Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	church_n	hell_n	zion_n	23	3	8.6711	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59072	God, the king, and the church (to wit) government both civil and sacred together instituted ... and throughout all, the Church of England ... vindicated : being the subject of eight sermons, preached ... / and now published by George Seignior ...	Seignior, George, d. 1678.	1670 (1670)	Wing S2417; ESTC R19835	158,466	284

Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and of the rest Such as might have evil will against and an evill eye upon such Dispensations in Solomons Porch No man durst to joyn himself to them That which wrought thus upon the Adversary that he durst not stretch out his hand to smite was either the Judgment of God upon Ananias and Sapphira or else the Wonders that were wrought amongst the people 1 As for the judgment upon Ananias and Sapphira for their Sacrilegious with-holding part of the price of their Land Paena istius modi non parum valabat terrendis impiis ne temere prorumperent in eorum coelum ubi Deus tam severum vindicam se ostenderet Calv. in loc This sort of sudden and unexpected punishment was caution enough to those who were froward and disobedient that they should not venture to disturb those Solemnities in which God had manifested himself so severe in taking vengeance If for such a small thing might they think as Sacriledge onely for purloyning a little money God would evert so great a Displeasure of how much sorer punishment shall they be thought worthy who commit a Sacriledge upon in offering to do violence unto the Persons of such who are exercised in the Solemn Administration of a strict and a most holy Religion 2 The Wonders and Signes which were wrought among the people these did work upon and steal away the hearts of all that saw them So that v. 26. the enemy durst not be too boistrous against them lest the People as one Man should rise up against them and stone them and at length from their own consultations they were forced to dismiss them in peace they begin to doubt amongst themselves whitherto this would grow They suspect their own jurisdiction lest it should be exercised without fear or wit and in the end ver 38. that they be found to be fighters against God v. 35 39. Ye men of Israel take heed to your selves it is you that are in the greatest danger what you intend to do as touching these men Refrain from them and let them alone for if this Work or this Counsell be of Men it will come to nought but if it be of God you cannot overthrough it and this Work and Counsel was not of men but of God and therefore the Enemy could by no means hinder it I might here observe to you the constant the special care and providence which God has for his Church how that the fury of man doth often turn to his Praise in the deliverance of his People he restraineth the remainders of wrath also he bringeth to naught the designes of the Heathen and maketh the devices of the Aliens to be of no Effect should they rage yea and that furiously yet they would imagine but a vain thing let them take counsel together with one accord yet he that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh them to scorn the Lord shall have them in derision Psal 2.6 I Know that Second Psalm is litterally spoken of our Saviours Person and yet it is also applyed by the Apostles to the propagation of his Gospel in the Chapter before the Text ver 27. This was at that time the Churches Prayer when they prayed with one heart and with one voice Of a Truth Lord against thy holy Child Jesus whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and People of Israel were gathered together And now Lord behold their threatnings and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy Word Surely the Sons of Thunder were amongst them whilst the Word of God went forth from them like Lightning the place was shaken where they were Assembled ver 35. With great power gave they witness of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus and the result of all was the wonderful effect in the Text that of those that were adversaries durst no one joyn himself unto them May I not apply the same Providence of Almighty God comfortably to our selves to this once afflicted and despised Church of ours if she be not yet despised and afflicted made a by-word and a reproach to her own Children no wounds like those which are given in the house of Friends However for our comfort Hell and Death have not yet prevailed Not Rome whose mouth was wide as Hell nor the more secret contrivances of Schisme which like the Grave never hath enough our God has been a God both of the Hills and of the Valleys and through the power of his Might over both we have been more than Conquerours Rome upon its seven Hills animated from an aspering conclave could not over-see us and the Consistory in a seeming self-denyal making it self low as the Valleys could not over-reach or Vnder-mine us neither the Infallible Chair nor the Stool of wickedness could awe us or controul us Nay though for a while we might seem to be forsaken yet God gave us beauty for our ashes he restored our Captivity and put upon us the Garment of joy instead of a Spirit of heaviness So that to the one Adversary which in our heaviness asked us Where is now your Church sing us one of the Songs of your Sion We can now return this answer That the Tears which we shed at the Rivers of Babylon have caused Jordan it self to over-flow its banks Persecuted we were but not utterly cast off our God has provided us still a Name in the earth and when the Succession of an Apostolical Ministry was almost cut off quite in the midst of us our extremity was Gods opportunity for mercy See we yet once more the fire of the Sanctuary hid in its own embers and almost extinct during the Captivity again brought forth restored to its wonted lustre the flame yet again bright upon the Altar so that our Miraculous Restauration is to them an abundant Demonstration that we were and still are continued a Church according to ancient and Primitive Constitutions truly Apostolical But as for that other Adversary the Viper in our own bosom who both contributed unto and then upbraided us with our afflictions who because of the troubles which they brought upon us thence made an argument to reproach our Holy Constitutions as if they were in themselves unlawful because of Gods Displeasure against those who did not live up closely and severely to them thus whilst they have been the Rod of Vengeance in the hand of God they have talked to the grief of such whom God has wounded And why will not these persons now be as exact interpreters of Gods Providence against themselves is not the Scene again shifted and are we not I am sure if we understood either Gods glory or our own happiness we should be where we were before and have we not this to say for our Church even according to their way of argumentation that God who restored it was not against it We are not at this day without a Priest or without an Ephod And yet still with

which are good and profitable and which tend to peace Which is the Fifth and last Instance of the great Benefit here in the Text unto the whole Community from the present Dispensation and that once again yet another reflection upon the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the more or the rather was this great addition made to the Church all this because of what they saw and what they heard which denotes even in the Multitudes in the Women as well as in the Men an act of their free choice upon a most sober and mature deliberation Here was no violence at all offered upon their faculties though it was the terrour of the Lord in a most dreadful judgment yet it kindly perswades them the Signes and Wonders were both Miraculous and Convincing the solemn and holy Convention because Beautiful therefore of it self desireable the Miracles of Providence though they were surpassing yet they were clear and manifest so that at this time as at all others God drew the People unto himself with the cords of a Man that so whilst he drew they might of themselves run after him they were a willing People though it was a day of power they saw what was done they heard what was spoken and throughout they were convinced of all so that it was here an act both of their judgement and their reason in that they did deliver themselves up unto the obedience of Faith Believers were the more or the rather added to the Lord Multitudes of men and women I need not neither have I time to prosecute it as I should here urge that God works with us and within us in order to salvation as we are men and reasonable creatures he proposeth everlasting happiness to us in his Word or by his Church as to our free voluntary choice and whilst he does kindly allure us he doth at the same time leave us in the hand of our own counsel See I have set before you Fire and Water Blessing and a Curse Life and Death chuse you whether you will says God by his Prophet Deu. 30.19 But I am confined both by the time and the Text that I cannot descant so closely as I might upon this Probleme which is indeed too much controverted At present I take it for granted that which I suppose every one experienceth upon consulting his own thoughts that we are all of us as men endued with reason free sreatures and voluntary Agents and that we would do good but evil is present with us because we are not in our judgments or to our senses sufficiently convinced as we might of what is best And therefore since the Design of all that hitherto is inferred from this Text is to promote Vnity and Vniformity amongst Brethren professing Godliness which is here the Holy solemnity The Apostles with the Primitive Christians all with one accord in a holy Place and upon this their persons reverenced the Word of Life was magnified it did not return in vain but accomplished the work for which it was sent for the Benefit was great and exceeding prosperous for a parting now to this subject so much insisted on in one word fain I would perswade shall we suffer the word of exhortation Be entreated to frequent Solomons Porch the Author because of that August solemnity and Ministration that is in it we should with David be glad to go up unto the House chuse to be a Door-keeper in the Porch to wait at the Gates of Wisdom rather than assemble amidst the Congregations of the wicked Tell me says the Spouse to Christ Cant. 1.7 where thou feedest where thou makest thy flocks to rest at noon and this was her kind expostulation Why should I be as one that turneth aside from the flocks of thy Companions our Saviour there feedeth where he is himself fed upon the flocks are there together yea and at rest and that at noon Separation is a work of Darkness chuseth to it self the night To turn aside is to be as one Vae soli alone and woe to him that is alone this the greatest both sin and misery to forsake those flocks which in love and Vnity are companions Behold then may the Separatists of our Age see that I have set before them Fire and Water Blessing and a Curse Life and Death Chuse they whether they will Fire not a strange fire but that of the Sanctuary a pure and bright flame of Love upon Gods Altar Water alas the waters are troubled schism and sedition is a tempestuous sea casting forth mire and dirt Blessing even that which is out of Sion good luck and Prosperity out of the House of the Lord A Curse none more bitter to be cut off from the Congregation what will our Schismaticks thus invade the Priests Office will they excommunicate themselves and deliver themselves up to Satan shall God by his Prophet call unto them and say stand ye in the ways and see and ask for the old paths where is the old way the good way because the old way and amidst all our tumblings and tossings from one post to another we cannot find a better Shall God command peremptorily that we walk in these ways with a promise of rest unto our souls for out of such paths there is nothing but disorder and disquietude and shall we return that answer which the Jews did Jer. 6.16 But they said we will not walk therein Thus the Rebells against their settled and fixed administration of old Korah and his Accomplices Numb 14.2 Moses called them to the Congregation and they said We will not come up they turned their backs to the Tabernacle Satan therefore claimed them for his Synagogue and soon took possession of them Hell from beneath was moved to meet them at their coming The Earth opened her Mouth and they went down alive into the Pit and therefore yet once more may the Sons of Belial who cast off every yoke see this day set before them Life and Death and that in the utmost extremity in the eternity of both Life a Life of of Grace here in order to glory hereafter and still out of Sion goes forth this Blessing the Promise of Life for evermore Christ with whom are the words of eternal Life is not to be found as I must again and again inculcate in the Wilderness or in the secret Chamber but in Solomons Porch by the Chair of Moses not in the Stool of Wickedness or in the Seat of the Scornful he is head of all things to his Church in the Communion of which alone we expect salvation without there is nothing but sin sin that excludes from pardon the wages of which is Death Solomon hath in a Proverb told us the misery of those who turn aside from his Porch The Man that wandreth out of the way out of the beaten path of understanding shall fall into the Congregation of the Dead And now let our Schismaticks chuse for themselves I have in this though a private Person yet with

a publick spirit as publick as is their sedition in some sort delivered my own soul and they shall not perish without warning and that repeated with as much vehemency as are their Divisions God in mercy give a Blessing And so may they see yet again how I do set before them fire and water and will they chuse the water alas the waters of Separation are waters of bitterness Massah and Meribah be their name and Marah is their tast they are themselves as it were baptized strife and contention and so noisome loathsome and every way unsavory is their rellish But the Fire is from the Lord in the Sanctuary it is a Refiners fire and a coal from the Altar that so all iniquity may be done away Blessing and a Curse and will they chuse the curse it is Anathema Maranatha A curse untill Christ come against all those who love not the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Communion of his Saints But this the Blessing when the Spirit shall say come and the Bride shall say come and the Church shall say come and every one that has set heart to seek the Lord the Lord God of his Fathers shall also come that so God may translate his Church which is here terribly Militant as an Army with banners in good order and in due aray unto Trophies and Triumphs in that glory which shall be everlasting And so look they once more and behold and chuse they whether they will Life and Death and will they chuse Death Death which shall never have an end the reward of those who do wilfully reject the means and the passage unto Life Oh! that at length they would believe schism and separation to be a damning Sin that they would not place the worship of God in the ways and amidst the sons of perdition I 'le leave a Text or two for them to urge upon themselves and can there be plainer words than these Rom. 13.2 They that resist that power which is the Ordinance of God or which is all one that Power which commands Obedience unto Gods Ordinance shall receive unto themselves Damnation 2 Pet. 3.1 3. False Prophets and false Teachers bring upon themselves swift Destruction whose judgment of a long time lingreth not and their Damnation slumbereth not Epist of St. Jude v. 13. These are wandring stars not keeping within their proper and appointed Orbs in order to a regular and an equal revolution Vnto whom is reserved the Blackness of Darkness for ever But after all this Life and Peace to those that seek and keep peace in the fear and love of God and of those that are set over them To conclude Let us be perswaded as we are men and Christians to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace considering that God is terrible in his judgments against the Rebellious and Sacrilegious he is wonderful in his providence for the defence of those that wait and call upon him his wrath is dreadful unto Death his loving kindness is surpassing and in his favour is Life The Assembling together of his Saints is Venerable and Awful God is honoured in the midst whilst due Reverence is paid to those that are round about him considering all these things what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness we should be no longer faithless but believing may we the more and the rather be added to the Church as Believers in the Lord and may this number increase to Multitudes of every age and of every Sex both Men and Women our Churches Prayer shall with little alteration be the close of all We Pray thee O Lord Help thy Servants whom thou hast red●emed with thy most Precious Blood Make them to be numbred with thy Saints here in a holy Communion and hereafter in glory everlasting To which God of his infinite Mercy bring us all to whom be ascribed Honour Praise and Adoration to Father Son and Holy Ghost One God and three Persons and that of all Ages in the Church by Christ Jesus world without end Amen Lord Mercifully receive the Prayers of thy Church that all troubles and errors being quenched it may serve thee in quietness and grant us peace in our days Amen A BAD AND A Good Zeal DESCRIBED and LIMITED Gal. 4.17 18. 17. They zealously affect you but not well yea they would exclude you that you might affect them or us 18. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing and not only when I am present with you IT was even in our Saviours time the Hypocritical Devotion of the Pharisees and is at this day the Pharisaical Hypocrisie both of the Conclave and the Consistory to compass Sea and Land to make one Proselyte and when he is gained they make him two-fold more the child of Hell then themselves so that the last estate of the poor man is worse than his beginning But as for us Woe unto us unless that our Religion do exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees their industry was both commendable and imitable if we could abstract their Labour of Love as they call it from the malice of their intention we may hear them both while they sit in the Chair of Moses but not when their design is to tumble Moses out of his Chair not when they rebell against Moses the Servant of the Lord and vex Aaron the Saint of God their long Prayers were not amiss no though they were in the Markets and the corners of every street when they made their great solemn and pompous Processions that they might be seen of men and so give an example of Devotion unto the World but we must beware of them when we find that upon this pretence they devour Widdows Houses when they commit a rapine upon the portion of the Widdow and of the Fatherless their long Robes were no such hainous crime nor their Phylacteries upon their Garments in which are supposed to have been written in Capital Letters the Ten Commandements of God to put the People in mind of their Duty but this was their fault when they proposed the Law as a Precept of obedience unto others and most shamefully and wickedly broke it in every Precept themselves in a word it is an Evangelical Precept the command of Christ himself with which Holy Church begins and exhorts to her offertory That we let our Light shine before men even the Light of our Profession in the publick attestations of our Religion we may be both burning and shining Lights but we must be careful that there be the oyl of good works to feed the flame lest men rejoyce in our Light only for a season and because they cannot behold a pious and a holy conversation directed by the fear of God therefore they do not glorifie our Father which is in Heaven we are to be watchful then that we try the hot Spirits of zeal that are abroad inthe world whether they be