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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
ground_n	faith_n	rule_n	scripture_n	4,181	5	6.7162	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A14239	A sermon preached before the Commos-House [sic] of Parliament, in Saint Margarets Church at Westminster, the 18. of February. 1620. By Iames Vssher. Professor of Diuinitie in the Vniuersitie of Dublin, in Ireland; Substance of that which was delivered in a sermon before the Commons House of Parliament, in St. Margarets Church at Westminster, the 18. of February, 1620	Ussher, James, 1581-1656.	1624 (1624)	STC 24554; ESTC S119955	33,194	56

in nothing terrified by our aduersaries Philip. chap. 1. vers 27 28. But howsoeuer God hath thus marshalled his Church in a goodly order terrible as an army with banners yet such is the disorder of our nature that many for all this breake ranke and the enemy laboureth to breed diuision in Gods House that so his Kingdome might not stand Nay oftentimes it commeth to passe that the Watchmen themselues who were appoynted for the safegarding of the Church proue in this kinde to bee the smiters and wounders of her and from among them who were purposely ordained in the Church for the bringing of men into the vnity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God euen from among those some doe arise that speake peruerse things to draw away disciples after them Thus wee finde in the Ecclesiasticall History that after the death of Iulian the Apostata questions and disputes concerning matters of doctrine were freshly set afoot by those who were set ouer the Churches Wherupon Sozomen maketh this graue obseruation that the disposition of men is such that when they are wronged by others they are at agreement among themselues but when they are freed of euils from abroad then they make insurrections one against another Which as we finde to be too true by the late experience of our neighbour Churches in the Low Countries so are we to consider with the Wise man that What hath been is now and that which is to bee hath already been and bee not so inquisitiue why the former dayes were better then these for wee doe not enquire wisely concerning this When like troubles were in the Church heretofore Isidorus Pelusiota an ancient Father moueth the question What a man should doe in this case and maketh answere that If it be possible wee should mend it but if that may not bee wee should hold our peace The Apostles resolution I thinke may giue sufficient satisfaction in this poynt to all that haue moderate and peaceable mindes If in any thing yee bee otherwise minded God shall reueale euen this vnto you neuerthelesse whereto wee haue already attained let vs walke by the same rule let vs minde the same thing It is not to bee looked for that all good men should agree in all things neither is it fit that we should as our Aduersaries doe put the truth vnto compromise and to the saying of an Achitophel whose counsell must bee accepted as if a man had inquired at the Oracle of God We all agree that the Scriptures of God are the perfect rule of our faith wee all consent in the maine grounds of Religion drawne from thence wee all subscribe to the articles of doctrine agreed vpon in the Synode of the yeere 1562. for the auoyding of diuersities of opinions and the establishing of consent touching true Religion Hitherto by Gods mercy haue wee already attained thus farre therefore let vs minde the same thing let not euery wanton wit be permitted to bring what fancies he list into the Pulpit and to disturbe things that haue been well ordered I beseech you brethren saith the Apostle marke them which cause diuisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which yee haue learned and auoid them If in some other things wee bee otherwise minded than others of our brethren are let vs beare one with another vntill God shall reueale the same thing vnto vs and howsoeuer we may see cause why we should dissent from others in matter of opinion yet let vs remember that that is no cause why wee should breake the Kings peace and make a rent in the Church of God A thing deepely to be thought of by the Ismaels of our time whose hand is against euery man and euery mans hand against them who bite and deuoure one another vntill they bee consumed one of another who forsake the fellowship of the Saints and by a sacrilegious separation breake this bond of peace Little doe these men consider how precious the peace of the Church ought to bee in our eyes to bee redeemed with a thousand of our liues and of what dangerous consequence the matter of schisme is vnto their owne soules For howsoeuer the schismaticke secundùm affectum as the Schoolemen speake in his intention and wicked purpose taketh away vnity from the Church euen as he that hateth God doth take away goodnesse from him as much as in him lyeth yet secundùm effectum in truth and in very deed hee taketh away the vnity of the Church onely from himselfe that is hee cutteth himselfe off from being vnited with the rest of the body and being disseuered from the body how is it possible that he should retaine communion with the Head To conclude therefore this first vse which wee are to make of our communion with the Body let vs call to minde the exhortation of the Apostle Aboue all things put on loue which is the bond of perfectnesse and let the peace of God rule in your hearts to the which also ye are called in one Body Behold how good and pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in vnity what a goodly thing it is to behold such an honourable Assembly as this is to bee as a house that is compact together in it selfe holding fit correspondence with the other part of this great body and due subordination vnto their and our Head Such as wish not well to the publike good and would reioyce at the ruine of our State long for nothing more then that dissensions should arise here betwixt the members mutually and betwixt them and the Head Hoc Ithacus velit magno mercentur Atridae They know full well that euery Kingdome diuided against it selfe is brought to desolation and euery house diuided against it selfe shall not stand nor doe they forget the Politicians old rule Diuide impera Make a diuision and get the dominion The more neede haue wee to looke herein vnto our selues who cannot bee ignorant how dolorous Solutio continui and how dangerous Ruptures proue to bee vnto our bodies If therefore there be any comfort of loue if any fellowship of the spirit fulfill our ioy that yee be like-minded hauing the same loue being of one accord of one minde and doing nothing through strife or vaine-glory Remember that as oft as we come vnto the Lords Table so oft doe we enter into new bonds of peace and tye our selues with firmer knots of loue together this blessed Communion being a sacred seale not onely of the vnion which wee haue with our Head by faith but also of our coniunction with the other members of the body by loue Whereby as we are admonished to maintaine vnity among ourselues that there be no schisme or diuision in the body so are we also further put in minde that the members should haue the same care one for another For that is the second vse which

vs his flesh to eate He must beware that he come not pre-occupied with such dull conceits as they were possessed withall who moued that question there hee must not thinke that we cannot truly feed on Christ vnlesse we receiue him within our iawes for that is as grosse an imagination as that of Nicodemus who could not conceiue how a man could bee borne againe vnlesse he should enter the second time into his mothers wombe but must consider that the eating and drinking which our Sauiour speaketh of must be answerable to the hungring and thirsting for the quenching whereof this heauenly Banquet is prouided Marke well the words which he vseth toward the beginning of his discourse concerning this argument I am the bread of life hee that commeth to me shall neuer hunger and hee that beleeueth on me shall neuer thirst But I said vnto you that ye also haue seene me and beleeue not And compare them with those in the end It is the Spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speake vnto you they are spirit and they are life But there are some of you that beleeue not Now obserue that such as our hungring is such is our eating But euery one will confesse that the hunger heere spoken of is not corporall but spirituall Why then should any man dreame heere of a corporall eating Againe the corporall eating if a man might haue it would not auaile any thing to the slaking of this hunger nay we are expressely told that the flesh thus taken for so we must vnderstand it profiteth nothing a man should neuer be the better nor one iot the holier nor any whit further from the second death if he had filled his belly with it But that manner of feeding on this flesh which Christ himselfe commendeth vnto vs is of such profit that it preserueth the eater from death and maketh him to liue for euer It is not therefore such an eating that euery man who bringeth a bodily mouth with him may attaine vnto but it is of a farre higher nature namely a spirituall vniting of vs vnto Christ whereby he dwelleth in vs and we liue by him If any doe further inquire how it is possible that any such vnion should be seeing the body of Christ is in heauen and wee are vpon earth I answere that if the manner of this coniunction were carnall and corporall it would bee indeed necessary that the things conioyned should bee admitted to bee in the same place but it being altogether spirituall and supernaturall no locall presence no physicall nor mathematicall continuity or contiguity is any way requisite thereunto It is sufficient for the making of a reall vnion in this kinde that Christ and we though neuer so farre distant in place each from other bee knit together by those spirituall ligatures which are intimated vnto vs in the words alledged out of the sixth of Iohn to wit the quickening Spirit descending downeward from the Head to be in vs a fountaine of supernaturall life and a liuely faith wrought by the same Spirit ascending from vs vpward to lay fast hold vpon him who hauing by himselfe purged our sinnes sitteth on the right hand of the Maiesty on high First therefore for the communion of the Spirit which is the ground and foundation of this spirituall vnion let vs call to minde what we haue read in Gods Booke that Christ the second Adam was made a quickening spirit and that he quickeneth whom he will that vnto him God hath giuen the Spirit without measure and of his fulnesse haue all we receiued that he that is ioyned vnto the Lord is one Spirit and that heereby wee know that we dwell in him and he in vs because hee hath giuen vs his Spirit By all which it doth appeare that the mystery of our vnion with Christ consisteth mainly in this that the selfe-same Spirit which is in him as in the Head is so deriued from him into euery one of his true members that thereby they are animated and quickened to a spirituall life We reade in the first of Ezekiel of foure liuing creatures and of foure wheeles standing by them When those went saith the Text these went and when those stood these stood and when those were lifted vp from the earth the wheeles were lifted vp ouer against them Hee that should behold such a vision as this would easily conclude by that which he saw that some inuisible bands there were by which these wheeles and liuing creatures were ioyned together howsoeuer none did outwardly appeare vnto the eye and the holy Ghost to giue vs satisfaction heerein discouereth the secret by yeelding this for the reason of this strange connexion that the spirit of the liuing creature was in the wheeles Ezek. 1.21 From whence wee may inferre that things may truly be conioyned together though the manner of the coniunction bee not corporall and that things distant in place may be vnited together by hauing the spirit of the one communicated vnto the other Nay if we marke it well we shall finde it to be thus in euery of our owne bodies that the formall reason of the vnion of the members consisteth not in the continuity of the parts though that also be requisite to the vnity of a naturall body but in the animation thereof by one and the same spirit If we should suppose a body to be as high as the heauens that the head thereof should be where Christ our Head is and the feet where we his members are no sooner could that head thinke of mouing one of the toes but instantly the thing would be done without any impediment giuen by that huge distance of the one from the other And why because the same soule that is in the head as in the fountaine of sence and motion is present likewise in the lowest member of the body But if it should so fall out that this or any other member proued to be mortified it presently would cease to bee a member of that body the corporall coniunction and continuity with the other parts notwithstanding And euen thus is it in Christ although in regard of his corporall presence the heauen must receiue him vntill the times of the restitution of all things yet is he here with vs alway euen vnto the end of the world in respect of the presence of his Spirit by the vitall influence whereof from him as from the Head the whole body is fitly ioyned together and compacted by that which euery ioynt supplieth according to the effectuall working in the measure of euery part Which quickening Spirit if it be wanting in any no externall communion with Christ or his Church can make him a true member of this mysticall body this being a most sure principle that He which hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his Rom. 8.9 Now among all the graces that are wrought in vs by