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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	authority_n	church_n	reason_n	1,519	5	4.9993	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51916	Sermons preach'd on several occasions by John March ..., the last of which was preach'd the twenty seventh of November, 1692, being the Sunday before he died ; with a preface by Dr. John Scot ; to which is added, A sermon preach'd at the assizes, in New-Castle upon Tine, in the reign of the late King James.	March, John, 1640-1692.; Scott, John, 1639-1695.	1699 (1699)	Wing M583; ESTC R18158	123,796	330

enjoys the bright beams of Heavenly light whilst all the World besides groans under worse than Aegyptian darkness This is the true Gideons fleece which is watred with the dew of Celestial Grace whilst the other parts of the Earth lyes dry and parch'd not unlike some barren and cursed wilderness This in St. Austine's comparison is the true Ark in which alone we can be secure from the deluge of God's wrath Thus great is their happiness who are in the Church of Christ But some difficulty there is to find out the true Church as Tertullian observed of Old faciunt favos vespae faciunt Ecclesias Marcionitae the most dangerous Wasps have their Cells saith he even so the worst of Hereticks are ready to cry out the Temple of the Lord are we That therefore we may not mistake Leah for Rachel or embrace a Cloud instead of a Iuno we must carefully observe that description St. Paul gives us of the true Church he tells us it is founded on the Doctrine of Heaven or if you had rather take it in the words of the Text it is saith he that houshold of God which is built upon the foundations of the Apostles and Prophets From the words thus far explained I shall crave leave to prove these four things First That the Doctrine of the Apostle and Prophets is the foundation on which the true Church is built Secondly That this Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is sufficiently delivered to us in the Holy Scriptures Thirdly That the Church of England is built upon this foundation of the Apostles and Prophets And Fourthly That such as continue in the communion of this Church are as happy as were those Ephesians of whom St. Paul says they were no more strangers and forreigners but fellow-Citizens with the Saints of this houshold of God I begin with the first of these to shew you that the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is the only foundation upon which the true Church is built The Church of Ephesus if we 'l believe St. Paul was the houshold of God or a true Church of Christ and it seems it was so because built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets we are sure these inspired Ministers of the Holy Iesus preached and planted none but the true Religion and we may be sure it can be no bad Church which owns and professes the same Religion I know there are several marks given of the true Church such as Unity Universality Antiquity Succession Sanctity and the like but tho' these where they are found are Great Ornaments to a Church yet the best and most infallible mark to know it by is its conformity to the Doctrines delivered by the Apostles For the true Church as the Apostle speaks elsewhere is the ground and Pillar of Truth but it will not deserve this honourable Character if its Doctrines be repugnant to the Doctrines delivered by the Apostles It 's said of the best and most Catholick Christians Acts 2. 42. That they continued stedfast in the Apostles Doctrine And therefore such as follow the Primitive example will be far from deserving the brand of Hereticks Does not our Saviour himself tell us that his Sheep will hear his Voice and not the Voice of Strangers And where is this voice of Christ to be heard but sounding in the writings of these Apostles and Prophets This therefore is the sure word of Prophecy whereunto saith St. Peter ye do well if you take heed nor is this any other mark of the Church of God then what is generally own'd by the antient Fathers Tertullian brings in the Church speaking such words as these Sum Apostolorum sic teneo sicut illi testamento caverunt I am Heir saith she to the holy Apostles whatever Truth they left me in their Writings whatever Doctrines they bequeath'd me in their Testament these I firmly believe these I will constantly hold Ireneus calls the Gospel columnam firmamentum Ecclesiae the Ground and Pillar of the Church St. Chrysostome treating at large upon this Question How the true Church may be known returns this answer more than once The true Church is best known by the holy Scriptures saith he that is the Christian Church which agrees with these sacred Oracles and that is the Heretical which is repugnant to them None speaks more largely or more excellently to this point than the great St. Austine who in his admirable Book against the Donatists writes thus The question between us and the Donatists is where we shall find the Church What therefore shall we do shall we seek it in our own words or in the words of our Lord Iesus Christ I think we had rather seek it in his words who is the truth and best knoweth his own Church Let not therefore these Speeches be heard amongst us This I say and this thou sayest but let us hear Thus saith the Lord There are certain Books of God to whose Authority we both stand we both consent we both believe there let us seek the Church there let us try our cause I will not have the Church demonstrated by Man's teaching but by the holy Oracles of God Setting therefore aside all such matters let them shew forth the Church if they can not by the speech and rumours of the Africans not in the Councils of the Bishops not in the Writing of any Disputer not in Visions and Revelations not in Signs and false Miracles because God's word has abundantly prepared us and made us ready against these things But let them declare it out of the Prescript of the Law the predictions of the Prophets the Songs of the Psalms the testimonies of the Apostles the words of the Pastor himself whether they have a Church or no let them declare only by the Canonical Books of the holy Scripture these be the instructions these be the foundations these be the supporters of our cause Thus far St. Austine and because he is so clear and so full to this case I shall not need to trouble you with any further Authorities especially since the Church of Rome doth acknowledge in her Trent Catechism that no Church is Catholick that does not profess that faith which is built upon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles She must not hold any new faith say they but that which was delivered of old by the holy Apostles And it follows in the same Catechism the Nicene Fathers did well to add the word Apostolick to their Creed saying I believe one Catholick and Apostolick Church namely that all might know that is the only true Catholick Church which is Apostolick That therefore must needs be the truest mark of the Church which both Romanists and Protestants own to be so and indeed without this all those other marks which are pretended will signifie nothing Unity without Apostolical Doctrine is so far from being a mark of the Church that it may not only be found in the Societies of the worst of Men

they reviled in a horrid manner as appears by the Blasphemies of Rabseca And yet even these stout-hearted Assyrians were spoiled the Army of this great Monarch Sennacherib was miraculously defeated either by the Pestilence as Iosephus reports or by a destroying Angel as the Scripture relates Even Sennacherib himself tho' then the greatest King upon Earth was not able to stand in God's sight when he was angry he came to a fatal end and was slain in the Temple of his God by his own Sons Nay farther yet after his death he had a Statue erected in the Temple of Vulcan with this pious Lesson inscribed on it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is in English Whosoever beholdeth me let him learn Piety And since these things were so our Psalmist had good reason to make this Epiphonema in the Text Thou even thou art to be feared and who may stand in thy Sight when once thou art Angry From the words thus far explained I shall take occasion to shew you First That there is great reason to fear the Lord our God And Secondly The vanity of those reasons which cause most men to shew so little fear of God in their Lives and Conversations First Let me shew you what great reason there is to fear the Lord our God and this will appear at large by these particulars 1st We shall find reason enough to fear the Lord our God if we consider his Sovereign Power over all Creatures which he is able to command at his Pleasure and make them revenge his Quarrel upon impenitent Sinners As God Almighty by the bare speaking of a word created all things both in Heaven and in Earth so he can with as much ease command all Creatures to execute his Wrath and Vengeance upon Sinners It is the observation of the Eloquent Tertullian that God as soon as he had finished the great work of the Creation did then but not till then assume the dreadful Title of Lord of Hosts And it is further observed by others that this Dreadful Title is mentioned in Scripture more than two hundred times the better to deter Sinners from affronting Omnipotent Majesty It seems the Sinner cannot make War with Heaven but he must at the same time arm the whole Creation against himself he cannot fight against the Almighty but he must also fight against all those Creatures which are under the Command of this Lord of Hosts The Heathen Poet is able to tell us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. All the Elements saith he are full fraught with Evils and ready when God pleaseth to pour forth ruin and destruction upon Sinners Sodom and Gomorrah did no sooner kindle their impure flames but the Element of Fire descending in sulphureous Streams made them most dreadful Monuments of Eternal Vengeance As soon as Israel began to murmur against Moses the Element of Air mingled Pestilential Vapours with their Vital Breath and chastised their Rebellion with a dreadful Plague When proud Pharaoh gathered together all the strength of Egypt and furiously pursued the Children of Israel to the Red Sea the waters thereof soon swelled themselves into mountainous Billows as if they had been proud to be imployed in the service of Heaven and the destruction of the Egyptians The Earth also as dull and sensless as it seems to be is yet able to resent such indignities as are offered to the Almighty and when commanded by God will open its devouring Mouth and swallow down alive Corah Dathan and Abiram Thus all the Elements are at Gods command yea even rejoyce to be employed by Heaven in executing Wrath and Vengeance upon Sinners And whither now will the Sinner fly from this Lord of Hosts Will his Alliance with Hell protect him from the Almighty Or can he hope to hide himself from the heat of his fury in the shades below No certes he may as well seek Heaven in Hell as expect one single beam of comfort from these Regions of Darkness for from these black quarters it was that God of old commanded an evil Spirit to vex Saul and drew whole Legions of Devils to punish the degenerous Iews in the days of our Saviour Nor does our God rule only in this sublunary World in the Seas and in all deep places but he ruleth also in the Heavens For if the Almighty doth at any time frown upon the Sinner each Planet will put on its Malign Aspect and every Constellation shall foretel his destiny Thus the Stars fought in their Ranks against Sisera and as Iosephus reports poured down such prodigious showers of Hail as served instead of Shot to destroy his Army Thus also the Sun and Moon became fixt Stars in Heaven that the Israelites might not want the benefit of the light to compleat their Victory over the Amorites Thus the Elements the Heavens and Hell it self are at the Command of Almighty God and if there yet be wanting more Forces to fight these Battles of the Lord the Angels are still remaining those mighty Hosts of Heaven and standing Militia of the Almighty Indeed God doth not always draw forth these Trainbands of Heaven an Army of Lice serves sometimes to baffle a proud Pharaoh and a silly Worm when commissioned by God is able to spoil the Divinity of a Blaspheming Herod But when the King of Heaven appears as it were in Person against his Enemies then these Courtiers of Heaven attend the Divine Presence and putting on their Robes of Light add what Lustre they can to the Majestatick Appearance Hence it is that Christ when he shall come at the last day to destroy at once all the Works of Satan he shall not only have Angels for his Trumpeters but Matt. 16. 27. he is said to come in the Glory of the Father because he shall come attended with these Glorious Angels And now when all these Battalions of the Almighty shall set themselves in array against the Sinner when he shall not only fear with Cain lest he fall a prey to every Wild Beast but with Pashur in the Prophet Ieremy becomes a Magor Missabib that is surrounded with fears from all parts of the Creation then doubtless he will say with the Psalmist Thou even thou art to be feared and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry Our Saviour in the Parable makes him more stout than wise who having only ten thousand is not affraid to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand But sure every Sinner stands guilty of infinitely greater madness who with his single valour dares the Almighty and bids defiance to him who comes not only with twenty thousand but with the whole Universe against him O consider this all ye that forget God lest he pluck you away and there be none to deliver you Take our Saviours advice send and sue for peace whilst this Almighty Adversary is but yet on his way Labour by your Prayers your Fasting and Humiliation to reconcile your selves to this Lord of Hosts

Ordained and whereof he hath given us assurance in that he hath raised him from the Dead Tho' we are not certain when the day of Judgment will come that we may be alwayes preparing for it yet you see it is certain that there will be such a day and that Christ our Mediator is ordained Judge A happy day for all that are truly pious they need not fear this Judge who is no other than their Merciful Saviour But it will be a day of darkness and gloominess unto the Wicked these will then mourn when they shall see this Son of Man coming with great Power and Glory so much we are told in the Text Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven and then shall all the Tribes of the Earth Mourn and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven with Power and great Glory For the better understanding of these words we will enquire First Why Christ is called the Son of Man Secondly What is here meant by the Sign of the Son of Man Thirdly That this Son of Man will come to Judge the World Fourthly That he will come with great Power and Glory Fifthly That all the wicked of the Earth will then have just cause to Mourn First Let us briefly enquire why Christ is called the Son of Man Some learned Men observe that he is called so in the Scriptures more than forty times and there are two reasons of the Name 1st He is called the Son of Man in token of his Humanity Christ our Blessed Mediator was both God and Man and therefore as he is often called the Son of God to denote his Divinity so he is as often called the Son of Man to denote his Humanity 2ly He is called the Son of Man to denote that state of Humiliation to which he condescended for our sakes It was usual for the Jews to style Princes and Potentates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sons of strong Men but such as were poor they styl'd Beni-Adam Sons of Men. Christ therefore aspired to no higher title than that of Son of Man He was pleased to humble himself for us He as the Apostle speaks became poor that we might become rich Born he was of the poorest Parents such as neither had an House of their own to lay him in when he was born nor able to procure any place besides a Stable for his reception into this World And as he was born in this poor condition so tho' the Birds of the Air have Nests as he speaks yet whilst he lived he had not of his own where to lay his Head Nay further yet when he came to die we know he was beholding to the Charity of Ioseph of Arimathea for a room in his Sepulchre No wonder then if Christ be ambitious of no more Honourable Title than this of Son of Man since he made himself so vile so mean so contemptible for our sakes Thus I have briefly shewn why Christ is called so often the Son of Man it denotes the truth of his Humanity as also that state of Humiliation to which he condescended for our sakes I come now in the second place to enquire Secondly What is here meant by the sign of the Son of Man It would spend too much of our time to mention all those conjectures which learned Men have made concerning this Sign since it is a matter we may be safely ignorant of I shall only set down two of the best interpretaions I have met with 1st Very many learned Men both Antient and Modern do by the Sign of the Son of Man understand the Cross. St. Ierom St. Chrysostom and Venerable Bede upon this place affirm this Sign to be no other than that of the Cross. The Ethiopian Church is so peremptory in this matter that it is put into the Articles of their Creed as the Learned Gregory informs us There is hardly any thing the Antient Fathers are more unanimous in than this And to say the truth there is some tolerable Reason for this Antient Opinion For what can be more Honourable to our Lord and Saviour or more full of Terror to his Enemies than that the Cross of Christ which they counted foolishness and more than so esteemed the greatest reproach of the Christian Faith should at that day be made the Herald to Proclaim his Coming and call all Nations of the World to appear before him But tho' this interpretation be backt both with Reason and great Authorities Yet 2ly There is another interpretation that seems as plausible if not more plausible than it For the learned Vossius Mede Twisse Millet and several others do understand by the Sign of the Son of Man who is a Sign This kind of Dialect this manner of Speaking is frequent in the Scripture thus the Law of Faith is all one with Faith that is a Law the Law of Sin that is Sin it self which dwelling in unregenerate Persons reigns as it were by Law So the Sign of the Son of Man that is the Son of Man who is a Sign And that which gives the greatest Authority to this Opinion is that St. Luke in the parallel place interprets it so Chap. 21. 27. where the word Sign is left out and the Verse runs thus Then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a Cloud with Power and great Glory And St. Mark renders the words the same way Chap. 13. 26. If therefore St. Mark and St. Luke may be allowed to be as good interpreters of St. Matthew as any other by the Sign of the Son of Man we may understand the Son of Man himself whose Glorious appearance in the Clouds will be a certain infallible sign that the day of Judgment is come Thus I have shewn you what Conjectures learned Men have made concerning this Sign of the Son of Man Some understand the Cross others Christ himself whose Glorious appearance will be a certain sign of the approaching Judgment I come now in the third place to shew you Thirdly That this Son of Man will come to judge the World None but that God who made us has any right to judge us As we have received all things from him so as Stewards must we render an account of all things to him Indeed this Judgment belongs originally to the whole Trinity but the outward administration of it shall be committed to the Son of Man So we are told expresly in the Text Then shall ye see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven Thus you see the Judgment of the last Day is committed to the Son of Man and indeed it is committed to him because he is the Son of Man our Saviour tells us so expresly John 5. 20 27. As the Father has life in himself so hath he given unto the Son to have life in himself and has given him Authority to execute Iudgment also because he is the Son of Man Ye see the Son of Man will come as