Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
ground_n	believe_v	church_n	infallible_a	3,076	5	10.3460	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47407	The breach repaired in God's worship, or, Singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, proved to be an holy ordinance of Jesus Christ with an answer to all objections : as also, an examination of Mr. Isaac Marlow's two papers, one called, A discourse against singing, &c., the other, An appendix : wherein his arguments and cavils are detected and refuted / by Benjamin Keach ...	Keach, Benjamin, 1640-1704.	1641 (1641)	Wing K50; ESTC R21273	133,739	273

For we do say and testify we believe you are wholly without Singing in any proper Sense at all The Lord give us Moderation don't let us be bitter one against another I shall beg a part in your Prayers and intreat you to look over what Weakness you may see in this small Tract for I am you know but a Babe in Christ's School and know but in part And now to you my Beloved Brethren and Sisters who meet on Horselydown whom I hope I may say are my Joy and my Crown whose Souls are most dear to me and whom I can say I truly love and long after it rejoices my Spirit to see how generally you are inlightned into this Gospel-Duty but 't is no small grief to me to see since the Church in such a solemn manner agreed to sing the Praises of God on the Lord's Day to find some of you so much offended I am perswaded 't is for want of Consideration for you have no new thing brought in among you Hath not the Church sung at breaking of Bread always for 16 or 18 Years last past and could not nor would omit it in the time of the late Persecution And have not many of the honest Hearers who have stayed to see that Holy Administration sung with you at that time and yet none of you ever signified the least trouble And have we not for this 12 or 14 Years sung in mixt Assemblies on Days of Thanksgiving and never any offended at it as ever I heard What is done more now 't is only practised oftner and sure if it be God's Ordinance the often practising of it by such who find their Hearts draw out so to do cannot be sinful And on that Solemn Day when the Church would have it put up to see 〈◊〉 the Members stood affected about Singing almost every ones Hand was up for it or to give Liberty to the Church at such times to sing And when put up in the Negative but about 5 or 6 at most as I remember were against it Did any one of you at that time say if we did proceed to sing at such times you could not have Communion with us which if you had I perceive the Church nay every one of us who had born our Burden for many Years would have born it a little longer Besides did not the Church agree to sing only after Sermon and when Prayer was ended And if those few Brethren and Sisters who were not satisfied could not stay whilst we sung they might freely go forth and we would not be offended with them so far was the Church or my self from imposing on the Consciences of any But is it not hard that some of us should so long be laid under a Burden when the Church generally was against Singing at that time and you cannot bear it now it is come to be your Lot I am afraid the noise of these things are misrepresented abroad and therefore I thought it might not be amiss to rectify Mistakes in you or any other Brethren The matter of Difference that is at present between the Church and some few of our dear and beloved Brethren and Sisters is not about Singing it self nor singing with others for that has been all along the practise of the Church for many Years as before I hinted but only about singing on the Lords Day unless it be one Member except the Judgments of any other are lately changed But my Brethren will I hope seriously consider of the Matter and labour after that Christian Love Tenderness and Forbearance the Gospel calls for We are exhorted to bear one anothers Burdens and so to fulfil the Law of Christ For the Lord's sake let us not fall out by the way and lay things grievous on one anothers Spirits for we are not Lords over one anothers Faith but Helpers of each others Joy O my Brethren pray let us all watch against Satan and strive to keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace I must confess divers of you did much desire me to answer Mr. Marlow's Book before this time but I hope you will excuse my neglect for some of you know the occasion of it ●tis done now and in the fear of God recommended to your perusal And O that the Lord would be pleased to bless it to your Satisfaction then shall I have cause to praise the Lord that I undertook the Work I can ●●y you lie near my Heart and I would do any thing I am capable of to promote Truth and Peace amongst our selves and in all the Churches of Christ If any of you should say How can we be satisfied to have Communion with the Church when we believe 't is an Innovation that 's a hard word Ar● you Infallible Is there not ground for you to fear you are mistaken or to think in the least 't is a doubtful case since so much is to be said for it and has been so generally received from the beginning by most enlightned Saints and you your selves with the Church for so long a time been in the Practice of ●t at other times Besides can you find any ground from God's Word that will warrant you to separate your selves from the Church upon this account and also may not the same or like Scruple rise in our Spirits against having Communion with you who we be●ieve lie short of a plain Gospel-Ordinance ●nd so through want of light diminish from God's Word as you say we add thereto by doing of it But far be it from us to have a thought to act that way towards any of you Moreover will not such a practice of a Separation from the Church upon this account justify other Godly Christians who are Members of such Churches who do not sing that are convinced as well as we it is their Duty to separate from those Congregations to joyn with such Churches as are in this practice Doubtless that Door that will let you out of this Church will let others out of those Churches I mentioned before and there are not a few such in this City There is one thing I think good to note here to prevent any mistake that tho I call Preaching a moral Duty yet to preach the Gospel only appertains to such whom God particularly hath gifted for that Work and who have a lawful call to it I shall conclude with the words of the Holy Apostle Finally Brethren farewel be Perfect be of good Comfort be of one Mind live in Love and Peace and the God of Love and Peace shall be with you 2 Cor. 13. 11. Which is the Prayer of him Who is Your unworthy Brother fellow Servant and poor Labourer in God's Harvest B. Keach From my House near Horselydown Southwark April 3d 1691. The Contents of the chief Things contained in the insuing Treatise WHat it is to sing Page 5. That there can be no proper Singing without the Voice pag. 6. 'T is not simple Heart-joy or inward rejoicing without

out by the Spirit and enjoyned on the Churches which is enough to shake the Faith of our People in respect of other Ordinances which they have as much reason to say may not belong to us but shall be practised in time to come when the Church as the Seekers say shall attain its first or original Purity See Pag. 27. of his Discourse 5. And lastly like a wary and fore-seeing Man to be sure to carry his Cause he retires to his last Fort and Strong-hold and affirms That the Ordinance of singing of Psalms Hymns c. was only in the Primitive Time performed by an extraordinary Gift and unless we have such a Gift we must not sing the Praises of God now in these days Tho I have said enough to detect this 〈…〉 Conceit yet since he leads me in this Path I must I perceive reply again as I have already done that this Objection lies equally against Prayer Preaching and interpreting the Scripture c. sith all these Gospel-Duties and Ordinances in the Primitive and Apostolical Days were performed by the said extraodinary Gifts of the Spirit If he could make this appear there was no need for him to trouble us with the Greek word nor with any of his other Mediums he uses to exclude Gospel-Singing it cannot but appear by this last shift he acknowledges that Singing is somewhat more than that Praising of God he speaks of But these things betray the Man's Integrity or rather his Weakness and shew he doth not argue but plays the part of a Sophister though not a cunning One because his Nakedness plainly appears to the meanest Capacity through his pittiful threadbare Covering For if he had thought his other Mediums would have 〈◊〉 his turn or held the Test we should not have I am perswaded heard any of this But however we will come to examine his pretended Arguments he brings to prove this Affertion His first Argument to prove Singing was always performed from a special Gift is in Appendix pag. 14. For as the Grace of 〈◊〉 is the 〈◊〉 of the Spirit saith he and 〈◊〉 God had 〈◊〉 the Oil viz. the Spirit of Joy for Mourning so the primitive Church had some earnest of it and did rejoice in hope of the Glory of God and through the abundance of the Spirit wherewith she was baptized her Ministers delivered the Word of God in extraordinary ways and manners viz. by Prophesying T●●gues and melodious Singing Answ 1. Have not Believers now the Holy Spirit as well as they had it then though not in such an extraordinary manner And have not we the Fruit of it i. e. Joy Peace c. in believing Also you mistake your self Joy doth not appertain to the Gifts of the Spirit but 't is a ●ruit of the Graces of the Spirit Do not the Saints now rejoice in hope of the Glory of God as well as they did then There is no such cause or ground from the Reception of Tongues or the extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit as you intimate to sing the Praises of God For many our Saviour saith shall say in that Day We have prophesied in thy Name and in thy Name have cast out Devils and in thy Name have done many wonderful Works To whom he will say Depart from me I know ye not And the Apostle saith Though I speak with Tongues of Men and Angels and have not Charity I am become as sounding Brass or a tinkling Cymbal 1 Cor. 13. 1. From whence it appears that inward Joy and Peace of which you speak as the Cause of Singing in the Apostles Times did not flow from that extraordinary Gift of the Spirit but from the saving Graces of the Spirit either it flows from the consideration of common or external Mercies and Blessings wherein all are concerned to sing the Praises of God who gives them fruitful Seasons filling their Hearts with Joy and Gladness or else it flows from those special and internal Blessings which only concern the Saints viz. Union with God Communion with God Faith Love c. Tongues were for a Sign not for them who believe but for them who believe not 1 Cor. 14. 22. Extraordinary Gifts were to convince Unbelievers of the Truth and not for the Joy and Comfort of such who did believe Men that have the Gift of Tongues may be graceless and so without Christ and perish eternally in Hell therefore the extraordinary Gift of the Spirit fits not tunes not the Heart nor Tongue to sing the Praises of God You may as well deny the Saints may not ought not in these our Days rejoice in God nay not praise him in any other manner of ways as well as not fing from this Argument you make use of here on this account Therefore it follows that you strangely mistake pag. 15. Appendix in intimating when Paul exhorts the Saints to covet after the best Gifts he means the extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit for certainly those are the best Gifts that most tend to the edification of the Church which Tongues could not be said to do And in the very next words he speaks of a more excellent ways viz. that of Charity or Love which refers to the Graces of the Spirit And of so little use were those special or extraordinary Gifts to the Church that if there were no Interpreter they were to be silent and not use them in the Church at all who were that way gifted 2. You confound Tongues which did appertain to all sorts of Gifts with Prophecy and Singing He that had a Doctrine might have the Gift of Tongues to bring it forth so might he that had the Gift of Prophecy and he also that had the Gift to Interpret and so might he also that had the extraordinary Gift to bring forth a Psalm And pray why must ordinary praising of God be now admitted and Preaching Prophesying and Interpreting the Scripture by the ordinary Gifts of the Spirit be still allowed and yet Singing by the same ordinary Gifts must not be admitted What Reason do you give for this Is not this to darken Counsel with words without Knowledg I have demonstrated that the End of those extraordinary Gifts that were then in the Church in the Administration of every Duty and Ordinance was to confirm the ordinary practice of all those Ordinances and so to continue them in the Church to the end of the World And God hath equally honoured and confirmed Singing of Psalms c. to continue and the ●●●ctice thereof to abide as of any othe● Ordinance You need not therefore spend your time to prove the Apostles Prayed Preached Prophesied and also Sung by an extraordinary Gift we acknowledg it but say this is no mo●e against our Singing than against our Praying c. who have not now those special Gifts 2. He that had a Psalm of David might bring it forth in an unknown Tongue as well as he that had a Doctrine and so not to the Edification of the Church