Selected quad for the lemma: church_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
church_n	heathen_a	let_v	publican_n	2,742	5	10.9981	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01041	A defence of the lavvful calling of the ministers of reformed churches, against the cavillations of Romanists Whereto is subioined, an epistle to a recusant, for clearing and maintaining some points of the former treatise of defence, challenged by a Roman Elymas Bar-Iesus-it. With a short discovery of the adversarie his dottage in his impertinent and rediculously deceitfull demands. By Patrik Forbes, of Coirse.	Forbes, Patrick, 1564-1635.	1614 (1614)	STC 11146; ESTC S114324	93,515	180

of arising impiety antichrist also arose to greater greater impatiency of any cure and to a tyrannicall intreating of opposers At first some freedom was of admonitions therafter they were repressed by deprivations degradations excommunications At last hee becommeth all and whollie of the Dragon his coulour and barbarouslie sheddeth the blood of Saints All which course of his waxing impietie and condition of Saints vnder and against him are so clearelie set foorth by the holy Ghost as I even loath to spend so many wordes in so plaine a matter And verelie if compassion of the weake whom they stupifie with these bugbaires did not moove me I would not once ●ake and were to such blind leaders of the blind and men so perverslie contentious against not onely invincible reasons but even clearlie foretold and fallen out cases The two witnesses a sufficient though a small number had a long tyme of prophecying and albeit in heavines for the prevailing evill and succes of the mysterie of iniquitie yet without open contestation But corruption growing to such height the beast not onely sitting in the holy city court of the temple but also treadding downe all true worship therein as of necessitie the right rod of examination behooved to be applied to discerne the temple the true Church and to trye if City and court being so far polluted could possibly come in the account of God his house or were to bee cast out Then the applying of the rod made Antichrist to perceave such to bee within him as he thought not of whom when thereupon he had so cruellie murthered even with applause of the blind worlde as they seemed not onely to be no more but also that their memorie was reproachfull and odious yet hee did find them revived in greater strength and visiblie at last to his griefe terrour to obtaine the tytle account of the true Church Wherat his kingdome falleth And this course of the Lord his working as it sheweth his great patience to the justifying of his iudgements against so obstinatlie impenitent an apostasie so it answereth abūdantlie the foolishe demands of our adversaries whereby in al the force of eloquence which a badde cause can affoord them they aske why in any case wee would not rather have reformed the Church then overthrow her and cured her rather then killed her forsaken her fellowship For first they are stil ridiculous in assuming the question by vsurping to thēselves the tytle of the Church of which they are not in which they are no otherwayes then a soare proper evill of that body VVe have not forsaken the Church but have brought the Church out of Babel wherein shee was long captive We have not fled from the Church or left the ensigne but cleaving stil to the ensigne true Church we have iustly gone asyde from the traitour in the church pretending the Lambe his hornes but speaking with the mouth of the Dragon We have not rent the vnitie of the Church but by the example of the Apostle we have separated the Disciples from refractarie enemies Wee were so farre from wounding the Church as faine would wee have cured Babel in the Church but shee neither could nor would be cured So we behooved to leave her as a burnt mountaine wherein could not be found any more a stone for a corner or for a foundation Her grapes were become as the grapes of Ad●a● and her vine as the vine of Tzeboim that without so much as once looking behind vs wee behooved to goe vp to the mountaine for our lives and forsake Sodom And least we should be partakers in her iudgements we have great reason it being said to vs Come vp hither to escape and be like the he goates of the flock comming out from among that contagious incurable companie and touching no vncleane thing Did we goe out of Babel till there was no balme for her soare Did she not so farre refuse all medicine as we lay cruellie slaine and barbarouslie vnburied in the streetes before we left her And yet one of their mylde men sorie as seemeth they had no more of our blood is not ashamed to aske why we did not rather chuse to suffer for the truth if so be we hold it then to have rent the vnitie of the Church Thus still the Whoore impudentlie braggeth of the Brydes name and albeit her filthines be discovered yet shameleslie having eaten Shee wipeth her mouth and sayeth shee hath committed no iniquitie 20. Now I hope I have cleared that howsoever the promise of God can not faile but that truth ever abydeth in the Church yea and by the ministrie of true pastours is and hath alwayes bene maintained therein yet neither have our adversaries anie thing whereof to boast heerein as who neither are the true Church nor true Pastours of it neither albeit both Church and Pastours communiter omnes all in common have fallen away from this truth that it derogateth ought to the veritie of God his promises whom as it pleaseth sometime for magnifying and manifestation of his truth and power in man his falsehood and weakenes to preserve his truth in a smal sparkle in and by a few secret sealed ones so when hee will have it to breake foorth in a great fyre for chassing away and dispelling all overclouding errour hee both may and hath at all such occasions raise vp men extraordinarily in the way of righteousnes and in evidence of his spirit and power to the iust conviction and confusion of them who having the ordinarie place of husband men in the Vineyard yet were become murtherers and having the ordinarie place of builders of the house yet were destroyers Neither tendeth this to open a doore for anie to despise the Church of God Which whosoeever heareth not let him be a Heathen and a Publicane Neither giveth it libertie to cōtemne the ordinarie means of God his dispensation by Pastours seeing none ordinarilie can beleeve but by hearing or heare but by preaching but as I have said before it is to waken Pastours to looke to their ministerie and how they keepe the covenant of Levie and not securilie to sleepe and whyle they looke but to their own wayes yet proudlie to make God the varlet of their affections And on the other part it is to stirre all Christians to a carefull studie to discerne betwixt the true church and the Synagogue of Sathan calling themselves Iewes and yet are not and betwixt true Pastours and false propheres cōming in sheepes clothing but within are ravening wolves for it becommeth men not to be rechles in so important a matter and if it had not bene both a high and requisite point of wisedome the Lord and his Apostles had not given so many sad and serious warnings to that effect 21. Here now as at the pulling from them of their Palladium to the evident peril of their Pergamus

cōcludeth not Neither is shee for this rejected or not esteemed the true and beloved church of God for that hee hath somewhat against her but lovingly therupon exhorted to amēdement And albeit God in his word hath fully revealed what for her accomplishment in grace is requisit yet in this mortal course where we know but in part and prophecie but in part she neither alike at all times is capable neither of all things perfectly at any time And yet the Lord according to his promise leadeth her in all truth for that by degrees he bringeth her on to perfection and notwithstanding of her owne weaknes of all the gates of hell assailing her yet errour lies never so provaile but that she keepeth the name liveth the life of God And in the end victorious over all vntruth she is perfyted in all veritie The Lord is said to washe his church that she may be a holy and cleane spouse to him not having spot or wrinckle and hee performeth accordinglie but so as hee is still purging and cleansing her til fully at lēgth beautified she be receaved in the mariage chamber Neither is she herefore not to bee counted holy because she not only is exhorted to the study of sanctification but also maketh a daylie progres therein He hath promised to subdue Satan vnder our feet Neither question we therefore of his truth herein because we find the enemy not onely standing armed against vs but also often woūding vs for we know that he who hath promised will performe and the work which he hath begun he wil accomplish in his saints Would we accuse a phisicion who had assured vs of p●rfyt convalescing therefore to be skilles and false because albeit finding our selves in the way of health yet before attaining the full point wee had sustained many fittes apparant deadly traunces That which the Psalmist sayth of the outwarde afflictions of the Church may be truely affirmed of all whereby in any sort Sathan assaileth her They have often afflicted me from my youth but they haue not prevailed against me And that which the Apostle vpon his owne experience speaketh of our progres in the strength of the inner man is most true in all the graces of God bestowed on his Church that his strength is perfyted in ●●●●nes and that therefore in patience we have to esteeme his measure of grace in the tyme sufficient for vs. Being assured that albeit we are not yet perfyt yet neither in fighting wee beat the aire nor yet run in vaine but are in the way towards ful perfe●tiō forgetting what is behinde endeavouring to what is before following hard towards the mark for the pryse of the high calling certain so to end our race as therewith to obtaine the crown And if the condition of the Church can be no otherwayes rightlie esteemed but according to that measure which in any of hir membres or in al jointly during her course here in weakenes is fulfilled which in the best degree of any ordininary state is ever mixed with some infirmity mist of ignorance what madnes is this to dream of a perfyt and ful point while we ar yet but in the midst of our journey 12. Now again when in a right sense such as I have shewed it is granted that the Church can not erre what I pray you is our aduersaries avantage herein except that still impudently they take that which is in question For even herby we argue thē not to be the church because they have erred and that both foullie and fundamentally And thus again they fall in a second and their owne ordinarie aequivocation concluding from them selves the boile apostume and excrement of the Church in it and not of it to the true Church and promises proper to her whereof they vainly and falslie boast ridiculouslie pleading truth to be with them because they forsooth are the Church where their right defence were by evincing the truth to be with them which is the life of the Church so to vindicateiustlie to them selves that title 13. For strengthening of them selves in this vsurpation they fal to a third aequivocation The church say they is alwayes visible and in so farre as for some ages no other church can be shewed which was not of their communion it evinceth them to be that true Church which can not nor hath not etred And here they display all the force of their eloquence the Church being the sheepfold of the sheepe the house of God the piller and stable seat of truth would God invite vs to a church which cannot bee seene would he so delude his own childrē as to bid them heare a Church which doeth not speake That which I have already said of the arysing groneth and successe of Antichrist and of the condition of the true Church vnder him and within his compas answereth sufficiently to this aequivocation whereby deceitfully they reason from the visible Church to the truth and true Church alwayes in the visible Church but not alwayes visible in it except in a sort for that the visible church and commō ensigne ever telleth where they are When we affirme the church to be invisible it is not that wee deny her to bee and to haue alwayes bene visible in the common ensigne of publike Profession But to infer herevpon that truth and true professours alwaies in her onely of her are at al times visible obtaine and beare sway it is a secret fallacy Sathan first in open and advoued rage oppugned the common ensigne till dispairing of succes therein he turned course and shape in his vicar of the bottomles pit pretending the Lambe his hornes he tooke vpon him to beare it and deceaved mightily thereby And yet neither thus did the Lord ever leave his owne sheepe incertain or wild whether to goe For the common ensigne albeit caried principallie by a traitour yet ever told them where the true church dwelt even where Sathan his throne was so as comming to the ensigne tanquam ad op●rtunum inquirendi exordiū as to a cōvenient entrie to inquire by albeit they did finde both the holy Citie and Court of the Temple trodden vnder foot of the Heathen yet stepping inward there never wanted two olives and two candlestickes in the Temple And thus still also the true church did speak but so as amidst Antichrist his vsurpation while hee seemed without controlment to brooke all and that vnder pretence of the Lambe his hornes nothing was heard in the holy Citie and Court of the Temple but the Dragon his mouth albeit the two witnesses still prophecied and a 144000. sealed and secret ones cleaving constantlie to the Lambe on mount Sion while all the earth followed the beast and worshipping before the throne beastes and elders had a powerfull plentifull dispensatiō of grace like the roare of many waters the noise of strong thundrings and so