Selected quad for the lemma: church_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
church_n	bind_v	earth_n	loose_v	5,255	5	10.5190	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A52249	An exposition with notes, unfolded and applyed on John 17th delivered in sermons preached weekly on the Lords-day, to the congregation in Tavnton Magdalene / by George Newton.	Newton, George, 1602-1681.	1660 (1660)	Wing N1044; ESTC R29244	715,417	610

fruitfull and have more encrease of children then she that sometimes had an husband Oh let us magnifie the grace of Iesus Christ let us adore the infiniteness of his mercy that he hath cast us on these happy times wherein he takes such care of poor Gentiles wherein he sends to them and wherein he looks after them as if they were some rich purchase Ah my beloved did we follow this mercy as far as we could reach it in our thoughts we should at length finding no end or bottom in it cry out with the Apostle Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and goodness of Christ c. JOHN 17.18 Even so have I also sent them into the world DOCTRINE 3. There is a great similitude between the Fathers sending Christ into the world and Christs sending his Apostles and Ministers into the world THis is apparently suggested here in the particle as and the particle also As thou hast sent me into the world even so have I also sent them into the world My sending them is much like thy sending me So he compares them each with other in another place almost in the same words Iohn 20.21 As my Father hath sent me so send I you The thing is plain enough that so it was in some respects But wherein and in what respects this likeness stood will need to be explained with much Caution Because as there was great likeness between the Fathers sending Christ and Christs sending his Apostles and Ministers into the world so there was a great unlikeness too As the similitude was great so certainly the dissimilitude was great too And therefore while I shew the likness I will shew you the unlikeness both of them at one veiw That you may see the one the better for the other As God the Father sent the Son with authority and power so Jesus Christ sends his Apostles and Ministers with authority and power too as God gives him power so he gives them power And therefore having said to his Apostles All power is given to me both in heaven and in earth Mat. 28.18 he adds immediately in the very next words Go ye therefore and teach all Nations and baptize them q. d. because I have received such ample power my self therefore I give you this Commission by which I put a part of this authority and power on you Go forth and exercise it over all the world And this is that which the Apostle calls the power which Christ hath given him 2 Cor. 13.10 To intimate that he received his power and his authority by way of delegation from the Lord Christ as Christ received his power and his authority as he is man and Mediator by way of delegation from the Father and as the Father gives the Son a Key of power as you may see in that remarkable place Isa 22.22 The Key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder that is upon the shoulder of Eliakim who was in that respect a figure and a Type of Christ and he shall open and none shall shut and he shall shut and none shall open so Christ gives Keyes of power to his Apostles and his Ministers as you may see exemplified in Peter Mat. 16.19 I will give thee saith Christ the Keyes of the Kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven viz. either in the preaching of the word or in the regular administration of the censures of the Church Here is a great Similitude you see between the power with which the Father sendeth Christ and the power with which Christ sendeth his Apostles and his Ministers into the world As Christ hath power to shut and open from the Father so have they from Jesus Christ as Christ hath power to bind and loose from God the Father so have they from Jesus Christ As Christ hath power to remit sins and to retain them from the Father so have they from Christ and therefore having said to his Apostles As my Father hath sent me so send I you he adds immediately in the next verse save one Whosesoever sins ye remit they are remitted and whosesoever sins ye retain they are retained But yet as the similitude is great in this respect so is the dissimilitude The power which Jesus Christ received from God the Father is an universal power All power is given to me saith our Saviour both in heaven and in earth Mat. 28.19 And in another place he minds his Father That he had given him power over all flesh Joh. 17.2 But now that power which the Apostles and the Ministers of Christ received from him is more particular and more confined Jesus Christ hath all power all sorts and all degrees of power they have but some power some sorts and some measures The power which Jesus Christ receives from God the Father is a Kingly power he sets him up as King upon his holy hill of Sion and so accordingly he crowns him The power which they receive from Christ is but a Ministerial power Christ hath a Legislative power to make laws while they have but a Legis-narrative or Declaratory power to publish laws Christ doth jus dare and they do but jus dicere Christ binds and looses shuts and opens remitteth and retaineth sins authoritatively as a Soveraign Lord they do it but declaratively as his Ministers and servants There is a great similitude between the Fathers sending Christ c. in regard of qualification as Christ receives an unction from the Father to his Office so they received an unction from the Son to their Office as Christ is qualified with the Spirit so are they Let us compare them each with other and we shall see it very clear The Prophet speaking in the Person of our Saviour saith The Spirit of the Lord is upon me he hath anointed me to preach Isa 61.1 And so accordingly when he first began to preach he took this very Text to preach upon as you may see Luk. 4.18 Behold my servant saith the Lord whom I uphold Isa 42.1 and mine Elect in whom my soul delighteth I have put my Spirit upon him and that to qualifie him for his Office as is apparent in the following words for it is added presently That he shall bring forth judgement to the Gentiles A bruised reed shall he not break c. And this is that which is suggested in the Prophesie Isa 11.2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him and it shall rest upon him in those graces and endowments that fit him for the places to which he is designed And hence it is immediately annexed The Spirit of wisdom and of understanding the Spirit of counsel and of might the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. So then you see the Father as he sends Christ so he endues him with the Spirit to fit him for the business that he sends him

of Salvation so of Consolation and therefore it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 good news or as the Angel tells the Shepherds Luk. 2.10 good tidings of great joy In which respect it is very notable that when our Saviour was about to preach the Gospel he was anointed with the Spirit which is called the Oyl of gladness The Spirit of the Lord is upon me saith our Saviour because he hath anointed me Isa 61.1 And what follows why then he preaches good tidings to the meek he binds up the broken-hearted proclaimeth liberty to Captives and opening of the prison doors to those that are bound there which is very joyful tidings He comforts those that are in sorrow appoints to those that mourn in Sion not to those that mourn abroad but to those that mourn in Sion in the Church beauty for ashes the Oyl of joy for mourning and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness So that you see my Brethren it is all joy and all comfort By which it is apparent that our Saviours special aim and drift in publishing the Gospel is that the people might be full of joy And therefore it is much to be observed that when our Saviour entred on his Ministry assoon as he had been baptized and tempted he preached his very first Sermon upon this comfortable Gospel Text Luk. 4.17 to shew what was to be the main intent and drift of his ministry Christ gives his people pretious promises and seals them with his own blood that they might be full of joy Indeed this is the great end my Beloved both of the promise and of the confirmation of it It 's true if Christ had been reserved if he had kept his purpose and intention in his breast and in his bosom if he had made his people no promise the execution of his merciful designs had not been less sure and certain in it self but it had been less sure to us we had not had the less benefit but we had had the less comfort For he would surely have fulfilled his own intentions to his people though he had never been obliged by promise to perform them So when the promises were made there is no doubt they would have been observed and kept though they had never been confirmed yet Christ hath ratified them with his own blood as the Apostle shews us Heb. 9.16 Not with the blood of Bulls and Goats but with his own most pretious blood And why hath he done this why doubtless that there might be nothing wanting to his peoples comfort The promise is not made a whit more certain by our Saviours sealing of it with his blood but we are made the more certain The promise is not made a whit the more sure but we are the more assured and so we have the more comfort What do we think of God that he who is the God of Truth would not have kept his promises that he would have broken with us had they not been thus confirmed No certainly my Brethren he would have been firm and constant but we might have been assaulted with continual doubts and fears we should not have attained to such unshaken and such sweet assurance And therefore Christ hath set his seal to all the promises he hath sealed them with his blood to this end that we might have strong consolation as the Apostles phrase is Heb. 6.18 He hath shed his blood you see that our comfort might not be weak but strong comfort that our joy might not be imcompleat but full joy Christ gives his people glorious Ordinances that they might be full of joy For Ordinances are not for our profit only but they are for our comfort too Oh how was David taken with them How did they fill his heart with joy when he was banished from them for a time how did he melt to think upon the overflowing Consolations he had sometimes found in them How did his heart pant and gasp after them Oh with what self-consuming wishes did he long to be restored to them One thing have I desired of the Lord saith he Psal 27.4 No question he desired many things but one thing he desired above the rest that he might dwell in the house of the Lord all the dayes of his life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his Temple where publick Ordinances were dispensed Which shews the infinite delight he took in them I might distinctly shew how special Ordinances serve for the comfort of the Lords people I will bring them to my Mountain saith the Lord and make them joyfull in my house of prayer Isa 56.7 So for the word Jer. 15.16 Thy word was to me saith the Prophet there the joy and the rejoycing of my heart With joy shall ye draw water saith the Lord out of the wells of salvation Isa 12.3 Some understand the Ordinances by the wells in that place You see particularly then what the end of Christ is in giveing Ordinances to his people and what use they serve for Not only to help onward their Salvation but their Consolation too By which it is apparent that even in these dispensations he hath a great aspect upon their comfort Christ gives his people cleer discoveries and revelations of himself that they might be full of joy you may observe how they were overjoyed to whom he shewed himself after his resurrection from the dead they were not able to contain themselves And so when Christ reveals himself to any soul at this day when he comes in and shews himself to it it is sometimes almost transported to an extasie of joy Especially when he hath hid himself awhile then such discoveries of himself are out of measure sweet and pretious When this Sun of righteousness hath been overcast awhile so that the Saints have walked in darkness dayes and years without a glimps of this reviving light Oh with what inward ravishment doth it break forth upon the soul again The wife while she enjoyes the constant presence of her loving husband it may be thinks not much upon it she is not much affected with it But if he have been long away so that she hath not heard for many years neither where her husband is nor when he means to come again and after all her fruitless expectations of him hath resolved with her self that out of question she shall never see him more and then at last when she is wholly our of hopes in strikes her husband on a suddain at the door she is not able to contain her self for joy his presence is incomparably sweet and pleasing to her Even so when poor distressed souls have waited long for Christ and thought that they should never see him more with comfort and then at length he comes and shewes himself to them his gratious presence is extremely pretious He makes them full of joy with his countenance as the expression is Acts 2.28 Christ sends the Comforter to his people that they might be full