prayers or patterns to frame our prayers by First we may use them as prayers for no prayer that we can make can be compared with them for piety and devotion neither can any man now presume to have such a measure of the spirit as those holy penmen had whose prayers and hymnes are by the spirit of God consigned unto the use of the Church for ever And so some of them have been alwayes used for that wild conceit that now possesseth men was not known in former ages namely that our prayers should wast themselves away in the making and like smoak vanish in the ascending that they should never be reiterated but still conceived new and that as often as we make our adresses unto God we should vary both our matter and words This is the divinity of many men in this age who measure God by their own bellies thinking that he doth loath to have the same sacrifices offered dayly as they do to be fed still with the same meat without change of dyet But such devotion was never known unto the people of God for they alwaies practised the contrary The Priests under the law by Gods own direction used the same words in blessing the people every day which are set down Numb 6.24 25 26. David at the removing of the Ark used the same prayer Psal 68.1 which was at first composed by Moses for that use Numb 10.35 Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered The same David composed many prayers and psalmes for the use of the Tabernacle the Ninety second Psalm is entituled a song for the sabbath day the same being composed to be sung every sabbath when there was a holy convocation unto the Lord. It is said 2. Cron. 29.30 That Ezekiah the King and the Princes commanded the Levites to sing prayses unto the Lord with the words of David and of Asapth the Seer The Prophet Hosea prescribes unto the repenting Isralites a set form of prayer which he will have them to use Chap. 14.2 take with you words and turn to the Lord say unto him take away all iniquity and receive us gratiously so will we render the calves of our lips c. John the Baptist taught his disciples a form of prayer as appeareth Luke 11.1 And Christ hath taught us a most exquisite form and hath commanded us to use it saying when you pray say our Father c. But now that prayer is rejected and a countermand given when you pray say not our Father and certainly such a direct opposition against Christ must needs proceed from the spirit of Antichrist St. John Rev. 15.3 saw in a vision those who had gotten the victory over the beast praising God and they sung the song of Moses the Jews in their dayly liturgy used the song of Moses albeit they never had the same occasion again which brought