Selected quad for the lemma: body_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
body_n	bread_n	break_v	cup_n	9,523	5	9.5300	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30397	Of charity to the houshold of faith a sermon preach'd before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, the aldermen, and governors of the several hospitals of the city, at St. Bridget's Church on Easter-Monday, 1698 : being one of the anniversary spittal-sermons / by the Right Reverend Father in God, Gilbert, Lord Bishop of Sarum.	Burnet, Gilbert, 1643-1715.	1698 (1698)	Wing B5841; ESTC R15438	12,351	32

the greatest Charity and the noblest Employment we are capable of But since our Capacities as well as our Fortunes and our Strength as well as our Time are limited we ought to see what Objects as well as what Acts of Charity we must prefer to all others That proportion of our Time of our Talents and our Fortunes that we can bestow on others ought to be so well managed that it may be applied both to the best Persons and the best Purposes that may be While therefore all Mankind have title to such a share as extream Misery may give them a right even to demand of us there is still a great distinction to be made There is somewhat of the Image of God on all Men but there is a more peculiar measure of it on those who are made conformable to Christ. All men have the same common Nature but the Regenerate have in them besides that a participation of the Divine Nature We who are Christians are born again and in that we acquire a new relation We are all Brethren joint-heirs of the same common salvation We are members of the same body we have one head and ought also to have one heart We are all sharers in one common Baptism The bread that we break is the communion of his body and the cup that we bless is the communion of his blood by whom we are called We hope to live to all Eternity together partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in light These are Relations of so close a Nature that as they tie us much more firmly to one another so they ought to give us a more particular concern in one another and therefore there is a peculiar strain of Charity that ought to be reserved to such as we have reason to believe are of this Houshold In the beginnings of Christianity the number was small but their Zeal and their Charity was then in its first fervour Then the Widows and the Fatherless were supplied by a daily Ministration Such was the Zeal of their Charity and such were the Necessities of that time that the Rich sold their lands and possessions and laid the price of them down at the Apostles feet That seems peculiar to that time and place for in the Epistles to the other Churches mention is oft made of the Rich that were among them The Enemies of our Faith made this a part of their Satyr against it that the Bounty with which the Rich supplied the Poor made that the Poor seemed as hired to come among them They acknowledge the Charity of the Christians was not restrained to those of the same Faith but was extended even to Strangers and Enemies If the carrying the name Christian or the being baptized into it makes all to be of the Houshold of Faith then we have no more this restriction to our Charity All or almost all among us are of this sort But this is more the effect of Law or Custom than of Choice therefore we must now take other measures for judging who are of the Houshold of Faith Can those who are a Reproach to it by their most unchristian Lives and who seem weary of the very Name which they are ready to throw off if they could do it without hazard to their worldly Interests be esteemed a part of this Houshold If they are then this is fulfilled that a mans enemies are those of his own houshold Oh the Venom that is daily thrown out by them against that Faith which would reform form and save the World if it were sincerely believed and follow'd by it They judge of it by the effects it has on themselves and on such as themselves and having never felt more in it than a Form of Words or a Set of Rites and Performances they call it foolishness But let them Blaspheme that Worthy Name as much as they will Christ is to all who are called of God both the power and the wisdom of God They discern a Wisdom in his Doctrine and they feel a Power in it overcoming their Hearts subduing their Appetites changing their Natures and governing their Actions Those of this Houshold do not only wear its Livery and carry its outward Appearances they are faithful to their Trust zealous for the Honour of their Master and careful of every thing that concerns the good either of the whole or of any particular Member of it They study to keep it in Peace and to maintain the Honour and Dignity of their Profession They endeavour to resemble the Master whom they serve and to walk in all things even as he walked In a word whensoever we see these Characters in any that calls himself of this Houshold even though they are yet but defective we ought to judge charitably and to conclude that such a Person either already is or may become truly one of this Houshold and that therefore he has a right to the more endearing specialties of our Love We ought not to judge too severely of any nor quite to exclude them though we may see good reason still to give others the preference and a double Portion in our Charity If we love our Brethren from the Motive of the Love of God and from Principles of true Charity we will feel the Consideration of a higher measure of God's Image and a nearer Conformity to his Nature the strongest of all ties This will melt and overcome every devout Mind and that the rather because such Persons are not clamorous and importunate they do not publish their Necessities till the last extremity forces it Nor do they attack us with violence They are patient and modest hardly brought to trouble others and soon dashed when they do it And indeed a great deal of what of right should be reserved for them is oft intercepted by the noise and importunity the affected Looks and Voices of a sort of people that go about with too much success while others are starving at home in silence This is one of the justest Reproaches of our Nation that notwithstanding all the Authority that Law gives to Magistrates for correcting it yet a false compassion and a feebleness of good nature proves too hard even for the Law in its execution It is the Honour of Magistracy to be vigilant and severe in executing Laws that how unacceptable soever the first prosecution of them may seem to be yet are as Charitable as they are Just. There are tender Mercies that are Cruel as well as Severities that have Charity and Kindness in them Among all the Objects of Charity as there are none that are more helpless or more crying than young Children who are initiated into this Houshold and have not yet forfeited that Innocence to which the sacred Rites have restored them so there are none from whom we may so reasonably expect the Returns of thirty sixty or an hundred-fold A Child well educated may become an industrious vertuous and religious Man His Education may follow him down through the