Selected quad for the lemma: christian_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
christian_n	body_n	church_n	unity_n	1,412	5	9.5035	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A39249	The Christian hearer's first lesson a sermon preached at St. Mary's Church in Nottingham on Thursday, Octob. the 4th, 1694 : the first day of a lecture preached there weekly by the ministers of that town and country : publish'd to satisfie the desire of some of the auditors / by Clem Elis ...	Ellis, Clement, 1630-1700.	1694 (1694)	Wing E551; ESTC R20476	18,619	32

The Christian Hearer's First Lesson A SERMON PREACHED AT St. Mary's Church IN NOTTINGHAM On Thursday Octob. the 4 th 1694. The First Day of a LECTURE preached there Weekly by the MINISTERS of that Town and County Publish'd to satisfie the Desire of some of the Auditors By CLEM. ELIS Rector of Kirkby in Nottinghamshire IMPRIMATUR Novemb. 10. 1694. Ra. Barker LONDON Printed for W. Rogers at the Sun over against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet 1694. TO THE Christian Readers THIS plain Sermon preached at the Request of my Reverend Brethren of the Clergy and here published in compliance with the Desire of Them and as they assure me of some others who heard it I do first most humbly offer to Almighty God in Prayer for his Blessing that it may become in some measure useful to his Church and next to you the Christian Readers to make the best use of it you can If any one of you receive Profit by it pay as you are here directed all your Thanks to Him alone who giveth the Encrease I only beg that you would assist the Sinful Author with your devout Prayers for the encrease of Grace lest that by any means when he hath preached to others he himself should be a Cast-a-way THE Christian Hearer's First Lesson 1 COR. iii. 7. Neither is he that planteth any thing neither he that watereth but God that giveth the encrease SAINT Paul as we read in the XVIII th Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles had by the good Blessing of God upon his Labours been very successful in preaching the Gospel of Christ at Corinth so reasoning and perswading that notwithstanding all the opposition and blaspheming of the Jews Crispus the chief Ruler of the Synagogue believed on the LORD with all his house and many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized Ver. 8. After his departure thence came Apollos an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures who being fervent in the Spirit spake and taught diligently the things of the LORD at Ephesus and being come into Corinth helped them much which had believed through Grace mightily convincing the Jews ver 27 28. And this is it that St. Paul here saith v. 6. I have planted Apollos watered but God gave the encrease An Encrease indeed very considerable as it appears by the Apostle's Thanksgiving to God for it I thank my God saith he Ch. 1. v. 4. always on your behalf for the Grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ that in every thing ye are enriched by him in all utterance and in all knowledge even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you So that ye come behind in no gift waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And in the Second Epistle c. 8. v. 7. he testifieth of them That they abounded in faith in utterance and knowledge and in all diligence and in their love to him and their other Teachers Here then by the planting of Paul and the watering of Apollos and the Success which God gave to them both in their Ministry an eminent Church grew up in a short time and flourish'd at Corinth of persons sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be Saints But alas how imperfect are all the most perfect things that are under Heaven This so lately planted so plentifully water'd so highly commended Church as the purest and best constituted Church on Earth will always have had its spots and blemishes and those not a few but many and some of them of the foulest sort too and such as did not only stain her beauty but endanger'd her very Life The Resurrection of the Dead was denied by some among them Fornication and Incest such as the Gentiles would blush to hear of was committed by others the holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was prophaned by the Irreverent and Uncharitable by the Drunkard and the Glutton Stumbling-blocks were laid in the way of the weak Brethren and their tender Consciences wounded by an unnecessary and uncharitable use of Christian Liberty Little conscience was made of scandalizing their holy Religion by going to Law before Infidels nay by wronging and defrauding one another Discipline lay neglected and there was none of that mourning which should have been for all these Abominations committed among them Here then were Corruptions many and great both in Faith and Manners and such as tho' they would not warrant any Member in a separation from this Church were more than enow to fire the holy Zeal of all the Members of it and to engage them all in the most vigorous endeavours for a speedy Reformation in it What then is to be done in such a case as this Why truly all that can be done providing still for the safety and preservation of the whole and as much as may be of every part All that can be to heal and cleanse and edifie but nothing to destroy Let every Member of the Body according to its station and office therein contribute what possibly it can to the preservation of its Life and restoring of its Health but let no Member be cut off so long as the Body may be preserved without such mutilation and there is hope remaining that the corrupt Member may be cured by gentler means much less let any Member tear it self off so long as by continuing in the Body it may have life and nourishment Dividing is a very untoward way of healing and I think should never be used but when the case is otherwise desperate Indeed the Body may sometimes be saved by the loss of a corrupt Member but it will be very hard if possible to keep a Member from dying that separates it self from a living Body tho' diseased St. Paul takes a great deal of pains to correct and reform the many Errors and Disorders among these Christians of Corinth but whatever he doth or orders to be done for a Reformation he seems to have his Eye continually fixed upon the Peace and Vnity of the Church considering well how unhopeful a thing such a Reformation is in a House that is divided in it self And therefore he goes to work like a skilful Reformer He would have the old leaven purged out but so that they might still continue one tho' a new lump c. 5. v. 7. He would have the House repaired without pulling it down or taking it in pieces Stone from Stone So that the Foundation which he as a wise Master-builder had laid continue he thinks it better to leave the Wood Hay and Stubble which others had built upon it to the trial of the Fire when God shall send it than to take the building asunder c. 3. v. 10 c. He would have the Body kept sound yet so if possible that it may also remain entire that so it may still grow up into him in all things which is the head even Christ from whom the whole body fitly joyned together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth according to the

together with God v. 9. Stewards of the Mysteries of God Ch. 4. ver 1. Ambassadors for Christ 2 Cor. 5.20 Whilst therefore they are faithful to their Great Master they ought to have the Honour due unto their Character We have thus in short seen what all Ministers ought to do 2. Let us now see What one Minister may be able to do more than another And that one may be able to do a great deal more than another I think no man can doubt when he considers that God hath not given to all the same number of Talents to improve withal And one may do five times as much with five Talents as he can do with one There never was that I know of such an equality in Ministers as excluded all difference in degrees of excellency or usefulness Whilst immediate inspiration lasted and the extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit were in a manner common every one who had them had them not all nor had all they who had the same Gifts those same Gifts which they had in the same measure the Spirit divided to every one severally as he would to one this and to another that yet to every one to profit withal 1 Cor. xii 7 11. All the Apostles had not St. Peter's boldness of Spirit presence of Mind quickness of Apprehension forwardness of Speech Zeal or Courage All were not like James and John Boanerges Sons of Thunder All had not Paul's Learning nor his admirable Patience and indefatigable Industry nor can all be supposed to have had Apollos's Eloquence One Minister of Christ may have a more faithful Memory and another a clearer Judgment and a third a more fruitful Invention and a fourth a better Elocution One may have more Reading and another more Experience a third more Zeal and a fourth more Prudence One may be more knowing and another more dexterous in teaching what he knows One may discourse more copiously and plainly and another may argue more closely and nervously and another perswade more warmly and affectionately One may insinuate more sweetly and another may rebuke more cuttingly and a third may instruct more convincingly One may be more dexterous at planting another at watering a third at weeding and a fourth at fencing and another may exceed all in pruning off the luxuriant Branches and cherishing the tender Plants Now all these and the like wherein one may be able to do more than another are very good things and in some competent measure necessary in every Minister of Christ. And yet it is no less absurd to expect the same abilities and degrees of such Ministerial Accomplishments and Perfections in all Ministers than it would be to imagine that all Artists or Men of any one Profession should be of equal Skill Prudence Industry and Activity Taking it therefore for granted That one may do more than another and all the Builders in God's House must not be thought equal to that wise Master-builder St. Paul let us now see what we may expect from the very best of them To this I say 3. That all which the Best can do is in it self of no efficacy Neither is Paul himself nor Apollos any thing that is of any use at all to us without the special Blessing of God whose very weak Instruments and no more but so all even the best qualified Ministers of the Gospel are Let us do all that ever we can to do you good we cannot by any Art or Skill Power or Pains that we have or can use make any one of those whole that are sick strong that are weak and much less can we make alive them that are dead in Trespasses and Sins We cannot in the least measure benefit any one of those towards whom we exercise our Ministry It is true indeed we find St. Paul Chap. iv 15. speaking thus of himself to the Corinthians In Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel And thence he rationally enough inferreth That though they had since that Ten thousand other Instructers yet should not their kindness for any of them how well soever they had deserved it abate any thing of the love and honour which were still nevertheless due to him as the first Instrument of their conversion They might respect their other Teachers as good and tender Nurses but ought still to give him the honour due unto a Father and be followers of him Yet after all St. Paul acknowledgeth himself herein to be no more but an Instrument in another's hand He beg at them but in Christ Jesus and that by the Gospel whereby was sown in them by God himself that incorruptible Seed of which alone Men are reborn Christians 1 Pet. 1.23 He tells the Galatians also Chap. iv 19. That he travelled in birth again till Christ was formed in them This is indeed a high expression of his truly Parental Affection for them of the great pains he took with them of the troubles he cheerfully underwent for their sake and of his earnest sollicitude and ardent desire of their proficiency under his Ministry and his great grief of Heart to see them so soon turn'd away from the Doctrine he had taught them and unto which he now labours again to reduce them But the forming of Christ in Men is the work of no less than that Divine Power that once formed for him an Humane Body in a Virgin-womb What is it that the ablest Ministers can do to make Men good Christians Alas all comes to no more but this They can declare and lay open the Doctrine of the Gospel to Men fully plainly and sincerely They can exhort perswade and desire Men frequently earnestly and heartily to believe and practise it and shew them very good Reasons why they should do so They can direct them to the best helps and warn them to take heed of all Letts and Impeditaments and shew them the danger of Temptations They can admonish them when they are out of the way and labour by all means to reduce them into it again comfort them in it and encourage them to persevere therein unto the end and in a word administer unto them all the things which Christ hath put into their hands to administer as they can have opportunity of administring and can find persons capable of receiving the same Finally They can incessantly pray to God for a Blessing upon all they do And so indeed they have great need to do for when all that they can do is done by them they have but done what the Husbandman can do towards a good Harvest they have ploughed and sown but know not what the Crop will prove They do but hold a glorious Light before a blind Eye and sing a melodious Song to a deaf Ear and give very good Advice to Fools and Madmen To make Men see with their Eyes and hear with their Ears to bring them to themselves and make them understand with their Hearts that they may be illuminated converted and healed is not the