Selected quad for the lemma: church_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
church_n	day_n	lord_n	sabbath_n	19,256	5	10.0267	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45351	A sermon preach'd at the Castle of York to the condemned prisoners on Monday the 30th of March 1691 being the day before their execution : with an appendix which gives some account of them all, but more particularly of Mr. Edmund Robinson Clerk who was condemned and executed for high treason in counterfeiting the King's coyn / by George Halley.	Halley, George, 1655 or 6-1708.	1691 (1691)	Wing H455; ESTC R26651	21,825	37

been a contradiction to the Sacred Design and Holy End of its Institution he would leave something in Writing behind him as a Monument of his hearty Sorrow and Repentance for the same and that others might by him take an Example and flee such Vices as had brought him to such a shameful End This I told him was a very reasonable request and nothing but what became a sincere Penitent to do but I could not perswade him to any thing of this nature he only desir'd me that if I thought it expedient I might disclose to the World and which is the reason of this Relation what he had confessed to me and seem'd to wish heartily that what he had done and the Punishment he was like to undergo might be of such use to those of the same Function with himself and to all others as might influence them to the constant conservation of Innocency to be holy and righteous in all manner of Conversation I duly attended upon him from his Condemnation to his Death and always both before and after Divine Service exhorted him for alas I could not extort one to a thorow Confession of all his Sins and particularly of the Fact which he was to dye for but he denied it then and persisted in his Denial to the very last moment That ever Roger Preston coin'd for him 1300 l. in half a Years time as he had sworn or that ever he was Privy either to his Clipping or Coining Alas he was horribly abus'd and impos'd upon by some who for filthy Lucre's sake promis'd him and gave him the greatest Assurances of procuring him a Reprieve so strangely and unreasonably to the very moment of his going to Execution did he buoy up himself with hopes of Life upon the consideration of such Vain Promises and the Discovery he himself had made that the Powers of Religion did I 'm afraid very little operate upon him When he came indeed to the place of Execution and saw a Terrible Death stare him in the Face he was I believe under the greatest Trouble and Confusion and spoke to me more passionately than ever he had done before to pray for and with him I told him nothing would make the Sacrifice of Prayer acceptable to God but a confession of all his Sins and particularly of the Fact he dy'd for an abhorrency and detestation of them an hearty acknowledgment of the Divine Justice a cheerful resignation of himself to God and a being in Love and Charity with all the World But alas after he had taken a solemn Leave of his Son the Sheriff having immediately before his Execution acquainted him with his Reprieve and given him a Charge to be dutiful to his Mother and the like when he ascended the Ladder instead of performing the Religious Duty I press'd him to instead of imploring the Mercy and Forgiveness of God for his great and manifold Transgressions of the Laws both Humane and Divine and particularly for the Scandalous Life he had led when being under the highest Obligations to the contrary as having taken Holy Orders upon him instead of expressing an Universal Love and a Catholick Charity he did nothing but bitterly inveigh against the Law the Judge the Jury the Witness and against the Clerk of Assize for producing the Records of his former Trials against him Thus he died in the Pett thus he expir'd rather in a Tramport of Rage and Fury than with a Christian Temper and Disposition But as he liv'd so he was resolv'd to dye which shew'd a sear'd and an insensate Conscience that through the long and customary practice of Wickedness and Vice he was grown numb'd or past feeling that Darkness had vail'd his Understanding and that God had justly given him the Spirit of Slumber I 'm heartily sorry I can give no better an account nor a more comfortable relation of him though Charity commands to think the best obliges to the most candid and favourable construction I pray GOD that every one by his exemplary Punishment may be influenc'd and perswaded to follow always that which is Good so to exercise themselves as to have always a Conscience void of Offence both towards God and men and particularly all such as are called to any Ecclesiastical Office or Administration that they may take heed to do the thing which is Right that they may do all to the Glory of God to the Honour of the Christian Religion and to the Reputation of their Holy Function by constantly living a Life of Holiness and Purity In doing this they will save themselves and them that hear them Amen There were Ten Persons more executed with him Two for the same Treason who were both convicted by one and the same Witness R. P. They were Mr. Nicholas Battersby of the City of York and Robert Cokeson of Wakefield Woodside in the Parish of Wakefield in the County of York who both deny'd the Fact they were condemn'd for Cokeson indeed seemed to have some sence of God and Religion and I am confident if he were to have liv'd would have become a new man And though he absolutely to the last moment of his Life denied the Fact which Preston laid to his Charge yet he did not deny that he had been a great Clipper but who accommodated or furnished him with Money that he would never in the least declare The other Malefactors were Joanna Moat for the Murder of her Child Tho. Langhorn for the Murder of his Wife Edward Smith for Burglary Ottowell Bocking for Burglary Christopher Geldart for Cloth off the Tenters and Horse-stealing Robert Spark for Horse-stealing Chr. Jewitt for Horse-stealing John Crosland for burning a Barn All of whom except Two namely Langhorn and Bocking confessed themselves guilty of the respective Crimes they dy'd for and I hope they were penitent They particularly recommended to the numerous Spectators the strict and holy Observation of the Lord's Day for they attributed all the Mischief and Misery that befel them to the breaking of the Sabbath and told the People That when they shou'd have been at Church offering up to God the Sacrifice of Prayer and Thanksgiving when they should have been hearing the Doctrines of Religion explained and the Sins against the Laws of it reprehended they then were spending their precious Time in Rioting and Drunkenness in Chambering and Wantonness and therefore God had very justly suffer'd them to fall into the Temptation of the Devil and to come to such a shameful and ignominious End I pray God that the Great Execution at this last Assizes that their Sufferings may excite and oblige all People to the constant Practice of Justice and Honesty to a religious and strict Observance of the Lord's Day to resort to the Temple of the Lord at the Canonical hours of Prayer there to present their Bodies a Living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is their reasonable Service Amen FINIS