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
A85780	Ortholatreia: or, A brief discourse concerning bodily worship: proving it to be Gods due; to be given unto him with acceptation on his part, and not to be denyed him without sin, on ours. A thing worthy to be taken into consideration in these dayes, wherein prophaness and irreverence toward the sacred Majesty of God hath so much corrupted our religious assemblies, that men are regardless of their being before God, or of Gods being amongst them in his own house. / By S.G. late preacher of the Word of God in the Cathedrall Church of Peterburgh.	Gunton, Simon, 1609-1676.	1650 (1650)	Wing G2247; Thomason E592_8; ESTC R206877	34,540	64

which is verily the most general and universal Custom that is in the world there being scarce any Nation where Superiours receive not this homage and civility from their Inferiours and upon this ground account their god whatever it be that they account their god worthy of such Bodily reverence in a Religious way But we Christians in the West are now so far declined from all due reverence and respect towards Gods Divine Majestie that our bodies must not acknowledge him by kneelings and bowings gestures of reverence which in the Civil way we plentifully exhibit unto men our superiours when we meet with them or make our addresses to them Now if we did but rightly consider Gods transcendency above men and our own obligations to his Divine Majestie and Goodness above whatever we do or can owe to all the men in the world we should surely see that Corporal adoration is more due to God in a Religious way then unto Men in a Civil Though perhaps for all this if the primaevity or fundamental constitution of Corporal adoration Civil and Religious be considered it may seem a disputable Question Which of the two is the Mother and which the Daughter Whether the Civil adoration be derived from the Religious That because God himself is to have Religious adoration therefore Men our Superiours are to have a Civil as having some analogie and resemblance with God Psal. 86. 2. or Whether the Religious adoration be derived from the Civil That because we worship Men with our Bodies therefore we ought also to worship God Which way soever it be determined the Civil worship to Men will infer and strongly establish Religious Bodily worship towards God which is the scope of the Argument A Fifth Argument may be drawn from the silence of the holy Scriptures If the Scriptures be not against it they are for it He that is not against us is on our part Where does the Scripture forbid that Bodily worship should be given unto God or Where is it said that God condemned any for doing it or that Himself refused to be worshipped with the body Many devout and humble suppliants have bowed kneeled and prostrated themselves unto God and Where is it written that God rejected them as if he would not have been worshipped after that manner This must be plainly shewn else it cannot be made good that Bodily worship unto God is unlawful But sinco the Word of God is altogether for it and hath not one syllable against it neither in the Old Testament nor in the New it must needs be not onely lawful but convenient and necessary Where are then the odious aspersions that are cast upon it in calling it Idolatry Superstition and I know not by what other scandalous names Would the Word of God the lantern light and oracle of Truth be silent or connive at a sin worthy of so hainous appellations and neither countenance the opposers nor condemn the practisers of it Would that Light want a ray to enlighten us in the knowledge of this which by some is accounted so great an offence Who will say that the Scripture is imperfect and deficient in a thing of such consequence But rather on the contrary Have we not many both Examples and Precepts in the Old Testament and in the New for giving of Bodily worship unto God Are not the words of this present Scripture first given by Moses and now ratisied by our Saviour strong enough to enjoyn Bodily worship that they may satisfie any but the wilfully obstinate Sure we are that these words put the devil to silence for when our Saviour urged them the devil was forced to yeeld having nothing to reply against them And let not the opposers of Gods Bodily worship shew themselves more stubborn then the devil was lest even he accuse them before God for the neglect of that duty with the truth whereof himself was so clearly convinced by Scripture-evidence But I will put the case Suppose one who is an opposer of Gods Bodily worship and withal an hater of Idols should be tempted as our Saviour was to fall down and worship the devil or an Idol which the * Scriptures call a devil Our Saviour having taught him to be furnished with Scripture whereby to resist temptations Would he not think this place which our Saviour made use of a fit answer for himself and would he not alleadge it to put the tempter to silence I trow he would alleadge either this or some other equivalent place And Would he not then be driven upon necessity against former mislikings to acknowledge Corporal adoration to be Gods due and so even condemn himself if he does not yeeld it unto him Let him consider this A Sixth Argument may be drawn from the practice of Corporal adoration in heaven Rev. 5.14 And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever Earth ought to conform it self to Heaven the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant in setting forth the honour and worship of God Now if it were unlawful or so great an offence as it is here made to worship God with the body S. John with his illuminated eagles eyes would scarce have seen such a thing in heaven It it shall be objected that there were no such bodies in heaven when S. John saw this he onely saw it represented in a Vision This is nothing for the vision of the thing in heaven is sufficient to approve the lawfulness and authorize the practice of it here on earth And let any gainsayer ask himself When he comes into heaven bodily Does he think he shall not with those four and twenty elders fall down before God bodily worship him If so Shall it be Honour then and Dishonour now Shall it be Glory there and Shame here Shall it be an high Happiness in Gods Heavenly house and Sin in his Earthly Me thinks Reason it self should perswade us that Corporal reverence and worship should be given unto God here as a necessary preparation for the doing of it hereafter A Seventh Argument may be drawn from the Majestie of God If nothing else will prevail one would think this should Is not he the Almighty God infinite in Power Greatness Majestie Holiness and Glory Does not he dwell in that light which no man can approach unto the least ray of which light is ten thousand times brighter then the Sun Are all the Kings in the world half so glorious as he or their Thrones to be compared to his Footstool Does not he sit upon a Throne of incomprehensible glory attended upon with thousands of glorious and mighty Angels that stand before him admiring worshipping blessing praising and crying continually Holy holy holy Lord God of hosts And although he hath his dwelling so high yet Does he not humble himself to behold the things that are in heaven and earth Does he not vouchsafe to admit these poor