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	heaven_n	loose_v	6,489	5	10.6824	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30303	Expository notes with practical observations on the Four Holy Evangelists, viz., St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, St. John wherein the sacred text is at large recited ... and the instructive example of the holy Jesus to our imitation recommended ; designed for the instruction of private families ... / by William Burkitt.	Burkitt, William, 1650-1703.	1700 (1700)	Wing B5736; ESTC R29600	900,471	338

one of them be gone astray doth he not leave the ninety and nine and goeth into the mountains and seeketh that which is gone astray 13 And if so be that he find it verily I say unto you he rejoyceth more of that sheep then of the ninety and nine which went not astray 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish Here our Saviour continues his Argument against giving Offence to his Children and Members he came into the World to redeem and save them therefore none ought to scandalize and offend them And to illustrate this he comparts himself to a good Shepherd who regards every one of his Sheep and if any wander or go astray he seeks to recover it with Desire and Joy Learn 1. That the natural Condition of Mankind is like that of wandring Sheep they err and go astray from God their chief Good and the Object of their compleat Happiness 2. That it was the Work and Business the Care and Concern of Jesus Christ to seek and recover lost Souls as the Shepherd doth his lost Sheep 3. That the Love and Care of Christ towards his ●heep in seeking to save and to preserve them is a forcible Argument unto all not to scandalize and offend much less to persecute and destroy them 15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone if he shall hear thee thou hast gained thy brother 16 But if he will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established 17 And if he shall neglect to hear them tell it unto the church but if he neglect to hear the church let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican In these Words our Saviour gives us an excellent Rule for the Duty of Fraternal Correption or Brotherly Admonition Where Note 1. That Brotherly Reproof and Admonition is a Duty incumbent upon Church-Members 2. That it may be administred successfully it must be administred privately and prudently 3. When private Admonition prevails not Christ has appointed Church-Governours to execute Church-Censures on the obstinate and irreclaimable 4. Persons justly falling under the Censures of the Church and rightly excommunicate are to be look'd upon as Contumacious and Stubborn Offenders and the Members of the Church to shun Society and Conversation with them If he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an Heathen Man and a Publican 18 Verily I say unto you Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven That is whomsoever the Officers of my Church shall justly excommunicate upon Earth shall without Repentance be shut out of Heaven and whosoever upon their true Repentance shall be absolved on Earth shall be absolved in Heaven Learn That Christ will ratifie in Heaven whatsoever the Church assembled doth in his Name upon Earth whether to the censuring of the Guilty or absolving of the Penitent this Power of binding and loosing is by Christ committed to his Church 19 Again I say unto you that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them Here we have a Gracious Promise made by Christ of his Presence with all his Members in general and with his Ministers in special Whenever they meet together in his Name that is by his Authority in Obedience to his Command and with an Eye at his Glory Whenever they celebrate any sacred Institution of his or execute any Church-Censures he will be i● the midst of them to quicken their Prayers to guide their Counsels to ratifie their Sentence to accept their Endeavours Learn 1. That Christ will be graciously present with and amongst his People whenever they assemble and meet together in his Name be it in never so small a number 2. That Christ will in a special manner be present with the Guides and Officers of his Church to direct their Censures and to confirm the Sentence pa●●ed in his Name and pronounced by his Authority upon obstinate Offenders 21 Then came Peter to him and said Lord how oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him till seven times 22 Jesus saith unto him I say not unto thee Until seven times but until seventy times seven Here St. Peter puts a Question to our Saviour how often Christians should forgive Offences to their Brethren professing Repentance Christ answers That there should be no end of our mutual forgiving one another but we are to multiply our Pardon as our Brother manifests his Repentance Not that we are hereby obliged to take the frequent Offender into our Bosom and to make him our Intimate but to lay aside all Malice and all Thoughts and Desires of Revenge and to stand ready to do him any Office of Love and Friendship Learn 1. That to fall often into the same Offence against our Brother is a great Aggravation of our Offence 2. That as the Multiplication of Sin is a great Aggravation of Sin so the Multiplication of Forgiveness is a great Demonstration of a Godlike Temper in us He that multiplies Sin doth like Satan Sin abundantly and he that multiplies Pardon doth like God pardon abundantly 23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king which would take account of his servants 24 And when he had begun to reckon one was brought unto him which ought him ten thousand talents 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay his lord commanded him to be sold and his wife and children and all that he had and payment to be made 26 The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him saying Lord have patience with me and I will pay thee all 27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt 28 But the same se vant we t out and found one of his fellow-servants which ought him an hundred pence and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat saying Pay me that thou owest 29 And his fellow servant fell down at his f●et and besought him saying Have patience with me and I will pay thee all 30 And he would not but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt 31 So when his fellow-servants saw what was done they were very sorry and came and told unto their lord all that was done 32 Then his lord after that he had called him said to him O thou wicked servant I forgave thee all that debt because thou desiredst me 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant even as I had pity on

2. The Name is given or at least declared at the time of the Child's Circumcising and that by its Parents His Mother said he shall be called John But how did his Mother know That when her Husband was dumb Answ 'T is like her Husband Zachary had by Writing informed his Wife concerning the whole Vision and what Name was imposed upon him by the Angel therefore she says he shall be called John and Zachary ratifies it his name is John The Nomination was originally from the Angel the Imposition of the Name is now at Circumcision from the Parents Obs 3. How Ancient a Custom it has been to give Names to Children according to the Names of their Fathers or Kindred There is none of thy Kindred of this name say they The Jews made it a part of Religion to give suitable Names to their Children and significant Names Accordingly they either gave them Names to put them in remembrance of God's Mercy to them or of their Duty to him Thus Zachary signifies the Remembrance of God which name points at God's Mercy in remembring him and his Duty in remembring God Well then is it usual and useful for Parents to give significant Names to their Children then let Children have a Holy Ambition to make good the Signification of their Names Thus John signifies the Grace of God but how will that Gracious Name rise up in Judgment against that Child that is Graceless Obs 4. How Zachary's Speech is immediately restored to him upon the naming of his Child The Angel v. 20. told him he should be dumb till the things he told him should be performed and now that they were performed his Tongue is loosed and he praises God in a most Thankful manner Obs 5. The effect which all this had upon the Neighbourhood fear came upon all that dwelt round about them that is an awful and Religious fear of God occasioned by these miraculous operations and they laid up these sayings in their hearts that is considered of them and pondered upon them It argues a very vain Spirit and temper of Mind when we pass over the Observation of God's wonderful Acts with a slight Regard The true Reason why we do so little admire the wonderful Works of God is because we consider so little of them Obs 6. The special favour vouchsafed by God to this Child John The hand of the Lord was with him that is God was in a special manner present with him to direct and assist him to protect and prosper him The hand of God in Scripture signifies the help of God the strength and assistance of God The hand of Man is a weak and impotent hand a short and ineffectual hand but the hand of God is a strong hand an Almighty hand able to assist and help able to protect and preserve The hand of the Lord was with him that is the heart of God and the help of God the Love and Favour of God to support him and the Power and Providence of God to protect and preserve him Lord let our Hearts be with thee and then thy Heart and thy helping hand will be with us 67 And his Father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophecied saying 68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people 69 And hath raised up an horn of Salvation for us in the house of his servant David 70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets which have been since the world began 71 That we should be saved from our Enemies and from the hand of all that hate us 72 To perform the mercy promised to our fore-fathers and to remember his holy Covenant 73 The Oath which he sware to our father Abraham 74 That he would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies might serve him without fear 75 In holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life 76 And thou child shalt be called the prophet of the Highest for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his way 77 To give knowledge of Salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins 78 Through the tender mercies of our God whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us 79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death and to guide our feet in the way of peace Here observe 1. That no sooner was Zachary recovered and restored to his Speech but he sings the Praises of his Redeemer and offers up a Thanksgiving to God The best Return we can make to God for the use of our Tongue for the giving or restoring of our Speech is to publish our Creator's Praise to plead his Cause and vindicate his Honour Obs 2. What it is that Zachary makes the subject matter of his Song What is the particular and special Mercy which he praises and blesses God for It is not for his own particular and private Mercy namely the Recovery of his Speech tho' undoubtedly he was very thankful to God for that Mercy but he Blesses and praises God for Catholick and Universal Mercies bestowed upon his Church and People He doth not say Blessed be the Lord God of Israel that hath visited me in Mercy that hath once more loosed my Tongue and restored my Speech but Blessed be God that has visited and redeemed his people Whence Learn that it is both the Duty and Disposition of a gracious Soul to abound in Praise and Thankfulness to God more for Catholick and Universal Mercies towards the Church of God then for any particular and private Mercies how great soever towards himself Blessed be God for visiting and redeeming his people Obs 3. In this Evangelical Hymn there is a Prophetical Prediction both concerning Christ and concerning John Concerning Christ he declares that God the Father had sent him of his free mercy and rich Grace yet in performance of his Truth and Faithfulness and according to his promise and Oath which he had made to Abraham and the Fathers of the Old Testament Where Note 1. he blesses God for the Comprehensive blessing of the Messiah Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who hath visited his people namely in his Son's Incarnation The Lord Jesus Christ in the Fulness of Time made such a visit to this sinful World as Men and Angels admired at and will admire to all Eternity Note 2. The special fruit and benefit of this gracious and merciful Visitation and that was the Redemption of a lost World he hath visited and redeemed his People This implies that miserable Thraldom and Bondage which we were under to Sin and Satan and expresses the stupendious Love of Christ in buying our Lives with his dearest Blood and both by price and power rescuing us out of the hands of our Spiritual Enemies Note 3. The Character given of This Saviour and Redeemer he is an Horn of Salvation that is a Royal and Glorious a Strong

Person that Suffered three Days ago when his Death doth so well agree with the Predictions of the Prophets who fore-told that the Messias should be cut off but not for himself and be smitten for the iniquities of his People Here we may Observe The great Wisdom and Grace of God who makes sometimes the Diffidence of his People an occasion of farther clearing up the choicest Truths unto them Never did these Disciples hear so Excellent an Exposition of Moses and the Prophets concerning the Messiah as now when their sinful distrust had so far prevailed over them 2. Observe The Doctrines which Christ instructs his Disciples in namely in the Necessity of his Death and Passion and of his Glory and Exaltation Ought not Christ to Suffer and to enter into his Glory Learn 1. That with Respect to God's Decree and with Relation to Mans Guilt the Death of Christ was Necessary and Indispensable 2. That his Resurrection and Exaltation was as Necessary as his Passion 3. That there was a Meritorious Connexion between Christ's Sufferings and his Glory his Exaltation was Merited by his Passion He was to drink of the Brook in the way and then he should lift up his head Observe 4. Christ did not only put Light into these his Apostles Heads but Heat also into their Hearts which burned all the while he Communed with them Did not our Hearts burn within us while he opened to us the Scriptures Oh what an efficacious Power is there in the word of Christ when set home upon the Hearts of Men by the Spirit of Christ 33 And they rose up the same Hour and returned to Jerusalem and found the Eleven gathered together and them that were with them 34 Saying The Lord is Risen indeed and hath Appeared to Simon 35 And they told what things were done in the way and how he was known to them in Breaking of Bread 36 And as they thus spake Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto them Peace be unto you 37 But they were Terrified and Affrighted and supposed that they had seen a Vision 38 And he said unto them Why are ye troubled and why do Thoughts arise in your Hearts 39 Behold my Hands and my Feet that it is I my self handle me and see For a Spirit hath not Flesh and Bones as ye see me have 40 And when he had thus spoken he shewed them his Hands and his Feet 41 And while they yet believed not for joy and wondered he said unto them Have ye here any Meat 42 And they gave him a piece of a Broyled Fish and of an Honey-comb 43 And he took it and did eat before them 44 And he said unto them These are the words which I speak unto you whilst I was yet with you That all things must be Fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and of the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning me Observe 1. That these Two Disciples at Emmaus being fully satisfied in the Truth of Christ's Resurrection by his Appearing to them in Breaking of Bread they arose presently and went from Emmaus to Jerus●lem It must needs be late at Night being after Supper and Seven Miles Distance Yet considering the Sorrow that the Disciples were under these Two leave all their Private Affairs and hasten to Comfort them with the glad Tidings of our Lord's Resurrection Teaching us That all Secular Affairs all private and particular Business must give place to the Glory of God and the Comfort and Salvation of Souls Observe 2. The great Endeavours which our Saviour used to confirm his Disciples Faith in the Doctrine of the Resurrection He comes and stands in the midst of them and says Peace be unto you Next he shews them h s pierced Hands Side and Feet with the Scars and Marks which he yet retained that they might see it was their Crucified Master After all this He eats before them a piece of broiled Fish and Honey-comb Not that he needed it his Body being now become Immortal but to assure them that it was his own Person and that he had still the same Body Yet so slack and backward were they to Believe that Christ was Risen that all the Predictions of the Scripture all the Assurances they had from our Saviour's Mouth and the several Appearings of Christ unto them were little enough to establish and confirm their Faith in the Resurrection of our Saviour Observe 3. The highest and fullest Evidence which our Saviour offers to Evince and Prove the Certainty of his Resurrection Namely by Appealing to their Senses Handle me and see Christ admits the Testimony of our Senses to assure it be his Real Body And if the Church of Rome will not allow us to believe our Senses we shall loose the best External Evidence we can have to prove the Truth of the Christian Religion Namely the Miracles of Christ For how can I know that those Miracles were True but by the Judgment of my Senses Now as our Senses tell us that Christ's Miracles were True so they assure us that the Doctrine of Transubstantiation is False 45 Then opened he their Understandings that they might understand the Scriptures 46 And he said unto them Thus it is Written and thus it behoveth Christ to Suffer and to Rise from the Dead the Third Day 47 And that Repentance and Remission of Sins should be Preached in his Name among all Natitions beginning at Jerusalem 48 And ye are Witnesses of these things Note here That the opening of the Mind and Heart effectually to Receive the Truths of God is the peculiar Prerogative and Office of Jesus Christ Then opened he their Vnderstandings Namely by the Illuminations of his Holy Spirit One of the greatest Miseries under which Lapsed Nature Labours is Spiritual Blindness Christ has the only Eye-salve which can Heal and Cure it Revel 3.18 And there is no worse Cloud to Obscure the Light of the Spirit than a proud Conceit of our own Knowledge Observe 2. The Special Charge given by our Saviour to his Apostles to Preach Repentance and Remission of Sin to Preach it in Christ's Name to Preach it to all Nations beginning first at Jerusalem Where Note The Astonishing Mercy of Jesus Christ Although Jerusalem was the Place where he lost his Life the City that Barbarously Butcher'd and Inhumanely Murthered him yet there he will have the Doctrine of Repentance Preach'd nay first Preached there the Gospel-Combination must first begin That Repentan●e and Remission of Sin be Preached beginning at Jerusalem Lord How unwilling art thou that any should Perish when thou not only prayedst for thy Murtherers and offeredst up thy Blood to God in the Behalf of them that shed it but Requiredst thy Ambassadors to make Jerusalem the first Tender of Remission upon Condition of Repentance That Repentance and Remission of Sin should be Preached among all Nations beginning at Jerusalem 49 And behold I send the Promise of my Father upon you but tarry ye