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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	common_a	prayer_n	prescribe_v	2,797	5	9.8241	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61334	An apology for the laws ecclesiastical established that command our publick exercise in religion and a serious enquiry whether penalties be reasonably determined against recusancy / by William Starkey ...	Starkey, William, 1620 or 21-1684.	1675 (1675)	Wing S5293; ESTC R34597	99,432	218

of Tongues All these in an instant wrought that one and self same Spirit dividing to every man severally as he pleased And several Rules he gave them that trusting to the supply of the Almighty in all their exigence upon this Heavenly design they should provide neither Gold nor Silver nor Scrip nor Coat nor Shooes nor Staves No care what to speak dabitur in illâ borâ whatever they needed the Heavenly Father that called them to the work would supply them in all those things But these Rules were extraordinary and so were the Assistances needful only for those Persons in those daies of Persecution when they were hated of all men for his Names sake and were to trust only to a support and a supply from the All-sufficiency of the Almighty But blessed be God we are not now incompassed with these streights God hath provided better things for us That although the malice of some men would bring us to walk according to these Rules and support our selves with the expectation of such Assistances and those mistakes have caused no little disturbance in the Church of Christ yet now the Gospel hath found a free passage and reception we have an happier juncture of Affairs We need not expect Miracles for our support when we have Means in peace afforded us to carry on the design of God God is and we may well be contented with more reasonable Services And it is unreasonable to think having none of the same necessity upon us and to conclude that in these daies the same Gifts and Assistances should be continued among us is a dangerous and an unsufferable presumption These extraordinary Rules and Assistances were given to those particular Persons during those particular Times but they are now unpracticable and not according to the mind of Christ And there were some Rules given to certain Churches and some particular places but these are not our Canons or Forms to be modelled by The Rules then of the Gospel we are to look after are not particular but universal not temporary but eternal binding for ever to the whole Church of Christ Now the Laws of the Gospel given by Christ or his Apostles are of two sorts some respect internally the regulating Intentions Thoughts and Desires for private Persons singular peace And some respect externally ordering the Conversation of the Visible Church of Christ To the Rules of this latter sort we must have regard unto in this present discourse And these Rules are of two sorts either natural necessary eternal and indispensable and would have been binding if Christ had not revived them As that we praise God fall down and worship him that we keep our Tongues from evil and our Lips that they speak no guile that we keep our Bodies from all filthiness that whatever we would that others should do to us the same c. But some Laws are positive and voluntary receiving their being and constitution from Christ whose goodness wisdom and Authority we are not to suspect but that he will direct those things to his Church that are best and most convenient and such Directions by his Subjects are carefully to be observed As that they should pray in these words receive the Sacraments with those signs and manner of Communication required All these positive Laws of Christ are universal indispensable and though the positive Laws of Men are particular and mutable upon inconvenience yet these positive Laws of Christ are constituted and come from such unquestionable Wisdom as they must be accounted universally and eternally binding to his Church to all Generations The Laws then of Christ be they either those natural Laws that he revived or the positive Laws that he constituted that he hath ordinarily universally eternally left his Church to be ruled by to the end of the World are the Laws we would have our Canons for Uniformity to be tryed by And because our Blessed Saviour knew very well that an Anarchy was unnatural and not to be endured he wisely directs these Laws to two sorts of People that will be in his Church to the end of the World First To Rulers Leaders and Superiours Secondly To Inferiours Subjects and the Generality of the People under Authority 1. For Rulers They be of two sorts some Civil which we call Magistrates Others Ecclesiastical which we call Ministers What concerns Magistrates we treated of formerly For Ministers we have several Orders and distinctions allowed by the Gospel The Laws for them are obvious in the discharge of their several Offices Inferiour Ministers most concern us in the Exercise of Religion These if any we should in this discourse respect And certainly that Obedience which these Ministers shew in their usages as directed in their Rites Ceremonies Habits Gestures observing daies c. are lawful and easily justifiable And these things are made so clear by the pens of sober Learned and Judicious men to any that will not be wilfully blind all the Objections so fully answered as it would be tedious and impertinent for me to insist in a further Vindication It were more reasonable and Christianlike if men would look more diligently to the discharge of their own duties and be less ready to censure and condemn other mens Just observances If any thing were questionable in them viderint ipsi they must answer it to their proper Judge who made thee one Be not curiously inquisitive what others do or should do Tolle quod tuum est do thy own business and seriously consider what thou art bound to do thy self that thou maist inherit eternal life And this I am sure thou art obliged to do to give thy Decent attendance and joyntly to concur in the Publick exercise of Holiness and the worship of God as it is ordered in the Book of common-Common-Prayer And now our discourse begins to be brought into a narrow compass This is all that remains for us to prove in this Section That the Canons and Forms prescribed to the Common sort of our Believers in our Book of common-Common-Prayer are agreeable to the universal eternal and indispensable Rules of the Gospel Canons for Uniformity in our Religious meetings and Assemblies which we are not to forsake respect either Words or Actions let us take a quick survey of either and see if both be not allowed and prescribed by the Gospel After a Company is Religiously met and assembled together all admit and approve of a Pastour or Teacher an Exhorter a Leader to holy Services unless they have lost their Reason and Religion also After their Assembling the Minister by Scripture Exhortations prepares the People for their joynt concurrence in the solemn Worship of God After Preparation the whole Congregation is ordered and directed to joyn in an open Confession of Gods Excellency and All-sufficiency of their own Sins of Christs Merits in whose Name they ask forgiveness and of their desire of a full Obedience that they may live a godly righteous and sober life After this upon good grounds

and inconvenient which will render their lives wretched and miserable but also at the compassing and injoyning the things that are good and pleasant which make their lives happy and comfortable For these two distinct ends there must be two distinct sort of Laws Some Prohibitive forbidding and restraining Transgression which is the way to divert Evils feared some Preceptive by conforming to which Laws the People might attain the Good designed and propounded And because Man is not to be satisfied barely with escapes of Evil and Misery but with obtaining a confluence of Blessings which may minister some competency of Content to him in this his present condition therefore he is to make it his business not only to respect the Laws Prohibitive but those that are Preceptive are to be regarded especially And when we observe the Happiness of Man doth not only depend upon the love and comforts communicated from his Neighbour but upon the favour and blessings of God hence it must evidently appear that as man in a Society ought to have respect to the Laws of Honesty that he live quietly and comfortably with his Neighbour so is he to regard the Rules that direct him to the practice of true Piety which will make him to walk acceptably before his God And the Preceptive Laws that concern Piety ought primarily to be regarded because the Conforming to them will bring upon him the Blessings of God Now we are to agree to understand that our present Discourse relates to Laws of this sort viz. Preceptive Laws of Piety that are wisely and piously ordered by our Governours according to Gospel Rules that command the decent and reverent attendance and joynt Concurrence of every Believing Subject of England in the Uniform exercise of Religion as in the Book of common-Common-Prayer is ordered and prescribed These Preceptive Rules of Uniform worship as in our Liturgy the People are directed are the Laws by us intended and ought by Believing Subjects of England principally to be regarded and conformity to such Laws ought to be observed accordingly For as a Negative Happiness will not content us no more ought a Negative Holiness so a Believers care must be to be truly vertuous and religious The holy Soul that intends a thorough sanctification rests not satisfied that he is not vicious when he knows his being vertuous and truly religious is that which will please his God For to cease from evil of sin only will keep us from evil of punishment and judgment which is threatned but to do well is that which will bring us to good and to the mercies and blessings promised Conformity then to Preceptive Rules of Piety is necessary for our comfort and well-being and one of the principal Duties of an English Christian And the fashioning and framing of his Words and Actions according to the Canons and Lines in our Liturgy prescribed and directed is that Conformity we now understand That our Converses and demeanour in the Worship of God be accommodately ordered and commensurate to the Rules of the Liturgy That none of the lines or lineaments be carelesly pretermitted That upon our private fancy no tumor or exuberancy be added superstitiously that we admit of neither excess or defect that may spoil that beauty of Holiness whereby we may represent an exact symmetry of parts according to that exquisite Original and Copy which is set before us This I mean by that Conformity we are to attend and heed Happy should we be if a People once in such a case yea blessed should we be if we could thus decently Worship our God SECT II. Wilful Omission or Recusancy of this Conformity is a Sin or Disobedience THere be two great mistakes that our Pharisaical Fiduciaries are eminently guilty of about Omission One is that omission of Carnal sins probibited Presents them Saints and is all the vertue by them desired the other is that the omission of external duties of Piety that are commanded is no sin and is not at all feared But as pure as this Generation may seem in their own eyes yet in neither cases can they make it appear that they are cleansed from their wickedness when from the first mistake they swell with Pride and from the second mistake they must disdain Humility They say They are not open Blasphemers nor Riotous nor Thieves nor Adulterers nor Murtherers and we may believe them yet while this negative Holiness content them they are ready to account themselves Righteous and despise others Thus they choose easiest Duties and neglect the greater advance one to the suppressing of another and without regret securely pass by obedience to Preceptive Rules and with a partial and piece-meal Conformity they deceive themselves But we have otherwise learned the mind of Christ For in reason when Vertue lies in medio and is only a streight line and tendency to Happiness as Morality teach us the defect as well as the excess will keep us from ever coming at this end And when every Believer is bound to obey the Gospel that expects to enter into the kingdom of Heaven as Divinity teacheth us Certainly bare unholiness uncharitableness infidelity unpeacableness that are but cessations and suspensions of those due Acts that be commanded and ought not to be left undone cannot content any true Believer For no person be he either Child Servant or Subject if he neglects to do what he is injoyned but is justly looked upon as disobedient To him that knoweth to do good and doth it not to him it is sin Jam. 4.17 But when Omission arrives at that height to be wilful it become that sin we would have notified and avoided When men declare their love and choice by an open and continued separation from Holy exercises as commanded such wilful Omission is rightly called Recusancy being an open and declared refusal of doing that service and holy Duties they are commanded And if seriously considered I know not how our Officers in our several Parishes can be excused or acquitted of the guilt of Perjury when of forty Persons that wilfully omit and despise the Divine Service and Sacrament they cannot in their Returns at Assizes or Sessions find one open Recusant when certainly a wilful Omission or Recusancy of due Obedience deserves both sentence and punishment when it is an heinous sin and Disobedience SECT III. Wilful Omission or Recusancy of Conformity to these Laws is an Heinous sin and Disobedience SO much the Nobler the Law fixed and established is so much the greater the sin and the more grievous the transgression of that Law Now Conformity to the first and greatest Law of Piety is a nobler Vertue than Conformity to the Rules of Charity and aversion from that Conformity must be a greater sin because then we turn away from GOD who is infinitely better than Men or any Creature whatsoever The first and greatest Commandment is To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul these must respect God indeed