Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
ground_n	authority_n	church_n	faith_n	5,185	5	6.2589	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A58905	A sermon preached before the King at Chester, on August xxviii, 1687, being the feast of S. Augustin, Doctor of the Holy Catholic Church by ... Lewis Sabran ...	Sabran, Lewis, 1652-1732.	1687 (1687)	Wing S221; ESTC R1786	28,293	35

to that Church which alone gives you an Infallible Guide Think well of God's infinite mercy and true desire that you should be saved and never despair to find an Authority established by God Non est desperandum ab codem ipso Deo auctoritatem aliquam constitutam qua v●lut certo gradu innitentes at●ollamur ad Deum Epist 56. Immobili authoritati himself from which as from a secure step we may take our rise to God. Heretics offer Reasons and Arguments for proof of their Belief and pretend by them to be preferr'd to the unmovable Authority of the Church which is so firmly established therein lies the rashness common to all Heretics But the most meek Lord of our Faith hath been pleased to strengthen his Church with an Authority far weightier than that of all others into this Castle of the Faith all the weaker ought to withdraw Vere illa rectiffima disciplina est in aciem fidei quam maxime recipi infirmos ut pro illis jam fictissime positis firmissima ratione pugnetur themselves whil'st for them thus secure others fight with invincible Reasons and Proofs You are willing to be guided by so weak an Authority as that of your Father and Mother and will you refuse to be guided by the pious Examples of all their Ancestors and of the whole Church for fourteen hundred years As for your Baptism in it you were christened a Catholic whoever baptized you and by declaring your self a Catholic you restore your self to the Religion you were christened in For the Catholic Church is like unto Paradise the Waters of whose Fountain could be drunk out of it in the Rivers that streamed out but that Baptism being given and belonging only to the Catholic Church as in Paradise only could be enjoyed temporal happiness Salutem beatitudinis extra cam neminem vel percipere vel tenere De bapt cont Don. l. 4. c. 2. so no one purchases or maintains a Right to eternal happiness out of that Church Thus did this holy Saint endeavor to draw back to the true Church's Communion those more stubborn Heretics creating in them that holy Fear of God which is the beginning of Wisdom Christian Brethren you who are so happy as to have been born in or early called to the Bosom of this holy Catholic Church and thereby to enjoy that Blessing with less toil and labor than it cost S. Augustin Be ever thankful for so great a Mercy wonder not when you see knowing Men sober Enquirers who even after a studious search have so thick a Veil yet over their eyes as not to see those glorious evident Marks God hath distinguished this Church by nor their Obligation of rendring themselves Members of it For twenty years Augustin a man of far greater Parts and a more diligent Searcher was thus blind Pity those 〈…〉 who pin their Faith on the Sleeve bottom it on the Authority of some such particular men whil'st they refuse to give ear to the whole Catholic Church which assures them that they go astray Pray for both obtain a Ray of Grace for them and they will see as you do judge as you do and equally bless God for it If any here present enjoy not yet that happiness may the Example and Motives of this Saint's Conversion prevail with him Let him weigh whether he be not unhappily under the same prejudices this Saint was so long prepossess'd with 'T is in vain to consult many Books or Persons on each point of Belief Alas says the Saint taught by twenty years De Doctrina Ch. c. 16. experience the helps of all sorts of Instructions received from Man avail little if God work not in us that very effect which we expect from them Seek then Knowledge from God by a devout and humble Prayer but expect not that he should give you a new Revelation or lead you to Truth but by those Guides his admirable Providence hath provided for you Resolve your Faith finally into God's Word but that you may not be deceived hear it from the Mouth receive it by the Authority of that Church you are commanded to hearken unto Thus did this holy Doctor offering to those Heretics who questioned the Grounds of his Faith these evident Marks by which God hath character'd his Church that Pillar of Truth on which all the Faithful are to lean If any stubbornly refuse to observe them they will allow me however to offer them to the Catholic part of my Auditory for their comfort This is then the account he gives of his own and our Faith Many things do most justly detain In Epist Fund cap. 4 5. me in the Bosom of the Catholic Church First the Vnion in Faith and consent of many Nations 'T is the common misery of all Heretics not to see what of all things Fo. 2. l. 7. contra Parmen c. 3. in the world is most patent and seated in the very eyes of all Nations to wit the Church out of the Unity whereof whatever they do can no more cover their Souls from the anger of God than a Cobweb could preserve their Bodies from cold That Church which every-where 1. de Symbol● cap. 5. opposing different Heresies can never be conquered by them They all went out of Her like unto so many withered Branches cut off from and cast out of the Vine whil'st She remains in her own Vine adhering to her own Root enjoying her Charity or perfect Tract 3. in Ep. Joann Union In her alone we hold the Inheritance of Christ all Nations They have it not whose Communion unites not the whole Circle of the Earth who is not in Communion with that Inheritance is gone out of it Such may challenge Christ but to as little purpose as he who in the Gospel made this address to him Say O Serm. de temp 169. Lord to my Brother that he divide the Inheritance with me Christ refused to divide it amongst them Paul was as great an Enemy to Division when he said I beg of you Brethren that you say all of you the same thing and that there be no Schisms amongst you He wept for those who tho' on his account divided Christ See then how wicked those men are who will be divided They Brevic. contra Donatistas Acutum aliquid sibi dicere videntur cum Catholicae nomen non ex totius Orbis communione interpretantur sed observatione Praeceptorum omn●um L. contra Parm. multa Frusta de Uno Frnsto think themselves witty when seeing their Congregation restrained within the bounds of some Province or Kingdom they pretend that they be a part of the Catholic Church that hath all things commanded and necessary for Salvation as if to be a Catholic did not import a Communion or Unity in Faith and Sacraments in a Church diffused the whole World over They cut off a part and that again falls into many pieces tho' no necessity can warrant