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	militant_a	triumphant_a	4,249	5	10.5933	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54945	A discourse of prayer wherein this great duty is stated, so as to oppose some principles and practices of Papists and fanaticks; as they are contrary to the publick forms of the Church of England, established by her ecclesiastical canons, and confirmed by acts of Parliament. By Thomas Pittis, D.D. one of His Majesties chaplains in ordinary. Wherefore, that way and profession in religion, which gives the best directions for it, (viz. prayer) with the most effectual motives to it, and most aboundeth in its observance, hath therein the advantage of all others. Dr. Owen in his preface to his late discourse of the work of the Holy SPirit in prayer, &c.	Pittis, Thomas, 1636-1687.	1683 (1683)	Wing P2314; ESTC R220541	149,431	404

Secrets of Princes and administer occasion to disturb the Order and Government of the World Which they indeed ought to introduce who undertake to be so particular and nice in confessing the sins of other men or praying for the things individuals stand in need of But to proceed By our absolutions the true penitent is only incouraged and that authority which our Saviour left with his last Commission to the Ministers of his Gospel is kept up and maintained in pursuance of what Christ said to his Apostles after his Resurrection when the state of his humiliation ceased and he was ready to ascend with triumph to his Father Joh. 20.23 Whose sins ye remit they are remitted and whose sins ye retain they are retained Furthermore we are directed by the Order of our Church to say our prayers day by day that so we may in the sence of the Apostle pray without ceasing and continue instant in prayer and by vertue of our adoption cry Abba Father And this because the prescription of our blessed Lord himself gives us both a pattern and direction for when he teaches us to pray for bread which is the staff and support of our lives day by day As to the object of our prayers we make our Supplications to God alone through the Merits and mediation of Jesus Christ and admit no creature to partake in the honour due to either The matter of our publick prayers is such as includes our general wants we always beg the pardon of sin to be delivered from temptations and evils we petition also for Grace to assist us it being the influence of the Spirit of God And in particular we ask those Theological virtues of Faith Hope and Charity without which we cannot be saved We pray more especially as the Ancients did even when they were persecuted for Kings and all that are in authority that under them we may lead godly and quiet lives Nay we petition for men of all sorts and in all circumstances that none may be shut out from the benefit of our prayers and we beg all things that may be needful for our bodies and our souls We pray for happy seasons of the year for prevention of and deliverance from all Plagues that may hurt the body and all evils that may assault the soul We pray against all the bad accidents and misfortunes of our lives and that we may escape violence and sudden death Because notwithstanding the notions some have of Predestination death may be too surprizing to the best and if not prevented by the Providence of God may advance towards and seize us too before we are prepared to receive it and therefore we further petition Heaven that we may be fitted for our last encounter and that we may submit with Christian comfort and courage to and have a safe deliverance at the day of Judgment We pray not indeed for the Souls of men after their departure out of this lower world Because we believe according to the Scriptures that as the tree falls so it lies and as death finds us so will Judgment too Nor do we know and how can we unless it were revealed of any middle place where the souls of men may suffer to their improvement and be purged by any material fire If we could suppose it to operate upon an immaterial being Yet we pray as far for men departed this life as the Primitive Christians ever did and the form of our blessed Lord teaches us in that Petition Thy Kingdom come viz. That in order to the coming of the Kingdom of Glory God would bring the just that are departed this life to an happy and a blessed Resurrection that so Christs Church which is Militant on Earth may finally become Triumphant in the Heavens And we always give thanks for the examples and triumphs of those who have died in the true faith of Christ that we may rejoice with them whose joy is now full according to their capacity and shall at the great day be much more enlarged Our Liturgy is so excellently framed that as there is no sort of men but what we have some petitions for So there is no condition we can be cast into but the whole community who join in our Service share with us in sympathy and affection because they must remember us in our common Church prayers And of this the Litany is so full and expressive that particular Collects seem to be redundant when this is used yet we have even these too very suitable to the state of any that would desire that their grievances may be expressed to Almighty God by him who offers up the prayers of the Congregation As far as modesty and cleanness of language is able to present them though not in those terms in which they were formerly pitch'd up with a fork to load a Pulpit and the Ministers hearty wishes are assisted by the devout affections and consent of the people In a word our Church directs and her true obedient Sons practise what the Apostle advises the Philippians to do Chap. 4. ver 6. In every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God And as they whom the Apostles first converted to the Christian faith we continue stedfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayer Our Creeds in which we make the publick profession of our faith contain all Articles but yet no more than the purest Christian Churches of the world have in all Ages of their Religion declared They are neither stuffed with the additions of the Council of Trent nor have we abated by the omissions of ancient Hereticks or any that bear a newer date nor do we receive any point of faith but what is plainly evident in the Scriptures And for these we own neither spurious nor generally doubted Books Our fellowship or society is upheld as all others must be by those whose business it is to govern and those whose duty it is to obey And in the quality of our Rulers we have the advantage of some other Churches that are yet Protestant in that we are governed by Bishops for whose order in the Christian Church notwithstanding any personal failures to which all that is called man is subject or the malicious imputations of any wicked and unreasonable men we have the same evidence if this word too is not in disgrace and consent among the Antients for fifteen hundred years as we have for the Baptism of Infants for the abolishing of the day of the Jewish Sabbath and instead of it for the establishment of the observation of the Lords Day And as far as I can yet learn all the three seem to stand upon the same foundation and if they fall they must be ruined together Our Sacraments are no more than what our blessed Saviour instituted and commanded also to be used in his Church that we might have some visible signs which by vertue of his blessing might