Selected quad for the lemma: church_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
church_n	earth_n	heaven_n	militant_a	4,766	5	11.7120	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A10268	Church-customes vindicated in tvvo sermons preached at Kingstone upon Thames: the one at the primary visitation of the Right Reverend Father in God Richard by the grace of God late L.B. of Winton, anno 1628. The other at the first metropoliticall visitation of the Most Reverend Father in God William by the grace of God Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury his grace, &c. July 9. 1635. By William Quelch B.D. and R. of East-horsly Surrey.	Quelch, William.	1636 (1636)	STC 20555; ESTC S115487	34,301	63

I must begin to deale with contention a troublesome and turbulent spirit I am like to finde him Contention what it is that loves wrangling as hee loves his life and can no more bee tyed to any good order then the waters of Nyle to the banks of their own channell He never appeares to us in a still voice as the Lord appeared unto Eliah but whensoever he comes he comes in a tempest storming and blustering against all good order both of Church and State Did you ever heare the pedigree of Contention There was a bastard begotten by anger nursed by pride and maintained by wilfull contradiction and when they came to give him a name they bestowed upon him the name of Contention As was the name of the childe so was his nature for a soone as ever hee began to goe hee went backward like the Sea-crab as soon as ever he began to read he read backward like the Hebrewes as soone as ever hee began to row hee rowed backward evermore against tide stream Pitty such a crosse disorderly mate should finde harbour in any civill society Psal 122.3 much lesse in the Church of God which ought to be composed as a City at unity If contention must needs bee let it bee sent to Bedlem or Paris-garden where it may converse with none but dogs and Beares or men more wilde then those salvage creatures never let it enter into Gods inheritance lest the fiends of hell take more delight in the quarrels of Gods people then men are wont to fancy to themselves when they see the quarrells of dogs and beares It were to bee wished that these discords of schisme and dissention that make musicke onely for the devill may never be heard in the Church of God but I feare me as long as the Church consists of men and men consist of sundry passions we shall hardly be free from all contention The devill is growne such a cunning politician that when he cannot rob us of our truth hee will doe the best he can to rob us of our peace and when hee cannot plucke up the good wheat of wholesome doctrine that is sowne in our field by the good seeds-man he does all that he can to mingle the wheat with the tares and darnell of contention Aug. epist 48. Neque propter paleam relinquam aream domini neque propter pisces malos rumpimus retia And what though shall we therefore forsake the good field and renounce the wheat of wholsome doctrine because wee finde it mingled with some cockle Shall wee forsake the Church and shipwrack the faith and cast off the truth because we cannot have it cleane from all kinde of weeds Nay rather if we may have the word and Sacraments as so cheape a rate and pay nothing for it but a little contention let us never complaine of a deare bargaine Contention hath beene and will ever be the unwelcome companion of the Church militant Christ himselfe came not into the world to bring peace Contention hath ever beene in all Churches but to bring a sword and if any Church upon earth can shew me a perfect charter of exemption from all contention I should begin to thinke that wee had our heaven already upon earth and that the militant Church were turned triumphant Take a short survey of all the Churches whether Jewish or Christian Easterne or Westerne ancient or moderne and you shall not finde any one of them that ever could free themselves from this eating gangrene of contention I am sure the Jewish Church had no such priviledge for as long as she swarmed with sundry sects of Pharisees and Sadduces Essens and Herodians and Hemerobaptists In the Iewish Church Vid. Ioseph Antiquit lib. 13. Philo Iud. Euseb aliot In the Christian Chur and Samaritans and I know not what that differed both in course of life and point of beliefe how could shee bee free from all contentions But it may bee in the Christian Church there was no contention for all that No does Epiphanius reckon up no lesse then fourescore heresies raging in the Church of God like the Bulls of Basan and shall we beleeve there was no contention all that while But say they had some contentions in those times betwixt the Orthodox and the heretickes yet I hope among the Orthodox themselves there was perfect union But whatsoever you may think of those times as if they had rest from all contention yet if you knew the differences betwixt the best learned of those ages .i. Anicetus and Polycarpus Chrysostome and Epiphanius apud Euseb eccl hist lib. 5. cap. 24. Hieron part 1. tract 3. ep 36 37. c. Ep. Caeles pap ad quosdam Galliarum episcopos Ierome and Ruffinus Stephanus and Cyprian Victor and the Easterne Churches Prosper and the Doctors of France and many hundreds more that might be named you would soone beleeve that the Churches in their times could hardly bee free from all contention But what if contention crept into the Church in after ages yet I hope in the Apostles time and the Churches planted by their hands we shall not heare of the least murmuring or whispering of contention Surely if ever the Church were free from all contention it is most like to be in those dayes of innocence and yet if you look into 1. Cap. of this our Epist and the 11. ver yee shall heare S. Paul complaine of some contentions It is reported to me by those of the house of Cloe that there are contentions among you To heare of contentions among the members of the Church was a small matter but if you looke into the 22. Cap. of S. Luke ver 24. Among the Apostles thēselves you shall heare of contention among the Apostles themselves and if you looke into the 2. Gal. you shall heare of contention among the chiefe pillars of the Church S. Peter and Paul and that about no meane point of Christian politie that concerned the abrogation of Jewish Ceremonies Bellarm. 1. tom cont 4. lib 4. Staplet alii It makes mee wonder so much the more why the Church of Rome at this day should stand so much upon the unitie of the Church and beare us in hand that their unity and concord in religion is a certaine badge and character of the true Church They have found that pearle it seems in the field of their Church which could never bee found in former ages and though we sell all that we have like the good Merchant in the Gospell to get possession of that pearle they will make us beleeve we shall be gainers by the bargaine It is a good purchase indeed to buy truth at what rate soever but to buy truth attended with unitie were a purchase in my minde beyond the rules of Numeration But is this purchase to be had at Rome Yes surely for all the members of their Church are so colligated and bound together in a kinde of subjection