Selected quad for the lemma: church_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A58921
|
A seasonable corrective to the one project for the good of England intended for God's glory and the good of souls, and dedicated to the King and his great Council.
|
|
1680
(1680)
|
Wing S2226; ESTC R13156
|
15,035
|
12
|
his Accomplices Ye take too much upon you All the Congregation are holy Or had they been in any vogue when the Saviour of the World came with perfect Innocency attended with a miraculous power to beat down Satan's Kingdom they would have said as the Chief Priests and Pharisees did If we let him thus alone They shew'd their malice in his Condemnation and the Romans came to avenge his Innocency all men will believe on him and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation But wisdom is justified of her children and to use this Projector 's own words No Ignorance can excuse such Zeal nor can wise men believe it to be the product of either Ignorance or Zeal but a trick to take down the Throne and weaken Soveraignty that themselves may with the less hazard gain possession of the Chair To this purpose he projects a Civil Government fit onely for an Utopia or an Isle of Pines where Religion is of no concern nor supposed to be any part of the People's Interest And if we can imagin a Society of men brought forth into the world without the help of Parents or the nursery of common Education a people without hope and without God in the world where there is no belief of Heaven or Hell but a persuasion that the Soul evaporates with the breath and is quite extinguish'd at the dissolution of the Body there haply the Civil Interest this Projector pleads for may stand alone upon its own bottom And yet at this time a day 't is very hard for us to believe it for we are taught 't is God that makes men to be of one mind whether in a House or in a Kingdom That God is in the midst of it therefore the holy city shall not be moved with Tumults Psal 48.3 because God is known in her Palaces for a refuge But unless the Lord doth first build and then watch it man's pains are to little purpose to secure it But this Projector is for a civil Vnion without the cement of Divine Providence and for a civil Safety without the guard of a Divine Protection Insomuch that when a man reflects seriously upon his Invectives against the Loyal Clergy and his making the Church not the pillar and ground of truth 1 Tim. 3.15 but an empty name he must needs find himself under a great temptation to believe that this Projector was designed to pull down the Church and advance Atheism But God is so great an Enemy to Atheism and Irreligion that if men will not know him otherwise he will make himself known to them by the execution of his Judgments And so great a Lover he is of such as are sincerely religious that S. Austin imputes the long prosperity of the Roman Empire to the sincerity of their Zeal though their Religion was erroneous And some have made the like Observation upon the Turkish Empire 'T is time for us therefore to be awakened when we are alarm'd by such Projectors and to inquire a little more strictly into our own belief Did the Son of God come down from Heaven and really suffer death upon the Cross to purchase himself a Church When he had done this with so much sweat and torments did he leave that Church exposed and an Orphan Did he not promise that Kings should be nursing fathers and Queens nursing mothers to it Did he not promise also that they should bring their glory and their honour into the Church with them Isa 60. and that the Nations should walk in the light thereof 'T is true Apoc. 21. Christ's Kingdom is not of this world but 't is in this world for all that And if the Church be in the Empire 't is as well the interest as the duty of that Empire to take care of it And if the Church be Christ's Kingdom as without all doubt it is to suffer that Kingdom to have no share in our Affairs no influence into the Conduct of our Conversation will certainly draw upon us the guilt of a Nolumus hunc regnare and make us to be look'd upon as Christ's enemies and then what will become of our Civil Safety But if God be taken into the Constitution as the Author of it if his Sovereign Power be acknowledged the foundation of our Government if his Wisdom and Providence be concern'd in the support of it then the Holy Oracle without doubt is to be confuted and we are to consider that in all reason we are obliged to serve him if we expect he should preserve us and we should consult his Honour that he may establish ours Does the honour then of the Civil Governour consist in the multitude of his People So does God's Does the safety of the Government consist in the Vnion Vnanimity and Regularity of that Multitude The preservation of God's solemn Worship and Service does so too If therefore we are so zealous for a Civil Vnion for the Honour of our Prince and Countrey why not as zealous for a Church Vnion for the Honour of our blessed God And if their Union onely in a Civil Interest makes a People so formidable and secure against the Attempts of a common enemy will not the addition of another Interest be a further addition to their strength and grandeur Doubtless their Vnion in a Religious Interest will much more endear them rivet them the closer and make them stand more firm and steddy against all Forein Opposition 'T is this will make our Jerusalem impregnable And this caused the Psalmist to celebrate the concord and communion of that Church and People with so much Ecstasie Psal 133.1 Joh. 17.24 Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity 'T is this occasion'd that ardent Prayer of our Saviour that his Disciples may be one and be made perfect in one This was the ground of the Apostle's Gratulation and Rejoycing for the Colossians c. 2.5 Their order and the stedfastness of their faith in Christ Yet our bold Projector does not so much as dream of such a Church Vnion as if it were impossible But is not such an Vnion and Vnity in a National Church possible I say in a National Church De Consecrat d. 4. cap. de trina mersione for of the Catholick Church that of Gregory is most certain In una fide nihil afficit sanctae Ecclesiae consuetudo diversa But for a particular Church of one denomination such Vnion and Vnity is under command and duty and therefore possible What saith the Apostle to the Ephesians Eph. 4.1 4. I the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called endeavouring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace And what says he to the Corinthians Now I beseech you brethren by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 1.10 that ye all speak the same thing and that there
him with reverence Kiss the Son lest he be angry and so ye perish from the right way For of him as Head and in conjunction with his mystical Body the Church the Lord saith by his great Prophet Isa 60.12 The Nation and Kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish yea those Nations shall be utterly wasted Their Civil Vnion which this Projector so much relies on shall not be their Civil Safety To come then to the last Scene of this Project is not the Religious taking of an Oath a serious part of God's solemn Worship and Service Let 's consult the Law and the Prophets and then the Gospel God says by his great Law-Giver Moses Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God Deut. 6.13 and serve him and shalt swear by his Name as a part of his Service Is it not then a most prodigious Superstition to be afraid of offending God in doing that which he himself does so expresly command and practise For this is his Practice as well as his command He swore unto Abraham unto Isaac and unto Jacob. Psal 110.4 Heb. 6.13 Ezek. 18.3 Psal 89.35 He sware unto David and took an oath to establish an everlasting Priesthood upon the Saviour of the World Nor did he scruple at the Form at all for sometimes he sware by Himself sometimes by his Life sometimes by his Holiness And if we consult the Prophets we find an Oath not onely lawful and practicable but so highly useful that Rules and directions are carefully prescribed to regulate the circumstances and manner of it Thou shalt swear The Lord liveth in truth in righteousness Jer. 4.2 and in judgment And can any man be so sensless as to think such a solemn part of God's Worship and Service should be abolished or superseded And yet they say it is and that if we believe them by great Authority viz. that of our Blessed Lord I say unto you Mat. 5.34 swear not at all But 't is observable that our Saviour has not one word touching the Office of the Magistrate in all that discourse And that Prohibition of Swearing is expresly restrained to our private and familiar Converse Ver. 37. 't is determined to that by our Lord himself Let your communication be yea yea and nay nay James 5.12 And Saint James who derived his Doctrine from this Fountain must be understood according to this Interpretation And the Psalmist has declared in the Name of God that all they that swear by him shall be commended Psal 63.11 For to take an Oath if it be duly circumstantiated is not a moral fault but a religious duty And so it was many hundreds of years before the Law and amongst more Nations than one It was a part of natural Religion which Christ came not to abolish and therefore when he was required to take an Oath before the Magistrate he did not at all boggle at it He held his peace indeed at a frivolous and trifling Accusation but when the Chief Priest said solemnly to him I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ the Son of God he did submit to the Imposition and spake the truth without any equivocation or reserve whatsoever Mat. 26.63 64 he gave a positive and intelligible Answer Thou hast said Besides there is still the same reason the same use the same end of Swearing as ever was The Gentleman in his Letter against the Bishops being Judges in Causes Capital pag. 72. tells us That an Oath is the greatest Obligation that mankind is capable of making even God a party to it to see it obeyed and punish the transgressors 'T is such a confirmation therefore Heb. 6.16 as presently puts an end to all dispute and doubtfulness And does Paradise or the third Heaven afford any different Revelation Let 's hear how S. Paul understands the point Rom. 9.1 1.9 and we may learn it by his practice I say the truth in Christ I lie not my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost And God is my Witness And to ascend to the highest Pitch of Asseveration he saith 2 Cor. 1.23 I call God to record upon my soul And no Oath could with any modesty be express'd in higher terms but we find the duty performed with more solemnity by some of those heavenly Officers Rev. 10.1 6. an Angel of special note and dignity With his hand lifted up to heaven sware by him that liveth for ever and ever But we have gotten a new Project which were it practised universally as the Projector doubtless would have it would make God himself which cannot be thought on without horror in some danger to be forsworn for he has taken an oath Isa 45.23 that first or last every man shall do so too I have sworn by my self the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness and shall not return that unto me every knee shall bow every tongue shall swear And if we allow St. Paul to be a good Interpreter this is a kind of Oath Ex Officio at the Supreme Court of Judicature Rom. 14.10 11. Eccles 7.16 But our Arrogant Projector and his Party let the Preacher give what advice he please to the contrary are grown so over-wise and so much over-righteous that they must needs be more holy than their Maker and a great deal wiser too To swear in truth and in judgment and in righteousness though to find out the most useful or the most needful Secret and to give the most necessary assurance of our Fidelity the Omniscience the Veracity and Justice of God being solemnly asserted and invoked to this effect yet this to them is a profane custom wherefore all sorts of Oaths Assertory Promissory Arbitrary or imposed by a just Authority they will have abolish'd and their sacred Office must be supplied by a Substitute a doubty Declaration of this Projector 's own coyning Is not this a pretty piece of Innovation taken up in opposition to a Practice approved and appointed by God himself for so many thousand years together among all Nations A rare Invention sure to fish out Truth and secure Soveraign Authority of the Fealty of the Subject by an Expedient which came as little into the mind of Almighty God as the Worship of Molech Jer. 32.35 Does not our Arrogant Projector by this device make an Idol of his own Right-worshipful Imagination But the Apostle tells us of a sort of great Philosophers who professing themselves to be wise became fools Psal 63.11 But the King shall rejoyce in God every one that sweareth by him shall glory but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped In short we are taught by all sorts of Laws Human and Divine of Nature and of Nations by the declaration and practice of holy men and of God himself that a just and solemn Oath is the best security And to anticipate all Objection if any man be so profligately wicked that a solemn Oath cannot hold him a Pilory 't is likely may but certainly a Halter will and when all comes to all we may observe that this is the last resort of our Projector 's Declaration Pag. 9. This I confess may possibly ensnare some good man under an ill Government but 't will seldom fail to catch a noted Knave under a very good one To conclude we are somewhat in the dark overcast with a thick Cloud of Confusion and for the divisions of England there are great thoughts of heart And we have reason to fear God will adjourn the day of our deliverance to that of our repentance But however the personal sins that reign amongst us are great and many yet I think there are none that do so much threaten our safety as those that are more rise and national Hypocrisie Schism and Irreligion from which good Lord deliver us Amen FINIS