Selected quad for the lemma: church_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
church_n	bishop_n	ordination_n	presbyter_n	9,874	5	10.5221	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A78979	An indictment against England because of her selfe-murdering divisions: together vvith an exhortation to an England-preserving vnity and concord. Presented in a sermon preached before the Right Honourable House of Lords in the Abby church at Westminster; at the late solemne fast, December 25. 1644. By Edmund Calamy, B.D. and pastour of Aldermanbury in London.	Calamy, Edmund, 1600-1666.	1645 (1645)	Wing C256; Thomason E23_5; ESTC R21745	38,703	51

from their very childhoods they did differ one from the other and never could agree But when a common enemy came against them then Aristides comes by night to Themistocles and saith unto him Si sapimus omissâ tandem iuvenili et inani concertatione contentionem de servanda Graecia salubrem honestamque suscipiamus c. Let us leave all youthly contentions and tend unanimously to the publique good Oh that this counsell might take impression in the hearts of us Christians at this time Eightly Consider further how that the very Devils in hell agree to promote their owne kingdome If Satan be divided against Satan saith Christ how can his Kngdome stand And my Text is brought as I have said as an argument to prove that Christ did not cast out Devils by the power of Belzebub because then Satan should be divided against himselfe and seeke his own ruine which he will never doe There is peace amongst the Devils in hell And certainly there cannot be better Musicke to the Divels in hell then to see the Parliament divided against it selfe and the City divided against it selfe and the Godly Ministers divided against themselves at such a time as this is Ninthly and especially 〈◊〉 Lord Iesus Christ who is the Great Peacemaker who came into the world when all the world was at peace at whose birth the Angels sang Glory to God on high and in earth peace who when he was dying left a Legasie of peace to his people and gave his Disciples a New Commandement to love one another which was therefore called a New Commandement because it was inforced with a new example even the example of Christs love to us Who when he made that admirable Prayer Iohn 17. the chiefe part of it was that God would make his children one as he and the Father were one And he gives the reason of it vers. 21. That the world may beleeve that then hast sent me The world will not beleeve in Christ when they see Christians disagree Nothing hinders men from beleeving in Christ more then the differences and divisions of those that doe beleeve in Christ It is an excellent observation of Athanasius That the very manner of Christs death doth preach the Doctrine of Vnitie and love to Christians For Christ was not sawen asunder as the Prophet Isaiah was He was not beheaded as Iohn Baptist was There was not a bone of his broken nor any whit of his garment rent or torne And all this to teach Christians saith he to be at unitie within themselves Was not a bone of Christ broken upon the Crosse and shall all his members breake in pieces now he is in heaven Was his garment kept whole and shall his body be rent and torne in pieces This is Pauls Argument to perswade the divided Corinthians to Peace and Vnitie 1 Cor. 1. 13. Is Christ divided And why are Christians divided if Christ were not divided Why doth one say I am of Paul another I am of Apollo another I am of Cephas c. And therefore if you be Christians live in love and unitie as the Disciples of Iesus Christ that so the world may beleeve in Christ Oh that these Motives might take deepe rooting in your affections And that every one in his place would labour after Peace and Vnitie That you that are Magistrates and Iustices would bind your selves to the peace It is no discredit in this sense to be bound to the peace You are called Iustices of the Peace not because you should hold your peace when God would have you to speake but because it is your dutie to make peace and to keep peace Let all godly Ministers preach up the duty of brotherly love which is quite forgotten amongst most Christians It is a dutie quite dead and buried let us labour that it may have a speedy resurrection The Apostle saith 1 Thes. 4. 9. As touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you c. But we Ministers now a dayes need to write and preach of no duty more then this And then let all Ministers and people Pray for the peace of Ierusalem and give the Lord no rest untill he make England and Ireland a praise in the earth Let us pray for peace and fight for peace and contribute our money willingly for a peace For indeed all our fighting and all our vast expences are but as wayes and meanes to a safe and well grounded peace Let us fight for peace with peace one towards another And let us not complaine and murmur at the greatnesse of our contributions but remember the story of the old covetous Miser that hung himselfe to save charges and his man comming in unawares and seeing his Master a hanging cut the rope in pieces and thereby saved his Masters life The Master being recovered instead of thanking his man fell a chiding of him because he cut the rope in pieces and so did put him to the charges of a new rope whereas he should rather have untied it then cut it This man you will say did little deserve to have his life saved Iust such is our condition Our cruell enemies are ready to devoure and destroy us All that the Parliament doth is to cut the rope in pieces with which they would hang us And if we be put to more then ordinary charge let us not grumble at those expences which are the preservation of our lives That man is unworthy to live that murmurs to lay out a little money to save his life But here I must put in three Caveats beseech you in the first place to remember that when I speake so much for unity I would also have you to remember that Vnum verum convertuntur That unity without veriy is not a true peace but a conspiracy Omnis concordia in veritate Vnity ioyned with falshood is execrable adulterie saith Cyprian When unitie and falshood are married together it is no lawfull marriage but execrable adultery If I cannot have peace with men but I must lose my peace with God farewell peace with men that I may keep my peace with God One great reason why we have so little peace upon earth is because we seek after it more then after the glory of God in heaven You will must remember in the second place that this Vnity that we must labour after must be in a Scripture way The Primitive Church for Vnity sake and to prevent Schismes set up one Presbyter as a Bishop to rule over the rest with Maiority of power in Iurisdiction and Ordination But this at best was but a humane invention and it proved an increaser of Schisme and Division The Papists set up the Pope to preserve unitie But he is the greatest Apple of strife the Christian world hath It will be our care to studie to promote a unitie in such a way which the Scriptures hold forth and this will prosper You must also remember in the third place that our unitie