Selected quad for the lemma: faith_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
faith_n	catholic_n	church_n	visible_a	4,689	5	9.3932	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26917	Directions for weak distempered Christians, to grow up to a confirmed state of grace with motives opening the lamentable effects of their weaknesses and distempers / by Richard Baxter.	Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.	1669 (1669)	Wing B1249; ESTC R15683	216,321	412

devoted in Covenant to God our Creator Redeemer and Regenerater and without which we cannot Love God as reconciled to us in Christ above all and our neighbours as our selves So that in a word he that can tell what the Baptismal Vow or Covenant is can tell what is necessary to that Catholick Church-communion which belongeth to Christians as Christians at how great a distance soever they dwell from one another And then for Particular Church-communion which is local and personal it is moreover necessary 1. That each member acknowledge and submit to the same Pastors 2. That they be guided by them in the convenient circumstances and adjuncts of Worship For if some persons will not consent or submit to the same Pastors that the body of the Church consenteth and submiteth to they cannot have communion particularly and locally with that Church nor are they members of it no more than they can be members of the same Kingdom that have not the same King And there being no solemn worship performed but by the Ministry of those Pastors they cannot joyn in the worship that joyn not with the Minister And if some members will not consent and submit to the necessary determination of the adjuncts or external modes of worship they cannot joyn in local particular Church-communion where that Worship is performed As if the Pastor and the body of the Church will meet in such a place at such a day and hour and some members will not meet with them at that place and day and hour they cannot possibly then have their local personal communion Or if the Pastor will use such a Translation of the Scriptures or such a Version of the Psalms or such a Method in Preaching and Prayer or such Notes or books and other like helps if any members will not submit nor hold Communion with the rest unless that Translation or Version or Method of Preaching or Praying or Notes or Books be laid aside he cannot have Communion while he refuseth it If the Pastor and all the rest will not yield to him he must joyn with some other Church that he can agree with And as long as the Catholick Church communion is maintained which consisteth in Vnity of the Christian-covenant or of Christianity or of Faith Love and Obedience the difference of modes and circumstances between particular Churches must be allowed without any breach of Charity or without disowning one another And he that cannot be a member of one particular Church may quietly joyn himself to another without condemning that which he dissenteth from so far as to hinder his Catholick Communion with it even as among the Papists men may be of which Order of Religious persons they best like as long as they submit to their General Government And here the strong judicious Christian for his part will never be guilty of Church-divisions For 1. He will make nothing necessary to Church-communion which any sober pious peaceable minds shall have any just reason to except against or which may not well be manifested to be for the Edification of the Church 2. And he will bear with the weak dissenters so far as will stand with the peace and welfare of the Church 3. And he will particularly give leave to such weak ones as cannot yet hold communion with him being peaceable and not promoting heresie ungodliness or sedition to joyn to another Church where they can hold communion with peace to their own Consciences as long as they continue their foresaid Catholick-communion For the strong know that they must not only bear with but bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please themselves but every one of them to please his neighbour for good to edification For even Christ pleased not himself And so they will receive one another as Christ also received us to the glory of God not despising the weak nor rejecting them that God receiveth Rom. 15.1 2 3 7. 14.1 2 3 4 17 18. And thus you may see how easie a matter it were to unite and reconcile all the Christian World if the principles of the judicious confirmed Christian might be received and prevail and that it is not he that is the cause of the abundance of sin and calamity which divisions have caused and continued in the Church But that which now seemeth an impossible thing may quickly and easily be accomplished if all were such as he And that the difficulty of reconciling and uniting Christians lyeth not first in finding out the terms but in making men fit to receive and practice the terms from the beginning received by the Churches This is Lirinensis his Quod semper ubique ab omnibus receptum est supposing still that the Magistrate be submitted to by every soul even as he is the keeper of both talles Rom. 13.1 2 3. 2. But the weak Christian is too easily tempted to be the divider of the Church by expecting that it be united upon his impossible or unrighteous terms Sometime he will be Orthodox overmuch or rather wise in his own conceit Rom. 12.16 and then none are judged fit for his communion that be not of his opinion in controverted Doctrinals e.g. predestination the manner of the work of grace freewill perseverance and abundance such sometime he will be righteous overmuch or to speak more properly superstitious And then none are fit for his communion that Worship not God in that method and manner for circumstantials which he esteemeth best And his charity is so weak that it freeth him not from thinking evil 1 Cor. 13. and so narrow that it covereth not either many or great infirmities The more need he hath of the forbearance and charity of others the less can he bear or forbear others himself The strong Christian must bear the infirmities of the weak but the weak Christian can scarce bear with the weak or strong Nay he is oft too impatient with some of their virtues and duties as well as with their infirmities He is of too private a spirit and too insensible of the publick interest of the Church of Christ. And therefore he must have all the World come over to him and be conformed to his opinion and party and unite upon his mistaken narrow terms if they will have Communion with him I mean it is thus with him when the temptation on that side prevaileth And sometime he is overcome with the temptation of Domination to make his judgement the Rule to others and then he quite overvalueth his own understanding and will needs be judge of all the controversies in the Church and taketh it as unsufferable if wiser and better men do not take him as infallible and in every thing observe his will And when his brethren give him the reason of their dissent as his judgement is not clear enough to understand them so his passion and partiality are too strong to suffer his judgement to do its part And thus oft-times he is a greater hinderance to the Churches

Wax when yet the Image on the Seal is perfect And therefore the World hath no just cause to censure God or Christ or the Spirit or the Word to be imperfect because that you are so But yet they will do it and their temptation is great O Sirs how would your Prince take it of you or how would your poorest friend take it of you if you should hang forth a deformed picture of them to the view of all that shall pass by and should represent them as blind or leprous or lame wanting a leg or an arm or an eye Would they not say that you unworthily exposed them to scorn So if you will take on you to be the living Images of God of Christ of the Spirit and the Word and yet will be blind and worldly and passionate and proud and untruly and obstinate or lazy and negligent and little differing from those that bear the Image of the Devil what do you but Proclaim that the Image of God and of Satan and the World do little differ and that God is thus unrighteous and unholy as you are 10. Lastly Consider That the faithful servants of Christ are few and therefore if those few dishonour him and prove not fast to him what do you but provoke him to forsake all the World and make an end of all the Sons of men It is but a little flock to whom he will give the Kingdom Luke 12.32 It is but a few from whom God expecteth any great matter And shall those few prove deceitful to him It must be you or none that must honour the Gospel You or none that must be exemplary to the World and shall it be none at all Shall all the Workmanship of God abuse him Shall he have no honour from any inferiour Creature How can you then expect that he should preserve the World For will he be at so much care to keep up a World to dishonour and abuse him If the turning of mens hearts prevent it not he would come and smite the earth with a Curse Mal. 4.6 For the Land that beareth Thorns and Bryars is rejected and is nigh unto Cursing whose end is to be burned Heb. 6.7 8. If therefore Israel play the Harlot yet let not Judah sin Hos. 4.15 If the Vessels of wrath prepared to destruction will be blind and sensual and filthy still yet let pollution be far from the sanctified Such were some of you but ye are washed ye are sanctified ye are justified 1 Cor. 6.11 O let the Lord be magnified in his Saints Blot not out his Image Receive not his impressions defectively and by the halves Let the Name of the most holy one be written in your very foreheads O that you would be so tender of the honour of the Lord and shine forth so brightly in Holyness and Righteousness that he that runs might read whose servants you are and know the Image Superscription of God upon the face of your conversations that as clearly as light is seen in and from the Sun and the power and wisdom and goodness of God is seen in the frame of the Creation and of Scripture so might the same shine forth in you that you might be Holy as God is Holy 1 Pet. 1.16 and perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect Matth. 5.48 that they that would know God may see him in his Saints where his Image is or should be so lively and discernable And they that cannot read and understand the Scripture or the works of Creation or disposing-Providence may read and understand the holy and heavenly representations of your lives Men are apt to look after Images of the Godhead because they are carnal and far from God O you that are appointed to bear his Image see that you so represent him to the eyes of the world as may be to his glory and not to his dishonour and take not the Name of God in vain It is so desirable for God and for the Church and for your own peace and happiness that Christians should grow up to a ripeness in Grace and be rooted built up confirmed and abound according to my Text that it hath drawn out from me all these words of exhortation thereunto Though one would think that to men of such holy Principles and experience it should be more than needs But if all will but serve to awaken the weak to a diligent progress I shall be glad and have my end The great matter that I intended when I began this discourse is yet behind and that is the giving you such Directions as may tend to your Confirmation and perseverance Which I shall now proceed to But I intreat every Reader that hath any spark of Grace in his Soul that he will resolve to put these Directions in practice and turn them not off with a bare perusal or approbation Let me reap but thus much fruit of all my foregoing Exhortations and I shall not think my labour lost XX. DIRECTIONS FOR CONFIRMATION In a state of Grace DIRECT I. Be sure that the Foundation be well laid both in your Heads and Hearts or else you can never attain to Confirmation nor be savingly built up TO this end you must know what the Foundation is and how it must be soundly laid The Foundation hath two parts or respects according to the faculties of the Soul where it must be laid The first is the Truth of the Doctrine and Matter and the second is the Goodness of it As True the Foundation is laid in our Understandings as Good it is laid in the Will Concerning both these we must therefore first consider of the matter of the Foundation and then of the Manner how that must be received or laid And the Foundation is that matter or object of our Faith and Hope and Love which is Essential to a Christian that is to the Christian saving Faith hope and love This hath been alwayes contained in our Baptism because Baptizing us is making us visible Christians or the solemn entrance into the state of Christianity As therefore we are Baptized into the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost renouncing the Flesh the World and the Devil so the doing of this unfeignedly without equivocation according to the Scripture sense of the words is the Essence of Christianity or the right laying of the Foundation So that the Foundation-Principal or Fundamental Matter is God the Father Son and Holy Ghost The Secondary Foundation or Fundamental Doctrine is those Scripture Propositions that express our Faith in God the Father Son and Holy Ghost When we name the three persons as the object of the Christian Faith we express names of Relation which contain both the persons nature and Offices or undertaken works Without either of which God were not God and Christ were not Christ and the Holy Ghost were not in the sense of our Articles of Faith the Holy Ghost As we must therfore believe that there is One only God So we must