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
A77742	St. Paul's thanksgiving: set forth in a sermon preached before the right honorable House of Peers in the Abby-Church Westminster, on Thursday May 10. being the day of solemn thanksgivng to almighty God for his late blessings upon this kingdom. By James Buck, B.D. Vicar of Stradbrook in Suff. and domestick chaplian to the right honorable Theophilus Earl of Lincoln.	Buck, James.; England and Wales. Parliament.	1660 (1660)	Wing B5308; Thomason E1033_2; ESTC R208955	19,136	33

wastes it self and all the wood about it of which also our compatriot Edmund Bunnie avouches that himself had seen some experience In his Head Corner-stone l. 1. c. 11. sect 4. p. 235. The Bramble that domineer'd over these Kingdoms tempested with choler that the great ones that chose and advanced him did not confide in his shadow and Protectorship in a rage of heart-burning fosters discontents and contrives an inhibition against the meetings of the grand Officers of the Army without licence from him which kindled such a combustion among them that the Bramble was presently pulled out of the fence by his own allies and nearest affinity but the fire stayed not there but seised on the Cedars and chiefest of the Sword-men and made them so hot one against another that they were all soon down and the whole Malignant party quasht and laid in the dust and because they are in the dust I shall not trample on them But your Lordships are assembled to give God the glory of this overture and stupendious revolution and that for great cause considering that as God was blasphemed his Truth questioned his Religion disparaged inasmuch as men of most erroneous principles and most injurious practises triumphed and bare up by mis-apprehension of a continued series of Providences which were onely testimonies of Gods displeasure at our sins walking unworthy of a good government and our profession they were no hints of Gods approving their whimsies phansies and pretensions So now on the contrary by this miraculous dispensation our Lord is glorified with us at home and with others abroad declaimers are silenced and beholders compelled to wonder at the marvellous out-goings of God in the Land In Homer Laertes being sure that his son Ulysses after twenty years absence was indeed return'd and had quelled the abusers of his wife and family the old man exclaims 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Odyss ult High Jove father of heaven well then yet you gods are still about the wide world How then shall not Englishmen observing how our gracious Sovereign after many years expulsion and exile out of his Dominions is in the turn of Gods right hand when we were in desperate consusions without any forreign help or effusion of bloud suddenly admitted to his just and hereditary rights with the incredible satisfaction of the generality of his subjects lift up our voices and say Verily there is a reward for the righteous verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth Psal 57.12 And neighbour-Nations must needs say Psal 126.2 God hath done great things for them I the Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad and do now keep a Festival and shall for ever rejoyce Honourable and beloved no King upon the face of the earth hath such characters and demonstrations of heavenly favour to him as our Sovereign Lord King Charles which give more than humane assurances that God designs his most excellent Majesty a great blessing to these Nations and as glorious an ornament to Christendom as was Charlemaigne May we not then justly take in the two readings of this my Text gratia Deo and gratia Dei Lately we might have said Wretched men that we were who shall deliver us from this slayery baser than ever any gallant people suffered and now by Gods mercy we may say gratia Deo We thank God And again we may say Wretched men that we were who or what hath delivered us from the basest tyranny and must answer our selves gratia Dei the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Ye have heard how great and many thankes our temporals require now please to listen in a word that our spirituals require many more Psal 144.15 When David had held forth in most ample circumstances the felicity of a Kingdom in peace and plenty he closeth with this Epiphomema Happy are the people that are in such a case and immediately corrects himself Yea happy are the people whose God is the Lord So then our greatest happiness in a gracious King and mighty Kingdoms abounding in wealth and strength and policy and state and unanimity is but an embleme of the welfare and riches of a soul that can appropriate God to it self Micah 4.9 Now why art thou contracted in sorrow or is thy counsellor perisht and if thou hast the invincible King for thy defender why dost thou fear and if the eternal Spirit be thy Advocate and his Law thy Counsellor how canst thou miscarry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Septuagint divinely turn that Psal 129.1 When the Lord turned the captivity of Sion we were as them that are comforted for that greatest contents redemptions and bodily deliverances are but a shadow to the freedom of the soul from the dangers of sin and the solaces of the most prosperous are meer umbrages to the unutterable joyes in the holy Ghost and peace of Conscience which passeth all understanding and the fore-tasts of the holiest in this world of heavenly contentments are but quasi gaudia as they speak in the Civil Law or as they phrase it in the common Law misprisions of joy to the consolations in the world to come wherein they shall eternally sing praises and thanksgivings unto God Sect. 8 That thank-offerings to God through Christ are the highest sac ifice of the Church militant or Triumphant And thus we are brought to the last Stage That Thank-offerings to God through Christ are the highest sacrifice of the Church militant or triumphant whereas the praise of God is the soveraign end of all creatures being and continuance the praising of God which is the nearest relation and next acting to that end must of consequence be the most super-excelling work of heaven and earth the quintessence of all Divinity the flowre of all Theologicall duty and Divine service and clearly our best and highest office We shall improve the Use of this Doctrine for Information Admiration and Exhortation 1. For Information That it is the most noble state and height of the renewed soul not onely to be patient and contented but delighted and thankfull in all conditions When the regenerate recollecting how God causes all things to work together for his glory the good of the Universe the salvation of predestinates doe comply with him in absolute accommodation and in reverentiall respect of his gubernation accept from his divine hands prosperity adversity influences desertions good and evil with indifferent minds and with equall thanks Job 2.10 Shall we receive good at the hands of God De amico amato sect 7. and shall we not receive evill As Blaquere alledges for proof of his loving God Quoniam inter laetitias tribulationes quas mihi donas non facio differentiam That he put no difference between the joyes and tribulations which God confers Psal 25.10 All the wayes of God are mercy and truth There are no forth goings of his providence towards men that have not for their originall eternall mercy

third of that for the maintenance of a right Owner which was forcibly took from them to keep in an Intruder He that another day shall feel in himself a tentation of unreadiness to pay taxes to his Prince let him record this day wherein after many years slavery under the tyranny of servants our Sovereign Master being owned there was as universal and as real a thanksgiving as ever was known in England and he for one heartily cried out I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Sect. 6 That spiritual blessings are the main objects for which the regenerate thank God in Christ And so we are conducted to our fourth resting-place That spiritual blessings are the main objects for which regenerate thank God in Christ As our Apostle here thanks God for the delivery from sin and the Psalmist quickens all his powers to unite their faculties in praising God for remission of sin and for sanctification Psal 103.1 2 3. Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless his holy Name who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all thine infirmities This Truth is considerable for distinction for discretion for devotion For distinction this differenceth the Church and the world The love of the Father is not in the world 1 John 2.15 the Nations have some love of God as the prime good and being but it is without any consideration of Gods existing a Father to Christ and us in him therefore at the best it is but Philosophical love it is no Christian nor Theological charity Mat. 15.31 They glorified the God of Israel not the God of heaven and earth as he was discern'd in light of Nature to the world but the God of Israel as he was discovered by light of sacred Scripture to the Church In the Old Testament the Lord is familiarly styled the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob not of Europe Asia and Africa nor the God of the four Elements c. to intimate that the saving knowledge is not by manifestation from the creature but by revelation to the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles c. Ephes 5.20 true thanksgiving and accepted with God is in the name of Christ to God and the Father to God not barely considered as God but to God as eternally the Father of our Lord Jesus and in good time our Father through Christ Col. 3.7 as Christians apprehend him and assume all the benefits for which they praise him qualified in the relation of a Father and the mediation of a Redeemer Let me adde this to your meditations Psal 4.6 7. the world many times word and mouthe some thanks to God for Corn and Wine and Oyle but never is thankful about any oblations of praise to God for succours purely Evangelical victory in tentations assistance against sin which ravisht Paul into this doxology Carnal men may for self-love really beg favors and pray give and forgive they cannot for Gods love cause their hearts to say hallowed be thy name because thou leadest not into temptation but deliverest from evil which is the effect of the Apostles thanksgiving For discretion to be intirely thankful we must distinguish betwixt our tentations and our sins Paul was grievously buffeted by motions to sin so as to wax weary of his life but all the while he resisted it was his infelicity not his fault it was concupiscence that sinned not St. Paul Rom. 7.17 and therefore in abatement of the agony he bursts out in thanksgiving Vid. in ●●tis Sanctorum Ap. 29. Catherine of Senes a spiritual woman in her Age having been vext with all manner of blasphemous thoughts and horrid suggestions after some release and Christs gracious return inquires in a Soliloquie Where wast thou dear Lord when my poor heart was pierced with fiery darts and harased in woful wise and had for answer Fui in medio cordis tui I was in the centre of thy heart rendring those injections abominable withholding thy consent and enabling thee to stand out in resistance For devotion not to rest till we attain Christian inspiration and expirtion and be able with St. Paul to breath Gospel-ayrs Eph. 1.3 Blessed be God who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in which we are incomparably more happy than in any worldly enjoyments which then onely are matters of true content and thankfulness when they are embraced as tokens of Gods good will paternity and gracious reference in Christ Sect. 6 That our temporals require many thanks of Englishmen and our spirituals many more The occasion of this solemnity calls upon me to insist a while upon this subject that our temporals require many thanks our spirituals many more Our temporals require many thanks Psal 12.1 When the Lord turned again the captivity of Sion we were as them that dream It fares with us now as it did with the Jews discharged from their captivity in Babylon by the gallant Emperor Cyrus the turn was so unlikely that an helpless poor company of Bondmen should get out of the hands of the mightiest Lords in the world that when the Proclamation of Cyrus set them all free and encouraged his loyal subjects to relieve them for their passage and commanded his Officers to allow the expences for rebuilding the Temple out of his Imperial Exchequer it was so much beyond the hope of the distressed Jews that it lookt more like the dream of one asleep than the vision of one awake Likewise we in these our excessive joys can scarce believe our senses and hardly think our selves well awake that our vouchsafements are in reality and not the aiery imagination of dreamers Far be it from me to rip up and publish in a Pulpit the foul proceedings which the goodness of our most gracious King the wisdom of the Parliament the charity of the Nation would have buried in forgetfulness by an Act of oblivion give me leave onely to propose the Parable of Jotham Jud. 9.9 The Trees would needs be making themselves a King and tender the Kingship to the Olive-tree the Fig-tree and the Vine severally which are trees of the best quality and fruit but they all joyntly refuse to take supreme dominion then they offer it to the Bramble no tree but a sorry shrub and the Bramble at the first moving assumes domination that which the most noble Families trembled to hear of a younger sprig of a stock in the Gentry boldly ventures upon and mounts into the throne and seat of highest Majesty and State what is the issue verse 15. fire proceeds out of the Bramble and devours the Cedars Mark the profundity of divine Scripture in Simile's Lyranus out of Isidore informes us the Bramble is a petty bush Rhamnus est dumus parvus qui vento agitatus ex se enittitignem which tost up and down to and fro by the wind emits and springs fire out of it self in the hotter regions and countries the Bramble at times by the agitation of the wind conceives fire and

break into joyful Hymnes and gratulations Felinus in Psal 17. as if some Angel had in the midst of Prayer all on the sudden brought him better news from heaven 2. That our Apostle practised such a duty as Lansperg bravely frequented Toties te edoro Laudo toties pro illis laudes tibi suavissimas cano praecipuè eas quas spiritus ille reprobus qui mihi talia nunc suggerit modò caneret si in bono perstitisset ut vel hoc modo in tui laude illius expleam vices In Pharetra Divini amoris p. 23. So oft as wicked suggestions are forced upon me unwilling so oft I adore and extol thee so oft because of them I sing thy most sweet praises to thee and chiefly those which that reprobate spirit who now suggests such things to me would have sung if he had persisted in good that even by this means I may supply his course in praising thee Did Christians constantly deal thus with the Devil they would make him weary of his part in tempting 3. Blessed Paul hath no sooner utter'd his distressed mind in petition Who shall deliver me but he is instantly inlarged with matter of thanksgiving and therefore praises God as feeling some ease In agonies with concupiscence the Lord can in a moment transport the soul from the bottom of anguish to the top of delight Esa 65.24 Psal 10.17 The Lord hears the desire of the poor D●siderium pauneris exaudit Dominus Scilicet dum adhuc aliquid est in desiderio to wit while a thing is yet in the desire God prevents the words of his Orators attends their desires minds their prayer in the fieri whiles it is forging in the seed of desire he prepares relief And a blessing hath so much the more of contentation by how much the less it was in expectation Hence the signal mercy of restoring the right Heir to the three Crowns deserves the greater honour by how much the more it is equal to our wishes and far superior to our late hope and expectances Who had the heart a few moneths since to promise himself to see such a day as this That the Honourable Houses of Peers and Commons should quietly meet and consult the Interests of Church and State without the least controll and recognize and proclaim the rightfull King with wonderfull triumph and acclamations of all the people and solemnize this day of Thanksgiving for the same with the greatest and most unanimous satisfaction that ever was perceiv'd in England This is the day that the Lord hath made we will rejoyce and be glad in it This is the Lords doing and it is marvellous in our eyes and fils every true Englishmans mouth with Saint Pauls words I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Which contain these five Propositions That all thanks and praises are due to God That due praising and thanks to God cannot be performed and given without Christ That it is peculiar to the Regenerate whom S. Paul represents to pay through Christ their debt of thanks and praises unto God That victory over temptations and spirituall blessings are the main objects for which the Regenerate thank God in Christ That such Thank-offerings are the highest sacrifice of the Church Militant or Triumphant These I shall handle briefly in their order Sect. 2 That all thanks and praises are due to God 1. That all thanks and praises are due to God And our Doctors thanking of God is nothing else but his referring unto God all the good that he had or could conceive or wish as a small moyety of his immense perfections It is true that the Philosopher writes In the first of his Ethicks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Praise is too low an expression for Gods acts Honour and some more lofty style must be used in speaking of his Divine Majesty and excellencies Neh. 9.5 His glorious name is exalted above all praise Higher epithets belong to him then those of Praise and all our terms of glory respect worship But God is pleased that poor mortals speak of him the best that they can That is an observable locution Psal 71.23 My lips shall greatly rejoyce when I sing unto thee Which to understand be pleased to take notice That Joh. 7.38 the heart is called the belly of the soul as the receptacle of grace and heavenly refreshments and as it is enabled to communicate to other parts and send forth streams of love and duty Now as in Nature which is well discovered by Bartholinus an eminent Anatomist Ventriculus habet membranam nervosam in quam vasa term nantur esophagi oris labiorum tunicae continuam ut nihil ventriculo ingratum recipiatur binc quando in ventriculo bilis communicatur linguae amaritudo flavedo e●cont●a ●tiom oris linguae vitia oesophago ventriculo Anato l. 1. c 9. the ventricle hath a membrane or coat full of nerves which is continued with the tunicle or skin of the mouth and lips whence they sympathize mutually and distempers in the mouth lips tongue affect the stomach and choler in the stomach causes bitterness and yellowness in the tongue So in Reason and Grace the matters that be in the belly of the soul affect the lips and tongue with vehement tinctures and when the belly is full of the sweetness of God it qualifies the lips and tongue with a divine gust and relish and the name of God and his Christ is melody in the ears Melos in aurc m● in ore hony in the mouth As Bonaventure a devout Scholastick relates of his Master that he was so enamour'd therewith that in rehearsing of the Psalms when Gods name occurred in them In vita Francisci c. 10. Prae suavitatis dulcedine labia sua lingere videbatur out of the flavor of sweetness he seemed to lick his lips and to be in a rapture when our Saviour was named It is impossible to have any worthy thoughts what an infinite amiable good the Almighty is but that it will alter the soul and body with affects of the sweetest savour The Jews have all along had a godly usage upon any occasion of naming God in their writings to insert an abbreviature of praise the holy one the blessed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mark the spirits of the principal Apostles St. Paul and St. Peter S. Chrys de incomprehen sibili serm 3. they cannot let the mention of God pass occasionally from them in their Epistles without a Parenthesis of thanksgiving and praise Rom. 1.25 Who is blessed for ever Amen 1 Pet. 4.11 alledging that God may be glorified through Christ he interposes To whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever Amen If any duration could be more than ever he would have God honoured for evermore as if he should say in all eternity we cannot fully praise God if there could be more than one sempiternity he would