Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	church_n	communion_n	schism_n	2,635	5	10.6078	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61263	A sermon preached at Christ-Church in Bristol, before the Right Honourable Sr. Francis North, lord chief justice of His Majesty's Court of Common-Pleas at the assizes held there, August 7th, anno Dom. 1675 / by Richard Standfast ...	Standfast, Richard, 1608?-1684.	1676 (1676)	Wing S5213; ESTC R38271	13,252	38

from their lawful Superiours which they could not obtain by any Argumentative Perswasions or Petitions And had not the God of Order and Peace confuted these positions by confounding the designs and destroying the persons of those that own'd them these principles would have been a foundation upon which any discontented spirits or ambitious persons might have been encouraged to have raised Sedition from generation to generation whenever they had a mind so to do And therefore well might Moses say Respect not thou their offering For they were deeply guilty of a needless Schism and to Worship God in such a way of Schism is to Worship him in a way of sin and that cannot be pleasing unto God There is but one Lord one Faith one Baptism c. Christ is not divided There is the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace and he that is the one God cannot but hate causeless Divisions as much as the Holy One doth Impiety and Prophaness 2dly Korah and his Company were busymedlers in what did not belong unto them and so Moses tells them to their faces saying You take too much upon you ye Sons of Levi And well might he lay this to their charge for being but Levites they would needs encroach upon and intrude themselves into the Priests Office but they paid dearly for it God looks that every man should keep his own Station and move within his own Sphear and he that acts without a Commission though he do nothing but what is materially good he shall be called to account as an Usurper Almighty God is not the Author of Confusion but of Peace but this breaking of Ranks is the way to Confusion and was in them so displeasing to Almighty God that the flame burnt up the ungodly 3dly Korah and his Company had spoken evil of the Rulers of the people they laid to their charge that they took too much upon them that in effect they had been too Arbitrary in their Government that they did Domineer too much over their Brethren that they had lifted up themselves above the Congregation of the Lord that they had not been as good as their Words and that they had no better than Deceived the people that they had brought them out of Egypt to their loss and instead of Fields and Vineyeards and a setled condition had brought them only to wandring up and down from one place to another in a barren Wilderness Thus did they slander those whom God had set over them accusing them falsly of such Crimes as they were no way guilty of and therefore well might Moses pray Respect not thou their offering And 't is no more than what our Saviour hath taught us Mat. 5.23 24 If thou bring thy gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy Brother hath ought against thee Leave there thy gist before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy gift By which it appears that where there is no seeking to be reconciled to those whom we have offended there will be no accepting of the gift that is offered 4hly And lastly Korah and his Company were guilty of contumacious obstinacy against the just commands of lawful Authority for when Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram to come up to the Tabernacle they sent him word again like stubborn Rebels in plain terms They would not come up And this obstinacy will most infallibly nonsuit our most fervent Petitions For He that resisteth the Power resisteth the Ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation Rom. 13.2 So that Moses had reason enough to say as he did Respect not thou their offering And by all this that hath been spoken I suppose it to be very plain and manifest that they who cause or countenance needless Divisions in a Church or State They who keep not their own Station but meddle with things beyond the bounds of their own proper Calling They that slander their Betters despise Dominions speak evil of Dignities and disobey those that are their lawful Governours and Magistrates they had need to repent of this their wickedness which if they do not they may justly fear that they shall one day perish in the Gain-saying of Korah These things as I conceive are all plain by the Text and I earnestly wish that the Dissenters of these times would seriously think upon them and lay them to heart lest after all their care and cost they come short in the end of their expectation Our Saviour saith In the last days many shall come and say Lord Lord c. Mat. 7 and yet he disowns them because workers of iniquity There is filthiness of the Spirit as well as of the Flesh from which we must be cleansed if we would perfect holiness in the fear of God Will it not be matter of grief if after all which they pretend to have done and suffer'd for Christ's sake they shall hear instead of a well done good and faithful servant a who required these things at your hands There is a pretence I know of a purer Mode of Worship But he that for an imaginary purer Mode shall part with Peace Unity and Charity Duties of such absolute necessity to Salvation that man is like to have but a hard bargain Are there not found with some of them things of the same nature which Korah and his Company were guilty of Hath not the Church of England many things against them Are there not amongst them that are guilty of Criminal Schism in setting up Anti-Churches in opposition to our solemn Assemblies for where we may have communion without sin there without doubt 't is a sin to separate Are there not some who take too much upon them who adventure upon the Ministerial Office without a Ministerial Commission Remember Vzzah c. Did ever any man safely adventure to be Embassadour for a King or but a Justice of the Peace were his abilities never so great without a Commission And are not we Embassadours for Christ and shall any man take this honour to himself without he be called to it Surely he that cometh not in by the dore may well be accounted a Thief and a Robber Are there not some that have Slandered their own Mothers Sons my their Mother the Church of England her Self accounting her little better than a Romish Harlot And for contumacious resisting of Authority 't is too manifest to be deny'd for they say plainly with Dathan and Abiram We will not come up And after all this must their service needs be pleasing unto God Why then doth Moses say Respect not thou their offering Fain would I know if there be any one duty of necessity to Salvation which may not be freely practiced in the communion of our Church May not a man be as good a Christian in our Communion as flesh and blood is capable to be whilst we are on this side Heaven What then means the Contumacious obstinacy which is daily seen in some of those men unless it be to carry on a design and to keep men in a Rebellious temper till they shall have opportunity to use them What men of Korah's temper have done even of late years in this our Land we know What they would do if they had power none but God knows only this we know That if He in whose hands be the hearts of men do not incline us all to Unity and Peace we are not very like to see our Jerusalem in Prosperity nor Peace upon our Israel For a house or a Kingdon divided against it self cannot stand I know it is Printed in behalf of the Dissenters even of this City That if they might be their own judges they are not to be accused of either Impiety towards God Contempt of the Laws Disloyalty to their King or imprudence to themselves from their present Persevering in those ways which they now walk in But whilst they have so much of Korah in them if this saying of theirs be generally true I must get me a new Bible for in that which I have already I can find no such thing I know that Conscience is much pretended for the justifying of disobedience but to no purpose for Conscience alone can be no sufficient rule to walk by because it may be ignorant and erroneous and prepossest with prejudice and partiality self-love and self-interest 'T is very true that to act contrary to Conscience may betray us into sin but 't is true withall that 't is possible that whilst a man acts according to his Conscience he may act contrary to his duty and become guilty before God In a word If Conscience shall be allowed a Power to make void all the Commands of Superiours farwel all Government whatsoever and let every servant be his own Master To draw to a conclusion In that which I have spoken upon this Subject if my own heart deceive me not I have not aim'd at any man's favour nor coveted any applause nor design'd the exasperating of any persons what I have done in this kind hath been to discharge mine own Conscience and out of a desire to do good And whatever Entertainment these weak Endeavours of Mine may find thus much I may say of them They may be Correctio si velitis and will be Testimonium etsi nolitis They may be for the reformation of the faulty if they will But whether they will or no they will be a witness against them The God of Peace give us all Humble and Teachable minds together with Peaceable and Charitable hearts that so with one mind and one mouth we may glorifie the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ To whom be glory both now and for ever Amen FINIS