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A13120
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The gaines of seeking God In two sermons, preached in the parish church of VVestminster: by Christopher Styles.
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Styles, Christopher.
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1620
(1620)
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STC 23412; ESTC S122483
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26,139
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54
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And know that all wee that haue our errand from Heauen and are called of God as Aaron was haue knowledge ioyned with authoritie sufficient without feare of them that haue authoritie to kill the bodie but are not able to kill the soule boldly to preach the Gospell of Christ Iesus euen before Kings and to make you tremble at our Doctrine Acts 24.25 as Foelix did to heare Paul preach of Iudgement And can so easily confute such busie Ignorants that they shall willingly confesse vnto their shame we teach as men hauing authoritie not as the Scribes Thirdly Iesus sate daily in the Temple to teach the people he that will take the fleece must feed the flocke For whosoeuer shall perish in thy Fold for want of instruction his soule will I require at thy hands saith the Lord and my sheepe heare my voyce marke that if it be our dutie to teach it s your duty to heare Therefore I admonish you all examine your selues how you haue profited in the Schoole of Christ long hath the holy Gospell beene taught vnto vs if we be not bettered by these holy Councels it s a sure token that we haue not yet sought after God debito modo as we ought with our whole heart mournfully by Repentance diligently seeking nothing but God constantly not fainting till wee find his Spirit answering our spirits in loue It s also an infallible token of our irregular life carelesse of our small time of abode in that we will not seeke him debito tempore while it is day watchfully while he is present cheerefully while he is mercifull acceptably It s also a manifest testimonie of our contempt against God refusing to come where God is for the Lord is in his holy Temple Psal 11.4 therefore wee must seeke him debito loco In his Temple to powre out our hearts in Prayer before him In his Temple to learne instruction and to incline our hearts to vnderstanding In his Temple reuerently to obey our spirituall Teachers and not to resist the authoritie of their Doctrine nor to make difference of the holy Word of God and of the Gospell of Iesus Christ by hauing in respect of persons any man but only for the words sake Thus to seeke after God debito modo debito tempore debito loco we shall be sure to find him with ioy vnto our soules which blessing God grant vnto vs all through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen THE GAINES OF SEEKING GOD. PSAL. 69.32 Seeke after God and your soule shall liue THis Text I partly handled before leauing the rest till now then I deuided it into two parts first a Precept in these words Seeke after God secondly a Promise in these words and your soule shall liue The first part which is the Precept I handled then at large of the second part which is the Promise I purpose now to treate and doe humbly beseech Almightie God his assistance and your gentle patience Here indeed is the true gaines of seeking after God for so saith my Text your soule shall liue In the handling whereof these are the chiefe points wherein to insist first the dignitie conceiued in the Word soule secondly the qualitie in the Word your thirdly the vtilitie and comfort of the soule in these words shall liue First the dignitie of the soule fitly mentioned in the verie Word it selfe soule shall more plainly bee conceiued in the consideration of these three circumstances first the condition of the soule while wee consider the matter and essence whereof the soule consisteth For behold In the soules Creation God only made it according to his owne Image a spirituall and incorporeall substance And Augustine reasoning about the soule saith thus Anima est incorporea substantia regens corpus sicut enim in Deo vna est essentia tres distinctae personae sic in anima vna est essentia tres distinctae potentiae Memoria Intelligentia Voluntas which is thus in English The soule is a spirituall substance gouerning the bodie for as in God there is but one essence and three distinct persons so in the soule there is but one essence and three distinct powers that is the Memorie the Vnderstanding and the Will but howsoeuer the immortalitie of the soule may be proued in this in that it neuer ceaseth to liue euen in miserie Thus you see the dignitie and excellent nature of the soule for according to the Image of God the soule is made reasonable and may bee imployed about euery thing but cannot bee satisfied with any thing for it being made capeable of God whatsoeuer is lesse then God is vnable to fill it O noble Creature thou soule which art only ordayned for the fruition and vision of God O my soule that art formed in the Image of God betrothed by faith and indued with the Spirit loue him O loue him of whom thou art so much beloued O knit thy heart vnto him that hath knit himselfe to thy soule and seeke after him that seeketh for thee O seeke after God c. But alas for the stiffe-necked hard-hearted Sinner what shall become of thee why doe you so neglect the saluation of your soules which are immortall If thou diddest truely know the dignitie of thy selfe O soule whosoeuer thou beest thy sins would be abominable vnto thee a noble spirited man scorns rude and base companions and all men naturally doe shunne the plague and their dearest friends possest therewith There is nothing so base as sinne the verie plague and infection of the soule Oh then forsake and loath thy dearest affections so long as they are in loue with sinne and let the consideration of thy soules dignitie keepe thee in innocencie for euermore The second circumstance to be considered whereby we may know the dignitie of the soule is by comparison wherein it shall appeare how infinitely the soule exceeds the bodie with all the members thereof and all things whatsoeuer haue beene created besides Euery soule is better then euery body for that that giueth life is better then that which receiueth it and the soule giueth life to the bodie yea so much as the Firmament of Heauen is more beautifull then the Earth so farre doth the soule exceede in glorie the beautifullest bodie that euer was framed O how admirable is the diuers coloured beautie of all the Esements and of all the celestiall Firmament how pleasant and profitable vnto vs and how necessarie the seruice of them is for vs and yet all these were made but for the soule thou O God that hast made all things hast placed subiected all these things vnder mans feet that only Man remaining Lord ouer all thy Workes should himselfe remayne only thine and which is more all outward things are created ordayned for the bodie but the bodie it selfe is subiect to the soule and the soule it selfe is subiect vnto thee that it might only serue thee only loue thee and only possesse thee alone The price
with men Iacob was comforted by the Angels in the Wildernesse Gen. 28.12 Exod. 3.2 as he fled from his Brother Esau Moses was instructed by the Angell of God in the flaming Bush in the Wildernesse what hee should doe to deliuer Gods people out of bondage Mat. 4.11 The Angels came and comforted Iesus in the Wildernesse after hee was tempted of the Deuill The farther from the World the neerer to God as an Apple-tree planted where the branches spread ouer a common way those branches so spreading are alwayes subiect to spoyle and are made a prey to euery Passenger but those that grow in the compasse of the Owners ground beare fruit vnto the Planters profit so the man that spreads his heart to entertayne the World cannot keepe innocencie to the end whereby it often falls out that God loseth his due which is their heart and they their desire which is Heauen as in the example of Ananias and Saphira Acts 5.5 Againe In solitudine scandalum malignorum euitatur In desart and solitarie places wee escape the poyson of slanderous tongues therfore Iohn Baptist being to prepare the way of the Lord Mat. 3.1 had his continuall abode in the Wildernesse where he taught all that came vnto him When God gaue Israel a Law it was in the Wildernesse Exo. 19.20 where he spake vnto Moses in the Mount Mat. 5.1 When Iesus made that heauenly Sermon to the multitude he went into a desart place and there taught them from the mountaine by which examples wee are learned that whosoeuer will bee good Teachers and good Hearers must separate themselues sometimes and for the most part from common and publike Societies for in desart and solitarie places the minde is inlightened so it fared with that great King Nabuchadnezzar who secing nothing but confusion while hee liued in his stately Palace at great Babel Dan. 4.34 could yet behold Gods glorie in the Heauens being banished also in desart and solitarie places the heart is inflamed with good desires Iudith 8.5 therefore Iudith built her Oratorie in the top of her house that the priuatenesse of the place might increase the zeale of her affection also in desart and solitary places the soule is often rauished with the contemplation of Heauens sweetnesse as Iohn the Euangelist being banished into the I le Pathmos Reuel tot writ a whole Booke of sweet Reuelations there I speake not this to animate our Separatists whose daily practice is to draw the Communion of Christs Church into priuate Conuenticles but of the mutinous multitude of this Age that ioyne hand in hand and haue all one Purse and are all of one minde to doe euill and to worke all vncleannesse euen with greedinesse these yea these are they whom I would haue and whome I doe beseech to consider of their wayes and workes by themselues alone and of Gods presence instantly able to reward euery man according as his workes shall be lest the Lord should suddenly plucke them away when they shall finde none to rescue them thus by priuate conference Confession and Absolution betweene their soules and God let them seeke out of desart places euen seeke after God by themselues alone that so they may taste the sweetnesse of Gods grace and mercie in the secrets of their soules for euermore Thirdly wouldst thou know where to seeke God debito loco come to the Temple where the lips of the wise preserue knowledge they shal counsaile thee in templo exorationis in the Temple of Prayer God standeth alwayes readie to heare all those that call vpon his Name and to answere all their soules that desire instruction There you cannot faile to heare of him for in his Temple doth euery man speake of his honour When Salomon prayed in the Temple and offered vnto the Lord a Sacrifice 1. King 9.3 then God promised his blessing to that house for euer When King Hezechia spred the blasphemous Letter of rayling Rabshakeh 2. King 19.14 before the Lord in the Temple God promised to deliuer the King and put his foes to confusion We reade of Iesus in the Temple Luke 19.45 how he whipt out the Marchants posed the Doctors and daily taught the people First He whipt out the Marchants saying My House shall be called the House of Prayer but you haue made it a Den of Theeues marke I pray you he suffereth none to buy and sell but taught the mall that came to heare and pray such still are welcome to their Sauiour but in this monstrous Age most doe come to make marchandize both in and of the Temple Some make marchandize in the Temple and teach not the way of God truely but for feare or flatterie speake not at all or speake pleasing things and spare to tell the house of Iudah their transgressions and the house of Israel their sinnes that they might forsake their wicked wayes and turne againe vnto the Lord and liue And some make marchandize of the Temple and are not at rest til the House of God lye waste Hag. 1.4 or if not quite waste yet more then halfe spoyled dealing with the Lmbassadours of the Lord as the Princes of the children of Ammon dealt with the Messengers of Dauid who shared of the halfe of their beard 2. Sa. 10.4 and cut off their Garments in the middell so too many at this day haue spoyld the Treasures of the Temple strangely metamorphosing Parsonages into Vicarages and Vicarages into Donatiues and Donatiues into Pensions leauing scarce the price of a Liuerie for the Priest that wayteth on the Altar and should liue of the Altar But the Lord will one day come against them as he came against Antiochus that sought to destroy the Temple of God he did it not 2. Mat. 9.5 but while he thought to doe it marke that the Lord plagued him with a Disease in his bowels inuisible and incurable so that he died so you that now liue of the spoyles of the Temple God will one day whip you out with a rod of Iron Secondly Iesus was found in the Temple posing the Doctors a good Lesson for vs all to learne First for vs Ministers for hee that desireth the office of a Bishop must be apt to teach being sufficiently instructed to conuince Heresie to exhort vnto Godlinesse and to rebuke them that sinne before all that others also may feare or else he is vnworthy to bee a Master vnto the Israel of God if hee bee ignorant of these things Secondly here is a good Lesson for you to learne that come to the Temple and House of God to bee made partakers of his holy Word come not hither to heare the Preacher as the Iewes came to heare Christ that they might intangle him in his talke nor as Herod who heard Iohn Baptist gladly yet cut off his head nor in presumption with the Iewes to teach your Teachers if you doe then as Christ saith take heed how you heare