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
A85941	The down-fall of Anti-Christ: or, The povver of preaching, to pull down popery. In a briefe treatise on 2. Thessal. 28. By John Geree, Pastour of Tewkesbury, in Glocester-Shire.	Geree, John, 1601?-1649.	1641 (1641)	Wing G595; Thomason E157_17	18,755	26

what ever need there hath beene of them Yea the name of a Lecturer with many is Nomen invisum an hatefull or scornefull name so many places have beene left to the sole care of unfaithfull and unable Ministers by these meanes Here then is need of redresse An Act to make it lawfull for the people to procure any orthodoxe peaceable Preacher to supply the defect of their dumbe Ministers whether he would consent or no and to cashiere all illegall impositions put upon Lecturers would remove this Let and be an excellent and needfull helpe to this Nation till by Gods providence it be unburdened of all unable and unfaithfull Ministers Let 11 Eleventhly the tendernesse and respect that is had of idle and unfaithfull Ministers They must not be called dumbe dogs as they deserve and the Scriptures intitle them though they preach not yet the people most not goe to heare in other parishes if they doe they are presented and censured and the Idoll-minister countenanced and commended for his conformity The lawfullnes of their Ministry must not be questioned but it s accounted a cryme and hereby they are fostered and hardened in their ignorance and unfaithfullnesse and never think of renouncing that calling they have no fitnesse for or stirring up those gifts wherby they might be profitable If therefore a Law were made that till every place were furnished with godly and painfull teachers it might be lawfull for people that had none or corrupt preaching to goe where their soules might find better repast this no doubt would make some weary of and others more laborious in their callings and be no small furtherance by the preaching of the Gospell The last but not the least Let of Preaching is the excessive and lawlesse power that Archbishops Bishops c. exercise over the Preachers of the Gospell whereby they sometimes prevent them sometimes limit them sometimes suspend them from the preaching of the Gospell and that sometimes for their meere pleasure sometimes by vertue of Canons of their owne making sometimes for not observing some extraordinary injunctions of their owne procuring by all which they not onely impiously but unjustly hinder the preaching of the Gospell First tho a man be made Minister by themselves and then injoyned to preach tho he be inducted into a living and so his duty to his flocke doth inforce diligence in preaching yet he must not preach forsooth after all this without a licence from them and that many times they will not grant especially to Lecturers but upon their own termes Secondly when they are licenced yet they take upon them to limit them that they preach onely in the fore-noone and forbid them sometimes to Catechise too in any profitable way And if any in conscience of their duty will preach or so Catechise as may be as profitable to the people as a Sermon they often threaten sometimes suspend them Thirdly tho they be licensed and by vertue of that preach on the Lords Day and holy-dayes yet if a man will preach weekely in his owne parish which is commonly called a Lecture that they will not suffer without a speciall Licence at least in word yea when they have licenced Lectures or at least their Predecessours they take upon them to impose burthens on the Lecturers to dishearten them or else downe-rightly pro imperio prohibit them and put them downe as some have done throughout their Diocesses Fourthly many times out of meere power they suspend Ministers that are Pastours of congregations for not observing their orders tho injoyned by no order of Law or opposing their practises tho against Law or preaching Truths consonant to Gods word and our Churches Doctrine because contrary to their errours and humours Our Lawes confirme the morality of the Sabbath condemne pastimes upon it yet many for not reading a Booke that counts the strict observation of the Lords Day Jewish and licenceth and incourageth to dancing and other light recreations have beene suspended their charges left destitute some excommunicated and the benefit of appealing One because hee will not read a civill Proclamation another because hee will not read an illegall prayer another because hee will not givemony when they required tho illeg●lly denyed them Our Lawes forbid the bringing in of any new Ceremonies other than by Law are established yet some for preaching against the bringing in of Altars and bowing to them some for opposing or preaching against Jesus-worship have beene suspended or inhibited from the worke of the Ministry Some have beene suspended likewise for not Catechising out of the Common-prayer Booke tho their charges have beene in great Townes that have exceeded the ordinary pitch of hearers Some for preaching against Arminianisme some for preaching against Images some for preaching against dauncing some for preaching at the buriall of a child dying before Baptisme and many other things when the humours of Prelates are crost At admittance they enter them with an Oath of Canonicall obedience and upon that think their word shall be a Law and if not suspend them for neglect of Canonicall obedience and what ever the cause is when they have past the censure it s in vaine for a poore Minister to struggle If he would appeale they have provided a Canon unlesse he subscribe his appeale shall not be admitted nor then neither many times But if it be what hope of redresse when they from whom he appeales or their fellowes must be his Judges who count it a pernicious example that a Prelate should be thought to erre in any of his censures or be put to the worse by an unruly Minister as all must be thought who submit not to them This is it that hath made so many precious able Ministers leave our Church to our great wound and disgrace to goe into other Countries preferring the meanest condition with freedome from this yoake above the sweetest under this grievous bondage Unlesse therfore care be taken to curbe this exorbitant power in vain will all care be for providing good Ministers for the Prelates if they daunce not after their Pipe after the impression of a Parliament is a little over will quickely cast them out at pleasure not will any other care to restraine this pernicious power be a sufficient cure but onely abolition of it If it be never so neere cropt yet the influence of some superiour orbe will make it sprout and ill weeds grow apace Experience it selfe may teach how weake a security from the evill of this power the restraining of it is if it have any root left In our neere Sister Church of Scotland when Bishops had scarce any thing but a meere name at first were meere titular could doe nothing without the Presbyteries and not onely their power but persons were under them yet in time by little and little they grew to that height as not onely to over-top the Presbyteries but to degrade them as it were and make them as cyphers and having gotten this power they

those that doe refuse conformity to these out of meere conscience injoy liberty to preach yet are they by reason of them obnoxious to the taunts and malice of every lewd drunkard or popish Atheist who hence take occasion of unjust and unholy revenge when their consciences are touched with the searching power of Gods word Therefore let these Ceremonies be what they will in their originall in the event they prove Anti-christian helping to keepe up Popery by hindring preaching and Preachers Besides the penalties that are inflicted upon the refusers of subscription are without order of Law and so against Law for there is no statute but Canon onely to ground such proceeding upon and if it have beene counted an intolerable grievance that by commissions a man should have part of his goods demanded or taken away without Law can it but appeare most hainous that a Minister for not subscribing to what by Law he is not bound or not doing that for which the Law hath appoynted no penalty should not onely have part but all his revenue taken away and exposed to the mercy of this unmercifull world This in measure must needs exceed the former unlesse Ministers alone shall be counted unworthy the priviledge of subjects and be left in the condition of slaves which how God would take we may judge by that saying of Christ He that despiseth you despiseth me Papists shall rise up in judgement against us who indowe their Clergie with extraordinary immunities whilest ours injoy not the ordinary protection of Lawes Suppose Non-conformity to certaine be an offence yet doe the penalties far exceed the quality of it he is to pay but 12. d. that prophanely in oathes takes Gods name in vaine or absents himselfe from Church on the Sabbath day and doth it deserve a greater penalty if a man refuse a Surplice which God hath not commanded yet if such a penalty had been appointed it would have beene borne with patience and tho it would have punished Preachers yet would it not have hindred preaching Many if they could have had free liberty of the ministery without checke or feare would have beene contented in respect of outward things to have lived below their breedings and callings Oh then these things cal for redresse that the bond for subscription may be cancelled that those ceremonies that the best maintainers of them can onely affirme innocent not profitable and all good Christians see and feele in their fruits to be noxious may be cashiered they may be lost without danger not so kept or if they be not absolutely taken away yet let each injoy liberty If sodaine alterations be pretended to be inconvenient let them be as the Jewish Ceremonies for a time were Mortuae so free to be left off to be used Nor will this be any prejudice to the government of the Church who knowes not that unity is better than uniformity Nay difformity is no deformity One man comes to Church with a gowne another with a cloake another with a coate who complaines of any deformity If variety in the same congregation of the habits of the members of it be no deformity why should variety in habit of Ministers in divers congregations seeme so strange deformed and undecent The Apostle speaking of the habits of men and women in praying and prophesying makes no distinction of members or Ministers but gives one rule for all 1. Cor. 11. Nor would variety be properly faction or schisme in the Church For schisme we know is not in opinion but affection not when men differ in judgement or practise about Circumstantiall things but when they are divided in affection for this difference in judgement or practise Let 8 Eightly the corruptions in the Universities as bowing before the Altar tho many times there be Images over it exaction of bowing also at the name of Jesus the great growth and sway of Arminianisme favouring and savouring of Popery canonicall subscription urged upon all graduates in the University before they have time or care to study the moderne controversies or ability to judge of them and such like whereby many godly parents are discouraged from sending their children thither to be trained up for the worke of the Ministery and godly Scholers are discouraged and hindred from proceeding in learning because they can neither have their degrees without corruption nor continue with any conveniency in the University long without taking their degrees and so by these discouragements the Church is prevented of many usefull and preaching of the Gospell is not a little hindred This then calls for redresse care in purging the Fonntaines is most necessary most usefull the good or evill of that diffuseth it selfe over the Nation That bath made the adversary so carefull to sow tares there our Saviour sent the children of light once to learne wisedome of the children of this world so may we now indeavour to promote the Gospell by purging the Fountaines as they by corrupting them thought to stifle it Let 9 Ninthly the audaciousnesse of some that preach against preaching Of Preaching or the frequency of it yea and with Licence print Sermons against Sermons as if the frequency of preaching in our times were superfluous yea dangerous This prophane petulancy against the Lawes of God and our Church if it were severely punished the honour of this Ordinance would be vindicated and this ill wind would be restrained that blasts good desires and forwardnesse of many and no doubt severity here would be acceptable to Christ being indeed a revenging of his quarrells To this we may adde the disgrace that is cast upon Preachers preaching If any Preach constantly twice a Sabbath this is enough to make him accounted a Puritan to expose him to the envie of the Prelates and then ordinarily there 's lying in waite for him and if there be any advantage to be taken in truth or show then he is convented brow-beaten it may be chidden reviled and used with all disrespects what ever his worth or parts be to the great discouraging of many and taking off those whose affection is not the stronger to the honour of Christ and the discharge of his function Let. 10 Tenthly discouragements put upon Lecturers by whose labours the defect of drones would have beene in many places well supplyed The Incumbent tho he cannot or will not preach himselfe yet assumes a power to prohibit a Lecturer to supply his defect unlesse he will comply to his humour tho the people would be at charge to maintaine him There 's a Canon that every Lecturer must read Prayer and administer the Sacraments twice a yeere with full conformity whereas before though a mans judgement had beene against Ceremonies yet he might have beene a Lecturer having no occasion to discover inconformity yea there were instructions procured that the Lecturer before he preached should read Prayers in his Surplice tho there were an incumbent there that many times could doe nothing else and all to stop Lecturers