Selected quad for the lemma: church_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
church_n	according_a	body_n	member_n	3,100	5	7.2395	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A60684	A reply to the Observator together with a sermon preached on the 24th of August last past, on Gal. 6. 2. at St. Giles in the Fields : most unjustly reflected upon by him / by William Smythies ...	Smythies, William, d. 1715.	1684 (1684)	Wing S4370; ESTC R19686	22,281	48

is one consideration which one would think should be of mighty force to perswade men to this Christian Duty It was the last thing which our Saviour insisted upon when he was leaving the World We read in Jo. 13. that the Devil had no sooner put it into the heart of (a) Reader I pray observe That this passage is cavel'd at and Judge what the Observator intends for I know not Iudas to betray him but he made it his business to put it into the hearts of his Disciples to love one another He made it His Commandment This is my Commandment that ye love one another By which we may understand that the Observance of it would exceedingly Oblige him He calls it a New Commandment although it was as old as any other both Imprinted in the Nature of Man and revealed in the Word of God He makes it the Characteristical Note of a Disciple By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye Love one another Not but that all men of all Religions acknowledge it to be their Duty to Love one another but the meaning of our Saviour is That there should be such a Degree of Love amongst his Disciples as should exceed men of other Religions as it was in the first Ages of Christianity when the Pagans said See how these Christians Love one another All these Expressions of our Saviour which may seem difficult to be understood are used by way of Motive and Argument to perswade and quicken men to Christian Love and Unity 2. It is his Law who hath annexed the greatest Rewards to the Performance of it and the greatest Punishments to the Neglect of it by which we may understand that it is an indispensable Duty and must not be omitted by us I need not mention any more than that known place Mat. 25. There 's Come ye Blessed to them that bare one anothers burdens And depart ye Cursed to them that did not Our Saviour only speaks concerning the duty of the second Table probably for this reason Because there is not such an impression of it upon the minds of Men as there is of the duty which relates to the first Men think they may Love God though they do not love their Neighbours They think that they are good Christians and that they pay to God the honour that is due to him although they shew no regard to their Brother and Fellow Christian Men know that to love God is the Great Commandment but they do not consider that the second is like namely that they must Love their Neighbours as Themselves Many who call themselves Christians do not consider the Mystical Union that is betwixt Christ and his Church that every good Christian is a Member of that Body whereof Christ is the Head and that it is as Unchristian for one Man not to bear anothers burden as it is unnatural for the Hand not to help the Foot or any other Member of the body that is greived according to that of the Apostle Rom. 12.5 We being many are one Body in Christ and every one Members one of another They do not consider that the Church is Gods Building and that as in a Building that Stone which is so rugged that another Stone cannot be laid upon it is only fit to be thrown into the Street so that Man who is so rugged that he will not bear his Brothers burden is not fit to be part of Gods Building For this reason our Saviour insisted more upon this Duty than upon the other And for this reason he only mentions everlasting punishment to those that did not help and succour their Brother because men are not sensible of the necessity of this Duty and the Danger of neglecting it 3. It was the Law of Christ who was an Example of it to others He came into the World to bear our burdens and to shew us how to bear our Brothers as I may shew in the several instances which I have already named 1. He bare the burden of Impenitent Sinners He considered their deplorable condition He was grieved for the hardness of their hearts and used all means to recalim them He was willing to bear the burden of reproach that he might ease them of the burden of guilt and fear The Pharisees said that he was a Friend of Publicans and Sinners and they said true tho he was not so in their sense He was a Friend to them in that he called them to Repentance and made a Publick Declaration that all that were weary and heavy laden should come to him to be eased of their burdens Mat. 11.28 2. He bare the burdens of Good Men. He fulfilled the Prophesie that was spoken of him That he should Bind up the broken hearted Be of good cheer was an expression which he exceedingly delighted in When he was going out of the World he was mightily concern'd for the grief and trouble which his Disciples should then endure He said Let not your hearts be troubled I go to Prepare a place for you c. And when he arose from the Dead he was in hast to ease them of that Burden of Grief which he knew was very heavy upon them The Servant knew his Masters mind when he said to them that came to the Sepulchre Go quickly and tell his Disciples that he is risen from the Dead 3. He bare the burdens which are common to men The Blind and the Deaf and the Lame were those upon whom he bestowed his Miracles He made all his retinue stand still till he cured the Poor blind Beggar He bare the burden of Infirmities rather Pitying than taking Offence at them knowing what the Frail State and Condition of Man is He did not cast off his Disciples for shewing a furious Spirit in calling for Heaven to consume them that were not civil to him but only rebuked them saying Ye know not what Spirit ye are of Mat. 9.55 Nor did he reject his Disciples because of their weak Faith when they cryed Master save us we Perish One would think it should have been a great Provocation to him that his Disciples were asleep when he was in his agony and that it should have been an unpardonable offence but we find that he only blam'd them for it He said Could not ye watch with me one hour But he did not say From this hour I will be as regardless of you as you have been of me There are some who complain of bad Memories but certainly there never were any more forgetful than the Disciples were They had forgotten almost every thing which our Saviour had said to them Nay they had forgotten that which was of the greatest moment to be remembred namely his Resurrection from the Dead His Enemies remembred it and therefore made his Sepulchre sure but his Friends had forgotten it and yet our Saviour continued his Love towards them All these instances are left to us for our example and imitation that we should

or the King of Great Brittain Why thou hast Trimm'd it away here as if thou wert putting in for a Living of six or sevenscore pound a year Here 's first the Common Topique of All Trimmers Bearing of Burdens which Implys Oppression and Persecution The Dissenters lye under Those Burdens And the Government is to Ease them Love One Another is a Christian Lesson but are we to love Mens Iniquities or was it the Apostles Meaning we should bear the Burdens of One anothers Sins and Transgressions Are we to love Hypocrites in the very Hardness of their Impenitent Hearts Nay the Hypocrisy it self after so many Judgments Denounc'd against Them and It by our Blessed Saviour Are we to bear the Burdens of Men Swelling and Triumphing in the Sins of Schism Contumacy and Sedition Mercenary Wretches that to serve a Present Turn Cast themselves at the Feet and Lick-up the very Spittle of a Tony or an Oliver Will you call it a Slander to tell the Naked Fact of a Practical Vsurpation Or the Hiding of a Mans Self to do it in the Open Sight both of God and Man What would some body give now that I could Name for a Stand in some Parish-Pulpit to get a Shoot at the Observator In fine Every Son of the Charch is made a Child of the Devil and upon the Whole Matter here 's The Conformists Plea for the Non-Conformists The Law of Christ you say is above All Laws What 's That to say in this place but that the Law of the Land and the Law of Christ are at Odds But the Men of Forty One are the Best Expositors of the Duty of Bearing one Anothers Burdens according to the very Letter They bore the Kings and the Churches Burdens Poor Wretches Baggs Parchments Estates and Livings and the Devil of any Other way they Practic'd of Bearing one Anothers Burdens Thus you see what the Visit was which in his foregoing Paper he gave notice that he would return to Cripplegate You may take notice of the Passages which he cavels at in my Sermon by some of the Words being printed in Black Letters A REPLY TO THE OBSERVATOR SIR I Was informed by your Paper on Wednesday last that you were in haste to return a Visit as far as Cripplegate and perceiving the day following what the Visit was and how early you performed it that Morning I could not but think you to be one of that number of whom the wise Man observes that They sleep not except they have done Mischief The Visit was a most unaccountable Descant upon my Text and Sermon at St. Giles in the Fields the last Sunday which I here faithfully publish that the World may judg whether there were the least cause for such Opprobrious Reflections and pity the case of an antient Gentleman who makes it his Calling and Employment to reproach and villify whom he pleases The Sermon shall speak for it self and I doubt not but all sober Men will say that it is not more plain than honest You suggest Sir That I am a Mercenary Wretch who to serve the present Turn do cast my self at the feet and lick up the Spittle of a Tony or an Oliver But there is no Man living whom you might not with as much appearance of Truth have thus reproached 'T is very likely that I should pay such a mighty Reverence to the rotten Bones of the great Usurper under Tyburn who detested and despised him when in the height of his Glory Such was my Behaviour then that his Tryers would not permit me a Stand in a Parish-Pulpit of my own to get a Shoot at any body And when I had hid my self in a private place in the Essex-Hundreds I was routed thence by one of Oliver's Agents because my Name was then Malignant as it is now Trimmer and forc'd to make my escape after twenty weeks preaching there carrying no other Reward for my pains away with me but a Quartan Ague In such Circumstances was I at that time when SOMEBODY kept his Coach and six Horses So far was I from being a SPY or OBSEVATOR in those days And if you will play the Man and charge me point blank with being or having ever been an Admirer of your Tony or having a kindness for any Rebellious Factious or Associating Principles I will produce more Loyal Persons and better Protestants for my Compurgators than One that I know of was able to produce when he was accus'd for being a Papist I thank God I have been so far from acting any thing against the Government or Interest of our Church that I have been beyond Expectation successful in serving both The worst Enemy I have must acknowledg that by contending for Conformity both from the Pulpit and Press I have brought great numbers to the Sacrament and an exact Conformity to the Orders of the Church And I believe my Lord Bishop will be ready to attest that I have waited upon him about baptizing of converted Quakers and Anabaptists and their Children as often as any one of the Clergy hath done But if I had been of such a Spirit as I perceive would please You I had never brought any Dissenter into the Church nor convinced any one Person of his Errours I know Sir it is objected against me and it lately came to the Ear of his Majesty himself by the means of some spiteful People that I have been an Associate with Dissenters But the only Truth in that Suggestion is That I love all Men and according to my Power do good to all I do not think that Religion teaches Men to be ill natur'd nor can any prove me a greater Friend to Phanaticks than my great Master was to Publicans and Sinners The greatest Kindness I ever did for any Dissenters from our Church was for a Family of Papists Persons of Quality whose whole Estate was unjustly kept from them by a Protestant Dissenter and yet I think I could as soon be a Jew as a Popish Christian I have likewise suffered in my Reputation by being kind in the Distribution of other Mens Charity where I was not limited by the Donor to all that were in excessive want without respect to their Opinions but as the Church hath lost nothing by it so I cannot but see enough in all Men to provoke me to Kindness and Pity to the Persons even of those whose Principles and Practices I heartily abhor I may very well be content to suffer in my good Name in so notorious a manner since this hath been of late the lot of divers who are a thousand times more deserving than my self Some of the most eminent Divines of the Church of England have been most falsely accus'd And there is a certain Magistrate on whom some think you have been throwing your Dirt in the same Paper in which you Visit me who is a most devout Conformist to the Church and was so long before he was in Commission and a very vigorous Prosecutor of