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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
earth_n	apostle_n	heaven_n	loose_v	2,492	5	10.3143	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30303	Expository notes with practical observations on the Four Holy Evangelists, viz., St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, St. John wherein the sacred text is at large recited ... and the instructive example of the holy Jesus to our imitation recommended ; designed for the instruction of private families ... / by William Burkitt.	Burkitt, William, 1650-1703.	1700 (1700)	Wing B5736; ESTC R29600	900,471	338

firmly to settle and establish his Disciples in the Belief of his being the promised Messias And therefore 2. He puts the Question to them Whom do you my Disciples say that I am You that have heard the Holiness of my Doctrine and seen the Divinity of my Miracles What say you to me And what Confession do you make of me Christ expects greater Measures of Grace and Knowledge and higher Degrees of Affiance and Faith from those that have enjoyed the greatest Means of Grace and Knowledge The Disciples were Eye and Ear-Witnesses of his Doctrine and Miracles and accordingly he expects from them a full Confession of his Divinity Obs 2. The Answer return'd 1. By the Apostles in general And they said Some say that thou art John the Baptist some Elias some Jeremias 'T is no new thing it seems to find Diversity of Judgments and Opinions concerning Christ and the Affairs of his Kingdom We find that when our Saviour was amongst Men who daily both saw and heard him yet there was then a Diversity of Opinions concerning him 2. Peter in the Name of the rest and as the Mouth of all the Apostles makes a full and open Confession of his Deity Thou art Christ the Son of the living God Whence Note That the Vail of Christ's Humane Nature did not keep the Eye of his Disciples Faith from seeing him to be One in Substance with the Father Thou art Christ the Son of the living God Observe 3. How highly pleased our Saviour was with this Confession he pronounces Peter and the rest in him Blessed who had by him made this Christian Confession Blessed art thou Simon and tells him 1. What did not enable him to make that Confession Not Flesh and Blood that is not Man nor the Wisdom and Reason of Man 2. But positively God the Father by the Operation of his Spirit and the Dispensation of the Gospel has wrought this Divine Faith in you and drawn forth this Glorious Confession from you that I am indeed the Son of God Thence Learn That no Man can savingly believe that Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son of God and Saviour of the World but he in whom God himself by his Holy Spirit has wrought such a Perswasion by the Ministry of the Gospel 18 And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Observe here 1. As Peter confess'd Christ so Christ confesses him Peter said Thou art Christ Christ says Thou art Peter alluding to his Name which signifies a Rock He having made good that Title by the Strength Stability and Firmness of his Faith Obs 2. A double Promise made by Christ to Peter 1. For the Building 2. For the Upholding of his Church For the Building of his Church 1. Vpon this Rock will I build my Church Upon what Rock Upon Peter The Rock Confessing say the Papists But if so no more is said of Peter here than of all the Apostles elsewhere Galat. 2.9 James and John are called Pillars as well as Peter So that Peter's Superiority over the rest of the Apostles can with no shew of Reason be from hence inferr'd Upon Christ the Rock Confessed say the Protestants for Christ is the Foundation-Stone upon which his Church is built Ephes 2.20 Ye are built upon the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-Stone So then not upon Peter the Rock Confessing but upon Christ the Rock Confessed and upon the Rock of Peter's Confession that Fundamental Truth that Christ is the Son of the Living God is the Church built Vpon this Rock will I build my Church Super hanc Confessionis tuae Petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam 2. Here is our Saviour's Promise for the Vpholding as well as the Building of his Church The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it That is All the Policy and Power of the Devil and his Instruments shall neither destroy my Church nor extinguish the Light of this Divine Truth which thou hast now made Confession of namely That I am the true Messias the Son of the living God Note 1. That Jesus Christ is the Builder and will be the Upholder of his Church 2. That the Church upheld by Christ's Power and Promise shall never be vanquisht by the Devil's Policy or Strength Vpon this Rock will I build c. and the Gates c. 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven Observe here 1. The Person to whom this Promise is made namely to Peter with the rest of the Apostles the Confession being made by him in the Name of the rest Elsewhere we find the same Authority and Power given to them all which is here committed unto Peter Joh. 20.23 Whose Sins soever ye remit they are remitted Altho' there might be a Priority of Order amongst the Apostles yet no Superiority of Power was founded in any one of them over and above the rest Obs 2. the Power promised I will give thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven that is the Key of Doctrine and the Key of Discipline or full Power and Authority to Preach the Gospel to Administer Sacraments and Execute Church-Censures The Speech is Metaphorical and alludes to Stewards and Officers in great Houses to whose Trust the Keys of the Houshold are committed Christ's Ministers are the Stewards of his House into whose Hands the Keys of his Church are committed by Christ The Pope would snatch them out of all Hands and keep them in his own he snatches at Peter's Keys but makes shipwrack of Peter's Faith arrogating Peter's Power but abrogating his Holy Profession Learn 1. That the Authority and Power which the Ministers of the Gospel do exercise and execute is from Christ I will give thee the Keys of the Kingdom 2. That this Power of the Keys Christ dispensed promiscuously to all his Apostles and never designed it as a Peculiar for St. Peter As they all made the same Profession of Faith by Peter so they all received the same Authority and Power with Peter 20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ It may seem strange that our Saviour should charge his Disciples to tell no Man that he was Jesus the Christ seeing the Knowledge of it was so necessary The Reason is conceived to be 1. Because the Glory of his Godhead was not to be fully manifested till after his Resurrection and then to be published by himself and confirmed by his own Miracles 2. Lest the Knowledge of it should have hindred his Death For Had the Rulers known they would not have Crucified the Lord of Glory Learn That Christ has his own fit Times and proper Seasons in which he reveals his own

one of them be gone astray doth he not leave the ninety and nine and goeth into the mountains and seeketh that which is gone astray 13 And if so be that he find it verily I say unto you he rejoyceth more of that sheep then of the ninety and nine which went not astray 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish Here our Saviour continues his Argument against giving Offence to his Children and Members he came into the World to redeem and save them therefore none ought to scandalize and offend them And to illustrate this he comparts himself to a good Shepherd who regards every one of his Sheep and if any wander or go astray he seeks to recover it with Desire and Joy Learn 1. That the natural Condition of Mankind is like that of wandring Sheep they err and go astray from God their chief Good and the Object of their compleat Happiness 2. That it was the Work and Business the Care and Concern of Jesus Christ to seek and recover lost Souls as the Shepherd doth his lost Sheep 3. That the Love and Care of Christ towards his ●heep in seeking to save and to preserve them is a forcible Argument unto all not to scandalize and offend much less to persecute and destroy them 15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone if he shall hear thee thou hast gained thy brother 16 But if he will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established 17 And if he shall neglect to hear them tell it unto the church but if he neglect to hear the church let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican In these Words our Saviour gives us an excellent Rule for the Duty of Fraternal Correption or Brotherly Admonition Where Note 1. That Brotherly Reproof and Admonition is a Duty incumbent upon Church-Members 2. That it may be administred successfully it must be administred privately and prudently 3. When private Admonition prevails not Christ has appointed Church-Governours to execute Church-Censures on the obstinate and irreclaimable 4. Persons justly falling under the Censures of the Church and rightly excommunicate are to be look'd upon as Contumacious and Stubborn Offenders and the Members of the Church to shun Society and Conversation with them If he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an Heathen Man and a Publican 18 Verily I say unto you Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven That is whomsoever the Officers of my Church shall justly excommunicate upon Earth shall without Repentance be shut out of Heaven and whosoever upon their true Repentance shall be absolved on Earth shall be absolved in Heaven Learn That Christ will ratifie in Heaven whatsoever the Church assembled doth in his Name upon Earth whether to the censuring of the Guilty or absolving of the Penitent this Power of binding and loosing is by Christ committed to his Church 19 Again I say unto you that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them Here we have a Gracious Promise made by Christ of his Presence with all his Members in general and with his Ministers in special Whenever they meet together in his Name that is by his Authority in Obedience to his Command and with an Eye at his Glory Whenever they celebrate any sacred Institution of his or execute any Church-Censures he will be i● the midst of them to quicken their Prayers to guide their Counsels to ratifie their Sentence to accept their Endeavours Learn 1. That Christ will be graciously present with and amongst his People whenever they assemble and meet together in his Name be it in never so small a number 2. That Christ will in a special manner be present with the Guides and Officers of his Church to direct their Censures and to confirm the Sentence pa●●ed in his Name and pronounced by his Authority upon obstinate Offenders 21 Then came Peter to him and said Lord how oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him till seven times 22 Jesus saith unto him I say not unto thee Until seven times but until seventy times seven Here St. Peter puts a Question to our Saviour how often Christians should forgive Offences to their Brethren professing Repentance Christ answers That there should be no end of our mutual forgiving one another but we are to multiply our Pardon as our Brother manifests his Repentance Not that we are hereby obliged to take the frequent Offender into our Bosom and to make him our Intimate but to lay aside all Malice and all Thoughts and Desires of Revenge and to stand ready to do him any Office of Love and Friendship Learn 1. That to fall often into the same Offence against our Brother is a great Aggravation of our Offence 2. That as the Multiplication of Sin is a great Aggravation of Sin so the Multiplication of Forgiveness is a great Demonstration of a Godlike Temper in us He that multiplies Sin doth like Satan Sin abundantly and he that multiplies Pardon doth like God pardon abundantly 23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king which would take account of his servants 24 And when he had begun to reckon one was brought unto him which ought him ten thousand talents 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay his lord commanded him to be sold and his wife and children and all that he had and payment to be made 26 The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him saying Lord have patience with me and I will pay thee all 27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt 28 But the same se vant we t out and found one of his fellow-servants which ought him an hundred pence and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat saying Pay me that thou owest 29 And his fellow servant fell down at his f●et and besought him saying Have patience with me and I will pay thee all 30 And he would not but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt 31 So when his fellow-servants saw what was done they were very sorry and came and told unto their lord all that was done 32 Then his lord after that he had called him said to him O thou wicked servant I forgave thee all that debt because thou desiredst me 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant even as I had pity on

upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen An account is here given of a three-fold appearance of Christ after his Resurrection 1 To Mary Magdalen not to the Virgin Mary and it is observable that our Blessed Saviour after his Resurrection first appeared to Mary Magdalen a grievous Sinner for the comfort of all true Penitents Mary goes immediately to his Disciples whom she finds weeping and mourning and tells them she had seen the Lord but they believed her not The second appearance was to the two Disciples going into the Country that is into the Village of Emaus as they were in the way Jesus joyneth himself to their Company but there Eyes were holden by the power of God that they did not discern him in his own proper shape but apprehended him to be another Person whom they conversed with His third appearance was to the Eleven as they sat at Meat whom he upbraids with their unbelief and to convince them effectually that he was risen from the dead he eats with them a piece of a broiled Fish and of an Honey Comb not that he needed it being he was now become immortal but to assure them he had still the same Body From the whole Note how industriously our Lord endeavours to confirm his Disciples Faith in the Doctrine of his Resurrection so slack and backward they were to believe that the Messiah was risen again from the dead that all the predictions of Scripture all the assurances they had received from our Saviour's mouth yea all the appearances of our Saviour to them after ●e was actually risen from the dead were little enough to confirm and establish them in the certain belief that he was risen from the dead 15 And he said unto them go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every Creature 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believed not shall be damned Here our Saviour gives commission to his Disciples to congregate and gather a Christian Church out of all Nations to go forth and preach the Gospel to every Creature that is to all reasonable Creatures that are capable of it not to the Jews only but to the Gentiles also without any distinction of Country Age or Sex whatsoever Learn thence that the Apostles and first planters of the Gospel had a commission from Christ to go amongst the Pagan Gentiles without limitation or distinction to instruct them in the savin● mysteries of the Gospel The second Branch of their commission was to Baptize where observe the encoura●ing promise made by Christ he that Believeth and is Baptized shall ●e saved that is he that receiveth and embraceth the Gospel preached by you and thereupon becomes a Proselite and Disciple of Christ and receives Baptism the Seal of the new Covenant shall for all his former sins receive Pardon and upon his perseverance obtain Eternal Life but he that stands out obstinately and impenitently shall certainly be damned The two damning sins under the Gospel are Infidelity and Hypocrisy not receiving Christ for Lord and Saviour by some or doing this feignedly by others happy are they in whom the preaching of the Gospel produces such a Faith as is the parent and principle of Obedience he that so believeth and is Baptized shall be saved 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe in my Name shall they cast out Devils they shall speak with new tongues 18 They shall tkae up Serpents and if they drink any thing it shall not hurt them they shall lay deadly hands on the sick and they shall recover Here we have a gracious promise of Christ that in order to the spreading and propagating of the Gospel as far as may be the Spirit should be poured forth abundantly from on high upon the Apostles and thereby they should be enabled to work Miracles to cast out Devils to speak strange Languages which we read they did Acts 2. And this power of working Miracles continued in the Church an hundred years after Christ's Ascension untill Christianity had taken rooting in the hearts of men Ireneus lib. 2. ch 58. says that many believers besides the Apostles had this power of working Miracles as new set plants are watered at first till they have taken fast rooting so that the Christian Faith might grow the faster God watered it with miracles at its first Plantation Yet Observe That all the Miracles which they had power to work were healing and beneficent not terrifying judgments but acts of kindness and mercy it was our Saviours design to bring over persons to Christianity by Lenity Mildness and Gentleness not to affright them into a complyance with astonishing judgments which might affect their fear but little influence their Faith for the will and consent of persons to the principles of any Religion especially the Christian is like a royal fort which must not be storm'd by violence but taken by surrender 19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God Here we have that grand Article of our Christian Faith asserted namely our Saviour's ascension into Heaven together with his exaltation there expressed by his setting at God's right hand he ascended now to Heaven in his humane Nature for in his Divine Nature he was there already and it was necessary that he should thus ascend in order to his own personal Exaltation and Glorification When he was on Earth his Humility Patience and Self-denial were exercised by undergoing God's Wrath the Devil's Rage and man's Cruelty Now he goes to Heaven that they may be rewarded he that is a patient Sufferer upon Earth shall be a triumphant Conqueror in Heaven also with respect to his Church on Earth was it needful and necessary that our Lord should ascend up into Heaven namely to send down the Holy Spirit upon his Apostles which he did at the Feast of Pentecost If I go not away says Christ the Comforter will not come but if I depart I will send him to you and likewise to be a powerful Advocate and Intercessor with his Father in Heaven on the behalf of his Church and Children here upon Earth Heb. 9.24 Christ is entered into Heaven it self there to appear in the presence of God for us finally Christ ascended into Heaven to give us an assurance that in due time we should ascend after him John 14.2 I go to prepare a place for you hence the Apostle calls our Saviour Our fore-runner Heb. 6. v. 19. Now if Christ in his Ascension was a Fore-runner then there are some to follow after to the same purpose is that expression of the Apostle Eph. 2.6 He hath made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ that is we are already sat down in him and ere long shall sit down by him we are already sit down in him as ou● Head and shall hereafter